film lover 293

"The Pleasure of His Company" (1961)--Starring Fred Astaire, Debbie Reynolds, Lilli Palmer, and Tab Hunter. Directed by George Seaton. Leisurely paced romantic comedy has inveterate traveler Poole (Astaire) returning to San Francisco to give away his daughter Jessica (Reynolds) at her wedding to Roger (Hunter). Poole stays at the home of his ex-wife Katherine (Palmer). Reynolds holds the film together as the daughter discovering a father she barely knew. Astaire and Palmer are both delights in the lighter parts of the film. Hunter is strictly on the sidelines as the main battles are between parents and daughter, but he shows an untapped talent for light comedy and gets one of the best lines in the picture: Reynolds (describing a salad eaten in a French restaurant)--"It had dandelions and wild greens!" Hunter--"That's what I feed my cattle!" Samuel Taylor's script has a tendency to bog down in talk. Alfred Newman did the score. Robert Burks and Bud Fraker did the picture postcard photography. Comedy has a thread of melancholy running through it that mutes what should be laughs. Still, the adroit cast makes this one worth watching. 2.7/4. Source--archive.org. Search "Debbie Reynolds"; there are two numbered results. Click on "59".

"Omar Khayyam" is on YouTube, if anyone wants to check it out. Princess--You're correct on all counts. Your thread, Princess.

NIVEN, DAVID

KLONDIKE ANNIE (1936)

"The Mysterious Island" (1929). "The Desert Song" (1929). "The Great Gabbo" (1929)--Ventriloquist Erich von Stroheim slowly goes crazy, in a musical. "Madame Satan" (1930)--A Cecil B. DeMille musical/romantic comedy/disaster film. "Down to Their Last Yacht" (1934)--A Pre-Code musical oddity--a clip of "South Sea Bolero" is on YT. "Four Frightened People" (1934)--Pre-Code C.B. DeMille. "She" (1935)--The Helen Gahagan/Randolph Scott version is hilarious.

R.I.P. Ms. Reynolds--you will be missed.

Lawrence--"Damnation Alley" was a guess; "A Boy and His Dog" has a line somewhere in it about computers being one of the causes of WW III or IV--I need to see it again. According to a special note before its' credits, this was the first sci-fi movie filmed underwater. Name it and it's year of release.

This leading lady, who never quite attained star status, worked with a horror icon in two films made a decade apart. Name the leading lady, the horror icon, the films, and their directors.

Princess--I love some opera composers--Verdi and Bizet, to name two. I prefer Bugs Bunny's and Elmer Fudds' versions of Wagner though, LOL. "Rabbit of Seville" (1950) and "What's Opera, Doc? (1957) were my introductions to opera. To the next question: This underrated actor made two biopics in his career that had only a slight acquaintance with the truth, one of a poet and one of a composer. Name the actor, the two films, and two costars from each film.

"Marianne" (1929)--Starring Marion Davies and Lawrence Gray, directed by Robert Z. Leonard. Amusing musical comedy set in 1919 France was Davies' official transition to sound film (She had made a brief appearance in "The Hollywood Revue of 1929"). She plays a French girl who was promised to a French soldier at the beginning of WW I. Gray plays Stagg, a soldier in an American platoon which stops at her farm after France's liberation. The two instantly dislike each other, then gradually fall in love. Gray and his platoon take care of most of the songs. Davies gets two songs to herself and a chorus of "Just You, Just Me", the films' hit song. Her impressions of a French officer, Maurice Chevalier, and Sarah Bernhardt are highlights of the film. Her speaking and singing voice are surprisingly strong, and her stammer is unnoticeable. Film is somewhat dated, and the humor centering on misunderstanding of the French/English language got old, but the film is very amusing when Davies is on screen, and the score is good. One of Davies best sound films. 3/4. Source--YouTube.

First actress is Grace Moore; she portrayed Jenny Lind in "A Lady's Morals" (1930) and "Jenny Lind" (1931). Second actress is Kathryn Grayson who portrayed Moore in "So This Is Love" (1953).

Thursday, Dec. 29th; all times E.S.T.: 10:30 a.m. "The Big Steal" (1949)--Reteaming of Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer is fast and funny film. 3:45 p.m. "Bullitt" (1968)--Good McQueen film, with some mean car chases through San Francisco. 10:15 p.m. "Two Girls and a Sailor" (1944)--Gloria DeHaven, June Allyson, Gracie Allen, Lena Horne, and Jimmy Durante in a wartime musical.

Hint--noirish soap opera.

Princess--You're right. I was referring to Henry Daniell as Franz Liszt. Good job. Your thread, Princess.

"The Brain Eaters" (1959)?

"Damnation Alley" (1977)? "A Boy and His Dog" (1975)? "Colossus: The Forbin Project" (1970)?

Shane91--I enjoyed "The Star Machine". It's a good read; it does skip from studio to studio, but goes into detail about various stars from 20th Century Fox (Sonja Henie, Tyrone Power, Loretta Young).

In this soggy biopic, a woman pianist races through a formal piano performance to be with her baby. Name the movie, the three composers featured in the movie (the heroine is in love with two of them), the pianist, and who played each part.

Vivien Leigh--Emma Hart, Lady Hamilton in "That Hamilton Woman" (1941). Hedy Lamarr--Joan of Arc in "The Story of Mankind" (1957). Merle Oberon--Anne Boleyn in "The Private Lives of Henry VIII" (1933). Edited to answer your hint, Princess. Ingrid Bergman--"Joan of Arc" (1948). Greta Garbo--"Mata Hari" (1932).

Shane91--Also Clive Hirschhorns' "The Hollywood Musical" (1981) which is a coffee table book--same format as the "Story" books Richard Kimble listed. Jeanine Basinger's "The Star Machine" (2008). Add "The Columbia Story" to Richard Kimble's list. Foster Hirsch's biography of Otto Preminger gives a good description of Premingers' battles with 20th Century-Fox management in the 40's and early 50's. Michael Barson's "The Illustrated Who's Who of Hollywood Directors: The Studio System in the Sound Era" is invaluable--covers who directed what for which studio. Excellent overview.

Kafka--played by Sig Rumann in "That Uncertain Feeling" (1941).

FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS (1943)

Lawrence--It certainly is. I'd never have guessed Richard Kiel would have a career after this movie was released. Your thread.

Hint--a future film series villain starred.

James Cagney played George M. Cohan in "Yankee Doodle Dandy" (1942)? The song--"Over There"?