I Just Watched...

[LornaHansonForbes]

Found myself home 20 minutes in to CLUNY BROWN And here I am watching the damn thing again. God I love this movie. You really do need to see it multiple times to appreciate how clever the Script is

[LawrenceA]

The Toast of New York (1937) - Fictionalized biopic from RKO and director Rowland V. Lee (who replaced Alexander Hall). Jim Fisk (Edward Arnold), along with friends and fellow unscrupulous businessmen Nick (Cary Grant) and Luke (Jack Oakie), make a fortune during the Civil War smuggling cotton across state lines, only to lose it all. They manage to turn that loss into a win when they trick railroad man Daniel Drew (Donald Meek), setting them all up to compete with Cornelius Vanderbilt (Clarence Kolb) for richest speculator on Wall Street. Things turn tricky when Jim and Nick both fall for struggling actress Josie Mansfield (Frances Farmer), but since Jim looks like Edward Arnold and Nick looks like Cary Grant, you know where this is headed. Also featuring Thelma Leeds, Billy Gilbert, George Irving, Russell Hicks, Dudley Clements, Lionel Belmore, Dewey Robinson, Oscar Apfel, Joyce Compton, Gavin Gordon, and Stanley Fields.

I think I may have seen this about 20 years ago, and before I started keeping track of what I watched. It may also just be that Arnold played these types of roles a lot, the sort that Edward G. Robinson also played frequently. The business shenanigans are the draw here, as the romantic angle is routine to the point of cliche. Donald Meek has one of his better roles as a real weasel of a double-dealer. There's a brief scene with Stanley Fields leading a gang of toughs called the "Bowery Boys", and they're based on the same people that served as the basis of Scorsese's Gangs of New York.   (7/10)

Source: TCM.

[laffite]

On 1/22/2018 at 7:19 PM, speedracer5 said:

It's always refreshing when a film does not feature a "Ritchie Petrie" type kid.  Ugh. I just watched The Dick Van Dyke Show the other day, and there was Ritchie.  Screaming again.  Why Dick Van Dyke, Mary Tyler Moore, Rose Marie, Carl Reiner, anybody couldn't just tell that kid to speak at a normal speaking level is beyond me.  I know not every kid can be Ron Howard, but even Little Ricky from I Love Lucy was better than Ritchie.  The kids from The Brady Bunch are infinitely better than Ritchie.  I am just glad that Ritchie was more of a background character and the plots didn't focus on him very often. Rob and Laura seemed to send Ritchie to bed a lot, probably because he was so irritating.

Good thing he never grew up.

 

[RosieSayer]

I watched Horse Feathers today. I vaguely remembered there was some nice harp playing by Harpo in it, and I wanted to see that again. I ended up laughing out loud at the end (the ridiculous football game with banana peels and a chariot). I don't watch the Marx Brothers very often, but I'm tempted to go through this whole movie again, noting all the jokes. There was one that I remembered but not clearly, and I didn't remember which Marx Brothers film it was in, so I was happy to come across it again. It's the one about Chico having a chauffeur, but he had to sell his car. He explains he couldn't afford both. Groucho says he would have gotten rid of the chauffeur and kept the car. Chico says that's no good, he needs the chauffeur to drive him to work. Groucho asks how he can drive him to work without a car, and Chico says it's ok, because he doesn't have a job. There were several other jokes of this type in the movie.

I don't know which Marx Brothers movie is my favorite, but I really enjoyed this one.

[LornaHansonForbes]

I think CLUNY BROWN Is now one of my 10 favorite films of all time.

 

ps-OMG THAT FUR BAG JJ HAS IN THE END SCENE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[laffite]

On 1/23/2018 at 8:33 AM, Hibi said:

Doris went so bonkers in that staircase scene, (you notice they fade out in that scene) that they had to shut down production to let her recover. She claimed in her memoirs it brought back memories of her first husband who was an alcoholic and beat her........

The staircase scene didn't work for me. It was overdone and amateurish. You need training for that type of acting and I don't she had it. I didn't dislike the scene for that reason, per se, but because it didn't play well to me. Not to malign dear Doris, she probably never took a singing lesson in her life. She was virtually a natural in that department as well as with comic timing. I have always loved her and for awhile some years back I sent her a birthday card every year. Aw ... , I know ; but what the heck, anyone can have a crush once in awhile.

[Hibi]

She wasnt acting in that scene. She really was hysterical. Maybe why it didnt work. They faded out quickly on that scene and shut down production. Doris never took any acting lessons, but she did take singing lessons! I've been signing her group birthday cards for some years now. I doubt she has the time to read all the comments, but I'm sure it lifts her spirits. They are already planning her birthday celebration in Carmel for this April. (96!)

[marcar]

"Cannery Row in Monterey in California is a poem, a stink, a grating noise, a quality of light, a tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a dream."  That's how John Steinbeck's 1945 novel begins, but the 1982 movie of the same name includes none of it. It's what I call an "anachronistic" movie: that is, a movie made in the 80s about a novel written in the 40s about a time during the Great Depression. There are so many things wrong with this movie that I don't know where to start. It's anachronistic because it can't seem to penetrate the time period in which it's set, but instead uses a modern sensibility in everything from dialogue and language, to cinematography to little things like hairstyles and costumes. It pretends to be showing the 40s but it's like a bad stage play that can't forget it MUST appeal to modern audiences or  they won't "get it" or buy a ticket to see it.

The casting is another example: Nick Nolte and Debra Winger as Doc and Suzy--no thank you. Nolte is so laid-back in his delivery that he's practically non-existent and Winger is the opposite of Steinbeck's Suzy--a blonde prostitute with a devastating walk: Winger is all 80s big dark hair who dresses and acts like a teenager.

The entire movie seems to take place on a stage set: a 120-minute movie filmed as separate vignettes with no linkage, I expected the curtain to go up and down before and after each stagey scene. Honestly it is BAD.

Seen on TCM

[JamesJazGuitar]

59 minutes ago, marcar said:

The casting is another example: Nick Nolte and Debra Winger as Doc and Suzy--no thank you. Nolte is so laid-back in his delivery that he's practically non-existent and Winger is the opposite of Steinbeck's Suzy--a blonde prostitute with a devastating walk: Winger is all 80s big dark hair who dresses and acts like a teenager.

I agree.   While I'm a fan of Winger,  she wasn't right for the part and as for Nolte,  never liked him much to begin with.

[marcar]

"The Angel Wore Red" this is not a complete take on this movie because I was too distracted by the dubbed voice of Vittorio De Sica as Gen. Clave. He sounded like a cross between Liberace and Truman Capote or Imogen Coca on helium. It was bizarre and made the movie impossible to take seriously.

This is not part of my crusade against dubbing foreign films because it was a joint Italian/US production and featured Ava Gardner and Dirk Bogarde, as well as a small role by Joseph Cotten. They spoke in their true voices. This was just a distraction that inhibited viewing.

It was also hilarious. Too bad the subject matter, the Spanish Civil War, was so serious, otherwise I could have enjoyed it.

[LawrenceA]

True Confession (1937) - Very silly screwball comedy from Paramount Pictures and director Wesley Ruggles. Would-be writer Helen Bartlett (Carole Lombard) and her novice attorney husband Kenneth (Fred MacMurray) are struggling to pay the bills, so Helen decides to secretly take a job as a personal secretary, only for her new employer to show up dead and for Helen to be charged for his murder. She naturally hires her husband to defend her in court, and they come up with a novel defense strategy. Meanwhile, a mysterious drunken goofball (John Barrymore) watches with interest from a distance. Also featuring Una Merkel, Edgar Kennedy, Porter Hall, Lynne Overman, Irving Bacon, Fritz Feld, Toby Wing, and Hattie McDaniel.

Everyone is silly and ridiculous in this, a very screwy screwball farce. MacMurray sports a 30's mustache to odd effect, somehow adding to his snooty demeanor, while Lombard reminded me quite a bit of Lucy Ricardo. Barrymore, playing a broken down drunk, was most likely really a broken down drunk at the time. This may be too ludicrous for some viewers, but I enjoyed it.  (7/10)

Source: Universal DVD, part of the Carole Lombard: The Glamour Collection.

[limey]

On 1/23/2018 at 9:33 AM, Hibi said:

Midnight Lace wasnt filmed in London, though, it was filmed in Hollywood on the Universal lot.

Doris went so bonkers in that staircase scene, (you notice they fade out in that scene) that they had to shut down production to let her recover. She claimed in her memoirs it brought back memories of her first husband who was an alcoholic and beat her........

Although none of the main cast may have left the studio lot, you could count some of the second unit shots, which did use a few real London locations.

http://www.reelstreets.com/films/midnight-lace/

[LawrenceA]

Under Cover of Night (1937) - Unusual thriller from MGM and director George B. Seitz. When physics professor Dr. Griswald (Henry Daniell) discovers that his wife is going to leave him and take her research, which he had been claiming as his own, with her, he murders her in cold blood, but not before she can hide her research notes. While crime-solving detective Christopher Cross (Edmund Lowe) tries to discover the truth of the matter, Dr. Griswald embarks on a night-long murder spree in search of the notes. Also featuring Florence Rice, Nat Pendleton, Dean Jagger, Harry Davenport, Sara Haden, Frank Reicher, Theodore von Eltz, Zeffie Tilbury, Maria Shelton, and Henry Kolker.

What makes this B programmer stand out for me is that instead of the usual whodunit mystery of the period, the identity of the killer is known to the audience the entire time, with the suspense coming from whether or not the detective will figure out what's going on before the entirety of the cast is slaughtered. Daniell has a field day as the loathsome killer, who starts his murder spree by tossing a dog out of a fourth story window to its death! Lowe makes for an agreeable hero, even if its kind of hard to tell him and co-star von Eltz apart in the early scenes. Pendleton provides some good comic support, and a lengthy sequence with Lowe, Pendleton and Jagger hanging out in a Turkish bathhouse is a memorable non-sequitur. This isn't anything groundbreaking, but I found it distinct enough, and very entertaining besides. This was intended to be the first in a series of Christopher Cross movies, but none followed. (7/10)

Source: TCM.

[TomJH]

1 hour ago, LawrenceA said:

True Confession (1937) - Very silly screwball comedy from Paramount Pictures and director Wesley Ruggles. Would-be writer Helen Bartlett (Carole Lombard) and her novice attorney husband Kenneth (Fred MacMurray) are struggling to pay the bills, so Helen decides to secretly take a job as a personal secretary, only for her new employer to show up dead and for Helen to be charged for his murder. She naturally hires her husband to defend her in court, and they come up with a novel defense strategy. Meanwhile, a mysterious drunken goofball (John Barrymore) watches with interest from a distance. Also featuring Una Merkel, Edgar Kennedy, Porter Hall, Lynne Overman, Irving Bacon, Fritz Feld, Toby Wing, and Hattie McDaniel.

Everyone is silly and ridiculous in this, a very screwy screwball farce. MacMurray sports a 30's mustache to odd effect, somehow adding to his snooty demeanor, while Lombard reminded me quite a bit of Lucy Ricardo. Barrymore, playing a broken down drunk, was most likely really a broken down drunk at the time. This may be too ludicrous for some viewers, but I enjoyed it.  (7/10)

Source: Universal DVD, part of the Carole Lombard: The Glamour Collection.

 

 

Considering the cast, I found True Confession to be a real disappointment. Perhaps I should see it again sometime to see if I was expecting too much before. It's my understanding that Lombard, grateful for the experience of having worked with Barrymore on 20th Century (the film that helped to skyrocket her career), insisted that he be cast in this film at a time when a lot of Hollywood producers were leery of working with such a troubled man. Nice to know that Carole, then at the top of the Hollywood heap, showed such loyalty.

One of Lombard's prized possessions given to her by Barrymore following 20th Century:

I wonder if this trophy autograph from one legend to another still exists today.

[LornaHansonForbes]

there are certain titles that come up a lot on the message boards and when they do, the convo gravitates towards them, for better or worse- 2001, BLOW-UP, THE IRON PETTICOAT, THE COBWEB...

MIDNIGHT LACE is one of those.

FOR THE RECORD, i would give anything to hear that voice on the phone ask "are you wearing any p anties Mrs. Preston?"

 

[LornaHansonForbes]

just a lil' bit more about CLUNY BROWN (some things i forgot to mention in my initial review) and then i'll shut up about it, i promise.

 

UNA O'CONNOR is in this because, of course she is. She has not one line of dialogue and steals every second of the 5-6 minutes she is onscreen. I know BILLY WILDER was a huge admirer of LUBITSCH, I wonder if this film influenced him to cast Una in WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION.

PETER LAWFORD was in this, i know he gets a bad rap from posters some times. he's one of those who is cute enough that i could forgive a lack of talent, but the thing is: there was NOT a lack of talent. He was a good actor...before, of course, JFK decided to stay at Crosby's house thus beginning Peter's ouster from the Rat Pack and his descent into sucking Sterno.

HELEN WALKER is in this, I think she recently had a tribute night on TCM, yes? She was marvelous and very sexy and her character's name- BETTY CREAM- is pretty epic. some of you may know that her career was cut short by an auto accident and scandal and she died at 48.

I really loved how- with the exception of RICHARD HADYN's prim and prissy pharmacist- that the supporting characters were not two-dimensional or merely platforms to launch one-liners off of. this film in the hands of someone less than Lubitsch could have really been a misfire.

In case any of you were bothered by Jennifer Jones's lack of a British accent, I think that was a deliberate choice on the part of the director to make her seem even more of a fish out of water...and if you doubt her accent abilities, please check out GONE TO EARTH (which makes  fascinating companion piece to this film) or BEAT THE DEVIL (which sucks, but she's good in it.)

again, you really need to see this film multiple times to appreciate the layering of the script and the cleverness of the joKES.

CHARLES BOYER plays the kind of person I would very much like to be in this film.

this was also, sadly, LUBITSCH's final completed film.

did i mention that I love this movie to bits and pieces? I can't remember if i brought that up or no...

[GordonCole]

Had the plearure of watching a serial I had not seen since kid thispast weekend. BAck during the depression there wwer theaters which were showing revials of old silents. My older sister had been a fan of Valentino and also a serial called A Woman in Gray with Alreen Pretty. She made me go with her to see the revival of the original Sheik and the serial was playing with it on week one and we went to the serial evey after week after since she wanted to get a complete set of dishes they would give out. I liked going since there would also be a vaudeville show and comics and even a monkey once. A friend of the family has a movie collection he has acquired from places like Blackhawk and others and showed a print of The Woman in Gray the other night. I was surprised it was so good as my memory of it was that it was a lot like Pearl White cliffhangers. The fifteen or so segments had some thrilling moments and brought back memoris of other western serials I liked as kid and things like The Phantom. Too bad Turner doesn't show some silent serials just for fun.

[speedracer5]

On ‎1‎/‎23‎/‎2018 at 8:08 AM, misswonderly3 said:

MIDNIGHT LACE

I'd always been curious to see this atypical Doris Day film, but never had the chance until it was aired on TCM last week. Dropped whatever plans I'd had for that evening to watch it (actually, I don't think I had any plans) and even made my husband watch it with me.

So...I thoroughly enjoyed it, and was never bored. Never being bored or wondering when it's going to end is always a good sign for a movie; I swear it's one of the most important criteria when assessing a film. Keep me entertained !

Doris does a great job as a beautiful rich lady, newly married to business magnate Rex Harrison. The couple has recently moved to London  so husband Harrison - character's name is Anthony Preston - can pursue his business deals. The film opens with an intriguing, noirish scene in which Doris is making her way home from Anthony's office through deeply foggy London streets. When she gets to a park-like area (Hyde Park? I'm not sure, and it doesn't matter...) she hears an extremely peculiar, "puppet-like" voice, taunting her and telling her she can expect to die very soon. Anyone would be terrified, especially as the source of the voice is impossible to find, it seems to come from everywhere.

This sets the premise for the rest of the film: Doris ("Kit Preston") is tormented throughout the course of the movie by unnerving unpredictable phone calls, with the same unnatural circus-like voice telling her she's going to die by the end of the month. You see the gradual undoing and unglueing of Kit's psyche; hell, anyone would fall apart if they were threatened every day with ominous creepy phone calls, with no end in sight - the police can't figure it out at all, and it's implied that they may not even believe her.

One fun aspect of the film is it's a kind of "who dunnit" before anything's dun. The crime (the murder of Kit) has not yet happened, but both Kit and the audience are made to feel it's imminent. The "fun" part is trying to figure out who her tormentor is...there are any number of suspects, including her husband ( although he seems to be cleared of suspicion quite early on), a strange-looking silent man who lurks around the corners of the apartment building where Kit lives, Roddy McDowall (as the main suspect - he keeps pestering Kit for money, plus he has a high-ish voice, most similar to the "puppet-like" voice of the phone calls), and a handsome young architect who just happens to be over-seeing a construction project right next to the Prestons' building.

The ending, I found, was a real shocker. I won't say who the true culprit is, except to say I didn't see it coming.

But Midnight Lace is a fun ride for anyone who enjoys mystery "stalker" type films (in the tradition of "Sorry, Wrong Number" and "Dial M for Murder"), Doris Day movies, and/or on-location movies made in London. In fact, some of the enjoyable aspects of this movie come from the fashionable London streets and Doris' equally fashionable outfits. Kit may be turning into a nervous wreck, but she's doing it stylishly all the way.

There's one scene in the film where Doris's character becomes hysterical with fear; I found out in the commentary after the airing that she was drawing upon her own personal horrific experiences with an abusive husband for this scene. And it's true, you certainly believe that she is overcome with feelings of terror and helplessness - it's one of the truly unnerving scenes in the film, and in some ways the climax of the movie.

Anyway, Midnight Lace shows  Doris' range and potential as an actress. Apparently she chose never to appear in that kind of film again, as she found it an emotionally draining experience. But we have Midnight Lace, just to prove she could certainly play that kind of role if she wanted to.

My only criticism of the film is, it's the kind of movie where you certainly get the most out of it the first time you see it. That's because, like Vertigo and many other films with a "twist" ending, once you know the "twist" a little bit of the fun is lost. However, it's still a very entertaining pic, and I'd recommend it for anyone who's a fan of "stalker" movies or Doris Day.

Glad to see you back MissWonderly! 

I really like Midnight Lace.  I just saw it for the first time last year and I watched it again when it repeated last week.

I loved the opening scene where she's running through the foggy park and the creepy voice is harassing her.  That voice was pretty spooky and when the perpetrator is revealed at the end (which I agree was a great twist ending), it's very clever how they were able to scare Doris Day so well.  I also agree that movies with these great twists are best on the first viewing, much like Sorry, Wrong Number's shock ending.  You know it's coming, so the impact is less, but the movie is still fun to watch--especially if you can watch it with another person who hasn't seen it.  

I really liked this film because it was fun to see Day in a different type role.  She obviously excels in the comedy genre and makes a variety of different types of comedies (musical, romantic, family, etc.) that are enjoyable.  However, some of my favorite Day movies are the ones where she jumps out of her comfort zone and appears in an entirely different genre.  I really liked Love Me or Leave Me, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Young Man With a Horn and Midnight Lace.  I really want to see Julie, if only to find out the answer posed on the poster: "What Happened to Julie on Her Honeymoon?" I want to know what happened to Julie on her honeymoon! From the synopsis, it sounds like it is similar to Midnight Lace or Dial M For Murder.  

I really liked Myrna Loy as Day's aunt in Midnight Lace.  I thought she provided a nice calming presence to counteract the Day's constant hysteria.  She also looked great! She looked maybe ten years older than Day and was actually almost twenty years Day's senior.  

I also really liked John Williams as the detective.  He plays detectives in a lot of movies and for me, his presence always elevates the film.  I like the no-nonsense approach that he brings to his role, especially when he's speaking with someone who is pleading their innocence and thinks they're fooling Williams--but you always get the sense that Williams is one step ahead of the perpetrator and is cunningly setting up a trap for him (or her) to fall into. 

One thing I thought was funny is that in the beginning of the film, John Gavin (I always get him mixed up with John Saxon for some reason) has a "British-ish" sounding accent and then he abandons that about halfway through the film and reverts back to his American accent.

Day's experience making this film and the way in which she (unfortunately) identified with her character's ordeal is interesting.  Barbara Stanwyck reported that the experience of making Sorry, Wrong Number is what caused her hair to turn white.  

I thought Day was great in this film and it's unfortunate that she didn't make another film in this genre.  However, it is completely understandable if it was so exhausting (emotionally) to make.  

[Hibi]

12 hours ago, limey said:

Although none of the main cast may have left the studio lot, you could count some of the second unit shots, which did use a few real London locations.

http://www.reelstreets.com/films/midnight-lace/

Yes, It gave you the illusion that it was shot there.........

[Hibi]

1 hour ago, LornaHansonForbes said:

just a lil' bit more about CLUNY BROWN (some things i forgot to mention in my initial review) and then i'll shut up about it, i promise.

 

UNA O'CONNOR is in this because, of course she is. She has not one line of dialogue and steals every second of the 5-6 minutes she is onscreen. I know BILLY WILDER was a huge admirer of LUBITSCH, I wonder if this film influenced him to cast Una in WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION.

PETER LAWFORD was in this, i know he gets a bad rap from posters some times. he's one of those who is cute enough that i could forgive a lack of talent, but the thing is: there was NOT a lack of talent. He was a good actor...before, of course, JFK decided to stay at Crosby's house thus beginning Peter's ouster from the Rat Pack and his descent into sucking Sterno.

HELEN WALKER is in this, I think she recently had a tribute night on TCM, yes? She was marvelous and very sexy and her character's name- BETTY CREAM- is pretty epic. some of you may know that her career was cut short by an auto accident and scandal and she died at 48.

I really loved how- with the exception of RICHARD HADYN's prim and prissy pharmacist- that the supporting characters were not two-dimensional or merely platforms to launch one-liners off of. this film in the hands of someone less than Lubitsch could have really been a misfire.

In case any of you were bothered by Jennifer Jones's lack of a British accent, I think that was a deliberate choice on the part of the director to make her seem even more of a fish out of water...and if you doubt her accent abilities, please check out GONE TO EARTH (which makes  fascinating companion piece to this film) or BEAT THE DEVIL (which sucks, but she's good in it.)

again, you really need to see this film multiple times to appreciate the layering of the script and the cleverness of the joKES.

CHARLES BOYER plays the kind of person I would very much like to be in this film.

this was also, sadly, LUBITSCH's final completed film.

did i mention that I love this movie to bits and pieces? I can't remember if i brought that up or no...

 

I need to watch this film again. I have it on my DVR and a burned copy of it. I saw it once years ago and loved it as well! Good project for this wknd.

[Hibi]

2 hours ago, LornaHansonForbes said:

there are certain titles that come up a lot on the message boards and when they do, the convo gravitates towards them, for better or worse- 2001, BLOW-UP, THE IRON PETTICOAT, THE COBWEB...

MIDNIGHT LACE is one of those.

FOR THE RECORD, i would give anything to hear that voice on the phone ask "are you wearing any p anties Mrs. Preston?"

 

And why doesnt Doris just hang up the phone? Problem solved! (sorta)

[speedracer5]

Just now, Hibi said:

And why doesnt Doris just hang up the phone? Problem solved! (sorta)

Didn't "the voice" threaten to kill her in the beginning of the film when she's walking through the park? 

I'm thinking maybe it's because the threat has already been made, so it's something that is always in her head.  She asks the voice "why are you doing this to me?" a few times.  Maybe she keeps answering to try and figure out what's going on so she can try to protect herself? 

[LornaHansonForbes]

1 hour ago, Hibi said:

And why doesnt Doris just hang up the phone? Problem solved! (sorta)

 

my mother had a very good friend who is sadly not with us anymore who used to LOVE getting obscene phone calls (which used to be a lot more common in the pre-internet era.) she used to say "oh wait! Let me get a seat for this!" and would then tell whoever was on the other end to go to town.

Honest to God, this is the truth.

[Hibi]

36 minutes ago, LornaHansonForbes said:

 

my mother had a very good friend who is sadly not with us anymore who used to LOVE getting obscene phone calls (which used to be a lot more common in the pre-internet era.) she used to say "oh wait! Let me get a seat for this!" and would then tell whoever was on the other end to go to town.

Honest to God, this is the truth.

 

LMREO!!!!!

[Hibi]

1 hour ago, speedracer5 said:

Didn't "the voice" threaten to kill her in the beginning of the film when she's walking through the park? 

I'm thinking maybe it's because the threat has already been made, so it's something that is always in her head.  She asks the voice "why are you doing this to me?" a few times.  Maybe she keeps answering to try and figure out what's going on so she can try to protect herself? 

Yeah, I get that, but just hanging up would've been the better option......