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LawrenceA
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Days Won
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Posts posted by LawrenceA
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9 minutes ago, kingrat said:
Lawrence, you have made my day with those hilarious titles!
I'm particularly enamored with Sh! The Octopus. There's just so much to unwrap from it.
What kind of movie is it? A thriller? Horror? Comedy? Nature drama?
Is the title asking us to shush the octopus? If so, why? And how? What kind of noise was the octopus making? Is this a talking octopus?
Or is it warning us to be quiet, as the octopus might hear us? Why is that bad? Is this a mean octopus? Is this really an octopus, or a masked super-villain nicknamed "The Octopus"?
So many possibilities in so few words...
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14 minutes ago, kingrat said:
The Pope of Greenwich Village--Great title for a comedy, and the ads seemed to promote it that way. I went to see it after a horrific day at work, only to discover: it's NOT a comedy.
When I worked at a Blockbuster Video, we were instructed into which sections the films were to be placed, so we had no choice in the matter. The Pope of Greenwich Village was in the Comedy section, which prompted a discussion between me and the then-manager, which is how I learned that the corporate office decided what genre each film belonged in.
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Jamaica Inn (1939) - 6/10
Hitchcock's last British film before moving to America was this uncredited adaptation of Daphne Du Maurier's novel. In 19th century Cornwall, refined young woman Mary Yellen (Maureen O'Hara) arrives to visit her aunt, only to find that she's married to the loutish Joss Merlyn (Leslie Banks), who runs a gang of cutthroats who cause shipwrecks on the nearby coast in order to loot their cargo. Joss is secretly in league with the vain, mentally-deranged local nobleman Sir Humphrey Pengallan (Charles Laughton), while an investigator (Robert Newton) has gone undercover into the gang in order to bring them all to justice. With Marie Ney, Horace Hodges, Basil Radford, Emlyn Williams, Wylie Watson, Mervyn Johns, and John Longden.
Laughton was also the producer on this, and he and Hitchcock butted heads on everything, with Laughton switching roles (he was originally set to play the part Banks ended up with) and then demanding multiple re-writes to enlarge his new role as the mad Sir Humphrey. I'm a fan of Laughton's, but here he's rather awful. O'Hara, who gets an "introducing" credit although she'd had a few minor bit roles before this, looks nice but doesn't have a lot to do but act scared or horrified. Hitchcock reportedly thought she was a terrible actress, but Laughton insisted that she be cast, and he took to America to appear with him in The Hunchback of Notre Dame next. As for Jamaica Inn, it's only highlight for me is the large cast of British character actors of the time.
Side note: In a bonus feature interview of Hitchcock on one of the Criterion discs, the director is quoted as saying, "I tell filmmakers to try and avoid filming four things: dogs, babies, motorboats, and Charlie Laughton."
Source: Mill Creek DVD
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The Rats are Coming! The Werewolves are Here! (1972)
Frankenstein's Great Aunt Tillie (1984)
He Died with a Felafel in His Hand (2001)
Sh! The Octopus (1937)
Rat Pfink a Boo Boo (1966)
Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens (1979)
Petey Wheatstraw - The Devil's Son-In-Law (1977)
Gore-met Zombie Chef from Hell (1986)
Prehistoric Bimbos in Armageddon City (1991)
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The Lady Vanishes (1938) - 9/10
Hitchcock's mystery/thriller lark, based loosely on a story by Edna Lina White. A young Englishwoman named Iris (Margaret Lockwood) is on a train, headed out of a (fictional) European country on her way back home to be married. She meets a kindly old woman (Dame May Whitty), but when the lady vanishes, nobody believes Iris. It's up to musicologist Gilbert (Michael Redgrave) to help Iris find the woman, if she really does exist. With Paul Lukas, Naunton Wayne, Basil Radford, Cecil Parker, Linden Travers, Mary Clare, and Googie Withers.
The balance of comedy to mystery to action is perfectly weighed, resulting in Hitchcock's finest film to date. The young Lockwood is winsome and charming, while Redgrave acquits himself much better than his stage cohort John Gielgud had a couple years earlier, although Redgrave and Hitchcock reportedly did not get along at all. Funny, intriguing, quickly paced and a brief 96 minutes, this was Hitchcock's high water mark.
Source: Criterion Blu-ray. Bonus features include a commentary track from film historian Bruce Eder; another "video essay" from Leonard Leff; more audio-only excerpts from Truffaut's Hitchcock interviews; and a booklet with an essay by critics Geoffrey O'Brien & Charles Barr. Also included is another full feature film, 1941's Crook's Tour, featuring Naunton Wayne and Basil Radford reprising their cricket-loving characters from The Lady Vanishes.
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Young and Innocent (1937) - 7/10
Another wrongfully-accused-man-on-the-run tale from Hitchcock, this time starring Derrick De Marney as a singer accused of murder. He escapes custody with hopes of clearing his name, and gets some unexpected help from Erica (Nova Pilbeam), the daughter of a police inspector. With Percy Marmont, John Longden, Edward Rigby, Mary Clare, Basil Radford, George Curzon, George Merritt, Bill Shine, and Torin Thatcher.
This was becoming well-trod territory for Hitchcock even back in '37, and De Marney & Pilbeam don't quite have the screen charisma of Donat & Carroll, but this is still enjoyable if one keeps their expectations in check. There's some miniature work featuring some trains and cars, and suspenseful mine collapse. The finale, with a band in blackface, may keep this one on the lesser-shown list. Pilbeam was 17 when this was filmed, while her romantic onscreen partner De Marney was 31.
Source: Mill Creek DVD
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Sabotage (1936) - 7/10
Hitchcock's adaptation of Joseph Conrad's The Secret Agent, with Sylvia Sidney as the American-born wife of foreigner Oscar Homolka. They live in London, where a series of bombings is terrorizing the city. She begins to suspect that her husband is the culprit, while an undercover detective (John Loder) lends a sympathetic ear. With Desmond Tester, Joyce Barbour, Matthew Boulton, S.J. Warmington, and William Dewhurst.
I enjoyed this movie a lot when I was younger and less familiar with classic films, but it's not as impressive these days. I still think Sidney and Homolka turn in good performances, and some sequences are suspenseful, but it lacks flair and any really outstanding moments. I prefer the later, more faithful adaptation of the novel, from 1996 and featuring Patricia Arquette, Gerard Depardieu, Bob Hoskins, Christian Bale, Jim Broadbent, Eddie Izzard, and Robin Williams.
Source: Alpha Video DVD, a very poor quality print to be avoided at all costs.
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Parasite, from South Korea and director Bong Joon-ho (The Host, Snowpiercer, Okja), seems to be the foreign-language film of the year as far as word-of-mouth goes. I'm looking forward to it, even if I've found his previous works uneven.
I've also heard good things about Pain & Glory from Pedro Almodovar (Spain)
First Love from Takashi Miike (Japan)
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Les Miserables from Ladj Ly (France)
Queen of Hearts from May el-Toukhy (Denmark/Sweden)
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Portrait of a Lady on Fire from Celine Sciamma (France)
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Secret Agent (1936) - 7/10
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Hitchcock adapts Campbell Dixon's play, itself based on W. Somerset Maugham's novel Ashenden. In 1916, British Army officer Edgar Brodie (John Gielgud) is conscripted into the intelligence bureau. He's given the name "Ashenden" and assigned to assassinate an unknown enemy agent. Ashenden is given a "wife" (Madeleine Carroll) as part of his cover, as well as the assistance of an oddball professional killer known as "the General" (Peter Lorre). While Ashenden and the General hunt for the enemy agent's identity, the "wife" makes time with American playboy Robert Marvin (Robert Young). With Percy Marmont, Florence Kahn, Charles Carson, and Lilli Palmer.
It's interesting to see Gielgud in a leading role, although it's quickly evident why it didn't happen more often. He lacks any romantic chemistry with Carroll, and he frequently seems bored by the proceedings. Carroll and Young both do well with under-thought characters, but Lorre easily steals the picture as the strange assassin with a morbid sense of humor and indeterminate ethnicity.
Source: Mill Creek DVD
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The 39 Steps (1935) - 8/10
Hitchcock's famous "man-on-the-run" thriller, with Robert Donat as a Canadian ex-pat living in London who gets accused of murder. He goes on the run, avoiding the authorities in hopes of clearing his name, with the trail leading to the Scottish countryside. He eventually ends up involving a reluctant Madeleine Carroll. With Lucie Mannheim, Godfrey Tearle, Helen Haye, Wylie Watson, John Laurie, and Peggy Ashcroft.
Highlights for me: the Scottish Highlands, Madeleine Carroll removing her stockings while handcuffed to Donat, and Peggy Ashcroft's brief turn as the unhappy wife of a country farmer. Donat's easy charm and affable demeanor foretell the similar performances by Stewart and Grant in Hitchcock's later thrillers. There are some glaring plot-holes (why don't the villains deal with Donat when they off the woman in his apartment at the film's start?), but they can be ignored thanks to the pace of the proceedings.
Source: Criterion DVD. Bonus features include commentary by Hitchcock expert Marian Keane; a "visual essay" by Hitchcock expert (how many are there?) Leonard Leff; Hitchcock: The Early Years (2000), a short British documentary; excerpts from a 1966 British TV interview; more audio-only excerpts of Truffaut's Hitchcock interviews; a booklet/essay from critic David Cairns; and the complete Lux Radio Theatre adaptation, with Ida Lupino and Robert Montgomery.
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The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934) - 8/10
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Hitchcock's first film take on this tale of a family that becomes entangled with a spy ring. Bob (Leslie Banks) and Jill Lawrence (Edna Best), along with teen daughter Betty (Nova Pilbeam), vacations in the Swiss Alps where they learn of an assassination plot masterminded by the bizarre Abbott (Peter Lorre). The gang kidnaps Betty to ensure the silence of the Lawrences until the assassination, set to take place in London at the Royal Albert Hall, but Bob and Jill try to rescue their daughter first. Also featuring Hugh Wakefield, Frank Vosper, Cicely Oates, and Pierre Fresnay.
I like this more every time I see it. Peter Lorre, in his English-language debut, makes for one of Hitchcock's most entertaining villains. It's remarkable that Lorre delivered his lines phonetically, not yet being proficient in English. I also liked Cicely Oates as Lorre's coldly efficient "nurse". The film's finale, a protracted shoot-out between the gang and the police, is well done, shockingly violent for the time, and full of little visual gags. There's also a harrowing trip to the dentist, the big Albert Hall concert scene, a quick turn by French star Pierre Fresnay as Lawrence family friend, and a dachshund. This film is inevitably compared to the 1956 remake, and I've always liked this original take more, but I'm looking forward to re-watching the later version to compare them once more.
Source: Criterion DVD. Bonus features include audio commentary by film historian Philip Kemp, an interview with director and Hitchcock biographer Guillermo Del Toro, some of the audio interviews with Hitchcock conducted by Francois Truffaut, and The Illustrated Hitchcock, a 1972 TV interview with Hitchcock. There's also a booklet with a lengthy essay on the film by critic Farran Smith Nehme.
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9 minutes ago, KidChaplin said:
I was wondering if anyone could tell me how Hollywood does the long mileage, destructive car chases. I ask this because I watched The Bourne Identity last night and have wondered if they have to shut down parts of cities, bring in cars that can be crashed and then clean it all up before reopening the streets again. The Bourne Identity is known for it's long, long chases and I watch it wondering how they do all of that through an entire city?!
You pretty much described how most chases are done: sections of road are shut down, at high cost, and cars are brought in to be crashed/banged up. Most chase scenes that last for more than a couple minutes take weeks if not months to shoot, with the 2nd Unit/stunt team shooting as much as they can while the main unit shoots the non-action scenes elsewhere. Chases are often done piecemeal, with mere seconds of footage shot at a time, before being seamlessly edited to make one finished whole.
In some instances, chase scenes are shot on backlot sets, or closed and unfinished sections of highways that were not open to the public. I know in one of those Matrix sequels a lengthy chase scene was shot on a fake section of highway constructed just for the film's use.
And of course now a lot is done via CGI.
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2019
I've seen none worth recommending.
I've also seen these:
- The Influence, Denis Rovira van Boekholt, Spain
- The Wandering Earth, Frant Gwo, China
- Shanghai Fortress, Hua-Tao Teng, China
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As you may have noticed, I'm re-watching the films of Alfred Hitchcock. Next up should be 1934's Waltzes from Vienna, starring Esmond Knight and Edmund Gwenn as Johann Strauss Junior and Senior, respectively. However, I watched this recently enough, and it's not something I'm keen to revisit, at least not at this time. 6/10
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Number 17 (1932) - 5/10
Brief Hitchcock crime thriller based on a play by J. Jefferson Farjeon. A detective (John Stuart) enters an empty house at the title street number. He stumbles upon a gang of jewel thieves attempting to retrieve some loot that they stashed at the house after a recent heist. With the aide of next-door neighbor Nora (Anne Grey), the detective hopes to foil the gang. With top-billed Leon M. Lion as a goofy crook sporting an unfortunate haircut, Donald Calthrop, Barry Jones, Ann Casson, Henry Caine, and Garry Marsh.
Hitchcock later admitted that this film was a mess, with a jumbled, murky narrative and unbelievable characters. There's a lot of miniature work though, for fans of the technique, and an exciting train finale. And the movie's only 66 minutes long.
Source: Mill Creek DVD
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19 minutes ago, TomJH said:
It's an odd ball little film, I know, and not the kind of subject matter you expect with Hitchcock, but I find Rich and Strange rather entertaining. The film takes a bit of turn for the unexpected in its final chapters and I tend to be drawn to films set in the Orient.
I bet you loved the "surprise dinner" scene on the Chinese junk, didn't you? 🤢
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Rich and Strange aka East of Shanghai (1931) - 5/10
Another of Hitchcock's lesser efforts, this romantic drama concerns Fred (Henry Kendall) and Emily Hill (Joan Barry), a married couple of limited means whose marriage has turned dull. When they come into a great deal of money, they decide to travel, with hopes of rekindling their romance, only to run into even more marital discord. With Percy Marmont, Betty Amann, and Elsie Randolph.
Hitchcock later said that he learned a few cinematic techniques on this, such as how to film in a water tank, but his learning experience doesn't make for much of a film for audiences today. It resembles the kind of thing then popular on both sides of the Atlantic - people living in luxury while experiencing romantic tumult. It was done better by others. Joan Barry provided the off-screen "live dubbing" for Anny Ondra in Blackmail two years earlier.
Source: Mill Creek DVD
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The new contest is who can most emphatically express how much they don't care about the old contest.
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6 minutes ago, jamesjazzguitar said:
Since this is a WB film it should be real easy for TCM to lease. Hopefully one of the people that keep a database of the films TCM shows can tell us the last time TCM showed this film.
My guess is that it wasn't that long ago and that TCM shows the film a few times each year.
This has been discussed on here a few times before. There's some rights issue that keeps Angels with Dirty Faces from being shown as often as the other WB gangster pics.
According to MCOH's database, it's been shown 51 times, but not once since 2009.
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The Skin Game (1931) - 6/10
Alfred Hitchcock directs this adaptation of John Galsworthy's play. The moneyed, cultured Hillcrists battle against the nouveau riche Hornblowers, the latter headed by the ambitious, combative patriarch (Edmund Gwenn). Their squabbles over the use of farm land for industrial purposes ends up causing heartache and tragedy for both families. Featuring C.V. France, Helen Haye, and Jill Esmond as the Hillcrists, and John Longden, Phyllis Konstam, and Frank Lawton as the other Hornblowers. With Herbert Ross, Dora Gregory, and Edward Chapman.
This had already been filmed (also with Gwenn) in 1921. The class-conscious storyline resonated well with the British, I suppose. Gwenn plays his role big, and is a stark contrast to his later, best-known Kris Kringle role in Miracle on 34th Street. Esmond, the first wife of Laurence Olivier and originally the bigger star in the marriage, has one of her better film roles. As for Hitchcock's direction, the only stand-out scene is a lengthy auction with a lot of rapid-cut edits.
Source: Mill Creek DVD
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Murder! (1930) - 6/10
Hitchcock tries a mystery with uneven results. Actress Diana (Norah Baring) is accused of murder, having been found dazed in the room where the murder occurred, near the murder weapon. She's found guilty at trial and sentenced to death. One of the jurors is famous stage actor Sir John Menier (Herbert Marshall), who was brow-beaten into voting for a guilty verdict. He feels shame for allowing himself to be swayed on such a matter, so he decides to find the actual culprit and clear Diana's name before her execution date. Also featuring Edward Chapman, Phyllis Konstam, Miles Mander, Esme Percy, Donald Calthrop, and Una O'Connor.
This is a strange movie. Perhaps the courts work differently in the UK, but having Menier serve on Diana's jury, when he had a prior professional mentorship with the young woman, seems like dubious jurisprudence. And Menier's plan to expose the real murderer, which involves staging a new play, seems overly ambitious at best, pure silliness at worst. The sound is a bit dodgy in places, but some of that comes from the fact that the technology at the time restricted post-dubbing, so Hitchcock had a full orchestra on set and off camera, performing the score while the actors read their lines for the scene. Esme Percy, making his film debut, plays an actor who specializes in playing women's roles, resulting in some unusual scenes. Among the returning Hitchcock performers are Chapman (from Juno and the Paycock), Mander (The Pleasure Garden), and Calthrop (Blackmail).
Source: KL Studio Classics DVD
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Juno and the Paycock (1930) - 4/10
After filming a few bits on the revue musical Elstree Calling, Alfred Hitchcock's next full feature directing job was on this terrible adaptation of Sean O'Casey's popular play. A long-suffering Irish family struggles to get by during the Irish Civil War. Matriarch "Juno" (Sara Allgood, who had played the role on the stage as well) tries to get layabout drunk husband Captain Boyle (Edward Chapman), whom she refers to as the "Paycock" (peacock) due to his strutting vanity, to find work to help support the family, which includes daughter Mary (Kathleen O'Regan), a worker on strike, and son Johnny (John Laurie), a former IRA fighter left bitter and resentful after an injury resulted in the loss of an arm. When the Captain learns that he's come into a generous inheritance, the family thinks that their fortunes may have finally brightened, only for tragedy to occur. Also featuring Marie O'Neill, Sidney Morgan, Dave Morris, and John Longden (the policeman boyfriend from Blackmail).
I'm not familiar with O'Casey's play, but if this film is an indication, it's awful. Hitchcock made the conscious decision to abstain from any cinematic style, and attempted to present this as a largely static filmed play, rendering the already-tedious proceedings even more unbearable. Allgood isn't bad, but the rest of the cast is forgettable at best. The original play had starred Barry Fitzgerald as the Captain, and he makes his film debut here as a speech-making rabble-rouser at the movie's start. Perhaps Hitchcock thought that Barry's Nosferatu-with-a-bad-wig look wasn't camera-friendly enough to reprise his lead role. I had given this a 5/10 when I first watched it several years ago, but I dropped it a point, making this my least favorite Hitchcock film.
Source: Mill Creek DVD
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Blackmail (1929) - 7/10
Alfred Hitchcock's first talkie was this thriller with Anny Ondra as Alice White, an adventurous young woman who gets into a fight with her police detective boyfriend Frank Webber (John Longden), after which she heads to an artist's flat for some modeling. When the artist (Cyril Ritchard) takes liberties, Alice is forced to defend herself, with tragic consequences. A shady low-life crook (Donald Calthrop) sees Alice leave the artist's residence, and decides to blackmail the terrified girl. Also featuring Sara Allgood and Charles Paton as Alice's parents, Hannah Jones, and Harvey Braban.
Hitchcock filmed this in both talkie and silent versions (the silent is included as an extra on the DVD), but the talkie version had the longer lasting impact, becoming a huge hit across Europe, and ushering in the sound era in British filmmaking. Today the film is rather clunky and uneven, but there's some bravura sequences, such as the lethal encounter in the artist's apartment, and a climactic chase scene in and on a museum. The lovely Anny Ondra, of Polish descent and raised in Prague, had a thick Czech accent, and post-dub sound editing was not an option at this early stage of the technology. Instead, actress Joan Barry stood off camera and spoke all of Alice's dialogue while Anny Ondra lip-synched to it, a process that sounds tedious and troublesome.
Source: KL Classics DVD
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5 minutes ago, NickAndNora34 said:
Another I just thought of is Sandy Dennis. I really think she truly was very talented and original, but criminally underrated.
Sandy Dennis was one of those performers who could really irritate some people. I've heard from a few who really, really didn't like her. But that's usually the case with any performer with a very idiosyncratic style.
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I Just Watched...
in General Discussions
Posted
I think you may have misunderstood my comments on Maureen. I meant that she wasn't bad with what she was given to work with, which wasn't much. Hitchcock's comments about her being a terrible actress (based on her screen test) were his thoughts, not mine, and I don't agree with him (I generally like her), although I didn't see that screen test, so maybe she was awful in it.