JamesJazGuitar
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Posts posted by JamesJazGuitar
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Here is a Lang noir film about a painter.
![Amazon.com: Scarlet Street: Kino Classics Edition [Blu-ray]: Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett, Dan Duryea, Fritz Lang: Movies & TV](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61eR0cVsMKL._SX342_.jpg)
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2 hours ago, LornaHansonForbes said:
The funny thing is, I’ve been to Santa Barbara and as I remember it, it’s really a MAIN STREET town. Everything branches off of Main Street, and I didn’t get that sense from the film (It came off as a bit more labyrinthine) but at the same time I’ve only been there a couple of times in my life.
The main street in Santa Barbara is State Street. I.e. most everything branches off of State Street.
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36 minutes ago, kingrat said:
I also remember the ending of Night Moves as very confusing, particularly whether one character ends up alive or dead. It has that very 70s "We're MUCH too cool, or too stoned, to craft a clear resolution for this film" way. On the other hand, it is fun to see the very young Melanie Griffith and James Woods.
Did you see the TCM presentation about Night Moves? The main point was that the film was about the detective and what he is going through. The overall who-done-it part of the plot is like a MacGuffin in a Hitchcock film. Thus I don't think it was done to be confusing because "we're much too cool,,,, etc.), but instead because "clear resolution" was not the main reason for making the film in the first place.
Also, there are noir\crime films from the classic-noir era that were confusing and had untidy endings. Films like the 40s The Big Sleep were confusing and had contrived endings, due to the Production Code. So while they appear to be a "clear resolution" if one looks closely they're more contrived than clear. E.g. Eddie Mars wasn't the one that killed Regan, it was Carmen!
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7 minutes ago, Susan Hopkins said:
Interesting to read that six year old Renee Chen was Formosan/Taiwanese and playing a Vietnamese child. All Asians Are Interchangeable trope strikes again…
I'm half-Asians and I don't see a problem here. The profession here ACTING. The only requirement I would have as head of casting is that the actor is convincing in the role their assigned.
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My first reaction was: Why is someone posting a photo of Jim Carrey in a running suit?
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On 7/21/2021 at 7:31 PM, lydecker said:
Poor Alicia Malone having to host this drivel.
I agree. I just turn to another station or turn off the sound until the next movie starts, but poor Alicia has no place to hide!
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I like The Divorce of Lady X, and there is chemistry between Oberon and Olivier. While Olivier screen persona wasn't much of a "fit" for comedy, he does well enough.
The film is better than the next Oberon romantic comedy, The Cowboy and the Lady with Gary Cooper (despite Cooper's better sense of comic timing than Olivier).
I'm a big fan of Oberon and she was in many fine films, but like a lot of actresses at her "level" she never rose to be a top 1 - 3 actress at a major studio. Her best years were while married to Korda (39 - 45), and the United Artist films they made with Korda as the producer.
One of my top 3 actress beauties, ever since I first saw her in the 1934 film The Scarlet Pimpernel.
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13 hours ago, NoShear said:
If I correctly recall reading, Paul McCartney was quoted as saying he appreciated those who thought enough to put him on the top of music polls, but he was not a virtuoso on bass.
That typed, he's still considered one of the most important players of the electric instrument to my knowledge, having brought some quality to an impressive breadth of popular music.
When I was living with that jazz musician roommate, he really liked McCartney's bass playing. E.g. he would say; listen to a simple song like She Came in Through the Bathroom Window; (just A to D, mostly), and the lines Paul is playing. I.e. most of the musical interest in The Beatles was Paul's bass lines, and then Ringo's drumming.
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54 minutes ago, misswonderly3 said:
But I thought Alfredo was a horrible person who deserved to pay for the murder of his partner
Nice write up, but I'm surprised you would label Alfredo a horrible person. Maybe I missed something but when Alfredo committed the murder, didn't he believe he was justified? I.e. that Luidas had indeed cheated and betrayed him? As you mention Alfredo should have done a lot more due-diligence to ensure any action he took was based on sound info. But does not doing so make one "a horrible person"? I don't think so. It makes them a noir protagonist. Of course maybe I'm just splitting hairs here.
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4 hours ago, MovieCollectorOH said:
Elvis. I see him as more of a musician-turned-character actor, and given the latitude to do his thing and "play himself". I wouldn't want it any other way. Cheesy?? Absolutely! Collecting them all if I can.
I agree with this. Which is why my favorite Elvis films are those that break from the standard formula and \ or that have other solid actors in major roles (like King Creole).
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1 hour ago, Allhallowsday said:
Tastes are easy to develop. Now playing an instrument takes TALENT. You play guitar in a Jazz band? That takes talent! I'm impressed.
I appreciate the complement. Yea, I play in a jazz band but not as a pro; I just play art houses and other places (mostly private parties), for no pay.
I'm not so sure how much talent I have. I grew up with an Asian tiger-mom and she forced playing an instrument on my older brother and I. At age 10 I played the violin and took lessons (from a violist in the NBC orchestra who can be heard in the theme music on Bonanza). Mom was a beast, and I would be disciplined if I couldn't keep up with the lessons. So I learned music theory and slight reading. Once I became a teen rebel, at 16 , I ran away from home and I wasn't interested in playing any instruments. It wasn't until I was 20 or so that I picked up a guitar since my roommate was a college jazz musician. I didn't feel I was a guitarist, especially a jazz guitarist, until I was in my early 30s.
Bottom line; it took a lot effort and discipline since I believe I lacked so called natural talent.
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9 minutes ago, chaya bat woof woof said:
Is it true that Marilyn had an affair with Yves Montand while making the movie? I've seen the movie also.
This from Wiki:
In 1951, he (Montand) married Simone Signoret, and they co-starred in several films throughout their careers. The marriage was, by all accounts, fairly harmonious, lasting until her death in 1985, although Montand had a number of well-publicized affairs, notably with Marilyn Monroe, with whom he starred in one of her last films,
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1 hour ago, Shank Asu said:
Yves Montand- the French singer?
Yes, but he was born in Italy to Italian parents. They moved to France when he was 2 years old (1923), because of Italy's Fascist regime and the fact his dad was a communist.
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52 minutes ago, NoShear said:
As Eucalyptus P. Millstone, seemingly a connoisseur of far reaching styles of music in his own right, already pointed out: You possess quite the expanse of listening tastes, Allhallowsday!
When Allhallowsday first came on this forum it wasn't long because someone asked him if he was a disk jockey or some other profession in the music industry since his listening tastes were so broad. Impressive indeed.
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1 hour ago, filmnoirguy said:
The baby in Jane Greer's arms is none other than Jeff Bridges making his film debut.
What "baby"? I don't see no stinking baby! Jeff Bridges was 2 years old in his film debut.
I only see a poster, and that young man in the girl's arms (who I assume is Greer), is Dennis O'Keefe. Here is one with Jeff.
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I just finished Paper Doll, a Robert B. Parker novel with Spenser the P.I. My small local community park installed a book-box where so community members can trade books to read. I had read a lot of the Parker Spenser novels so it was nice to find Paper Doll in the book box. Now I have to remember to put some books into the box!
I wish one of the T.V. stations know for showing older T.V. shows (e.g. ME-TV), would show Spenser: For Hire. I liked the show:
An American crime drama series based on Robert B. Parker's Spenser novels. The series, developed for TV by John Wilder and starring Robert Urich, was broadcast on ABC from September 20, 1985 until May 7, 1988.
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1 hour ago, BingFan said:
I remember it well and wish TCM were still using it -- "Look for the Silver Lining." One of Jerome Kern's best melodies, performed a great singer/trumpeter, Chet Baker.
Fine very old tune (1919) song that with moving lyrics, a fine melodies and in the right hands can really swing due to a very "modern" harmonic structure (for a pre-30s tune).
Baker did multiple versions of the song, some were he sings and some not. Here is an instrumental version.
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2 hours ago, LonesomePolecat said:
Great idea! Gotta have Dan Duryea selling popcorn
I really wish Dan Duryea and Gloria Grahame had made a film together especially a noir.
Grahame did make films with Mitchum (2 noirs), Bogart (1 noir) but for gritty \ noir films she was mostly teamed with Glenn Ford since both were under contract with Columbia.
Duryea \ Grahame; missed opportunity.
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18 minutes ago, Dargo said:
WHAT?! No love for THIS one here???... King Creole.
This is my favorite Elvis film. Solid cast, especially Carolyn Jones, Walter Matthau, Dean Jagger and always-good-as-a-punk Vic Morrow, with director Michael Curtiz at the helm.
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1 hour ago, Hibi said:
This film is a hoot! Wish they could find the missing footage......
Yea, the film should have been re-titled as Eleven Women, since scenes for 2 actresses were entirely cut from the film.
Myrna plays a not-so-good-girl in this one. I like nasty Myrna in pre-code films since after Thin Man, she played good-gals, the ideal wife, etc...
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1 hour ago, Hibi said:
Yes, I've seen it, but not in a long time. Similar, I think, to the film Scott did with Jane Greer that I can't remember the title. Similar, due to the sappy character Scott plays in both (at least I think so, I've forgotten a lot of the plot) Would like to see this again. Was it Paramount or RKO?
The Scott\Greer film is The Company She Keeps. It is a drama and not really a crime\noir film. I only point this out since I wish those two were in a gritty noir film with at least one playing a femme fatale.
It is an RKO film, released in 1951; (thus TCM should be able to lease it, unlike a Paramount film).
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1 minute ago, Moe Howard said:
Individually, yes it has. In books, magazines and television. The story as told in the film JFK is just a stew of all these 'stories'.
For the record, I haven't formed a final opinion. Oswald could have done it. I mean people win the lottery all the time.
If you've spent time on the range, you know a couple shots could have been taken from the book depository, and as the movie points out, the approach is the obvious opportunity. You'll also know that the "grassy knoll" is the no-brainer location to shoot from. You could hit him with a rock from there. But, if what is hypothesized in the film, a government operation, you can bet your last dollar it'll be major pooch screw, that requires a major whitewashing.
As you come to know me, you'll find I'm agonistic towards most everything and anything. I.e. I try hard to have no opinion unless I can confirm I have reliable sources of information and I have studied them at length with others I respect. I do this for the research projects I'm assigned on (e.g. my current project, the impact of Covid-19 on workers comp system), but on areas outside my expertise, while I like debating possibilities and theories, I try hard not to form a conclusion.
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1 hour ago, Moe Howard said:
Yes. Multiple times.
Is it that the story has in fact been told numerous time previously that you find objectionable?
The story as told in JFK has not been told numerous times. That is at the heart of what makes the film nonsense.
A bunch of made up theories, wrapped around historical facts (which have been told numerous times), with a weak lead actor and slack direction.
(oh and I'm not saying these theories are nonsense, but just how they are presented).
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Just now, TopBilled said:
Their humor is of course derivative of the Bond series, in much the same way that Mel Brooks never comes up with an original idea and spoofs things that have come before.
True; I'm not much of a fan of Mel Brooks. The only film I really like is Young Frankenstein, but that is because it pays homage to the Universal films that I enjoy so much.
I love Get-Smart but my understanding is that Buck Henry was more responsible for that than Mel Brooks.
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Noir Alley
in General Discussions
Posted
Tonight the film is Cause for Alarm. A 1951 Loretta Young MGM film with Barry Sullivan. Running at only 71 minutes which is rather odd for a 50s MGM film with a star as big as Young.