I Just Watched...

[film lover 293]

"War Gods of the Deep" (1965)--Starring Vincent Price, Tab Hunter, David Tomlinson, and Susan Hart.  Directed by Jacques Tourneur.

 

Better than expected part of American International Pictures' Edgar Allan Poe cycle of films (this one is based on Poe's poem "City In The Sea").

 

Plot--In 1903 Cornwall, Jill (Hart) is staying at her deceased father's mansion while the estate is being settled.  Ben (Hunter) comes to see her and meets her admirer Harold (Tomlinson) and his pet rooster.  Something carries Jill off during the night, leaving behind seaweed.  Ben and Harold go after Jill, and discover an undersea kingdom, headed by Sir Hugh (Price).  Film goes from there.

 

The Big problem is the script.  It's an uneasy mixture of horror/absurdist humor (Jill is introduced carrying a pet chicken) that doesn't always work.

 

Price is good, as always, in playing a doomed character.  He narrates the film, reading Poe's poem.  I love his speaking voice.  He does well in making interesting the huge chunks of exposition the script gives him.

 

Hunter is good in that he keeps his scenes' momentum going, and plows through the scripts attempted jokes.

 

Tomlinson is as good as possible as the brainless friend of the hero who's more concerned about his pet chicken than about living through the film.

 

Hart's role is set decoration.

 

The good cinematography is by Stephen Dade.

 

Tournier's last film is far from the disaster I'd heard it was.  2.5/4.

 

BTW--Film is absent from the TCM filmographies of Jacques Tourneur, Vincent Price, Tab Hunter (I gave up then and checked IMDB).

 

Source--YouTube, listed as "City Under the Sea".

[cigarjoe]

shoot, i might've remembered it wrong...i think he's ultimately good, but kind of a coward who allows himself to be bullied by Robert Ryan for much of the film...although again, i might be remembering it wrong

That's right both Brennan and Dean Jagger were both pretty cowed by Ryan.

[Sepiatone]

That's right both Brennan and Dean Jagger were both pretty cowed by Ryan.

 

It seemed to me the WHOLE TOWN was!

 

Sepiatone

[Fedya]

I must confess I usually find myself rooting for the old guy in these age-mismatch romantic triangle movies,

Cary Grant was five months older than Ralph Bellamy.

[JamesJazGuitar]

Cary Grant was five months older than Ralph Bellamy.

 

Well I have always rooted for Grant over Bellamy. 

[film lover 293]

"The Great Morgan" (1946)--A number with Virginia O'Brien and Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra, three minutes of an Eleanor Powell outtake, and a nice orchestral rendition of "Flight of the Bumblebee" don't save this mess that was never released in the U.S. Cute ending.  A huge disappointment. only of interest for the musical outtakes--the best of them are in the last half hour.

[Tikisoo]

FilmLover293 said: "War Gods of the Deep" (1965)--Starring Vincent Price, Tab Hunter, David Tomlinson, and Susan Hart.  Directed by Jacques Tourneur. (snipped) Source--YouTube, listed as "City Under the Sea".

 

I caught this on COMET-TV and was instantly sucked in. I too was amazed it was Tournier/AIP collaboration. I thought it was excellent; Price -as always- can elevate substandard material as well as Tournier can.

[Sepiatone]

Cary Grant was five months older than Ralph Bellamy.

 

I'm willing to bet that if both were still alive, Grant would STILL be five months older than Bellamy.

 

 

Sepiatone

[LornaHansonForbes]

it's been too long since i sat through BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK.

I got new TV with better screen now, so will try to make it a point to catch it when next it airs.

[NickAndNora34]

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016): If you're a fan of Harry Potter, you will love this film. Even if you don't love the Potter franchise, the special effects and costuming (it's set in 1926) will blow you away. I, for one, am kind of obsessed with the Harry Potter franchise, and found myself reading too much into this film; it's fairly simple, you don't need to know really anything about the Potter franchise to enjoy this film. 

 

 

[LornaHansonForbes]

Brennan has a small bad guy role in FURY yes?

[starkhome]

God's Country last night on TCM.  It is a 1979/1985 documentary about "middle America" filmed by French director Louis Malle.  I'm not normally a big documentary fan, but it is was filmed in Minnesota (my home state) in a time (1979 and 1985) that I am very conscious of.

 

In truth, I watched the first 2/3 and then hit record so that I could go to bed.  At the point I stopped, the filming was done in 1979.  The remainder of the film is revisiting the people from the fist 2/3 six years later (when the economy had taken a downturn) to see how their perspectives changed.

 

So far, it has been like a stroll down memory lane and has made me a little romantic for the Minnesota of my youth.

[EricJ]

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016): If you're a fan of Harry Potter, you will love this film. Even if you don't love the Potter franchise, the special effects and costuming (it's set in 1926) will blow you away. I, for one, am kind of obsessed with the Harry Potter franchise, and found myself reading too much into this film; it's fairly simple, you don't need to know really anything about the Potter franchise to enjoy this film. 

 

 

Eh, I was hoping to blog on "Why, in the end, do we always find franchise 'side stories' basically pointless and 'so Meh'??"

(Anyone who sat through "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" knowns that "Meh" was the kindest reaction it got, nobody even remembers "US Marshals", and Rogue One:Star Wars looks good but not the Great it's imagining itself to be.  Haven't seen the "Minions" movie yet, though, so can't judge.)

 

And while you could go into whole long Joseph Campbell theories of why the Hero's Journey isn't really that interesting without the Hero, I preferred to sum it up quotably as:

"Shakespeare never wrote a play about Rosencrantz & Guildenstern...Tom Stoppard wrote a play about how NOBODY CARED what happened to Rosencrantz & Guildenstern."

(...Well, okay, he did write a Falstaff spinoff, but that was only on royal command, as the queen was a raving fangirl.)

[speedracer5]

Doctor Strange.  I've seen this movie twice already.  I loved it.  I always thought Benedict Cumberbatch was kind of weird looking, but dare I say that I thought he was kind of cute in this film.  Anyway, this is the latest film that takes place in the Marvel universe and I think it is one of their best.  It depicts the story of Doctor Stephen Strange, a brilliant neurosurgeon who relies on his steady hand to perform very intricate and challenging brain surgery.  He ends up getting in a horrific car accident and suffers extensive nerve damage in his hands, leaving him unable to continue to perform brain surgery.  Unhappy that he's no longer able to perform the work that he finds rewarding, Strange travels to Kathmandu, Nepal to locate "The Ancient One," a sorceress, whom he learned had taught a paraplegic man to walk again.  After initially angering her with his arrogance, she reluctantly agrees to teach him her ways.  While entrenched in his training, Strange learns that there is a whole other world outside of his reality and he ends up in the middle of a battle between good and evil.  

 

The CGI effects in this film were very impressive.  I saw the film both in 2D and 3D.  Both ways were enjoyable.  The 3D was fun, but I don't think it is necessary to fully enjoy this film.  Tilda Swinton was great as The Ancient One, despite the original character from the comic being an Asian man.  There are some funny scenes that take place in the library and Strange wears a hilarious cape that has a mind of its own.  I think the cape from this film and the carpet from Aladdin (Disney) should have their own spin-off film.  Finally, there are some fun and colorful scenes featuring Doctor Strange in other dimensions.  Watch for the Stan Lee cameo.  Also, there is a mid-credits sequence that presumably sets up Doctor Strange's involvement with The Avengers.  There is also another extra scene at the very very very end of the credits that sets up what I imagine will be the Doctor Strange sequel.   

[LornaHansonForbes]

 

Tom Stoppard wrote a play about how NOBODY CARED what happened to Rosencrantz & Guildenstern."

(...Well, okay, he did write a Falstaff spinoff, but that was only on royal command, as the queen was a raving fangirl.)

 

 

Tom Stoppard checks phone, rolls eyes:

"Oh Hell, it's Liz again, begging me to expand on her Falstaff fanfic premise...Gah, should I just tell her to sod off and check in to The Tower or humor the Old Girl and just bang it out?"

[film lover 293]

"The Big Store" (1941)--Starring The Marx Bros. & Margaret Dumont.

 

The last MGM Marx Bros. film is spottily entertaining.  There's a plot to contend with, and not enough lunacy.

 

 Highlights are Groucho's initial interview with Dumont, Virginia O'Brien getting laughs from a lifted eyebrow while singing a Swing version of "Rockabye Baby", Groucho's fashion show commentary, and the final destruction of the department store by Groucho and Harpo on roller skates.

 

Dumont, to Groucho--"Where did you learn to compose such Divine poetry?"

 

Groucho--"I worked five years for Burma-Shave."

 

Tony Martins' rendition of "Tenement Symphony" is to be ignored.

 

Pleasant enough fluff.  2.4/4.

[scsu1975]

The Avenging Conscience (1914)

 

A real mess from D. W. Griffith, this is a rip off of Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart,” but with a phony ending. 

 

Henry B. Walthall plays a guy in love with Blanche Sweet, but his uncle thinks she is too “common.” Instead of growing a pair, Walthall thinks the solution is to off his uncle. He hides the body in his fireplace wall (apparently he is an expert at masonry), and then we all sit around waiting for him to crack. Naturally, Walthall sees apparitions of his uncle, but also sees satyrs, Christ, and I presume Moses holding up two tablets saying “Thou Shalt Not Kill.”  A good cube will produce the same effects.

 

There is one effective scene near the end, where Walthall is being questioned by a detective. Walthall fidgets as he hears a clock ticking, and the detective tapping a pencil and his foot.  However, it seems more hilarious than tense. Then Walthall tries to fend off a posse with his rifle.

 

Sweet looks like she’s had a few too many sweets, and whoever did her hair should be shot for making it look like cotton candy. She spends most of the film moping around. Robert Harron and Mae Marsh appear briefly and have a few humorous scenes together, but then disappear from the film. Wallace Reid is onscreen for about five seconds.

 

Once the plot is resolved (and the audience is dissolved), Pan shows up to play his flute. I’m not kidding, it ain’t Zamfir, it’s really Pan. Then a bunch of kids looking like coneheads emerge from a tree trunk, a rabbit comes out of a hole, a lion comes out of the woods, and some dame comes out of another tree trunk.

 

Griffith must have been high as a kite when he made this.

 

 

 

In this rare photo, Walthall blows away Rooster Cogburn.

[laffite]

This movie was up front about basing the story on Poe, but it can still be a rip off, I guess ... if it's not done right.

 

There may be a reason for the screwy ending. But perhaps you were dutifully avoiding the spoiler.

 

Nice write up, amusing. What can one do in five seconds. Is he the one who got walled up, I forget.

[LornaHansonForbes]

This movie was up front about basing the story on Poe, but it can still be a rip off, I guess ...t.

I dunno...can you really rip off anything in the public domain? And I think The Tell-Tale Heart has been in the public domain since his publication, but I might be wrong.

 

If it's in the public domain, then you refer to it as a "retelling."

 

[LornaHansonForbes]

The Avenging Conscience (1914)

Once the plot is resolved (and the audience is dissolved), Pan shows up to play his flute. I’m not kidding, it ain’t Zamfir, it’s really Pan. Then a bunch of kids looking like coneheads emerge from a tree trunk, a rabbit comes out of a hole, a lion comes out of the woods, and some dame comes out of another tree trunk.

 

Griffith must have been high as a kite when he made this.

From reading your write-up, I have to say if I could find out what it was and where to score I probably give it a try.

[Fedya]

Did you try looking for it on Youtube?

[LornaHansonForbes]

Did you try looking for it on Youtube?

I cant speak for Rich, but if it's a silent film, the chances are very high it's on YouTube or archive.org.

 

EDIT: wait, no now I got your joke. Try Craigslist instead.

[scsu1975]

 

 

Nice write up, amusing. What can one do in five seconds. Is he the one who got walled up, I forget.

Wallace Reid could do nothing in 5 seconds, just a walk-on bit. Spottiswood Aitken (now there's a great name) is the uncle who gets walled up.

[film lover 293]

"The Rains of Ranchipur" (1955)--Starring Lana Turner, Richard Burton, and Fred MacMurray.

 

Talky remake of 1939's "The Rains Came" is superficial but entertaining.  Turner plays the predatory Lady Esketh, Burton the saintly Dr. Safti, Michael Rennie is Lord Esketh, MacMurray--seems to have wandered away from the set of "Father Knows Best"--he's not convincing as an alcoholic, and seems entirely too nice for this bunch of people.

 

While I was waiting for/watching the Oscar nominated Special Effects sequence(s), I noticed that: Turner gives one of her better late performances; Eugenie Leontovich's Maharani combines a Russian and British accent--she sounds remarkably weird; when a character is told Not to do something, they go ahead and ignore the advice (applies to five characters).  Burton is very brown when his character is introduced; when the rains start, his makeup starts to come off; and after he's been submerged in a flooding river, he's almost as white as Lana Turner.  In the films' last twenty minutes, the brown makeup doesn't reappear--Burton just wears more mascara than Turner.

 

The earthquake/flood/fire sequence is worth waiting for.  The Special Effects by Ray Kellogg were worth the Oscar nomination.  To see the sequence in Cinerama must have been an experience.

 

An enjoyable watch.  2.5/4

[laffite]

I dunno...can you really rip off anything in the public domain? And I think The Tell-Tale Heart has been in the public domain since his publication, but I might be wrong.

 

If it's in the public domain, then you refer to it as a "retelling."

 

 

I agree, so long as the movie is up front about it being a re-telling.

 

But if I make the same movie and try to pass it off as my idea, that sneakiness would be a rip-off, public domain or not. My integrity would be at stake.

 

Rich might have meant that it was an obvious re-telling but it was so bad as to constitute a rip-off.