TomJH
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Posts posted by TomJH
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The mystery elements of any of the Thin Man films is always of minimum interest to me. It's also such a cliche when Nick gathers all the suspects to reveal the killer's identity. It's the light hearted banter and chemistry between Powell and Loy that brings interest to these films, even in the later lesser efforts.
The first two films in the series were unquestionably the best, with Powell in peak form in both films. I may lean slightly towards After the Thin Man, the second in the series, as my favourite. The physical comedy was at a real peak in this one, with Powell in bathrobe in one scene chasing after Asta who is carrying something he wants (I forget what). Powell makes himself look quite silly when he runs in that robe. Broad comedy appealed to the actor, while Loy, by beautiful contrast, was more reserved. The second TM also gave Asta more screen time, along with Mrs. Asta and a dark haired Scottie that brought out Asta's barkie jealousy.
The third TM film, Another Thin Man, while respectable enough as entertainment, also marked the beginning of the series' decline in quality.
1936 was unquestionably the peak year of William's Powell career, not only with After the Thin Man getting released but My Man Godfrey (and an Oscar nomination for him), Libelled Lady and The Great Ziegfeld which, while not a particularly outstanding film by modern standards, perhaps, did enjoy the status of being named Best Picture at the Oscars.
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1 hour ago, lydecker said:
Wow. Now that is an interesting thought. I think you're right . . .Fay doing "sluttish" is a stretch.
Also a bit of a turn off.
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47 minutes ago, Hibi said:
I don't see a company name on the poster. Was this an independent release? Wonder if Eddie could get it? Oh, is it a Fox film? I see a tiny 20th at the bottom.
I further found that I Mobster was released as a full screen DVD by Universal Studios in 2005.
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15 minutes ago, lydecker said:
That's right. Miriam Hopkins is NOT the actress who plays Bette Davis' aunt in "Jezebel." The actress who gives the wonderful, subtle performance as "Aunt Belle Massey" in "Jezebel" is Fay Bainter. Hmmm. Maybe why that's why everybody likes the performance so much. I'd take Fay Bainter over Miriam Hopkins any day of the week.
It's been interesting watching Hopkins as SOTM this month. I can't make up my mind. She drives me crazy in "Old Acquaintance" (and I know she's supposed to) but, still, she is way over the top. But, there are, definitely, some good Hopkins performances, particularly in her younger days. I particularly liked her in "Splendor" with Joel McCrea. But, hey, she is still no Fay Bainter.
I can't picture Bainter playing Ivy in Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
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23 minutes ago, Hibi said:
I don't see a company name on the poster. Was this an independent release? Wonder if Eddie could get it? Oh, is it a Fox film? I see a tiny 20th at the bottom.
I Mobster was done by indie producer Edward L. Alperson and originally released through Allied Pictures Corporation so I have no idea about copy right (especially television copy right) issues or who owns the film today. Eddie is a fan of Steve Cochran so I'm sure he would love to get it. But can he?
By the way, I saw a pan and scan version of this Cinemascope release at tubitv.com. It would be nice if Noir Alley attained a widescreen print of it. The film, I see, has had a blu ray release.
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5 hours ago, Stallion said:
I have been watching a lot of Miriam Hopkins as this is another month of her on TCM in January of 2021. I was growing increasingly irked by her always seemingly wanting the audience to "look at me" in every role she was in. The final straw for me tonight was in The Heiress where she really stood out against the other actors as hyper and over the top. If I saw this in her a couple of times, I could attribute it to possibly the role she was playing. However, the fact that she seems to desire so much attention in the vast majority of roles I have watched her in finally had me telling my wife "I am never going to watch one of her movies again."
I am sorry but I am trying to watch all the actors and "get" what is going on in the movie. Since I have retired, watching old movies has become an enjoyable hobby. A movie experience, which lasts around two hours, is just too long to be dreading the next scene Miriam Hopkins is in.
Here's a picture of an outdoorsy Miriam that may appeal to you a little more, Stallion.
Sorry, I'm just horsing around with you.
This shot, by the way, is from The Stranger Returns (1933), which has been on TCM in the past.
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A moderator with a trigger finger? The thread was there less than two hours ago.
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I Mobster (1959)
Director Roger Corman's tale of the rise and fall of a gangster remains an interesting portrait despite its limited production values (even if larger than the usual Corman film) and the predictability of its story.
Much of this must be attributed to star Steve Cochran, recently returned from Italy after delivering an exceptionally strong performance as an emotionally tortured man in Antonioni's Il Grido. Once under contract to Goldwyn and Warner Brothers, the husky good looking actor, only fitfully allowed a strong role to show off a considerable acting range, brings charisma to spare in his role as a NYC hustler who gradually becomes a local gangland king pin.
There's a sentimentality at the core of this gangster portrayal largely told in flashback. Cochran's Joe Sante (with the actor's dark looks he could pass as an Italian) only kills when he has to, loves his mama (who gradually comes to despise him for his gangster activities) to whom he sends financial support and is initially reluctant to let a nice Italian girl who loves him get involved in the seediness of the rackets. He's also surprisingly virtuous when it comes to the ladies, pushing away gangland tramps in favour of the nice girl. (I wonder how amused Cochran, one of Hollywood's legendary studs, was about that aspect of his characterization). In short, Sante's not a bad guy but he lets himself get trapped going down a very wrong, if lucrative, path which includes drug peddling.
Despite the corniness of aspects of the story Cochran is attractive and convincing in his role. But then this underappreciated actor always gave a good show. Character actor Robert Strauss is good as a former gang boss who becomes an underling of Cochran. The rest of the no name cast are adequate in their roles, including Lita Milan as the nice Italian girl with whom Sante finds "true love" and Celia Lovsky as Mama. Yvette Vickers, of Attack of the 50 Foot Woman fame, appears as, what else, a loose woman. Strictly for exploitational purposes legendary stripper Lil St. Cyr appears as herself putting on a stage performance which includes a bubble bath. I find there are times when I can enjoy exploitation very much.
Cochran's career was floating at this time. He would soon be a co-star in a Mamie Van Doren "B" and do a lot of television work, including a strong performance as a particularly nasty gangster in The Purple Gang, one of the best episodes of The Untouchables.
2.5 out of 4
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6 hours ago, kingrat said:
I saw 36 Hours (1965), which I thoroughly enjoyed. A good central idea: the Germans capture James Garner, who knows the time and location of the D-Day invasion. They create the illusion that it's 1950 and that he has amnesia to try to get him to reveal what he knows about D-Day. James Garner, Eva Marie Saint, and Rod Taylor are three very likable actors, and the plot has a couple of nice twists along the way. This might be Rod Taylor's best role.
Curiously, all of my favorite 1965 films are in black and white, including three WWII films--King Rat, The Hill, 36 Hours. The great era of B&W is almost over. 36 Hours would make an interesting double feature with a B&W film from the next year, Seconds.
Just the luck of the draw in roles, I suppose, but Rod Taylor was a good actor who was also a sexy guy with brimmed with screen charisma. His performance in 36 Hours is further proof of that. I always wondered why Taylor never became a bigger star. He got stuck in lot of minor features.
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Can anyone who saw it forget Cicely's run and the emotion she brought to her reunion scene with Paul Winfield in Sounder?
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26 minutes ago, NipkowDisc said:
they will never give up the show because that is what it is all about.
being worshipped by millions of their inferiors. (us)
Yeh, I know, Nip, you're too grounded for that.
So have you worshipped on your knees before your John Wayne poster yet today?
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My guess is that it's possible Tallulah had a drink or two.
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39 minutes ago, Vidor said:
I haven't watched "The Night of the Hunter" in a long time, but the last 15 minutes or so did strike me as weirdly anti-climactic. IIRC the kids just hang out with Lillian Gish for a while and nothing happens.
That's the point of my comment. Lillian Gish was a wonderful actress and she is fine in this film as kind Rachel Cooper but watching her watch over her "flock" of children isn't a tenth as dramatically compelling as viewing the evil of Preacher Powell which dominates the majority of the film. When he comes stomping over the hill as the two children are fleeing to the river it's like watching the approach of a monster and virtually impossible to turn your head away. The only film ever directed by Charles Laughton is truly a great one. I just regret the divergent path taken by the story towards the end. It's been too many years since I read the Davis Grubb novel to recall if the film was faithful to the author's work in its final chapters. If so, then the flaw may well lie with the novel itself.
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18 minutes ago, Det Jim McLeod said:
Night Of The Hunter (1955) TCM On Demand 10/10
Harry Powell, a murderous religious fanatic, seeks some stolen money that only two children know where it is hid.
One of my top ten films of all time. Many consider it a "noir" but I never felt that way about it. I think it more a Grimm's fairy tale come to life. Powell is the big bad wolf and Lillian Gish's character Miss Cooper is like Mother Goose. I have seen this countless times and I saw it just now with good sound system attached. It made me appreciate the sound and music much more. The chirping crickets and hooting owls have a great effect. I love the music in this, the gentle lullabies are soothing but still have some tension. Mitchum's rich baritone sounds great as he brings menace to the hymn "Leaning On The Everlasting Arms".
I would also recommend the Criterion DVD, it has some archived interviews with Mitchum, Gish and Shelley Winters. And we get to see Charles Laughton directing every scene in the film, a gold mine for film buffs, especially for fans of this film.The Night of the Hunter is one of my favourite films but, as I've written before, I regard this film as a flawed masterpiece. The performances, direction, photography and musical score are all first rate. But it's the final chapter, when this dark fairy tale's focus switches from the Big Bad Wolf to Mother Goose, that I feel this film loses much of its tension and, with it, a large degree of interest. And Mitchum's Preacher Harry Powell, one of the most memorable of all screen psychopaths, deserves a better sendoff than to just hide in a barn after being confronted by little old lady with a gun and then taken away in a police car.
One more note, directorial novice Charles Laughton would never have been able to create such a memorable visual noir experience without the assistance of veteran cinematographer Stanley Cortez. Cortez's contribution to this classic is inestimable.
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Fire Over Africa (1954)
One of those routine programmers shot in an exotic location that can be fun to watch if you park your brain and don't expect too much.
A British production, partially shot at Spanish locations substituting for Africa, with interiors done in Shepperton Studios in London, it involves a search for the syndicate behind a dope smuggling operation in Tangiers (all you really need to know about the plot), with Maureen O'Hara as an American undercover agent who tangles with various creepy types, as well as Macdonald Carey as a character who keeps popping up making with the (not so) wise cracks and coming on to her a lot. O'Hara is the kind of undercover agent who draws attention from everyone in the city with her glowing complexion, fiery long red hair and array of bright flashy dresses. Binnie Barnes plays the owner of a club/bar.
My favourite moment in the film is probably when O'Hara first walks into a night club in the city. All eyes, both male and female, are upon her (it's amusing when a row of prostitutes sitting on bar stools all turn in unison to look at her). But tops is a dialogue exchange between two English males when they sight Maureen.
"My word."
"Yes indeed"
"Healthy type."
Very English indeed.
2 out of 4
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12 hours ago, Hoganman1 said:
I like fedoras and bow ties, but I'm old and a huge Bogart fan. I was just looking for a khaki trench coat online to wear with my fedora last week. They're actually not easy to find.
"Make another crack about my tie and I'll slap that blubbery face of yours so hard you'll look like a Dick Tracy character."
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1 hour ago, lydecker said:
Yep, those are really stupid. I love Film Noir and Eddie but those Fedora/Tie promos are a monumental waste of airtime.
"Oh, really? I rather appreciate anyone who appreciates someone who wears a good bow tie."
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1 hour ago, Det Jim McLeod said:
I just saw a fascinating documentary on the life of actress Margaret Rutherford-Truly Miss Marple. The Curious Case Of Margaret Rutherford. It is on Youtube, well worth seeing.
She was a true English eccentric, the likes of which probably don't exist much anymore. The tweed wearing, solitary types who love art and literature and spend nights by the fire in their country house. But her life was more bizarre and intriguing than anything Agatha Christie could have come up with.
Her father suffered from mental illness and was confined to an insane asylum after he murdered his own father. Margaret's mother later committed suicide. The young girl was brought up by an aunt who got her into the arts. She did not become a working actress until she was in her 40s, playing older woman since she looked much older than she was. She married late in life (53) to actor Stringer Davis, he was 7 years younger and they remained devoted to each other for the rest of her life. She had said she waited to be married later since she did not want children because she was afraid they would inherit her family' s history of mental illness. She herself suffered from bouts of depression.
She suffered from dementia in her final years and died in 1972 at the age of 80. But the strange story still doesn't end. In a twist worthy of Christie, after Margaret's death and soon after Stringer died as well, the housekeeper forged Margaret's name on a will which had her as sole beneficiary. The police got a call at the house where she claimed there was a burglary, all of Margaret's possessions (including her 1963 Oscar for The VIPS) were stolen. It turns out she had taken them herself and sold them. The Oscar is still missing to this day. She died before she could come to trial on any of this.
So it was strange and sad life for truly unique artist.
Thanks for this insight into the troubled life of a delightful screen eccentric, Det. Jim. I had no knowledge of any of this.
P.S.: I now see there is an excellent copy of this documentary on You Tube. I'll be watching it.
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2 hours ago, ElCid said:
Probably because they did not use the name of the character as in most other movies where the black actor was billed by name.
Well there can certainly be other descriptions of a character without a name other than his/her race.
Juanita Moore in Witness to Murder, for example, could have been called "Hospital Ward Inmate" or "Singing Hospital Inmate."
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2 minutes ago, Hibi said:
AWFUL! I didn't notice that in the credits.
Yes, I was surprised by the billing. I'm not certain that I've seen any other black actress billed that way in a film, though I assume Witness to Murder is not alone.
I can't recall any film in which a black actor is billed as "Negro."
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2 hours ago, Hibi said:
That was Juanita Moore. Not sure if that was her singing........
Yes, Moore was "Negress" in the film, which is the exact way she was billed in the credits. By the end of the decade, when Hollywood was feeling more liberal about race relations, she would receive an Oscar nomination for Imitation of Life.
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Dishonored Lady (1947)
Hedy Lamarr is the art director of a high class magazine living a precarious life of numerous affairs (a source of company gossip) who is on the verge of a breakdown. After smashing up her car in what may have been a suicide attempt outside a psychiatrist's home she starts seeing the shrink on a regular basis (professionally), only to walk off her job and relocate herself elsewhere where she meets a simple minded slob with whom she falls in love. Soon, however, faces from the past will reappear in her life, culminating in a murder trial.
Trite melodrama is primarily a showcase for Lamarr of whom references are made to her beauty at least once every five or ten minutes, it seems. Hedy, a limited actress, is actually not bad in her role, quite convincing in one scene in which her character is tipsy. The supporting cast is a reasonable one of male admirers, ranging from Dennis O'Keefe as a scientist with whom she falls in love to John Loder (in real life at the time Mr. Lamarr, or is it that she was Mrs. Loder?) as a smug, self satisfied, filthy rich client of hers with whom she has a dalliance, as well as William Lundigan, unexpectedly cast against type as a smug associate who turns out to be a scoundrel. The film's ending is quite contrived.
A minor but watchable film for fans of Lamarr and the melodramatically predictable.
2 out of 4
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On 1/17/2021 at 2:46 PM, misswonderly3 said:
It's scary to think how easily a person, especially a woman, could be certified as insane and imprisoned in an asylum, based on pretty much nothing sometimes.
Absolutely. That is a chilling scene in the film because it could happen in real life. In fact, he has. Think of Frances Farmer, as a famous illustration.
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36 minutes ago, NipkowDisc said:
Any excuse to post a pix of your fantasy boy friend, eh Nip?
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Noir Alley
in General Discussions
Posted
SPOILER ALERT
It's been a few years since I saw the '64 version of The Killers but one moment I recall appreciating is when Reagan, knowing he is about to be killed, accepts his imminent demise with a calm serenity. His character may have been a rat and arguably deserving of his fate but, at the end, you have to admire his style (as opposed to the way Angie Dickinson deals with it which, to be fair, is only human).