I Just Watched...

[Fedya]

Add All Night Long and the fun heist movie The League of Gentlemen to the list of Dearden movies.  Jack Hawkins is always underrated.

[King Rat]

1 hour ago, Fedya said:

Add All Night Long and the fun heist movie The League of Gentlemen to the list of Dearden movies.  Jack Hawkins is always underrated.

Add Saraband (aka Saraband for Dead Lovers) and Khartoum. Dearden made a number of good films, and I wish more of his films were readily available.

[sewhite2000]

1. 1/15 Funny Girl (Columbia, 1968)

Source: Amazon Prime

Beginning of soapbox: This is a divisive film. I think I read somebody not so long ago on these message boards who said "I won't watch anything with Barbra Streisand," although that comment I think was in reference to What's Up, Doc? on the RIP Peter Bogdonavich thread and not this movie. I don't recall the poster elaborating on reasons. I know my own father, who died two years ago, wouldn't watch anything with either Streisand or Jane Fonda, based entirely on the fact that their political beliefs were different from his own (not to mention the fact that they were both outspoken women, which I'm sure increased his dislike for them). He would get up and walk out of the room if one of their movies was about to start on TCM, usually muttering a string of profanities about them on the way. He was truly a great father and generally a great guy in many resepcts - I've had to struggle with some aspects of his belief system and his behavior as I've gotten older.

Personally, I don't see the good in drawing a hardline political litmus test in determining whose movies you're going to watch or not. I'm quite sure I couldn't have possibly disagreed more with the political views of John Wayne, and I might not want to sit down and read his Playboy interview, but there are a number of his films I quite like.  Walter Brennan and Eugene Pallette it doesn't sound like had the most progressive views on the members of other races, but they were enjoyably scene-stealing in their many movies. This opens up a whole messy can of worms - the conversation can easily drift into immoral or illegal acts a celebrity in question is rumored or proved to have committed - but speaking just on a person's thoughts, no, I don't so much let that interfere with my enjoyment of their work. End of soapbox.

Okay, on to the movie: Funny Girl was the film debut of Streisand, reprising the role she'd originated on Broadway. I think she'd also performed "People" on at least one of her '60s TV specials, and the song had been a No. 5 hit on the US pop charts in 1964.  The stage show and the movie are semi-factual accounts of the early life of the comedienne Fanny Brice, focusing on her rise in the Ziegfeld Follies and her marriage to professional gambler, Nick Arnstein, played in the movie by Omar Sharif. There are a number of inaccuracies, including the fact that both Brice and Arnstein were already married when they met. Also, they had more children than the movie shows. But as I said in my review of Bonnie and Clyde, I'm generally willing to suspenc my disbelief when dealing with biopics and generally try to accept them as kind of existing on their own plane of reality. I've seen the phony movie story of their romance so many times now, I don't know that I care to know that much about the real story.

There's another thread on here about roles that actors might have played but missed out on that I feel I could have contributed to, because in doing research on the movies I watch, I alsmost always come across mention of who was originally considered or cast for the roles. Columbia wanted to cast Shirley MacLaine, but producer Ray Stark had also produced the Broadway version , and he was the real Brice's son-in-law (he was married to Frances Arnstein, who's depicted as an infant in the time period covered in the movie) and insisted on Streisand getting the chance to reprise her stage role. It was quite the auspicious stage review - she ended up tying Katharine Hepburn in The Lion in Winter for Best Actress in 1968 and has often relayed the story that as a perhaps overly excited opportunist early in her career and having named a voting member of the Academy, she naturally voted for herself - a practice some of older Hollywood considered improper or vulgar, who knows, for example, if Hepburn even voted? - and had she not done so would have been one vote shy of Hepburn (although I think I've read that a one-vote difference by Academy rules is still considered a tie. Either Frederic March or Wallace Beery got one vote more than the other guy in 1932, for example, but they were deemed to have tied for Best Actor that year, so possibly Streisand's story, while interesting, may not have actually affected the outcome). The studio also wanted Frank Sinatra to play Nick, but Streisand apparently had veto power on her leading man, and while she thought Sinatra was a fine singer and actor, she didn't like him personally and wouldn't accept him. And Sidney Lumet (12 Angry Men, The Group) was originally hired as director, but he didn't get along with either Stark or Streisand and quit. Then film legend William Wyler (The Best Years of Our Lives, Ben-Hur) was brought in. He originally didn't want to do it. Being deaf in one ear, he thought he was a poor choice for a musical, and I don't believe he'd ever done one before in his storied career. But he was charmed upon meeting Streisand and agreed to come aboard. Things were apparently rocky between director and star from that point on. At the wrap party, Wyler gave Streisand a golden megaphone, and she gave him a gold watch "to help you stay on time", and in the future Wyler would crack that Streisand did very well in the movie "considering it was her directorial debut".

Okay, this is movie narrative, not necessarily real life narrative: it's New York City in the early `1900s. Fanny Brice (Streisand) is aware she's a talented comedienne and singer. She's also insecure that her looks could be an iimpediment to her quest for stardom - she's got skinny legs and crooked nose and, as implied by the opening musical number, not much of a rack. She's determined to make it big in show biz by any means necessary, including lying about what she's capable of doing. She makes a solid platonic guy pal in pianist and musical director Eddie Ryan (Lee Allen) and thanks to him gets a part as a novelty act in a vaudeville show and from there accrues enough fame to get the attention of the legendary show empressario Florenz Zeigfeld, Jr. (Walter Pidgeon). He almost fires her after her first performance, when she changes up the "Loves' Beautiful Reflection" number by sticking a pillow down her dress and pretending to be pregnant (she's too uncomfortable being asked to present herself as a straightforward object of beauty), but the audience loves the number, and Ziegfeld knows better than to mess with success. She also meets the professional gambler Nick Arnstein (Sharif), and they fall in love. At first, their relationship is complicated as he comes and goes out of her life based on his financial standing, always eager to chase down that next big poker game or high-stakes business deal. And after they marry, he chafes at her being the breadwinner and wants to provide for his wife and daughter in a traditional manner, though this leads him to increasingly risky behavior. Meanwhile, Fanny remains "hopelessy devoted" to him, and her efforts to help only lead to resentment on his part and increased tension in their marriage, which may not survive once Nick hits rock bottom. It's got quite a bit of the A Star is Born vibe to it, though the two romantic  partners aren't in the same field.

There are wonderful songs throughout the film, 90 per cent of them performed solo by Streisand, though Sharif gets to sing a couple of times, as do a few members of the supporting cast. "I love her offbeat vocal style, which I assume was pretty radical for the time. "People", peformed by her in a back alley with only Sharif to wintess it, is grand and glorious. I also like "No One's Gonna Rain on My Parade", which employs a couple of shots I presume taken from helicopter, so we can see Streisand riding both a train and tugboat while lip-synching the words. I assume this was Wyler's idea, but Streisand liked it enough that she aped it a couple of times when directing herself in Yentl. "You are Woman, I am Man" has a playful seductive charm to it, the ritual mating dance accompanied by song.

Streisand is a powerhouse. She hits every emotional note required - stubborn individualist, bashful virgin (early on), self-righteous diva (some will no doubt say this wasn't hard for her), heartbroken devoted wife, self-deprecating realist, comically nervous basket case of anxieties, etc. So many great moments. I love the way she lingers her gaze on Sharif as he closes the dressing room door on her. Or her casual shrug after singing "Nicky Arnstein, Nicky Arnstein, I'll never see him again." Or when one of her mother's friends (Mae Questal) tries to hint Fanny and Nick will soon be married, even though they've just met.  "Should I kill her now or after the party? .... now!" and leaping out of her chair until a much-amused Nicky (and possibly equally amused Sharif) convinces her to sit back down. While I tried to avoid many of the real-life facts of the Fanny Brice story, I must admit I've seen the real Brice on TCM a number of times, and it is a bit of a stretch for me to imagine Stresiand playing her. This is just my personal predilections, but I find Streisand a lot prettier than Brice (granted Brice may have been well into her career and life by the time she appeared in any movies) and so find it hard to accept her being so insecure about her looks, quirky though the real life Streisand's looks may have been. Also, while she gives a singular performance, it's far from any sort of approximation of Brice - a brief shot of her in her Baby Snooks costume and the "Swan Lake" number aside. Those few seconds show she could have done the whole movie like that, I guess, but it mght have gotten annoying.

There's been quite a bit of talk on these message boards about playing outside of one's ethnicity, and chamelonic actors like Peter Sellers and Alec Guiness are often discussed. In the first decade of his career, Sharif played an Arab, a Russian and a Chicago-born Jew. This last performance potentially could have brought him the most grief. My understanding without looking it up again on IMDB is that Sharif was born to Lebanese Maronite Christian parents in Egypt but converted to Islam in deference to his wife's family upon getting married. For him to play a Jew onscreen was probably anathema back home. Not to mention a publicity photo of him kissing Streisand when he was a married man, and she was an actual Jew. Also not to mention the Six Days War occurred while filming was going on, and here was Sharif assuming the ethnicity of the enemy. I don't know how much all these things affected his personal life, it at all, but he handles the wide-eyed dreamer spirit of the gambler Arnstein and later the gravitas of the emasculated husband whom everyone assumes makes him a "kept man". It's a great performance, and I think it like it better than his work in either Lawrence of Arabia or Dr. Zhivago, although I love those too. Pidgeon and Anne Francis (as Ziegfeld Girl Georgia James) are the most famous members of the supporting cast. I don't now that either one stands out particularly. Pidgeon was always a bit of a stoneface, and that doesn't chage at this very late stage of his career (was this his last film?), though I did smile at some of his simmering frustration at Streisand/Fanny. I like Francis' first scene, where she informs Fanny "Tell (Zeigfeld) you were wrong." "But I"m not." "Oh! .... well, it was nice knowing you." But after that, she's just another one of the girls, albeit the one who gets the most dialogue. She's not required for much except to be a pretty face. I like Kay Medford, who was Oscar nominated as Fanny's sensible mother, who gets great lines like "Fanny, love him less ... HELP him more."

William Wyler got 10 Best Director Oscar nominations in his long career. This was not one of them. Sounds like it may have been more Streisand and Stark's show than his, but he was a canny veteran who best as I can tell oversaw everything with grace and didn't screw anything up.

Total films seen this year: 25

[txfilmfan]

1 hour ago, sewhite2000 said:

1. 1/15 Funny Girl (Columbia, 1968)

Source: Amazon Prime

Beginning of soapbox: This is a divisive film. I think I read somebody not so long ago on these message boards who said "I won't watch anything with Barbra Streisand," although that comment I think was in reference to What's Up, Doc? on the RIP Peter Bogdonavich thread and not this movie. I don't recall the poster elaborating on reasons. I know my own father, who died two years ago, wouldn't watch anything with either Streisand or Jane Fonda, based entirely on the fact that their political beliefs were different from his own (not to mention the fact that they were both outspoken women, which I'm sure increased his dislike for them). He would get up and walk out of the room if one of their movies was about to start on TCM, usually muttering a string of profanities about them on the way. He was truly a great father and generally a great guy in many resepcts - I've had to struggle with some aspects of his belief system and his behavior as I've gotten older.

Personally, I don't see the good in drawing a hardline political litmus test in determining whose movies you're going to watch or not. I'm quite sure I couldn't have possibly disagreed more with the political views of John Wayne, and I might not want to sit down and read his Playboy interview, but there are a number of his films I quite like.  Walter Brennan and Eugene Pallette it doesn't sound like had the most progressive views on the members of other races, but they were enjoyably scene-stealing in their many movies. This opens up a whole messy can of worms - the conversation can easily drift into immoral or illegal acts a celebrity in question is rumored or proved to have committed - but speaking just on a person's thoughts, no, I don't so much let that interfere with my enjoyment of their work. End of soapbox.

Okay, on to the movie: Funny Girl was the film debut of Streisand, reprising the role she'd originated on Broadway. I think she'd also performed "People" on at least one of her '60s TV specials, and the song had been a No. 5 hit on the US pop charts in 1964.  The stage show and the movie are semi-factual accounts of the early life of the comedienne Fanny Brice, focusing on her rise in the Ziegfeld Follies and her marriage to professional gambler, Nick Arnstein, played in the movie by Omar Sharif. There are a number of inaccuracies, including the fact that both Brice and Arnstein were already married when they met. Also, they had more children than the movie shows. But as I said in my review of Bonnie and Clyde, I'm generally willing to suspenc my disbelief when dealing with biopics and generally try to accept them as kind of existing on their own plane of reality. I've seen the phony movie story of their romance so many times now, I don't know that I care to know that much about the real story.

There's another thread on here about roles that actors might have played but missed out on that I feel I could have contributed to, because in doing research on the movies I watch, I alsmost always come across mention of who was originally considered or cast for the roles. Columbia wanted to cast Shirley MacLaine, but producer Ray Stark had also produced the Broadway version , and he was the real Brice's son-in-law (he was married to Frances Arnstein, who's depicted as an infant in the time period covered in the movie) and insisted on Streisand getting the chance to reprise her stage role. It was quite the auspicious stage review - she ended up tying Katharine Hepburn in The Lion in Winter for Best Actress in 1968 and has often relayed the story that as a perhaps overly excited opportunist early in her career and having named a voting member of the Academy, she naturally voted for herself - a practice some of older Hollywood considered improper or vulgar, who knows, for example, if Hepburn even voted? - and had she not done so would have been one vote shy of Hepburn (although I think I've read that a one-vote difference by Academy rules is still considered a tie. Either Frederic March or Wallace Beery got one vote more than the other guy in 1932, for example, but they were deemed to have tied for Best Actor that year, so possibly Streisand's story, while interesting, may not have actually affected the outcome). The studio also wanted Frank Sinatra to play Nick, but Streisand apparently had veto power on her leading man, and while she thought Sinatra was a fine singer and actor, she didn't like him personally and wouldn't accept him. And Sidney Lumet (12 Angry Men, The Group) was originally hired as director, but he didn't get along with either Stark or Streisand and quit. Then film legend William Wyler (The Best Years of Our Lives, Ben-Hur) was brought in. He originally didn't want to do it. Being deaf in one ear, he thought he was a poor choice for a musical, and I don't believe he'd ever done one before in his storied career. But he was charmed upon meeting Streisand and agreed to come aboard. Things were apparently rocky between director and star from that point on. At the wrap party, Wyler gave Streisand a golden megaphone, and she gave him a gold watch "to help you stay on time", and in the future Wyler would crack that Streisand did very well in the movie "considering it was her directorial debut".

Okay, this is movie narrative, not necessarily real life narrative: it's New York City in the early `1900s. Fanny Brice (Streisand) is aware she's a talented comedienne and singer. She's also insecure that her looks could be an iimpediment to her quest for stardom - she's got skinny legs and crooked nose and, as implied by the opening musical number, not much of a rack. She's determined to make it big in show biz by any means necessary, including lying about what she's capable of doing. She makes a solid platonic guy pal in pianist and musical director Eddie Ryan (Lee Allen) and thanks to him gets a part as a novelty act in a vaudeville show and from there accrues enough fame to get the attention of the legendary show empressario Florenz Zeigfeld, Jr. (Walter Pidgeon). He almost fires her after her first performance, when she changes up the "Loves' Beautiful Reflection" number by sticking a pillow down her dress and pretending to be pregnant (she's too uncomfortable being asked to present herself as a straightforward object of beauty), but the audience loves the number, and Ziegfeld knows better than to mess with success. She also meets the professional gambler Nick Arnstein (Sharif), and they fall in love. At first, their relationship is complicated as he comes and goes out of her life based on his financial standing, always eager to chase down that next big poker game or high-stakes business deal. And after they marry, he chafes at her being the breadwinner and wants to provide for his wife and daughter in a traditional manner, though this leads him to increasingly risky behavior. Meanwhile, Fanny remains "hopelessy devoted" to him, and her efforts to help only lead to resentment on his part and increased tension in their marriage, which may not survive once Nick hits rock bottom. It's got quite a bit of the A Star is Born vibe to it, though the two romantic  partners aren't in the same field.

There are wonderful songs throughout the film, 90 per cent of them performed solo by Streisand, though Sharif gets to sing a couple of times, as do a few members of the supporting cast. "I love her offbeat vocal style, which I assume was pretty radical for the time. "People", peformed by her in a back alley with only Sharif to wintess it, is grand and glorious. I also like "No One's Gonna Rain on My Parade", which employs a couple of shots I presume taken from helicopter, so we can see Streisand riding both a train and tugboat while lip-synching the words. I assume this was Wyler's idea, but Streisand liked it enough that she aped it a couple of times when directing herself in Yentl. "You are Woman, I am Man" has a playful seductive charm to it, the ritual mating dance accompanied by song.

Streisand is a powerhouse. She hits every emotional note required - stubborn individualist, bashful virgin (early on), self-righteous diva (some will no doubt say this wasn't hard for her), heartbroken devoted wife, self-deprecating realist, comically nervous basket case of anxieties, etc. So many great moments. I love the way she lingers her gaze on Sharif as he closes the dressing room door on her. Or her casual shrug after singing "Nicky Arnstein, Nicky Arnstein, I'll never see him again." Or when one of her mother's friends (Mae Questal) tries to hint Fanny and Nick will soon be married, even though they've just met.  "Should I kill her now or after the party? .... now!" and leaping out of her chair until a much-amused Nicky (and possibly equally amused Sharif) convinces her to sit back down. While I tried to avoid many of the real-life facts of the Fanny Brice story, I must admit I've seen the real Brice on TCM a number of times, and it is a bit of a stretch for me to imagine Stresiand playing her. This is just my personal predilections, but I find Streisand a lot prettier than Brice (granted Brice may have been well into her career and life by the time she appeared in any movies) and so find it hard to accept her being so insecure about her looks, quirky though the real life Streisand's looks may have been. Also, while she gives a singular performance, it's far from any sort of approximation of Brice - a brief shot of her in her Baby Snooks costume and the "Swan Lake" number aside. Those few seconds show she could have done the whole movie like that, I guess, but it mght have gotten annoying.

There's been quite a bit of talk on these message boards about playing outside of one's ethnicity, and chamelonic actors like Peter Sellers and Alec Guiness are often discussed. In the first decade of his career, Sharif played an Arab, a Russian and a Chicago-born Jew. This last performance potentially could have brought him the most grief. My understanding without looking it up again on IMDB is that Sharif was born to Lebanese Maronite Christian parents in Egypt but converted to Islam in deference to his wife's family upon getting married. For him to play a Jew onscreen was probably anathema back home. Not to mention a publicity photo of him kissing Streisand when he was a married man, and she was an actual Jew. Also not to mention the Six Days War occurred while filming was going on, and here was Sharif assuming the ethnicity of the enemy. I don't know how much all these things affected his personal life, it at all, but he handles the wide-eyed dreamer spirit of the gambler Arnstein and later the gravitas of the emasculated husband whom everyone assumes makes him a "kept man". It's a great performance, and I think it like it better than his work in either Lawrence of Arabia or Dr. Zhivago, although I love those too. Pidgeon and Anne Francis (as Ziegfeld Girl Georgia James) are the most famous members of the supporting cast. I don't now that either one stands out particularly. Pidgeon was always a bit of a stoneface, and that doesn't chage at this very late stage of his career (was this his last film?), though I did smile at some of his simmering frustration at Streisand/Fanny. I like Francis' first scene, where she informs Fanny "Tell (Zeigfeld) you were wrong." "But I"m not." "Oh! .... well, it was nice knowing you." But after that, she's just another one of the girls, albeit the one who gets the most dialogue. She's not required for much except to be a pretty face. I like Kay Medford, who was Oscar nominated as Fanny's sensible mother, who gets great lines like "Fanny, love him less ... HELP him more."

William Wyler got 10 Best Director Oscar nominations in his long career. This was not one of them. Sounds like it may have been more Streisand and Stark's show than his, but he was a canny veteran who best as I can tell oversaw everything with grace and didn't screw anything up.

Total films seen this year: 25

I used to not like it (which is near-heresy in my community, as I'm gay) but I've warmed to it over the years.  There's only been a few Streisand films I really liked.

When I listened to Lucille Ball's interview with her, in New York, while Funny Girl was still running there, Streisand mentioned that she never really wanted to be a singer - her aspirations were always to be an actress.  I found that eye-opening, as I always thought of her as a singer first, then actress.

[HoldenIsHere]

2 hours ago, txfilmfan said:

When I listened to Lucille Ball's interview with her, in New York, while Funny Girl was still running there, Streisand mentioned that she never really wanted to be a singer - her aspirations were always to be an actress.  I found that eye-opening, as I always thought of her as a singer first, then actress.

Lucille Ball's interviews for her LET'S TALK TO LUCY radio series are fantastic.  The interviews feel like authentic conversations.  The interview with Barbra Streisand was a particular favorite.  There was honest communication from both the interviewer and interviewee.  I did know that Streisand pursued singing because she found "making the rounds" to get representation as an actor frustrating. It was interesting to hear her expound on that to Lucy.

[Swithin]

6 hours ago, sewhite2000 said:

1. 1/15 Funny Girl (Columbia, 1968)

There's been quite a bit of talk on these message boards about playing outside of one's ethnicity, and chamelonic actors like Peter Sellers and Alec Guiness are often discussed. In the first decade of his career, Sharif played an Arab, a Russian and a Chicago-born Jew.

Enjoyed your comments! I've never been a big fan of the film, though I enjoy it in parts. The second show I ever saw was the original production, at the Winter Garden Theater, in the summer of 1964. I was a young teen and smitten with musicals, and saw three that first season of going to the professional theater.  I remember being upset because some of the songs had been cut, or changed. And I missed Danny Meehan and the larger role for Eddie.

Today, Sharif as the Jewish Arnstein might cause a stir with the likes of Miriam Margolyes and Maureen Lipman!

(At first, I was really upset when I heard that Rami Malek was going to play Freddy Mercury, because I assumed Malek was a Moslem. I knew that Freddy Mercury was a Zoroastrian/Parsi, a group that had been driven out of Iran by the Moslems. So I didn't think it right that a Zoroastrian was going to be played by a Moslem. Then I learned that Malek is a Copt (Egyptian Christian), another group that the Moslems brutalized, so I thought, that's alright then. A Copt can play a Zoroastrian.)

[King Rat]

15 minutes ago, Swithin said:

Today, Sharif as the Jewish Arnstein might cause a stir with the likes of Miriam Margolyes and Maureen Lipman!

(At first, I was really upset when I heard that Rami Malek was going to play Freddy Mercury, because I assumed Malek was a Moslem. I knew that Freddy Mercury was a Zoroastrian/Parsi, a group that had been driven out of Iran by the Moslems. So I didn't think it right that a Zoroastrian was going to be played by a Moslem. Then I learned that Malek is a Copt (Egyptian Christian), another group that the Moslems brutalized, so I thought, that's alright then. A Copt can play a Zoroastrian.)

I don't know if you recall how upset the author and other people were about Vanessa Redgrave playing a Jewish concentration camp survivor in the TV movie Playing for Time (1980).

[King Rat]

4 hours ago, txfilmfan said:

I used to not like it (which is near-heresy in my community, as I'm gay) but I've warmed to it over the years.  There's only been a few Streisand films I really liked.

When I listened to Lucille Ball's interview with her, in New York, while Funny Girl was still running there, Streisand mentioned that she never really wanted to be a singer - her aspirations were always to be an actress.  I found that eye-opening, as I always thought of her as a singer first, then actress.

It always warms my heart when gay men don't actually care for the "icons" assigned to their subculture. Why, I even hear rumors that not all African-Americans play basketball!

[Swithin]

Just now, King Rat said:

I don't know if you recall how upset the author and other people were about Vanessa Redgrave playing a Jewish concentration camp survivor in the TV movie Playing for Time (1980).

I don't remember that, I do remember a bit of the Julia situation. 

[Swithin]

1 minute ago, King Rat said:

It always warms my heart when gay men don't actually care for the "icons" assigned to their subculture. Why, I even hear rumors that not all African-Americans play basketball!

I had an African-American cab driver a few weeks ago who was very conservative. He also was really angry that Mayor Adams is a vegan. The driver kept saying, "What kind of a Black man is a vegan?" 

Adams must have heard him, because I think he's shown himself to be a bit of a vegan fraud!

[Tikisoo]

11 hours ago, sewhite2000 said:

Streisand is a powerhouse. She hits every emotional note required

That says it all, no need for much elaboration. Streisand can easily carry an entire film.

[Fading Fast]

 

Beg, Borrow or Steal from 1937 with Frank Morgan, Florence Rice and Reginald Denny

 

 

Once you start to see these well-done B movies of Hollywood's Golden Era as 1960s-1990s TV shows before there were TV shows, you can enjoy reasonably entertaining, low-budget efforts like Beg, Borrow or Steal. 

 

At just over an hour in runtime, a couple could pop out to see a newsreal, maybe a short and this movie as their entertainment for the evening, just like in the pre-Internet days when a couple might watch the news, a TV sitcom followed by a drama and then go to bed.

 

The actors in Beg, Borrow or Steal are mainly second-tier stars who you know, some by name, some just by face, but they feel familiar, similar to TV shows up through the 1990s. The plot is a by-the-numbers feel-good romcom that doesn't surprise, but does entertain. Think of The Rockford Files in the 1970s; you watched it because James Garner was likeable and the plot was easy and fun. 

 

Here, Frank Morgan, most famous for his turn as the Wizard of Oz, is a charming rogue living in France. To "get by," he and his pals - the nicest rogues' gallery ever assembled - gamble (and cheat), scam a bit (at anything they can) and sell forged art (that they make). 

 

It has a Tarantino feel without the menace as Morgan and his crew discuss their "business" and life problems as if being low-level crooks was just like any other line of work. Even amongst themselves, they lightly try to scam each other as, despite being true friends, it's just what they do. Their odd camaraderie is one of the most enjoyable parts of the movie. 

 

When Morgan learns his daughter in America, Florence Rice (who looks a lot like 1990s star Bridget Fonda) is getting married, he boastfully offers up his non-existent chateau for her wedding assuming she'd never take him up on it. She does and it's all romcom hijinx, contretemps and cover-ups from there. Morgan scams the use of a chateau for a week and the wedding party is on. 

 

The fun in this one is Morgan as a bubbling grifter with a kind heart who steals a bit to get by sans avarice and malice. Heck, you know he'd give, without hesitation, the proceeds from a forged-art sale, or his last dollar, to a buddy in need. 

 

When he sees his daughter is engaged to a passionless man she respects but doesn't love, he quietly promotes her budding romance with the chateau's true owner who is a genuinely nice guy. You can guess the outcome from there. 

 

Beg, Borrow or Steal is cute and silly with enough good scenes and lines to keep you entertained for its seventy-minute runtime, just like a good old-style TV show.    

 

 

[TomJH]

That Wonderful Urge (1948)

Mildly diverting, predictable romantic comedy with Gene Tierney as a beautiful heiress who decides to get vengeance on scandalous reporter Tyrone Power, who's been writing gossipy stuff about her, by telling the world they are married. Power gets fired and laughed at and can't prove he didn't marry the lady so decides to turn things around on her.

There are no surprises here, with a supporting cast that includes Reginald Gardiner (wasted as Tierney's boyfriend who takes her out but can't get to first place with her, not that he looks like he really cares) and Lucille Watson (also wasted in a trivial role). I was a little surprised at how obviously fake are the Sun Valley, Idaho backdrops in a few scenes. This is a remake of Love Is News, a 1937 comedy Power had made with Loretta Young, making Power one of the few actors to appear in a remake of one of his own films. Why 20th Century Fox would choose to revive such weak material again over a decade later is beyond me.

Although Power is primarily remembered today for Nightmare Alley and as the hero of a few costume adventures, at the start of his career at Fox he appeared in a number of light weight romantic comedies of a forgettable, frothy nature. That Wonderful Urge, released almost a decade after the last of them, would also be his final venture into screen comedy for, unfortunately, less than memorable results. It was also around this time that he appeared in The Luck of The Irish, a somewhat more engaging affair inasmuch as it mixed the romantic comedy with fantasy by having a leprechaun play the role of matchmaker.

There is a nice looking copy of That Wonderful Urge currently available on You Tube. Happy Valentine's Day.

2.5 out of 4

[Fausterlitz]

5 hours ago, TomJH said:

That Wonderful Urge (1948)

The Harvard Lampoon's annual "Movie Worsts" awards bestowed the prize for "Worst Title" on this film that year.  🙂

[TomJH]

1 hour ago, Fausterlitz said:

The Harvard Lampoon's annual "Movie Worsts" awards bestowed the prize for "Worst Title" on this film that year.  🙂

Thanks, I didn't know that.

It was just the year before this comedy that Nightmare Alley had been released for a short while before Zanuck withdrew it fearful that Tyrone Power's screen image would be tarnished in the public's eye by his playing such a scoundrel. Power regarded it as his favourite role and today the film is celebrated, particularly by the film noir crowd. Sadly it all came too late for the actor himself as few actually saw the film during Power's lifetime.

[LornaHansonForbes]

I stumbled over a surprisingly well-done and well-acted MEXICAN PERIOD DRAMA from 2021 on NETFLIX called DANCE OF THE 41, it's the story of a sort of underground society of homosexuals who are powerful and wealthy men in 1860s (I think) Mexico. IT REMINDED ME QUITE A BIT OF THE WORK OF LUCHINO VISCONTI.

**and there are a couple of HOT scenes for those of you "gentlemen's gentlemen" among the messageboarders....

The acting was, across the board, excellent, although for some reason NEtFLIX likeS to DUB THEIR FOREIGN FILMS, so everyone kinda has that "GODZILLA IS ATTACKING THE CITY!" thing going on with their voice sync, but the actors faces registered all the emotion that was needed.

it also helped that the TWO MALE LEADS were SMOKING HOT.

[Fausterlitz]

42 minutes ago, LornaHansonForbes said:

it's the story of a sort of underground society of homosexuals who are powerful and wealthy men in 1860s (I think) Mexico

better known as...homoMexuals?  (sorry, couldn't resist)

[LornaHansonForbes]

7 minutes ago, Fausterlitz said:

better known as...homoMexuals?  (sorry, couldn't resist)

No need to apologize- that’s actually pretty funny.

[Fausterlitz]

2 minutes ago, LornaHansonForbes said:

No need to apologize- that’s actually pretty funny.

Well, I consider that high praise coming from you.  I think of you as the Libby Gelman-Waxner (aka Paul Rudnick) of the TCM Forums!  (and yes, that's a compliment)   🙂

[King Rat]

2 hours ago, LornaHansonForbes said:

I stumbled over a surprisingly well-done and well-acted MEXICAN PERIOD DRAMA from 2021 on NETFLIX called DANCE OF THE 41, it's the story of a sort of underground society of homosexuals who are powerful and wealthy men in 1860s (I think) Mexico. IT REMINDED ME QUITE A BIT OF THE WORK OF LUCHINO VISCONTI.

**and there are a couple of HOT scenes for those of you "gentlemen's gentlemen" among the messageboarders....

The acting was, across the board, excellent, although for some reason NEtFLIX likeS to DUB THEIR FOREIGN FILMS, so everyone kinda has that "GODZILLA IS ATTACKING THE CITY!" thing going on with their voice sync, but the actors faces registered all the emotion that was needed.

it also helped that the TWO MALE LEADS were SMOKING HOT.

Not only are the guys smokin' hot, those suits are fantastic. I would love to have suits like that.

[King Rat]

Mercedes McCambridge fans should try to see Inside Straight. Maybe it's on the app; it was shown as part of an Arlene Dahl tribute. Although this film lost over a million dollars for MGM, I enjoyed it. David Brian has the lead role of a gambler and entrepreneur in the wild and woolly days of 19th century San Francisco; Lon Chaney, Jr. is his sidekick; Barry Sullivan is a more honest type who wants to start a magazine; Mercedes McCambridge plays a widow who owns a hotel that Brian covets; Arlene Dahl is a golddigging entertainer who has other assets Brian covets (and vice versa); and Paula Raymond is a French nanny. Although it's a B List cast, everyone does good work. I'm not sure if either David Brian or Barry Sullivan has ever been more charming. McCambridge gets to play a larger role than usual, with her odd but compelling look, her odd but compelling voice, and the slightly hysterical way she barks her lines in moments of high drama.

[Roy Cronin]

After a quick reading of the history of "Dance of the 41" brought to our attention by Lorna and now seeing the title "Inside Straight ", I'm chuckling.

(The true story of Dance is fascinating if anyone wishes to explore it further.)

[JamesJazGuitar]

50 minutes ago, King Rat said:

Mercedes McCambridge fans should try to see Inside Straight. Maybe it's on the app; it was shown as part of an Arlene Dahl tribute. Although this film lost over a million dollars for MGM, I enjoyed it. David Brian has the lead role of a gambler and entrepreneur in the wild and woolly days of 19th century San Francisco; Lon Chaney, Jr. is his sidekick; Barry Sullivan is a more honest type who wants to start a magazine; Mercedes McCambridge plays a widow who owns a hotel that Brian covets; Arlene Dahl is a golddigging entertainer who has other assets Brian covets (and vice versa); and Paula Raymond is a French nanny. Although it's a B List cast, everyone does good work. I'm not sure if either David Brian or Barry Sullivan has ever been more charming. McCambridge gets to play a larger role than usual, with her odd but compelling look, her odd but compelling voice, and the slightly hysterical way she barks her lines in moments of high drama.

I viewed Inside Straight for the first time the other day and I'm glad I saw the.    I did Google it to try to find out more;   E.g.   I wondered why there wasn't an "A" list actor in the cast.    I also noticed how the film lost big;  making up only around 1\3 of its cost.      Warners loaded out David Brian to MGM which from a financial angle for MGM,  didn't work out so well.    Jack Warner could have told them they needed to have a big-name actor getting top billing!   

But overall the film is well acted and it keep my interest.         Note that same year (1951),  McCambridge would make a film for Warners.   Lightning Strikes Twice.    MOVIES is showing this film a lot and McCambridge is "odd" in that one as well (but mostly in a good way,   dominating all the scenes she is in with that compelling look and voice of hers).

 

 

 

[Fausterlitz]

Alfonso Herrera is one of those lucky dudes who seem to look equally handsome (although surprisingly different) with almost any hairstyle, and with or without a beard.  Sometimes life just isn't fair.

 

 

[King Rat]

57 minutes ago, Fausterlitz said:

Alfonso Herrera is one of those lucky dudes who seem to look equally handsome (although surprisingly different) with almost any hairstyle, and with or without a beard.  Sometimes life just isn't fair.

 

Mercy me!