I Just Watched...

[TomJH]

King of the Khyber Rifles (1953).

 

There were a few British Empire action films, often set in India, turned out by the Hollywood studios during the '50s, nostalgic throwbacks to the cycle of similar epics churned out by the studios in the late '30s. None of the '50s efforts are particularly noteworthy, however, certainly none of them in league with the likes of Gunga Din, Charge of the Light Brigade, Lives of a Bengal Lancer or, from Britain, Korda's great The Four Feathers.

 

King of the Khyber Rifles was a 20th Century Fox CinemaScope effort, directed by Henry King, with only superficial similarities to either the novel by Talbot Mundy or the earlier film version (John Ford's The Black Watch of 1929).

 

Tyrone Power, in his last completed costume film, plays a half caste officer on the Indian frontier who must deal with prejudice among his brother officers (one of whom is very polite but moves out of their shared living quarters when he discovers Power's mother was Muslim). But he is also actively pursued by the headstrong daughter (Terry Moore) of his commanding officer (Michael Rennie).

 

This is a disappointing production, never springing to life either dramatically or as an action adventure. In fact, under King's pedestrian, largely meandering direction, there is very little in the way of action to be found in this film.

 

Power, who was openly tired of being cast by Fox in costume epics, is noticeably subdued in this film. Moore seems very impulsively American as the daughter of the British general, while Rennie gives a nicely dignified portrayal as her father who is broad minded when it comes to non whites serving in the military but not so much as to want to have one in the family.

 

The one flamboyant performance in the film is that of Guy Rolfe, as Power's former boyhood friend, Karram Khan, who now leads the hill people against the British usurpers of their land. Rolfe's character is ruthless, though he does shows signs of a personal code of honour.

 

Bernard Herrmann contributes a truly rousing epic musical score to the production, much better than the film deserves. Typical of a film of squandered opportunities, however, Herrmann's great effort is only heard under the film's opening titles. What a waste.

 

For whatever reason King of the Khyber Rifles has never been released on DVD in North America, one of the few Power films in which this is the case. A letter boxed version can be found on You Tube. If nothing else, click on it for the first two minutes to hear Herrmann's great score.

 

 

2 out of 4

[LawrenceA]

For whatever reason King of the Khyber Rifles has never been released on DVD in North America, one of the few Power films in which this is the case.

 

This used to be shown quite frequently on the FXM, or Fox Movie, channel.

[TomJH]

This used to be shown quite frequently on the FXM, or Fox Movie, channel.

 

The one shown on Fox was wide screen, too.

[EricJ]

"You see it without glasses in CINEMASCOPE!" 

 

(facepalm)

 

...How many years have we 3D supporters faced this kind of idiocy and persecution?  

[NickAndNora34]

The Doctor Takes a Wife (1940): starring Loretta Young, Ray Milland, Gail Patrick, and Kris Kringle, er, I mean, Edmund Gwenn (ever since seeing the original 1947 Miracle on 34th Street as a kid, this is all I ever end up remembering him as). 

 

Milland plays a doctor who meets Young at a little vacation lodge one afternoon. Young is trying to get back to her home in the city, but unfortunately is forced to ride with Milland after learning that the lodge's only train has already left for the night. Milland and Young immediately hit it off (I'm kidding, they hate each other's guts) and only descend deeper into dissension after Milland unknowingly insults the books Young writes. Any guesses as to what kind of books Young writes? If you said "I don't know, anything to do with anti-marriage/female empowerment," ding ding ding! We have a winner (not that there's anything wrong with female empowerment, mind you).

 

Young and Milland make a brief stop while a wedding is going on. Unfortunately, a little boy, on a mission from God (I'm kidding, it's a mission from the preacher) mistakes the wedding vehicle and puts a "Just Married" banner on the back of Milland's car, unbeknownst to either Young or Milland. The press ends up following the two back to Young's apartment and put 2 and 2 together. Unfortunately, they put 2 and 2 together and ended up with 5. Assuming that this prominent anti-marriage authoress has gotten married, they then proceed to print the news all over town, not realizing that this is a case of jumping to conclusions, or "ignorant slander," if you will. 

 

Young's boyfriend Johnny has the idea that the 2 should pretend like they actually ARE married in order to help Young's upcoming book sell very well (the upcoming book has to do with the joys of marriage, etc). Boy, didn't see this coming (wink, wink). After some strong protest from Milland, Young finally gets her way and the two proceed to live together somewhat peacefully until Milland's girlfriend Marilyn (Gail Patrick) shows up and begins to wreak havoc (Gail surprised me in this, she doesn't play her borderline venomous, straight-shooter kind of role in this; she's more of a young Ann Miller-type?) 

 

All in all, things get all wrapped up with a nice red bow at the ending, which I wasn't really expecting (wink, wink). I'd give this one a 3.5/5, as I've seen funnier (case in point, Bringing up Baby, Merrily We Live with Constance Bennett, or My Man Godfrey with Powell/Lombard). But Loretta Young is quite funny in this  

 

FOUND ON YOUTUBE

[HoldenIsHere]

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

 

 

Did you lose THE LEGEND OF LYLAH CLARE before seeing it?

[LornaHansonForbes]

Did you lose THE LEGEND OF LYLAH CLARE before seeing it?

IF THE ANSWER IS "yes"- then trust me, the heavens worked in you favor.

 

(Don't listen to Holden, HE NEEDS HELP.)

[marcar]

I just watched Gimme Shelter by the Maysles Brothers and tho it was a sad counterpoint to Woodstock it brought back many groupie memories. And some bittersweet ones.

 

In 1989, twenty years after Altamont, I saw the Stones on their Steel Wheels tour, and although Mick and the Boys were a lot older it was still thrilling to see them.

 

What struck me about the movie was the innocence of that time. Like Judy and Micky, people just rented a field and said "Hey, let's put on a show". It's kind of crazy to think about that kind of thing now. (Unless Burning Man is like that...but I don't know anything about that event). How about we get 300,000 people in a field, charge them nothing and play music all day and night. Groovy. Oh, and let's have the Hell's Angels do security. Far out.

 

When I saw the Stones it was in a football stadium, with chairs on the field and LOTS of police and security guards. We sat in the 4th row and watched Mick emerge down a flight of stairs, dressed like the Vampire Lestat in a red velvet jacket and ruffled white shirt. (That's Anne Rice's Dracula a la Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise). There was a barrier between the stage and the audience; no naked girls pushing to the front or crazed fans rushing the stage. How civilized...

 

Anyway, the movie brought back mixed feelings. I was 13 in 69 and I wanted to be part of that scene, not the violence but the "happenings". When I saw the Stones I was 33 and the tickets were a present from my ex-husband for my birthday. C'est la vie.

[speedracer5]

Did you lose THE LEGEND OF LYLAH CLARE before seeing it?

 

Yes :'( I will have to wait for it to repeat.

 

It's for sale on WB Archives... but I don't know if I want to purchase this film.  I don't typically buy movies unless I've seen them first.

[speedracer5]

IF THE ANSWER IS "yes"- then trust me, the heavens worked in you favor.

 

(Don't listen to Holden, HE NEEDS HELP.)

 

Lol! I just want to see it out of morbid curiosity.  I've heard so much about it!

[LawrenceA]

Yes :'( I will have to wait for it to repeat.

 

It's for sale on WB Archives... but I don't know if I want to purchase this film.  I don't typically buy movies unless I've seen them first.

 

You should buy it. In fact, go ahead and get two copies, and put one in a safety deposit box, just in case.

[ChristineHoard]

Yes :'( I will have to wait for it to repeat.

 

It's for sale on WB Archives... but I don't know if I want to purchase this film.  I don't typically buy movies unless I've seen them first.

 

Save your money.

[speedracer5]

Save your money.

 

Lol.  I will probably wait for it to repeat.  With movies like these, I'll either agree with everyone and find it awful or it'll end up being one of those "So bad, they're good" movies for me, like Roller Boogie, and I end up loving it. 

[speedracer5]

You should buy it. In fact, go ahead and get two copies, and put one in a safety deposit box, just in case.

 

Lol!

[kingrat]

I was excited about getting to see Le cercle rouge on TCM. Too excited, for this was a serious disappointment. If this is how the film is supposed to look, then I think Henri Decae's cinematography wrecks the film. Most of the scenes look so unnecessarily dark that I could be watching almost any dramatic show on TV these days. It would be a reasonable assumption that the "Prince of Darkness" himself, Gordon Willis, used Decae's work in Le cercle rouge (1970) as the basis for his similar work in Klute (1971) (I loathe the cinematography of Klute) and the dark interiors (which I dislike) of The Godfather. Decae has two very fine moments in the film: the criminals in a darkened room pulling on their white plastic gloves (this is brilliant) and Yves Montand making his way up the staircase in a black-and-white interior.

 

The big heist scene in Le cercle rouge is clearly based on similar scenes in The Asphalt Jungle and Rififi, and the comparison is simply brutal. Imagine Rififi in color, but you can't see much of what's going on, and you'll have a good idea of what Le cercle rouge is like. If Rififi and The Asphalt Jungle get 10 out of 10 for suspense, Le cercle rouge is about 4 out of 10 for suspense for its big heist sequence. As for the final shootout, it occurs in total darkness, and we only learn the fate of the characters because someone else reports it to us.

 

Melville gets remarkably little out of a great cast that includes Alain Delon, Yves Montand, Andre Bourvil, and Gian Maria Volonte. This isn't the kind of film that concentrates on character or even plot, but most directors would have made their presence count for more. I have liked the other Melville films I've seen, and I usually love Henri Decae's work (Purple Noon, to name only one). Decae dominates the director the way Gordon Willis dominates Alan J. Pakula in Klute, and Decae's approach in Le cercle rouge contradicts the style he brought to the early New Wave films he photographed.

[cigarjoe]

Before The Devil Knows You're Dead (2007) New York Noir

 

 

Dysfunctional family noir. 

 

Directed by the legendary Sidney Lumet (12 Angry Men (1957), The Fugitive Kind (1960), The Pawnbroker (1964), Fail-Safe (1964), Serpico (1973), Dog Day Afternoon (1975), The Verdict (1982)). He was one of the busiest directors of the post studio era. This was his last feature film before his death in 2011.

 

The cinematography was by Ron Fortunato and the music was by Carter Burwell (Fargo (1996), Miller's Crossing (1990), Barton Fink (1991)).

 

Everything a Noir should be. It's about slimeballs. It's about losers. It's about family. It's about infidelity. It's about desperation. It's about dead ends and about broken dreams. A get rich quick scheme.  A simple story of a robbery that's gone horribly, horribly, wrong. It's about Murphy's Law.

 

The story is told nicely in individual flashbacks that sort of rewind, overlap, and take off from different character's points of view. The acting from all the principals is intense. Charles Hanson, played by Albert Finney is at first devastated, then resigned and finally desperate as he goes on a quiet vendetta when the police seem to be blowing him off. Philip Seymour Hoffman's Andy is tragic, he  gives a tour de force going very convincingly the full range of human emotions. Watch for Michael Shannon as Dex the scummy brother in law of dead Bobby who puts the touch on Hank to cover the loss of Bobby for his sister and her daughter. Hell, he doesn't want to be stuck with taking care of her.

 

Excellent last film for Lumet, excellent family Neo Noir, like a train wreck that you can't stop watching. 9/10 Review with more screencaps here in Film Noir/Gangster page and with more here: https://noirsville.blogspot.com/2017/10/before-devil-knows-youre-dead-2007-new.html

 

[cigarjoe]

I was excited about getting to see Le cercle rouge on TCM. Too excited, for this was a serious disappointment. If this is how the film is supposed to look, then I think Henri Decae's cinematography wrecks the film. Most of the scenes look so unnecessarily dark that I could be watching almost any dramatic show on TV these days. It would be a reasonable assumption that the "Prince of Darkness" himself, Gordon Willis, used Decae's work in Le cercle rouge (1970) as the basis for his similar work in Klute (1971) (I loathe the cinematography of Klute) and the dark interiors (which I dislike) of The Godfather. Decae has two very fine moments in the film: the criminals in a darkened room pulling on their white plastic gloves (this is brilliant) and Yves Montand making his way up the staircase in a black-and-white interior.

 

The big heist scene in Le cercle rouge is clearly based on similar scenes in The Asphalt Jungle and Rififi, and the comparison is simply brutal. Imagine Rififi in color, but you can't see much of what's going on, and you'll have a good idea of what Le cercle rouge is like. If Rififi and The Asphalt Jungle get 10 out of 10 for suspense, Le cercle rouge is about 4 out of 10 for suspense for its big heist sequence. As for the final shootout, it occurs in total darkness, and we only learn the fate of the characters because someone else reports it to us.

 

Melville gets remarkably little out of a great cast that includes Alain Delon, Yves Montand, Andre Bourvil, and Gian Maria Volonte. This isn't the kind of film that concentrates on character or even plot, but most directors would have made their presence count for more. I have liked the other Melville films I've seen, and I usually love Henri Decae's work (Purple Noon, to name only one). Decae dominates the director the way Gordon Willis dominates Alan J. Pakula in Klute, and Decae's approach in Le cercle rouge contradicts the style he brought to the early New Wave films he photographed.

You need a new TV. I just watched and it looked fine.

[LsDoorMat]

Let's Get Married (1937) Columbia

 

Stars Walter Connolly as a kingmaker/politician who is comically crooked versus seriously crooked. After all, this is a screwball comedy. Ida Lupino plays his grown daughter who calls him by his first name - Joe. He calls her "red". Connolly is trying to engineer a marriage between his daughter and the son of a society scion, played by Reginald Denny. Denny plays an affable but clueless guy, and Connolly is helping Denny run for congressman. Lupino's character, with her fierce Irish temper, is already friendly with Denny, but is furious with her dad when she finds out he is trying to get her married to this empty suit so he can break into society. She is telling him off when a weather balloon contraption falls from the sky and hits her in the head. It has a tag saying "Return to Kirk Duncan". Oh for the days before anybody worried about being sued for stuff like this falling from the sky. Duncan is played by Ralph Bellamy, who is the self confident scientific type and works for the federal weather bureau.

 

So Lupino and Bellamy go back and forth trying to get/return the weather balloon - which turns out to be an invention of Bellamy's character - but they keep getting into heated arguments and the thing just never seems to get returned. But, of course, the heated arguments are just cover for sexual tension, which slowly the characters give into. Meanwhile, Connolly is having a hard time delivering the rural vote for Denny. The rural kingmaker Connolly is bargaining with  wants two judgeships in return for the rural vote. But Connolly realizes the rural vote won't turn out if it rains...and he realizes his daughter's new friend can forecast the weather. Will Bellamy sacrifice his  professional integrity to help his new love's dad? Will he be insulted by the whole idea? Watch and find out.

 

I really loved this film. It got the best out of all three lead characters - Lupino, Bellamy, and Connolly. And what a weird premise - a weather balloon as phallic symbol. I have no idea why such an inventive film has such a banal title and why it is not better known. I'd give it 8/10.

[LornaHansonForbes]

Checked out VAMPIRE CIRCUS online.

Recommended.

 

(Sorry, not feeling overly verbose today)

[JamesJazGuitar]

Let's Get Married (1937) Columbia

 

Stars Walter Connolly as a kingmaker/politician who is comically crooked versus seriously crooked. After all, this is a screwball comedy. Ida Lupino plays his grown daughter who calls him by his first name - Joe. He calls her "red". Connolly is trying to engineer a marriage between his daughter and the son of a society scion, played by Reginald Denny. Denny plays an affable but clueless guy, and Connolly is helping Denny run for congressman. Lupino's character, with her fierce Irish temper, is already friendly with Denny, but is furious with her dad when she finds out he is trying to get her married to this empty suit so he can break into society. She is telling him off when a weather balloon contraption falls from the sky and hits her in the head. It has a tag saying "Return to Kirk Duncan". Oh for the days before anybody worried about being sued for stuff like this falling from the sky. Duncan is played by Ralph Bellamy, who is the self confident scientific type and works for the federal weather bureau.

 

So Lupino and Bellamy go back and forth trying to get/return the weather balloon - which turns out to be an invention of Bellamy's character - but they keep getting into heated arguments and the thing just never seems to get returned. But, of course, the heated arguments are just cover for sexual tension, which slowly the characters give into. Meanwhile, Connolly is having a hard time delivering the rural vote for Denny. The rural kingmaker Connolly is bargaining with  wants two judgeships in return for the rural vote. But Connolly realizes the rural vote won't turn out if it rains...and he realizes his daughter's new friend can forecast the weather. Will Bellamy sacrifice his  professional integrity to help his new love's dad? Will he be insulted by the whole idea? Watch and find out.

 

I really loved this film. It got the best out of all three lead characters - Lupino, Bellamy, and Connolly. And what a weird premise - a weather balloon as phallic symbol. I have no idea why such an inventive film has such a banal title and why it is not better known. I'd give it 8/10.

 

How did you see this film?    My guess is that is why it isn't better known;   I.e.  there is no network that I know of, that features 30s Columbia films,  other then Get-TV  (and their rotation is very limited).  

 

PS:  Get-TV did feature the Lone Wolf serial with Warren William.   The Lone Wolf Spy Hunt featured Ida Lupino and Rita Hayworth.     They also featured the Boston B-l-a-c-k-I-e films with Chester Morris.

 

I wish TCM would feature more 30s Columbia films especially those with Jean Arthur.     

[LornaHansonForbes]

To film lover and anyone else who is interested, there is a very good foUR part documentary on YouTube specifically about hammer's vampire films called LEGEND OF THE HAMMER VAMPIRES.

 

The very first few minutes of part four talk about the problems the studio had during the making of VAMPIRE CURCUS and how production was ultimately affected.

 

The whole doc is great tho, very dry British narrator and a lot of interesting behind the scenes footage.

[RoyCronin]

Our Poster Named Lorna Loquacious

 

Wouldn't Speak at Great Length, Goodness Gracious!

 

A Lorna So Mute

Just Does Not Compute

 

Because She is Often Outrageous!

[Fedya]

Ice Castles (1978).

 

Lynn-Holly Johnson makes her screen debut as Alexis, an Iowa figure skater living with her widower father (Tom Skeritt). She's got promise, and a coach takes her on. The first hour or so of the movie plays out like it could be an interesting exposé on the people who exploit amateur athletes.

 

But then the film veers into melodrama when Alexis has an on-ice accident that has her in a temporary coma and then after she awakens, still near-blind. She pities herself to the point that expected her to shriek "Where's the rest of me" in response to her missing eyesight.

 

Robbie Benson was hired for his good-by-1970s-standards looks to play the part of her chronic quitter boyfriend Nick. He's dropped out of college, and then quits hockey. And he quits Alexis when he sees a creepy sports reporter putting the moves on her. Benson does get to channel Bruno Antony in one scene however when he's watching Alexis at a competition.

 

Eventually everybody comes around and tries to get Alexis back into competition, which results in the movie becoming filled with comical plot holes. Really nobody knew about her condition despite the fact that she was being touted as a future world/Olympic champion?

 

5/10 if you're looking for a good movie; 7/10 if you're looking for a good comedy.

[LornaHansonForbes]

Our Poster Named Lorna Loquacious

 

Wouldn't Speak at Great Length, Goodness Gracious!

 

A Lorna So Mute

Just Does Not Compute

 

Because She is Often Outrageous!

❤️

[LsDoorMat]

Ice Castles (1978).

 

Lynn-Holly Johnson makes her screen debut as Alexis, an Iowa figure skater living with her widower father (Tom Skeritt). She's got promise, and a coach takes her on. The first hour or so of the movie plays out like it could be an interesting exposé on the people who exploit amateur athletes.

 

But then the film veers into melodrama when Alexis has an on-ice accident that has her in a temporary coma and then after she awakens, still near-blind. She pities herself to the point that expected her to shriek "Where's the rest of me" in response to her missing eyesight.

 

Robbie Benson was hired for his good-by-1970s-standards looks to play the part of her chronic quitter boyfriend Nick. He's dropped out of college, and then quits hockey. And he quits Alexis when he sees a creepy sports reporter putting the moves on her. Benson does get to channel Bruno Antony in one scene however when he's watching Alexis at a competition.

 

Eventually everybody comes around and tries to get Alexis back into competition, which results in the movie becoming filled with comical plot holes. Really nobody knew about her condition despite the fact that she was being touted as a future world/Olympic champion?

 

5/10 if you're looking for a good movie; 7/10 if you're looking for a good comedy.

 

And we have another movie with a good song on the end credits - "Through the Eyes Of Love" by Melissa Manchester. I think there was an earlier thread about this subject.