[It's movie heaven, 1961 style : SUSAN SLADE]

Susan Kohner.  She is in a couple of Route 66 TV shows and was a much better actress than I realized.  Always thought she was one of several that were "modeled" in the Natalie Wood mold.

I really like Suzanne Pleshette, but somehow the movies in which she appeared were not that great.  As for Troy Donahue, one of the dullest, most wooden actors I have ever seen.

I like Parrish (actually read the book) because of the then permissible tobacco farming connection and Rome Adventure for beautiful scenery, good music, Pleshette and Rossano Brazzi.  Have Rome Adventure on DVD and watch it occasionally and fast forward through some of the Donahue scenes.  Greatest line is Pleshette's "You could, you should and you will" in reference to Donahue's failed seduction attempt and where he will spend the night.

The other movies, not very much.  Only thing worse than Donahue is Sandra Dee.

[Share your unpopular opinions here!]

On 8/26/2018 at 1:59 PM, Fedya said:

I don't have a problem with 60s movies set in the 60s, but as a non-Boomer I've always had a visceral reaction against the doe-eyed look back at the 60s and the obsession with the decade in many more recent movies.

I was in high school and college in 60's and saw a lot of movies.  I too have never seen the fascination with the period.  I would say that 75% of my favorite music (have a lot of it), is from the 50's.  Some from the 60's, 70's and 80's.  As for the movies, as with any period there were some good ones, but I tend to prefer the romantic-comedies of the period. 

15 hours ago, Fedya said:

There's a type of movie I like to refer to as the "generation gap" movie, which has people like Bob Hope trying to be hip with the young people, and failing badly.  There's things like I'll Take Sweden or Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows.

And then there's something like Yours, Mine, and Ours which for the most part is unabashedly square (OK, there is a pill joke), yet has stood the test of time much better than a lot of other comedies of the era.

We really enjoy Bachelor in Paradise, even if it is silly and Hope (and maybe Lana Turner?) are too old for the roles.  The other actors were pretty entertaining.  As for most of other Hope movies made after the 50's, I'll pass.

14 hours ago, speedracer5 said:

This might be an unpopular opinion, but I love the 1960s comedies--even the ones featuring older generations trying to be "hip."  Teen beach comedies also fall into my love of 1960s comedies--I especially love the ones that feature animated opening credits accompanied by a very early 1960s pop song.  These films are so dated and yes, dumb, at times, but I find them utterly charming.  I don't know what it is about them, but I love them.  The early 1960s films are interesting.  They still have the innocence of the 1950s films, but there are hints of the sexual revolution to come.  Where the Boys Are (1960) comes to mind when I think of a 50s-esque film with a little "racier" (for early 60s) content. 

I've seen a few of the Bob Hope comedies and I really liked Bachelor in Paradise with Lana Turner.  I also liked I'll Take Sweden.  I don't know why, because it was dumb, but I also thought it was fun.  Sue me.  I'm easy to please apparently. 

Living near a beach, I thought the beach movies were silly, poorly written and terribly acted.  Where the Boys Are is not a typical beach movie of the period and one that I have on DVD and watch frequently,  Ironically, I read the book when in college and it is far more serious than the movie.

2 hours ago, cigarjoe said:

I would agree up to a point.

Midnight Cowboy (1969) was the first big budget film I saw at the time that got NYC in the 1960s right.

However since going on my Film Noir tangent and delving into exploitation/experimental films, you find that quite a few of those were shot guerrilla style on the streets of NYC and LA and they really capture that time period well. Films like The Savage Eye (1960) is a snap shot of 1960 Los Angeles, Blast Of Silence (1961), The Love Statue (1965) of Greenwich Village beatniks and coffee houses, Flesh and Lace (1965) showed a NYC topless bar and it's el dominated neighborhood, Who Killed Teddy Bear (1965) discotheques and Times Square. Other Times Square snapshots are in Hot Skin And Cold Cash (1965) about a NYC prostitute, Aroused (1966) and The Sex Killer (1967) about serial killers on the loose in Manhattan. Another snapshot of Times Square and Jazz Clubs is in One Naked Night (1965). Sweet Love, Bitter (1967) had jazz clubs in Philadelphia. The Incident (1967) captured NYC subways. The Pick-Up (1968) was a snapshot of Las Vegas.

Saw Midnight Cowboy, but none of the others and never really been impressed with MC.  Probably because it is too dark.

[Noir Alley]

14 hours ago, ChristineHoard said:

Christmas Noir is fine right around Christmas but November 24?!?  We're inundated with Christmas movies, commercials, promotions, decorations, etc. the second Halloween ends and sometimes before.  Please, no Christmas Noir on November 24.  Can't we wait at least until December?

Nov 24 is the Sat/Sun after Thanksgiving and that would permit five movies to be shown.  Would leave it up to Eddie to determine which ones would be appropriate.  Some interesting suggestions have been made.

Although not a Noir in the basic sense, Cover Up might be appropriate.

[Noir Alley]

Would be interesting if Eddie Mueller could select Noir movies with a Christmas connection for showing between Nov. 24 and Dec. 26.

[HITS & MISSES: Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow on TCM]

Shadowed(1946).  I recorded this but missed credits and watched it yesterday.  It was on 08/21 for Anita Louise day.  I kept listening to younger daughter "Ginny" and looking at her.  Finally decided it was Terry Moore based mainly on the voice.  Sure enough it was her, but Wikipedia shows she was known as Helen Koford then (age 17).  She sounded much like she did in Two of a Kind (1951).

[Dean Martin as SOTM September 2018]

11 hours ago, ChristineHoard said:

I am more interested in Dean's movies without a sidekick.  A little Jerry goes a long way with me and if Frank is in a movie with Dean you know Frank will get top billing.  I like Rio Bravo, too, and Dean has a nice number with Ricky Nelson if I remember correctly.  I'm also interested in the Matt Helm flicks.  I haven't see those.

I think it would be kind of awesome if TCM could run some of his old TV show.  I remember when he introduced The Rolling Stones and he said, "You'd roll too if you were stoned"  with the ever-present cocktail in his hand, of course.  ?

I think one of the other movieish TV channels periodically shows the Matt Helm movies.  They are entertaining, but closer to comedy than the other "spy" movies of the period.

Not in favor of TCM running any old TV shows as it starts down a slippery slope.  Although, I believe they did do a series of Johnny Carson shows?  Or maybe that was segments related to movie personalities.

[Noir Alley]

14 hours ago, ChristineHoard said:

We do get to see Janet in her bullet bra.

Not to be confused with the corset in Touch of Evil.

[Noir Alley]

1 hour ago, LornaHansonForbes said:

really?

i mean, i'm not even really a car person and I would make passionate love to that Jag, it is one beautiful car!

FULL DISCLOSURE: My mother used to own a green Jaguar that I was allowed to drive on occasion and damn, that was one  fine piece of automobile.

Now if it was a Jag XKE, there would be no contest at all.

[Noir Alley]

2 minutes ago, LornaHansonForbes said:

waitwaitwait,

THE GREEN JAGUAR DOES NOTHING FOR YOU???!!!

Seriously, that's a detail I ALWAYS remember about VERTIGO, and I don't really like VERTIGO all that much.

Not my type of car, although I would love to have one.  I prefer the De Soto Firedome Sportsman Hardtop

[Noir Alley]

19 hours ago, Bronxgirl48 said:

Sometimes I feel like I'm the only person in the world who doesn't care for VERTIGO, lol.  I'm the one who should probably seek out a shrink!

I want to like it, even love it, believe me, but I just can't.  And I'm a huge Hitch fan.

My wife does not like Vertigo either and I haven't watched it in years.  Actually, the only thing I really like is (wait for it) Stewart's car.

As to Hitchcock, I enjoy The Birds, Marnie and North By Northwest and sometimes To Catch a Thief.

[HITS & MISSES: Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow on TCM]

I know that TCM has limited selection of movies, but it seemed many of the Totter ones were where she actually had a very small role.

[tension??]

21 minutes ago, jamesjazzguitar said:

Funny but I had a comment about entrapment but removed it.  But yea,  sex crosses the line and could have made it more difficult to get a conviction.

That being said,  I can't see them not having sex because it would have tipped her off that something was fishy.   Like I said she was highly sexual;   they were spending late nights together getting drunk.    Hard to believe she didn't openly desire sex and if he denied her,   he couldn't explain 'well,  because you still might be the killer and I don't wish to cross a line if I have to arrest you'.    I.e. to gain her trust he had to have sex. 

 

Can't wait to see that one in the news!  Ha.??

[tension??]

5 minutes ago, jamesjazzguitar said:

I agree with your take her;  this leaves only one mystery;   did the cop have sex with her?     She was very sexual and likely to be sexual with a man after only knowing them a very brief time, so I assume they did the deed. 

Thus the cop got his killer and some nice booty;  what a nice package deal for him!

 

If it was made today, they probably might have had sex.  However, that would create a whole lot of problems with trying the case.  Lying and deceiving is one thing, but sex crosses the line with judges and juries and I think would in a movie.

Personally, I don't think they had sex.  That raises the question-did Charisse and Basehart have sex?  They were getting married.

[tension??]

Watched it again as I had not seen it in a while.  While a first time viewer may think Sullivan is actually pursuing a relationship with Totter, it becomes obvious at the end that he was setting her up the whole time.  Course I watch Perry Mason and Law and Order frequently and they use the same tactics.

White Totter may have given up too easily, it is a short movie.  I think things happen way too quickly in many movies from that era when they want to wind it up.  I think Totter just saw the handwriting on the wall at the end and gave up.  Her motive for killing Deager was that he was about to throw her out.

Of course as a movie, they took liberties with a lot of things.  Although the police procedures probably were not that different from real life.  It was way before "rights" became an issue.

It was a good movie and well acted, although Basehart was not too impressive to me.  While his role was supposed to be wimpy, he was way too wimpy.  Then he had a massive character change when he briefly encountered Charisse and became a whole 'nother person-too quickly.

The part about the contacts was sort of interesting.  I remember trying a pair in 1965.  Most miserable months of my life.  Never able to wear them for more than a couple of hours and finally gave up.  I did get mine from an ophthalmologist who had a specialist in his office to fit and adjust them.  I can only imagine what they were like in 1949.

[HITS & MISSES: Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow on TCM]

1 hour ago, LornaHansonForbes said:

LADY IN THE LAKE is just too gimmicky for me. As a child I REALLY enjoyed the CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE series, but in film form the premise just don't work.

Took me a couple of viewings to appreciate Lady of the Lake, but now I enjoy it.  I think it is one of Totter's best roles as she really stands out in it.  Of course she would have to paired with Robert Montgomery.  It is in with our "Christmas Movies," although it is not really a Christmas movie.

The camera viewpoint is not disturbing once you get used to it.

[Sexual Freedom]

28 minutes ago, Philip1749 said:

we need to bear in mind that much of the content of TCM (when not actually showing a movie) is profit-oriented. While having some liberal attitudes socially speaking, at the same time I recognize commercialism when I see it, and reject a good deal of it out of hand. Now does that make me a socialist? Hardly.    

I liked the old AMERICAN MOVIE CLASSICS channel of the 1980's and 1990's because it was pure and totally free of commercialism. I got to watch movies without all the frills and revenue-generating gimmickry of TCM. 

As for the young females now being showcased on TCM at the introduction of some of their featured movies, we might bear in mind that they are simply reading from a teleprompter. No great skill is required, other than good eyesight and the ability to read. Vasquez is gone, and now we have her replacement, a red head from Great Britain. It apparently is "try-out" season for young females at TCM. But why no males? Do only girls qualify for this opportunity? Again, sex appeal for the sake of revenue-generation....and more than a slight hint of over-commercialism.

Purist, non-commercialized movie channels like the original AMERICAN MOVIE CLASSICS (AMC) of the 1980's and 1990's became dinosaurs and quickly disappeared, and this because they weren't designed to generate huge mega-profits for the global corporations that control the entertainment and news media television channels of today. Only over-commercialization survives, it would seem...the law of the commercial, capitalist jungle. I'm grateful that TCM remains commercial advertising-free. Much of that " financial revenue" comes instead from my monthly cable television bill. I guess I can live with that.                       

Without "commercialism," there is no TCM.  It's FREE!  Your "monthly cable television bill" is minuscule when compared to what you receive.  Also, TCM is not stand alone, but bundled and usually into one of the lowest cost packages.

As for the old AMC, I called AMC when they went commercial and rep. was quick to reply "Well we have to make money some how."  That is the truth.  Remember, you did not pay to watch it, other than maybe a very low cost cable charge bundled with many other commercial channels.

As for adding "young females," that is to correct the many years of pretty much not having any females, young or old.  It is called diversity, fairness and equal treatment.  Personally, as an old guy, I am somewhat tired of hearing old guys.  I do not see TCM adding "sex appeal" when choosing their announcers, just joining the 21st century.

You try introducing a movie LIVE in a studio knowing than millions will be watching you.  Heck, I get nervous addressing 3 or 4 people.  And everyone uses teleprompters.

Remember this if nothing else.  TCM is fighting for its very life as a network.  It probably needs more crass commercialism and must appeal to a broader audience.

[Sexual Freedom]

21 hours ago, Princess of Tap said:

Pornography on the internet--

Land Sakes Alive!

What is this world coming to?

One of the things I learned from watching the TV series Rome, was how much pornographic graffiti was on the buildings there and other places.  It has been with us forever.

When you look at where the world is now and what mankind does and how it was almost the same 500, 1,000, 2,000, 5,000 years ago, makes you wonder if mankind ever really will improve very much.

[Sexual Freedom]

2 hours ago, DVDPhreak said:

Kids tomorrow will probably fix the problems in the world better than adults like you have done for the world today, I can guarantee you that.  Why not just let it go and believe the kids will fix everything?  That is something said by no old person ever, and that's just sad.  How old are you?

Young people ("kids") have been saying that since they first came out of the caves.  Unfortunately they become just like the "adults" people they complain about.  After all there was a new group of "kids" emerging every 20-30 years for thousands of years.  Incidentally, you have to be an adult to "fix" anything.

The answer is for all to work together to fix the problems and make the world better.

[Noir Alley]

1 hour ago, misswonderly3 said:

I'm curious why you made the assumption that there'd be no noir movies during August, "Summer Under the Stars" month. Thanks to cmovieviewer who did a little research and posted a list of all the noir(ish) films scheduled for August.

My error.  I actually meant to say that there could be a Noir Alley because there would probably be some Noir movies during SUTS.  Of course, maybe what Muller really meant was that he was taking a week off to harvest grapes or make wine or taste a lot of wine?

As for Scene of the Crime, it was fairly good and most of the good points have been mentioned already.  Somehow I just did not get into the Dahl role.  She was too perfect in the way she dressed and appeared.  I don't think her character as portrayed really added much to the movie.  On the other hand, I really liked Gloria DeHaven's performance.  A little softer than most, but in the end she was a femme fatale.  In looking at it, you could see that her character was an actress and she played men for what she could get.  After all, it was 1949 and she was a stripper.  As for "loving" Turk, is that not the quintessential nice girls like bad men?  Here again, you have to consider her background.  In some respects, she could be easily manipulated by men.  Perhaps a more complex character than we are used to.

As for Van Johnson, he did OK, but that is about it.

Guess one thing about the movie is all the changes of direction and character motivation that we often don't see. And they made it work.  In hindsight DeHaven did a 180, but a believable 180.  Dahl and Johnson at the airport was kind of sappy.

By my calculations they had about 16 pieces/packages of "six cent candy" at the movie.

I have noticed that Muller often refers viewers to twitter or something to discuss the movie.  He never mentions this forum, much less this thread.  But maybe that is a good thing?

[Noir Alley]

32 minutes ago, Looney said:

I enjoyed SCENE OF THE CRIME (1949).  I can't say I loved Johnson, but I enjoyed seeing him doing something outside his norm like THE CAINE MUTINY (1954).  Muller definitely nailed this one when he pointed out that Gloria DeHaven steals the show.  She had me fooled, but I disagree that she steals the show more than Norman Lloyd.  He was just great "Nyuk, Nyuk." 

I REALLY don't want to wait a month for Noir Alley to return.  It has become one of the only things I can schedule to watch on TCM right now.  Everything else I have to catch on the fly or hope it shows up on the Sling TV On Demand.  

It is curious (if possible) that even in SUTS month, there won't be some Noir.  After all, many "stars" made Noir movies.  Maybe they just decided not to do Noir Alley as such.  Then there is always TCM on Demand.

As for Scene of the Crime, Gloria DeHaven was definitely the best part.  Arlene Dahl really didn't add a lot to it and they tended to glamorize her too often.

[HITS & MISSES: Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow on TCM]

On 7/23/2018 at 7:07 PM, LawrenceA said:

Is it bad that I had no interest in the high-brow Bernstein programming, but I'm planning on recording Mandingo (1975) Wednesday night?

Have never seen it(?).  If I have, have forgotten it.  Read the synopsis on Wikipedia and it sounds familiar. Might record it so I can fast forward through it.

[Noir Alley]

1 hour ago, speedracer5 said:

When he calls Bogart about meeting him in Peru, he does mention that she'll need to wait about 6 months so that he can get down to Peru and establish himself.  I would guess that Bacall headed down as soon as the 6 months was up. I like that he didn't tell her what bar to go to, just where to go.  Maybe the town they met up in only had one bar.  

I would also speculate that Bacall spotted him some money to survive on. I assume that she inherited her father's estate after his death.  They do state that her father was a wealthy architect. 

According to Baker, she was worth $200,000.  He found this out from the automobile club.  

[HITS & MISSES: Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow on TCM]

The Black Scorpion, 1:15PM, July 23.  A fairly good 1950's scify movie set in Mexico.

[Noir Alley]

18 hours ago, Vautrin said:

Bogie can never prove his innocence so he

has to leave the country and hightail it down to Peru to be joined by Bacall. A

happier ending than Alec Guinness had in The Lavender Hill Mob. 

 

Always found it interesting that people on the lam in many movies go to South America or Mexico, probably without a passport, but have no problem acquiring a good income.  While Bogie may have had some resources, he was able to live in Peru and go to a nice restaurant/bar every night while waiting for Bacall to show up.  Wonder how long it did take here to show up.

[Noir Alley]

2 hours ago, speedracer5 said:

I could have sworn that Eddie mentioned Phillippe being a colleague of his as well.  I assume a colleague in the noir community.  I had no issue with Eddie promoting the book, it was relevant to the film and could be a good source for someone who wants to get more information about David Goodis and Dark Passage.  

I also enjoyed Eddie's "blather."  It was interesting and informative.  I also liked his joke about Van Johnson at the end.  I thought it was funny. 

I thought Eddie said he helped with the translation of the book.  If so, he had a part in its publication in English.  Regardless, he is probably correct in that it the best biography of Goodis, although I haven't read it.  For those who might be interested in more on Goodis.

As I have stated before, I watch the show to hear Eddie.  In fact, I did not watch the movie today, only the intro and outro.  The Van Johnson joke was funny.