Vautrin

I always figured Nicholson was one of those stiff upper lip, sun never sets type of limey who would do anything to prove that the Brits were better than anyone else, even to the absurd point of building a bridge that would aid the enemy. Mad dogs, etc.

I try to root for the commies every time I see the movie, but they are so inept and sadistic that I have to stay neutral, though I do like Skip's you trying to wave the flag in my face routine. I knew he would go soft at the end. They always do. And despite her rough-hewn big city wit, I never like Moe very much. She's basically a money grubbing stoolie and they deserve whatever they get. Plus most of her ties suck. Naturally dumb old kommie Kiley shoots her when he has a whole headboard full of ties to strangle her with. Those are minor nitpicks since the film is very entertaining and doesn't waste a minute of its running time. And Jean Peters as Candy is one sexy dame. [Insert double entendre candy joke here].

Sort of the original slacker. Even when George was playing a shady character he worked at something, even if it was sticking up banks. Here he just sits around the house all day and parties all night. What is also funny is that his parents don't seem to mind that much. I didn't mention McLaglen because the synopsis was already getting too long. He brings a little bit extra to the stereotypical heavy role. Though there's nothing very special about this movie I found it to be pretty entertaining.

Whistle Stop (1946) George Raft, Ava Gardner, Tom Conway. Overheated, half-baked, semi-campy but enjoyable crime flick. Ava, Georgie's old flame, has just returned to their small hometown of Ashbury from two years in Chicago. George is not happy to see her wearing a mink coat and other costly trinkets given to her by her "gentlemen admirers" in Chi town. Raft plays what must be one of the laziest characters in the movies. He lives with poor old mom and pa who give him a few bills so he can go out at night and play poker and drink. During the day he sits around not doing much of anything. Tom Conway is the well off owner of a nightclub and Ava pings pongs back and forth between him and lazybones Raft. An employee comes up with a plan to rob Conway with Raft as his partner in crime. This doesn't work out too well, but Conway is killed and this leaves the door open for Georgie. At the finale he and Ava make up and hand in hand walk off into the sunset and into a future that looks mighty ambiguous. If anyone is going to earn the couple's daily bread, it likely won't be Raft. The paint by the numbers crime plot is aided by the small town setting and the unintentionally humorous mega shiftless character played by Raft. Ava looks very good in this early role and Tom Conway makes a good rival for George. George Raft has grown on me, sort of like a benign fungus, and whatever his limitations as an actor, I enjoy seeing him in a movie.

I think that's part of learning, something along the lines of the lessons that life teaches us along the way, lessons we weren't really looking for but can learn by. Something separate from "book learning."

We do sometimes lurch into wisdom, though I prefer a more organicized approach. A wise man can be a wiseguy and vice versa.

I don't remember if Sylvia got Joe to "man up" in Heat. But if anyone could do it, she could.

I blame the lateness of the hour.

Deleted.

At least the playground knows the difference between morning and afternoon. And there was one company doing work on the cathedral that day. So first it happened in the morning before the workers arrived. Never mind, there were no workers there that day. Oops. Multiple fires would in no way contradict an accidental start to the fire. There is often much confusion at the beginning of these kinds of events that can be sorted out later when more information is available. I don't know why folks don't take that into account and wait a while to see what happened. As of now there is no evidence that the ND fire was an act of arson. Did they ever find out who was really responsible for the Las Vegas shootings? The media story was just too uncomplicated and dull to be true. No fun at all.

Think of a dumb conspiracy theory and the wingnuts will dig one up. The Notre Dame fire occurred a little after 6 p.m. local time.

The G. Gordon Liddy Story: A Hunka Hunka Burning Hand.

Sadly there were no cameras operating when this took place. Who wouldn't have loved to see Townshend giving Hoffman the bum's rush. It would have been even funnier if Moon got involved.

I stole a book or two back in the day when the security at mall book stores was pretty primitive, though Steal This Book was not one of them. I wasn't that interested and I only took paperbacks. I doubt the gov't knocked Hoffman off, though their general paranoia about leftists is well known. On a more humorous note there was Hoffman's encounter at Woodstock with Pete Townshend. Hoffman got up on the stage and got the mic and started a political speech and Townshend kicked him off the stage. No substitute.

I bought the three LP version a while after it came out. I think someone stole it somewhere along the way, maybe Abbie Hoffman.

Even taking into account of the rules for the old Hollywood hokum stuff the ending was laughable. All Talbot's defense attorney had to do to bring in a not guilty verdict was a) turn up the lights in the courtroom so it didn't look like the nightclubs Sheridan sang in. b) have his client move closer to the witness stand so an easy ID could be made instead of trying to do so half a football field away. c) kindly but firmly show the cops how dumb they were to arrest the guy who was supposedly murdered for having killed himself. Then his wife wouldn't have had to squint to recognize him. It's also hard to believe Sheridan wouldn't have told Talbot's story to the authorities no matter how much he wanted to be a martyr or that Bennett couldn't have figured it out, especially as the patient with the heart problems disappeared about the same time Talbot did. Even with the nonsensical climax it was an entertaining flick. I liked how the script had Smith and Sheridan gradually fall in love after getting to know one another instead of rushing the point, with both of them being somewhat hesitant to close the deal. Ann looked very lovely except when she was wearing one of those awful hats. Bottom line, Kent got a raw deal.

Of course this is based on my imperfect memory and not any detailed look at Gig Young's filmography. He seemed to be closer to having some success with the ladies than the other three. Bennett and Smith seemed to me to be sort of middle of the road types personality wise where I see Corey as mostly dour even when he's playing a good guy. He doesn't seem to crack a big smile that often and he also played the villain every once in a while. Carry on, gentlemen.

Yep, Sahara was a good picture and BB was good in it. I think Young was a bit more of the matinee idol type, at least more so than guys like BB, Kent Smith or Wendell Corey. After all these years I find it hard to get too excited about many of the stars of the studio era, though I appreciate their various talents.

Yes, Brix is not for kids. You have to be an adult to fully appreciate BB. I'm not a huge fan though I enjoy most of his roles. He does turn up on a number of TV shows from the 1960s. I remember him most from The Treasure of the Sierra Madre where the three amigos are about to plug ol' Bruce when they are interrupted by gold hat and his buddies who do the job for them. Like a lot of actors, I neither dislike or like Gig Young. He was effective in a certain type of role.

No respect at all. It's tough out there, Johnny. Bennett also had a very distinctive voice. When he appeared in TV shows from the 1960s I usually recognize the voice first.

An ambitious doctor ruins a singer's life. Oops. I haven't seen this one in a while so I'll be watching. I never watch the Sunday morning edition, too early in the day. Kent Smith carved out a niche as mr. average guy who gets into various difficulties, like marrying a woman who thinks she's a panther.

Uncle Lon, I strained my whosiwatsis. Can you rub some medicinal cream on it? Yeah, McIntire's character is such a pompous smug jackass that you can't help to root against him. I also felt a bit sorry for Cobby. I know he's kind of a cowardly sleazbag, but I still felt sympathy for him. Hope he got a short prison term. Notice how many times the city boys make fun of Hayden's rural background? They really like to stick it to him with the country jokes. The character played by Anthony Caruso is so obviously Italian I'm surprised he didn't wear a Kiss Me I'm Italian tee shirt.

Monrovia, Indiana (2018) Directed by Frederick Wiseman. This showed up on my PBS station last week which is fortunate since the chance of it coming to any local cineplex is zip. As in all of Wiseman's documentaries there is no narration and no interviews. Monrovia is a small town of a little over 1,000 residents in a rural area of Indiana. Wiseman shows various locales of small town life--the town council, the barber shop and beauty salon, the restaurant where the old timers meet to discuss events local and national, a church, a church wedding, a church funeral, farmers going about their business, etc. Each segment lasts for five minutes or so. Interspersed between them are picturesque shots of amber waves of grain, blue skies and white clouds, and tractors going about their business. One of the weirdest sequences is of the classic car get together at the local fair and flea market. Suddenly, over the loudspeaker, comes Ike and Tina Turner's cover of Proud Mary. The films runs a bit short of two and a half hours but, for the most part, is interesting as people go about their everyday business. While the small town seems nice, it's also a bit on the dull side. I was reminded of those Talking Heads' lyrics--I wouldn't live there if you paid me, I wouldn't live there no siree. I wouldn't do things the way those people do, I wouldn't live there if you paid me to. But it's not a bad place to visit for a few hours.

The pleasure was mine. Talk about an understatement.

I have a yellow Epic records 45 Tammy Wynette The Ways to Love a Man/Still Around. Bought it at a flea market years ago. A Johnny Cash car song.