I Just Watched...

[LornaHansonForbes]

I caught the end of GO NAKED.... and- yeah- I think it's far to say it would place somewhere in the mid-range of the LYLAH scale.

 

ps- it's hard to believe Tony Franciosa was "a thing."

[LornaHansonForbes]

"Go Naked in the World" (1961)-

This one is early 60's MGM melodrama, and full of howlers.

 

A few of the films' memorable lines;

Julie to Nick, after he's asked how many men she's been with--"Why count waves in the ocean?"

 

 

 

DANG HOE!

I'm gonna use that line some time IRL...

[LornaHansonForbes]

S'more in RE: BLITHE SPIRIT

(SPOILERS!)

 

IN RE: THE ENDING...The only honest answer I can give on how I would end it is I DON'T KNOW. i think i would need a brainstorming session with input from others and possibly some mind-altering substances involved to come up with just the right ending for it...one thing i did not bring up in discussing the film was that it reminded me quite a bit of DEATH BECOMES HER- which has built a well-deserved cult following since its release- and many of the British horror anthologies that followed- as well as TALES FROM THE CRYPT- that last one kinda killed the genre in a way because every episode gave us an awful person who does awful things and is ALWAYS ALWAYS killed in some ironic form with NO VARIATION on the theme and zero surprise.

 

thus, watching BLITHE SPIRIT, i kinda sensed where it was going- but only because its original trail has been MUCH HACKED UPON since first it was blazed.

 

I'm sure BLITHE SPIRIT was a sensation when it came out because it was rather unexpected for it to end in such a way- being one of the first stories to use the above discussed method of storytelling- although the "horror" is subtle and the fact the protagonists are- kind of- awful people is subtle and hidden by their intrinsic Britishness.

[cigarjoe]

S'more in RE: BLITHE SPIRIT

(SPOILERS!)

 

IN RE: THE ENDING...The only honest answer I can give on how I would end it is I DON'T KNOW. i think i would need a brainstorming session with input from others and possibly some mind-altering substances involved to come up with just the right ending for it...one thing i did not bring up in discussing the film was that it reminded me quite a bit of DEATH BECOMES HER- which has built a well-deserved cult following since its release- and many of the British horror anthologies that followed- as well as TALES FROM THE CRYPT- that last one kinda killed the genre in a way because every episode gave us an awful person who does awful things and is ALWAYS ALWAYS killed in some ironic form with NO VARIATION on the theme and zero surprise.

 

thus, watching BLITHE SPIRIT, i kinda sensed where it was going- but only because its original trail has been MUCH HACKED UPON since first it was blazed.

 

I'm sure BLITHE SPIRIT was a sensation when it came out because it was rather unexpected for it to end in such a way- being one of the first stories to use the above discussed method of storytelling- although the "horror" is subtle and the fact the protagonists are- kind of- awful people is subtle and hidden by their intrinsic Britishness.

You know come to think of it I remember liking the film, but can't remember how it ended, maybe it was that unaffecting.

[Swithin]

The restoration of this film was very good.  I'd never heard of Constance Cummings until 2016 when she was a Summer Under The Stars honoree.  She had an interesting career; one of the few American-born actors or actresses who went overseas to continue and complete their vocation.

 

I saw Constance Cummings in Wings, at the National Theatre in London, in 1979. Ten years later, I saw her in Semi-Monde, a rarely performed Noel Coward play. It was a one-off benefit for an actors' charity and also featured Judi Dench, Bob Hoskins, Kenneth Branagh, Elisabeth Welch, Evelyn Laye, Joyce Carey, Joanna Lumley, Tim Pigott-Smith, and many others.

 

Irene Worth, who was a friend of mine, was another American actress who spent much of her career in London, although unlike Ms. Cummings, Irene came back to America later in life, to live on 56th Street in NYC.

 

Regarding Blithe Spirit, there are a few television productions of the play, include one with Noel Coward, Lauren Bacall, and Claudette Colbert.

[LornaHansonForbes]

You know come to think of it I remember liking the film, but can't remember how it ended, maybe it was that unaffecting.

Last I checked, it's online in full if you're down with that sort of thing.

[LornaHansonForbes]

Ps- I think it's one that requires multiple viewings as I was lukewarm on the first 20 mins...maybe skip ahead a bit too?

[LsDoorMat]

"Millions in the Air" (1935) Paramount 6/10 

Title : "Millions of plot holes!"

 

I was very surprised to find out this was a Paramount film, because it played out like a B film from one of the smaller studios of the 30s in that it was entertaining, but important plot points seemed to be missing. Plus there were no big stars in it. In fact, this is Robert Cummings' third credited film role and John Howard's fourth! The film is about an heiress, Marion Keller (Wendy Barry), daughter of the owner of the KELLO soap company, who wants a singing career. Her dad is the bellowing bellicose type (George Barbier as Calvin Keller) who wants Marion to marry her obnoxious fiancé Gordon and forget this career nonsense. She lies to dad and says she is auditioning for a society recital. She is actually auditioning for the WOX radio station amateur hour, sponsored by her dad's company. While waiting to audition she meets Eddie Warren, ice cream truck driver (John Howard). Eddie wants the 500 dollar prize money to buy a spot for his ice cream truck in front of the natural history museum, where he will make more money.

The two have one of those "lightning strikes" moments when they meet, and then the initial chemistry turns to friendship and then to love. But meanwhile Marion has to hide her identity from Eddie too, claiming to be somebody who works in a dime store and whose father is unemployed.

So now Marion is balancing plates on multiple poles. She has to explain all of her absences to her dad and to fiancé Gordon while she is out with Eddie, and she has to pretend to be the plain working girl to Eddie, even having him walk her to a boarding house door that isn't even hers.

Of course all of this is going to collide into a situation that makes everybody mad at her, so watch and find out how that happens.

Now the story of the heiress who pretends to be a commoner is as old as the hills, but what makes this fun is how it is combined with old time radio. Vying for the radio prize is a guy who thinks he is Houdini but can't escape from anything, and another guy who thinks that just because he is Italian he is destined to sing opera and keeps popping up on stage with poorly done disguises with actual operatic singers. Joan Davis does a comic number decades before Jim Backus could say "I Married Joan" (No, they weren't really married). And who can't find a singing and dancing 7th billed 25 year old Bob Cummings endearing?

Those plot holes I was talking about? Somehow in the middle of the film Bob Cummings' character is trying to get the same ice cream truck spot that John Howard's character is trying for, but this is just slipped into conversation and there is no introduction to the topic or Cummings' character at any point. Wendy Barry and John Howard talk about rehearsing together, but their acts started out and remain separate. What are they talking about? And then Barry's character's father and fiancé suddenly just show up at the radio station the night of the contest. How did they find out? This is never mentioned.

No, it's not like those poverty row films where things get so involved and unexplained you have to keep rewinding to figure out what just happened, but it causes enough confusion I took a star off of my rating. I'd still recommend it for the nostalgia and fun of it all.

[marcar]

I just watched The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) for  probably the 10th time and it reminded me of something that brought me great joy in my pre-teen years.

 

My older brother and I used to tease my mother daily with a quotation from this movie. We drove her NUTS.

 

She would ask: Have you done your homework?

 

We would answer: We don't have to show you any stinkin' badges.

 

She would ask: Do you have your scarf and mittens?

 

We answered: We don't have to show you any stinkin' badges.

 

You get the picture. We laughed hysterically and used this line to block all efforts at maternal control. 

 

It may sound cruel but we loved it; and we still do it to her sometimes to this day, but now she laughs too. 

[TomJH]

I just watched The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) for  probably the 10th time and it reminded me of something that brought me great joy in my pre-teen years.

 

My older brother and I used to tease my mother daily with a quotation from this movie. We drove her NUTS.

 

She would ask: Have you done your homework?

 

We would answer: We don't have to show you any stinkin' badges.

 

She would ask: Do you have your scarf and mittens?

 

We answered: We don't have to show you any stinkin' badges.

 

You get the picture. We laughed hysterically and used this line to block all efforts at maternal control. 

 

It may sound cruel but we loved it; and we still do it to her sometimes to this day, but now she laughs too. 

 

 

"That's funny. I used to say that to my mother too!"

[kingrat]

Regarding Blithe Spirit, there are a few television productions of the play, include one with Noel Coward, Lauren Bacall, and Claudette Colbert.

Swithin, I recall seeing a TV production (early 60s?) starring Dirk Bogarde, Tammy Grimes, Rachel Roberts, and Ruth Gordon. It would be fun to see that again.

[Sepiatone]

I just watched The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) for  probably the 10th time and it reminded me of something that brought me great joy in my pre-teen years.

 

My older brother and I used to tease my mother daily with a quotation from this movie. We drove her NUTS.

 

She would ask: Have you done your homework?

 

We would answer: We don't have to show you any stinkin' badges.

 

She would ask: Do you have your scarf and mittens?

 

We answered: We don't have to show you any stinkin' badges.

 

You get the picture. We laughed hysterically and used this line to block all efforts at maternal control. 

 

It may sound cruel but we loved it; and we still do it to her sometimes to this day, but now she laughs too. 

 

At least, you said " any" stinkin' badges, instead of  "no" stinkin' badges and NOT throw in any bad grammar along with your bad behavior. 

 

Reminded me of an old RICHARD BELZER  routine about lounge singers trying to be "hip" and wound up singing, "I can't get any....satisfaction."

 

 

Sepiatone

[Hibi]

 

 

Regarding Blithe Spirit, there are a few television productions of the play, include one with Noel Coward, Lauren Bacall, and Claudette Colbert.

 

 

Yes, the version where Noel (who I think directed) spouted the famous line to Colbert: I'd Ring Your Neck If You Had One!!!!! (LOL).

[Hibi]

"Go Naked in the World" (1961)--Starring Gina Lollobrigida, Anthony Franciosa, and Ernest Borgnine. Written and directed by Ranald MacDougall.

 

This one is early 60's MGM melodrama, and full of howlers.

 

As the film begins, Julie (Lollobrigida) gets out of a limousine, accompanied by an older man.  A "sister" on the street, dressed all in red, winks at her.  Message sent to audience.  Julie and companion enter the fancy restaurant.  Her escort has to leave.  Julie sits in a booth.  Nick (Franciosa), who has just finished an enlistment in the Army, catches sight of her.  Despite her brushing him off like a fly, he persists in trying to make a date with her.  They proceed to her place and sleep together as an ending to their first date.  It never dawns on Nick that Julie  is anything other than a "nice" girl, despite numerous hints given him. Their romance proceeds from there.

 

A few of the films' memorable lines;

 

Julie to companion :"I haven't been alone since I was twelve years old".

 

Nicks father Pete (Borgnine) to Nick: "Spit on me for luck".

 

Nick's clueless mother Mary (Nancy R. ****) to Julie, at her 30th wedding anniversary party--"Everybody is staring" (with good reason, as it turns out).

 

Nick to Julie, after he's found out the terrible truth--"I'll never get clean again!"

 

Julie to Nick, after he's asked how many men she's been with--"Why count waves in the ocean?"

 

Lollobrigida is ok as Julie, and has a way with a sarcastic line.  Franciosa is just terrible as Nick; nobody is that stupid.  Borgnine yells his way through his part, but manages some good acting in his few quiet scenes. 

 

Check out the portrait above Lollobrigida's bed in the two scenes where it's shown.  It looks like a fuzzy picture of Elizabeth Taylor in her slip from "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" (1958),  The artist didn't even bother to change the hair color.

 

If you like melodramas to laugh at, this film's for you.  2.7/4.

 

Edit--Otto censored the actress's name.

 

 

I recorded this. Cant wait to see it! LOL.

[cigarjoe]

I just watched The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) for  probably the 10th time and it reminded me of something that brought me great joy in my pre-teen years.

 

My older brother and I used to tease my mother daily with a quotation from this movie. We drove her NUTS.

 

She would ask: Have you done your homework?

 

We would answer: We don't have to show you any stinkin' badges.

 

She would ask: Do you have your scarf and mittens?

 

We answered: We don't have to show you any stinkin' badges.

 

You get the picture. We laughed hysterically and used this line to block all efforts at maternal control. 

 

It may sound cruel but we loved it; and we still do it to her sometimes to this day, but now she laughs too. 

There was a spoof of this in a Western with John Astin (from The Addams Family) he's Mexican bandit and he's got a sheriff's badge, and he's saying the line while pouring whiskey on it and hammering at it with his revolver.

[speedracer5]

Scarlet Street

 

I watched this Fritz Lang noir last night.  It is apparently a remake of a 1931 French film called La Chienne which translates to "The B----" in English.  I assume that this title refers to the femme fatale in this film and boy did Joan Bennett's character live up to the name! 

 

This film stars Edward G. Robinson as a meek, mild mannered man, named Chris Cross,  who resides in Brooklyn.  He also enjoys painting as a hobby as it serves as his sanctuary away from his shrew of a wife and what he perceives as a lonely and loveless existence.  He also works as a cashier at what appears to be some type of department store.  He has a very fancy cashier booth as it's also an office and also holds the company's safe.  At the beginning of the film, Chris is being honored at a company party for 25 years of service to the company.  He is given a 14-carat gold pocket watch.  Chris' employer (a man presumably in his late 50s-mid 60s) then leaves the party and is seen getting into the vehicle with a young blonde woman, probably in her 20s.  Chris appears to be jealous and wonders out loud what it would be like to be loved by a young woman.  This scene sets the tone for what is portrayed to be Chris' midlife crisis.

 

After the party, Chris comes across Joan Bennett's character, Kitty, who is being accosted by her boyfriend, Johnny, portrayed by Dan Duryea (doesn't he play the slimy creeper so well?).  Before Chris can get a good look at Johnny's face, Johnny takes off.  Kitty thanks Chris for helping her out and they end up having a drink together at a bar.  Chris is unaware of Johnny's relationship to Kitty and Kitty lies to Chris telling him that Johnny is her roommate Millie's boyfriend.  Millie is portrayed by Margaret Lindsay.  While at the bar, Chris tells Kitty that he is a painter--neglecting to mention that he's never sold any of his work, even though he is never asked outright either.  Chris feels a connection with Kitty and asks that they're able to keep in touch via correspondence.  Kitty agrees.

 

Johnny gets wind of Kitty's acquaintance with Chris and together they scheme to take advantage of his naivety and liking of Kitty.  Johnny it seems is always in hock to someone for something and Kitty it seems, is too lazy to do any sort of legitimate work to earn money.  Kitty manages to get Chris to put her up in a studio apartment under the guise that Chris will be able to work on his paintings there.  It seems that Chris' wife cannot stand his painting in the house and thinks it is a worthless way to spend time.  Chris seems relieved that he'll have a quiet place to paint, free from his nagging wife. He'll get to spend time with Kitty. Eventually Johnny, needing more money, gets Kitty to obtain more and more money from Chris.  Eventually Chris steals his wife's insurance bonds and money from his employer.

 

The rest of the film involves Chris' slow descent into committing crimes that he would have never done otherwise and getting more and more involved with Kitty.  He also keeps having the nagging suspicion that something is just not right with Johnny, but cannot put his finger on it.  Eventually the whole plot unravels and by the end, everyone has to atone for what has happened.  

 

Edward G Robinson is such a versatile actor. He can play the heavy like in his early gangster pictures and then he can be the no-nonsense, shrewd type like in Double Indemnity, and he also plays the meek, mild mannered characters very well like in Scarlet Street and Woman in the Window.  You believe him when he seems too timid to speak up for himself and that he would allow himself to be led astray by a woman that he hardly knows.  One of the best scenes in this film is one of the scenes at the beginning where he reconsiders stealing from his employer.  He knows that that is wrong and thinks better of it.  Of course, eventually the temptation from Kitty is too great and he ends up betraying the trust of his longtime boss.  In this film, he forever seems confused and torn between doing what he knows is right and doing what he thinks he needs to do in order to earn Kitty's love.

 

What is interesting about this film is that neither Chris, nor Kitty, nor Johnny are straight up villain or victim.  Each character ends up being a villain and victim--which I think anyone could relate to.  Granted, most people probably wouldn't do what these characters end up doing, but I don't think everyone is 100% nice or 100% mean all the time.  Kitty's character, despite being a villain, is also very much a victim as she has been essentially emotionally and physically abused by her boyfriend.  She believes that his violence toward her is just his way of showing his love--sadly, this attitude and belief in domestic violence situations still hasn't changed.  There are glimpses into Kitty's character where she seemingly feels bad about what she and her boyfriend are doing to Chris.  However, in retrospect, the duplicitous nature of her character makes it hard to know whether she was being genuine.

 

Dan Duryea was so deliciously slimy, creepy and just a plain jerk that it made the end of the film even sweeter.  It definitely goes to show that karma comes around even if ultimately, it isn't fair in the slightest.  I don't know if I've ever seen a Duryea movie where he isn't a complete sleaze.  His persona works perfectly in the world of noir.

 

I also really liked Joan Bennett's character, even if she was awful.  She vacillated between "good" and "bad" so easily and quickly.  You never really know where she stood and what her deal was.  She was excellent in her femme fatale role and it was quite a departure from her mother character in Father of the Bride and There's Always Tomorrow.  

 

Margaret Lindsay was fine in her small role as Millie, Kitty's roommate.  She seemed to be the voice of reason in the entire film and an actual friend of Kitty's who really wanted her to dump Johnny and get her life straightened out.  She basically says as much toward the beginning of the film when she bemoans the state of Kitty's life and how she basically had her crap together before Johnny came into the picture. Kitty was gainfully employed and could keep up with her bills.  Now, she was basically a lump on the couch who didn't do anything and was completely broke all the time.  She was essentially a burden on poor Millie who presumably now is on the hook for the whole rent and all the utilities.  Millie however, doesn't have the heart to kick Kitty out.

 

I really enjoyed this film and the ending was quite crazy and trippy, but was perfect for what has happened by the end of the film.  

 

I know that this "argument" comes up a lot whenever either of these films are mentioned, but I think I slightly preferred Woman in the Window over Scarlet Street--even though I enjoyed both films. 

[Hibi]

I thought Eddie G. worked in some sort of bank?

[Fedya]

"Go Naked in the World" (1961)

Does anybody actually go naked?

[Hibi]

As a toddler maybe.....

[LawrenceA]

Does anybody actually go naked?

 

I did.

[Hibi]

I did.

 

 

LOL.

[Dargo]

Does anybody actually go naked?

 

Well, I DO remember some guy once famously "showed off his shortcomings" to the world right as David Niven was about to introduce Liz Taylor during an Oscar ceremony, anyway.

 

(...and I'm sure most you around here remember that too, doncha)

[Dargo]

 

Fedya, on 25 Sept 2017 - 1:12 PM, said:

 

Does anybody actually go naked?

 

 

I did.

 

Saaay, and SPEAKIN' of which...that guy wouldn't have happened to have been YOU now would it, Lawrence???

 

[speedracer5]

I thought Eddie G. worked in some sort of bank?

I thought so too at first but then the company is called "Hogarth & Co." or something like that, which to me sounds more like a store! I don't know if we ever see the rest of the company outside the cashiers office. Did stores back then have cashiers offices that were just for the employees? Maybe Eddie is more like the an accountant? We never see him doing any type of retail transactions or even working with customers.

[Fedya]

I thought Robinson's character was in what we'd call the payroll department nowadays.

 

I have a memory of there being a cashier's office at John Lund's workplace (an engineering firm) in The Mating Season since he has to take an advance on his salary, but I'm not certain.