I Just Watched...

[Fedya]

I've long thought an appropriate ending for Murder, She Wrote would be to reveal Jessica Fletcher as a serial killer who used her mystery-writer powers to get other people to confess to the murders she actually committed.

[Bethluvsfilms]

2 minutes ago, Fedya said:

I've long thought an appropriate ending for Murder, She Wrote would be to reveal Jessica Fletcher as a serial killer who used her mystery-writer powers to get other people to confess to the murders she actually committed.

Or better still, have her turn out to be the Grim Reaper in human form, ala DEATH TAKES A HOLIDAY and MEET JOE BLACK.

Let's face it, everywhere she went, she brought death to at least one unfortunate victim.

[NickAndNora34]

2 hours ago, Bethluvsfilms said:

Or better still, have her turn out to be the Grim Reaper in human form, ala DEATH TAKES A HOLIDAY and MEET JOE BLACK.

Let's face it, everywhere she went, she brought death to at least one unfortunate victim.

I didn't make this, I posted it on my blog, but it's nice to know other people share the same sentiments haha. 

[shutoo]

House of the Long Shadows (1983)--A re-telling of Seven Keys to Baldpate..but different in many respects than the 1935 Gene Raymond version (only other one I've seen). Notable here is the presence of Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing and John Carradine as some of the 'key holders'..but the main character is...Desi Arnaz Jr. (?)  Actually, I was doubtful about Jr's talents, but he does pretty well sharing scenes with these giants of horror.  If you don't know the story:  Arnaz is an author, who takes a bet that he can write a gothic novel if he can have a weekend away from everyone.  He is given a key to Baldpate, and assured he will be alone..but of course, he isn't.  Along with the four mentioned, a stern matronly Shela Keith is there when he arrives, and a couple seeking shelter from the storm (of course..it's a dark and stormy night..) Julie Peasgood and Richard Todd also show up.  Unlike the other filmed version, there turns out to be 'relationship' between Price, Lee, Cushing, Carradine and Keith that adds another layer to the story.  The spooky turns bloody, when particularly horrific murders begin to occur, and the bodies begin to stack up, leaving Arnaz to wonder if there's another keyholder that's out for revenge.  The ending is completely different than the 35 version..in fact, it's similar to the original play (I read the synopsis) written by George M Cohan...and I preferred it. No gangsters, no inept police..an interesting twist.  Although I thought the film got off to a very slow start, it does get interesting, and worthwhile just to see some great old 'masters of horror' together..even if it's tongue-in-cheek. 7 out of ten.  source: Morpheus                                                    

[Bethluvsfilms]

8 minutes ago, shutoo said:

House of the Long Shadows (1983)--A re-telling of Seven Keys to Baldpate..but different in many respects than the 1935 Gene Raymond version (only other one I've seen). Notable here is the presence of Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing and John Carradine as some of the 'key holders'..but the main character is...Desi Arnaz Jr. (?)  Actually, I was doubtful about Jr's talents, but he does pretty well sharing scenes with these giants of horror.  If you don't know the story:  Arnaz is an author, who takes a bet that he can write a gothic novel if he can have a weekend away from everyone.  He is given a key to Baldpate, and assured he will be alone..but of course, he isn't.  Along with the four mentioned, a stern matronly Shela Keith is there when he arrives, and a couple seeking shelter from the storm (of course..it's a dark and stormy night..) Julie Peasgood and Richard Todd also show up.  Unlike the other filmed version, there turns out to be 'relationship' between Price, Lee, Cushing, Carradine and Keith that adds another layer to the story.  The spooky turns bloody, when particularly horrific murders begin to occur, and the bodies begin to stack up, leaving Arnaz to wonder if there's another keyholder that's out for revenge.  The ending is completely different than the 35 version..in fact, it's similar to the original play (I read the synopsis) written by George M Cohan...and I preferred it. No gangsters, no inept police..an interesting twist.  Although I thought the film got off to a very slow start, it does get interesting, and worthwhile just to see some great old 'masters of horror' together..even if it's tongue-in-cheek. 7 out of ten.  source: Morpheus                                                    

I've always had a soft spot for this film. What a pleasure to see such fine actors as Price, Lee, Cushing and John Carradine all in the same movie together. 

I agree that Desi holds his own with these legends. 

[EricJ]

17 hours ago, shutoo said:

House of the Long Shadows (1983)--A re-telling of Seven Keys to Baldpate..but different in many respects than the 1935 Gene Raymond version (only other one I've seen). Notable here is the presence of Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing and John Carradine as some of the 'key holders'..but the main character is...Desi Arnaz Jr. (?)  

According to the story (at least on the "Electric Boogaloo" documentary), Menahem Golan--yes, it's an 80's Cannon picture--went in saying "Get me those Monster guys!  We need to get them all together for one of those Monster pictures!"

He was surprised when they got Price, Lee, and Cushing together, and associates later suspected Golan didn't realize that Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre were dead, and that's why they hadn't been seen in many films lately.  

[LsDoorMat]

I didn't watch ALL of it, but "Tip on a Dead Jockey" was apparently, according to my records, something I never saw before. So I missed a little bit of the beginning, but I watched the rest as it was recording.  I've never cared for Robert Taylor - I don't think that he had movie star looks and I never thought much of his acting abilities, and this film did nothing to change that opinion. It was almost laughable watching him do that "divorcees still in love" argument dance with Dorothy Malone.  Malone is acting like she has a real actor to argue/dance with here - she must be thinking of her recent Universal days - but she in fact has a piece of wood - Mr. Taylor - opposite her.  The result is somewhat ridiculous. OK, it is completely ridiculous. The film compensates for Mr. Taylor's shortcomings with a somewhat exciting airborne last thirty minutes. I'd mildly recommend it for the action scenes and for a young Jack Lord in a minor role who, ten years later in Hawaii Five-O, actually became what I think Robert Taylor was aiming for his whole life and never quite became.

[LsDoorMat]

20 hours ago, LornaHansonForbes said:

 

also also- why IS IT that nearly all films made in the 1950's that are about the 1920's and 30's do next to nothing when it comes to getting the hair and wardrobe and general atmosphere of the time down? I mean, it's not the 70's where everything looked horrible- they could've approximated the fashions of the time and it wouldn't have been painful to look at. 

Oh, Lorna, it is much worse in the early talkies when a film is looking back 20-40 years before and women are supposedly walking around at the turn of the century in dresses where their legs are showing and everybody has an automobile. If you can sit through it, watch "Back Pay" for a really goofy example of this problem.

[Fedya]

1 hour ago, calvinnme said:

a young Jack Lord in a minor role who, ten years later in Hawaii Five-O, actually became what I think Robert Taylor was aiming for his whole life and never quite became.

It greatly amused me when I discovered that Steve McGarrett was the star of the Colonial Williamsburg orientation movie Williamsburg: The Story of a Patriot

 

 

[Tikisoo]

While waiting for MrTiki, I sat down & turned on TCM (of course!) Columbia's CONVICTED '50 must have just started and although no Glenn Ford fan but love prison movies, I was sucked in.

The "nice guy thrown in with hoodlums" is a common theme. Glenn Ford as Joe Hufford, was excellent in this leading role because he always strikes me as bewildered anyway. (he plays a victim in a lot of movies, doesn't he?) His cellmates are hardened criminals Malloby and Mapes (funny because "Mopes" is a common term cops use to describe thugs) who involve Hufford in all kinds of ridiculous escapades.

A new Warden comes on duty, played perfectly by fave Broderick Crawford. This is where I got hooked: The Warden shows up with his wife, adult daughter (Dorothy Malone) and mother-in-law and they are given a fully furnished apartment RIGHT ON THE PREMISES. After howling out loud, Mr Tiki informed me this actually used to be done!*

Well of course the Warden was the very guy who wrongly convicted Hufford and tries to make amends by giving him extra privileges and fighting for early parole. And of course Hufford is totally trustworthy driving the Warden's daughter around town in civvies! All the while trouble is brewing in the rec yards with a planned escape headed by particularly evil Frank Faylen. Ford gets sucked in the maelstrom and the story is mostly about how he overcomes the system.

This movie was just about a howl from beginning to end, even more hilarious than 1953's JEOPARDY in how criminals & the justice system are depicted. This movie had inmates preparing food, even butchering large slabs of meat with HUGE knives! Rrrrright. These knives & even guns are passed undetected from one guy to another when in real prisons, fleces or spit are more likely to be what's shared.

Along with the hilarity, this movie was kept very enjoyable and entertaining solely by the great performances. As I stated earlier, Ford was good as the victimized prisoner. I just loved seeing Broderick Crawford as a good guy, he was excellent, as always. Outstanding was Millard Mitchell as conniving inmate who really moves the entire plot along. It was funny to see mild Frank Faylen playing the worst of the worst, I bet he enjoyed that role although he was only believable once he feared retaliation. Dorothy Malone gets a lot of discussion on this board, and she left me cold. Could have been difficult material for her to take seriously, don't know.

My summation to MrTiki is I can totally see how so many people "feel sorry" or empathize for those caught in the penal system after watching this type of fantasy prison story. They feature "regular guys" stuck, confined in a violent situation which rarely happens-when it does, those inmates are often separated for their own protection, or just keep to themselves until their time is up. Most bad behaviour in prison revolves around contraband food/drugs and violence is most often spontaneous. Most "planned" crimes involve revenge upon release, which bounces them back in.
*in real life, no prison guard or cop wants an inmate to know who his wife/daughters are for fear of retaliation/victimization a la Cape Fear. (Fleces is deliberately misspelled for Otto)

[LsDoorMat]

1 hour ago, TikiSoo said:

While waiting for MrTiki, I sat down & turned on TCM (of course!) Columbia's CONVICTED '50 must have just started and although no Glenn Ford fan but love prison movies, I was sucked in.

The "nice guy thrown in with hoodlums" is a common theme. Glenn Ford as Joe Hufford, was excellent in this leading role because he always strikes me as bewildered anyway. (he plays a victim in a lot of movies, doesn't he?) His cellmates are hardened criminals Malloby and Mapes (funny because "Mopes" is a common term cops use to describe thugs) who involve Hufford in all kinds of ridiculous escapades.

A new Warden comes on duty, played perfectly by fave Broderick Crawford. This is where I got hooked: The Warden shows up with his wife, adult daughter (Dorothy Malone) and mother-in-law and they are given a fully furnished apartment RIGHT ON THE PREMISES. After howling out loud, Mr Tiki informed me this actually used to be done!*

Well of course the Warden was the very guy who wrongly convicted Hufford and tries to make amends by giving him extra privileges and fighting for early parole. And of course Hufford is totally trustworthy driving the Warden's daughter around town in civvies! All the while trouble is brewing in the rec yards with a planned escape headed by particularly evil Frank Faylen. Ford gets sucked in the maelstrom and the story is mostly about how he overcomes the system.

This movie was just about a howl from beginning to end, even more hilarious than 1953's JEOPARDY in how criminals & the justice system are depicted. This movie had inmates preparing food, even butchering large slabs of meat with HUGE knives! Rrrrright. These knives & even guns are passed undetected from one guy to another when in real prisons, fleces or spit are more likely to be what's shared.

Along with the hilarity, this movie was kept very enjoyable and entertaining solely by the great performances. As I stated earlier, Ford was good as the victimized prisoner. I just loved seeing Broderick Crawford as a good guy, he was excellent, as always. Outstanding was Millard Mitchell as conniving inmate who really moves the entire plot along. It was funny to see mild Frank Faylen playing the worst of the worst, I bet he enjoyed that role although he was only believable once he feared retaliation. Dorothy Malone gets a lot of discussion on this board, and she left me cold. Could have been difficult material for her to take seriously, don't know.

My summation to MrTiki is I can totally see how so many people "feel sorry" or empathize for those caught in the penal system after watching this type of fantasy prison story. They feature "regular guys" stuck, confined in a violent situation which rarely happens-when it does, those inmates are often separated for their own protection, or just keep to themselves until their time is up. Most bad behaviour in prison revolves around contraband food/drugs and violence is most often spontaneous. Most "planned" crimes involve revenge upon release, which bounces them back in.
*in real life, no prison guard or cop wants an inmate to know who his wife/daughters are for fear of retaliation/victimization a la Cape Fear. (Fleces is deliberately misspelled for Otto)

 

This sounded like a remake of 1931's "Criminal Code", so I looked it up and sure enough it was. I don't think there is an easy way to access that precode Columbia film,  but if you can I think you'll have a higher opinion of it than this derivative material. Phillips Holmes played the good guy who got in a brawl with a stranger that led to a manslaughter conviction, Walter Huston is the DA/prison warden, Constance Cummings plays the daughter, and Boris Karloff plays the really rotten apple convict.  Howard Hawks was the actual director, but for some reason he is uncredited, according to imdb.

[LornaHansonForbes]

I google imaged DOROTHY MALONE IN THE TARNISHED ANGELS, and some of these are just too good not to share:

and this one: every INCH the GOD-**** MOVIE STAR.

[LornaHansonForbes]

ALSO FOUND THIS, NOT FROM THE TARNISHED ANGELS, BUT JUST TOO YAAAAAAAAAS!!!!! NOT TO SHARE:

[LawrenceA]

Yesterday I watched, all from 1956:

Foreign Intrigue - This European-set mystery starring Robert Mitchum has its moments but doesn't amount to a lot by the end. It would have worked better in B&W. Also featuring Ingrid Thulin and Genevieve Page.    (6/10)

Forever, Darling - Horrible "comedy" starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz as a married couple who have grown tired of each other. Lucy's guardian angel, in the form of James Mason, shows up to try to set things right. This was terrible, unfunny and poorly made. Also featuring Natalie Schafer, Nancy Kulp, John Hoyt, and Louis Calhern in his final role.    (4/10)

Hell in Korea aka A Hill in Korea - Routine war picture made noteworthy by its cast and its being one of the few British films about the Korean War. Featuring Stanley Baker, Harry Andrews, Ronald Lewis, George Baker, Robert Brown, Robert Shaw, and Michael Caine.    (6/10)

The Iron Petticoat - Abysmal Cold War "comedy" starring Katharine Hepburn as a Soviet fighter pilot who defects to the West to protest the chauvinistic treatment of women. American Air Force pilot Bob Hope is assigned to woo her to the ways of capitalism and apple pie. Even less funny then Forever, Darling, this seems to mark the nadir in the careers of both stars.    (3/10)

Julie - Ahead-of-its-time thriller starring Doris Day as the wife of psychotic Louis Jourdan, who decides that if he can't have her, he'll kill her. Also featuring Barry Sullivan, Frank Lovejoy, and Jack Kruschen. I see this listed as a "Bad Movie" in a few sources, but I found it effective and entertaining, even if it often stretches credulity past the breaking point.   (7/10)

 

[LornaHansonForbes]

14 minutes ago, LawrenceA said:

Yesterday I watched, all from 1956:

 

The Iron Petticoat - Abysmal Cold War "comedy" starring Katharine Hepburn as a Soviet fighter pilot who defects to the West to protest the chauvinistic treatment of women. American Air Force pilot Bob Hope is assigned to woo her to the ways of capitalism and apple pie. Even less funny then Forever, Darling, this seems to mark the nadir in the careers of both stars.    (3/10)

 

 

1. I'm digging your new review system

2. ah, I recommend (if you can) digging up the thread someone started when TCM premiered THE IRON PETTICOAT  a few years back. I will let you know that you are comfortably nestled in the majority opinion on this one....although some of us liked it even less. 

the weirdest thing about THE IRON PETTICOAT to me was that they were either too cheap or too lazy or in too much of a hurry to set up the cameras at different angles and positions to have the film cut to back and forth between characters bantering or to go from close-up to wide shots within a scene: instead the camera SLOWLY MEANDERS back and forth between the characters which is not only a terrible way to shoot a comedy, it'S A TERRIBLE WAY TO SHOOT A FILM.

[LsDoorMat]

25 minutes ago, LawrenceA said:

Yesterday I watched, all from 1956:

Foreign Intrigue - This European-set mystery starring Robert Mitchum has its moments but doesn't amount to a lot by the end. It would have worked better in B&W. Also featuring Ingrid Thulin and Genevieve Page.    (6/10)

Forever, Darling - Horrible "comedy" starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz as a married couple who have grown tired of each other. Lucy's guardian angel, in the form of James Mason, shows up to try to set things right. This was terrible, unfunny and poorly made. Also featuring Natalie Schafer, Nancy Kulp, John Hoyt, and Louis Calhern in his final role.    (4/10)

Hell in Korea aka A Hill in Korea - Routine war picture made noteworthy by its cast and its being one of the few British films about the Korean War. Featuring Stanley Baker, Harry Andrews, Ronald Lewis, George Baker, Robert Brown, Robert Shaw, and Michael Caine.    (6/10)

The Iron Petticoat - Abysmal Cold War "comedy" starring Katharine Hepburn as a Soviet fighter pilot who defects to the West to protest the chauvinistic treatment of women. American Air Force pilot Bob Hope is assigned to woo her to the ways of capitalism and apple pie. Even less funny then Forever, Darling, this seems to mark the nadir in the careers of both stars.    (3/10)

Julie - Ahead-of-its-time thriller starring Doris Day as the wife of psychotic Louis Jourdan, who decides that if he can't have her, he'll kill her. Also featuring Barry Sullivan, Frank Lovejoy, and Jack Kruschen. I see this listed as a "Bad Movie" in a few sources, but I found it effective and entertaining, even if it often stretches credulity past the breaking point.   (7/10)

 

Lawrence - thanks for watching all of those mediocre films so we don't have to! You should get a medal. Thanks also for giving Julie a nod. Now I know it won't be a waste of recording space.

[LornaHansonForbes]

2 minutes ago, calvinnme said:

Lawrence - thanks for watching all of those mediocre films so we don't have to! You should get a medal. Thanks also for giving Julie a nod. Now I know it won't be a waste of recording space.

actually, JULIE's not bad....

[rosebette]

4 hours ago, calvinnme said:

This sounded like a remake of 1931's "Criminal Code", so I looked it up and sure enough it was. I don't think there is an easy way to access that precode Columbia film,  but if you can I think you'll have a higher opinion of it than this derivative material. Phillips Holmes played the good guy who got in a brawl with a stranger that led to a manslaughter conviction, Walter Huston is the DA/prison warden, Constance Cummings plays the daughter, and Boris Karloff plays the really rotten apple convict.  Howard Hawks was the actual director, but for some reason he is uncredited, according to imdb.

I remember seeing Criminal Code a while back, back to back with Convicted, and the early film is far superior. 

[Bethluvsfilms]

I never saw THE IRON PETTICOAT, but it sounds like I haven't missed anything.

I do love Kate but have never been a Bob Hope fan. I heard the movie changed direction to suit his comic style and she did not appreciate that. 

One teaming that I won't go out of my way to look for.

[Fedya]

The Frightened Man (1952)

British B movie has Charles Victor playing London antiques dealer Rosselli who, like Mildred Pierce, scrimped, saved, and then some to get his son Julius (Dermot Walsh) into Oxford.  But Julius got himself expelled, and in trying to secure a comfortable life, has gotten himself involved with a gang of thieves, one of whom works for Dad and has been fencing stolen goods through the store.  The police are already on the trail of all of this.

Despite its brief running time (IMDB says 69 minutes, the ultra-cheap DVD I have ran 66), its low production values, and cast of people I'd never heard of, this was surprisingly good for a B movie. 

7/10

[hamradio]

"The Last Pope" (2018) a documentary that focuses on Malachy’s “Prophecy of the Popes,” which emerged in the late 1500s and made predictions about future popes, predicting the last one would be the 112th.

Is Francis the last, time will tell. 
 

[laffite]

My favorite Pope was Alexander.

[LornaHansonForbes]

13 hours ago, Bethluvsfilms said:

I never saw THE IRON PETTICOAT, but it sounds like I haven't missed anything.

I do love Kate but have never been a Bob Hope fan. I heard the movie changed direction to suit his comic style and she did not appreciate that. 

One teaming that I won't go out of my way to look for.

and yet...

as bad as the movie undeniably is; there is an equally undeniable something between Hepburn and Hope- in a different story with a better script where she was more wisely cast and a director who actually knew how to SET UP SHOTS PROPERLY and BE WILLING DO THE OCCASIONAL SECOND OR EVEN THIRD TAKE had been assigned- maybe it'd been something worth seeing.

I still hate Bob Hope though.

[LornaHansonForbes]

17 hours ago, rosebette said:

I remember seeing Criminal Code a while back, back to back with Convicted, and the early film is far superior. 

I've read a lot of things praising THE CRIMINAL CODE and I love Howard Hawks and usually enjoy Walter Huston and I am all-for Pre-Codes and I don't mind prison films, but Lord help me, I cannot make it through this movie.

[LawrenceA]

More from 1956:

Man from Del Rio - Mediocre western with Anthony Quinn as a Mexican gunslinger hired by a town who wants him to get rid of the bad guys, but otherwise they don't want anything to do with him. Katy Jurado tries to console him. Quinn isn't bad, and the examination of anti-Mexican sentiment is timely, but the rest doesn't make much of an impression.  (6/10)

Meet Me in Las Vegas - CinemaScope musical with rancher Dan Dailey finding a lucky gambling charm in ballet dancer Cyd Charisse. Featuring a lot of "guest star" performances from the likes of Lena Horne and Frankie Laine, and a few surprise cameos. There's some charm here, but a little goes a long way, and at nearly 2 hours, this overstays its welcome.   (6/10)

The Montecarlo Story - Mild European romantic comedy featuring Vittorio De Sica and Marlene Dietrich as two high-class gamblers who are secretly broke and trying to use the other for their perceived fortune. This one has its moments, but it never really grabbed me, perhaps due to an uninspired script.   (6/10)

Patterns - Corporate America is dramatized in all of its ugly glory by writer Rod Serling. Van Heflin joins a major NYC business firm only to find himself caught up in office politics. Also featuring Everett Sloane, Ed Begley, Andrew Duggan, Elizabeth Wilson, and Beatrice Straight. This may be a little dated, but it's still hard-hitting, with terrific performances and a quick pace for this sort of thing. Recommended.   (8/10)

The Proud Ones - Solid western featuring Robert Ryan as a town marshal secretly suffering from random moments of temporary blindness. He has to deal with crooked gambling boss Robert Middleton, as well as a new deputy (Jeffrey Hunter) who may be out to kill him. Also featuring Virginia Mayo. This was surprisingly entertaining, with good performances and suspenseful action scenes.   (7/10)

Run for the Sun - Writer Richard Widmark and reporter Jane Greer crash land their airplane in the Central American jungle where they run afoul of Trevor Howard and a band of baddies. This is another one that has a reputation for being bad (Widmark reportedly threatened his kids with screenings of this if they acted out), but I liked this variation on The Most Dangerous Game.    (7/10)