filmlover

On the female side, it would be Bette Davis.

mr6666, I'm recommending all of the films for tonight: The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, The Innocents, Dead of Night (especially Dead of Night), Shake Hands With the Devil, and The Browning Version. All star Sir Michael Redgrave.

Sunday, Sept. 10th, 1939

cinemafan, thank you very much for your post. Made my day. I am also glad today is only the 10th because there is a lot of great stuff to come. (Today's post will be up shortly, and if you look at tonight's movies, you will know who it will be about.)

Well, there is TCM Underground. But my choice would be Friday nights because that was the night horror films were run on a Seattle station with a horror host. Besides, Friday is best because of a possible 13th in a month.

re: Caine Mutiny -- actually, I did mention this title for September...way back in April, lol. My copy just came today from Amazon, coincidentally enough Harryhousen? ; )

"The Apartment" on Blu has been slipped into the schedule for NEXT WEEK, Sept. 13th. Up on Amazon for $13.99 http://www.amazon.com/Apartment-Blu-ray-Jack-Lemmon/dp/B005LZWA5W/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1315657991&sr=8-7 And just a reminder that Citizen Kane comes out on Blu on the 13th. Amazon has the collector's edition, plus an exclusive Amazon release that comes with The Magnificent Ambersons on DVD.

Edge must be on vacation, so here are some new titles: Akira Kurosawa's Dreams Alex in Wonderland (remastered) Don't Be Afraid of the Dark

ThelmaTodd wrote: "As you can see, I have returned after a long hiatus." You've come back at a good time. We have an excellent new moderator named Michael.

EugeniaH said: "Hi Thelma, I'm really enjoying reading your informative posts, very articulate and in-depth, and looking forward to reading whatever you create in "Favorites" (or wherever else!). (Update): Sorry, filmlover, you too. I've been reading your '1939' thread since the first day. " Hi, Eugenia, Ha ha, I was just about to say thanks for your email and then stop and say, "Oh. Thelma, it's for you."

To be honest, it surprises me, too, how fast in just 24 hours the thread disappears from the top to the middle of the second page.

GREAT BRITAIN GOES TO WAR The first German bombs fell in September 1939, and output of movies fell off, of course, due to several reasons. The money wasn't there to produce movies, being instead taken up by the war effort, and many workers creating the films and in running the movie theaters were called up for military service. Actually, at the very beginning of the war all the movie theaters were closed by the government, fearing what would happen if they were bombed with people still inside. Eventually, though, Britain knew that it had to have entertainment in order to have a more industrious public. Sanctions did apply whereby marquee lights, etc., could not be lit due to blackout conditions and this continued through the end of the war. A number of theaters did close due to lack of manpower, and some from German bombing runs. The number of films being released fell from 108 in 1940 to only 46 two years later. Paradoxically, attendance in theaters grew enormously. By war's end in 1945, attendance was at 30 million people per week. Another interesting factor is that the quality of product increased. Though budgets were smaller, films got better. And, perhaps, out of pride of their country, English films took on a distinctive English style. Alexander Korda was the first producer to get a war film into movie theatres, The Lion Has Wings. Other producers started turning out war films as fast as they could for the next several years. Among the titles were Freedom Radio, Convoy, Spy in Black, Contraband, Gestapo, In Which We Serve, One of Our Aircraft Is Missing, Went The Day Well?, and Desert Victory. Pimpernel Smith: 49th Parallel: They Flew Alone: The First of the Few: Escapism did still exist, and picturegoers were still able to indulge a few hours with Major Barbara, Gaslight (yes, the same story that was made later in America with Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman), Jeannie, Thunder Rock, Fanny by Gaslight, The Wicked Lady, Champagne Charlie, Blithe Spirit, The Seventh Veil, Caesar and Cleopatra (though not completed until after the war), Brief Encounter, Dead of Night, The Saint Meets The Tiger, The Saint's Vacation, and Henry V. And, sigh, yes, many Old Mother Riley films. And some of these films were made under trying conditions, with bombs falling nearby. The Ghost Train: Gaslight: These pictures were not lacking in star power: Jack Hawkins, Rex Harrison, Margaret Lockwood, Laurence Olivier, Glynis Johns, Leslie Howard, Raymond Massey, Michael Wilding, Wendy Hiller, John Mills, Noel Coward, Celia Johnson, James Mason, Stewart Granger, Beatrice Lillie, Stanley Holloway, Richard Greene, David Niven, Leo Genn, Trevor Howard, Margaret Rutherford, Jean Simmons, Michael Redgrave, Claude Rains, Vivien Leigh, and Paul Robeson. And though not all made it to our shores, performers very popular with the British public: George Formby, Anton Walbrook, Patricia Roc, Will Hay, Tommy Handley, Sidney Keith, Gordon Jackson, The Crazy Gang, Sally Ann Howes, Tommy Trinder, Arthur Lucan, Cecil Parker, and Jean Kent. Regrettably, Leslie Howard, Annette Sutherland, and other British actors on a public relations junket were casualties of World War II when the plane they were on was shot down by the German Luftwaffe on June 1st, 1943. When the war came to an end, clear skies opened up over England. Except in the movie business, as you will discover.

Fred, you never told us you do reviews on IMDB.

Saturday, September 9, 1939

{font:Calibri}Okay, we have to talk about Hitchcock. Sorry, I know every detail of his career has been placed under a microscope and there is nothing you don’t know about his movies. However, it is impossible to not include him in this British history. The very first all-talking British-made movie was directed by Alfred Hitchcock. {font} {font:Calibri}The name of the movie was Blackmail. Hitchcock had been making movies, quite a lot of them, prior to this in the silent days. Among these were The Pleasure Garden, The Mountain Eagle, The Lodger, Downhill, Easy Virtue, The Ring, The Farmer's Wife, and Champagne, so he certainly established his ability in thrilling the audience. Blackmail, though, showed that he was ready to take the use of sound and incorporate it in exciting his audience. (Note: there are two versions of Blackmail, one silent with the regular screen cards, and the other all talking (except for the opening few minutes). {font} {font:Calibri} Remember, this was the first movie in the country to have dialogue. Hitchcock, even then the master showman, took a section of dialogue around a table and transformed what could have been tense dialogue into a scene with suspenseful, white-knuckle intensity. The woman sitting at the table has only a short time before been forced to defend herself from a man **** her by killing him with a nearby knife (could anyone but Hitchcock have been chosen to direct “Dial M For Murder” a few decades later?). Later, while all the streets are abuzz with the news of the murder, the unsuspected woman is sitting at a table, in shell-shocked guilt and horror…while all the time a busybody neighbor keeps talking about the grisly murder and the use of the word “knife” comes up about a dozen times, each time with more intensity. The young woman drowns out the sound of the voice, except when “knife” comes up, the repetition grows swifter, until finally the young woman jumps up from the table in horror. Hitchcock played with sound in that way in his very first talking feature. Here is that sequence, take a look and a listen: {font} {font:Calibri} Blackmail also has wonderful touches, such as when the young woman walks dazed from the scene of the crime. Along the street, she moves in slow motion, while people passerby move by her at such speed that half the time they appear transparent. A brilliant move by Hitchcock. (Of course, manages to amuse us, too, by his cameo in the film.){font} {font:Calibri}Films to follow Blackmail were Juno and the Paycock, Skin Game, Rich and Strange, and others. But he really got going with the 1934 version of the Man Who Knew Too Much, followed by my favorite, The 39 Steps. Then came Secret Agent, Sabotage, and The Lady Vanishes. Is it any wonder that America came calling for his successful talent? Movies took Alfred Hitchcock all around the world, but he returned to England to film 1972's Frenzy, which relied on Hitch’s trademark gimmick of an innocent man on the run because of a murder he did not commit. {font}

Before I forget, while I am still workingon today's post, be sure to catch "Hobson's Choice" tonight! Delightful film from David Lean starring Charles Laughton and John Mills. And produced by Korda.

I think that Hitch probably did have something to do with picking some of the music, at least. If you take a listen to -- no, wait, I will be getting in to that -- but I think he was always looking at all aspects of what would be the complete movie he wanted you to see.

Thurs., Sept. 7th, 1939

> {quote:title=BingFan wrote: }{quote}*Blithe Spirit* (never on TCM; not on DVD; very enjoyable version of Noel Coward's comedy with the great Margaret Rutherford as the medium) > > > > > > > (If I'm wrong about the Region 1 DVD unavailability, please let me know -- I'd be very glad to learn that some of these films are on DVD!) Before I go for the evening, been meaning to mention... Hi, BingFan, you're not wrong about Region 1 but Blithe Spirit is available on DVD from the UK. And it is beautifully restored by the BFI. It's worth getting an all-region DVD player. And anyone interested in it, you can find it with other restored David Lean films in this set (be sure to get THIS set, not the other David Lean set out there because that doesn't have the restored films) It's a treasure trove of ten great films for about $27 US (including shipping) from Amazon.uk! http://www.amazon.co.uk/David-Lean-Collection-DVD/dp/B001AHKH6E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1315369393&sr=8-1 Includes: In Which We Serve This Happy Breed Blithe Spirit Brief Encounter Great Expectations Oliver Twist The Passionate Friends Madeleine The Sound Barrier Hobson's Choice

ThelmaTodd, thanks for the list. I think I might have to include links to YouTube films sometime soon. The trouble is things get yanked from there so quickly. Speaking of Korda, I was lucky enough to get the Criterion Paul Robeson: Portraits set a few days ago for $30, and it has Sanders of the River on it. I saw this as a kid on TV, and enjoyed it. Okay, today, it is hardly p.c. but you gotta love Robeson singing. And I am looking forward to see what Criterion does with their DVD set of Sabu films. Three Kordas: Elephant Boy, The Drum, and The Jungle Book.

It was the early Thirties. While America had new sound stars that caught their delight, so too did Great Britain. Two of the very brightest English stars that the public loved were *Jessie Matthews* and *Anna Neagle* (never to be confused with Anna Nagel). (You were never anybody until you appeared on a cigarette card.) Jessie Matthews Jessie Matthews had a face that made you smile. Waif-like, she looked like a combination of Loretta Young, Janet Gaynor, and Luise Rainer. From within came an effervescence of a kind you very seldom find. The kind of girl you wanted to bring home to meet your parents. She could dance (Fred Astaire had wanted her for his partner). She could sing. And acting...well, it wasn't always out of the ballpark, but you liked her. And she did have gorgeous legs. People went into a Jessie Matthews film to have fun. One such delight was "First A Girl" (1935), a remake of the German film, "Viktor and Viktoria"; yes, which became much later, "Victor/Victoria" with Julie Andrews. Among her other wonderful films are "It's Love Again" and the delightful "Evergreen" (the latter will be on TCM on Sept. 24th; be sure to catch it!) You can also catch her in later years in "Tom Thumb" as Tom's mother, showing Sept. 8th on TCM. Anna Neagle Anna Neagle was a very beautiful woman and talented actress, a good dancer and a nice singer... ...and, yes, you could also bring her home but, depending on the role she played, not to your parents' home. She could play Nell Gwyn, a king's saucy mistress, and yet you loved her. She could also play the opposite end of the spectrum, Queen Victoria (twice). On stage, she even played Peter Pan! Neagle had a career in the United States, too, appearing as "Nurse Edith Clavell" (1939), about the British heroine shot by Germans who accused her of spying. Among her other U.S. films were "Irene," and "No, No, Nanette." You can also find her costarring with Errol Flynn in two films, "Lilacs in the Spring" (US title "Let's Make Up") and "King's Rhapsody." Among her last works was appearing as the Fairy Godmother in a stage production of "Cinderella."

Tuesday, Sept. 6th, 1939

Even the mention of Gracie Fields causes me a disheartened sigh. I'd like to cover her - maybe, just maybe later - but I am working on a post at the moment about Jessie Mathews and Anna Neagle for tomorrow night. And still adding to tonight's post, which may be around midnight my time. (Oops, gotta rush to get in today's 1939 articles in the 1939 thread.) (Remind me, again, people are supposed to get out and enjoy the Labor Day weekend, right? ; )

Old Mother Riley takes getting used to. Even Monty Python didn't prepare me for that. In retrospect, I could get get used to an Oriental like Charlie Chan being played by a Caucasian much faster than a man in a female role for a whole series of films. LOL, every once in a while, I would think of Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes when he was in a disguise, how he would suddenly straighten up from playing, say, a bookseller, and say, "That's your man, Inspector." Well, I would wait with old Mother Riley but... Hey, I have an idea. I am so swamped with all the daily themes for this thread marked out on my calendar for the rest of the month, that I think people would love to see you add in an illustrated post about the Riley series. It isn't on my schedule, and, regretably, there will be many at the end of the month I will say, "Arghh! I should have done this or that." One thing I want this thread to do is to introduce films that people on this side of the pond know nothing or little about. I will definitely be getting into that with mainstream stars like James Mason. And, in the line of Riley, I will be covering the Carry On series. But at the moment, I am in the midst of doing the historical context of UK film history, which is overwhelming to say the least! So if you could introduce a fun post here with Old Mother Riley, that would be absolutely great. *P.S. -- Hi, if anyone else has an idea for a piece on British film history you feel you know very well and would like to contribute to this thread, send me a PM so I can check my own calendar just to make sure it doesn't conflict with an idea I am working on. I will get back to you. We could make this a great community-contribution thread!*

Thanks, ThelmaTodd.