JamesJazGuitar
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Posts posted by JamesJazGuitar
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2 hours ago, ElCid said:
While I like Out of the Past, I prefer Mitchum and Greer in The Big Steal. Not a Noir, but an entertaining mystery movie.
I really enjoy both but Out of the Past is the better film IMO. Note that William Bendix would work with Mitchum, 3 years later in Macao.
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1 hour ago, ElCid said:
What does all this sports talk have to do with Noir Alley? Did I miss something?
You didn't miss anything. With regards to the Mitchum Crossfire, this was followed up by Out of the Past, making Mitchum a major star.
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5 hours ago, Sepiatone said:
The term I was referring to was "hate crime". Which didn't come into common use until the '80's. Until then a crime was just a crime. regardless of your feelings about the victim's creed or color.
It'd be inconsiderate(as I was taught) to interrupt anything or anybody. Hell. I don't really think you need to INTERPRET it!
Sepiatone
Yea, I made another spelling blunder. I'm just going to put you on ignore but I only do that with you!
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1 hour ago, Dargo said:
Sure, they were WAY off the mark with their inclusion of Psycho on it (once again and for the record...Norman Bates is NOT a "transvestite" and thus those in the LGBTQ community SHOULD have absolutely NO qualms with this flick AT ALL),
I wish I had seen the discussion on Psycho. As you know the "T" in LGBTQ is for transgender and not transvestite. The two are very different.
Anyhow, trying to claim Psycho is problematic as it relates to transgender or transvestite is WAY off the mark.
The Castle film, Homicidal would have been a better choice but even that film really doesn't cover either someone that claims to be transgender or a transvestite.
(and yes, I do say "claims to be" because to me gender is biological and physical and not defined by what is in one's mind).
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1 hour ago, Sepiatone said:
So, who claimed it wasn't?
I mean, why do ya think my great grandfather came here from Poland in 1893?
Sepiatone
To me your post was confusing as well: so it would be odd for a detective 40 years earlier to think of the case in that term.
I guess it all comes down to how literal one wishes to interrupt "in that term"; yes the term hate-crime wasn't used, but clearly the police captain was able to think about such crimes; violence toward someone only because of their race\religion\background. The captain goes on to explain how his Irish grandfather was beaten and killed in America just for being Irish. The captain also admits his shame in being so slow to pick-up on the motive given what happened to this grandfather.
So the captain clearly was able to "think of the case" in the terms of the senseless-crime-based-on-background, based on his personal experiences, but of course wouldn't use the actual term "hate crime".
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Power and Fontaine:
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11 hours ago, Herman Bricks said:
Hi Judith, my best wishes to you. I agree that Tyrone Power was special, and in an era with many great stars he always stood out. One aspect of his screen persona that I always liked, was that in spite of his overwhelming good looks and acting talent, he had an "everyman" quality that made him very relatable. I also really liked his voice. I think that George Clooney, among present-day stars embodies the same qualities. Clooney reminds me very much of Tyrone Power, they have a similar Midwestern USA accent, are both handsome but Clooney and Power both act like real, normal people.
My favorite Tyrone Power performances:
MARK OF ZORRO and NIGHTMARE ALLEY
I agree about this "everyman" quality that Power was able to bring to his screen persona.
I also find interesting that your two favorite Power performances are ones where the character he plays are anything but an "everyman" type of person.
Of course in Mark of Zorro, he is play-acting as a spoiled, I-love-fashion, etc...type of character, and as Zorro a hero. I.e. there are only a few times in the film he isn't playing one of these two "roles", neither being an "everyman".
In Nightmare Alley, he knows he is good-looking, charming, and that he has-a-way-with-words, and creates a character persona of the charming swindler. That isn't much of an "everyman", well, expect if one is a used-car salesman.
Well made and very good films. For "everyman" type performances I really liked This Above All with Joan Fontaine and The Razor's Edge (but with the latter, my wife still keeps asking; how could a guy that has-it-all, be so uninterested in success (as defined by conventional standards).
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18 minutes ago, Ralph Dale said:
Please cut out the cancel culture lectures and just show the damn movie. I enjoy watching TCM, but I do not need to be lectured.
TCM's management is thinking the same thing; they don't need to be lectured.
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1 minute ago, speedracer5 said:
Yes. I have a ton of things on my list. I just hope we have time. We're doing 4 days/3 nights in LA and then 7 days/ 6 nights in San Diego. In San Diego, we splurged on the Hotel Del Coronado--I'm really excited about staying there. It's been on my list of things I wanted to do at least once in my life.
The Hotel Del Coronado is worth seeing. There is a fair amount of Hollywood history on display there. I tend to take the Italian relatives down to San Diego to see the hotel and Little Italy in downtown S.D.
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44 minutes ago, Hibi said:
In the book, the victim was a homosexual. Even in the film, if you read between the lines, it comes off a a botched bar pick up. Come up to my place!
In the book which member (or ex-member) of the Army was trying to pick up the victim?
OR was it the victim trying to pick up one of the Army men and that is the motive for the beating? I.e. a gay guy making a pass at a non-gay guy?
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On 5/3/2021 at 5:47 PM, LoyFan said:
I don't assume that everyone who has posted very little is only trying to stir the pot. I often hang out here but rarely feel compelled to comment.
But historically these type of post are driven by seeing a few films, typically post 1990 films or foreign films on the schedule (or whatever means they use to determine what TCM will be showing), and overreacting to that with; all hell is breaking loose.
I.e. the majority of films shown for any given month are American studio-era films and thus TCM is sticking to their branding.
Of course some months, like Oscar month, do lead to more posts 1990 films, and other months may feature more foreign films due to a theme, but actual data has confirmed that TCM is showing around the same percentage of American studio-era films today, as they did 10, 15, 20 years ago.
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3 hours ago, speedracer5 said:
I just ordered this through the Larry Edmunds Hollywood shop. Apparently pre-ordered copies come pre-signed by Eddie Muller. My husband and I are planning on visiting Los Angeles in October for part of our 10th wedding anniversary trip and I'm planning on hitting up the Larry Edmunds shop. I've wanted to go there ever since I learned it existed. I'm so excited to see it!
Great to see you're be going to Larry Edmunds Hollywood shop. I love that place and it was part of the reason I really got into studio-era movies. Before TCM, I would see a movie on the local T.V., get into a new actor and head up to the shop to purchases a book or two about them, and still photos (actual studio promo ones when I could find them, with an official studio stamp - used by permission only). I was going about once every 3 - 4 weeks.
I haven't been there in a few years, and during Covid they did hold a fund raiser which was covered by the L.A. Times. Anyhow I assume it is still the same great place and you will not be disappointed (can't say the same thing for the Hollywood sign,, oh well).
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5 hours ago, JoeMastro said:
The brief explanation posted for this movie states " A crusading district attorney investigates the murder of a Jewish man". Well, the "district attorney" is a police captain and he wasn't crusading, just doing his job trying to solve a murder, which happens to be a hate crime. I see no "crusading", but maybe TCM should require the people who write these things to actually watch the movie.
I agree that that synopsis is very misleading. As you note the police captain is just doing his routine job (and he admits to the Mitchum character early on he isn't no longer really interested in his job, but is just going through the process \ motions). That fact is the reason the captain is slow to catch on that the murder is a hate-crime. I.e. why the motive passed him by until he was over halfway into his investigation. That bogus crusading line implies he suspected a hate crime early on and that was his motivation for solving the case. NOT.
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3 hours ago, miki said:
I stand by everything I've said, jamesjazzguitar.
Uh, you already replied to my post. You didn't need to reply again just to show how stubborn you are. Trust me, I get that after our previous exchanges about West Side Story and so called "remakes" in general.
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56 minutes ago, mabelnormand1930 said:
Question how do I reply directly to someone's comment? Thanks!
There are two ways; The simple way is to click the "quote" icon right below the post.
The other way is to highlight text and wait for the pop-up "quote section". This will create a reply with just the highlighted text (useful if one is trying to reply to a long post or a post with pictures,, and one doesn't wish for the entire post to display).
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2 hours ago, Herman Bricks said:
Does anyone regard Rick Blaine of CASABLANCA (1942) as a tragic character?
He forsakes his own personal happiness for those of others, who have bigger purposes than his.
He (apparently) plans to abscond to The Belgian Congo, a more dangerous country than Morocco. If Rick Blaine was a real person, I think his life embodied much sadness and he was headed towards a tragic end.
Ah, we think alike! I was going to post that Blaine was a tragic character. I even had a silly post-storyline; Blaine gets captured trying to flee Casablanca using phony transit papers and is shot trying to escape.
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Mrs. Stone is another tragic character played by Leigh:
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22 minutes ago, mabelnormand1930 said:
The Heriss(sp) 1948? Olivia De havilland and Montgomery Clift. Great acting by Olivia.
TCM just showed The Heiress as part of Oscar month. Fine, well produced film, with solid direction by William Wyler and as noted great acting by Olivia DeHavilland (one of the top 5 best performances by any actress in an American Film IMO).
Of course I'm a sucker for Olivia DeHavilland; she is the first studio-era actress I really fell for that got me into studio-era films in the first place.
I started out by watching the Warner Brother actors like Bogie, Cagney and Flynn and that is how I discovered Olivia. After I saw The Strawberry Blonde, I was hooked.
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1 hour ago, DougieB said:
Thanks for fighting the good fight, james, but now that " the dissenter" is back on the scene she'll be trotting out all the same misinformation and weird logic we've seen so may times before re: the remake. Anyone who'd care to get caught up should check out the numerous threads on West Side Story she's started in the Musicals sub-forum, minus the one which the moderators deleted when she got so abusive to fellow posters. Grain of salt here, folks.
As for weird logic; my guess is that no matter what they would have complained about this Spielberg adaptation; If the setting, content, part of the storyline was much different than that of the movie, they would have complained it should be like the 1961 movie version of the play, and if it was similar (like it is), they instead complain that it is too much like the 1961 movie version and thus there was no reason for it to be made!
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54 minutes ago, miki said:
Better still, I think that Spielberg would've done better to create and direct a film of his own making/doing, with a similar theme to West Side Story, instead of doing a reboot/remake of the original 1961 film version, which won 10 well-deserved and well-earned Academy Awards, including Best Picture, when it hit the movie theatres in October of 1961.
Spielberg was NOT making a reboot/remake of the movie, but instead a movie version of the original play.
The original 1957 Broadway production, conceived, directed and choreographed by Jerome Robbins and produced by Robert E. Griffith and Harold Prince,
Therefore in that regard the 1961 film version is no more "original" than the Spielberg film version.
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4 hours ago, Herman Bricks said:
So many tragic characters/great movies in this thread. My favorites above, KING KONG, and Lenny Smalls in OF MICE AND MEN. I'm considering SON OF KONG for this list as well, I remember it ending very sadly, but the film itself I recall seeming uneven. My nomination:
The great Cagney as Rocky Sullivan in ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES (1938). I always weep during this movie. Sometimes early on, when the more light-hearted scenes focus on Rocky's innate goodness and his love and concern for others. At the end of the film I guess I cry 25% at the tragedy of his life, 25% because of the sadness of his death and 50% at the joy of his (possible) redemption. I got a lump in my throat and almost cried when I looked at this still:
While I see where you're going here I never had must sympathy towards Rocky in Angels with Dirty Faces. But along those lines, I did have a lot of sympathy towards Roy and Marie in the film High Sierra:
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1 hour ago, Hibi said:
Did Lloyd Nolan ever play a nice guy in films?
Yes, but mostly later in his career; E.g. the doctor in Peyton Place.
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Just now, filmnoirguy said:
Just watched 1940's House Across the Bay on Movies! (Recorded it some time ago) Joan Bennett stars with George Raft, Walter Pidgeon and Lloyd Nolan. Nice little Film Noir "B" picture. Directed by Archie Mayo and an uncredited Alfred Hitchcock. Produced by Bennett's husband Walter Wanger. Gladys George as Mary: "Oh that cheap liquor. Why do I do it?" Joan as Brenda: "Because you're just crazy about bicarbonate of soda." Terrible print. Maybe TCM can dig up a newer print and show it sometime.
As you noted the MOVIES-TV print is really poor. Often that doesn't impact my enjoyment but it did in this case. I did like the performance of Lloyd Nolan as the snake.
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Noir Alley
in General Discussions
Posted
Yes, the character Greer plays in The Big Steal is that of the girlfriend to a dishonest swindler, played by Patrick Knowles.
This is similar to Liz Scott and her character in Pitfall (but at the end of that film Scott is behind bars). But like Greer both actresses are known for their femme fatale roles than these girlfriend-of-a-cad roles.