film lover 293
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Posts posted by film lover 293
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Lyle Talbot
Next--JUANITA HORTON
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"Creature From The Haunted Sea" (1961)--Directed by Roger Corman. Unfunny, Gawdawful spoof of horror and spy movies. Unbelievably bad. Creature looks like a pine tree with fried eggs for eyes. Sample dialogue:
One spy to another--"Are you Rancid Potato?"
The singer does a number while her boat is being boarded by pirates--they politely wait for her to finish before ransacking the boat.
If you've seen every other film Corman directed, check this out. If not, Avoid this one.
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Claudia McNeil was in "There Was A Crooked Man..." with Lee Grant
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This director made at least five films that had overtly anti-nuclear plot elements. Name him and at least three of the films.
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Lawrence--Correct on both.
Your Thread.
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Lavender--Correct on all counts. Purdom's first two films were "Titanic" (1953), which won the Best Story and Screenplay Oscar, and "Julius Caesar" (1953) which was nominated for five Oscars, but won only for Best Art Direction.
Your thread,Lavender.
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Swithin--Ok, since I had the last question:
Hint--one of this directors' biggest hits was a film based on the first book by a famous horror novelist.
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Wed., Nov. 16th--All times E.S.T.--A last minute plug for:
4:00 p.m. "Two O'Clock Courage" (1945)--Early Anthony Mann film noir, with Tom Conway (1943's "The Seventh Victim", 1946's "Whistle Stop") and Ann Rutherford.
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A recipe to give to your worst enemy--Joan didn't make those pies in "Mildred Pierce"--Judging by this recipe, Crawford was NOT a cook.
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"The Day The World Ended" (1956)--Starring Richard Denning, Lori Nelson, and Adele Jergens. Directed by Roger Corman.
One of the first anti-nuclear films is hampered by a low budget, and a bare-bones script. The actors all play horror film types; Smart and Available Scientist (Denning), Imperilled Virgin (Nelson), Streetwise Nightclub Singer (Jergens), etc.
The plot--Multiple bombs explode, wiping out mankind--with a few unexplainable exceptions. The unaffected survivors all gather in a small ranch house. A monster made by radiation threatens the survivors. Complications ensue.
The good parts--Corman keeps the film moving, doesn't let it bog down in talk. The performances are as good as the script allows. The makeup for the radiation affected ones is good. The monster is mostly unseen, which is good. Chet Huntley does the matter-of fact narration.
Not the best or the worst of it's genre. 2.2/4.
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That's it shutoo.
Your thread.
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Clive Brook's "On Approval" (1944).
Billy Wilder's "One, Two, Three" (1961).
"Kind Hearts and Coronets" (1949).
"The Women" (1939).
"Twentieth Century" (1934).
"Duck Soup" (1933).
"A Night at the Opera" (1935).
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Hint #3--He took a role meant for a famous tenor after the score for this film had been pre-recorded by the tenor, who then left the project.
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The Terrible's garden tool
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"H.E.A.L.T.H." (1979)--Starring Carol Burnett, James Garner, Lauren Bacall, and Glenda Jackson. Directed by Robert Altman.
Scattershot political satire that got only a limited release is not one of Altman's best films, but is definitely worth a watch. Carol Burnett and James Garner, as a divorced couple on opposing sides of a national organizations' convention to elect a new health president are the funniest players in the film. The scene where Burnett tells off her ex, and then finds a dead body in the hotel pool is right out of her television show and the funniest bit in the film.
Garner is also funny; his biggest laughs are muttered asides to the camera that end scenes.
Bacall and Jackson as opposing candidates for president are also amusing.
The copy I saw on YouTube was too dark some of the time, but is still watchable.
2.4/4--Rating would be higher if copy I saw was better.
Edit--Search "H.E.A.L.T.H. 1979 Robert Altman".
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"Doctor Rhythm" (1938)--Starring Bing Crosby and Bea Lillie.
Paramount fluff with four highlights. Crosbys' rendition of the standard "On The Sentimental Side" by James Monaco and Johnny Burke (the song topped at #4 on the charts, according to Wikipedia); Lillies' priceless rendition of "There's Rhythm in This Heart of Mine" by Rodgers and Hart; and a wonderful shot at Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy style operetta, "Only a Gypsy Knows". Lillie has MacDonald's mannerisms down pat, and the Costume Dept. contributed an overly starched, ruffled concoction for Lillie that looks like a castoff from "Naughty Marietta" (1935). Crosby looks like he's having a good time spoofing Nelson Eddy; Crosby has Eddys' clueless air Down.
The fourth is a five minute long wordplay Routine with Lillie and Franklin Pangborn; "Two Dozen Double Damask Dinner Napkins.".
Film slows down whenever Lillie's offscreen or the singing stops, but Maltin needs to see this film again; it's better than "second-rate" and at its' best, hits classic status. 3.2/4.
Source--I saw "Doctor Rhythm" on YouTube.
Now I've seen all of Lillies' films except her Lost film, "Are You There?" (1930).
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"On Approval" (1944)--Starring Bea Lillie, Clive Brook, Googie Withers, and Roland Culver.
Hilarious British comedy set in the Victorian Era. Lillie takes her prospective husband ( Brook) for a month long trial run. Comedy is mostly verbal, so pay attention or you'll miss the best lines. A knowledge of Scottish food is necessary for one of the best lines to work.
Withers--"I'm having such terrible dreams!"
Culver--"So am I; it's the haggis."
Other favorite:
Lillie to Brook, when he's not looking at her--"What color are my eyes?"
A new favorite. 3.5/4.
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shutoo--i was thinking of "The Big Hangover" (1950) with Elizabeth Taylor & Van Johnson.
Back to your clue.
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"The Show of Shows" (1929)--Overlong, plotless musical studio revue (Warner Bros.). The highlights, in order of appearance: A Floradora Girl sextette, where Myrna Loy can clearly be heard singing, followed by a Floradora Boys number, which spotlights Lupino Lanes' English music hall comedy; Winnie Lightner's raucous rendition of "Pingo-Pongo" which has the racier verses, unlike YouTube; Bea Lillie getting laughs out of thin air with just a lifted eyebrow (the laughs sure aren't from her material); Lightner again, this time belting out "Singin' In The Bathtub", with a chorus line of men in 1890 era striped bathing suits; the impressive looking two-color Technicolor Oriental fantasy "Li-Po-Li", with Myrna Loy, a male singer, and chorus; John Barrymore's soliloquy from "Richard III" is one of the best things in the film.
A fascinating curio for film buffs spotlighting stars on their way up (Myrna Loy, Loretta Young), at the top (John Barrymore), and on their way down (A shrill Dolores Costello). 2.3/4
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"Exit Smiling" (1926)--I missed the first half of this, but Bea Lillie makes it worth watching--the seduction/destruction scene in the last half hour is as good a bit of silent comedy as I've seen--as good as Marion Davies "The Patsy" (1928)--she does a dead-on parody of Theda Bara, Mae Murray, and Pola Negri in that scene. Wish she'd made more films--she's in the next two this morning, "The Show of Shows" (1929) and "On Approval" (1944)--looking forward to them.
NickandNora34--I've only seen 300 some of the 1001 films--don't feel bad.
LawrenceA--85% !?--I watch all the wrong films, I guess, LOL.
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Over the past two weeks, I saw six movies for the first or second time.
"Ghidrah The Three Headed Monster" (1965)--costarring Mothra, Godzilla, and Rodan. A quadruple threat, this gem has dreadful dialogue ("There's no such thing as brainwaves" "The saucermen will tell us what to do!"), dimwitted subplots (island fairies who are carried around in a makeup case and who translate the monsters various roars, howls, etc. into English), a total disregard for logic ( a woman opens an airplane door and jumps out, without a parachute, falls several thousand feet, and survives with only a case of amnesia as a souvenir) and howlingly funny special effects (Mothra shoots a rope-like substance out of its' nose; at one point, Godzilla and Rodan appear to be playing tennis with fake boulders). So bad it's good. Recommended.
"Varan The Unbelievable" (1961)--Japanese monster movie runs just over one hour, and wastes forty minutes setting up the situation with Boring pseudo scientific talk. When Varan finally shows, it looks a cross between The Creature from the Black Lagoon and a flying squirrel. Varan only gets to destroy a village before being ended. Film desperately needs a restoration.
"Two Rode Together" (1961)--John Ford film starring James Stewart and Richard Widmark. Starts off as a cynical comedy, turns into a journey where Stewarts' and Widmarks' characters go off on an Army mission to redeem captives from the Comanche Indians--by whatever means necessary. Film is ultimately downbeat, despite the vaguely hopeful ending. Linda Cristal is very good in support, as is Shirley Jones.
"Kings of the Sun" (1963)--Starring Yul Brynner, George Chakiris, and Shirley Anne Field. Directed by Lee J. Thompson. Period spectacle about the ancient Mayan civilization has enough acting talent and energy to overcome its' main flaw, which is a flowery and long-winded script that bogs down the action. Chakiris plays the King who has to flee Chichen Itza because of invaders, Field is his love interest, and Brynner is the leader of the tribe Chakiris runs into after he's fled from his kingdom. An enjoyable watch.
"Monty Python's Life of Brian" (1979)--Scattershot parody of Biblical films has more hits than misses. The animated opening credits, and the multiple takeoffs on "Ben-Hur" (1959) and "The Greatest Story Ever Told" (1965) are especially effective. Twenty people play seventy-odd roles. Look for George Harrison. Enjoyable film.
"Salem's Lot" (1979)--I know this was originally a television movie, but this story of vampires in a Maine small town is one of the best film adaptations of Stephen King. James Mason is very effective as the courtly but condescending Straker, and Reggie Nalder is a terrifying Barlow. The cast is uniformly excellent. Recommended.
Favorite--Salem's Lot (1979)
Least Favorite--Varan the Unbelievable (1961).
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shutoo--That's not the title I had in mind, but it's an appropriate answer.
So, Your thread shutoo.
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Jan Sterling was in "Female On The Beach" with Natalie Schafer.
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Gladys George was in "Flamingo Road" with Gertrude Michael.
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