Salute to George Raft on April 30th

[HollywoodGolightly]

Thank you, TCM, for putting together this fabulous tribute to the great George Raft - it's a treat for fans of crime movies!!

 

 

*_FRIDAY, APRIL 30_*

 

*Background To Danger* (1943) 8pm ET

An American gets caught up in wartime action in Turkey. Cast: George Raft, Brenda Marshall, Sydney Greenstreet. Dir: Raoul Walsh. BW-80 mins, TV-G, CC

 

*The House Across the Bay* (1940) 9:30pm ET

An aircraft designer falls for an imprisoned gangster's wife. Cast: George Raft, Joan Bennett, Lloyd Nolan. Dir: Archie Mayo. BW-88 mins,

 

*Nocturne* (1946) 11:15pm ET

A police detective refuses to believe a composer's death was suicide. Cast: George Raft, Lynn Bari, Virginia Huston. Dir: Edwin L. Marin. BW-87 mins, TV-PG

 

*Johnny Angel* (1946) 12:45pm ET

A sailor sets out to solve his father's murder. Cast: George Raft, Claire Trevor, Signe Hasso. Dir: Edwin L. Marin. BW-79 mins, TV-G, CC

[infinite1]

I suppose anything George Raft is better then nothing George Raft, but seriously, four measly movies? Why not a whole day of George Raft films? Where is RACE STREET, JOHNNY ALLEGRO, OUTPOST IN MORACO, to name a few. Then there are the WARNER TEAM-UP films, the UNIVERSALS, and his PARAMOUNTS to choose from. George keeps getting the short end of the Raft, or stick, so it seems.

[clore]

I believe that I saw OUTPOST IN MOROCCO listed on the July schedule. I can wait, there are a bunch of other Raft films that I would rather see.

 

Such as FOLLOW THE BOYS and BROADWAY, neither of which I've seen since the 1960s. Some of those early Paramount ones would be nice, it's been just as long since I've seen BOLERO and RUMBA. Where's the Raft version of THE GLASS KEY?

[HollywoodGolightly]

> {quote:title=clore wrote:}{quote}

> I believe that I saw OUTPOST IN MOROCCO listed on the July schedule. I can wait, there are a bunch of other Raft films that I would rather see.

>

 

clore, everyone,

Outpost in Morocco is indeed in the July schedule, it is supposed to show on July 17th at 3:30am ET (technically, that's actually on morning of the 18th, but TCM usually lists each day's schedule as running through 6am ET of the next day).

 

Now, let's just hope there aren't any changes to the schedule, at least for that movie.

[DownGoesFrazier]

He gave himself the short end of the stick by turning down so many choice roles.

[infinite1]

> {quote:title=finance wrote:}{quote}

> He gave himself the short end of the stick by turning down so many choice roles.

 

So film history has deemed true, but I'm sure we can all boast to having a certain amount of hindsight. At the time, however, George made certain choices that, irrespective of hindsight, were honestly made based upon whatever reasons he had for making them. The fact that the "choice" roles he turned down were in pictures that became "classics" is purely a matter of luck, or in George's case the toss of a coin. If the films were flops he would have been regarded as making the right choice, but I guess history has already been written and rendered it's unforgiving verdict. Happily, George's fans are not as judgemental or unforgiving as history.

[clore]

>>At the time, however, George made certain choices that, irrespective of hindsight, were honestly made based upon whatever reasons he had for making them.

 

 

True, while he gets the knock for certain decisions, he's not often credited for turning down THE STORY OF TEMPLE DRAKE which turned out to have ruined Jack LaRue's chances at being a leading man.

[HollywoodGolightly]

I had no idea he had turned that role down. Interesting - I look forward to watching that movie almost as much as I'm looking forward to the Raft salute on Friday.

[HollywoodGolightly]

The print of Background to Danger TCM is showing right now looks positively first-rate, for a 40s movie.

[FredCDobbs]

The House Across the Bay has too much music in it. The director seems to think we can't feel any emotion unless the music tells us when to feel it, and the music is too loud.

 

Fred C. Critic

[redriver]

I liked what I saw of NOCTURNE. Unfortunately, I kept nodding off! I do that a lot. I'd like to see the movie in its entirety. It has a classy look, intriguing characters, fun dialogue. Or so it seems.

 

I'm with Clore. Boy, would I like to see THE GLASS KEY! Great story.

[misswonderly3]

It's happened again! Every now and then TCM shows a movie that apparently cannot be shown where I live, and a substitute is aired. So I didn't get to see "House Across the Bay". The version of TCM that I get ran "Invisible Stripes", still a George Raft film, but not, I suspect, as rare as "House Across the Bay."

 

Still, both of these films were pretty good. "Background to Danger" was especially enjoyable, what with Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre doing their usual first-rate thing(s).

 

I liked George Raft, although I do think, even if he'd made better choices, he'd have been bested, or out-acted, or whatever word fits, by people like Humphrey Bogart.