rosebette

I watched too outstanding but lesser known films last week, both on TCM On Demand. The first was The Long Night with Henry Fonda, Vincent Price, Ann Dvorak and Barbara Bel Geddes. I don't even know how to describe this film -- part noir, thriller, and "working man" as victim movie. (Perhaps one of the first of Fond'a "wrong man" roles). In any case, the performances, atmosphere, and the use of Beethoven's 7th symphony in the score, were remarkably compelling. I had seen it once before several years ago and liked it, and the second time around, I appreciated it even more. I saw The Man Who Watched Trains, a British film with Claude Rains made in the early 50s. I found it fascinating; Rains is a bookkeeper who unintentionally ends up on the run. He really captures the sense of this ordinary and orderly little man who all of a sudden is put in dangerous situations in which he may be either the victim or the one with the upper hand. He begins to really live a little for the first time, but also a little dangerously. The supporting cast was also excellent, particularly Marta Torn and Marius Goring. The color cinematography was outstanding on this one.

I just want to share this excerpt from Alan Jay Lerner's autobiography about a performance of Camelot after JFK's death. By the way, Louis Hayward was Arthur in this production, and Kathryn Grayson was Guenevere: 'Camelot' was then on the road, playing the Opera House in Chicago, a huge barn of a theater with over three thousand seats. I was told later what happened that night. 'The theater was packed. The verse quoted above is sung in the last scene. Louis Hayward was playing King Arthur. When he came to those lines, there was a sudden wail from the audience. It was not a muffled sob; it was a loud, almost primitive cry of pain. The play stopped, and for almost five minutes everyone in the theater - on the stage, in the wings, in the pit, and in the audience - wept without restraint. Then the play continued. . .'

I think Ben is misremembering the film. Power does a tango/flamenco style dance with Linda Darnell in The Mark of Zorro ​(dig that form-fitting costume!) and a sultry dance with Jean Peters in The Captain from Castile.​

Oh gosh, you're from my old stomping grounds. I grew up in Western Mass and went to UMass Amherst. We used to go the Pleasant St. in Amherst and the Academy of Music in Northampton all the time. I remember seeing ​Casablanca ​there, and the audience was reciting the dialogue along with the cast! Those were such good times. I got more joy out of those places than any $18.00 IMAX multiplex.

My husband and I saw this one last week-end and really enjoyed it. There were many funny moments, sort of a cross between O Brother Where Art Thou and Oceans 11. Tatum is a sympathetic character,and Daniel Craig nearly steals the picture, until that little waif sings "Country Roads." Considering the "rough" characters in this movie, surprisingly little vulgar language and no sex. I could take my mom and she'd enjoy it.

You left out my favorite Randolph Scott role -- the "Adam" who was on the desert island with Irene Dunne in My Favorite Wife. ​Actually, he has some nice comedy work in that one. I also have a soft spot for him in ​Jesse James.

I don't know if it says something about my "low brow" taste in movies or about Warner's energy, cast and pacing in the pre-code era, but I couldn't make it through Fitzcarraldo, but had no trouble sitting through Taxi, even though I had seen it before. Cagney was a real dynamo, but the supporting cast was great, too. I don't know the actress who played Loretta Young's roommate, but she was a scene-stealer.

I believe that it did. Don't get me started on superfluous language, as contemporary idiom is full of it. For instance, I hate the constant use of "each and every" -- both words mean the same thing.

The superfluous hyphen was being used in the U.K. first. The English site referenced its sue in Jane Eyre.

Good question. I'm afraid I had to go to a grammar site on the web for the answer. Apparently, the hyphen was used in "today" and "tonight" until the early 20th century.

Same here on Joel McCrea. I think he was an underrated and versatile actor. As far as "Who cares?" goes, I would very much care about being the gal being petted on the porch by him in "The More the Merrier." Lucky Jean Arthur in that one. I think he was one wholesome but also really sexy guy; in "Palm Beach Story," it's pretty obvious the he and the Colbert characters can't keep their hands off each other. I also shed a few tears for him at the end of "Colorado Territory," one of my favorite underrated Westerns.

I remember seeing this a couple of years ago when TCM highlighted women directors. I'm an adjunct at a public university and was considering showing clips to our union membership to illustrate how little times have changed for the "lower ranks" of academia. I actually thought of this movie today when the guy who is putting siding on my house bragged about his recent trip to Italy and complained about how he "had" to take his daughter to Orlando to visit Disney for her birthday every year. Meanwhile, I'm leaving for work wearing the jacket I bought at a thrift shop.

And the way Oberon's part is written, George Sand is a domineering "witch," which is not historically accurate. Also, one of Paul Muni's worst performances -- total ham. You can put the sound on during the musical interludes and turn it off during the dialogue.

Since we're talking about ​Only Angels Have Wings, ​this is a good place to write about the documentary Becoming Cary Grant​ that I watched last week, which is based on autobiographical notes Grant wrote while in LSD therapy. I found this film very compelling, providing many interesting insights and answers to some aspects of his life (his difficult relationships with women). The material about his mother was extremely moving. The documentary made me want to see some of his "darker" roles, such as None But the Lonely Heart​, which has some autobiographical qualities, as he was a "Bristol boy." For those looking for definitive evidence of bisexuality (or homosexuality), you won't find it in this film; while it relates his relationship with his mother to his sometimes difficult and uncomfortable relationships with women and does "play" a bit with some of his comic roles, there's no "outing." He comes across as a very private, articulate, and sometimes troubled man who was willing to explore himself and his past, quite in contrast to the confident, charming exterior he projected onscreen.

Also good work by Richard Barthelmess and Noah Beery, Jr.

As a film, A Song to Remember is so bad it almost makes me want to hate Chopin's music (which is hard to do).

I adore that hat -- and his performance in that film, one of his best.

Yes, the plot hole in ​Leave Her to Heaven​ -- that Gene Tierney would be so obsessed with Cornel Wilde that she'd be willing to kill, fall down a flight of stairs, frame her sister, etc., etc. If I'm going to be totally evil, it's not going to be for one of the most boring actors in the world.

I thought the question was how could a movie that involved so many good directors and had such a great cast end up so overlong and ultimately mediocre.

I had seen it many years ago and remember it's beautiful cinematography. I guess it was considered a failure when it was released. With the popularity of series like Poldark, I could imagine such a film would be a big hit now. Jones would have been perfect as Demelza. If' you've read Winston Graham, she physically resembles his description of that character.

I know what you mean. My grandmother, who had only an eighth grade education, read all the big novels of the day -- Anthony Adverse, Keys of the Kingdom, Gone with the Wind, etc. My grandfather, a French-Canadian immigrant, read Crime and Punishment in English and French. He was a millworker.

My spouse and I watched Daughters Courageous ​(1939) last night, which was better than my expectations (I'm not a big Lane sisters fan). He wasn't going to watch with me, but we got immersed in Claude Raines and John Garfield's performances. The entire cast was outstanding, some finely nuanced underplaying by Donald Crisp. Fay Bainter was so genuine in her last scene with Raines -- the love and the pain that he had caused really came through. The movie was probably one of the best examples of Warners' ensemble casting. The script was also especially well-written. As a college English teacher, I was taken aback by Priscilla Lane noticing that John Garfield's character mispronounced "abhorrent," and his excuse was that he had completed only 2 years of high school. I have college students who don't even know what that word means. At least Garfield knew how to use it in context! It makes one wonder whether the "less educated" audiences of yesteryear had better vocabularies than today's audiences.

Don't forget Erich Korngold, who was going to return to Austria, but instead stayed to compose the score of The Adventures of Robin Hood. He was claimed to have said, "Robin Hood saved my life."

The question is -- are people still reading Act One?

The price of movie tickets is too high. My husband and I only go when we get bonus passes from our credit card points because admission is now $13.00 for a standard evening show in our area (north of Boston, MA) and around $17.00-18.00 for IMAX or 3D. If I time it right and use an online subscription service, I can actually see a live theater, actor's equity show for $25.00, or a live symphony concert for around $20, so why should I want to pay $13-$18 for a "meh" movie. We also have OnDemand on Cable, so sometimes we can see a film we wanted to watch 6-10 months after release for $4.99 or even for free. Often, when we do that, we say, "Wow, I'm glad I didn't pay $13 to see that one!" This summer, we saw Dunkirk in the theaters, and probably that was the only movie worth paying full admission price for.