Noir Alley

[Allhallowsday]

5 hours ago, misswonderly3 said:

Nightmare Alley is always worth watching. It's probably one of my favourite noirs

I watched that until about 1am then switched back and forth between Lost In Space (a touchingly loathsome episode) and NIGHTMARE ALLEY.  That is the perfect title for a disturbingly creepy movie masterpiece.   That is an inescapable movie.  

[JamesJazGuitar]

2 hours ago, misswonderly3 said:

I know,  joe.  I guess that came off as a little passive-aggressive, or at least, sulky.  Sorry, that was silly of me.  I guess it 's because I do think my posts here can be too long, nobody wants  "TLDR"  ( "Too Long Didn't Read")  posts on this thread.   I should try and be less verbose, I think.

"That said",  I will watch it this week.  Maybe or maybe not comment on it...hah !  now you'll be on pins and needles !

I agree with the others here:  your post are always very thoughtful and entertaining.

 

[Vautrin]

I almost  skipped 711 Ocean Drive because the  synopsis sounded very familiar. I tuned in and realized I had not  seen it

before.  Pretty good flick, the old I'm going to get to the head  of the mob  somehow, no matter what. And then my reward

for all that hard  work will  be to get  killed at Boulder Dam. Yeah, baby that's the ticket. O'Brien  is his usual fire  on

all cylinders guy and Otto Kruger  is always good  as the kindly grandpa type while having people killed like he's deciding

which  tie  to wear.  Cold. Brrrrr. After  a little poking around, the movie I was thinking of was Wiretapper, made a  few

years after 711 Ocean Drive and staring Bill Williams. Turns out it is one of those Billy Graham productions with a crime

doesn't pay theme, letting Williams end up in a better place than O'Brien. I just saw Nightmare Alley a few months ago

and didn't watch  it this time  around. Caught a few episodes  of Mannix instead. 🤠

[King Rat]

5 hours ago, jameselliot said:

 

The title is super bland for a crime thriller.

IIRC, after the success of Call Northside 777, everyone in Hollywood "knew" that having numbers in the title was good for a crime film. Thus 99 River Street, 711 Ocean Drive, etc. I'm with you. Now it doesn't seem like a very exciting title.

[Hibi]

On 1/7/2022 at 5:33 PM, 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.

Thanks for that clarification. I was wondering if they were the same.

[Hibi]

On 1/7/2022 at 6:24 PM, misswonderly3 said:

I know a young woman named Vida.

Is she mean and money hungry?

[Hibi]

16 hours ago, Vautrin said:

I almost  skipped 711 Ocean Drive because the  synopsis sounded very familiar. I tuned in and realized I had not  seen it

before.  Pretty good flick, the old I'm going to get to the head  of the mob  somehow, no matter what. And then my reward

for all that hard  work will  be to get  killed at Boulder Dam. Yeah, baby that's the ticket. O'Brien  is his usual fire  on

all cylinders guy and Otto Kruger  is always good  as the kindly grandpa type while having people killed like he's deciding

which  tie  to wear.  Cold. Brrrrr. After  a little poking around, the movie I was thinking of was Wiretapper, made a  few

years after 711 Ocean Drive and staring Bill Williams. Turns out it is one of those Billy Graham productions with a crime

doesn't pay theme, letting Williams end up in a better place than O'Brien. I just saw Nightmare Alley a few months ago

and didn't watch  it this time  around. Caught a few episodes  of Mannix instead. 🤠

I tuned in also unsure if I'd seen it. Turned out I had, but had forgotten a lot of the plot (until the finale that is). So it was almost like seeing a new movie!

[misswonderly3]

1 hour ago, Hibi said:

Is she mean and money hungry?

She's my niece. She isn't a bit like the mean and money-hungry  ( not to mention snobbish) Vida from Mildred Pierce.  Although, come to think of it, her dad makes pies  ( but not to sell.)

[Fading Fast]

20 minutes ago, misswonderly3 said:

She's my niece. She isn't a bit like the mean and money-hungry  ( not to mention snobbish) Vida from Mildred Pierce.  Although, come to think of it, her dad makes pies  ( but not to sell.)

From memory, my favorite line of Vida's is when she derisively makes note of her mother's "people," proving that one can fail to connect the most obvious dot when one doesn't want to. 

[misswonderly3]

On 1/10/2022 at 2:48 PM, mkahn22 said:

From memory, my favorite line of Vida's is when she derisively makes note of her mother's "people," proving that one can fail to connect the most obvious dot when one doesn't want to. 

I always think of that too, whenever I'm watching Mildred Pierce,  and Veda, so nastily and snobbishly talks about her mother's "people", in such a haughty and condescending way,  I want to shout at her,  "Hey, Veda,  *   if they're your mother's "people", they're your "people" too ."

Funny how she doesn't seem to realize the connection.  She wasn't adopted, and she didn't spring out of a cabbage patch, ergo, her family and Mildred's are one and the same.

By the way,  and it's of not the slightest consequence,  but I just realized my niece's name is spelled differently from the horrible daughter in Mildred Pierce.  The Ann Blyth character's name is "Veda",  the young lady I know spells it "Vida".

* edit:  for some reason I'd written "Velma" instead of "Veda".  Dumb mistake, just not thinking I guess.  

[Hibi]

Yeah, but it's pronounced the same!

[Vautrin]

4 hours ago, Hibi said:

I tuned in also unsure if I'd seen it. Turned out I had, but had forgotten a lot of the plot (until the finale that is). So it was almost like seeing a new movie!

That happens  to me quite frequently--movies  I haven't seen in a while and all I can recall is  the general plot, so it  often  is like watching

a  new movie. 711 was  pretty good, though nothing  very original.

I  always  get  a kick out of Veda calling mommy dearest a common frump. As  nasty as Veda is, Mildred  is  no picnic herself, so I enjoy Veda

sticking in the needle a little. 

[Thompson]

https// no video available.  Nightmare Alley is one I’d like to see again.  

[Thompson]

I’ll try again. https://youtu.be/G8avrOil6F4

Still no good.  Let’s try this one, it’s not really off topic -

https://youtu.be/uXdx1fwEKrw

 

 

[TomJH]

For those interested Flicker Alley will be releasing a Blu Ray/DVD combo edition on February 11th.

 

[misswonderly3]

20 hours ago, Thompson said:

I’ll try again. https://youtu.be/G8avrOil6F4

Still no good.  Let’s try this one, it’s not really off topic -

https://youtu.be/uXdx1fwEKrw

 

 

Thompson,  I think I've mentioned this to you before  ( maybe on your "Badlands" thread,  when it sort of segued into a music thread) :  I can't tell you how impressed I am that you're familiar with the music of Richard Thompson.  Most people, at least most North Americans, haven't even heard of him.  Yet he is one of the most talented and original musical artists of this or any other time.   He's exceptionally thoughtful and creative in his song-writing, both lyrics and music,  and he's also one of the best guitarists alive today.   Yet he's unaccountably unknown.  Or at least,  un-famous.  Except by those in the know who realize and appreciate what a great musician he is.    Thanks for posting that.

[Dargo]

Bradley Cooper was on Colbert's show last night plugging the new Nightmare Alley.

Sure wish either of them might have at least mentioned the '47 original movie in passing, but no, neither of them did. Would have liked Colbert to have asked Cooper if he had ever watched the original, and if so might he have had an opinion on Tyrone Power's performance or perhaps taken any notes about it and the role he'd now taken on. This is of course if Colbert himself has ever watched it.

However, I'm getting the impression that either director Del Toro and/or Cooper, both of whom are listed along with J. Miles Dale as the producers of this remake, prefer there be as little said about the original as possible while they're promoting their movie.

(...anyone else around here also getting this impression?)

[mr6666]

8 minutes ago, Dargo said:

Bradley Cooper was on Colbert's show last night plugging the new Nightmare Alley.

Sure wish either of them might have at least mentioned the '47 original movie in passing, but no, neither of them did. Would have liked Colbert to have asked Cooper if he had ever watched the original, and if so might he have had an opinion on Tyrone Power's performance or perhaps taken any notes about it and the role he'd now taken on. This is of course if Colbert himself has ever watched it.

However, I'm getting the impression that either director Del Toro and/or Cooper, both of whom are listed along with J. Miles Dale as the producers of this remake, prefer there be as little said about the original as possible while they're promoting their movie.

(...anyone else around here getting this impression also?)

totally agree here, Dargo

also, the clip they showed of Cooper/Stan's final "I was born for it"/geek scene

appeared reeeeeaaaaly ....uhh....OVER-THE-TOP

(just  IMO)

[LawrenceA]

14 minutes ago, Dargo said:

However, I'm getting the impression that either director Del Toro and/or Cooper, both of whom are listed along with J. Miles Dale as the producers of this remake, prefer there be as little said about the original as possible while they're promoting their movie.

(...anyone else around here also getting this impression?)

Wasn't Del Toro on TCM doing an intro for the showing of the original Nightmare Alley? I don't think he's avoiding mentioning the original.

[mr6666]

3 minutes ago, LawrenceA said:

Wasn't Del Toro on TCM doing an intro for the showing of the original Nightmare Alley? I don't think he's avoiding mentioning the original.

yes, Del Toro DOES make note of comparisons to orig. film

was just disappointed at NO mention of it's being a remake of the '47 film

OR any mention of orig. source material (Based on William Lindsay Gresham's 1946 novel )

by Colbert OR Cooper

[JamesJazGuitar]

20 hours ago, mr6666 said:

yes, Del Toro DOES make note of comparisons to orig. film

was just disappointed at NO mention of it's being a remake of the '47 film

OR any mention of orig. source material (Based on William Lindsay Gresham's 1946 novel )

by Colbert OR Cooper

Del Toro talked about that;   He (like me), does NOT view the film as a "remake" but instead an adaptation of the original source material.

I guess you didn't see the TCM interview that Larry mentions,  since he makes that point more than once  (as well as his wife, screenwriter Morgan).

To creative people remake is an insult. 

[txfilmfan]

14 minutes ago, JamesJazGuitar said:

Del Toro talked about that;   He (like me), does NOT view the film as a "remake" but instead an adaptation of the original source material.

I guess you did see the TCM interview that Larry mentions,  since he makes that point more than once  (as well as his wife, screenwriter Morgan).

To creative people remake is an insult. 

Well, sometimes it is a remake, as in the shot-for-shot remake of Psycho.   There's no other way to describe that one.    This one would be like the Mildred Pierce miniseries HBO did a few years back:  it stayed closer to the original book than the Crawford picture (which the Code wouldn't have allowed anyway).

[mr6666]

sorry if this has been mentioned before..........  

 

Nightmare Alley: 10 Biggest Differences Between The Del Toro Movie And The 1947 Version-

"........While the two films follow the same general story, there are some considerable differences between the two. Del Toro's version introduces new subplots about Stan's father and alcoholism, contains an expanded role for Lilith Ritter, and restores some of the book's darker elements including the ending.........

https://screenrant.com/nightmare-alley-biggest-differences-between-remake-original-movie/

 

-so.  yeah  "(DelToro " does NOT view the film as a "remake" but instead an adaptation of the original source material.

[JamesJazGuitar]

17 hours ago, txfilmfan said:

Well, sometimes it is a remake, as in the shot-for-shot remake of Psycho.   There's no other way to describe that one.    This one would be like the Mildred Pierce miniseries HBO did a few years back:  it stayed closer to the original book than the Crawford picture (which the Code wouldn't have allowed anyway).

Yes,  that version of Psycho I would call a remake (and it lacked creativity),  but that is the exception.    Instead  most people use the term remake for what I call an adaptation:  a film based mostly on the original source material and not prior versions of said source material.  

But hey I'm a big "screenwriting is the soul of a film" guy. 

[cinemaspeak59]

On 1/2/2022 at 2:54 PM, misswonderly3 said:

Well,  I actually enjoyed this repeat performance of Repeat Performance  more than the first time I saw it. This time around, because I already more or less knew the the plot,  I was able to focus more on things like the clothes the women wore, and the glamourous New York settings.   I realized I really like 1940s films that depict that  fancy sophisticated urban world...theatres, nightclubs,  unbelievably opulent penthouse apartments.  Beautifully designed evening gowns, with cut-out necklines and sparkling jewelled appliques.....and lots of booze.

Oh yes, the movie.  Well, I didn't need Eddie to tell me that the Richard Basehart character was not of a sexually traditional persuasion  (how's that for a circumlocutious  way of putting it?)   Basehart does a great job of somehow conveying that, without any overt "camping it up" or any of the usual 1940s behaviour that signalled "queer".  

But what I don't understand is, how, exactly, did he end up in an institution for the mentally ill?  The rich Mrs. Shaw had that much power?  Even though she was neither married to nor related to William?    "Insane", in fact, is the word they used back then.  But he appeared to be completely sane , albeit a little quirky,  throughout the entire story.  I'm left a little worried about William Williams at the end.  Are we to assume that he just gets stuffed back into the  asylum, but at least avoids capital punishment because he's deemed insane?  How come the police had no questions for Sheila,  who could have and would have attested that he shot Barney to save her life?  It all seems a bit odd and rushed. 

I disagree with Midweston's assessment of Joan Leslie's character:

"Joan Leslie was the epitome of a bi-polar person.  One minute she's happy, enthusiastic, and optimistic about her future, and then with a flip of a switch, she becomes sour, angry, and paranoid and usually over the mention of the name:  Paula Costello! "   

Midweston,  I did not see that rapid mood transition at all. What she was trying to do was preserve her marriage, which meant at times being incredibly patient with her childish and resentful husband.  As for her rudeness to Paula Costello, of course that, while incomprehensible to others, was because she knew that Paula Costella was going to steal her husband and make him hate her  ( hate Sheila, that is.)  It's almost as though you missed that part of the film that clarifies that plot point.

Tom Conway was fun to watch as the elegant, sophisticated, yet sympathetic theatre producer.  Big mistake, though,  when he sent those roses to Sheila in Barney's name.  He was trying to make her feel better, but the end result was, he was just perpetuating a lie.

I do think the best way for Sheila to have dealt with the whole problem of avoiding shooting her rotten husband on New Year's Eve would have been to recognize that he was no good for her,  in fact, no good, period,  and get a divorce from him   ( although that would  have been no guarantee that he'd go quietly away...)

Kudos, by the way,  to the woman who played "Bess",  the friend who's always searching for sparkling Burgundy .  She added a comic element to the film, and also, seemed like she would have been kind of a fun  person to hang out with. Benay Venuta was her name. Never heard of her, but I liked her.

 

 

Repeat Performance has quite an interesting setup for a film noir. I agree about the plot holes. But with such a handsome production, snappy dialogue, and interesting characters, Repeat Performance works splendidly. Take, for example, Louis Hayward, bored senseless in Los Angeles, referring to California as a sun-kissed purgatory. Does it matter the supernatural element wasn’t explained? Not one bit. The film was an enjoyable melodrama, a women’s picture in the best sense, as the women were the decisive, take-charge characters. But we have our femme fatale, two actually: Joan Leslie in the first act, looking sexy and furtive; and then later Virginia Field takes over as the manipulative playwright.