Vautrin

Yes, it was probably more acceptable to make a thug like Mars the killer instead of a young woman like Carmen. Maybe a few years in the nuthouse will straighten her out. Nothing wrong with a sex crazed girl who wants to have a little fun, unless she pulls out a gun. Then it's time to head for the exit.

In my limited experience, librarians are usually hotter than book store clerks. Of course there are exceptions. Most of the used book stores I've been in seem to have male clerks who are about ten years beyond the usual retirement age.

Mostly about the novel, though it doesn't matter that much. If Hollywood can fiddle with the source work, than anyone can. Since the movie Mars has had more than one person killed, Marlowe didn't really need the killing of Regan to give him justification for Mars' death. It was also kind of neat that he had Mars' own men kill him. Of course in the novel Regan was married to Vivian. While I agree that understanding all the details of the plot is not necessary to enjoying the movie, it's interesting to try to tease out all those details.

I think the lady cab driver was not really a cab driver, just a ho with a driver's license.

Carmen was not punished for killing Regan because Regan was still alive. Anyway she was too hot and crazy to be punished. Regan, being the stalwart IRA soldier he was, left the U.S. and returned to Ireland to continue the valiant struggle against the limey oppressors. Sadly he was blown up while constructing a bomb. Rusty R.I.P.

Ahoy, me hardies.

I didn't pay over much attention to the details of Basehart's supposed insanity. Back then it was easier to get someone into an asylum and with Schaefer's money and influence, who knows. After the year starts over again it seems that whatever Joan does to avoid a repeat of her husband's death doesn't work and fate will out, even when there is a change in circumstance, like his leg injury. I was amused when she thought it would be enough to bring Conway back home with her to avoid a repeat of what happened before. Why not get in a car and head west? Yes, in the end the same fate occurred, it was just carried out by a different person.

Enjoyable little picture. Hayward did put on a bit of the ham, but since his character is such an outright bastard, little harm done. By the time the film comes to a conclusion, I'm kind of hoping he will be killed a second time. I didn't find Basehart's character to be particularly gay. He's a sensitive poet who later on is supported by Natalie Schaefer. Maybe he "services" her in exchange for those nice suits. Of course maybe that's all it took in the late 1940s to be thought of as gay. He also seems to be in love with Joan Leslie, and in more than just a "platonic" manner. And he can make a claim for self-defense as Hayward was about to attack Joan. Maybe Raymond Burr will get him off.

I would like to confer with Virginia (Hold The) Mayo about cabbages and kings, and why the sea is boiling hot and whether pigs have wings and other miscellaneous topics.

I haven't played poker too much, but the odds are much against Eddie getting that straight flush with one card down, so I guess Steve's bet with a full house wasn't that bad. Sometimes you eat the tiger and...

That's okay. Cool, like many things, is in the eye of the beholder. I do agree that the chess scene in the movie was pretty sexy, though I was more interested in Faye Dunaway's moves than Steve's.

I like McQueen, I just never found him cool, except in that tired macho motorcycle retread way. One can like a movie star without thinking they are cool. I rewatched The Thomas Crown Affair when it was on about a year ago. Good movie, and a millionaire who plans bank robberies is sort of cool, but first you have to be a millionaire. I watched The Cincinnati Kid last night. Steve is good in that one too and a Cincinnati kid is cooler than an Akron kid, but then he lost big to Eddie G. That wasn't too cool.

That was just a temporary gig, though Tony did a good impression of Cary.

Mr. Mal Evans on tambourine.

Presenting Smokin' Joe Frazier and the Filter Tips

Probably. And as the old saw goes No one plays Cary Grant like Cary Grant. Whatever one may think of his acting abilities, I still like Cary Grant, even if he is often playing himself.

Sammy was a great entertainer, though personally he was a little too much tired ol' Vegas shtick for me. But I still dig the candy man, baby.

Well done and entertaining flick in the patented British subdued approach. There's nothing funnier than seeing the tables turned on a hidebound control freak who now finds himself under the thumb of someone else who is now in charge of him just as he is in charge of his cringing subordinates. That has to hurt him tremendously. Granted, Morell is a more charming and personable chap than Cushing, though that's a bit of a low bar. Still, if push came to shove I wouldn't trust Morell at all. I think the Scrooge comparison is a bit of a stretch. While at the end of the film Cushing manages a tiny smile and will come to the Christmas party, I wouldn't be surprised if he showed up after the holidays are over as the same authoritarian pain in the neck as he was before. Redemption highly in doubt. At least he got those volumes of Gibbon for all his troubles.

Rin Tin Tin had more talent in his right front paw than Shirley Temple had in her whole body. Martin Kosleck was a better propagandist than Joseph Goebbels. Alfred Hitchcock is both the most overrated and underrated director of the studio era. David O. Selznick was more handsome than Gary Grant. James Dean made tastier sausages than Jimmy Dean. Claudette Colbert had a neck. Greer Garson was a bigger bull dykee than Deborah Kerr. Clifton Webb would have won a arm wrestling contest with Victor Mature.

I always thought McQueen was about as cool as Lawrence Welk. As least Mitch would bring a little weed with him.

True. And the all blood and guts horror movies are pretty repetitious, just the instrument used to shed the blood being different. I know a fair number of people don't like the Christmas season, but I do enjoy it myself. Sometimes I almost feel guilty about it.

Yeah, after a while most people know their own individuals tastes and what types of movies they like or don't like. I like some gangster movies and some horror films, but the nothing but blood and guts horror movies I avoid.

Listen up men. Things aren't looking good. Army is kicking our can all over the place. I think of George Gipp. He once said to me when things look bad and the team is down, just tell 'em to go out there and win one for the Gipper. So that's what we're going to go. Pull down our pants and go out there and win one for the Gipper. Knude Rockne, All American A biopic that tells the true story of Knude Rockne. Few knew that the Rock liked to hold all his practices in the nude, nothing there, in birthday suits. Rockne's preference had nothing sexual about it. With his Norwegian background, Rockne felt that football should be practiced in the nude to toughen up his players. And doing so in Indiana during football season certainly fit Rockne's bill. When players came to Rock complaining about "shrinkage" Rockne told them to man up and keep playing. And Rockne's let it all hang out philosophy certainly paid off for the famous Notre Dame coach with his sterling winning record. The only sad part of the story was George Gipp. At first the modest Gipp did not take to Rock's nude practice. But gradually Gipp was won over and started going around as naked as a jaybird at every opportunity. Even when the temps went below zero, George Gipp went around in the all together. This led to exposure, then pneumonia, then his unfortunate death. So it seems only right that Rock asked his players to go out and win one for Gipper, who had given his all.

The Creature from the Black Lagoon might make the beginning of an interesting artificial Christmas tree. I hadn't seen it in about twenty years. Okay, but nothing special. And it's only about 80 minutes long. Our local PBS stations are showing a lot of that Peter, Paul, and Mary special and also a British Invasion special hosted by Petula Clark. These old timers don't look too bad, then I saw that the program was from about 15 years ago.

Usually with both eyes open. There are certain types of movies I stay away from--Lassie/animal flicks, swashbuckling stuff, biblical epics, low-budget 1930s westerns, and probably a few more sub-genres I'm missing. Saves a lot of time.