TomJH
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Posts posted by TomJH
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9 minutes ago, TomJH said:
I just tried to edit my original post only to make a double posting of it. Since the problem can't possibly lie with me, THIS NEW FORMAT SUCKS!!!
"He thinks he's smart."
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6 minutes ago, TomJH said:
This new format is all just a reminder by the IT people that they have control and we don't. Therefore we can lump it or leave it and, come a year from now or so, we'll have to go through it again.
Like many others here I see little use in knowing who had the largest number of posts in a thread or the most popular ones taking up so much of the computer screen. It's useless information.
On the other hand, should this posting become the most popular one on this thread I would like to see it up there.
"Hi, everybody, I just changed the format. Be nice to me or I might decide to do it again."
I just tried to edit my original post only to make a double posting of it. Since the problem can't possibly lie with me, THIS NEW FORMAT SUCKS!!!
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This new format is all just a reminder by the IT people that they have control and we don't. Therefore we can lump it or leave it and, come a year from now or so, we'll have to go through it again.
Like many others here I see little use in knowing who had the largest number of posts in a thread or the most popular ones taking up so much of the computer screen. It's useless information.
On the other hand, should this posting become the most popular one on this thread I would like to see it up there.
"Hi, everybody, I changed the format. Be nice to me or I might decide to do it again."
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28 minutes ago, Dargo said:
LOL
HEY now, Tom. Remember here, I didn't complete the thought up there, now did I?!
(..and so THAT was an "improvement" of sorts anyway, RIGHT?!)
I figure that's sort of like swearing off alcohol and then looking for congratulations when you only drank half a 40 ounce bottle.
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9 minutes ago, misswonderly3 said:
He who must not be named.
(Didn't anyone here watch the Harry Potter movies?)
No but I saw The Manchurian Candidate. Great cast - Sinatra, Lansbury, Leigh and Not Named.
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THEY WON'T BELIEVE ME has to be ranked as one of the highlight films of Robert Young's career. But I wonder if, for once, TCM will show the full 91 minute version rather than the truncated 79 minute copy of the film they've been showing for years.
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31 minutes ago, Dargo said:
Oh yeah, that's right.
lydecker, don't forget Olivier spelled HIS first name just like Laurence Harv....WHOOPS!
(...boy, was THAT ever a close one here, EH Tom?!)
LOL
And to think I had such hopes for you. 😟
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Allison Hayes - Electric.
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I find Glenn Ford's character in Gilda to be quite dislikable. In fact there's nobody in that film that could even vaguely be described as a "nice" person. Maybe that's why it appeals to noir fans. But then I didn't like Ford either when he was reunited with Rita as a hot headed lover in The Loves of Carmen. His one '40s film in which I did think he was effective was when, appropriately, he played a ruthless cold blooded creep in Lust for Gold.
By the time of The Big Heat, however, a lot of that angry tension of his earlier characters had been replaced by a more laid back screen presence (even if he was a guy out for revenge here). This laid back Ford, which would become more and more his '50s screen persona (two westerns, 3:10 to Yuma and The Sheepman are great illustrations of it) made Ford more engaging, in my opinion, than he had been in the previous decade of his career.
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Is it my imagination or does Barrymore not have a bit of a resemblance to a young Richard Burton in that top photo? These images are all, I believe, from when he played Hamlet in 1922, considered by many the peak of his theatrical career.
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10 hours ago, speedracer5 said:
I just purchased the Universal Carole Lombard Glamour Collection and all 6 films are blind buys. I saw it used and purchased it to go with my Mae West and Marlene Dietrich Glamour Collections. I'm looking forward to seeing more of Lombard's work. These are the films that came in the collection: Man of the World, We're Not Dressing, Hands Across the Table, Love Before Breakfast, The Princess Comes Across, and True Confession.
I purchased this collection as well, with Hands Across The Table my favourite. This is not the same crazy Lombard that you saw in My Man Godfrey but a far more subdued actress. This is a charming romantic comedy, with Carole giving a lovely, enchanting performance, in my opinion. This film is not as well known as some of Lombard's other films but it is well worth viewing. It was also the first of four films in which Fred MacMurray would be her co-star, with three of their films in this collection (their weakest film together, Swing High, Swing Low is missing).
By the way, John Barrymore has a supporting comedy role in True Confession. Barrymore, of course, (along with Howard Hawks) had been instrumental in Lombard discovering herself as a screwball comedy actress in 20th Century three years earlier. By the time this film was made, though, his career was on the decline and Carole, now a major star and grateful for the career boost he had given her, threatened to walk off the film if he was not hired.
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Dick Powell would make my skin crawl whenever I saw him as an ever smiling cutesy singer in any of the Busby Berkeley musicals.
Later, though, starting with Murder My Sweet, I saw him as a cynical private eye demonstrating a great facility for delivering throwaway one liners and had a major reappraisal of him as a performer. I was shocked at what a good Philip Marlowe he was, and eventually saw him in his other noirs (there weren't enough of them). Later he became a director and a major television pioneer producer and I came to realize what a major multi talent Powell was. I became envious of him, too, when I learned he was married to Joan Blondell in the '30s (let's all forget his later marriage).
And today I can even stomach him in those Berkeley musicals.
The guy had versatility and talent.
From this (when I initially had a difficult time appreciating him) . . .
to this (in which he was one of the great screen cynics) . . .
to this . . .
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Within a couple of years of his death, without Powell's business brains behind it, the immensely successful Four Star Television vanished.
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1 hour ago, UMO1982 said:
I agree..... Wilde had zero warmth or humor about him. How he ever got an Oscar nomination for A Song to Remember is a mystery. That gypsy movie he made with Jane Russell, Hot Blood, is godawful unwatchable.
I'm not a fan of Cornel Wilde either. However, to give the bland devil his due, he did an excellent job as both actor and director when he made THE NAKED PREY in 1965. (Not only that, but the man was in shape, too).
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Bette Davis: Informative.
Here she's letting us know you can snort Pepsi as well as Coke.
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7 hours ago, misswonderly3 said:
The other evening I watched The Big Combo (which I own on a very cheap and cheesey and probably semi-illegal boxed set.) I think Eddie Muller may have mentioned this one in passing, but I'm not sure if he's ever shown it on Noir Alley. (Anyone who knows otherwise, please feel free to enlighten me.)
TCM has shown The Big Combo, MissW, in the pre Noir Alley days since I have a recording of it from that time.
I enjoyed the film quite a lot, though recall thinking that Cornel Wilde was a rather bland lead. On the positive side, though, Richard Conte is a charismatic gangster (as well as the most interesting character in the film), and, while I won't name which character in the film is on the receiving end, there's a uniquely filmed screen killing.
This was Helen Walker's last film appearance, coming a few years after the controversy of her automobile accident, and I found it rather sad to see the deterioration in her beauty that had occurred since her heyday in the '40s. The film's leading lady, Jean Wallace, who failed to impress you, MissW, impressed Cornel Wilde enough to be his wife at the time. Somewhere I read that Wilde was unhappy with the intensity of her scenes in this film with Conte.
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Murders in the Zoo (1933)
Melodramatic brew about a zoologist, madly jealous (literally) of his unfaithful wife's affairs, who takes to dispatching her lovers through inventive use of the animals he captures. While there's probably nothing else in the film to quite compare to the pre code nastiness and sadism of its opening scene this production weaves a spell and will appeal to horror fans, even though it's probably a little questionable to view the film as representative of that genre.
Part of the reason for this inclusion to many, however, would be because of the central casting of Lionel Atwill, an actor associated with the genre, who gives as maniacal a performance in this film as any in his career. Kathleen Burke (always to be remembered as the Panther Girl in Island of Lost Souls) plays his beautiful but unfaithful wife who becomes suspicious that he is behind the deaths of men who pay attention to her. Randolph Scott and Gail Patrick both seem a little out of their element as a scientist and his assistant working at the zoo.
Beautifully photographed in lush black and white by Ernest Haller, and, as directed by Edward Sutherland, running a brief 62 minutes, Murders in the Zoo's effectiveness as a chiller is compromised, unfortunately, by far too much screen time given over to the mild comedy antics of Charlie Ruggles as a PR man for the zoo who seems to be afraid of almost any animal he comes near. Ruggles' humour is a matter of taste and while normally I enjoy him well enough there is simply too much of him in this film.
Even though Ruggles gets top billing, Murders in the Zoo memorably belongs to Lionel Atwill. Few other actors could convey so much evil with either a steely stare or, perhaps even more insidiously, cruel smile. Atwill fans will enjoy this production, as well as those who enjoy chillers with a touch of the bizarre. My rating of this Paramount release would have been higher if not for the abundance of screen time given to Ruggles.
2.5 out of 4
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Frank Sinatra.
As a kid couldn't understand his popularity, especially since I found Dean Martin, by comparison, so much more personable and I liked his laid back crooning style more, too.
Since then, however, I have come to appreciate the genius of Sinatra as a singer, particularly in his hurtin' ballad days of the late '50s, when he had Nelson Riddle doing the musical accompaniment. And, in viewing some of his straight dramatic film work, such as in From Here to Eternity and The Manchurian Candidate, when he tried, Sinatra could be a fine actor.
Looking at my CD collection I have eight or nine CDs of Sinatra to only one or two of Dino. That says it all about my evolving tastes (though Martin will always have a special place in my heart, if only due to The Dean Martin Show's nine seasons on television).
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10 hours ago, misswonderly3 said:
Dargo, sorry, I did not recognize the pic, and therefore was confused as to what you were talking about. The reason I did not recognize the pic is because I've never seen an Abbott and Costello movie. (I know, how can I call myself a movie fan?) So, I didn't know what you were referring to.
Really? Then do yourself a favour, MissW, and, if you only ever watch one film of Bud and Lou, make it Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (which comes on TCM on occasion). The boys are at their best in this film but, even if you don't like their comedy shtick, they are only half the reason to watch the film. The monsters in the film, Dracula (Bela Lugosi), Wolf Man (Lon Chaney Jr.) and Frankenstein Monster (Glenn Strange) all have the opportunity to play the frights straight. The script does not poke fun at them, treating them with respect. In fact this film has the last great performance of Lugosi's career (though it was Chaney's Wolf Man who scared the heck out of me when I was a kid). All that, plus the highly effective musical accompaniment of Frank Skinner's score make this film an unqualified winner, in my opinion (and that of an awful lot of other people too).
Speaking of comedy teams the Ritz Brothers are an acquired taste that I've never been able to acquire.
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1 hour ago, misswonderly3 said:
Shirley you can't mean LAURENCE HARVEY ? I figure it's either him, or Voldemort.
Yes I do and, by the way, my name's not Shirley.
I have now gone 30 years with an unblemished record as charter member of the He Who Shall Not Be Named Club. In fact, not only am I a charter member but I'm the only member. Dargo tried to join but he failed. Done in by a joke! I had high hopes for him, too.
Nevertheless, I entreat all who are equally turned off by this cold fish actor who exudes the excitement of clam chowder to become a member of the club and never again let his name pass their lips or be typed by their keyboard.
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Mara Maru (1952)
This is one of the later films in Errol Flynn's career which, if not forgotten, is largely dismissed. But, if one looks past the familiarity of its story line and frequent dull patches in the direction, little pleasures can still be found.
Flynn plays a salvage boat operator in Manila who gets accused of his partner's murder and eventually hooks up with a sleazy mysterious character in a treasure hunt involving a sunken PT boat. Gordon Douglas, perhaps best remembered today for his direction of Them a couple of years later, helms the assignment here, with Ruth Roman as a love interest who plays both sides and Raymond Burr, in his pre Perry Mason days, as the corrupt character waiting for his opportunity to shaft Flynn. Ironically, for a film in which Burr refers to Flynn's character by his last name a lot, that last name is Mason.
There's a lot of talk in the first half of this film as the audience waits for some action or adventure. Rather unforgivably the underwater scenes (not helped by the fact that it's a black and white production) are dull and visually murky. It's difficult to distinguish much in the scenes under the waves, and there are frequent shots of fish swimming past Flynn, obviously superimposed over the screen inasmuch as they are literally transparent. You can see the backgrounds right through the fish!
Things, however, pick up in the film's final stretch and it's here that interest improves as Flynn gets the treasure (actually a jewel laden cross) and is on the run through jungles with Burr and his muscle bound assistant in hot pursuit. There isn't much in the way of real sparks in the scenes shared by Flynn and Roman but she looks attractive and gives an adequate performance. Much of the time, though, the actress is sitting in the background, trying to act interested as she listens to other cast members talking.
In some respects Mara Maru's story has similarities to The Maltese Falcon, with Flynn in a cynical Bogart role, Burr as a Sydney Greenstreet substitute and the ever smiling (and rather irksome) Paul Picerni as a double dealer filling in for Peter Lorre.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the film for me is Flynn's performance. He is not the light hearted swashbuckler here but gives a more grounded portrayal. Many comment on the actor's increasing paunchiness at this stage of his career but he still delivers a natural, understated performance, the kind of acting that often get dismissed because it seems so effortless.
Flynn also has a couple of effective moments in which he shines, none more so than a scene towards the end in which he slaps his loyal assistant across the face as the latter holds onto the jewelled cross insisting it has to be returned to the church from which it came. In a few screen seconds the expressions on Flynn's face capture the anger, frustration, as well as his character's regret and emotional confusion after he slaps the boy. It's a fine little moment, reminding one of what a highly effective actor Flynn could be when he tried.
Mara Maru shows that Errol Flynn in the later, less glamourous, stages of his career, had the makings of being an effectively hardened, cynical noir protagonist. I wish that he had been offered better opportunities than provided here but, at least, this little remembered film shows that the potential was there. Not be be overlooked, Max Steiner's musical accompaniment in his last screen collaboration with Flynn is a good one.
2.5 out of 4
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Not crazy about self absorbed cry babies
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5 hours ago, Dargo said:
Ted Lewis wasn't in a lot of films in his career, Lawrence. He was mostly a vaudevillian, and also a band leader whose band specialized in old Tin Pan Alley tunes, but who also had a solo act for many years as a singer who'd quite often talk the lyrics of a song and use exaggerated inflections instead of actually singing them.
His trademark look was top hat and tails, and is probably best remembered for his catchphrase, "Is everybody happy?" and his rendition of the old song, "Me and My Shadow".
I also recall a few cartoons from the 1930s in which he's caricatured in them.
(...and can understand why Bogie doesn't like him, as even in his heyday his act was considered pretty corny)
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Shadow of the Vampire (2000)
Intriguing fanciful take on film history dealing with the making of the legendary German silent Nosferatu, the first vampire film of the movies. The screenplay's take is that director F. W. Murnau knowingly hired, in the mysterious Max Schreck, a real vampire, who threatens to feast upon crew members as Murnau is determined to finish his film.
There are some impressive recreations of scenes from the Murnau classic in a film that frequently establishes an eerie feeling. John Malkovich does his usual solid work as Murnau but it's Willem Dafoe, as the vampiric Shreck, who mesmerizes the screen with his bizarre portrayal. There is even a little dark humour to be found here, on occasion.
Among other things this film put me in a mood to watch Nosferatu again. But, above all, even without having seen the original silent classic, Dafoe's performance makes for compulsive viewing.
3 out of 4
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23 hours ago, Dargo said:
Gosh, does this ever bring back a few memories of my youth, Vautrin.
While I was more into gluing together model cars and airplanes made by companies such as Revell and Monogram back then, Dennis, one of my childhood buddies was more into the whole gothic movie monster model thing. He also had the Hunchback of Notre Dame like the following one made by the Aurora Company and which I'll bet was the one you're talking about here...
...but also their Frankenstein's Monster, Dracula, Wolfman and Creature from the Black Lagoon which he glued together and painted.
(...I think he also had the Invisible Man, but I could never see that one for obvious reasons...sorry, couldn't resist)
Not only did I get all of the Aurora monster models but I still have most of them on display in my basement today. I say most because I sold The Bride of Frankenstein for $150 (!) some years ago to a dealer I met at a nostalgia show. Apparently Bride had a limited release, or something so that was the only one he was interested in.
Just before typing this I went to my basement and looked at them, covered in dust as they may all be. I just patted Quasimodo on his little plastic head.
So what's with that photo of the model you posted, Dargo? Quasimodo looks like he has a hunched chest rather than back. On my model I painted the back with splatters of red like that but the chest had a thick mantle of black hair. Most fetching! Facially the Aurora model looks a bit like Lon Chaney but, as you can see by the old Aurora box cover (they all had great covers) it's the image of another actor who played the role.
Is it me, or is there a new format?
in General Discussions
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"That's right. I'm the King."