Reviews


G.I. Jane / Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon is, well, pretty Grand

I haven't watched G.I. Jane yet, but I have watched Grand Canyon. Agree with the first reviewer: the print is only 'okay', no doubt why this one's taken so long to be released. That said, I LOVED Grand Canyon, a unique film in the Lippert catalog (or anyone else's). Reed Hadley is directing a low-budget Western called Grand Canyon for a certain Mr. Robert L. Lippert, portrayed, interestingly enough, by Robert L. Lippert. Well, the first scene of the picture is filmed against the spacious backdrop of the gorgeous scenery of the Grand Canyon; the camera pulls back to reveal the usual cramped Nassour Studio indoor set, with a handful of fake rocks. Hadley realizes the whole thing is ridiculous, so he convinces 'The Old Man' (did anybody really call Mr. Lippert that?) to let him take the cast and crew, including script girl Margia Dean, makeup man good ol' Stanley Price, and assistant director Charles Williams (you know him, the little fellow that worked with Uncle Billy at the Bailey Bros. Building & Loan) out to the Grand Canyon - which is then portrayed, in the rest of the movie, by the backdrop, rear-projected stock, and big fake rocks. Uh, this is a spoof, I think. Anyway, leading man James Millican breaks his leg, and they're way out at the 'Grand Canyon', so local mule rancher Richard Arlen(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), who can't act (according to this script) subs for him, and falls in love with leading lady Mary Beth Hughes, who pretends to love him so that he can get through the love scenes, only she's REALLY fallin' for him, much to Millican's chagrin. Olin Howlin and Grady Sutton are around for comic relief, just in case the rest of it ain't funny enough for you. Joyce Compton is Mary Beth's best friend. This is actually a gem of a movie if you love Lippert films (some of us do). A SPOOF of low-budget filmmaking? Brilliant! There are two rotten songs, one called 'Serenade to a Mule'! We get to actually see call sheets from Lippert Productions! The big action scene is a DREAM sequence lifted en toto from Lipperts' The Return of Wildfire! Million-dollar Dialog: I thought I'd die laughing at that fella tryin' to play the love scene with you this morning. He was about as convincing as a Democrat in Vermont!' Totally worth a watch. Hadley is a hoot as the put-upon director, and the film's a real treat.