I Just Watched...

[LawrenceA]

Secret People (1952) - British thriller from Ealing Studios and director Thorold Dickinson. In 1930, Maria (Valentina Cortese) and her little sister Nora (Audrey Hepburn) are sent to London from Italy to protect them from the rising militarism there. By 1937, the two women have acclimated to their new lives, although Maria is becoming restless in her cafe job. When she runs into Louis (Serge Reggiani), a young man that she knew back in Italy, Maria quickly becomes enamored with him, and fails to see that he is using her for a sinister purpose. Also featuring Charles Goldner, Angela Fouldes, Megs Jenkins, Irene Worth, Reginald Tate, Norman Williams, Michael Ripper, and Athene Seyler.

This murky espionage thriller is short on thrills but not completely without merit. Cortese isn't bad as a woman in over her head. Hepburn, as an aspiring ballet dancer, has her biggest pre-Roman Holiday role. She's cute, but her role isn't fleshed out enough for her to make any sort of acting impression.    (6/10)

Source: TCM.

[Tikisoo]

I finally got to see Roman Polanski's KNIFE IN THE WATER '62 Maltin gives this 4 stars and calls it "essential" for every film buff. Funny, TCM never called it "essential".

A Criterion Collection disk, this seems to be a restored version. It's extremely good looking with beautiful contrast & lighting in an interesting location- the Polish Lake district Masuria according to Polanski in the intro. Only the occasional treeline back ground illustrates they are not on a vast ocean. Polanski had a tight budget since he just graduated from film school, so primarily set on a boat with only 3 actors was a clever way to keep costs down.

It's an odd tale of a couple that pick up a young hitchhiker and take him along on their day off, sailing the lakes. There's a power play between the two men, the mature, established man relentlessly challenging the young drifter. The woman (who I found absolutely stunning) stays out of it and just goes about her tasks, fixing lunch, steering or relaxing with a swim. Not much seems to happen, but I'm sure with subsequent viewings, I'll see the symbolism in all of it-this time I was just following the basic story.
The last half hour of this taught 96 minute film is rather exciting and worth the wait, after all the "smooth sailing".

I don't want to reveal any of the plot, it would ruin it for anyone who hasn't seen this. But you need to know it's there....just wait for it. Don't know if Knife In The Water struck me as one of the "great" films, it suffers a bit from what I call the "Pretentious 60's Art Film" syndrome. But it definitely is a strong film with a great, somewhat quiet, story very well told. The cinematography is a standout. Very clever camera angles that illustrate the isolation, yet crowding of these 3 passengers on a sailboat. (you often wonder where the film crew are)

[LawrenceA]

This Woman Is Dangerous (1952) - Crime drama/romance from Warner Brothers and director Felix Feist. Joan Crawford stars as Beth Austin, a member of a criminal gang. Just before their next big heist at a gambling parlor, Beth learns that she has a degenerative disorder that will render her blind if she doesn't have risky surgery. She manages to see the robbery through, but then goes into the hospital for treatment, while the rest of gang, including her beau Matt (David Brian), lays low. After the surgery, during the long recuperation process, Beth falls for her doctor, Ben Halleck (Dennis Morgan). This doesn't sit well with Matt, who becomes increasingly violent and unpredictable. Also featuring Philip Carey, Mari Aldon, Richard Webb, Ian MacDonald, Katherine Warren, Sherry Jackson, Gladys Blake, William Challee, Harry Tyler, and Douglas Fowley.

Crawford is said to have hated this movie, regarding it as her worst, and it was the final film she made under contract at Warner Brothers, but I didn't dislike it that much. The romance between Joan and Dennis Morgan is trite and bland, but the criminal elements are interesting, and David Brian and Philip Carey, as the bickering brother criminals, are good. The violent finale is a highlight.   (6/10)

Source: TCM.

[LawrenceA]

Vampire Over London aka My Son, the Vampire aka The Vampire and the Robot aka Dracula's Desire aka Carry On Vampire aka Mother Riley Meets the Vampire (1952) - 15th and final entry in the "Old Mother Riley" comedy series, from Renown Pictures and writer-director John Gilling. Mrs. Riley (Arthur Lucan) runs a small London shop where one day she mistakenly receives the delivery of a robot. It should have been delivered to mad scientist Von Housen (Bela Lugosi), who, besides creating robots for the intent of world domination, also believes he's a vampire. Mrs. Riley and the robot end up at Von Housen's creepy mansion, where the old lady gets into all sorts of trouble. Also featuring Dora Bryan, Philip Leaver, Richard Wattis, Graham Moffatt, Maria Mercedes, Roderick Lovell, David Hurst, Judith Furse, Ian Wilson, Bill Shine, Laurence Naismith, John Le Mesurier, and Hattie Jacques.

The "Old Mother Riley" films had been churned out since 1937, and were very successful. Star Arthur Lucan had been playing Riley in drag many years before that in musical halls, and even in at least one Royal Command Performance. This flop final installment is very broad and silly, and while verbal and visual gags are hurtled at the screen at breakneck speed, fewer than a third land. Lugosi, who had been in London for a stage revival of Dracula that bombed, made this to afford passage back to the U.S.    (4/10)

Source: Amazon Video.

[laffite]

2 hours ago, LawrenceA said:

This Woman Is Dangerous (1952) - Crime drama/romance from Warner Brothers and director Felix Feist. Joan Crawford stars as Beth Austin, a member of a criminal gang. Just before their next big heist at a gambling parlor, Beth learns that she has a degenerative disorder that will render her blind if she doesn't have risky surgery. She manages to see the robbery through, but then goes into the hospital for treatment, while the rest of gang, including her beau Matt (David Brian), lays low. After the surgery, during the long recuperation process, Beth falls for her doctor, Ben Halleck (Dennis Morgan). This doesn't sit well with Matt, who becomes increasingly violent and unpredictable. Also featuring Philip Carey, Mari Aldon, Richard Webb, Ian MacDonald, Katherine Warren, Sherry Jackson, Gladys Blake, William Challee, Harry Tyler, and Douglas Fowley.

Crawford is said to have hated this movie, regarding it as her worst, and it was the final film she made under contract at Warner Brothers, but I didn't dislike it that much. The romance between Joan and Dennis Morgan is trite and bland, but the criminal elements are interesting, and David Brian and Philip Carey, as the bickering brother criminals, are good. The violent finale is a highlight.   (6/10)

Source: TCM.

I saw this years ago when Joan was SOTM and remember liking it. Joan was rather smooth in this one, as I seem to recall and I thought it weird that she, as boss of this white-collar little gang who pull off sophisticated crimes and how she could possibly control them, especially two brothers who were continually at each others throats, almost to the point of hilarity. At least I laughed. Most of the details are shrouded in mist but I do remember liking the sound track, a sort of free-floating background that bore at least some good sync with the action and just subtle enough not to bring to much attention. I would like to see this again. I would probably rate it a little higher that, at least based on the memory of how much I liked it.

[LornaHansonForbes]

50 minutes ago, LawrenceA said:

Vampire Over London aka My Son, the Vampire aka The Vampire and the Robot aka Dracula's Desire aka Carry On Vampire aka Mother Riley Meets the Vampire (1952) - 15th and final entry in the "Old Mother Riley" comedy series, from Renown Pictures and writer-director John Gilling.

The "Old Mother Riley" films had been churned out since 1937, and were very successful.

I'm not saying this film is the worst film I have ever seen, but I am saying it is a final candidate.

It's so bad.

British people were into some odd **** after the war, but they dealt with it as best they could.

I remember (the print i saw on TCM)  having a very distinct opening credit sequence with an inspired title song: "My son...the VAMPIRE!" it must've been purely for the American release.

It goes for that MONSTER A-GO-GO level of Samuel Beckett-like emptiness with the fact that there is no son and no actual vampire in MY SON THE VAMPIRE.

AGAIN, it sucks.

and it is THE OFFICIAL WORST Bela Lugosi movie I have seen and I have seen a good chunk of his output.

[LornaHansonForbes]

eta-

 

[TomJH]

1 hour ago, LawrenceA said:

Vampire Over London aka My Son, the Vampire aka The Vampire and the Robot aka Dracula's Desire aka Carry On Vampire aka Mother Riley Meets the Vampire (1952)

 

Poor Bela Lugosi.

It's really something that after he delivered that terrific performance in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (one of his best performances, in my opinion) that Lugosi could only get film employment (after a four year hiatus yet) in junk like this and Bela Lugosi Meets A Brooklyn Gorilla. Then would come Ed Wood.

The conventional horror films were out of favour and the only thing available for poor Bela was grade Z spoof material or the ineptitude of the Wood films. He did a little bit of television (in which he played Dracula) and made some stage appearances.

Even at the time of the Abbott and Costello film, though, which would turn out to be Universal's second biggest hit of the year and a comeback for the comedy team, Lugosi received little respect from his old studio. He was not their automatic first choice to play the role of Dracula (believe it or not) and it was Boris Karloff, an actor who refused to appear in the film, who they used to help promote the film, rather than Lugosi.

[scsu1975]

21 minutes ago, LornaHansonForbes said:

eta-

 

It took me awhile before I realized he was saying "BLOOD" and not "BLOW."

[Hibi]

3 hours ago, LawrenceA said:

This Woman Is Dangerous (1952) - Crime drama/romance from Warner Brothers and director Felix Feist. Joan Crawford stars as Beth Austin, a member of a criminal gang. Just before their next big heist at a gambling parlor, Beth learns that she has a degenerative disorder that will render her blind if she doesn't have risky surgery. She manages to see the robbery through, but then goes into the hospital for treatment, while the rest of gang, including her beau Matt (David Brian), lays low. After the surgery, during the long recuperation process, Beth falls for her doctor, Ben Halleck (Dennis Morgan). This doesn't sit well with Matt, who becomes increasingly violent and unpredictable. Also featuring Philip Carey, Mari Aldon, Richard Webb, Ian MacDonald, Katherine Warren, Sherry Jackson, Gladys Blake, William Challee, Harry Tyler, and Douglas Fowley.

Crawford is said to have hated this movie, regarding it as her worst, and it was the final film she made under contract at Warner Brothers, but I didn't dislike it that much. The romance between Joan and Dennis Morgan is trite and bland, but the criminal elements are interesting, and David Brian and Philip Carey, as the bickering brother criminals, are good. The violent finale is a highlight.   (6/10)

Source: TCM.

 

Yeah, nothing like a shoot out in the operating room! LOL.

[Hibi]

46 minutes ago, laffite said:

I saw this years ago when Joan was SOTM and remember liking it. Joan was rather smooth in this one, as I seem to recall and I thought it weird that she, as boss of this white-collar little gang who pull off sophisticated crimes and how she could possibly control them, especially two brothers who were continually at each others throats, almost to the point of hilarity. At least I laughed. Most of the details are shrouded in mist but I do remember liking the sound track, a sort of free-floating background that bore at least some good sync with the action and just subtle enough not to bring to much attention. I would like to see this again. I would probably rate it a little higher that, at least based on the memory of how much I liked it.

It's kinda like The Damned Dont Cry with some Dark Victory thrown in with some of the same actors......

[LawrenceA]

Way of a Gaucho (1952) - Exotic Technicolor western from 20th Century Fox and director Jacques Tourneur. In 1875 Argentina, the old ways of the pampas-roaming gauchos are being pushed aside for the more "civilized" ways of the city-dwellers and the European immigrants. Fiercely proud gaucho Martin (Rory Calhoun) reunites with his adoptive brother Don Miguel (Hugh Marlowe), only for Martin to learn that Miguel has adopted the modern ways. After a deadly knife fight, Martin is sentenced to army duty rather than imprisonment, putting him at the mercy of cruel Major Salinas (Richard Boone). Martin bristles under the yoke of conscription and soon goes AWOL into the wilderness, where he rescues damsel in distress Teresa (Gene Tierney). Romance blooms, but dangers lurk ever closer. Also featuring Everett Sloane, Enrique Chaico, Jorge Villoldo, Ronald Dumas, and Claudio Torres.

The excellent color cinematography and location shooting help elevate this above its occasionally uninspired screenplay. Leads Calhoun and Tierney, late replacements for Tyrone Power and Jean Peters, both look great. I watched this for Tierney, and while her role is on the small side, she handles it well. I usually like Richard Boone in everything I see him in, and this is no exception, bringing nuance to what could have been a one-note villain part.    (7/10)

Source: Encore Westerns.

[spence]

Just curious  do you rent, cable, dish,etc these films???

[LawrenceA]

3 minutes ago, spence said:

Just curious  do you rent, cable, dish,etc these films???

I list the source on every movie post.

[spence]

Just now, LawrenceA said:

I list the source on every movie post.

THANKS AGAIN BUDDY!  By the way who is in your current AVATAR?

[LawrenceA]

Just now, spence said:

THANKS AGAIN BUDDY!  By the way who is in your current AVATAR?

actor Takashi Shimura, from the movie Ikiru (dir: Akira Kurosawa).

[cigarjoe]

20,000 Eyes (1961) Jewel Caper/Tail Fin Noir

Never heard of this film before. A definite "C" Noir.

Directed, in supposedly six days, by Jack Leewood who is mainly known for producing films (27 credits). The film was written by Jack W. Thomas (Lone Texan (1959)) whose last credit was for Embryo (1976). The cinematography was by Brydon Baker who lensed a few low budget Crime and Noirs (Walk the Dark Street (1956), **** (1956), Scandal Incorporated (1956), a lot of Oaters, some SyFy (Return of the Fly (1959)), Horror and TV). The music was by Albert Glasser.

The film stars Gene Nelson (who has a great role playing ex con Steve Lacey in Crime Wave(1953), The Atomic Man (1955), Oklahoma! (1955)) as Dan Warren, the mostly TV actress Merry Anders (The Hypnotic Eye (1960)) as Karen Walker, James Brown who did a lot of Westerns, War films, and Noirs (The Big Fix (1947), Missing Women (1951))  along with a long career in TV,  as Jerry Manning, Austrian born John Banner (The Fallen Sparrow (1943), and for his memorable portrayal as Sergeant Schultz in Hogan's Heroes TV Series (1965–1971)) as Kurt Novak. Paul Maxey (Shed No Tears (1948), All the King's Men (1949), Highway 301 (1950), The Narrow Margin (1952), The Big Heat (1953), City of Shadows (1955)) "nobody loves a fat man," plays an insurer.

The film moves along at a good pace and is entertaining enough. It's nice to see Nelson in another Noir, Banner in a villain role and Maxey is a bonus. Screen caps are from a streaming site, could use a restoration somewhere down the line. 6/10. 

Full review with screen caps here in Film Noir/Gangster and with more screen shots at Noirsville

[LawrenceA]

The Winning Team (1952) - Hokey, shallow sports biopic, from Warner Brothers and director Lewis Seiler. The movie tells the story of Grover Cleveland Aexander (Ronald Reagan), a Hall of Fame Major League Baseball pitcher for Philadelphia, Chicago, and St. Louis. His great skill on the mound is hampered after he takes a ball to the head, leaving him with double vision. He later serves in World War One, where he suffers from exposure to mustard gas and subsequent shell-shock, after which he develops epilepsy and a severe drinking problem. His farm-girl wife Aimee (Doris Day) tries to help him through his troubles, but are his demons too strong to allow a comeback? Also featuring Frank Lovejoy, Eve Miller, James Millican, Gordon Jones, Russ Tamblyn, Hugh Sanders, Frank Ferguson, Dorothy Adams, George Nader, and a handful of real pro players. 

The film skims over Alexander's troubles (I provided more information on what they really were in the paragraph above than the movie does), and Reagan does a poor job of depicting a man at rock bottom. He always looks like, with just a shave and some pressed clothes, he'd be back at peak. Day doesn't have a lot to do, although she sings a Christmas song at one point, and sounds good doing so. This wasn't the worst sports biopic that I've seen, but I gained more insight on the real man from his Wikipedia page.   (6/10)

Source: TCM.

[laffite]

49 minutes ago, LawrenceA said:

The Winning Team (1952) - Hokey, shallow sports biopic, from Warner Brothers and director Lewis Seiler. The movie tells the story of Grover Cleveland Aexander (Ronald Reagan), a Hall of Fame Major League Baseball pitcher ..,

Movies about sports are awful, I don't think I've ever seen a good one. although I'll admit to possible excessiveness pickiness. I probably saw this at least a couple of decades (or more), probably for Doris, but I do remember snickering at Reagan. I imagined he practiced his wind up and he seemed proud of it, like he really had it down. He didn't.

[TomJH]

Dark Streets of Cairo (1940)

One of the rarest and least remembered of Universal mystery thriller Bs, using much of the same stock music heard in countless numbers of that studio's horror films.

This film starts with brief clips of an archaeological expedition's discovery of some hidden jewels in a pharaoh's tomb, scenes I suspect were snipped out of The Mummy's Hand, released that same year, with the same music heard in that film, as well. Still, it seems like a potentially promising start but this tale of an eventual theft of those jewels, with the intention of framing that theft upon an antiques collector and his daughter, is a bit of a dull ride.

Archaeologist Ralph Byrd and "comical" sidekick Eddie Quillan, along with Cairo chief inspector Rod La Rocque, the latter actor having seen better days, get involved in an attempt to track down the antiques collector and his daughter (Lloyd Corrigan, Sigrid Gurie) after they are kidnapped. Mastermind behind the plot is a fez wearing George Zucco, right out of The Mummy's Hand. Suffice it to say Zucco's smooth villainy is the best thing about this mercifully short film (59 minutes) while, on the other hand, Quillan's tiresome "comedy," which, unfortunately, takes up a lot of screen time, threatens to make the film seem longer than it actually is.

Sigrid Gurie, once leading lady to Gary Cooper's Marco Polo, gets top billing in the film but really has relatively little to do. Just as well, as she makes even less impression than bland leading man Byrd, remembered with affection by Dick Tracy fans far more than he ever will be for this outing.

Fans of George Zucco's villainy may find the film worth sitting through. Otherwise Dark Streets of Cairo is far more noteworthy for its rarity than it ever will be for its quality.

2 out of 4

[LawrenceA]

24 minutes ago, laffite said:

Movies about sports are awful, I don't think I've ever seen a good one. although I'll admit to possible excessiveness pickiness. I probably saw this at least a couple of decades (or more), probably for Doris, but I do remember snickering at Reagan. I imagined he practiced his wind up and he seemed proud of it, like he really had it down. He didn't.

I want to think they we had a discussion about sports movies in the past, in another thread, and that you expressed much the same sentiment, especially concerning baseball movies. I think I've enjoyed at least one or two movies about most sports, although I don't care to watch sports themselves, at least not since I was a kid. I don't mean to imply that sports watching is childish at all, just that I haven't liked watching them since then. Playing them is another matter, as I played baseball, basketball, racquetball, tennis, and soccer up through my twenties.

There seems to have been more movies about baseball, and thus I've seen more films of that sport that I liked, but it's still in the minority of the total.

[LawrenceA]

4 minutes ago, TomJH said:

Dark Streets of Cairo (1940)

Archaeologist Ralph Byrd and "comical" sidekick Eddie Quillan, along with Cairo chief inspector Rod La Rocque...

Wow...Dick Tracy, Ellery Queen, and the Shadow in one movie!

[TomJH]

1 minute ago, LawrenceA said:

Wow...Dick Tracy, Ellery Queen, and the Shadow in one movie!

They should have stuck to their other films. Actually, the film is a harmless enough time killer but, at the same time, I found it a disappointment because I usually enjoy these kind of hokey films.

[TomJH]

6 minutes ago, LawrenceA said:

I want to think they we had a discussion about sports movies in the past, in another thread, and that you expressed much the same sentiment, especially concerning baseball movies. I think I've enjoyed at least one or two movies about most sports, although I don't care to watch sports themselves, at least not since I was a kid. I don't mean to imply that sports watching is childish at all, just that I haven't liked watching them since then. Playing them is another matter, as I played baseball, basketball, racquetball, tennis, and soccer up through my twenties.

There seems to have been more movies about baseball, and thus I've seen more films of that sport that I liked, but it's still in the minority of the total.

I generally avoid sports movies, particular those involving team sports.

The one exception to this general rule is the drama to be found in many films about boxing, often touching upon the corruption in the sport. Body and Soul, The Set Up and Champion are all late '40s classics. Later, of course, would come Raging Bull.

On the lighter side, and more of a light hearted biography of a fictional nature about a boxer than it is a sports movie, is the most enjoyable Gentleman Jim.

[speedracer5]

32 minutes ago, LawrenceA said:

I want to think they we had a discussion about sports movies in the past, in another thread, and that you expressed much the same sentiment, especially concerning baseball movies. I think I've enjoyed at least one or two movies about most sports, although I don't care to watch sports themselves, at least not since I was a kid. I don't mean to imply that sports watching is childish at all, just that I haven't liked watching them since then. Playing them is another matter, as I played baseball, basketball, racquetball, tennis, and soccer up through my twenties.

There seems to have been more movies about baseball, and thus I've seen more films of that sport that I liked, but it's still in the minority of the total.

I love sports movies! Though, my favorites are movies involving boxing or football (not soccer).  But if there's a good baseball, hockey, curling, rhythmic gymnastics or even synchronized swimming movie on the horizon, I'll consider watching it.  Boxing and football are the only sports I watch with any regularity, though I did just watch France destroy Croatia in the World Cup Final this past Sunday. I also enjoy watching both Olympics, with figure skating and gymnastics being my favorite events.  I do not play sports however, as I am not athletically inclined.