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BABY'S DAY OUT (1994)

WILL SUCCESS SPOIL ROCK HUNTER? (1957)

LOUISA (1950)

MAGNOLIA (1999)

SHIRLEY VALENTINE (1989)

STEEL MAGNOLIAS (1989)

MARTY (1955)

ZANDER THE GREAT (1925)

Zmed, Adrian

MY DEAR MISS ALDRICH (1937) Next: DRUMS ALONG THE MOHAWK (1939) two with Edna May Oliver

Thanks...yes, I meant THE FARMER'S DAUGHTER. I corrected my error.

two thousand five hundred ninety-ninth category Rough characters DICK TRACY (1990) NECESSARY ROUGHNESS (1991) DROWNING MONA (2000)

Today's neglected film is from 1936. It has aired eight times on TCM. This review can be found on my blog, along with all the other reviews: https://oforinvolvingmotionpictures.wordpress.com/2022/10/24/neglected-film-exclusive-story-1936/ Newspaper dramas were all the rage in the 1930s, ever since THE FRONT PAGE was a smash hit. By the time MGM made EXCLUSIVE STORY, these yarns were no longer fresh, and it required a bit more ingenuity to keep the public interested. MGM applies customary gloss to this production, and features one of its more refined leading ladies, Madge Evans, in the lead female role. Evans is excellent as always, but slightly miscast as the daughter of a working class grocer (J. Farrell MacDonald). There is no mention of what happened to her character’s mother, who probably died long ago. Evans helps her pop in the store and cooks meals for him in the apartment upstairs. We learn that pop is being pressured by a hood (Joseph Calleia) who receives orders from the mob, to sell crooked lottery tickets to people who can barely afford food. Evans thinks this is wrong, and she aims to do something about it. Meanwhile, a crusading reporter– is there any other kind?– played by Stuart Erwin is not eager to do a story on the numbers racket. He was recently reprimanded by his editor for writing an article about construction graft, which although true, could not be backed up with substantial facts. An attorney (Franchot Tone) reminds Erwin that he needs proof before his muckraking articles are published. So Erwin is hesitant to look into Evans’ claims about what Calleia and his cronies are doing. In some ways this all seems like the sort of movie that Warner Brothers would’ve made about racketeers. Of course, it’s interesting to see how MGM handles it. The finished product is fairly decent with strong performances, good cinematography and scenes that move quickly without any down time. The most exciting part of the narrative involves MacDonald’s character traveling to Havana. After a rival gangster (J. Carrol Naish) has been killed and dumped off at the store, MacDonald decides it’s time to get out of business. But he has been duped into selling the place to Calleia’s bosses. He takes a trip to Cuba, but doesn’t realize he is being used by the people who bought his store…and that he’s helping transport illegal chemicals on the ship. Yes, MacDonald is rather naive. The chemicals cannot be offloaded in Havana, so MacDonald has to bring them back to the U.S. On the way home, the ship catches fire which leads to the deaths of many passengers. This sequence, complete with its roaring inferno and various special effects, feels like a precursor to the disaster films that would later become popular. Tone and Erwin help rescue MacDonald, but then MacDonald is murdered by Calleia. Evans is understandably upset by the turn of events, and is firmly resolved to bring down the mob once and for all. Tone, who was a bit nonchalant at first, also becomes more committed to helping Evans. Naturally, they are falling in love, despite Tone’s engagement to a society gal (Louise Henry). The ending of the film offers no real surprises. We know that Tone and Evans will head to the altar, after ensuring that her father’s killers have been brought to justice. At 73 minutes, the story is told in a compact and satisfying manner. It is not too taxing and there are worse ways to spend one’s time.

Tuesday October 25, 2022

Tuesday October 25, 2022 Thriller on TCM secret ceremony

THE STRANGE LOVE OF MOLLY LOUVAIN (1932)

BLUE SKIES (1946)

PAULA (1952)

SAMSON AND DELILAH (1949)

Uncle Buck

A FEW GOOD MEN (1992) Next: Gillespie

QUIZ SHOW (1994)

MEET MR. CALLAGHAN (1954)

LIVE WIRES (1946)

THIS WAS PARIS (1942)