film lover 293

Kathryn Grayson refused to work with Mario Lanza after costarring with him in his first two films. Working with Lanza was such a trial that Doretta Murrow (his costar in 1952's "Because You're Mine") threw away a Hollywood career and returned to Broadway. Joan Fontaine (a prize witch according to some costars) was scared of him when they filmed "Serenade" (1956).

starliteyes--You are correct! A Cecil B. DeMille Eastern, the lady in jeopardy was played by Paulette Goddard, who was later courted by Gary Cooper's Virginia Landowner. Film had state of the art special effects, and Boris Karloff as an Indian Chief. Your thread, starliteyes.

Thanks, MarshaKatz. A woman is sentenced to indentured servitude in the Colonies.

Joan Crawford is the star. Films are "Ice Follies of 1939" and "The Women".

"Madeleine" (1950)?

The "Enough of the excuse of a plot! Get to the Destruction of..." Collection: London--"The Lost World" (1925), "Gorgo" (1961) Los Angeles--"Earthquake" (1974) New York--"Armageddon" (1998) A Remote Pacific Island--"When Time Ran Out" (1980) Tokyo--"Godzilla" (1955) The World--"The Day After Tomorrow" (2004)

Entrance: Tallulah Bankhead in "Lifeboat" (1944) Exit: Agnes Moorehead in "Dark Passage" (1947)

Hint #2: All three films have played/will play this month.

The "No Way To Treat A Sequel" Collection: "Airport II" (1975) "Exorcist II: The Heretic" (1977)--All three known versions, for your viewing (dis)pleasure "The Howling II: Your Sister Is A Werewolf" (1985)

Two Mules For Sister Sara (1970) Puppet On A Chain (1971) Nasty Habits (1977)--Watergate in a convent. The "Suspicious Nuns" Collection.

Thanks to Richard Kimble in the "Tommy Rall" thread--One of the links he posted made me curious to see if the film was as good as the number he posted. The film was: "The Second Greatest Sex" (1955)--Universal's reworking of the Greek play Lysistrata into a musical. This was filmed in CinemaScope. Interestingly, all the lead players are dubbed and boring except when they sing. Whether dubbed or not, everyone can sing, and the supporting players provide the most enjoyment. Tommy Rall has three numbers, Bert Lahr has one song that he does so well, the so-so lyrics are elevated, and Mamie Van Doren sings well and gets laughs on her own without help from the script. Film is silly, but the energetic songs and dances save the film. 2 and 1/3 stars out of 4.

"Just Imagine" (1930)--The two things the film got right were helipads, and Internet telephones.

jamesjazzguitar--I didn't mention the director of On Dangerous Ground. Thanks for pointing it out. I'll fix my post.

I saw nine full length films last week, and one short film. "Shane" (1953) is a near flawless western, with great cinematography and performances by Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur, and Van Heflin. Wonderful film. "Phaedra" (1962)--Director Jules Dassin destroys good work by Anthony Perkins, Raf Vallone, and Melina Mercouri with disastrous directorial decisions, chiefly a ridiculous seduction scene the film never recovers from and that was laughed off screens in 1962. Dassins' decision to use villagers as a Greek chorus does Not work. Perkins monologue early in the film about "his girl" is the only intentional humor in the movie. "The Macomber Affair" (1947)--Jungle adventure/noir starring Gregory Peck and Joan Bennett, set in British Colonial Africa. A routine(?) safari/hunt doesn't go as expected. Fine film, not for animal lovers. "On The Beach" (1959)--Adaptation of Nevil Shutes' novel is cautionary "It Can Happen Here" type horror/sci-fi film. The tidal wave of "Ben Hur" swept away fine performances by all, and a Brilliant score by Ernest Gold that used the Australian folk song"Waltzing Matilda", to magnify the horror. The last two lines: "And his ghost may be heard, as you pass by that billabong, 'Who'll come a-waltzin' Matilda with me' " "New Orleans" (1947)--Ignore the plot. Concentrate on the only film performance of Billie Holiday, the numbers by Louis Armstrong, the music of Woody Hermans' band, and the music of I don't know how many other jazz greats. It's jazz versus classical, and the music beats the spoken plot by a country mile or twenty. "On Dangerous Ground" (1951)--Lean, mean noir directed by Nicholas Ray that doesn't waste a gesture and has brooding, fascinating performances by Robert Ryan and Ida Lupino. "The Hitchhiker" (1953)--Low budget noir that has a terrifying performance by William Talman as the psychotic who kills whoever picks him up. Maybe Ida Lupino's best film--the reviewer who called it boring must have seen a different film. I wish Lupino had directed more films. "Foul Play" (1978)--Delightful salute to Hitchcock. Dudley Moore and Goldie Hawn are inspired, even when the script isn't. Film uses set-pieces from at least twenty Hitchcock films, and even makes fun of Hitchcocks' plot structure of his films. Most critics didn't see how this made the film funnier. Their loss. "S.O.B." (1981)--Bitterly sarcastic film about how a Hugely expensive kiddie musical FLOPS, and what is done to save it. Good work by the whole cast, especially Loretta Swit as a Hedda Hopper-like viper-in-training, and Julie Andrews as the squeaky clean singer who CAAANNN"TT bare them. The short film was "An Andalusian Dog" (1929) by Luis Bunuel and Salvador Dali. Overall, it was baffling, as I think it meant to be. Non-essential viewing--"Phaedra" (1962).

Whoopee! (1930)

The Constant Nymph next: HET LUJHALAHLE ITLRA

IF you're planning to watch "Exorcist II: The Heretic" (1977), go to TCM's webpage for the film and click on "Alternate Versions" and "Theatrical Aspect Ratio". AV because there are three versions according to the Webpage, and the "Durations" in minutes, feet, and Reels are all left blank; you may want to know what you will/won't be seeing. TAR because as I read it, some versions will have horizontal bars above and below the image, or image may be cropped.

Correct, Azure--Two of Betty Huttons' most remembered movies are "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek" (1944) and "Annie Get Your Gun" (1950) and among her hit songs are "The Jitterbug", "Arthur Murray Taught Me Dancing in a Hurry", and "Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief". Your thread, Azure.

"Lust In The Dust" (1985)--Divine, Tab Hunter and Lainie Kazan in a funny spoof of Western cliches. It's not perfect, but it's a hell of a lot better than the critics said. Fast moving, campy, and funny. Has TCM ever shown this?

"Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?" (1971) "Foul Play" (1978) "The Talented Mr. Ripley" (1999) **Murder to the tunes of Gilbert and Sullivan.

On Dangerous Ground Next: yellow umbrella

Hint: One of my first hit songs was "Igloo"

"S.O.B." (1981)--Bitter, caustic comedy based on Blake Edwards experiences while making "Darling Lili" (1970). The film Night Wind flops disastrously (one of the headlines about it says "Critics Break Wind")--can it be saved? Star-studded cast does well overall; standouts include Loretta Swit, as a venomous gossip columnist; Julie Andrews, who turns in an enjoyable spoof of her squeaky-clean image; Robert Preston, as a high priced quack, who corrects one character when they refer to him as a "shyster", and Preston has to define the word; and William Holden, making fun of his past "playboy" roles. Film is uneven, and changes tone from scene to scene, but still is a fun watch. 7/10 stars.

Hint #1: She later created Boadway musical roles.

"Foul Play" (1978)--Starring Goldie Hawn and Chevy Chase. Funny spoof of Hitchcock films, and film noir in general takes off on over twenty Hitchcock movies. It may be me, but the more ideas from Hitchcock I can identify, the funnier the film becomes. Critics complained about the film stealing too many ideas from Hitchcock; they didn't see how being able to spot the film and sequence even made the comedy funnier. Dudley Moore is inspired here, as is Goldie Hawn (even when the script isn't). The more Hitchcock films you've seen, the funnier the film, IMHO. Chase has to bear too much of the plot to be consistently funny. A few sequences don't work, but overall FP is a delight. 8.4/10 stars.