I Just Watched...

[laffite]

2 hours ago, speedracer5 said:

Glad to see you back MissWonderly! 

Yes! And Lorna too

 

 

[LawrenceA]

Waikiki Wedding (1937) - Featherweight musical romance from Paramount Pictures and director Frank Tuttle. Bing Crosby stars as Tony Marvin, a gimmick man for a large pineapple company in Hawaii. When he comes up with the idea of naming a Miss Pineapple as a promotional stunt, the winner, Georgia Smith (Shirley Ross) is brought to the islands to write a series of articles praising the locale and the company. However, she gets bored and wants to cancel the trip, so Tony (whose identity is unknown to Georgia) sets up an exciting scenario to change her mind, with romance blossoming as a result. Also featuring Martha Raye, Bob Burns, George Barbier, Leif Erickson, Grady Sutton, Granville Bates, and Anthony Quinn.

Tropical locales, breezy ballads, and light comedy are the order of the day, and it's done sufficiently if not memorably. I wasn't familiar with the actor playing Bing's buddy, Bob Burns, who spends much of his time with a pig. Martha Raye is loud and mugs a lot. Quinn looks impossibly young as an islander. The movie received an Oscar nomination for Best Dance Direction (LeRoy Prinz), and it won for Best Song ("Sweet Leilani").  (6/10)

Source: Universal DVD, part of the Bing Crosby: Screen Legend Collection.

[TomJH]

36 minutes ago, LawrenceA said:

Waikiki Wedding (1937)

 

No musical star of the '30s and '40s was more popular than Bing Crosby. Yet the truth of the matter is that when people start to list the great musicals or, at least, their favourites, few, if any, Crosby films will make the cut.

The Astaire-Rogers films (particularly Top Hat and Swing Time) will get a mention, as well as Singin' in the Rain or American in Paris or, even, go back to the early Warners years and the Busby Berkeley musicals. But no Crosby films.

Part of it may be that dancers like Kelly and Astaire can have an elaborate showcase set pieces and great choreography to continue to enhance a viewer's attention. A film like Singin' in the Rain has the further benefit of having a very strong script. The Crosby films, though, most of them made at Paramount, had pedestrian story lines, comedy support, with their few highlights when Bing sings a (hopefully popular) song or two. For the most part, they're pretty forgettable.

Crosby, the Number One Box Office star of the 1940s, doesn't have a single outstanding musical to his credit.

For this I blame his studios, Paramount in particular. Crosby was so popular that they knew they didn't have to put in a major effort with a clever script and dialogue, or elaborate production values. A profit at the box office was almost guaranteed just because of the presence of Bing's name.

[LornaHansonForbes]

Thanks Laffite. 

Honestly, this persistently brutal winter weather has me pining for anything as spicy as a nice obscene phone call...and if it was in that voice from MIDNIGHT LACE, so much the better!

 

that voice. Cracks. Me. Up.

[LawrenceA]

West of Shanghai (1937) - Middling melodrama from Warner Brothers and director John Farrow. The setting is war-torn China as American oil company representative Gordon Creed (Ricardo Cortez) travels to the western frontier to try and secure the rights to rich oil fields. The endeavor is complicated by the fact that Creed's estranged wife Jane (Beverly Roberts) is working as an aid worker in the same town, and is also having an affair with Jim Hallett (Gordon Oliver), the guy who is supposed to sell the oil rights. Things get even worse when local bandit-turned-military-warlord Wu Yen Fang (Boris Karloff) shows up with his army and causes all kinds of misery. Also featuring Sheila Bromley, Gordon Hart, Douglas Wood, Richard Loo, Chester Gan, Tetsu Komai, Selmer Jackson, and Vladimir Sokoloff.

The romantic triangle/square is boring, the depiction of the Chinese is both embarrassing and progressive, depending on the scene and/or the character (Richard Loo comes off best), while Karloff's terrible Asian make-up doesn't help make his performance any better. Strictly forgettable B-movie fare with nothing outrageous enough to make it worthwhile.  (5/10)

Source: TCM.

[LawrenceA]

When You're in Love (1937) - Rare musical rom-com from Columbia Pictures and director Robert Riskin. Famous opera singer Louise Fuller (Grace Moore), an Australian citizen, is having visas troubles and can't re-enter the U.S. from Mexico. Her handlers come up with a plan for her to marry American artist Jimmy Hudson (Cary Grant), who is also stuck in Mexico, lacking the money to pay his hotel bill. This sham marriage naturally leads to real romance, with the attendant boy-meets-girl, boy-loses-girl, boy-gets-girl-again complications. Also featuring Thomas Mitchell, Aline MacMahon, Henry Stephenson, Catherine Doucet, Luis Alberni, Frank Puglia, Billy Gilbert, and Scotty Beckett.

Made as a showcase for "Miss" Grace Moore, this shows her in a good light, personable and pleasant. Her singing style will not be to all tastes (mine in particular), but others may appreciate her. She sings "Minnie the Moocher" in one memorable scene, and she sings another song to a dog lying on her chest. Grant is Grant, amusing and carrying his side of things adroitly. Silent film star Louise Brooks is said to be among the chorus dancers in one scene. This movie is rarely shown, and wasn't available on home formats for a long time (if it is now).  (6/10)

Source: TCM.

[rosebette]

5 hours ago, TomJH said:

No musical star of the '30s and '40s was more popular than Bing Crosby. Yet the truth of the matter is that when people start to list the great musicals or, at least, their favourites, few, if any, Crosby films will make the cut.

The Astaire-Rogers films (particularly Top Hat and Swing Time) will get a mention, as well as Singin' in the Rain or American in Paris or, even, go back to the early Warners years and the Busby Berkeley musicals. But no Crosby films.

Part of it may be that dancers like Kelly and Astaire can have an elaborate showcase set pieces and great choreography to continue to enhance a viewer's attention. A film like Singin' in the Rain has the further benefit of having a very strong script. The Crosby films, though, most of them made at Paramount, had pedestrian story lines, comedy support, with their few highlights when Bing sings a (hopefully popular) song or two. For the most part, they're pretty forgettable.

Crosby, the Number One Box Office star of the 1940s, doesn't have a single outstanding musical to his credit.

For this I blame his studios, Paramount in particular. Crosby was so popular that they knew they didn't have to put in a major effort with a clever script and dialogue, or elaborate production values. A profit at the box office was almost guaranteed just because of the presence of Bing's name.

While I enjoy Crosby as a singer, as a screen presence I finds him cool and strangely asexual.  With most of his female leads there is zero chemistry.  Some call Astaire asexual, but I find the whole concept of his gradual seduction of the leading lady through dance extremely sexy.  At the end of the Night and Day number in the Gay Divorcee, he even offers Ginger  a cigarette as if they've just "done the deed."  Of course, having folks like Eric lore, Everett Horton, Erik Rhodes, victor Moore, and Helen Broderick always kept the audience's interest when the dancing stopped.

[JamesJazGuitar]

5 hours ago, TomJH said:

For this I blame his studios, Paramount in particular. Crosby was so popular that they knew they didn't have to put in a major effort with a clever script and dialogue, or elaborate production values. A profit at the box office was almost guaranteed just because of the presence of Bing's name.

Sounds similar to Elvis and many of his musicals (except those did have elaborate production values).

 

[LawrenceA]

Wings of the Morning (1937) - Equestrian melodrama from 20th Century-Fox and director Harold D. Schuster. The convoluted plot concerns Gypsies in late-19th century Ireland who find a safe haven on the lands of Lord Clontarf (Leslie Banks), who eventually marries beautiful young gypsy maiden Marie (Annabella). Years later, she is denied her inheritance of his estate, so she and her family move to Spain, only returning decades later with a thoroughbred horse named Wings of the Morning, which she plans to race in the Darby. Marie is accompanied by her granddaughter Maria (also Annabella), a hothead who pretends to be a man in order to...I'm not really sure. Anyway, she meets local horse trainer Kerry (Henry Fonda), and there are sparks between the two, which is awkward since Kerry thinks Maria is a guy. There's a lot of romantic shenanigans before eventually a big horse race to resolve it all. Also featuring Stewart Rome, Irene Vanbrugh, Harry Tate, Helen Haye, Edward Underdown, Mark Daly, Sam Livesey, and John McCormack and Steve Donoghue as themselves.

This was the first Technicolor film made in the British Isles, and there are large sequences that play more like a travelogue than a traditional movie. While there's a lot going on plot-wise, none of it is very interesting. Annabella gives a memorable performance, though, especially during her "young man" masquerade scenes.   (6/10)

Source: TCM.

[rosebette]

42 minutes ago, LawrenceA said:

Wings of the Morning (1937) - Equestrian melodrama from 20th Century-Fox and director Harold D. Schuster. The convoluted plot concerns Gypsies in late-19th century Ireland who find a safe haven on the lands of Lord Clontarf (Leslie Banks), who eventually marries beautiful young gypsy maiden Marie (Annabella). Years later, she is denied her inheritance of his estate, so she and her family move to Spain, only returning decades later with a thoroughbred horse named Wings of the Morning, which she plans to race in the Darby. Marie is accompanied by her granddaughter Maria (also Annabella), a hothead who pretends to be a man in order to...I'm not really sure. Anyway, she meets local horse trainer Kerry (Henry Fonda), and there are sparks between the two, which is awkward since Kerry thinks Maria is a guy. There's a lot of romantic shenanigans before eventually a big horse race to resolve it all. Also featuring Stewart Rome, Irene Vanbrugh, Harry Tate, Helen Haye, Edward Underdown, Mark Daly, Sam Livesey, and John McCormack and Steve Donoghue as themselves.

This was the first Technicolor film made in the British Isles, and there are large sequences that play more like a travelogue than a traditional movie. While there's a lot going on plot-wise, none of it is very interesting. Annabella gives a memorable performance, though, especially during her "young man" masquerade scenes.   (6/10)

Source: TCM.

I saw this a few years back and found it delightful.  The color photography is gorgeous, and Anabelle has a wonderful gamine charm.

[TomJH]

1 hour ago, rosebette said:

While I enjoy Crosby as a singer, as a screen presence I finds him cool and strangely asexual.  With most of his female leads there is zero chemistry.  Some call Astaire asexual, but I find the whole concept of his gradual seduction of the leading lady through dance extremely sexy.  At the end of the Night and Day number in the Gay Divorcee, he even offers Ginger  a cigarette as if they've just "done the deed."  Of course, having folks like Eric lore, Everett Horton, Erik Rhodes, victor Moore, and Helen Broderick always kept the audience's interest when the dancing stopped.

For starters, to be honest, I'm not a huge fan of musicals, though certainly I have enjoyed the best of Astaire and Gene Kelly, and I would rank Singin' in the Rain as one of my favourite films (because it works as a comedy and Hollywood satire as much as it does a musical).

When it comes to Crosby any feelings of affection that I have for him are in regard to the Road comedies. You mention, Rosebette, that he had no chemistry with his screen leading ladies, a statement with which I have no argument. On the other hand, he had, certainly during the '40s, a magical rapport with Bob Hope. Dated as their films may be (sometimes the lines of dialogue are funny, other times not), it is still a pleasure to see those two irreverently bantering off one another.

But Crosby's musicals are a matter of indifference to me, with Holiday Inn probably my favourite by default.

[LawrenceA]

Stronger (2017) - Unpretentious, occasionally moving true-life drama from Lionsgate and director David Gordon Green. The story follows Jeff Bauman (Jake Gyllenhaal) who was severely injured while standing on the sidelines at the 2013 Boston Marathon when a terrorist's bombs exploded nearby. He ends up losing both legs above the knee, and struggles to cope with the loss of his mobility, as well as the societal focus on him in the months following the event, and the strains put on his family and other relationships, such as with ex-girlfriend Erin Hurley (Tatiana Maslany), who he had attended the marathon to watch. Also featuring Miranda Richardson, Clancy Brown, Lenny Clarke, Richard Lane Jr., Nate Richman, Patty O'Neill, Kate Fitzgerald, Frankie Shaw, and Carlos Sanz.

The film touches on many aspects of Jeff's story: the way those around him seemed at times to use him as a patriotic prop with little regard for what he was going through emotionally; the positive effect his appearances had for other people in Boston and around the world; and the self-pity and depression that befalls many with severe injuries, which strain even the best relationships. Gyllenhaal is good, although he's played the slightly dazed, hollow-eyed headcase more than a few times in recent years. Miranda Richardson, as Jeff's alcoholic trainwreck of a mother, goes broad with the obnoxious "Bah-ston" attitude turned up full throttle. The stand-out in the cast is Tatiana Maslany as the ex who didn't even know Jeff would be at the marathon that day, and who suffers with guilt and repressed lingering love. The movie isn't bad, and if it comes your way, it's worth a look, but I wouldn't make it a priority. It's an honest, well-made version of the type of story that often showed up as TV movies in 70's and 80's.   (7/10)

Source: Lionsgate Blu-ray.

[speedracer5]

1 hour ago, TomJH said:

For starters, to be honest, I'm not a huge fan of musicals, though certainly I have enjoyed the best of Astaire and Gene Kelly, and I would rank Singin' in the Rain as one of my favourite films (because it works as a comedy and Hollywood satire as much as it does a musical).

When it comes to Crosby any feelings of affection that I have for him are in regard to the Road comedies. You mention, Rosebette, that he had no chemistry with his screen leading ladies, a statement with which I have no argument. On the other hand, he had, certainly during the '40s, a magical rapport with Bob Hope. Dated as their films may be (sometimes the lines of dialogue are funny, other times not), it is still a pleasure to see those two irreverently bantering off one another.

But Crosby's musicals are a matter of indifference to me, with Holiday Inn probably my favourite by default.

In addition to Holiday Inn, I really love White Christmas.  It may be more due to Danny Kaye and Vera-Ellen, but I thought Crosby was great with Kaye.  What I like about Crosby (in White Christmas at least, I cannot remember if this is the case with other films) is that he uses some interesting slang.  In White Christmas, for example, when he asks Rosemary Clooney to bring the pitcher of milk from the bar over to another table, he tells her to "bring the cow." 

I also liked Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire in Blue Skies, but probably more for Fred.  Bing does sing a rendition of Irving Berlin's "I'll See You in C-U-B-A."  But honestly, Desi Arnaz sang it better in I Love Lucy. 

[laffite]

 

King Lear (1916) Very nice realization. It covers the story including the subplot (some don't, e.g, Welles) in a spiffy 64 minutes. Several scenes stand out ; two in particular for me. First ; after the long first scene after giving away his Kingdom to the two "bad" sisters, the many characters file out and Goneril and Regen openly sneer at their father as they depart. His reaction to that is heart-rending. Interesting to see that because in the normal telling Lear does not learn of the betrayal until he actually visits his daughters, so here it's a foreshadowing device and an opportunity to duck in a fine scene in the expressionistic style. Lear and his Fool curl up in the frame (an iconic image peculiar to the story) with mutual consternation (and well they should) Second ; Edmund, Gloucester's bastard son, is named Earl of Gloucester after his father is dismissed (to put it mildly; btw, the "out vile jelly" scene was, thankfully, innocuously done if it can be ever termed such). Upon the decree and in a scene that's over in a matter of seconds, Goneril and Regen look at each other and immediately realize that both pine for Edmund. Regen's smile disappears in profile while Goneril slowly turns her face in the direction of the camera with a somewhat ghastly look on her face. The famed storm scene was glossed over and I wish that would have done more with Cordelia's death scene and the inconsolable father/king. That IMO could have used some hamming up. The film is uniformly good throughout, though, and any notion that filming silent Shakespeare is counter intuitive due to lack of language is dispelled. An hour well worth the time spent. [Netflix]

[LornaHansonForbes]

Hoo Law, the 1973(?) musical remake of LOST HORIZON came on (actually is still on right now, but i'm at work) this morning and i watched a pretty fair chunk of it.

it's real damn bad.

to start with a positive, because i feel like i should, it was on as the tail end of Charles Boyer's SOTM festival and HE'S REALLY GOOD IN IT. Yah, he's playing a Chinese Lama with a French accent, but he works it...he brings a dignity and his A-Game to the part, which is a hell of a lot more than I can say of JOHN GIELGUD as (I kid you not) "CHANG", who pretty much plays his part from BECKET while squinting... slightly.

again, it's real. damn. bad.

the songs are awful and the actors so obviously dubbed they really may as well have gotten Louis Armstrong and Pearl Bailey to dub Liv Ullman and Peter Finch- in whichever order they felt, it's that believable.

even PETER FINCH, veteran survivor of some baaaaaaaaad movies can't seem to work up much enthusiasm for this. speaking of, with the possible exception of LYLAH CLAIRE, can anyone think of a film LESS DEMANDING for a musical remake than LOST HORIZON? GRAND ILLUSION maybe? MAKE WAY FOR TOMORROW? GASLIGHT?

Oh GOD the sets are TACKY.

according to imdb, the Fertility Number was cut because audiences howled with laughter. it was restored in this version (thanks TCM) and while i think a lot of imdb trivie should be taken with the grainiest of salt grains, I BUY THIS 100%

It feels like Roddy MacDowell should have been in this....

Oh, Sally Kellerman...

The musical number in the school room...

The Pucci print Cheong-Sam blouses on all the men...

The delicious bare-naked avarice of the ailing studio system in the early 1970's....

I end with a verified goof I found from the imdb "goofs" section, because it encapsulates the movie better than I could if I kept going on and on and on about it (and i still might):

"The library at Shangri-La is supposed to be a repository for the world's great literature. A number of "Readers Digest Condensed Books" on its shelves. "

 

[LornaHansonForbes]

[RosieSayer]

Last night I watched Road to Bali, at the request of a friend. My request was for something cozy and silly. He asked if I had any of the Road movies. (Do I have any of the road movies you asked. Of course, I said. What ones, you said. All of them, I said.) So he asked for Road to Bali, and it fit the bill.

I had last seen it at least five years ago. Things I had forgotten include the scene with the amorous ape and the musical number that Bing and Bob perform in kilts, with exaggerated Scottish accents. I enjoyed it enough that I may watch it again next St. Andrew's Day. I had also forgotten about the cameo with Jane Russell at the end. But I fondly remembered seeing Bogie pulling the African Queen midway through the movie (interesting trivia), and it was just as fun this time through.

These Road movies were silly stuff even for comedies, but they gained their own momentum and became almost a mini-genre of their own. After the first one (Road to Singapore), you knew exactly what you were going to get, even down to some of the exact same jokes. I love the stars' humorous references to moviemaking and current events, their inside and self-referential jokes, and breaking the fourth wall. And Dorothy Lamour... I think Paramount made a stupid blunder in not keeping her as the star of the final Road movie.* She was an essential part of the 3-way chemistry.

This was the second-to-last of the seven Road movies, and the first to be shot in color. This is also the only Road movie in the public domain.

*Correction: there was no more Paramount by the time they made Road to Hong Kong, so I guess that was MGM's fault.

[RosieSayer]

6 hours ago, LornaHansonForbes said:

[C]an anyone think of a film LESS DEMANDING for a musical remake than LOST HORIZON? GRAND ILLUSION maybe? MAKE WAY FOR TOMORROW? GASLIGHT?

Sounds like a great writing assignment for a film class! 

[LawrenceA]

6 hours ago, LornaHansonForbes said:

Can anyone think of a film LESS DEMANDING for a musical remake than LOST HORIZON? GRAND ILLUSION maybe? MAKE WAY FOR TOMORROW? GASLIGHT?

Salo.

Cannibal Holocaust.

My Dinner with Andre.

C.H.U.D.

[LornaHansonForbes]

Actually, I'd be down for "C.H.U.D.! The musical!"

(It Couldn't be worse than the Lucille Ball version of MAME...)

[scsu1975]

The Last Days of Pompeii (1913) YouTube

 

 

Oddball Italian version of the famous disaster, which basically revolves around the following subplots:

1.       Nidia, a blind slave, is in love with her master, Glaucus.

2.       Glaucus is in love with the hot-looking babe Jone.

3.       Arbace, an Egyptian Priest, lusts after Jone.

 

 

Now Nidia gets hold of a love potion to use on Glaucus, but, unbeknownst to her, it will really turn him into a blithering idiot. This sets up the most ridiculous scene in the film, where Glaucus shakes, shimmies, jerks around, and looks like he is auditioning for Reefer Madness.

Arbace is bumped off, and Glaucus, who is now totally spaced out, is blamed. So Glaucus is sent to prison to face the lions. If the lions had been from Detroit, at least he would have a fighting chance. Nidia comes to his aid, and just as the real killer is about to be set upon by a crowd, Vesuvius explodes. At this point, I was about to commend the filmmakers for the incredible effects, until I realized I was watching deteriorated film and not an eruption.

For 1913, the sets are pretty good, and Fernanda Negri Pouget, as Nidia, gives a decent performance. Everybody else pretty much acts by way of hand-wringing and arm gestures. In one very strange scene, three women are taking a bath, but all are wearing towels. A shame. Some gratuitous nudity would have improved this flick quite a bit.

 

 

[RosieSayer]

I forgot to mention that I also watched Pot o' Gold yesterday, starring James Stewart and Paulette Goddard. According to Leonard Maltin, Stewart called this his worst movie. Maybe my standards are low or his were very high, but I found it an enjoyable little musical comedy, and that has been my impression every time I've seen it.

The story is a fairly standard romantic comedy plot. James Stewart plays a musician who makes a modest living running a music store inherited from his father. His rich uncle (Charles Winninger) has no respect for music and wants Stewart to come and work for him. The uncle owns a radio show that desperately needs an injection of talent. Meanwhile, Stewart meets Goddard and her musical friends, and they all get on splendidly together. However, they have a running feud with the rich uncle, and Stewart doesn't let on that he's a relation. Romantic friction and a trip to jail are all eventually resolved.

Goddard's singing was dubbed, and we should probably be grateful for that. I have not been able to verify that Stewart's was also dubbed, but I listened carefully, and I'm skeptical that he did his own singing here. Does anyone have any information on this?

I had never heard of Horace Heidt and His Musical Knights before seeing this movie. They performed most of the musical numbers, typical 1930s swing. They were the group that played on the actual Pot 'o Gold radio program, which ran from 1939 to 1941, and they appear here as themselves. Jimmy Stewart did a wonderful job of pretending to be a harmonica virtuoso (the actual playing was done by Jerry Adler). With "A Knife, a Fork, and a Spoon," the Musical Knights use cutlery and glassware as percussion instruments, to excellent effect!

My only complaint is that my copy of this film is blurry and really shoddy quality. I got it as part of a 100-movie boxed set of public domain films, and I guess you get what you pay for. I would love to own a sharper DVD transfer of this film. Since it's in the public domain, maybe I should see if I can download a better copy from archive.org.

I would give this film a 7/10. Not bad for Stewart's "worst" movie!

 

[kingrat]

For James Stewart's worst movie, a perennial contender is Ice Follies of 1939. Come on, admit it, you always wanted to see James Stewart and Joan Crawford as ice skaters in love.

On a more serious note, I am so glad that TCM showed Tales of Manhattan during Charles Boyer's month. I've really enjoyed the salute to Boyer. I've become a great fan of the director, Julien Duvivier. Take a look early in the film at the sequence of camera angles and camera movements that begins with three men carrying a long box out of a limousine and ends with Boyer getting into the same limousine. This is the work of a master.

Tales of Manhattan shows several stories which revolve around the possession of an expensive tuxedo jacket, and it is a treat to see so many classic stars in the same film. 1) Charles Boyer is an actor in love with Rita Hayworth, who is married to Thomas Mitchell. 2) Ginger Rogers is engaged to Cesar Romero, who needs best friend Henry Fonda to get him out of a jam. 3) Charles Laughton is an impoverished composer who gets the opportunity to play his composition; Elsa Lanchester is his wife, and Victor Francen is the temperamental conductor. 4) Edward G. Robinson plays an Ivy League grad who's sunk all the way to Skid Row but has the opportunity to go to a reunion with his old classmates. This is the favorite story of many, and mine too. George Sanders is cold and hissable, and James Gleason plays a sympathetic minister. 5) A segment with W.C. Fields and Margaret Dumont was deleted from the film, and not included on the print shown by TCM. 6) Paul Robeson, Ethel Waters, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, and Clarence Muse are all in the final section, which is politically incorrect to the max. One imdb poster called this the "sharecropper Rastus here come de Lawd" style, which hits the nail on the head.

Duvivier later did another anthology film for Fox, Flesh and Fantasy, which I still need to see. His French film Sous le ciel de Paris (Under the Paris Sky) in the early 1950s has interlocking rather than consecutive stories; it hugely influenced The 400 Blows and Cleo from 5 to 7, though Truffaut and Varda might not have admitted it. The first two sections of Tales of Manhattan, with their playful interweaving of reality and fiction, are very close to Duvivier's later comic gem La fete a Henriette (Holiday for Henrietta), in which two screenwriters desperately try to come up with a new script.

The performances in Tales of Manhattan are generally at least as good as the script allows them to be, and Robinson, Gleason, and Laughton are particular standouts for me. However, Ginger Rogers also deserves a special mention for handling some highly stylized dialogue just as well as Henry Fonda. Unfortunately, Ginger has to wear one of those hideous 1940s hairstyles.

 

[TomJH]

40 minutes ago, kingrat said:

Duvivier later did another anthology film for Fox, Flesh and Fantasy, which I still need to see.

 

kingrat, you should make a point of trying to see Flesh and Fantasy. The middle occult tale in which Edward G. Robinson plays a cynic who has his palm read by a fortune teller who sees "Murder" in it is a corker.

A Universal Vault DVD of it is available on Amazon for $19.98. But it can also be found for free viewing/downloading at

http://veehd.com/video/4807442_1943-Flesh-and-Fantasy-16x9--7-0-anthology-Oscar-Wilde-Edward-G-Robinson-Barbara-Stan

[speedracer5]

4 hours ago, LornaHansonForbes said:

Actually, I'd be down for "C.H.U.D.! The musical!"

(It Couldn't be worse than the Lucille Ball version of MAME...)

You know what would make an amazing musical? 

"BEYOND THE FOREST: THE MUSICAL"