EugeniaH

Thank you, misswonderly, I'm absolutely going to look for these via classicflix.com. When a poster feels so strongly about a movie, it makes me want to check it out. Arturo also mentioned a film here yesterday that I wanted to see. I don't like horror movies either, with the exception of The Omen, because of the supernatural/existential quality of it. It's a brilliant film and is worth mentioning here.

Pretty scary looking for a comedy, Tom! One of my favorites is the always-standout Sidney Poitier in Lilies of the Field. Homer Smith (Poitier) is driving along a hot desert highway when he realizes that he needs water for his car radiator. He pulls up to a remote convent of German-speaking Catholic nuns. Poor, unsuspecting Homer thinks he’ll just get the water and be on his way. But it soon becomes apparent that he’s going to be roped into doing work for the Lord. Despite the movie’s religious theme, this is not an hour-plus long sermon. This is a charming, humorous, wonderful movie. As usual, Poitier embodies his character with naturalness and ease. Though Homer tries his best to stay independent, arguing and threatening to leave the Catholic group on any number of occasions, he’s also charmed by the innocent, and at times childlike, sisters. I loved watching Homer scrap with the hard-nosed Mother Superior in particular, whom he sarcastically calls “Mama”. They are both stubborn people, for different reasons. She orders him to go to Mass (“I’m a BAPTIST!”, he responds, but he goes!), and her declaration that he will be building their chapel sends him into a hilarious temper tantrum. But the viewer already knows he’s in for it… Still, we don't anticipate the wonderful events that unfold around the building of it, and the insights we get into Homer Smith's character. I love the scene where the nuns ask Homer to play the guitar. He picks it up and strums, “Frankie and Johnny were looo-verrs…” The nuns sit looking at him silently, blankly. Homer quickly stops himself, looking as if he were wishing there were a hole he could crawl into.

They remastered the series for the Acorn set: I replaced my previous set because the colors pop better than ever now. Nice for this show in particular where, as said, the sets are important and 'atmospheric'. Laurie nails Bertie like he was born into the role. His confused facial expressions are priceless.

Princess, my favorite Britcom is Jeeves and Wooster, with Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry. I'm a huge P.G. Wodehouse fan and I thought this was an excellent adaptation to the small screen, including the gorgeous sets and location shots. Though sad to say that late in the series it, too, at times 'jumped the shark'.

Taking a departure of sorts and getting into witchcraft, a movie I found disturbing is Day of Wrath, directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer. Dreyer also directed The Passion of Joan of Arc, so he has a certain flair or interest in the darker side of spirituality. The movie's theme is a witch hunt in Denmark in the 1600s. In one plot, an elderly woman is accused of witchcraft. She is hunted down, tortured, and put to death. I won't spoil it further, but it's well filmed and jarring and worth a watch.

Interesting take, missw. Love the discussion and reading many points of view.

Yeah, but all things being equal I wouldn't care if Lancaster was bald.

At the risk of looking lazy, here's something I already wrote in another thread: Dead of Night (1945). What a wonderful, thought-provoking, creepy film! I watched this again after a too-long gap of about six years. Were there many anthology films made during this time? "Flesh and Fantasy" (1943) comes to mind but "Dead of Night" is superior. The plot involves an architect who arrives at a country house for work, in a recurring nightmare, and he's terrified because he knows how this nightmare is going to end... At the house there are a number of guests and they soon fall into talking about their own horrifying supernatural tales. The stories of each of the guests range from semi-comical (the "golfing" episode was my least favorite, although there was one chilling moment in that; I won't spoil it here) to the terrifying (the best of the lot, imo, is the 'ventriloquist' episode). I think it's been commented on a number of times here on the board that Rod Serling probably drew heavily on "Dead of Night" when writing a number of scripts for "The Twilight Zone" (as just one example, the scene where the dummy bites the hand of the ventriloquist is copied almost exactly in the TZ ep "The Dummy"). I'm not sure if this movie was a blockbuster (the copy I watched wasn't spectacular in quality), but I think it was ahead of its time in terms of depth of concepts, that there is more than meets the eye...

I did see that one, Mr. G. I didn't consider it one of Lombard's highlights. It was a little plodding for me. Yes, luckily it wasn't a three hour epic.

Another theme in spiritual movies is religious hypocrisy. In The Miracle Woman (1931), Florence Fallon is a preacher’s daughter who learns of her father’s sudden death. She leaves the anteroom of the church, where she had mourned over his body, and slowly makes her way to the pulpit. Facing the congregation, trying to contain her emotions, she begins by telling her audience that her father has passed on, and that she would convey her own sentiments in his place… Her father, the preacher, had been asked to leave his post and Florence erupts in a violent fury to the parishioners. She calls them out on their hypocrisy, painting her father as a good man who tried his best… She can’t even remain in place. She moves down into the audience as they back away in fright, out of the church. In the end, utterly drained, she sobs at the doors she closed on them. The whole movie is terrific, but this scene in particular to me is exceptional. The Miracle Woman is based on the life of Aimee Semple McPherson.

I certainly did enjoy it! I knew nothing about the film and I thought it was going to be a corny religious picture, which is why I didn't give it a chance the first time. The movie slowly develops and gets darker and darker, sucking the viewer in. The final sequence gave me chills.

This thread is about all things spooky, spiritual, and supernatural in classic film. Which are your favorites? What moved you? What didn't come off well? There is so much to choose from. Some examples: 1. The Razor's Edge has a good premise, about a man (Tyrone Power) seeking the deeper meaning of life, but I thought the scenes set in India were trite and very "Hollywood". 2. Black Narcissus has lush cinematography and the characters' spiritual conflict gives you a lot to think about (I gave this movie a second watch on Tom's recommendation). 3. Dead of Night is thought-provoking because... 4. Other subjects can cover witchcraft, UFOs, etc.

A couple of my favorites are: 1. Exit: James Cagney in The Public Enemy. (It's also an "entrance" of sorts, too...) 2. Entrance: Bette Davis in The Letter.

Well, if you had milk delivered early in the a.m. on what turned out to be a scorching hot day, and forgot about bringing it in until evening, I'd bet you have yourself some funky concoction...

All this talk of milk delivery made me wax nostalgic so I did some Googling. They still deliver milk on Long Island, NY, where I grew up, though not in my exact area. Sign of the times, though - the dairy company has a Facebook page... My favorite is whole milk, preferably with chocolate syrup in it.

Another odd coincidence: Yesterday in the "Happy Birthday, Doris Day" thread, the topic wandered off to someone mentioning that Ann Blyth looked too different from Joan Crawford to be cast as Crawford's daughter. Eventually I made the joke, "Maybe her father was the milkman!", and we then started talking about that well-known expression. Today, in the New York Times, I saw the headline, "Fathered by the Mailman? It's Mostly an Urban Legend." (Okay, it's not quite "Milkman"... but close...)

At our house we had a metal milk box, and in winter the milk would freeze solid.

Last night I watched, for the umpteenth time, Born Yesterday. It’s a comedy, and there’s a lot to laugh at (particularly with Judy Holliday’s brilliant performance as the dizzy but spunky Billie Dawn). But to me it’s also a very serious movie possibly aimed at women audiences in particular. At the beginning of the film Billie openly admits that she’s “dumb and likes it.” As long as she gets whatever she wants materially, she is willing to put up with Harry Brock’s abusive behavior. Thanks to Paul Verral’s coaching on the world, though, an unexpected bonus is that her eyes start to open about her own life and she starts to respect herself. Harry Brock gets what he deserves at the end; the one particularly dark scene that made me very uncomfortable happens when he physically slaps Billie around, because he knows he is losing control of her. Holliday’s tears are heart-wrenching; she seems to convey that Billie has lived through this more than once. The walks around Washington D.C. slowed the movie down some for me, but it needed to be shown to advance the plot. Highly recommended film!

Yes, what a great episode! Yeah, the fashion show ep was a good one because the wives of Hollywood stars were featured. I'll bet that was nice for them.

I also like when Ricky erupts in Spanish: "Miraquetienecosalamujeresta!" His delivery is hilarious, with his eyeballs popping out of his head. And I love the Hollywood ep when Lucy unwittingly gets Ricky out of his contract. Ricky explodes, but he takes it out on the bric-a-brac in the apartment. Lucy is egging him on, handing him things to destroy, wanting him to get all his energy out so that he doesn't go after her... Later, after Ricky goes and Lucy is looking under the couch, Ethel and Fred walk in and Ethel sees Lucy lying on the floor and exclaims something like, "He finally did it!!!" (Ethel thought Ricky killed Lucy). LOL...

Great Lucy list! I'd like to add three that are my big favorites. 1. The Freezer. Great premise and so many funny scenes, but for some reason I especially love the part when Lucy and Ethel try to sell their extra meat at the butcher's. Lucy's repetitious lines, her hand gestures (especially when she does five or six in a row)... I used to play it out myself as a kid. "Tell ya what I'm gonna dew!" 2. Home Movies. Favorite scenes: The end result of Lucy and Ethel's "project", sped up, and the later showing of the film, with everyone's reactions, including Ricky waving his fist at Lucy. 3. The iconic drunken scene in Lucy Does a TV Commercial. I also love when she stumbles over to Ricky as he is singing, drunkenly kissing the air in his direction. Honorable mention: I think it's in Lucy is Jealous of Girl Singer, but at one point Lucy, getting into Ricky's act, runs out on stage and into a wild man act. Her scream and facial expression are so hilarious I burst out laughing every time. Best line from Speedy's choice of The Charm School: Ethel and Lucy are 'transformed' and want to show off to Mrs. Trumbull. Ethel says with a hilariously affected voice, "Yes, let's let her, get a load, of us!"

We had them in the 1970s and 80s, too (well, okay, not exactly yesterday...).

That's what I'm saying!

Then it was the milkman!

Blyth could have taken after her father.