I Just Watched...

[Fading Fast]

Cloudburst from 1951 with Robert Preston, Elizabeth Sellers and Colin Tapley

 

 

Post-war British cinema tells stories slightly differently than American cinema as the British efforts are usually quieter and more layered than the American ones with their penchant for noisier drama and elaborate special effects.

 

Cloudburst, a British-noir-detective-story combination with a romantic overlay and several murders, goes about its business with a wonderfully British stiff upper lip. A happily married middle-aged couple who, it is implied, met in a concentration camp during the war have a bond that exceeds one from a normal marriage owing to that harrowing start.

 

When his pregnant wife is killed in an apparent hit and run accident, husband Robert Preston immediately shifts gears from a loving spouse to a man on an all-consuming personal revenge mission. In a movie construct that's been used before and after, we see a man going rogue, who we then learn is no ordinary man. 

 

He is a former British spy and cryptologist. A man who has been trained by his government to conceal his identity, to hunt down enemies, to engage in hand-to-hand combat and to use everything at his disposal as a weapon. He is a dangerous man.

 

Being British, Preston goes about his hunt for the two who were in the car that killed his wife with a surface calm masking an internal fervor. As he uses all his espionage skills and connections, including former members of his WWII underground team who are still loyal to him, we see an individual frighteningly equipped to kill in a "what did the government create in this man'' way.

 

Matching wits with Preston is the relentless, yet outwardly placid British police superintendent who finds his way to Preston based on a seemingly innocuous clue, a note written in code accidentally left at the scene of one of Preston's revenge murders. The inspector asks Preston to decode the note in hopes it will lead to the killer.

 

We, thus, have Preston, a famous cryptologist, now working with the police to find the murderer, who he just happens to be. So while Preston appears to be helping the police to find himself, he, naturally, uses his role as consultant to the police to try to throw them off course. (This is an effective plot construct that has been employed often in movies like, for example, 1987's No Way Out). 

 

(Spoiler alert) The rest of the movie is super smart Preston keeping the super-smart police inspector at bay just long enough for Preston to complete his revenge mission. When it's over, Preston has extracted all the revenge he wanted just as the police finally put all the pieces together and come to arrest him. 

 

Cloudburst is, more than anything, a deeply sad movie. The lives of a good man and woman are destroyed when the man's wife is seemingly senselessly killed. While we are rooting for Preston to get away with his revenge killings (sorry, but we are), you see at the end, he simply doesn't care if he gets caught as long as he completes his mission. He, effectively, died the day his wife and unborn child were killed.

 

Kudos, once again, to post-war British cinema for delivering, in Cloudburst, a solid effort, on a small budget with quintessentially understated British style. 

[Swithin]

On 3/18/2022 at 3:26 PM, TomJH said:

One of the highlights of her career, though, was when she appeared in Weird Woman (1944), one of the Inner Sanctums co-starring with Lon Chaney Jr. once again. This might be the only time that Ankers had the chance to play a manipulative schemer and she made the most of her villainy opportunity, stealing the film in the process.

I used to confuse Weird Woman, Captive Wild Woman, Voodoo Woman, and a few others.  Weird Woman is based on The Conjure Wife, a story which also inspired Burn Witch, Burn. Captive Wild Woman also stars Evelyn Ankers. Voodoo Woman is the trashiest of the lot, about a greedy woman from Pittsburgh (played by Marla English) who goes to Africa to find gold and ends up like this:

 

[jameselliot]

Crime on a Summer Morning, a 1965 French noir  based on a novel by the prolific James Hadley Chase. Jean Paul Belmondo and his sister Sophie Daumier, a Bardot-style sex kitten, have a badger game running that they pull on men she lures to a dumpy hotel. One of their marks is slimy Akin Tamiroff but his interest is in hiring the siblings to help in the kidnapping of Geraldine Chaplin, daughter of wealthy Gabrielle Ferzetti. The plan goes bad very quickly when the gang hides out in Spain. Nicely acted and well-made, it's more talky than suspenseful. Belmondo plays the brother as a criminal who's not an evil or violent guy, just too lazy and lacking in drive to work a normal job. He has a listless attitude about everything and out of his league for this caper, a change of pace for the  usually energetic Belmondo. The sordid relationship between brother and sister is implied and not dwelled on. Directed by Jacques Deray.

[Tikisoo]

6 hours ago, Swithin said:

I used to confuse Weird Woman, Captive Wild Woman, Voodoo Woman, and a few others.

I'm still confused! Too similar names/themes.

[SansFin]

Puzzle (1974)
Original Title: L'uomo senza memoria

 

A man who has had amnesia for eight months due to an automobile accident meets a man who knows him. The man soon has the added complications of a cryptic telegram telling him to go to Italy and a dead body in his hotel room. 

This is classic Giallo. Crime fiction is covered by the slow revelation that he is being chased by criminals. Slasher is covered by a man quite handy with a straight razor. Psychological thriller is covered by escalating threats. Plot twists abound.

I am sorry to say that I found Senta Berger  merely competent in her role. The character had many internal conflicts but she played it quite flat.

Luc Merenda is excellent as the man who is slowly becoming two men - who he is and who he was. He is more than marginally handsome and handled himself quite well.

The main flaw I find in this movie is the substitution of style over substance. The entire first half of the movie could have been covered in ten minutes. The first murder is quick but we are then treated to lingering characterization and establishing setting. It is not until late in the second half that it moves at a decent pace as the plot elements come together.

An essential element of Giallo is that the villain is not revealed until the last reel. I began to suspect before the movie was half over and it was quite obvious at the three-quarter mark.

6.421/11

This movie is available for viewing for free with commercials on: TubiTV and: Filmzie. It is included with subscription to: Amazon Prime Video and some other streaming providers.

[jameselliot]

14 hours ago, SansFin said:

Puzzle (1974)
Original Title: L'uomo senza memoria

 

A man who has had amnesia for eight months due to an automobile accident meets a man who knows him. The man soon has the added complications of a cryptic telegram telling him to go to Italy and a dead body in his hotel room. 

This is classic Giallo. Crime fiction is covered by the slow revelation that he is being chased by criminals. Slasher is covered by a man quite handy with a straight razor. Psychological thriller is covered by escalating threats. Plot twists abound.

I am sorry to say that I found Senta Berger  merely competent in her role. The character had many internal conflicts but she played it quite flat.

Luc Merenda is excellent as the man who is slowly becoming two men - who he is and who he was. He is more than marginally handsome and handled himself quite well.

The main flaw I find in this movie is the substitution of style over substance. The entire first half of the movie could have been covered in ten minutes. The first murder is quick but we are then treated to lingering characterization and establishing setting. It is not until late in the second half that it moves at a decent pace as the plot elements come together.

An essential element of Giallo is that the villain is not revealed until the last reel. I began to suspect before the movie was half over and it was quite obvious at the three-quarter mark.

6.421/11

This movie is available for viewing for free with commercials on: TubiTV and: Filmzie. It is included with subscription to: Amazon Prime Video and some other streaming providers.

I haven't seen this flick in a long time. It has no "sticky" scenes to recall.  Senta Berger is one of my favorite Euro stars and Luc Merenda was very good in his many cop/Mafia movies before shifting to TV work. He starred in the 7th and weakest entry in the OSS 117 series that was not included in Kino Lorber's DVD/Blu collection, I guess because it wasn't produced by Gaumont.

[Fading Fast]

 

Tokyo Twilight from 1957, a Japanese movie with English subtitles

 

 

TCM has run a series of these post-war Japanese movies. Their style is, overall, slower, with little action and more talking and showing of daily life than American movies, even from the same time period. Yet, if you can "get into" them, most are well-done efforts exploring basic human struggles that transcend any particular culture, while also being an incredible look at post-war Japanese society. 

 

Of these movies, Tokyo Twilight is writer and director Yasujiro Ozu's most kitchen-sink-like effort. While Ozu specializes in "small" movies about quiet family conflict, he usually keeps the melodrama under control, but in this one, he goes all in with the soap suds. 

 

A middle-aged, middle-class single father has his hands full with two daughters. One is married in her twenties but has moved back home with her infant daughter as she's not getting along with her husband. The other is a troubled late-teen, a Japanese version of a rebel without a cause.

 

Setsuko Hara, the older, married daughter, tries to anchor the family as a surrogate mother. We only learn about half way through, that the mother/wife had an affair and left her husband and daughters when the girls were still infants. 

 

Aneko Arima, the female Japanese James Dean here, quit college, stays out late, runs around with a "bad" crowd and, generally, disobeys her father. Yet, this is teenage rebelling with Japanese characteristics as there is all but no yelling and very little back talking.

 

The daughter simply refuses to answer her father's and sister's questions as she sits in a deferential position. Despite having seen several of these movies, it wasn't until Tokyo Twilight that I noticed the parallels between Japanese culture and American Wasp culture.

 

Both value a surface calm and respect that dislikes outward shows of emotion or conflict. Hence, small gestures, like not answering a direct question or the shrugging of one's shoulders, take on large meaning. Despite many differences, the parallels between the two cultures is fascinating to see. 

 

Being part of this reserved culture, when rebel daughter Aniko discovers she's pregnant, telling her father or sister is out of the question, at least initially. Worse, her "bad boy" boyfriend is avoiding her even before she tells him the news. When she does tell him, he remains distance and suggests an abortion, yup, an abortion. 

 

Amping up the melodrama, it is about now that the mother the girls haven't seen since they were infants pops back up in Tokyo bringing with her all the angst and recriminations a mother who "abandoned" her children brings.

 

There is a lot more soap opera from here, with a couple of very surprising and modern twists, but both are better left to be experienced fresh on screen. 

 

Also enjoyable in Tokyo Twilight are the fun little insights into Japanese culture such as when a store owner, whose customer is hit by a street car after she leaves his shop, takes her to the hospital and stays with her as he notes it is his obligation because she was his customer. That is a cultural difference.

 

These Japanese movies, stylistically, differ greatly from modern movies. Ozu and other Japanese directors of that time let scenes play out, almost seemingly "wasting" time on unimportant events like following someone down a corridor after they leave a room. 

 

Today's style is all "cut" to the next interesting moment as fast as possible, probably because the director is afraid he'll lose his video-trained audience if there is one "boring" second. 

 

The result is many movies today feel more like rapid images of life than life itself. In these "slower," older movies, the pace better mimics how we experience normal living. Done well (too much and it is boring), you are more engaged with the story as it reflects how life happens versus the "flashing by" scenes of today's movies.  

 

If you are new to these Japanese movies, Tokyo Twilight might not be the best first one, but director Ozu's movies aren't a series, so you can jump in anywhere. If you do choose Tokyo Twilight, you'll get more soap opera than in many of his other movies, but still with engaging characters and honest human drama. 

 

 

[David Proulx]

Christopher Plummer: A Man For All Stages - An interview/documentary of his life & career. Good stuff! If you're a fan, check it out.

[Tikisoo]

Over the course of the last 2 evenings I watched GREEN DOLPHIN STREET '47 starring Lana Turner, Van Heflin, Donna Reed, Gladys Cooper, Edmund Gwenn, Frank Morgan....wow! There's been a lot of talk on this board about this movie and my library had it, so finally watched it. Although I usually don't like period pieces, the story & pacing move right along and I wasn't bored for a minute. Like a big meal, I'll never have to watch this movie twice.

Similar in tone & length to THE WOMEN '39 and MILDRED PIERCE '45, this is a long drawn out melodrama revolving around 2 sisters, Turner plays the older, bolder sister Marianne and Reed plays the younger sweet, shyer sister Marguerite. A man (Morgan) and his son return to their abandoned home on a British Colonial island and both sisters are smitten with the handsome son played by Richard Hart who often seemed like a second rate Tyrone Power.

Meanwhile, earthy Van Heflin's charactor (Haslam) has always loved Marianne from afar but is on the run from a self defense killing. The Green Dolphin is a cargo ship that is owned by the girl's family & Halsam escapes justice to hide out in New Zealand, a regular port stop for the ship. I completely recognised Reginald Owen as the ship's Captain from his voice.

The story is convoluted but I don't want to reveal any more, the twists & turns are surprising (to me at least) and like earlier stated, this was never boring - I have to believe it's because of the writing & stellar performances. One of the best lines uttered by Heflin "Are you going to send a girl like that back home turned down by a drunken jackass too tipsy to remember the name of the gal he loved?" Anyone who could utter that convincingly with such impact is a good actor! Heflin never gets the girl in movies but he's always the "nice" guy. I wonder if the studios gave him audience empathetic roles because he wasn't conventionally handsome. Well, I'm taken with his smoldering, earthy sexiness-he looks great in those tight wool pants.

And so does everyone else in this film-I'm not a Lana Turner fan but she was stunning in this. Her face has perfect even features with just a hint of dimples. She is very convincing alongside all the powerhouse actors. So GREAT to see Gladys Cooper with a halfway decent role, she's gorgeous in her costumes and wholly believable as the Mother of the girls. 

The Mother's deathbed confession near the end ties everyone's story together, illustrating that ALL charactor have experienced the same hurdled path & life decisions and things work out in their own unique way.  You'd have to be a hard hearted person to not recognise these elements in your own life reflections. I guess that's what makes this a "classic".

[Allhallowsday]

Plopped in front of the TV since Tuesday night, something I never do,  I sat through 3 wonderful films in a row last night: 

BEING THERE (1979)  Probably the strangest film I LOVE but hardly laugh at.   PETER SELLERS best performance.  Very special. 

FIDDLER ON THE ROOF (1971) everything was fine with the intro/outtro this time (last time I looked at it caused me to join this forum).  TOPOL is perfect, all wonderful songs, so beautiful to look at, and heartbreaking.  I love it.  One of few movie musicals I love.  I also realized the sad tragic connection between LEONARD FREY and PAUL MICHAEL GLASER. 

ALL THAT JAZZ (1979) what an achievement for BOB FOSSE!  Superb performance by ROY SCHEIDER.    40 years+ and it remains stunning. 

[Eucalyptus P. Millstone]

On 3/23/2022 at 9:09 PM, SansFin said:

Puzzle (1974)
Original Title: L'uomo senza memoria

The main flaw I find in this movie is the substitution of style over substance.

 . . . which is one of the defining characteristics of Gialli.

 

[SansFin]

4 hours ago, Eucalpytus P. Millstone said:

 . . . which is one of the defining characteristics of Gialli.

 

I could never claim the expertise or experience of a true aficionado but I expect the substance of the movie to be presented in a very stylish manner. I do not expect so much style-for-the-sake-of-style material which does not advance the plot.

[SansFin]

The Brass Bottle (1964)

An inhibited and unimaginative architect unleashes an irresponsible and irrepressible genie. Hilarity ensues.

I have felt for a very long time that: "clueless man" is a redundancy. Tony Randall* demonstrates that here as he has a good heart but has no idea what is truly happening or what the repercussions of it may be or how to handle it. He does not quite rise to the Jimmy Stewart level of befuddledness but he does have moments when he resembles that video of a racoon trying to wash a piece of cotton candy. 

It was pure typecasting for Burl Ives to play the gleefully mischievous pixie. He is the Benny Hill of Djinn-hood. You can not seriously take him to task for what he does but you do feel a need to sit on him to prevent him from doing more. But you can not sit on him ...

Edward Andrews and Parley Baer are the unamused thorns in his side.

This is a wonderful bit of pure fluff which could only have been made in the 1960s. It is a romp tweaking the nose of the respectable establishment.

I have not had the opportunity to watch this in over a decade but it is a much fun as I remember it being.

8.2/10

Available for viewing for free on: Movieland.tv which is at least temporarily free to: Roku owners.

*corrected because I named the wrong actor.

[txfilmfan]

5 minutes ago, SansFin said:

The Brass Bottle (1964)

An inhibited and unimaginative architect unleashes an irresponsible and irrepressible genie. Hilarity ensues.

I have felt for a very long time that: "clueless man" is a redundancy. Jack Lemmon demonstrates that here as he has a good heart but has no idea what is truly happening or what the repercussions of it may be or how to handle it. He does not quite rise to the Jimmy Stewart level of befuddledness but he does have moments when he resembles that video of a racoon trying to wash a piece of cotton candy. 

It was pure typecasting for Burl Ives to play the gleefully mischievous pixie. He is the Benny Hill of Djinn-hood. You can not seriously take him to task for what he does but you do feel a need to sit on him to prevent him from doing more. But you can not sit on him ...

Edward Andrews and Parley Baer are the unamused thorns in his side.

This is a wonderful bit of pure fluff which could only have been made in the 1960s. It is a romp tweaking the nose of the respectable establishment.

I have not had the opportunity to watch this in over a decade but it is a much fun as I remember it being.

8.2/10

Available for viewing for free on: Movieland.tv which is at least temporarily free to: Roku owners.

Isn't it Tony Randall instead of Lemmon?

This is surprisingly (to me) a remake of a 1923 film, now lost.  It started as a novel, then a Broadway play in 1910, then a British silent picture in 1914, followed by an American film in 1923.

[SansFin]

23 minutes ago, txfilmfan said:

Isn't it Tony Randall instead of Lemmon?

This is surprisingly (to me) a remake of a 1923 film, now lost.  It started as a novel, then a Broadway play in 1910, then a British silent picture in 1914, followed by an American film in 1923.

You are quite correct. I thank you. I have edited my post.

I can not think why I made such a mistake because I have not had Jack Lemmon particularly on my mind lately.

[txfilmfan]

19 minutes ago, SansFin said:

You are quite correct. I thank you. I have edited my post.

I can not think why I made such a mistake because I have not had Jack Lemmon particularly on my mind lately.

They have similar mannerisms.  Both played Felix Ungar, after all.

 

[TomJH]

22 hours ago, TikiSoo said:

I've always been partial to Green Dolphin Street, as well. I'd like to make reference to the lush, romantic main musical theme of the film, as composed by Branislau Kaper.

TikiSoo, your review made reference to Richard Hart as "a second rate Tyrone Power." That reminded me that Lana Turner and Power were seeing a lot of one another around the time this film was made, with the Hollywood rumour mill speculating that marriage was just around the corner. Power would soon break off the relationship, however (Lana would consider him one of the great loves of her life). I believe he read some talk of her having dated some celebrity (I forget who, possibly Frank Sinatra) when he was away and it proved to be too much for him. Perhaps it was a straw breaking a camel's back kind of thing.

Two years later Power would marry little known actress Linda Christian who, ironically, has a small bit part in Green Dolphin Street.

That's "native girl" Christian tending to an ailing Turner in the film. It Lana knew what the future held regarding this same woman she might have been really sick here.

 

[TomJH]

On 3/26/2022 at 10:35 AM, TikiSoo said:

Over the course of the last 2 evenings I watched GREEN DOLPHIN STREET '47 starring Lana Turner, Van Heflin, Donna Reed, Gladys Cooper, Edmund Gwenn, Frank Morgan....wow! There's been a lot of talk on this board about this movie and my library had it, so finally watched it. Although I usually don't like period pieces, the story & pacing move right along and I wasn't bored for a minute. Like a big meal, I'll never have to watch this movie twice.

 

Yet another aspect of Green Dolphin Street that I appreciate is the outstanding artistry of its numerous matte paintings and rear screen projection. Unfortunately none of the photos of matte shots will post here for some reason.

Nevertheless, here's a link to an article on the visual effects (matte work, miniatures, rear screen) to be found in this lavish MGM production:

 

http://nzpetesmatteshot.blogspot.com/2012/03/green-dolphin-street-oscar-winning.html

[Allhallowsday]

THE LAST EMPEROR (1987) was on TCM last night.  It is faultless.  Superb. 

[SansFin]

12 hours ago, txfilmfan said:

They have similar mannerisms.  Both played Felix Ungar, after all.

 

The hierarchy of my impressions is that: Tony Randall is the television version of: Jack Lemmon and that: Jack Lemmon is the everyman version of: Tony Curtis. There are actors whose names I often confuse but I believe that this is the first instance of my assigning the wrong name to one of these three.

My most common disconnects are: Donald Pleasence and  Donald Sutherland and the trio of Patrick Macnee, Patrick Magee and Patrick McGoohan. I know much of the filmography of each and I can blather endlessly on their strengths and weaknesses but I can never trust the mental image I first conjure when I see one of these names in listings. 

[txfilmfan]

5 minutes ago, SansFin said:

The hierarchy of my impressions is that: Tony Randall is the television version of: Jack Lemmon and that: Jack Lemmon is the everyman version of: Tony Curtis. There are actors whose names I often confuse but I believe that this is the first instance of my assigning the wrong name to one of these three.

My most common disconnects are: Donald Pleasence and  Donald Sutherland and the trio of Patrick Macnee, Patrick Magee and Patrick McGoohan. I know much of the filmography of each and I can blather endlessly on their strengths and weaknesses but I can never trust the mental image I first conjure when I see one of these names in listings. 

And I used to confuse these two:

[Allhallowsday]

2 hours ago, txfilmfan said:

And I used to confuse these two

...and probably knew 'em your whole life...like LOOK!  It's Lottie...!

[Fading Fast]

 

The Scarlet Pimpernel from 1934 with Leslie Howard, Merle Oberon, Raymond Massey and Nigel Bruce

 

 

Early 1930s period movies have their challenges, including wildly inaccurate portrayals of the period's history, culture, social norms, clothing, etc., which can make them a silly slog. The Scarlet Pimpernel, despite having those challenges, overall, rises above them with a good story, smart dialogue and outstanding acting. 

 

It's not going to be for everyone, but the tale of an English nobleman who leads a group of like-minded peers on raids into France to rescue French aristocrats sentenced to be guillotined during Robespierre's Reign of Terror, has a Robinhood style joie de vivre to it. 

 

Leslie Howard, (switching metaphors) in an early Batman echo, is a foppish swell by day in England, but the roguish and heroic Scarlet Pimpernel by night when he leads his raids. His obligatory maiden, in a quirky twist, is his estranged French wife, Merle Oberon, who is worried about her family and friends back in her home country. 

 

She can't understand her husband Howard's dandy pursuits and indifference to her concerns, while he has to hide his heroism from her to maintain his secret identity (it makes about as much sense as the Batman-Bruce Wayne thing, but you just go with it). These two clearly want to still be in love with each other, but can't find their way there.

 

The conflict in the movie, shifting back to the Robinhood metaphor, is Raymond Massey as the Sheriff of Nottingham of the story, but here he's a French diplomat and spy sent to England to find and capture or kill the Scarlet Pimpernel.

 

Amping it all up, Massey blackmails Oberon over her brother who is being held in a French prison and is slated for the guillotine. In return for sparing her brother, he wants Oberon to help him find the Scarlet Pimpernel, which she does, not knowing she's leading Massey right to her husband. As in all good swashbucklers, it climaxes with a dramatic face-off where the evil protagonist, Massey, has captured the hero and his damsel.

 

What keeps this one going is Howard clearly having fun as both the foppish neerdowell nobleman by day and the devil-may-care Pimpernel at night. He shifts from one character to the other, sometimes intra-scene, with impressive adroitness. Howard is matched nicely by under-rated Raymond Massey who brings much needed gravitas to a movie that could easily have spun into farce. 

 

Also helping is some witty dialogue, reasonably engaging action scenes and several enjoyable character actors including Nigel Bruce as the bumbling Prince of Wales. The Scarlet Pimpernel is a bit clunky, but for 1934, it is a respectable early swashbuckler in a decade that saw some of the greatest swashbucklers Hollywood ever made. 

 

 

 

 

[EricJ]

9 hours ago, SansFin said:

My most common disconnects are: Donald Pleasence and  Donald Sutherland and the trio of Patrick Macnee, Patrick Magee and Patrick McGoohan. I know much of the filmography of each and I can blather endlessly on their strengths and weaknesses but I can never trust the mental image I first conjure when I see one of these names in listings. 

I can imagine Donald Sutherland playing Dr. Loomis, but can you imagine Donald Pleasance playing Hawkeye Pierce??

(And yes, despite the differences of John Steed, No. 6, and the home-invasion victim from "A Clockwork Orange", I still get my Patricks confused too.)

[Tikisoo]

19 hours ago, txfilmfan said:

And I used to confuse these two:

Is that Joan Blondell and Ann Southern?

I often mix up which one stars in a movie, but can tell them apart once I see them.