film lover 293
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Posts posted by film lover 293
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"The Kissing Bandit" (1948)--Sinatra even sings the viewer to sleep with the song "Siesta".
GregoryPeckfans' selection of "The Pride and the Passion" (1957) is a good second choice.
"Cleopatra" (1963) took me Six tries to get through the entire four hour film without falling asleep.
"Ship of Fools" (1965) was a chore to get through awake--only Vivien Leighs' voice kept me conscious.
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"The Threepenny Opera" (1931)--Fantastic German Expressionist, film noir musical, in German, with English subtitles. Arguably the best German sound film made before the Nazis came to power in 1933. Film is not an opera, but a musical which has a "storyteller" setting up the film during opening titles and dropping in occasionally to comment on the events. Film boasts a fine score by Kurt Weill, and is well sung. Film is not all happiness, to say the least.
Film is a 2006 Criterion restoration. One warning--the translator/subtitler mixed up their "r"s & "n"s: the viewer has to quickly rethink some of the subtitles. To me, that was just an annoyance. But otherwise, the restoration was beautiful. Seen on another website.
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The Asphalt Jungle (1950)? That has a diner scene.
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10 Favorite Film Noir Actors:
1.) Humphrey Bogart
2.) Robert Mitchum
3.) Dana Andrews
4.) Richard Widmark
5.) Robert Ryan
6.) Van Heflin
7.) Alan Ladd
8.) Glenn Ford
9.) Burt Lancaster
10.) Fred MacMurray
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10 Favorite Film Noir Actresses:
1.) Susan Hayward
2.) Jane Greer
3.) Ava Gardner
4.) Lauren Bacall
5.) Claire Trevor
6.) Joan Crawford
7.) Mercedes McCambridge
8.) Barbara Stanwyck
9.) Lizabeth Scott
10.) Marie Windsor
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Bogie56--I looked at tomorrows' schedule. 1928's "Our Dancing Daughters was included among the first A Awards nominees. Does this mean we can include 1928 performances?? If so, I have to amend my post for 1930.
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DownGoesFrazier--If you mean the role of women during WW II, the only film I can think of immediately is the documentary "The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter" (1980).
I couldn't organize my thoughts last night, I was too tired, so am posting this review now:
"It's Always Fair Weather" (1955)--This is a turning upside down of the usual optimistic musical, coated in bitter dark chocolate. It's not despairing like the 1981 "Pennies From Heaven"--but it's also not all sunny and cheerful & optimistic. Three army buddies meet in a bar in New York City after WW II is over and swear to always stay buddies & meet again ten years later in the same bar. That's all the set-up the plot needs. Things don't go as expected. Among IAFWs' delights:
Cyd Charisse gets The perfect acting role for her; a cold corporate type working her way up the ladder to more money, who finds people an "inconvenience", and has her own method of getting rid of suitors.
Dolores Gray as a talk show hostess who oozes insincerity from every pore, who calls her audience " the little people" (no, they're not under five feet tall), who "just wants to be loved" (and be paid big bucks for her television show); she turns Diva and throws tantrums the second the camera's turned off.
IAFW is one of the four musicals Dolores Gray made; she had the misfortune to have a big-time voice and be "discovered" just as the everyday screen musical was dying. Gray alone makes IAFW worth seeing: with the Comden & Green screenplay that was Oscar nominated (and should have won, IMHO): IAFW is one of the last MGM musicals where, artistically, everything went right. The moviegoers of the day disagreed. Just my very definite opinion, LOL.
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No, it's just a garden variety error; the 1959 version had two Best Supporting Actress nominees, Juanita Moore and Susan Kohner. So both versions qualify to be shown. Hope the 1934 version is shown.
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1930: All winners will have an asterisk by their name: Best Actor:
Lawrence Tibbett as Lieutenant Michael Petroff in New Moon
Lew Ayres as Paul Baumer in All Quiet On The Western Front
Gary Cooper as Tom Brown in Morocco
Groucho Marx as Captain Spaulding in Animal Crackers
Emil Jannings as Professor Immanuel Rath in The Blue Angel*
Best Actress:
Greta Garbo as Anna Christie in Anna Christie*
Norma Shearer as Jerry Martin in The Divorcee
Marlene Dietrich as Lola-Lola in The Blue Angel
Marie Dressler as Min in Min and Bill
Ann Harding as Linda Seton in Holiday
Best Supporting Actor:
Esme Percy as Handel Fane in Murder!*
David Manners as 2nd Lt. Raleigh in Journey's End*
Roland Young as Jimmy Wade in Madame Satan
Bing Crosby in King of Jazz
Best Supporting Actress:
Margaret Dumont as Mrs. Rittenhouse in Animal Crackers
Marie Dressler as Marthy Owens in Anna Christie*
Barbara Stanwyck as Kay Arnold in Ladies of Leisure
Florence Eldridge as Helen Baldwin in The Divorcee
Mary Astor as Julia Seton in Holiday
Double asterisk in BSActor category isn't a typo--we start with a tie.
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Black & White--"Flamingo Road" (1949)--Joan Crawford goes from Nothing in Society, to Something, and then to?? FR also involves Joan with revolvers. Also starring Sidney Greenstreet, David Brian, and Gladys George.
Color--"Not As A Stranger" (1955)--The stable scene makes the film. With Robert Mitchum & Gloria Grahame in said scene; also starring Frank Sinatra and Olivia de Havilland. "A Summer Place" (1959) is a close 2nd.
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Yes, was impressed by some of TCMs' selections (1947's "Ivy" and 1949's "Reign of Terror" aka "The Black Book" in particular) and the interviewed authors' knowledge (James Curtis). His book on director James Whale (1931's "Dracula" , "Frankenstein", 1932's "The Old Dark House", etc.) is excellent, and his book on Spencer Tracy is good also.
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Three films, a BBC documentary, a cartoon, and a video of a edited out song that explains a plot hole in one of tonights' musicals. First, the films. "Only the Valiant" (1951) is a Gregory Peck western that has a dreadful reputation, but is rather good. A low budget hampers what is accomplished, but Peck is in a perfect role, IMHO; an officer torn between duties (to his commander, his possible fiancee, and his regiment--all three conflict). Not the worst film Peck ever made (in his career, OTV is right in the middle, IMHO). Barbara Payton, Gig Young, and Ward Bond costar.
"Something For The Boys" (1944) was originally a Cole Porter Broadway hit, which 20th-Century Fox got the rights to film. The songs are second-tier Porter, but are exceedingly well sung by Vivian Blaine, Carmen Miranda, and Perry Como; enjoyable fluff, with a couple of songs that verge on being first-rate, and one number with hideous costuming.
"The Sea Wolf" (1941) is a wonderful ship-bound noir. Edward G. Robinson is terrifying and pitiable as Captain of the S.S. Ghost, and Ida Lupino nearly steals the film as a fugitive who ends up on that ship. John Garfield has his moments, and I can't even remember the authors' (Jack London) persona or who played him.
The BBC documentary is "Carmen Miranda:Behind the Tutti-Frutti Hat" (2010?). This hour long doc. shows the roots of her persona, and some rare Brazilian recordings and film footage of films she made there before becoming a star in the U.S. This talented lady was started down a pill-popping road which eventually killed her.
The cartoon is "The Tell-Tale Heart" (1953), narrated by James Mason. Imaginatively drawn, based on the Poe story, this is an enjoyable, if short (not quite seven and a half minutes) take on the tale.
The video is on YouTube, from "The Harvey Girls" (1946) ; song is "My Intuition". Charming duet between Garland and Hodiak (did he ever sing onscreen again?) explains certain plot points, mainly that there was an Understanding reached. A plot hole is explained away, and previous viewers who Thought a song was being set up are proved Correct. All credit goes to the YT poster(s)--I merely stumbled across it last night. Click on six minute version to hear the first underscoring of the song (instrumentals start around 1:50 of video; vocals start about two minutes in.)
All described films (except "The Sea Wolf"), etc, are available on YT.
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There is a song that was deleted from "The Harvey Girls" (1946) that plugs up a plot hole. Site won't let me download it, so search "My Intuition, The Harvey Girls" to get the video to appear. All credit to the original poster; I just stumbled across it last night. Click on the video that runs six minutes; first notes of song are first heard in underscoring about 1:20 into video; more of an intro starts at around 1:50 in; vocals start around two minutes in. Song is a duet, and the only time John Hodiak ever sang onscreen (I Think).
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GregoryPeckfan--I was referring to the 1950 film with Charlton Heston and Lizabeth Scott; I didn't know you were from Canada, as the ParamountVault was, as of Oct. 2015, only available in the U.S. Rights issues, I guess--am sorry.
Still, (in the U.S., and hopefully everywhere else)there are four other postings of the film--hope they are available for you to view.
Edit: I just reread your last post--even the other postings of DC are unavailable??
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All times E. S. T.:
8:00 p.m.--"The Harvey Girls" (1946)--Anyone who hasn't seen this has a chance to see Garland in her prime, singing the Best Song winning "On The Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe".
10:00 p.m.--"It's Always Fair Weather" (1955)--1950's musical where the opposite is true. All is Not well in this mid-50's cynics' delight of a film. Good dance numbers, and Dolores Gray is memorable as a tantrum-throwing hypocrite of a talk show hostess; she also gets the films' best song, IMHO.
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Christopher Lee: "The Wicker Man" (1973)
Bela Lugosi: "Dracula" (1931)
Lon Chaney Jr.: "Of Mice and Men" (1939)
Lon Chaney Sr.: "The Phantom of the Opera" (1925)
John Carradine: "Bluebeard" (1944)
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LawrenceA--Yes, Davies was Hearsts' mistress. Orson Welles caricatured her as Dorothy Comingore's no-talent opera singer in "Citizen Kane (1941); just one reason I can't stand Welles. Anyway, her autobiography "The Times We Had" was published in 1959 (she died of cancer in 1961) . The only good biography of her I'm Aware of is "Marion Davies", by Fred Lawrence Guiles; the paperback edition was published in 1972, and is Hard to find. I've found two copies in 30 years, and bought both.
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GregoryPeckfan--There is a beautiful restoration of Dark City on YT, on TheParamountVaults' channel.
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Vincent Price--"Masque of the Red Death" (1964)
Vivien Leigh--"Gone With the Wind" (1939)
Susan Hayward--"Rawhide" (1950)
Marion Davies--"Show People" (1928)
Fred Astaire--"On the Beach" (1959)
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Favorite 1950 noirs:
1.) "Sunset Boulevard"
2.) "So Long at the Fair"--Historical noir, starring the lovely Jean Simmons.
3.) "Gun Crazy"
4.) "Young Man With a Horn"--musical noir.
5.) "Panic In The Streets"
6.) "In A Lonely Place"
7.) "A Lady Without Passport"
8.) "The Asphalt Jungle"
9.) "Dark City"
10.) "The Damned Don't Cry"
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Some strange choices:
1.) " The Tell-Tale Heart"--(1953)--Animated short film narrated by James Mason. Available to see on YT.
2.) "Who Killed Roger Rabbit?"--(1988)--"I'm not bad--I'm just drawn that way."
3.) "The Nightmare Before Christmas"--(1993)
4.) "Slick Hare" (1945)--Bugs Bunny short film set in Hollywoods' Mocrumbo, where dinner is $600.00 a plate--Elmer Fudd's a waiter, & Humphrey Bogart a displeased customer.
5.) "Mississippi Hare" (?)--Bugs plays Scarlett on a riverboat--Not PC.
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Stephan55--I'm sure the boards ARE mined for information; just two examples why I think so:
1. After I had hinted and hinted And hinted I'd like to see the 1973 "The Wicker Man", it appears on the schedule--only took seven months of hinting in multiple posts, LOL.
2. After I raved about a 1930 operetta "New Moon"but complained about the time it was scheduled (middle of the night), they scheduled another one; "Sweet Kitty Bellairs" (1930), at a slightly better time (6:00 a.m.).
I'd be a conceited jackass if I thought I was the only one "mined for information" (good phrase!). I'm sure TCM reads these boards daily. I too wonder What information TIC wants--and just hope we all get the two way technical support communication that you (and others) want.
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And be Certain not to miss "Eye of the Devil" (1967), in which David Niven & Deborah Kerr give Excellent reasons for sticking to coffee & avoiding wine.
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Stephan55--I look at TCM this way. As far as I know, TCM Was started because of Ted Turners'love of old movies and wanted to do something different. A channel without commercials interrrupting the movies every ten minutes or so was something different. But TCM is part of a corporation, and corporations have to make money--which means things like the wine club (include me out, I much prefer coffee), and Movie Camp (this past August)--two attempts to try to make money/get people interested in classic film. For me the "warm fuzzys" are and have been talking with film lovers via TCMs' message boards--people who don't look at me like I'm crazy when I rattle off the plot of a Hitchcock film I just saw, or go "huh?" when I mention Marion Davies in conversation, or say that "Only the Valiant" (1951) is underrated and worth seeing. I Hope that the Inner Circle Will be used to effectively communicate problems & get two-way conversations going. Film is our national history, or a part of it; the delights of a Hitchcock, Ford, etc., film hopefully will always be present to see. The delight is in talking with other film buffs. JMO.
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LawrenceA--An characteristic I find in almost all noirs is a streak of cynicism; how deep it runs depends on the noir. You asked about "Deadline at Dawn" (1946); it's one of my favorite noirs, with Susan Hayward doing all the thinking.
Favorite noirs of the 1940's;some traditional, some genre crossing, no particular order:
1.) "The Maltese Falcon" (1941)
2.) "Laura" (1944)
3.) "Key Largo" (1948)
4.) "Pursued" (1947)--The western as noir--Multiple secrets in this film starring Robert Mitchum, Teresa Wright, & Judith Anderson.
5.) "Act of Violence" (1948)
6.) "Reign of Terror" (aka The Black Book) (1949)--Director Anthony Mann shows noir attitude and camerawork can go back centuries.
7.) "Double Indemnity" (1944)
8.) "Deadline at Dawn" (1946)
9.) "The Dark Corner" (1946)
10.) "A Foreign Affair" (1948)--The noir as comedy, sweetened just a bit.
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Movie Bibles
in General Discussions
Posted
"Guide For The Film Fanatic, by Danny Peary (1987, 2nd edition)--Discusses 1500 films, and lists 4200 more in the back with boxes to check off when a film's been seen.
"Alternate Oscars" ""
"Cult Films I, II, & III--""
"The Hollywood Musical, by Clive Hirschhorn (1981)--Is a Huge coffee-table book. Is exhaustively written and researched--was $30.00 back in 1981. I've no idea what the current price is, or if it's even in print--but an Excellent book if anyone ever runs into a copy!
"The Great Movie Stars: The Golden Years" by David Shipman
"The Great Movie Stars: The International Years by ""
"Bad Movies We Love--by Edward Margulies & Stephen Rebello