Members
Popular Content
Showing content with the highest reputation on 09/26/2021 in Posts
-
The movie gets it's title from the audience who is hell bound while watching. Actually I don't really mean that. Eddie gave us as choice, it is either "awful trash" or it is "really fun trash." Definitely the latter. At least we get all that funky music and exaggerated sound effects. And the exterior location shots were cool, though certainly not beautiful. John Russell has an extraordinarily powerful screen presence, a big guy with chiseled face a cartoon-y aspect. A cross between Dick Tracy and Joe Palooka (although use your imagination a little with the latter). I winced heavily at the nasty scene when the girl got slapped around. I was actually disturbed with that. Showing a huge lug like that kicking a dame around. Stanley Adams as Herbert Fay is breathtakingly unprepossessing but I sort of like his acting though it was anything but great. I'm not sure I was paying attention at full throttle since I don't seem to have much to say about the girls. They were both pretty good. I loved the scene where one of them was trying to fit into her dress and someone knocks on the door. That was very funny.. Hey, this movie gets better and better just talking about it. ///5 points
-
Joe, fact is I always watch Noir Alley on Sunday morning (Saturday night doesn't work for me ), and since I'm an Anglican minister I have to fit it in with my church obligations. Sometimes I try to tie in the sermon with the moral lessons depicted in film noir. Oh, not really. But I am busy on Sundays ( nothing to do with church, though) and often don't have time to post here until, yes, a few days later.4 points
-
Rock Around the Clock 1956 Around the World in 80 Days 1956 Around the World Under the Sea 1966 Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush 19684 points
-
One Week (1920) -- spinning house A Damsel in Distress (1937) -- spinning tube, spinning floor Shall We Dance (1937) -- roller skates, circular ring I Love Melvin (1953) -- more roller skates in a circle The Four Hundred Blows (1959) -- spinning amusement park ride My Sister Eileen (1942/1955) -- conga line West Side Story (1961) -- dance at the gym ("'round she goes, and where she stops, nobody knows") 8-1/2 (1963) -- final scene The Third Man (1949) -- ferris wheel Superman (1978) -- turning back time4 points
-
4 points
-
I really liked Hell Bound. The performances were good. John Russell was ruthless as Jordan and I thought June Blair was very good as Paula. She is sexy and at first seems to be after every guy, but she shows real affection for Stuart Whitman as Eddie. I liked her scene with the dying child as well. The plan was an interesting premise and I liked the opening sequence showing how the plan would work. The ending sequence was great on Terminal Island seeing the abandoned cars all piled up. The locations added a lot to this film. I have never heard of this movie so I am glad it was shown as it is very enjoyable.4 points
-
The Sting (Paul Newman runs that Merry-Go-Round) Strangers on a Train (scary scene)4 points
-
Hell Bound was better than I expected and worth viewing. A couple of years ago I got hooked on Lawman with John Russel. He was fairly good in it, if a little stiff. However, I think stiff is his normal acting characteristic. The crime in Hell Bound seemed a little too complicated, which is why it fell apart in the end. As for the ending, Russell could have just moved to the other end of the car. I wondered about the worker on the ground not checking the car before giving crane operator the OK to drop the junk load. Also, couldn't the crane operator see into the car? Another Bel Air movie is The Girl in Black Stockings, also released in 1957. Better than Hell Bound. It was filmed in Kanab UT, primarily at the Parry Lodge. The Lodge is an actual place and has been used by many productions as a place to stay when filming in the area - Glen, Bryce and Zion Canyons for example. Stuart Whitman had a small role in Girl.4 points
-
4 points
-
Ahhh, childhood nostalgia, it plays a huge role with many of my favourite films, too, MissW. So if you first saw WC then, well, then I understand how that can colour your feelings in favour of this musical. Which brings me to the Road films, which you say you don't care for. As it so happens I first saw most of them when I was young. Therefore my feelings towards what I consider to be the best of them (primarily those made during the war years) are very favourable. I love the chemistry between Bing and Bob, I love their breaking the "fourth wall" when they talk directly to the audience and the various "inside" jokes, I enjoy the often zany humour, I even like some of the talking animals that address the camera (thankfully there weren't that many of them). Hope was fast and funny with great timing in those days, particularly if he had good material, and Crosby was at the peak of his laid back charm and was almost as funny, I feel, as Bob. Yes, I can wax quite nostalgically over these films.4 points
-
I just wanted to op in here and say thank goodness for Eddie Muller. The film selection he brought us this week is an example of why I admire him. Just when I get to feeling smug about my knowledge of film noir, Mr. Muller brings us a selection which, not only had I never seen, I'd never even heard of Hell Bound. Another thing I love about Muller is that it's apparent he writes his own intros/outros, and while that may be true for some of the other hosts, I just don't see it. I get the impression they're simply reading copy off the teleprompter, which was written by an intern. Eddie Muller, on the other hand, comes across as geuinely knowledgeable. By the way- and perhaps it's already been discussed in this thread- what is the deal with the stutter in that print of Hell Bound? Is this perhaps an artifact of worn-out sprocket holes in the print from which the transfer was made? It's funny, because I didn't really mind it. This stutter seems appropriate for a film like this, along with things like muddy sound and poor splicing.3 points
-
A few random thoughts on Hell Bound. I'll try not to write too voluminously. It held my interest, but probably wouldn't have if it had been much longer. None of the actors were very good, but that's ok, because the kind of acting they did sort of fit with the B movie style. Actually, I'd call it a C movie. But that's ok, sometimes I like C movies. I really liked the way the lead female character started out as a potential femme fatale but then sort of evolved into a nice sweet girl who loves little kids and just wants to marry the decent intern ( I didn't know interns, as in student doctors, drove ambulances, but maybe they did back then.) It was kind of unexpected and refreshing. Also nice that SPOILER she did not die from Jordan's vicious knife attack. Best scene in the movie was the final one at the trolley car graveyard. What Alain Silver calls a "terrain vague". First the trolley cars all piled up on each other, than the huge pile of scrap metal beside them. You'd think Jordan could have found somewhere to effectively hide in all that, rather than running round and jumping into a train car destined for huge jagged chunks of steel. Oh well, he was a nasty piece of work anyway. By the way, I am closely related to someone who's a type 1 diabetic, and even I got confused by the whole thing with the Stanley Adams ( ?) character, the medical officer who was supposed to fake a diabetic "low", then inject himself with an insulin overdose ( which makes your blood sugar plummet and can cause seizures, loss of consciousness, and yes, death ). I couldn't figure out whether he 'd had too much insulin or not enough or was sick from the insulin or from his blood sugar being too high -- although the death from that is actually a lot more gradual. Anyway, if I, the mother of a type 1 diabetic, couldn't figure out what was going on with all that, I doubt most of the viewers could. The foot /slipping off the shoes thing was a bit silly. Became kind of a running joke.3 points
-
3 points
-
3 points
-
I love Roller Boogie. No, it's not a good movie by any means. The leading actor is horrible. But I still find it enjoyable to watch. I love that the main conflict between Linda Blair and her parents is that she wants to give up her flautist scholarship at Juilliard to devote herself solely to roller disco. Wasn't the contest only during the summer? What does that have to do with starting her education at Juilliard in the fall? But who cares. Plot isn't important in Roller Boogie. Since I wasn't alive in the 1970s, there's no nostalgia. I just find the camp and corn of this film to be very entertaining. I love the roller disco films. And I also love Linda Blair's kit car.3 points
-
Ho hum. I recall Eduardo saying something like Don't think this is amateur hour. But it pretty much was. This guy was about as much a criminal mastermind as Dudley Do Right. The actors he hired the first time around did a much better job than real folks did. Should have stuck with the actors. I don't mind trashy low-budget flicks, but this one was pretty much by the numbers, except for the last five minutes or so, the chase through the junkyard and the bad guy's death by heavy metal. That was kind of neat. I checked June Blair's old Playboy shoot on the net and she didn't expose very much anyway. Playboy was pretty tame in its early years. At least foot fetishists will enjoy the movie. About a week ago the Yankees were trailing the Red Sox and Blue Jays by a couple of games. But the Bronx bastards are now in second place in the wild card race. Things don't look good for the Jays, though they still have a narrow window to pull it out.2 points
-
2 points
-
2 points
-
the Universal opening logo---a plane going around the earth...which s also going around Casino Royale--round bed, going around Strangers on a Train--going around gets out of contro l round and round used to hypnotize...The Woman in Green... the popular whirlygig thing method and the swirling water2 points
-
I guess in terms of a carefully planned heist gone awry, Hell Bound does bear some similarities to The Killing. But there are many noirs about carefully planned heists that go awry, so I'm not sure it's any more similar to The Killing than to any of the others . And the "gang" in The Killing, even though they're a pretty disparate group, seem a little more cohesive than the people Jordan ( the John Russell character) tries to co-opt. For one thing, there's no harpie-like female character like Marie Windsor's to throw a very twisted wrench into the works. ( In fact, ironically, the female lead in Hell Bound undergoes a transformation in which she ends up turning into a sincerely "good" character.) Main lesson of the story: If trying to organize a complicated heist, do not enlist the participation of a type 1 diabetic , nor a heroin addict.2 points
-
I instantly thought of revolving restaurants— IT HAPPENED AT THE WORLD’S FAIR (Space Needle) COOL RUNNINGS (the same structure but the one in Calgary) GIVE HER A RING (1934)2 points
-
Omar Sharif Next: Oscar nomination/ win for non-English speaking role2 points
-
2 points
-
2 points
-
2 points
-
Naturally I was greatly concerned when I saw the title of one of the video titles on You Tube, The Dukes of Hazzard Wardrobe Malfunction With Daisy Dukes. I mean, who wouldn't be? Imagine the eternal embarrassment (pant, pant) that Catherine Bach must have felt when something went wrong as she wore those shorty shorts while making the show? And what if there was photographic evidence of same, I dearly hoped, as I clicked on this video, to further enhance and immortalize the blushing experience that this actress may have had on, hopefully, a number of occasions? Those pixs may actually be on this video, I prayed to God, helping us to agonize with the lady's blushing embarrassment at the time. Yes, I had to see this video and I had to see it NOW (!!!) to know in excruciating detail, I hoped, with (please, PLEASE!), PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE (!) of the bloop moment times of the actress when something went wrong with her denim shorts.' Now I should tell you that I never watched The Dukes of Hazzard during its seven seasons run but I did know of Catherine Bach and her shorts. Well imagine my irritation when I sat through this YT video and while waiting for news of the wardrobe disaster was first forced to endure drivel about the show's popularity and its two male actors and how they first met in a washroom (yeh, but what about Daisy's shorts?) and about the General Lee. Finally (FINALLY!) at about the 6 minute mark of the 8 and a half minute video the narrator talks about Daisy's shorts. Yes, Yes, YES! Only to tell me, much to my disappointment, that the network was concerned about wardrobe malfunctions so forced the actress to wear skin toned pantyhose to avoid serious accidents and her shorts were later put on display in the Smithsonian Institute. That's it? That's the "wardrobe malfunction" you warned us about in the video title? No story to tell? What's worse, NO PHOTOS OF NO STORY TO TELL? Curses! Foiled again by yet another click bait title on one of those darned You Tube videos! And there are plenty of them, with titles like The Tragic Life and Death Of . . . (fill in the blank) only to hear ten minutes about an actor or actress with a productive life with the usual ups and downs who eventually died at age 92. Yeh, so where's the tragedy? He died? Is that it? Hey, that death stuff happens to everybody sooner or later. This person had, from what I could hear, a pretty good life. No tragedy there. Obviously "tragedy", like "malfunctioned wardrobe" is yet more click bait to get us to watch the videos. And there are plenty of other teaser video titles, too, with names like HOW SEAN CONNERY GOT TRICKED INTO SOMETHING DISGUSTING ON THE SET OF THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING (haven't watched it yet) or HOW JOHN WAYNE HAD TOO MUCH TO DRINK WHILE MAKING DONOVAN'S REEF AND OFFENDED SOME CATHOLIC PRIESTS (no, I didn't make that title up). Many of these videos, maybe even most of them, have cheat teaser titles that don't amount to anything in the video but they succeed in making us rubes click on them anyway, Well, I've gotten smart about these video titles and don't click on most of them anymore. Still, once in a while I do get burned, such as my natural concern for any embarrassment Catherine Bach's Daisy Duke may have felt only to find out that there was none. And, worse still, there was no PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE of that non wardrobe embarrassment event, as well! ARAAG! Anyone else find these You Tube videos annoying or am I the only poor sucker around here to be lured in by them?2 points
-
Yes, I know, but that's a lousy comment on the rest of us, or many of us, at least, for wanting to see the once beautiful looking more ordinary, just like the rest of us (with the exception of cigar joe's wife, of course, who is still a head turner).2 points
-
A few more film producers: Jack Warner (Warner Bros.) Harry Cohn (Columbia) Howard Hughes (RKO) Walter Wanger (various studios) Val Lewton (RKO) Robert Evans (Paramount) Erich Pommer (UFA, Paramount, MGM) Carlo Ponti Sam Spiegel Joseph E. Levine2 points
-
The purpose of a lot of these type of images are truly mean spirited, many of them falling into the "Look How The Once Beautiful Have Now Fallen" category. A lot of this stuff is on You Tube.2 points
-
2 points
-
Of course, and she's still a stunner (they wanted her to run for Miss Montana late 1960s) 2005 From around 2016 below2 points
-
"Who's that lady you're dancing with?" "That's no lady, that's my wife." I think it's from Henny Youngman. I hear some of these gags, or just the first part, in old movies and I imagine that generation heard it first in a movie, or knew it from vaudeville routines, and then used it so often everyone knew what it meant, even if only part of the phrase was spoken. Sort of like we all know "Not that there's anything wrong with that," from Seinfeld, but future generations may not get it. You know who stole a lot of those wise guy cracks? Bugs Bunny.2 points
-
I watched Daisy Kenyon last night and was pleasantly surprised. It was listed as a love triangle and given two stars, but I thought it was much more than that and better. Joan Crawford plays an artist with her own apartment which she pays for herself with money she earned from her own business which she happens to be very good at -- she proudly tells someone who implies she's a kept woman. She is having a long affair with Dana Andrews who is married. She is also seeing an Army officer freshly home from the war, played by Henry Fonda. Naturally we want to root for Henry, who is meltingly loveable, rather than Dana who is a jerk who calls waiters honey bunch. But we find they're all three much more complicated than that. Joan has all sorts of righteous feminist things to say like when Dana is doing some mansplaining about what she really means and she snaps "Don't tell me what I mean!" and she doesn't let the men make her decisions for her, even though they keep on trying. Dana Andrews proves to have a good side, particularly when it comes to protecting his children from his abusive wife and Henry leans toward depression and PTSD. The pace accelerates until we get to a really excellent ending.2 points
-
Haiku? TCM, no more Mankiwiecz, vanished, like smoke What's on HBO? ____________ Movies? Disappeared Like the snows of yesteryear Get a real job, Ben _____________ Move the camera Why? No real reason at all That's the final straw ______________ You guys are so mean With logical arguments Making ootsy yawn ______________ Here comes the new guy Just who does he think he is? Low post-count acorn2 points
-
2 points
-
Roland Young: David Copperfield (1935), The Philadelphia Story (1940), Ruggles of Red Gap (1935) Next: Paula Rogers -- Julia Brougham -- Katrin Holstrom2 points
-
Hmm. Well, first, I want to thank you, Tom, for explaining so specifically and so articulately just why you don't like White Christmas. I really appreciate it when someone takes the time and effort, when talking about a film, to say WHY they like or don't like it. It's easy to just go, " Oh, I love The Big Heat " (which I do, ) or " I really don't like Giant " (which I don't ) , without bothering to state the reasons why one feels the way one does about the film in question, whatever it may be ( obviously I just picked those two at random...) Second: As someone who does like musicals, I should make it clear that I agree with you about Bing Crosby, in that, fine singer though he was, I don't really care for most of the musicals he was in - which are legion, I think. In fact, those two, Holiday Inn and White Christmas, are the only two Bing Crosby musicals I actively like ---oh, and I guess High Society, if only for the lovely song, "True Love". I agree that pretty much everything Fred and Gene were in is better than most Bing vehicles. ( I'm really not enamoured with all those "Road" movies.) Third: ( sorry, I didn't really intend to start counting down my reply to you like this) : Ok, you can say W.C. is a bit fromage -y, if you must, and ok, yes, it does have maybe overwhelmingly slick production values. But ! I still maintain it's got great music, exceptionally good songs, thanks to Irving Berlin ( and there are several in W.C. that aren't in Holiday Inn ) and really lively, fun, dance numbers. And when all's said and done, for me, if a musical's got outstanding music and dance numbers, I'm all over it, baby. Oh, and fourth: Full disclosure: I first saw White Christmas as a kid. ( see my above post about all that - actually, I know you have.)2 points
-
2 points
-
2 points
-
BARTON KEYES posted the schedule of Greenstreet films in the Star of the Month section of the TCM Programs sub-forum. Looks like a lot if good stuff.2 points
-
2 points
-
2 points
-
One of my favourites is the the 1966 film A Man Fpr All Seasons. Paul Scofield as Thomas More squaring off against Henry VII.2 points
-
I think we should brace ourselves for his response, which is sure to be something devastating, such as "Whatever"2 points
-
Thank you, Cigarjoe and others, for the explanation. Now it makes sense! Knowing Justine is really in charge makes me like this flick even more. I noticed Desmond watching Justine as she chose the next victim, but I didn't go far enough in assuming she was the master (mistress) manipulator. Still....Justine's motivation is revenge, a twisted need to destroy beauty, and enjoyment of the glamorous life of the stage magician? I guess that makes as much sense as anything...1 point
-
I have two annoyances in the same category, and yes I am also bothered by the "Life and Sad Ending of" vids that have no sad ending. Just clickbait. First, when searching youtube for titles that never have been and never will be on DVD such as "Child of Manhattan", I will see something labeled "Child of Manhattan Full Movie". Sometimes it will be. But most of the time it is just a list of two minute videos and maybe the first is a clip from "Child of Manhattan". The second is when I am reading an online newspaper like the Washington Post. There will be a bunch of these "See what Star X looks like NOW" clickbait ads. And although I have never clicked on one, it is obvious that some computer graphics program has been used to make the person look hideous and almost inhuman. Before the internet I could just choose not to read People Magazine. Now its ilk is everywhere.1 point
-
1 point
-
?? don't like "White Christmas" ? What's with you guys? It's an utterly charming, entertaining, enjoyable movie. And you don't even have to be someone who celebrates Christmas to like it. Let me count the ways it's good: It's fun and good-natured. It doesn't ask you to take it seriously, it's shamelessly unrealistic and silly, like most movie musical plots are. I don't ask for or even necessarily want seriousness in a musical . ( ok, lots of exceptions to that...West Side Story, Cabaret, even Oklahoma has its dark moments.....but most musicals are fluffy and fun, and there's nothing wrong with that.) The 4 leads are likable and talented. Bing and Rosemary are fantastic singers, Danny can sing and dance and make us laugh, and Vera-Ellen dances the pants off everyone . That number near the beginning, "The Best Things Happen While You're Dancing", is so delightful to watch, truly good dancing, great, fun choreography, and such a catchy, sweet tune. Which brings me to the main reason "White Christmas" is a wonderful movie: The music. all the songs are by the great Irving Berlin, one of the best songwriters of the 20th century. And the dances they devise to go with this great music are a perfect match. Musicals are all about the quality of the music, which in the case of "White Christmas" is first -rate, followed closely by the cleverness and skill involved in the dance numbers, ditto for "White Christmas". Plus, as I said, it's fun and unabashedly light and frothy. Truly a "feel good" movie, I think anyone who doesn't like it probably doesn't like musicals, period.1 point
-
Ah yes, the secret love-child of Rodney Dangerfield and Andie MacDowell. (He later changed his name to Roddy McDowall to hide the truth.) 🙂1 point
-
None of his own shows earned him an Emmy, either, surprisingly. He wasn't even nominated for his first sitcom. It wasn't until his guest appearance on The Big Bang Theory did he finally win an Emmy.1 point
