film lover 293
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Posts posted by film lover 293
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Hint--one of the films recently aired on TCM.
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Hint--"What are we up against, Father?
Father--"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEVVVVVVVVVVVVIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIILLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!"
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Lady of Burlesque?
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'The Bed Sitting Room" (1969)--Directed by Richard Lester.
The aftermath of WW III as absurdist comedy. There's no plot, just a series of skits one after another. The End happened during the 60's; there are lines about LBJ and Mao. Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, and Marty Feldman are the three cast members who are consistently funny. Director Lester has his cast mumble and mutter the lines, so the laugh lines were hard for me to catch. The best line had to do with Charlton Heston wrestling the Pope in a BBC televised match. I prefer Monty Python for absurdist comedy. Film is ok, not great; it did make me wonder if the filmmakers foresaw future elections. Others may enjoy it more than I did. I was more bemused than amused. 2.4/4.
Source--YouTube.
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"Candyland" (1998)?
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Hint #3--His films usually cost less than one fifth of the total budget of "On the Beach" (1959).
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Laughing Sinners
Next--SSRPC'EEN NNIOAMUT
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I watched seven films for the first time last week:
"The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent" (1958). Roger Corman directed cheapie would-be epic is a Bad mix of 50's slang ("Cool!") and Norse mythology. The Viking Women and their adversaries and allies all have access to curling irons, permanents, and hair dye--even the slaves in the mine. Except for one character, hair color determines their fate. There are enough laughs so that film isn't painful to watch. On a "So Bad It's Good" scale, 2.3/4.
"Creature From the Haunted Sea" (1961)--Unfunny, Godawful spoof of horror movies and spy movies. Roger Corman's worst movie. Consider yourself warned.
"The Day the World Ended" (1956)--Starring Richard Denning, Lori Nelson, and Adele Jergens. Roger Corman directed version of how WW III caused the end of the world--with a few unexplained survivors. The monsters are not bad, the script is bare bones, the acting is fair to poor. The matter-of-fact narration is by Chet Huntley. Interesting, if implausible, fast moving watch.
"H.E.A.L.T.H." (1979)--Starring Carol Burnett, James Garner, Lauren Bacall, and Vanessa Redgrave. Robert Altman film was barely released, is hard to find. Satire on politics set in a health convention has as many misses as hits. Carol Burnett is the best overall player--her Presidential representative/spokesperson is on target with her cliched platitudes and droning doubletalk. Her scene where she finds a dead body in the hotel pool after fighting with her ex (Garner) is the funniest thing in the film. Redgrave as the Nixon figure is amusing, as is Bacall as the Ford figure. Very worth a watch--I saw a very dark copy on YT.
"Doctor Rhythm" (1938)--Bing Crosby and Bea Lillie team up in this one. Lillie and Crosby do a on-target parody of Jeanette MacDonald-Nelson Eddy style operetta, "Only a Gypsy Knows". Lillie has MacDonald's physical and vocal mannerisms Down (the Costume Department contributed an overly starched and ruffled horror that looks like a reject from "Naughty Marietta" (1935)), and Crosby does a good job of Eddy at his most clueless. Lillie and Franklin Pangborn have a classic wordplay routine "12 Dozen Double Damask Dimity Napkins". Recommended.
"On Approval" (1944)--Classic British comedy is all verbal. Lillie takes her potential husband for a month long tryout in Victorian England; major complications ensue. Lillie gets the best line, Googie Withers and Roland Culver have the best exchange:
Lillie, to potential husband, who's facing away from her: "What color are my eyes?"
At night, an upset Withers, to husband Culver: "I'm having such Terrible dreams!"
Culver, growling: "So'm I; it's the Haggis."
Highly recommended.
"The Show of Shows" (1929)--Long, early Warner Bros. musical revue, very uneven. Highlights include Winnie Lightner's two songs "Pingo Pongo" and "Singin' in the Bathtub", the two color Technicolor Chinese fantasy "Li-Po-Li" with male singer and Myrna Loy, John Barrymore's monologue from "Richard III, and a Floradora Girl and Boy number featuring Myrna Loy and Lupino Lanes' music hall comedy. Frank Fay as Host is irritating. More misses than hits, but the hits make it worth a watch--just have caffeine handy.
Most Favorite--"On Approval" (1944)--Lillie to extra: "We're sneering acquaintances".
Least Favorite--"Creature From the Haunted Sea" (1961).
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Bogie56--Part III of "The Battle of Chile is on YouTube--didn't watch it all, but is not speeded up, the narration (but not the credits) is/are subtitled. Film's subtitle is "The Power of the People".
Mon., Nov. 21st--All times E.S.T. Eleanor Powell day, plus an oddity.
12:00 p.m. "Ship Ahoy" (1942)--Forget the nonsense plot, look at the musical lineup--Powell, Bert Lahr, Virginia O'Brien, Tommy Dorsey and his Band, Frank Sinatra, Jo Stafford. Definitely worth a watch. Red Skelton is ok in this one.
3:45 p.m. "Honolulu" (1939)--Powell + Burns and Allen= pleasant MGM fluff.
5:15 p.m. "The Great Morgan" (1946)--MGM film was never released in the U.S., consists mainly of outtakes from various MGM musicals--must be at least one Eleanor Powell number in this.
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This Best Song winner was part of the plot in one of the worst horror films ever made. Name the movie, song, and the star who performed it in the horror film.
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"The Devil Commands (1940)?
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Hint #2--Directed one of the longest titled films in film history.
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This one's worth watching--The two leads, John Boles and Carlotta King, have fine strong voices. The clips on YouTube have a Lot of hissing/background noise, but there are two "Calling Dr. Freud" moments--the end of "Azuri's Dance" (YT has almost cut out the racy parts, but not quite).
Carlotta King's rendition of "The Sabre Song" is something to see--There is a tremendous amount of hissing in the clip on YouTube, but King can still be heard.
Am looking forward to seeing this on TCM and hearing a noise-free print.
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With an Bromo-Seltzer or Alka-Seltzer as a nightcap (Bromo-Seltzer was first sold in 1888, Alka-Seltzer in 1931, according to Wiki).
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No "K" titles--on to "L":
LADIES OF LEISURE
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Thanks, Princess.
This actress worked twice with a director famed for musicals and comedies; the first time she appeared on-screen, the second she didn't. Name the actress, director, the two films, and why she didn't appear on screen in the second film.
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Hint--Director made statements while hiding them in sometimes unintentionally funny films.
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Sat., Nov. 19th/20th--All times E.S.T.: All three Harry Palmer films, in order
8:00 p.m. "The Ipcress File" (1965).
10:00 p.m. "Funeral in Berlin" (1966)--Seconding Bogie56's & darkblues' recommendations.
12:00 a.m. "Billion Dollar Brain (1967)--Director Ken Russell's second film.
2:00 a.m. "Zabriskie Point" (1970)--Antonioni is not a favorite director of mine, but film is cinematically stunning; the acting is--amateurish; the viewpoint anti-American. Recommended with reservations, specifically, about the acting.
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"The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent" (1958).
Roger Corman directed, unintentionally funny, would-be epic lasts just over an hour. The no-name cast gives performances as bad as the script, which mingles 50's slang with Norse mythology. The Vikings all have access to hair stylists--even the ones who are enslaved in a mine. You can literally tell who the bad guys/girls are by their hair color. At least the sea monster looks like a monster.
There are enough laughs that film isn't painful to watch, but you may want to see the MST3K version.
Nowhere near Corman's best, or worst. 1.4/4.
Source--YouTube.
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Hellraiser--I'm thinking of "Hellboy" (2003)?
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Writer is Mickey Spillane.
Film with the ballet is "The Bandwagon; the number, "The Girl Hunt Ballet" with Cyd Charisse & Fred Astaire.
Television show is "Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer"; Ran from Jan.1958 to Sept. 1959.
Film where his work is discussed is "Kiss Me Deadly" (1955)?
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Fri., Nov.18th--All times E.S.T.: A Minnelli favorite, and a Harlow I've always missed.
12:45 p.m. "The Reluctant Debutante" (1958)--TCM has it listed as a musical. It's a comedy. Amusing froth made even better by Kay Kendall, Rex Harrison, and Angela Lansbury.
2:30 p.m. "The Girl From Missouri (1934)--A Harlow film I've never seen. In TCM User Reviews the last review was posted in 2010.
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I Just Watched...
in General Discussions
Posted
"War Gods of the Deep" (1965)--Starring Vincent Price, Tab Hunter, David Tomlinson, and Susan Hart. Directed by Jacques Tourneur.
Better than expected part of American International Pictures' Edgar Allan Poe cycle of films (this one is based on Poe's poem "City In The Sea").
Plot--In 1903 Cornwall, Jill (Hart) is staying at her deceased father's mansion while the estate is being settled. Ben (Hunter) comes to see her and meets her admirer Harold (Tomlinson) and his pet rooster. Something carries Jill off during the night, leaving behind seaweed. Ben and Harold go after Jill, and discover an undersea kingdom, headed by Sir Hugh (Price). Film goes from there.
The Big problem is the script. It's an uneasy mixture of horror/absurdist humor (Jill is introduced carrying a pet chicken) that doesn't always work.
Price is good, as always, in playing a doomed character. He narrates the film, reading Poe's poem. I love his speaking voice. He does well in making interesting the huge chunks of exposition the script gives him.
Hunter is good in that he keeps his scenes' momentum going, and plows through the scripts attempted jokes.
Tomlinson is as good as possible as the brainless friend of the hero who's more concerned about his pet chicken than about living through the film.
Hart's role is set decoration.
The good cinematography is by Stephen Dade.
Tournier's last film is far from the disaster I'd heard it was. 2.5/4.
BTW--Film is absent from the TCM filmographies of Jacques Tourneur, Vincent Price, Tab Hunter (I gave up then and checked IMDB).
Source--YouTube, listed as "City Under the Sea".