TopBilled

PLAY MISTY FOR ME (1971)

99 RIVER STREET (1953)

PURPLE HEART DIARY (1951)

WIMBLEDON (2004)

MY BROTHER TALKS TO HORSES (1947)

JEWEL ROBBERY (1932)

JUNE BRIDE (1948)

CAR 54 WHERE ARE YOU? (1994)

EAST OF EDEN (1955)

Driver, Minnie

Essential: BEWITCHED (1945) TopBilled: Director Arch Oboler had a successful career on radio before this film was made. It’s a different type of picture for MGM, but Oboler’s work had been well-received. Plus it wasn’t as if the studio was allocating a huge sum of money for BEWITCHED. In fact, its modest budget helps keep things fairly basic. Without the expenditures afforded an ‘A’ film, Oboler and his crew had to rely on inexpensive ways to generate suspense. Sound effects are put to good use here, and so are simple lighting techniques that suggest the importance of shadows– both visually and in terms of the story’s subtext. These tricks had been used at Columbia when transferring the Whistler series from radio to the ‘B’-film format. Our main character is portrayed by MGM contractee Phyllis Thaxter. (Interestingly, Miss Thaxter’s husband James Aubrey would run MGM in the late 1960s and early 1970s.) Thaxter is a fascinating choice to convey a young woman whose psychologically issues spiral out of control. Aiding Thaxter’s performance is an uncredited Audrey Totter. She provides the voice-over of the main character’s disturbing alter ego…the bad dark side who causes inner frictions and dangerous situations to occur. At one point Thaxter is compelled to use a pair of scissors in much the same way Barbara Stanwyck tried to cut Judith Anderson out of her father’s life in THE FURIES. Such scenes are underscored by Totter’s words on the soundtrack as the psychotic alter ego. Miss Totter was on the cusp of making a name for herself as a noir femme fatale, and she’s perfectly suited to voicing the evil aspects of a woman who is bewitched. While Thaxter’s horrifying identity crisis unfolds, she meets a helpful shrink played by Edmund Gwenn. Mr. Gwenn was already typecast in family-oriented fare like LASSIE COME HOME and MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET. So he probably enjoyed the chance to explore something different in this film. Theories about psychoses have no doubt evolved since the mid-1940s. This story attempts to examine the dominant characteristics residing in a troubled woman, and I think as a work of fiction, it is generally engrossing. In some ways it reminds me of a later Paramount picture THE SEARCH FOR BRIDEY MURPHY, where confused Teresa Wright deals with a personality from a previous life, suggesting she has been reincarnated. In BEWITCHED, Oboler and his team are attempting the opposite, to show how the main character may be mentally reincarnated (rehabilitated) to live a more productive life. Thaxter’s character is vulnerable and unable to overcome a demonic possession on her own. She needs to receive the help of a doctor. If this was a Catholic-themed religious movie, she would need holy water anointed on her as well as continual prayer and vigilance. One thing that doesn’t exactly work for me, is how she seems to be forgiven by the court for the heinous crimes her other self committed. Who’s to say she won’t lose control again? How many other personalities are still waiting to come out? The story seems like a product of its time...where storytellers with good intentions devise a fiction to promote understanding of psychological torment. I am not sure how successful that approach ultimately is. Though I’m sure Miss Thaxter felt like this was an acting job that gave her a way to exercise and exorcise her dramatic skills. *** Jlewis: This is another psychological spook-thriller. Arch Oboler of radio’s Lights Out (famous for ominous gongs and the velvety voiced “It…is…later…than…you…think”) and his own Arch Oboler’s Plays was a specialist for the creepy and unpredictable. Although his movies tend to be less interesting than his radio shows, being more of a master of the “theater of the mind,” he nonetheless famously “put a lion in your lap” with the blockbuster 3-D BWANA DEVIL. A few of his works made the transition from radio to movie screen with hit and miss results. A listener with a vivid imagination can create pictures for one’s self, which is why something like “Cat Wife,” first aired in 1936 but surviving today in audio format with its third edition of ’38, works as well as it does in the format it is in. This one involves Boris Karloff voicing the husband of a woman who becomes more feline as she gets increasingly angry with him and we are not totally sure if she genuinely transforms into a cat or he just assumes she does since a cat is present. I am not sure this would have made good visual entertainment even with special effects involved. To site another example, but by a different writer similar to Oboler, Lucille Fletcher: her classic “The Hitchhiker” pretty much flopped in its transition from radio (the ¨Suspense version of 1942 and subsequent Mercury Summer Theatre ’46 survive) to television (The Twilight Zone, filmed ’59 and broadcast ’60) because the ominous title character who torments the frazzled driver is not intended to be seen literally. BEWITCHED involves a story that vaguely resembles “Cat Wife” but, unfortunately, we do not have its original source material, the 1936 broadcast of Oboler’s “Alter Ego” from Lights Out, in a surviving form to compare and contrast to it. I guess it works pretty well as a movie overall, but do suspect that the half-hour “theater of the mind” version is more impactful. One key draw-back is that the central character is not well cast: actress Phyllis Thatcher is too sweet looking and docile in her facial expressions to portray a troubled woman with a split personality. The working title was temporarily changed to “The Crime of Joan Ellis” during its production by MGM and producer Jerry Bresler of Dr. Kildare fame in late 1944. Joan has blood on her hands and is in desperate need of a psychiatrist, Dr. Bergsen (Edmund Gwenn a.k.a. MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET and THEM!). Addison Richards and Kathleen Lockhart comprise her beleaguered family. Fittingly, we open much like a LIGHTS OUT program with a clock ticking and Bergsen ending a session with his secretary “It is very late…,” as he starts to tell us our story in flashback. Our lovely Joan is sentenced to The Chamber, but how did she get there? Harry Daniels Jr. plays her beau Bob as we look back at their wooing in the moonlight and the beginnings of a happily-ever-after romance that starts to go sour when she starts “hearing voices.” Although we lack much backstory on Joan that could explain all of this, at least it is a bit easy to accept her situation. She does admit that she does not know how and why that Voice Within has taken over her a.k.a. THE EXORCIST. It is later confirmed by Bergsen that this second being is named Karen…which I find rather amusing in light of all of the TikTok and viral YouTube videos of “crazy Karens” dominating the media cycle this past decade (prompting many with that name wishing to change their names legally in an attempt to avoid ridicule). Maybe it all boils down to sexual frustrations? Had this been made post-Production Code 1960s, I am sure that plot angle would have been milked to the bank with Joan being quite the passionate one. More passionate than humble Bob (his cowlick hair-do making him all-American and clean-cut like one of the stars in those post-war how-to-behave-properly 16mm instructional pictures from Coronet Films) can handle. Bob asks others behind her back “Why is she so afraid?” Meanwhile that voice inside her tells her “You don’t want Bob, you want a MAN!” This brings to light the rather curious critique many 1940s movies make towards women with strong desires, as if they are less entitled to have them than men. Was this a subconscious bias put forth by men writing screenplays? During the war, many women were taking on jobs previously considered men-only and, perhaps, a great many of the opposite gender reacted with discomfort? In any case, she runs away from her family and Bob and gets a job out of town at a cigar store, where she meets Eric (Stephen McNally) who is not too different than Bob in personality (another “nice guy”) but somehow ignites much more excitement with “Karen” than Bob did. Little note of interest: prior to meeting Eric, Joan and Bob make an interesting trip to a zoo and witness its carnivorous residents behind bars. This scene reminds me of RKO’s earlier CAT PEOPLE. In this case, Joan or, rather, Karen is suggested to resemble the ever-pacing and restless tiger, mightier and stronger than any black panther in the former film. A little religion is trickled into our story, with a stage singer quoting Jesus in a familiar tune that does not soothe Karen controlled Joan. This was a prevailing attitude at the time: everyday people who did not have spiritual guidance were somehow…lost…and potential victims to a Dark Side that can take over at any moment when they least expect it. Personally I would have preferred more backstory build-up (possible abuse by men in the past?) to explain how Karen takes over Joan’s mind. Yet simply stating the Dark Side is responsible is one easy, simple solution (I guess) to explain why Joan unexpectedly kills Bob when he revisits her and makes good use of scissors rather than a gun or knife. At this point, you just have to accept this story with your tongue in your cheek. For his part, Eric is an attorney who is good with murder cases and he still loves Joan unconditionally. He tries to convince her to plead insanity to the court. Instead, she confesses dramatically that she is guilty. To her, it is better that “when I die, she will die too.” Dr. Bergsen gets involved, convincing the governor to hold off the execution so he can get answers by way of hypnotism and, in an almost priest-like way (but no specific talk of God here), exorcism. Yes, this is a rather curious and sometimes silly film, but I must confess to rather liking it, primarily due to the performances. I don’t think Phyllis Thatcher was the right choice for the part but she does give a good performance despite this. More importantly, I really like the great Edmund Gwenn who is very well matched with his role. I also love the musical score by Bronislau Kaper that swells with intensity at just the right moments to keep us at edge. The ending is rather strange for this type of crime film. No, Joan is not destroyed. Just Karen. Our narrator concludes “In a war-torn world, her happiness may seem of small importance and, yet, it is of importance. For each person in this world is one of us.”

Saturday October 22, 2022 Charlton Heston on TCM ben-hur

Saturday October 22, 2022

I think people will probably migrate to a few different sites and decide which one is best for them. I don't see how ClassiCategories would fit in at Silver Screen Oasis which doesn't really feature games. And some of the other sites I looked at, focus more on newer movies. That's part of why I built the other message board, so there was something which resembled what we have here on TCM's site. If people are not able to join on us on the new site, I will understand and of course, we will miss them. But I just wanted to make sure everyone knew that I will be continuing with ClassiCategories.

What I found interesting about his work in this film is that the character has no name. In the credits he is listed as Window Washer. So he took what is basically a nothing role that the writers couldn't even be bothered to name, and he fleshes it out and gives us a whole human being. But then that's what a skilled actor does, he builds on the suggestion of a character and brings it to life. His scenes with Madeleine Carroll are very good. If it had been a sitcom, Tamiroff's window washer would be what is known as a recurring character...not a major player involved in the action, but someone who pops up to comment on various situations...to function as a sounding board/comic relief.

CHRISTMAS IN CONNECTICUT (1945)

Today's neglected film is from 1939. It has never aired on TCM. This review can be found on my blog, along with all the other reviews: https://oforinvolvingmotionpictures.wordpress.com/2022/10/21/neglected-film-honeymoon-in-bali-1939/ HONEYMOON IN BALI is a charming romantic comedy from the late 1930s that was produced by Paramount, when the studio was making other delightful farces like EASY LIVING and MIDNIGHT. It has slipped into the public domain, and can often be found online under its reissue title, MY LOVE FOR YOURS. It was one of five films that paired the studio’s leading man Fred MacMurray with British actress Madeleine Carroll. The theme of the film is one which might have resonated with a growing number of women at the time it was made. Miss Carroll plays a single female executive at a big city department store. She begins to ask herself if a husband and a child are necessary for her to be happy. She turns to a window washer (Akim Tamiroff), a gal pal (Helen Broderick) and a fortune teller (Astrid Allywn) for answers. As the cheeky best friend, Helen Broderick has the funniest lines. The dialogue exposes sexist attitudes, but it seems to reinforce them, too. Allan Jones plays a rival suitor, someone who supports wives that work. But of course, we know Carroll won’t pick him. She will pick macho MacMurray who expects his wife to be the stay-at-home type. As a direct contrast to this, there’s Osa Massen as a shallow debutante MacMurray knew back in Bali. She’s followed him to New York City. But is she serious competition, especially when a child is involved? Carroll does an excellent job playing an icy businesswoman. She begins to thaw when she meets an orphaned girl named Rosie (Carolyn Lee). There are pleasant diversions along the way– such as a musical scene performed by MacMurray; and an operatic selection by Jones. But the main focus is on the romance developing between the main characters, and how the little girl brings them closer together. The film’s story is bookended by two sequences involving Tamiroff’s character, the window washer. You might say he serves as a Greek chorus of sorts. Near the end, Carroll has a heart-to-heart talk with him, and it causes her to make a life-altering decision. She does an honest-to-goodness reappraisal of her situation and realizes she has to go to Bali…for a honeymoon she doesn’t want to miss.

SHOW BUSINESS (1944) Next: Rear

Brown, Blair

Tomorrow, I will also post the ClassiCategories on the other message board. I will post it in both places for a week. But starting on November 1st, I will only post it on the other site. I hope everyone will continue to join us! https://classicfilmtvradio.freeforums.net/ two thousand five hundred ninety-sixth category Rare villain roles Ann Sothern as a killer in SHADOW ON THE WALL (1950) Robert Taylor as a crooked detective in ROGUE COP (1954) Maureen O’Hara as a femme fatale in LISBON (1956)

Yes, I am glad I haven't run out of ideas! Not sure. Maybe there is something going on at the corporate level.

Vaughn, Vince

Friday October 21, 2022 Gipper on TCM knute rockne all-american

Friday October 21, 2022

Today's neglected film is from 1959. It has aired 10 times on TCM. This review can be found on my blog, along with all the other reviews: https://oforinvolvingmotionpictures.wordpress.com/2022/10/20/neglected-film-look-back-in-anger-1959/ Also, I have built a new message board, which resembles TCM's message board. It's free to join! https://classicfilmtvradio.freeforums.net/ At times it seemed as if the anger in the film was too technically polished, without any real heart or underlying emotion. Yes, Richard Burton as the angry young man at the center of this sordid drama is a fine actor. But I wasn’t gripped by his performance. I didn’t get the impression his character was struggling, just that he was in an ugly place. His ugly surroundings are brightened by a lovely middle class wife (Mary Ure) who has married down. She is often his emotional punching bag, straddling the fence to keep the marriage going and to prove her parents wrong. Eventually she can only take so much berating and vile behavior from Burton, before she packs up and returns home to mummy and daddy. The wife’s abrupt departure involves a few dramatic shifts. First, she’s pregnant…but later loses the baby. And second, before she leaves, she has invited an actress friend (Claire Bloom) to stay in one of the spare rooms for awhile. Of course, this leads to Bloom getting it on with Burton, despite their initial disdain for one another. I thought Burton’s character would end up sexually assaulting Bloom, since he was so hateful. I was surprised that he actually falls in love with Bloom and for a time, they enjoy a passionate and even tender relationship. Ultimately, I started to root for them, and I liked how she subtly started doing the things around the flat that Ure did. Eventually, Ure returns to give the marriage another try. So Bloom must selflessly step aside to facilitate the reconciliation. Meanwhile, there’s a bloke (Gary Raymond) who also lives in the building with them, a fellow companion of Burton’s who helps with the market stall and is platonic with the women. If this story had been done in the late 1960s or 1970s, he probably would be overtly gay. And speaking of gay, in some respects I found the abusive and toxic relationship of the main characters in this film a lot like the homosexual couple that is played by Burton and Rex Harrison in STAIRCASE. In both films, we have couples stuck together where Burton is a complete misery guts. The film contains several notable qualities. These include the use of social realism and the absence of glamour. Many scenes are shot outdoors at a London area marketplace, train station and cemetery. We also witness the struggle of Indian immigrants dealing with the harsh injustice of the socio-economic system. Another highlight is Edith Evans in her rather brief role as Burton’s working class mother. There’s a poignant scene where they visit his father’s grave. When she dies later, he deals with loss again. All of this comes full circle with the death of the baby and the wife’s return. Some of it is rather bleak to watch, and the acting is so polished, it is often devoid of spontaneity. But this is still a profound motion picture that has much to say about worthwhile relationships in life.