Page 47 - Seniorstoday January 2024 Issue

and racism. To make money off the land with a glamorous party, full of hotshot
when a new railroad is commissioned, a guests. The technical wizardry that
wily politician makes a plan to get rid of went into it, before the era of CGI is awe-
the town’s population. A black sheriff is inspiring.
appointed with the idea that the townsfolk
will be so offended, that they will leave. Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore:
Needless to say, the plan fails, but in the Before Martin Scorsese
process, one of the funniest films of all time became such a moghul,
takes shape, which offers fresh delights on making big, splashy
every repeat viewing. crime movies, he made
a small, sweet dramedy
Chinatown: about the recently
The neo-noir thriller widowed Alice, who
directed by the has to restart her life,
controversial Roman along with her 11-year-old son, Tommy. She
Polanski, starring embarks on a road trip to her hometown,
Jack Nicholson and planning to get singing gigs on the way to
Faye Dunaway, was pay for it. Ellen Burstyn played Alice and
nominated for 11 Oscars, won an Oscar for a role. Who could have
won for Best Original imagined Scorsese making a chick flick?
Screenplay and is often listed among
the greatest films of all time. The much- Death Wish:
imitated plot, is set in 1937 Los Angeles, Charles Bronson playing
where a private investigator Jake ‘J J’ Gittes a lone vigilante was
is hired by a woman called Evelyn to spy such a hit, that the
on her husband Hollis Mulwray, who she plot was imitated not
suspects of cheating on her. just in Hollywood, but
elsewhere too. In the
The Towering Inferno: Michael Winner film,
Hollywood went through he played Paul Kersey,
a phase of disaster films a mild-mannered
in the 1970s, and this architect, transformed into a killer of street
one directed by John criminals, after his wife is murdered and
Guillermin set high daughter raped by muggers. He stalks
standards. A winner of the streets by night shooting muggers,
three Oscars, the film which results in such a decrease in street
had an amazing line up crime, that the cops do not really want to
of stars including Paul Newman, Steve catch him. The film was criticised for its
McQueen, Faye Dunaway, William violence, but also appreciated by audiences
Holden, Fred Astaire and many more. The worried about increasing crime rates. The
plot was simple, 138-story glass skyscraper echoes of this film are still booming in
in the heart of San Francisco is being moves around the world—the mark of a
celebrated as the world’s tallest building, cult movie.

SENIORS TODAY | ISSUE #55 | JANUARY 2024 47