Noir Alley

[Thompson]

2 hours ago, TomJH said:

I had an aunt whose name was Vilma, not Velma, Vilma.

Apparently as a young girl she got upset whenever people told her she looked like Errol Flynn in Captain Blood.

I had a girlfriend named Wilma.  She could really put ‘em away.

[Thompson]

I miss her.

[Dargo]

On 1/4/2022 at 11:45 AM, misswonderly3 said:

 ...Better for a woman to look like a handsome man than an ugly woman  ??  

Hmmm, maybe not always, MissW. Nope, maybe not always...

And btw Tom. I used to work with a woman who I swear looked just like Charles Lindbergh here...

(...funny thing though...when she had her makeup on, she really wasn't half-bad lookin')

 

 

[King Rat]

On 1/2/2022 at 10:42 AM, Janet0312 said:

I thought Repeat Performance was great. The ending kept me on the edge of my seat. 1st time viewing for me. I enjoyed it very much.

Yep, me too. Late to the party, and enjoying all the comments about the film. Repeat Performance would make a great double feature with either The Velvet Touch or A Double Life, which are also noirish films with theater settings. I loved the premise of the film and wanted to see how it would work out. As Miss Wonderly mentioned, some great-looking fashions. The designer had fun with Natalie Schafer's outrageous hat and also did a good job of giving some glamor to Joan Leslie, like her fur hat or the stylish outfit she wears on the second New Year's Eve.

Joan Leslie does a creditable job in the lead role. She's not ideally cast and has to work hard for a presence that actual stars could take for granted. The slightly naive quality that makes Leslie not seem to be a star actually works for her in convincing us (or me, anyway) that she would stick by a husband that some other women would be glad to leave. Louis Hayward's performance works for me in the sense that I think he's playing a character not unlike himself. Eddie Muller mentioned the effect that the war had on Hayward. Compare the handsome confident rogue he played in Ladies in Retirement with the husband in Repeat Performance. To a great extent, Hayward has lost his looks.

As several of you have said, Richard Basehart gives a wonderful performance. Without a word of dialogue, he lets us know  that William is homosexual and is platonically in love with Joan Leslie. Natalie Schafer does campy and trampy with the best of them. Virginia Field as the ice queen playwright, Benay Venuta as the sparkling burgundy gal, and Tom Conway as the suave producer are all welcome additions. I believe Benay Venuta understudied Ethel Merman on Broadway in more than one show, but Merman rarely missed performances.

It's fun to think of an A-List 1947 version of Repeat Performance. How about Gene Tierney as Sheila, Fredric March as Barney, George Sanders as Jack Friday, Eve Arden as Bess, and Eleanor Parker as Paula?

[Hoganman1]

I'm becoming a fan of Tom Conway. Hopefully, I can find more of his films. I've seen a couple of The Falcon movies and like them. 

[misswonderly3]

3 hours ago, Hoganman1 said:

I'm becoming a fan of Tom Conway. Hopefully, I can find more of his films. I've seen a couple of The Falcon movies and like them. 

Tom Conway appears in Cat People.  I think this was the first time I saw him, and I remember thinking he reminded me of George Sanders. This was before I found out they were brothers !

[JamesJazGuitar]

3 hours ago, Hoganman1 said:

I'm becoming a fan of Tom Conway. Hopefully, I can find more of his films. I've seen a couple of The Falcon movies and like them. 

Tom Conway has a charming screen persona,  even when playing a cad (like his brother),  but he wasn't cast in many good films.

The Falcon  serial is good,  and he did those film for Val Lewton,  Cat People and Walked With a Zombie (which are very good),  and The Seven Victim (which is OK),   and Repeat Performance (which I like and TCM just showed on New Year's day).

Well maybe I should rephrase this:  I have NOT seen most of his  20th Century Fox films made in the 40s,  since TCM doesn't show many Fox films.   So maybe there are some hidden gems there I'm not aware of.

Edited:  adding "NOT".

[misswonderly3]

So, I re-watched Repeat Performance the other night.  ( My husband hadn't seen it, so watched it with him.)

I have to say, it might have been better if I hadn't.  I still enjoyed the performances and the sophisticated NYC settings.  And I would recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it, just because I think it's pretty entertaining. Plus Richard Basehart's in it.

But for heaven's sake, don't start thinking too much about the plot, or you'll find a lot of holes.  I'm not talking about the Twilight Zone -ish wish fulfillment of Sheila's getting to live 1946 all over again,  I can go with that, in fact I like that kind of story. 

But if you analyze it too much, you'll end up going,  "Wait !  Where'd she get the gun in the first place ?"   " How come Barney wasn't injured in the first New Year's Eve?  Didn't he fall off the balcony the first time?"   "How did William get the gun, I thought it was Sheila's?"  "How come Sheila's life was in danger from Barney when Barney could barely walk  ( the 2nd New Year's Eve) ?  He didn't have a weapon except for his cane- wouldn't it have been fairly easy to just run away from him?" and most of all,  "Sheila is given a second chance.  Yet she doesn't learn from this chance.  She still tries to "keep" Barney as a husband.  What she should have learned, the second time around,  is that he wasn't worth the fight she was putting up for him.  And if your husband wants to be with another woman, there's not much you can do about it. Get on with your life."   and without Barney, Sheila would have actually had a nicer life.

[King Rat]

1 hour ago, misswonderly3 said:

So, I re-watched Repeat Performance the other night.  ( My husband hadn't seen it, so watched it with him.)

"Sheila is given a second chance.  Yet she doesn't learn from this chance.  She still tries to "keep" Barney as a husband.  What she should have learned, the second time around,  is that he wasn't worth the fight she was putting up for him.  And if your husband wants to be with another woman, there's not much you can do about it. Get on with your life."   and without Barney, Sheila would have actually had a nicer life.

In a way, I think this may be the point of the movie--you get a chance to relive the last year so that you have a better outcome, but you concentrate on the wrong things. She thinks that if she can prevent Barney from meeting Paula, her marriage will be fine, but it isn't. She still doesn't see that her marriage isn't working because her husband is jealous of her career, and she can't prevent his drinking. This seems all too believable.

Thanks for reporting back with your second impressions. This is a film I'd like to see again at some point.

By the way, I was hooked by that party scene that Sheila runs to in her nightgown and fur coat, drawing William aside and then having to deal with the interruption by Bess. I didn't know who these people were, but I wanted to find out, and that shows some good writing and directing.

[TomJH]

Call me naive (and that's a lot better than some of the other names hurtled my way) but I wouldn't have known that Richard Basehart was trying to telegraph us that he is necessarily gay in Repeat Performance. I can see why some might say it but I thought of him more as a sensitive poetic type with a strong loyalty towards Leslie's character. A bit of an outsider and, yes, I know that can signal "gay" to some, particularly in an older film.

I don't think that being "sensitive" or an outsider automatically means you're gay. Maybe my gaydar isn't as finely attuned as others.

[Hibi]

Back in post code movies it often did or at least left it open to interpretation.

[Hibi]

On 1/4/2022 at 3:11 PM, TomJH said:

It was largely a case of my Mom, who didn't get along that well with Aunt Vilma, her older sister, so delighted in reminding her of the physical resemblance to Flynn at times of sibling tension between them, of which, apparently, there were plenty when they were growing up together. Others made reference to the resemblance as well, I understand. My Aunt Vilma, by the way, was not thrilled at being told she looked like a handsome man. I, on the other hand, would have been. Them's the breaks.

I can only think of one Vilma I have "known". Vilma Banky. 

[TomJH]

1 minute ago, Hibi said:

I can only think of one Vilma I have "known". Vilma Banky. 

Vilma Banky was popular during the '20s, the only Vilma that comes to my mind from the movies. My aunt was born soon after WWI ended, I suspect. It must have been a popular name in those days.

[Hibi]

Maybe so. Sure isn't now! Wonder if its a European name? Another version of Wilma? Or maybe another version of Velma?

[Dargo]

7 hours ago, TomJH said:

Call me naive (and that's a lot better than some of the other names hurtled my way) but I wouldn't have known that Richard Basehart was trying to telegraph us that he is necessarily gay in Repeat Performance. I can see why some might say it but I thought of him more as a sensitive poetic type with a strong loyalty towards Leslie's character. A bit of an outsider and, yes, I know that can signal "gay" to some, particularly in an older film.

I don't think that being "sensitive" or an outsider automatically means you're gay. Maybe my gaydar isn't as finely attuned as others.

And I'm sure we all remember this same line of conversation after Eddie showed Johnny Eager a while back, right?! And especially in regard to the character that Van Heflin played.

(...and who even though Basehart was able to put his own spin on his character in Repeat Performance, I constantly was reminded that Heflin would have also been well cast in this role)

[TomJH]

14 minutes ago, Dargo said:

And I'm sure we all remember this same line of conversation after Eddie showed Johnny Eager a while back, right?! And especially in regard to the character that Van Heflin played.

(...and who even though Basehart was able to put his own spin on his character in Repeat Performance, I constantly was reminded that Heflin would have also been well cast in this role)

So what are you saying about Van in Johnny Eager? You don't mean . . .

[Dargo]

1 hour ago, TomJH said:

So what are you saying about Van in Johnny Eager? You don't mean . . .

I guess what I was saying here Tom was that the way Heflin played his character in Johnny Eager, it also could be interpreted both as you just described Basehart's character in Repeat Performance being the "sensitive poetic type with a strong loyalty towards the [central] character" or as being gay.

And, with those thinking the latter the most likely of these two possibilities perhaps having their thoughts justified by the idea that the production code in place at the time these films were made would not allow a more clearly drawn expression of it in said movies.

And I guess I'm still open to the possibilies that either might or could actually be the case and/or what was actually intended by the screenwriters in regard to these characters.

And so in THIS regard, maybe like you, I'm a bit "naive" TOO, eh?!  

(...and besides, I still say I could very easily see Heflin in the William Williams role in Repeat Performance also)

 

[TomJH]

10 hours ago, Dargo said:

I guess what I was saying here Tom was that the way Heflin played his character in Johnny Eager, it also could be interpreted both as you just described Basehart's character in Repeat Performance being the "sensitive poetic type with a strong loyalty towards the [central] character" or as being gay.

And, with those thinking the latter the most likely of these two possibilities perhaps having their thoughts justified by the idea that the production code in place at the time these films were made would not allow a more clearly drawn expression of it in said movies.

And I guess I'm still open to the possibilies that either might or could actually be the case and/or what was actually intended by the screenwriters in regard to these characters.

And so in THIS regard, maybe like you, I'm a bit "naive" TOO, eh?!  

(...and besides, I still say I could very easily see Heflin in the William Williams role in Repeat Performance also)

 

With the ambiguity of these characterizations (keeping in mind, of course, that there was only so much that filmmakers could do because of the Code) viewers may see what they choose to see. They may be correct to call some gay while imaging things with others, Some on this thread call Basehart gay in Repeat Performance while I'm thinking, "Really?"

Prior to the Code's enforcement, however, there were some clearly gay characters in Hollywood films, though they were frequently used for stereotypical comic effect. The effeminate tailor in The Public Enemy, for example, of whom Cagney pokes a little fun. It's particularly blatant in a scene in Wonder Bar in which two men are dancing together, to which Al Jolson purses his lips and says, "Boys will be boys." Off hand, though, I can't think of any clearly gay characters during the pre Code period that had a major role in a movie in which their sexual orientation was not used as a source of levity. It would be interesting if anyone reading this could think of any.

 

[midwestan]

On 1/4/2022 at 12:43 PM, Thompson said:

I’ve always thought the name Velma is really cool.  Thelma is a cool name too, but Velma is cooler.

And she was smart as a whip too!

[midwestan]

Sorry...deleted post.

[TomJH]

On 1/4/2022 at 1:43 PM, Thompson said:

I’ve always thought the name Velma is really cool.  Thelma is a cool name too, but Velma is cooler.

I always associate Thelma with Thelma Todd and she, in my opinion, was a very cool lady, both sexy and funny. And gone from us far too soon. She was loved on the studio sets, fearlessly ready to tackle physical slapstick comedy without use of a double.

[King Rat]

Since some of you were mentioning The Scarlet Hour, I'll reprint my post from May 2019:

Alan K. Rode said in his introduction to The Scarlet Hour (1956) at the Palm Springs film noir festival that after the film had been shown at several festivals last year, Paramount told him that their archival print was no longer in good enough shape to be shown. Fortunately, some restoration work was done, and The Scarlet Hour with Lionel Lindon's cinematography looked just fine.

Michael Curtiz was toward the end of his career when he made The Scarlet Hour. According to Rode, Paramount took a chance on him because he had a reputation as a starmaker, and the credits begin "Introducing Carol Ohmart, Tom Tryon, and Jody Lawrance." Lawrance had actually made a number of films already. The story is Too Late for Tears meets Double Indemnity, and Carol Ohmart is sometimes made up to look like Barbara Stanwyck. Ohmart plays a tough-as-nails gal from the slums married to a rich real estate developer (James Gregory). She's also carrying on with one of his employees (Tom Tryon). Tryon isn't as good an actor as Ohmart or Gregory, but he's OK. Bad girl Ohmart comes up with a plot to get enough money so that she and Tryon can run off together. What could possibly go wrong?

Weirdly, Tryon's character, called "Marsh," is named E. V. Marshall. This is really strange because the top police detective is played by E. G. Marshall, excellent as always. David Lewis, who I believe was the original Edward Quartermaine on General Hospital, gives a strong performance as the boss of the crooks, the kind of man who doesn't have to raise his voice to be deadly. Richard Deacon, seen on TCM this past week as the butler in The Young Philadelphians, plays a jeweler here. However, Elaine Stritch steals the film as Carol Ohmart's hard-drinking, fun-loving best friend. She has so much energy that you can't look at anyone else when she's on screen.

Curtiz directs well, the story has a couple of nice twists along the way, and I think most noiristas would consider this a solid three stars out of four film.

[TomJH]

59 minutes ago, King Rat said:

The story is Too Late for Tears meets Double Indemnity, and Carol Ohmart is sometimes made up to look like Barbara Stanwyck.

"Made up to look like Stanwyck? Interesting."

[King Rat]

On 1/6/2022 at 1:05 PM, TomJH said:

Vilma Banky was popular during the '20s, the only Vilma that comes to my mind from the movies. My aunt was born soon after WWI ended, I suspect. It must have been a popular name in those days.

 

On 1/6/2022 at 1:35 PM, Hibi said:

Maybe so. Sure isn't now! Wonder if its a European name? Another version of Wilma? Or maybe another version of Velma?

"Vilma" is how a German or Pole would pronounce "Wilma," so it's the same name. It's not impossible for these names to come back into fashion. Two of the trendiest girls' names at the moment are Emma and Hannah. When I was growing up, only women over 60 had those names. I've recently seen Mabel and Millie as names for little girls, so there's hope for Wilma, Vilma, Velma, Thelma, and Selma. Come to think of it, I've also known an Elma and a Delma.

[misswonderly3]

50 minutes ago, King Rat said:

 

"Vilma" is how a German or Pole would pronounce "Wilma," so it's the same name. It's not impossible for these names to come back into fashion. Two of the trendiest girls' names at the moment are Emma and Hannah. When I was growing up, only women over 60 had those names. I've recently seen Mabel and Millie as names for little girls, so there's hope for Wilma, Vilma, Velma, Thelma, and Selma. Come to think of it, I've also known an Elma and a Delma.

I know a young woman named Vida.