John Gordon Movies

This isn't a film about a singer from the Lone Star state. "Texas Tenor" is a style of playing the saxophone which brings out its big sound and biggest volume. This documentary does a creditable job of exploring the life and times of the popularly unknown jazz and R&B saxophone legend Illinois Jacquet. He has played with most of the greats and almost single-handedly developed a rompin'-stompin' saxophone sound which has been a feature of great R&B ever since. A virtuoso performer with masterful phrasing, he became a star in the 1940s under the tutelage of Lionel Hampton, who had him change from alto to tenor sax and then gave him the opportunity to record an epochal solo in Flying Home. In addition to past and current performance and backstage footage, many jazz and rhythm and blues greats comment on Jacquet's playing and his place in music history. Some jazz-knowledgeable reviewers, evidently hoping for an entirely different and more erudite treatment, expressed disappointment in this documentary, others lauded it as one of the best ever made. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Perhaps William Shakespeare meant to have Lady Macbeth perform her sleepwalking scene in the nude -- it was this X-rated scene and the film's much-publicized spurts of violence, rather than the brilliant performances of Jon Finch as Macbeth and Francesca Annis as his Lady, that lured crowds to Roman Polanski's 1972 adaptation of Macbeth. Only a few critics glommed onto the most impressive aspect of Polanski's version: as Macbeth and his wife sink deeper and deeper into the morass of their murderous ambitions, they age and wither before our eyes (Shakespeare's play does cover several years, but this is usually forgotten or ignored by many actors and directors). Macbeth was financed and released by Playboy, which naturally necessitated a fold-out spread on "the witches of Cawdor." The original Shakespearean text was adapted for the screen by Polanski and Kenneth Tynan. Despite an excellent first week, Macbeth ended up in the red, compelling Hugh Hefner to think twice about future motion-picture projects. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi