Have You Seen .... ? by David Thomson Part 5: Casino, The 39 Steps and The Equalizer

 

I bought the wrong DVD. It had the original widescreen aspect in 2:35:1 so there was too much blank screen top and bottom of my TV. There was far too much narration for my taste, telling us how the casino worked. I hardly recognised Sharon Stone as Ginger. David Thomson says she will not let her be overlooked. And that the film has "so many inspired scenes". Then who pops up but a young James Woods. I found it intentionally sordid and violent. And too much didn't add up. You knew when Ace gives Ginger the only key to the money box that this was a grave error. However, the soundtrack was good, especially hearing The In Crowd by Ramsey Lewis.

There have been numerous versions of The 39 Steps. David Thomson includes the 1935 version (shot entirely at the Lime Grove studios) which was surely better than this 1959 film. There was another film in 2011, a TV movie in 2008 and a mini series in 2021. Here is Kenneth More being chased all over Scotland. Nice scenery including that part on the Firth of Forth Bridge. It seems to have been played for laughs, it even has Sid James as a lorry driver. Then it ends all of a sudden. We never actually see those steps!

The Equalizer is not in my copy of David Thomson's book, but I found an article where he extolls the virtues of this Denzel Washington movie. It may have been the forerunner of many movies in the future, a one man vengeance mission, but I found it far too predictable and repetitive.