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THE DARK MIRROR (1946) Next: Johnny

Xavier, Michael

Saturday October 1, 2022 Marlon Brando on TCM on the waterfront

Saturday October 1, 2022

SEPTEMBER 2022 TAIL SPIN (1939)..FOX RIVER LADY (1948)..UNIV INSIDE THE WALLS OF FOLSOM PRISON (1951)..WB ADVICE TO THE LOVELORN (1933)..UA MR. SOFT TOUCH (1949)..COL THE MATCHMAKER (1958)..PAR BAD COMPANY (1931)..RKO UNCERTAIN GLORY (1944)..WB BIG LEAGUER (1953)..MGM KENTUCKY (1938)..FOX SILVER QUEEN (1942)..UA THE ROSE TATTOO (1955)..PAR AGGIE APPLEBY MAKER OF MEN (1933)..RKO BEWARE OF PITY (1946)..BRIT TO HELL AND BACK (1955)..UNIV THE NIGHT IS YOUNG (1935)..MGM TEMPTATION (1946)..INT NO MAN OF HER OWN (1950)..PAR SORORITY HOUSE (1939)..RKO HITLER’S MADMAN (1943)..MGM CALIFORNIA PASSAGE (1950)..REP FIRST A GIRL (1935)..BRIT SAIGON (1948)..PAR MEET ME AFTER THE SHOW (1951)..FOX THE SPANISH CAPE MYSTERY (1935)..REP BIG JACK (1949)..MGM NEVER A DULL MOMENT (1950)..RKO LADY KILLER (1933)..WB MY NAME IS JULIA ROSS (1945)..COL DREAMBOAT (1952)..FOX

TREMORS (1990)

Vigoda, Abe

JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH (1959) Next: Holiday

KANSAS RAIDERS (1950)

RISE AND SHINE (1941)

Trevor, Claire

I think I like DREAMBOAT a little better than SUNSET BLVD because it seems a bit more clever. Plus Ginger Rogers' character doesn't take herself as seriously as Gloria Swanson's character does. Then we have Clifton Webb playing a character that is playing Clifton Webb playing another character in SITTING PRETTY. It is very self-reflexive and post-modern, certainly ahead of its time, in a way that SUNSET BLVD is not.

Special Theme: (Can you guess what it is?) Have you seen these classic films: 2991. 2992. 2993. 2994. 2995. 2996. 2997. 2998. 2999. 3000.

Coming Up in October: witches October 1 MAID OF SALEM (1937) October 8 I MARRIED A WITCH (1942) October 15 WOMAN WHO CAME BACK (1945) October 22 BEWITCHED (1945) October 29 THE STRANGE WOMAN (1946)

TAP ROOTS (1948)

IT'S THAT MAN AGAIN (1943)

GENEVIEVE (1953)

MAID OF SALEM (1937)

I had never seen DREAMBOAT until a few days ago when I sat down to watch it and write my review. I had bought the disc over ten years ago. I don't know why I had procrastinated so long. But it is a very funny film. I thought some of the scenes were well done. I really loved how Ginger over-emoted in the silent picture scenes. She was spoofing all the old cliches about ham-fisted silent movie acting. There is also a clever scene where Clifton Webb's character is in a lounge while one of his old movies plays on a TV screen. He gets into a brawl with some guy, and it's obvious he hasn't fought anyone in years. He keeps looking at a fight scene from his old movie up on the TV to get pointers. So we have this hilarious situation where in the present day he is mimicking one of his silent routines from 25 years ago. The greatest thing about DREAMBOAT, on a much deeper level, is how it functions as a running commentary on the past and the history of filmmaking...and we are all doing this every time we watch an old film on TCM. So in that regard, it's way ahead of its time.

Today's neglected film is from 1952. It has aired once on TCM. This is a high concept charmer from the folks at 20th Century Fox that provides Clifton Webb and Ginger Rogers with some of their best comedy roles. I say roles in plural form, since they get to appear as various characters in several movies within a movie. They are cast as silent motion picture icons whose old classics find new viewers broadcast television. In real life Ginger Rogers never made any silent films, so she’s actually a bit too young to be seen as a woman that was at her peak in the mid-to-late 1920s, on a par with Garbo, Dietrich or Swanson. Also, while Miss Rogers is shown hosting a TV show in the modern day scenes, she actually never hosted or starred in a weekly series. She was a movie star that came of age after sound was introduced, so successful that she didn’t need TV to stay popular, even in her later years. Of course, there is some irony in the fact that Rogers' own hit films were released on video in the 1980s and have subsequently aired on retro movie channels. As for Clifton Webb, he did make a few silent films that were largely forgotten; but he was never an equal of Valentino, Gilbert or Chaplin. His movie comeback occurred with LAURA in 1944…though in this story, his character makes a triumphant return to the screen in SITTING PRETTY (1948), which was a more recent hit for Mr. Webb complete with sequels. The scenario is outlandish but admittedly a lot of fun. Webb’s a stodgy professor who never told his square of a daughter (Anne Francis) about his sensational Hollywood past. When the old flicks are aired on a local channel, she finds out dad was one of the world’s greatest lovers– affectionately termed a dreamboat. She’s taken aback. So is Webb, who is embarrassed by the corny old movies. A trip to New York City to seek an injunction against the network leads to Webb reuniting with Rogers. Meanwhile, Miss Francis is wined and dined by attractive Jeffrey Hunter, who plays a young network employee. Like a caterpillar emerging from a cocoon, Francis is a butterfly is ready to spread her wings. There’s some excellent comic support from Fred Clark and Elsa Lanchester, and much of what transpires is done tongue-in-cheek. I rather enjoyed this spoof of silent cinema and its knowing wink about the industry as seen through television. Oh, and while we're at it-- Ginger Rogers may not be what we call a dreamboat, she is definitely smoking hot.

two thousand five hundred seventy-fourth category Rats! BROTHER RAT AND A BABY (1940) THE RAT RACE (1960) WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? (1962)

POPEYE (1980)

Rita Moreno Next: B.E.

MADE FOR EACH OTHER (1939) Next: Flag

RAWHIDE (1951)