ElCid
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Posts posted by ElCid
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1 hour ago, cigarjoe said:
Sort of car related and Dargo would for sure (being from Southern Cal) remember Ed "Big Daddy" Roth? I remember the plastic models from the 5 and 10 cents stores of his figurines.
In high school I had a model of the Munster Koach from the TV series. Designed by George Barris. At that time slot car racing was very popular and I had a Cobra slot car. I took the Cobra body off and mounted the Munster Koach to the chassis. It would go around the track, but sure wouldn't beat anything. I had one of the Roth figures in the elevated seat on the back of the Koach.
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38 minutes ago, Hibi said:
I havent read all the responses, so forgive me if this has been mentioned. What gives with the 2 brothers sharing a BEDROOM???? (never mind that Cobb is old enough to be Dall's FATHER). Was cop pay that low back then??? I could see them sharing an apt maybe but a BEDROOM???????
Perhaps they could not afford another "set?" Of course, why have the bedroom scene at all. Why not do it in a living room, kitchen, etc.?
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2 minutes ago, LornaHansonForbes said:
you're right, i'm wrong, and you're very damn perceptive.
it was Lee J Cobb who had the "cou-pay"- referred to as such by the colorblind witness; it was Dall's wife who had what I referred to as "the Mickey Mouse car" which is a term I borrow from my father [who originally used it in reference to those 1980's two door sporty Mercedes convertibles) to refer to any compact convertible where (it seems) like half the driver's body sticks out above the frame (aka a charming deathtrap.)
like so:
Not so much perceptive as obsessive about cars. One reason why my wife hates to watch recorded movies with me. I keep going back to look at the cars.
Incidentally, the English and Italian sports cars were actually much smaller and more likely for the driver/passenger to "have half the driver's body stick out above the frame" than the Mercedes-Benz SL types. Then there was also the American Crosby "sports" car and even the Nash Metropolitan, an Anglo-American-Italian joint production sold in America. But I digress. Sorry.
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1 hour ago, LornaHansonForbes said:
it was nice of Mickey Mouse to loan his convertible to the filmmakers for use as John Dall's "coupay" in this.
(i love how they say "cou-pay")
(i also hope FELIX FEIST pronounced his name as "FELIX FIST.")
Must have missed a line or two and maybe a scene of two. Did John Dall actually have a car? I only recall him driving his fiancee/wife's Nash Rambler convertible, which is not a coupe. Lee J. Cobb did have a Nash coupe which Dall borrowed to show to the witness. It was an unmarked police car.
As for pronunciation, way back when the cars of this type were called coupe, as in the French word with the accent over the e. This was prevalent even into the 50's and then fell into disuse to be replaced with the now accepted coupe without the accent on the e.
Is there a Mickey Mouse connection with the Nash Rambler convertible?
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1 hour ago, misswonderly3 said:
Ok, "The ManWho Cheated Himself". Notes:
Yes, I have to agree with all who have observed that Jane Wyatt has no sex appeal, and that it's hard to imagine her seducing anyone into doing anything for her. It's interesting, it's hard to pin down what makes a woman in these movies seductive and attractive, certainly enough to persuade normally "decent" men to break the law for them. I mean, it's not technically "beauty". It doesn't matter if they're actually beautiful or not, they come across as irresistibly attractive, you believe they are, and that's what makes them credible "femmes fatales".
Jane Wyatt: While technically, you just don't believe she has the kind of strength of personality which would give her power over men. She's lightweight.
This "lightweight" quality may explain why we're not convinced that Lt. Ed would go to such lengths to cover up her murder. There's no chemistry between Wyatt and Cobb. I just don't believe that he's head over heels in love, or even in lust, with her.
Anyway, other than that small flaw with the film, I really enjoyed "The Man Who Cheated Himself". Funny thing is, I'd seen it before and been unimpressed with it.
The best thing about the film is the final scene, rather a long one for a noir made in 1950. I absolutely love that setting, the abandoned courtyard / prison/ whatthehellisitanyway? anyway that mysterious place where Cobb and Wyatt hide out in tower while John Dall, who's convinced they're there somewhere, searches for them. Eddie was right to give kudos to the cinematographer, Russell Harlan. That scene alone would justify the entire movie; it's deliciously atmospheric and, well, noirish. I gather it's the same place where Kim Novak's character meets her fate in Vertigo, eight years later. But I didn't really recognize it, the tower looks different to me.
It's the long shots of Dall walking through the corridors of this mystery place, and the silence - no soundtrack music, all you hear is the wind - that's so memorable. It's what one of my noir books calls a "terrain vague" : a nowhereland, a strange unpopulated place where the protagonist - or the "bad guy" - usually meets his end. They're just eerie empty spaces, often old factories or warehouses, but also railway junctions or even amusement parks (as in the ferris wheel in "The Third Man" or the Hall of Mirrors in "The Lady from Shanghai".) I love these mysterious obscure places, they're one of my favourite things about noir.
What is this place?
As they said in the movie, it is Ft. Point. An abandoned 19th century Army fort at foot of Golden Gate bridge.
While I enjoyed the movie, I found Dall's abilities to be a little exaggerated. He must be the most brilliant detective in the world - ever. Also, it would have taken him days to go through each of the rooms in Ft. Point, yet he supposedly did it in less than an hour, if that. Even though he never found them, he still knew they were there and called in all those other police that Cobb never saw coming down the only road in.
Of course, if Jane Wyatt's lawyer is any good, she gets off on self-defense and Cobb gets off on mishandling a body. Then all three take off together.
The movie either did not allow time or the director failed to develop the relationship between Cobb and Wyatt. The hints are there. Then again, Cobb is not a romantic lead in anything I have ever seen him in. In a better film, there would have been something on how Cobb and Wyatt got involved, but then again there were lots of hints about him being a womanizer. So we do not know how he met Wyatt or how much her millions played into his attraction to her.
I liked the ending scene in the courthouse where Wyatt is promising her lawyer a share of her millions to get her off and then Cobb offers a cigarette. She has that interesting smile which says - yeah I know I told you I loved you and you helped with the murder, but you know, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. And Cobb just smiles back as in - ain't it the truth.
The Cars: Cobb's was a Nash, which was very popular with police departments and movies about police. Dall's wife's car was a Nash Rambler. Essentially the beginning of the compact car in America though there were others that were not as successful.
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Noon, Sunday, June 24: Mr. Blandings Build His Dream House. This is a great comedy. If you have ever built a house, remodeled a house or are thinking about either, watch this movie. Even if you have not, watch it anyway as it is really funny. Cary Grant, Myrna Loy and Melvyn Douglas are excellent in it.
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10 minutes ago, jamesjazzguitar said:
Again, I don't recall Drake escorting a pretty thing on a date during the finale. Instead what I do recall is him wanting to do that AND being clearly blow off by the women.
Even Maxwell Smart had better luck with the ladies.
Can't recall which ones, but he definitely did leave during the finale headed for a date in some. In a couple he was even escorting his date out of Perry's office or leaving to meet her as part of the finale. Perry and Della often joked about his social life as being fairly active, except when Perry needed him.
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15 hours ago, Vautrin said:
I put that down to the show itself and not any lack of success with the opposite sex.
Paul Drake was a supporting character and the focus was on the murder and the
court dramatics around it, so there wasn't much time to delve into Drake's love life.
I imagine there were at least a few shows where Drake escorted a pretty thing on a
date during the finale.
Only the client or someone who helped with the case.
You could wonder about Della even more as she is never seen dating other than accompanying Perry in "business" related activities. Perry would take her out to dinner and lunch, but that seemed to as payment for working so hard.
In the movies, and I think in the books, there was a personal relationship between Perry and Della and he married her in one of the William Warren movies.
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22 hours ago, Vautrin said:
I always enjoyed William Hopper as Paul Drake. A little
hip, cool threads, nonchalant manner, might be a
party animal when not working 24/6 for Perry. Only
drawback was he often had a cig in his mouth.
Paul Drake is my favorite character in the series and I think Hopper does it very well. He did a couple of SciFy movies that are fairly good. I believe he retired to Palm Springs after the series ended and died at about age 55.
As for the cigs, that was probably required by the advertiser. Perry is sometimes seen smoking them or lighting them, etc. We forget that many TV shows were sponsored by cigarette companies and they usually insisted their products be used by the actors. Of course, smoking was common back then also.
My wife and I have observed that Drake probably had a very dull social life and almost starved. Every time he got a date or was eating, Perry would call him and tell him to go do something immediately.
I recently read one of the original Perry Mason books by Erle Stanley Gardner. Mason and Drake were not as straight arrow in the books as in the TV shows. For example Mason had no problems telling Drake to go rough up a witness or someone else or to manipulate evidence. Of course the books were written in the 1930's also.
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54 minutes ago, cmovieviewer said:
Since I grew up watching the black & white Perry Mason series reruns and always found Raymond Burr to be a handsome actor, it's been a bit of a shock for me to see him literally playing 'the heavy' in these Noir Alley films.
From Pitfall (1948)
(They must have used hand towels for those shoulder pads.)
From Perry Mason season 1 (1957)
That's the Raymond Burr I know!
You need to see the Perry Mason of 1966, last season of the series.
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We purchased the Perry Mason sets as they came out. We probably watch about 3-4 episodes per week and watch them in order. We've just started on season one again. Still interesting. As for Burr, it is interesting to see him as PM and then as a heavy in a movie.
Speaking of heavy, he supposedly had to lose weight to get the PM job, but as the years went on, he gained it back.
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27 minutes ago, jamesjazzguitar said:
I find Scott to be an OK actress; i.e. adequate but nothing special. She has given some very weak performances like in the film I Walk Alone. Seeing Scott with Bogie in Dead Reckoning one can see the vast difference in their abilities (but I see this also with Bacall in the first 3 films she made with Bogie).
I think Scott did very well in Dead Reckoning. While maybe not up to Bogart's standard, I wouldn't say the difference was "vast." Same for Bacall in all four films.
Of course, it is hard to compare male and female actors in same movie, especially when the movie is primarily about the male lead.
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7 hours ago, spence said:
I like & correspond with Eddie a wee-bit, but that silly wine segment is for the birds
& is it just me but this grand flix genre-(film noir) truly belongs at night vs the daytime
Obviously RKO Radio was the mt. summit of the genre
Unfortunately missed that pt about Eddie discussing his father though & again, though VERTIGO is thee A #1 all-time mystery picture, THE THIRD MAN must be ranked as the ultimate excercise in film noir-(BFI British Film Institute in 1999 voted it as the single great UK production ever made! It was England's obvious response to AFI's mammoth 1998 special poll & survey)
About 98% of all other movie related sites, papers, books, mags did the same soon after
Noir Alley also comes on at Midnight (or close to it) on Saturday before the Sunday presentation.
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2 hours ago, Hibi said:
I'm mixed about Lizabeth Scott. She can be VERY wooden (and often is) but was used well in this film. I havent seen next week's film, especially interested after Eddie said Wyatt was the femme fatale in that one!!!
Try to view Two of A Kind (1951) with Edmund O'Brien and Terry Moore if you can. I think Scott handled her role very well.
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Had seen Pitfall before, but watched it again today. I think Lizabeth Scott is a better actress than Eddie Muller gives her credit for. Personally, I liked her much better in this than Jane Wyatt. I enjoyed Scott in Dead Reckoning, Strange Love of Martha Ivers and especially in Two of a Kind, as well as some others.
While there are some Dick Powell movies that I enjoy, Cry Danger for example, I find Powell to usually be dull and one dimensional.
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On 6/16/2018 at 1:02 AM, Gershwin fan said:
Tomorrow morning at 11:30 is Nertsery Rhymes. A Three Stooges short from before they were with Columbia and were with Ted Healy.
What date is "tomorrow?"
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I have seen some of these movies. For most, have low expectations and you won't be disappointed.
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I saw Midnight Cowboy at the post theater at Ft. Bragg, NC in 1971. It was the first R rated movie shown at a military base. Would barely merit a PG-13 now.
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1 hour ago, Bogie56 said:
Saturday, June 16
10 a.m. Popeye: Axe Me Another (1934).
2 a.m. Your Cheatin’ Heart (1964). I’m curious to see how George Hamilton does as Hank Williams. Cringe worthy or okay?
I've saw it many years ago and he actually is not too bad. As long as you don't expect a lot. Hardest part is separating the young George Hamilton from his later roles.
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There is a lot less nudity today than in the recent past as has been noted. What I find amazing is the movies and TV shows rated R or MA, which have little, if any, nudity but a lot of gratuitous foul language. Not to mention violence.
I remember watching the first episode of Veep and couldn't believe how many times they used the F word. Somebody probably did a count.
Not a prude as I use curse words way more than I should (learned from my father as Ralphie in A Christmas Story did).
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On 6/10/2018 at 10:36 AM, NipkowDisc said:
never mind the nude babes. lets see some 50 foot ones going after their two-timing husbands and boyfriends.
Try Attack of the 50 Foot Cheerleader.
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Saturday: Dark Passage, 6 PM. While not one of Bogart's best it is fairly interesting. Of course Bacall is in, so it would have to be.
The Night of the Generals, 11.45 PM. Omar Sharif, Peter O'Toole and Tom Courtney are good. But don't overlook Joanna Pettet and Maurice Jarre's music. Though it is a bit long if you have seen it.
Sunday, 4 AM; Coma. Interesting movie starring Genevieve Bujold and Michael Douglas. One aspect is that like a lot of movies, one of the stars is just a good actor early in career who happens to have a famous parent.
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Friday/Saturday, 12;15 AM, Moon Over Miami. One of the few musicals I actually like. Probably because it is set in 1940's Florida. I like it because Carole Landis is in it. Of course, Betty Grable is not too bad either.
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5 minutes ago, spence said:
ElCid, you picked a couple music heavyweights *J. Barry in particular composed some of the all-time greatest & most beautiful scores-(just too listen to, without even watching to film alongside it)
(TRIVIA: To all, what (5) *Oscars did *Barry take home & now, not looking it up first IT MUST COME FROM THE HEAD!!!)
I cheated. Ironically I only like one of the Oscar winners and nominations.
Noir Alley
in General Discussions
Posted
Thanks, I never caught that. I kept wondering why he jimmied the door. Of course he used a tool from the fireplace set in that room, which even back then the police probably could have matched to the jimmy marks.
Just seems the movie/script needed about 15 more minutes to explain things.