TopBilled
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Posts posted by TopBilled
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*Gloria Grahame Takes a Ride*
In RIDE OUT FOR REVENGE with Rory Calhoun, she would do anything to get a man (even start a massacre); then she's back for more with Chuck Connors in RIDE BEYOND VENGEANCE.
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*CATHERINE DENEUVE*
REPULSION (1965) with Ian Hendry & Patrick Wymark
THE YOUNG GIRLS OF ROCHEFORT (1968) with George Chakiris, Gene Kelly & Danielle Darrieux
MAYERLING (1969) with Omark Sharif, James Mason & Ava Gardner
THE APRIL FOOLS (1969) with Jack Lemmon, Peter Lawford, Myrna Loy & Charles Boyer
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*UNCONQUERED (1947)*
From Agee on October 27, 1947:
UNCONQUERED is Cecil DeMille's florid, Technicolored celebration of Gary Cooper's virility, Paulette Goddard's femininity and the American frontier spirit. It is, to be sure, a huge high-colored chunk of hokum.
The story is set in the early 1760s. Miss Goddard, an English girl, is unjustly accused of crime and is sentenced to 14 years of slavery in North America. The highest bid comes from Captain Cooper of the militia. A scoundrel, Howard DaSilva, tricks Cooper out of his new property.
Scoundrel DaSilva wants war with the Indians and a weak frontier (he is a fur trader). Patriot Cooper wants peace and a strong frontier (he is the stuff that the unborn U.S. is to be made of). DaSilva gets his war, and it remains for Cooper to rescue Miss Goddard from the aborigines (Boris Karloff and friends).
Mixed with all the 19th century theatricalism, the 20th century talent for making movies move, and the overall impression of utter falsity, UNCONQUERED has some authentic flavor of the period.
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Sorry I omitted that one. As tcmsnumberonefan indicated, IT'S LOVE I'M AFTER does air on July 10th. In fact, all three of his films with Bette Davis are scheduled that evening.
As for Spike Lee, I was surprised at how tame and classic his choices were. Not at all what I would expect from him.
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*Based on Erskine Caldwell*
TOBACCO ROAD and GOD'S LITTLE ACRE make it to the screen from Caldwell's novels, both with considerable controversy.
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*GEORGE BRENT*
FAIR WARNING (1931) with George O'Brien & Louise Huntington
THE HOMICIDE SQUAD (1931) with Leo Carrillo & Mary Brian
THEY CALL IT SIN (1932) with Loretta Young, Una Merkel & David Manners
MISS PINKERTON (1932) with Joan Blondell & Ruth Hall
THE CRASH (1932) with Ruth Chatterton
LUXURY LINER (1933) with Zita Johann & Alice White
LILLY TURNER (1933) with Ruth Chatterton
SPECIAL AGENT (1935) with Bette Davis & Ricardo Cortez
SNOWED UNDER (1936) with Genevieve Tobin & Glenda Farrell
THE CASE AGAINST MRS. AMES (1936) with Madeleine Carroll
SUBMARINE D-1 (1937) with Pat O'Brien & Wayne Morris
GOD'S COUNTRY AND THE WOMAN (1937) with Beverly Roberts
MOUNTAIN JUSTICE (1937) with Josephine Hutchinson
WINGS OF THE NAVY (1939) with Olivia de Havilland & John Payne
ADVENTURE IN DIAMONDS (1940) with Isa Miranda & John Loder
THEY DARE NOT LOVE (1941) with Martha Scott & Paul Lukas
INTERNATIONAL LADY (1941) with Ilona Massey & Basil Rathbone
SILVER QUEEN (1942) with Priscilla Lane & Eugene Pallette
YOU CAN'T ESCAPE FOREVER (1942) with Brenda Marshall
TWIN BEDS (1942) with Joan Bennett
EXPERIMENT PERILOUS (1944) with Hedy Lamarr
THE AFFAIRS OF SUSAN (1945) with Joan Fontaine, Dennis O'Keefe & Don DeFore
TEMPTATION (1946) with Merle Oberon
LOVER COME BACK (1946) with Lucille Ball & Vera Zorina
CHRISTMAS EVE (1947) with Randolph Scott, George Raft, Joan Blondell & Ann Harding
THE CORPSE CAME C.O.D. (1947) with Joan Blondell
OUT OF THE BLUE (1947) with Virginia Mayo, Turhan Bey, Ann Dvorak & Carole Landis
SLAVE GIRL (1947) with Yvonne de Carlo
ANGEL ON THE AMAZON (1948) with Vera Ralston, Brian Aherne & Constance Bennett
ILLEGAL ENTRY (1949) with Howard Duff & Marta Toren
THE KID FROM CLEVELAND (1949) with Lynn Bari & Russ Tamblyn
BRIDE FOR SALE (1949) Claudette Colbert & Robert Young
RED CANYON (1949) with Ann Blyth & Howard Duff
F.B.I. GIRL (1951) with Cesar Romero, Audrey Totter & Tom Drake
MAN BAIT (1952) with Margeurite Chapman
MEXICAN MANHUNT (1953) with Hillary Brooke & Marjorie Lord
TANGIER INCIDENT (1953) with Mari Aldon
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*THE EMPEROR WALTZ (1948)*
From Agee on July 24, 1948:
Bing Crosby, a Yankee drummer, loves Joan Fontaine, a Viennese countess. Crosby's dog, a fox terrier, loves Fontaine's dog, a poodle. The Emperor Franz Josef himself at length declares that Americans are not merely just as good as Austrocrats but better. That goes for their dogs too.
At its best this semi-musical is amusing and well shaped, because Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder have learned a fair amount from the comedies of Ernst Lubitsch. In general it is reasonably good fun. At its worst it yaps and embraces every unguarded leg in sight.
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I agree that Monroe and Fox did patch things up right before she died, but I think finishing the picture would've been an uphill battle for her. Obviously, they would have to replace Cukor, since she and Cukor were professionally at odds, and then they would have to find a director who could get new footage out of her that matched the stuff Cukor already shot. She would have a lot to prove on set to repair her already damaged reputation.
I am sure that she would've prevailed and the picture would've eventually been completed, but it may have become another CLEOPATRA with budget over-runs due to her erratic mental state at this time. It's a shame that she did not get the chance to rebound and really sustain her star power. She died too young and too tragically.
Hiring Doris Day probably had its own share of issues, but comparatively speaking, it was perhaps better for the sake of this picture that Marilyn had been replaced. Doris and Jim Garner do a great job saving this troubled venture.
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Hudson only made one film with Day in the 50s. PILLOW TALK was released at the very end of the decade, in October 1959. The other two comedies they made with Tony Randall were released in the 60s. He did a few comedies with Gina Lollobrigida in the 60s, and there was one with Paula Prentiss that was directed by Howard Hawks. In the 50s, Hudson was used more by Universal in action flicks, westerns and melodramas directed by Douglas Sirk.
As for Day, her 50s output was largely a continuation of her earlier film work in the late 40s at Warners. After she left Warners and signed with Universal, she underwent an image makeover and started making more risque sex farces.
I think her best film of the 50s, aside from PILLOW TALK which is her most known classic, is IT HAPPENED TO JANE, costarring Jack Lemmon. It perfectly captures the Day persona, the bright and bubbly and wholesome American girl determined to share her joy with the world.
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Thank you. They are also focusing on musical biographies in July.
The Rusty series continues each Saturday morning with the last installment, RUSTY'S BIRTHDAY, airing at the end of the month. Since one of the JUNGLE JIM entries pops up at the beginning of the month, I am wondering if that will be the next series in September. They have obviously leased JUNGLE JIM from Sony, so my guess is we'll see more.
Meanwhile, a batch of FALCON flicks with George Sanders airs on the 3rd, following a few of his SAINT titles.
Of interest to fans of classic Paramount films is the fact that ELEPHANT WALK, starring Dana Andrews and Elizabeth, screens on July 2nd.
And as I hoped for in another post, STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER, does make it on to the 4th of July schedule. Good!
Spike Lee is guest programmer. There is also another evening where an unnamed guest programmer has selected James Stewart westerns. Perhaps that is incorrectly labeled, or maybe it is an indicator that Robert Osborne is going on vacation and we will have another batch of replacement hosts...?
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Here's the line-up:
_July 3_
STAND-IN...with Joan Blondell & Humphrey Bogart
GONE WITH THE WIND...with Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable & Olivia de Havilland
FIRST OF THE FEW...with David Niven
THE LAMP STILL BURNS...with Stewart Granger...Howard only served as producer of this one.
GENTLE SEX...with Joan Greenwood...This British production is a film that he directed and did not appear in as an actor. He does serve as the uncredited narrator, however.
_July 10_
FIVE AND TEN...with Marion Davies
NEVER THE TWAIN SHALL MEET...with Conchita Montenegro
OF HUMAN BONDAGE...with Bette Davis
THE PETRIFIED FOREST...with Bette Davis, Genevieve Tobin & Humphrey Bogart
_July 17_
ROMEO AND JULIET...with Norma Shearer
OUTWARD BOUND...with Douglas Fairbanks Jr. & Helen Chandler...This was Howard's first Hollywood film.
A FREE SOUL...with Norma Shearer & Clark Gable
CAPTURED!...with Douglas Fairbanks Jr. & Paul Lukas
SMILIN' THROUGH...with Norma Shearer & Fredric March
_July 24_
PYGMALION...with Wendy Hiller...He served as co-director.
DEVOTION...with Ann Harding
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM...with Ann Harding & Myrna Loy
BERKELY SQUARE...with Heather Angel
_July 31_
SECRETS...with Mary Pickford
BRITISH AGENT...with Kay Francis
THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL...with Merle Oberon & Raymond Massey
49TH PARALLEL...with Raymond Massey & Laurence Olivier
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I thought about that, too. But POPI was also pulled off the schedule. That is a United Artists picture already in the Turner library, and it has had a DVD release.
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Interesting comment. Some of them I edit, if there are references to obscure foreign films he is comparing a well-known film to...but many times, he does a series of films he has seen during a week and yes, they are very brief. Occasionally, he will just write a single sentence about a film, promising to review it more fully in a later commentary (he may or may not fulfill that promise).
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It is interesting that he describes the supporting cast as minor players. Of course, some of them would have long successful careers, people like Lauren Bacall and Dorothy Malone.
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*George C. Scott as George S. Patton*
He reprises his role as PATTON, the decorated general in a made-for-TV sequel called THE LAST DAYS OF PATTON which fills in the missing gaps of the earlier film.
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*ROSSANA RORY*
THE RIVER CHANGES (1956) with Harald Maresch
THE BIG BOODLE (1957) with Errol Flynn
THE ANGEL WORE RED (1960) with Ava Gardner, Dirk Bogarde & Joseph Cotten
COME SEPTEMBER (196) with Rock Hudson & Gina Lollobrigida
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*THE BIG SLEEP (1946)*
From Agee on August 31, 1946:
THE BIG SLEEP is a violent, smoky cocktail shaken together from most of the printable misdemeanors and some that aren't. It's one of those Raymond Chandler Specials which puts you, along with the cast, into a state of semi-amnesia through which tough action and reaction drum with something of the nonsensical solace of hard rain on a tin roof. Humphrey Bogart and several proficient minor players keep anchoring it some sufficient kind of reality.
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Yes, THE CLOCK is one of those MGM stories that you have to just accept and go along with for the ride. I find it interesting that Judy is so luminous in this picture, considering that it is not shot in Technicolor. I am always just utterly captivated watching her and Robert Walker in it.
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Fred,
It is definitely interesting to read what you have referenced. However, keep in mind that Adrian Scott was not only a producer, but he was a screenwriter. So if they had to find another writer to tone down the Communist overtures, then it may have been that he was trying to remove some of Scott's earlier material.
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Yes, it could work that way. You would have to come up with a title or description that links those two performances of his.
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Maybe modern audiences (and critics) will be kinder, and they will be grateful that the film is being dusted off for us to judge and enjoy.
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Thanks for the link to the article.
I particularly like ALVAREZ KELLY...and I would suggest that TCM show THE MOUNTAIN, a Paramount picture he did with Spencer Tracy, Robert Wagner and Claire Trevor. In a way, he was like Robert Wise in that he worked successfully across a variety of genres with top name stars and big budgets.
His collaborator during those fruitful days at RKO was producer-writer Adrian Scott. Scott was also blacklisted and part of the Hollywood Ten. When Dmytryk recanted, he named Scott as a subversive whose goal was to put Communist ideas into films. Together they made some very influential film noir like MURDER MY SWEET, CORNERED and CROSSFIRE. For many years, Dmytryk's testimony was resented by the Scotts and their friends.
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*SONG OF LOVE (1947)*
From Agee on November 8, 1947:
The film takes the liberty of showing Johannes Brahms declare his love for Clara Schumann. Liberties are also taken with the music. Even so short a piece as Brahms's G-Minor Rhapsody is haggled to bits. I don't like these kinds of license even when they are excusable, or unavoidable. But very much to my surprise I did rather like SONG OF LOVE. All such inaccuracies and mutilations, and some clumsy casting, and some wrongly styled acting, were in my feeling more than counterbalanced by the real tenderness and quiet in which the picture was obviously undertaken.
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I happen to think Garland's best work is in THE CLOCK, which I love very much. She is also effective in A CHILD IS WAITING. She proved herself as a capable dramatic actress more than once.
UPCOMING CLASSIC 20TH CENTURY FOX FILMS
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FMC recently aired HEMINGWAY'S ADVENTURES AS A YOUNG MAN, which I watched last night. I really love this film...excellent production values, what a cast!, and proof that Zanuck was back in charge at Fox in the early 60s. It will be rebroadcast on FMC in late May. Don't miss this treat!