I Just Watched...

[LornaHansonForbes]

I watched too outstanding but lesser known films last week, both on TCM On Demand.  The first was The Long Night with Henry Fonda, Vincent Price, Ann Dvorak and Barbara Bel Geddes.  I don't even know how to describe this film -- part noir, thriller, and "working man" as victim movie.  (Perhaps one of the first of Fond'a "wrong man" roles).  In any case, the performances, atmosphere, and the use of Beethoven's 7th symphony in the score, were remarkably compelling.  I had seen it once before several years ago and liked it, and the second time around, I appreciated it even more.

 

i've been having real problems with the sound sync on my cable and the picture locking up and I am STILL PEEVED about missing this one due to that (had to turn it off because the pic froze every 30 seconds), especially as it was recommended by a poster whose opinions I respect very much.

 

the weird thing is, THE MAN WHO WATCHED TRAINS (sic?) is available on my TCM ON DEMAND feature, but not THE LONG NIGHT, and i checked every day to see if it would be for a week after.

 

it seems like the TCM ON DEMAND options are not consistent across different cable systems and parts of the country....

[LornaHansonForbes]

"The Kiss of the Vampire" (1963)--Starring Clifford Evans, Edward De Souza, and Noel Willman.

 

Good Hammer effort, with a no-name cast.

 

 

 

Dem bats at the end tho...

[LornaHansonForbes]

with the awful events in the news heavy on my mind, i sat and watched THE PUBLIC ENEMY (1931) yesterday.

 

Mama's gettin' old, because I'd seen this before but did not remember much of it...

 

Better than LITTLE CAESAR, but not as good as SCARFACE: THE SHAME OF THE NATION, Cagney is electric, Harlow is AWFUL (but it makes you appreciate how stunning her complete turnaround as an actress was) and the direction of Wild Bill Wellman is still compelling.

 

it ended up being one of those TCM viewing experiences that was illuminating for me on a deep level.

 

there is a scene in the third act where two guys smash through some hotel windows with a couple of Tommy Guns (i think) and fire out into the street below. the effects of the violence on the citizenry- both the fear it instills and the dangerous allure it holds- are explored pretty well.

 

we tend to think that the problems of modern life are exclusive to this Digital "Brave New World" in which we live, and granted, they're exacerbated by modern innovations but- forgive me lack of eloquence here because I know no other way to say it: this **** has ALWAYS BEEN GOING ON.

 

(APOLOGIES to the moderator, i see you looking over my shoulder to make sure i'm behaving this morning, but again, just don't know any other way to phrase it.)

 

the prologue and epilogues to the movie shook me, speaking out from across the 80 year void clear as day:

 

" the hoodlums and terrorists of the underworld must be exposed and the glamour ripped from them"

 

"pointing the moral that civilization is on her knees and inquiring loudly as to what is to be done."

 

(and we still are.... )

[midwestan]

I watched too outstanding but lesser known films last week, both on TCM On Demand.  The first was The Long Night with Henry Fonda, Vincent Price, Ann Dvorak and Barbara Bel Geddes.  I don't even know how to describe this film -- part noir, thriller, and "working man" as victim movie.  (Perhaps one of the first of Fond'a "wrong man" roles).  In any case, the performances, atmosphere, and the use of Beethoven's 7th symphony in the score, were remarkably compelling.  I had seen it once before several years ago and liked it, and the second time around, I appreciated it even more.

 

I saw The Man Who Watched Trains, a British film with Claude Rains made in the early 50s.  I found it fascinating; Rains is a bookkeeper who unintentionally ends up on the run.  He really captures the sense of this ordinary and orderly little man who all of a sudden is put in dangerous situations in which he may be either the victim or the one with the upper hand.  He begins to really live a little for the first time, but also a little dangerously.  The supporting cast was also excellent, particularly Marta Torn and Marius Goring.  The color cinematography was outstanding on this one.

 

I also watched "The Man Who Watched Trains Go By" on TCM On Demand, since I dozed off when it aired last week.  Your synopsis is spot on.  On reflection, I think a good song to play over the end credits would have been Cyndi Lauper's "Money Changes Everything"!

[film lover 293]

"Vampire Circus" (1972)--Starring Adrienne Corri, John Moulder-Brown, and Lynne Frederick.

 

Very good Hammer/Rank Organization vampire movie.

 

In 1800's Europe, the villagers of Stetyl think they have gotten rid of an ancient evil that has plagued their town.  Flash forward fifteen years.  The townspeople are dying, one by one, of an unnamed plague that started with their priests.  The surrounding towns have blocked off all access to the village.  Then, a circus headed by a gypsy woman (Corri) comes to town and people who go to the circus start dying in strange ways.

 

Corri holds the film together as the ringmistress of the circus.  As one of the endangered lovers, Frederick goes from being incredibly stupid to very smart (check out the scene in the chapel near the film's end).  Moulder-Brown does well as the stubborn hero.  As the main vampire, Count Mitterhaus, Robert Tayman does a scary job.

 

Moray Grant (1970's "The Vampire Lovers" & "Scars of Dracula") did the cinematography.  David Whitaker contributed an eerie musical score.

 

Movie explores links between sex and vampirism.  As one character says "one hunger feeds another."

 

Film doesn't have the lush Hammer look, but it does have the vivid colors and the scares.  The script throws in some unlikely coincidences to keep the plot going, but these are minor flaws.

 

"Vampire Circus" is my find of the month, so far.  3.5/4.

 

Source--YouTube.  

 

This would be a marvelous film for TCM Underground in 2018.

[cigarjoe]

Jusqu'au dernier (1957) A good French Film Noir, Raymond Pellegrin (Fernand Bastia) is released from prison after a six month sentence. He goes into hiding at a traveling carnival where his sister Marcella is a fortune teller. The reason he is laying low is because he has double crossed his gang keeping a portion of the loot from a robbery just before he got pinched. Fernand gets a job being a carny barker, there he falls in love with Gina (Jeanne Moreau) but this gets another carney Quedchi jealous.

 

Fredo Riccioni (Paul Meurisse the headmaster from Les Diaboliques), the boss of the gang that pulled the robbery job eventually manages to trace Fernand back to the carnival. 

 

There are only a pitiful handful of French Film Noir readily available here, there should be more.

[LornaHansonForbes]

i'm trying to remember the details, but I want to say a Documentary about HAMMER HORROR had a section dedicated to VAMPIRE CIRCUS, and apparently some sort of money or business issue arose during filming- l cannot recall the specifics.

 

i was able to see it online a little while back and it is really interesting, but it seems as if there has just got to be some sort of backstory as to why it seems like two different films mashed together- as I remember it, the focus shifts in the second part and some characters disappear entirely and some plot lines are left dangling...?

 

Anthony Higgins (nee' Corlan) is really sexy, but I seem to recall he's introduced as the chief antagonist but then doesn't have much of a presence later on...?

 

or maybe, it being 1972 and all, everyone was HIGH AS HELL while making this, which you know, also explains a lot.

[LornaHansonForbes]

i have to note that the fangs in VAMPIRE CIRCUS really are fantastic.

 

[film lover 293]

LornaHansonForbes--One question and a note I should have included in my review:

 

Did you see Vampire Circus prior to 2010?  Because the first releases were minus five minutes or so, due to content.  If you saw it online, be aware that there are censored versions out there--the full version should run 1 hour, 27 minutes, and some seconds (imdb is short a minute or two).

 

VC is the rare horror film where you have to listen carefully.  Important plot points are whispered, groaned, and given while other distracting events are going on.  If you don't catch that the curse involves the descendants (that important plot point is given once while groaned, once in a throwaway line, and is not mentioned again) the viewer will be confused.  I had to keep track of who is related to whom in the film to avoid confusion.  This, plus your theories, pretty much explains things.

 

BTW--there are two Hammer documentaries on YT.

[LornaHansonForbes]

LornaHansonForbes--One question and a note I should have included in my review:

 

Did you see Vampire Circus prior to 2010?  Because the first releases were minus five minutes or so, due to content.  If you saw it online, be aware that there are censored versions out there--the full version should run 1 hour, 27 minutes, and some seconds (imdb is short a minute or two).

 

VC is the rare horror film where you have to listen carefully.  Important plot points are whispered, groaned, and given while other distracting events are going on.  If you don't catch that the curse involves the descendants (that important plot point is given once while groaned, once in a throwaway line, and is not mentioned again) the viewer will be confused.  I had to keep track of who is related to whom in the film to avoid confusion.  This, plus your theories, pretty much explains things.

 

BTW--there are two Hammer documentaries on YT.

 

dang.

Imma' bout to have to rewatch it.

it's been a long time...and there's a 99.999999% chance I was high when I saw it.

[film lover 293]

Lorna--This one is worth watching clear-eyed.  Be aware this film may play games with your head.  Don't get fond of the characters.  Watch for shapeshifters.

[LornaHansonForbes]

Lorna--This one is worth watching clear-eyed.

 

1. Hmmm.....yeah...we'll see on that.

 

Be aware this film may play games with your head.

 

2. I'm down. 

 

Don't get fond of the characters.

 

3. Um, you do remember who you're talking to here, right?

[LornaHansonForbes]

Lorna--Watch for shapeshifters.

 

I ALWAYS DO!

HOMIGAH!

IT'S LIKE YOU'RE IN MY HEAD, MAN!!!!!!

[EricJ]

Lorna--This one is worth watching clear-eyed.  Be aware this film may play games with your head.  Don't get fond of the characters.  Watch for shapeshifters.

 

I'll second that:  Late-60's/early-70's Hammer is too good to watch under any condition besides clear-eyed.

 

Even if you're a classic Doctor Who fan swooning over Lalla Ward's first screen appearance, remember the title....

[kingrat]

Jusqu'au dernier (1957) A good French Film Noir, Raymond Pellegrin (Fernand Bastia) is released from prison after a six month sentence. He goes into hiding at a traveling carnival where his sister Marcella is a fortune teller. The reason he is laying low is because he has double crossed his gang keeping a portion of the loot from a robbery just before he got pinched. Fernand gets a job being a carny barker, there he falls in love with Gina (Jeanne Moreau) but this gets another carney Quedchi jealous.

 

Fredo Riccioni (Paul Meurisse the headmaster from Les Diaboliques), the boss of the gang that pulled the robbery job eventually manages to trace Fernand back to the carnival. 

 

There are only a pitiful handful of French Film Noir readily available here, there should be more.

Joe, did you see this on DVD or on a website? Thanks for the heads up. I'd seen some excellent French noirs like Voici le temps des assassins and Dedee d'Anvers on a website which is now blocked.

[cigarjoe]

Joe, did you see this on DVD or on a website? Thanks for the heads up. I'd seen some excellent French noirs like Voici le temps des assassins and Dedee d'Anvers on a website which is now blocked.

Youtube, kingrat, I wish it was on a DVD, judging from this one there are probably more good ones we've never seen. 

[scsu1975]

Five Gates to Hell (1959) FXM Retro

 

Well, at least the setting is unique – Vietnam, 1950. A band of Vietnamese guerillas invade a French hospital camp and carry off the nurses and doctors to perform an operation on some old geezer who is gonna croak anyway. The nurses are subjected to various atrocities (the worst of which is being cast in this film) before the inevitable breakout. This is about as close to an exploitation film as you can get from a major studio (20^th Century Fox) considering the time period. The movie was shot in Cinemascope, although the print I saw was cropped.

 

Neville Brand, as the guerilla leader, looks as Asian as Mantan Moreland. His slicked-down hair doesn’t help, either. He speaks in broken English. He yells out commands in what I assume is supposed to be Vietnamese, although I suspect he was really saying “get my ****ing agent!” Dolores Michaels plays a nurse that Brand has the hots for. Nancy Kulp plays an ugly nurse that no one has the hots for. Ken Scott plays a doctor. Shirley Knight plays a nun. Benson Fong plays an Asian. Audience plays with their cell phones.

 

The climax isn’t half bad, nor is it half good. I am no military strategist, but I’m pretty sure if the enemy is firing at you, you don’t stand out in the open. Also, there is another lesson to be learned here. Never let Nancy Kulp anywhere near a hand grenade.

 

[speedracer5]

Ugh! I just lost tons of potential I Just Watched... entries.  The hard drive on my DVR died and I have to get it replaced.  I lost 300+ films, including the Noir Alley features I'd been planning to watch.  I also lost the movies I was saving that aren't on DVD.  

 

Saddest losses:

 

The Wonderful World of Tupperware

The Long Long Trailer (my actual copy was damaged in the great flood of '16)

Sudden Fear

Penelope

Roller Boogie

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Summer Magic

 

[scsu1975]

Ugh! I just lost tons of potential I Just Watched... entries.  The hard drive on my DVR died and I have to get it replaced.  I lost 300+ films, including the Noir Alley features I'd been planning to watch.  I also lost the movies I was saving that aren't on DVD.  

 

Saddest losses:

 

The Wonderful World of Tupperware

The Long Long Trailer (my actual copy was damaged in the great flood of '16)

Sudden Fear

Penelope

Roller Boogie

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Summer Magic

Ouch, that's tough. Roller Boogie is available on youtube. "I used to haaaaaaaaaaaaate to skate, now I can't wait."

[speedracer5]

Ouch, that's tough. Roller Boogie is available on youtube. "I used to haaaaaaaaaaaaate to skate, now I can't wait."

 

Lol.  I've seen it before, but good to know it's on YouTube if I need to get my fix.  I know that it's on in December as part of a double feature with Xanadu.   I like when Linda Blair declares her intentions to give up her flautist scholarship at Julliard to enter the Roller Disco competition.

 

I've always wondered: Presumably the Roller Disco competition was just a one-time thing at the end of the summer.  How does this interfere with attending school?

[EricJ]

Ugh! I just lost tons of potential I Just Watched... entries.  The hard drive on my DVR died and I have to get it replaced.  I lost 300+ films, including the Noir Alley features I'd been planning to watch.  I also lost the movies I was saving that aren't on DVD.  

 

So, what have we learned today, Billy, about "Disk vs. Digital"?  

(As for Summer Magic, that is available on Vudu, if it's too hard to find on disk by now.)

Lol.  I've seen it before, but good to know it's on YouTube if I need to get my fix.  I know that it's on in December as part of a double feature with Xanadu.   I like when Linda Blair declares her intentions to give up her flautist scholarship at Julliard to enter the Roller Disco competition.

 

And since we've got enough time till December, let's see a show of hands of who here HASN'T yet seen Xanadu (we've heard all, yes, all the jokes, thank you, and fans can explain why each and every one of them is wrong), so we can start the Re-Education Program in time for the airing?

[athomed]

I just rewatched Cat People tonight and Son of Dracula last night. The last couple minutes of Son of Dracula are pretty terrific but Cat People is just better. It's amazing to watch Lewton and Tourneur work their magic, the use of shadows, the suspense. Simone Simon never looked better than as the alluring and conflicted Irena. Top notch stuff at a breezy seventy-three minutes.

[TomJH]

Ugh! I just lost tons of potential I Just Watched... entries.  The hard drive on my DVR died and I have to get it replaced.  I lost 300+ films, including the Noir Alley features I'd been planning to watch.  I also lost the movies I was saving that aren't on DVD.  

 

 

Sorry for your loss, speedracer. I record upon a DVD recorder and put everything on discs.

 

I am constantly besieged by cable providers wanting me to switch to their product, telling me of the wonders of DVRs. What happened to you is my big fear of a DVR. Besides that I like having films on individual discs. If one disc goes bad (which so far, knock on wood, hasn't happened) I lose one film, not 300.

 

[LornaHansonForbes]

I just rewatched Cat People tonight and Son of Dracula last night. The last couple minutes of Son of Dracula are pretty terrific but Cat People is just better. It's amazing to watch Lewton and Tourneur work their magic, the use of shadows, the suspense. Simone Simon never looked better than as the alluring and conflicted Irena. Top notch stuff at a breezy seventy-three minutes.

 

 

I'm not really a CAT PEOPLE person, never have been, but I have always really, really, really liked THE CURSE OF THE CAT PEOPLE since first I saw it as a child...

 

and i know this is odd, because i'm not one prone to sentiment...but it really is a lovely film.

[speedracer5]

Sorry for your loss, speedracer. I record upon a DVD recorder and put everything on discs.

 

I am constantly besieged by cable providers wanting me to switch to their product, telling me of the wonders of DVRs. What happened to you is my big fear of a DVR. Besides that I like having films on individual discs. If one disc goes bad (which so far, knock on wood, hasn't happened) I lose one film, not 300.

 

 

I didn't lose my movie collection.  I have tons of movies on DVD.  I lost the movies that I'd recorded off TCM that I was waiting to watch.  There were only a select few that I had saved on the DVR that I had seen and either a) hadn't located a copy to purchase yet or b ) the movie is not available on DVD for purchase. 

 

I typically wouldn't bother with recording movies to disk that I hadn't seen before.  What if I don't like the movie and then I've wasted a perfectly good disk?  I typically only purchase a film if I've seen it and decided that I would like to watch it again.  I'm not into just obtaining films for the sake of it, I am trying to build up a good collection of films that I like.