I Just Watched...

[LornaHansonForbes]

[scsu1975]

Kongo met with some tough reviews (understandably). One critic wrote "an o r g y of depraved human nature at its worst, running riot in African jungle heat." A theater manager in Montana wrote "you breathe a sigh of relief ... when the last reel is in the can."

Of course, theaters managed to exploit the film. Variety  reported that at a theater in Ohio, the manager had "five Negroes garbed as cannibals, each carrying a large cardboard letter," parading down the street. The five paraded in single file, the letters spelling "Kongo." 

It is definitely a wild film, even by today's standards. And I enjoyed it quite a bit.

[laffite]

6 hours ago, LornaHansonForbes said:

Reminded me a lot of HENDERSON THE RAIN KING,

I'm curious of the parallel you see in Kongo and Henderson. Is is the setting only? And you must be referring to the book as I cannot find that it was made into a movie although IMDB shows this title in development. I'm having trouble seeing a significant connection between the novel and the movie as you describe it. I'm not being aggressive, just curious.

[LornaHansonForbes]

1 hour ago, laffite said:

I'm curious of the parallel you see in Kongo and Henderson. Is is the setting only? And you must be referring to the book as I cannot find that it was made into a movie although IMDB shows this title in development. I'm having trouble seeing a significant connection between the novel and the movie as you describe it. I'm not being aggressive, just curious.

Yes, just the book, I don't think HENDERSON was ever made into a movie.

both KONGO and HENDERSON Have plots that center around white male protagonist who come upon an African tribe and conquer them via the group's (presumed by the authors) malleability, gullibility, vulnerability, and backward superstitions to RULE THEM ALL AS BWANA. 

In HENDERSON, The protagonist succeeds by pure dumb luck, in KONGO it's via "magic" and gimmicks.

 

[laffite]

22 minutes ago, LornaHansonForbes said:

Yes, just the book, I don't think HENDERSON was ever made into a movie.

both KONGO and HENDERSON Have plots that center around white male protagonist who come upon an African tribe and conquer them via the group's (presumed by the authors) malleability, gullibility, vulnerability, and backward superstitions to RULE THEM ALL AS BWANA. 

In HENDERSON, The protagonist succeeds by pure dumb luck, in KONGO it's via "magic" and gimmicks.

 

I see. I thought that you may have been referring to the more lurid aspects of the movie that reminded you of the book, which would have puzzling since the book is devoid of such elements. But I see you were not and thanks for answering. An interesting citation.

[LornaHansonForbes]

46 minutes ago, laffite said:

I see. I thought that you may have been referring to the more lurid aspects of the movie that reminded you of the book, which would have puzzling since the book is devoid of such elements. But I see you were not and thanks for answering. An interesting citation.

Oh yeah, just on terms of the plot theyre similar- absolutely nothing lurid in HENDERSON, which is another strike against it.

HENDERSON I found rather offensive and dull, KONGO was also somewhat offensive, but it sure as Hell wasn't dull!

I can forgive a book or movie for being offensive, but not for being dull!

[Swithin]

1 hour ago, LornaHansonForbes said:

Yes, just the book, I don't think HENDERSON was ever made into a movie.

I saw an operatic version of Henderson the Rain King by Leon Kirchner, at the New York City Opera (1977). The opera was called Lily. I remember a lot of frogs.

[laffite]

23 minutes ago, LornaHansonForbes said:

Oh yeah, just on terms of the plot theyre similar- absolutely nothing lurid in HENDERSON, which is another strike against it.

HENDERSON I found rather offensive and dull, KONGO was also somewhat offensive, but it sure as Hell wasn't dull!

I can forgive a book or movie for being offensive, but not for being dull!

The introductory section, before Africa, was entertaining.

32 minutes ago, Swithin said:

I remember a lot of frogs.

Real Frogs !!! If so, that's what I call staging Or maybe they had little kids running around all in costume croaking away.

?

[MaryGH]

Cheyenne (1947) with Dennis Morgan and Jane Wyman. Someone by the name "The Poet" is robbing Wells Fargo stagecoaches, and The Sundance Gang is not happy with whoever is intercepting their stagecoach holdups. Directed by Raoul Walsh, this western is entertaining and fast moving. Look for Tom Tyler as a Sundance gang member.

 

[LawrenceA]

I watched a few more from 1957:

Funny Face - Colorful musical about fashion photographer Fred Astaire making a supermodel out of beatnik bookworm Audrey Hepburn. You'd be hard-pressed to combine more elements that I don't care about into one film: musicals, haute couture fashion, and the "romance" of Paris. As such, this was most definitely not made for me, but I felt compelled to watch it as I'm trying to see all of the more famous musicals, as well as the films of Audrey Hepburn. This isn't one I'll ever be revisiting, and by the time Kay Thompson sings "Clap Yo' Hands", I was looking for something to throw at the TV.    (5/10)

Hell Ship Mutiny - Bargain-basement seafaring adventure starring Jon Hall as a roaming sea captain who gets involved with saving some island villagers from evil treasure hunters John Carradine and Mike Mazurki. Also featuring Peter Lorre and Salty the Chimp. This was a pilot for an unsold TV series to be entitled Knight of the South Seas. As such, it looks like cheap television. Lorre, as an island commissioner, shows up late in the game looking sweaty and overweight.    (5/10)

Hellcats of the Navy - More water-logged cinema, this time a WW2 submarine tale featuring a sour-faced Ronald Reagan as a sub captain who angers his crew, chiefly executive officer Arthur Franz, when he's forced to leave a crewman behind during an enemy engagement. Reagan tries to win the men over, while also making time with nurse Nancy Davis. This corny, cliched time-waster would have been virtually forgotten if not for the appearances of the future POTUS & FLOTUS.    (5/10)

Il Grido - Sparse, bleak Italian drama from director Michelangelo Antonioni starring Steve Cochran as a blue-collar laborer who leaves his small town after his scandalous affair with his sister-in-law Alida Valli is exposed. Cochran, bringing along his young daughter, tramps across the countryside looking for work, finding temporary shelter with a succession of women, but always moving along towards...? This is an excellent examination of a man who can't find his place in the world, a situation I can sympathize with, and as such I was genuinely moved. Some may find this too downbeat, but I liked it, if that's the right word. Recommended.   (8/10)

Island in the Sun - Based on a bestselling book and coming out right when the calypso music craze was getting into full swing in the U.S., this overheated soap opera was a major hit, one of the top ten of the year. Set on a fictional Caribbean island, the story follows various romantic entanglements and political clashes between the wealthy white minority and the larger black working class. The large cast includes James Mason, Harry Belafonte, Joan Fontaine, Dorothy Dandridge, Joan Collins, Stephen Boyd, Michael Rennie, John Williams, and Diana Wynyard. The movie looks nice, with vibrant colors and lush tropical scenery in CinemaScope grandeur, but the various dramas are strictly night-time soap material.    (6/10)

[kingrat]

Lawrence, I love Il Grido, though I wouldn't watch it on a rainy day when I was feeling depressed. Beautifully made. One of the very best Antonioni films, in my book.

[TomJH]

8 hours ago, LawrenceA said:

Il Grido - Sparse, bleak Italian drama from director Michelangelo Antonioni starring Steve Cochran as a blue-collar laborer who leaves his small town after his scandalous affair with his sister-in-law Alida Valli is exposed. Cochran, bringing along his young daughter, tramps across the countryside looking for work, finding temporary shelter with a succession of women, but always moving along towards...? This is an excellent examination of a man who can't find his place in the world, a situation I can sympathize with, and as such I was genuinely moved. Some may find this too downbeat, but I liked it, if that's the right word. Recommended.   (8/10)

 

Thanks for the word on this film, Lawrence.

I have come to increasingly appreciation Steve Cochran as an actor over the past few years, especially after having seen how effective he could be in a few sympathetic roles later in his career, with a lovely, sensitive little bucolic piece which he produced, Come Next Spring, with Ann Sheridan in her last good role as a farm woman, being a fine illustration.

Can anyone explain this? I downloaded a nice print of Il Grido off You Tube with English sub titles. But when I use one software (You Tube Downloader) to do this the print has no sub titles on my hard drive, and when I do it with a different software (Any Video Converter) the sub titles are in a different language (Italian, Spanish?). I can't get the English sub titled version even though that is what is playing on YT.

[rosebette]

Lawrence, I must assert that you underestimate Funny Face, which I find a delightful film.  Perhaps I'm a little prejudiced because I just went to Paris for the first time in my life, and couldn't get "Bonjour Paris!" out of my head.  I think Kay Thomson lends great energy to this movie, Audrey Hepburn is charming, the color and clothes are magnificent, as is the Gershwin score, and Astaire's dance with his raincoat is worth as many views as "He Loves and She Loves."

 

I've always wanted to see Island in the Sun because I've heard it's one of the first movies to depict interracial romances.

[scsu1975]

The Catman of Paris (1946) youtube

Halfway through this thing, my fiancée asked “how much longer is this?” So I knew we were in trouble.

Carl Esmond plays a French author who has just returned from somewhere, where he had a bout of something. Every so often he blacks out, but before he does, we get a shot of a frozen wasteland, lightning, a buoy, then a black cat. None of this makes sense unless you are on weed. After each blackout, a cast member goes belly up. Personally, I think the victims just wanted out of this picture.

After the first attack, Prefect of Police Fritz Feld, without a shred of evidence, immediately concludes the murder has been committed by a catman. Right. This guy makes Inspector Clouseau look like Sherlock Holmes. Inspector Gerald Mohr spends most of the film disagreeing with Feld, rolling his eyes, and generally smirking. I think he read the script.

Adele Mara, as Esmonds’ fiancée, becomes a fancy feast for the catman, which is too bad because I was just beginning to enjoy her cleavage. Then Edmonds takes up with Lenore Aubert, who manages to almost sound like a French person, unlike everyone else in the cast. 

Edmonds spends most of the film trying to figure out if he is indeed the killer. At one point, he says to Aubert, in resignation, “I am the catman.” To which my fiancée replied, “I am the walrus.”

We don’t get to see the catman until about five minutes left in the film. During the wait, we are subjected to some astrologist telling us the history of the catman, how he appears every time Jupiter aligns with Mars (or something to that effect) and how he was present at historical events throughout time. This guy made me yearn for Criswell.

At the conclusion, my fiancée blurted out “this is the stupidest film we’ve ever seen, except for the one with the midgets.” (She was referring to The Terror of Tiny Town.)

[LawrenceA]

4 minutes ago, rosebette said:

Lawrence, I must assert that you underestimate Funny Face, which I find a delightful film.  Perhaps I'm a little prejudiced because I just went to Paris for the first time in my life, and couldn't get "Bonjour Paris!" out of my head.  I think Kay Thomson lends great energy to this movie, Audrey Hepburn is charming, the color and clothes are magnificent, as is the Gershwin score, and Astaire's dance with his raincoat is worth as many views as "He Loves and She Loves."

 

I've always wanted to see Island in the Sun because I've heard it's one of the first movies to depict interracial romances.

Yeah, I know I'm a grouch when it comes to musicals. I just couldn't get into Funny Face at all, but as I said, it wasn't made for my tastes, and I acknowledge that it has many fans. I don't begrudge anyone liking movies that I didn't, as life would be much sweeter if I liked them all.

Island in the Sun has a lot of interracial romance, of various types and with various implications. It's still very tame and timid in its depictions, but it was groundbreaking for the time. I read that Joan Fontaine got a ton of hate mail because of it.

[EricJ]

1 hour ago, rosebette said:

Lawrence, I must assert that you underestimate Funny Face, which I find a delightful film.  Perhaps I'm a little prejudiced because I just went to Paris for the first time in my life, and couldn't get "Bonjour Paris!" out of my head.  I think Kay Thomson lends great energy to this movie, Audrey Hepburn is charming, the color and clothes are magnificent, as is the Gershwin score, and Astaire's dance with his raincoat is worth as many views as "He Loves and She Loves."

It's like a vegetarian being served a perfect grilled T-bone with bacon-grilled mushrooms and onions, and saying "That was the worst meal I was ever served in my life!"

I don't like Westerns or romances either, but I at least take what I'm given in context at face value if I have to "study" it for film history.  It's not the greatest Fred Astaire (from his "Daddy Long Legs" days when he was cast as the charming senior father-figure to the young lead), and as I can't stand Breakfast With Tiffany's (but wouldn't begrudge it to anyone else either), I don't feel qualified to say whether it's the best Audrey Hepburn...But at least I know a diverting Gershwin jukebox-musical when I see it, and I'd rather moon over Audrey's nerdy beatnik-bookshop Capri pants than see her as NY's best-dressed lunatic in her better-known role, or hear her sing about the Rain in Spain.

...Everyone admires an iconoclast, but nobody likes a danged Grouch.  Hehehh...(trash-can lid slams)

[LawrenceA]

I watched these movies from 1957:

Le Notti Bianche aka White Nights - Italian romantic drama from director Luchino Visconti. Marcello Mastroianni is a shy, socially awkward young man who strikes up a friendship with neurotic immigrant girl Maria Schell. Marcello hopes for romance, but Maria is awaiting the (unlikely) return of past lover Jean Marais. If one accepts Mastroianni as a guy who's desperate for, but unlucky in, love, then this is a well-acted, interestingly staged drama about the pitfalls of misplaced romantic ideals.    (7/10)

The Long Haul - Good British noir about American truck driver Victor Mature hoping to return to the U.S. with his English wife and their small child. Mature gets a job driving a truck which brings him into contact with crooked lout Patrick Allen and his unhappy wife Diana Dors. Mature fits his weary character like a glove, while Dors looks like a heartbreaker. A solid, if minor, crime drama.   (7/10)

Man in the Shadow - Modern-day western featuring Jeff Chandler as a sheriff trying to solve the murder of a young migrant worker. It's plain that those responsible work on the huge ranch owned by Orson Welles, but the townsfolk refuse to do anything as they rely on Welles' ranch to keep businesses in town operating. This comes across as a mash-up of High Noon and The Phenix City Story, but I thought Chandler did a good job as the lone hero, and Welles & company are unsavory enough to make you stick around to see them get their just desserts.   (7/10)

The Man Who Turned to Stone - Low-budget horror/science fiction thriller about mad scientist Victor Jory using the inmates at a women's prison as guinea pigs in his experiments. Can visiting doctor William Hudson and social worker Charlotte Austin get to the bottom of things before the mysteriously taciturn Eric (Friedrich von Ledebur) throttles them all? This is silly stuff, but I was entertained. Just don't go in expecting much.    (6/10)

Men in War - Offbeat Korean war drama featuring Robert Ryan as the commanding officer of a ragtag squad of American soldiers who have survived a major battle. They struggle to make it back to friendly territory as the enemy, and their own fears, start to whittle away at them. Also featuring Aldo Ray, Vic Morrow, James Edwards, and Nehemiah Persoff. There's an odd sensibility to this unpredictable Korean war movie, even if it seems to follow the same basic pattern of many of them. I watched this for Robert Ryan, but Aldo Ray steals the show.   (7/10)

 

[TomJH]

30 minutes ago, LawrenceA said:

I

The Long Haul - Good British noir about American truck driver Victor Mature hoping to return to the U.S. with his English wife and their small child. Mature gets a job driving a truck which brings him into contact with crooked lout Patrick Allen and his unhappy wife Diana Dors. Mature fits his weary character like a glove, while Dors looks like a heartbreaker. A solid, if minor, crime drama.   (7/10)

 

The Long Haul is one of those good gritty little dramas that deserves to be better known. Mature's flawed everyman truck driver is someone to root for, while Diana Dors, who looks like a man trap, plays a character who is quite sympathetic and appealing. A fine little effort, with one of Mature's most effective performances.

[Tikisoo]

Lawrence said: The Man Who Turned to Stone - Low-budget horror/science fiction thriller about mad scientist Victor Jory using the inmates at a women's prison as guinea pigs in his experiments.

Thanks for this, Larry. I really like Victor Jory and seeing him in a lead role will be a treat. Added bonus is women-in-prison is a fave genre!

Men in War - Offbeat Korean war drama featuring Robert Ryan as the commanding officer (snipped) I watched this for Robert Ryan, but Aldo Ray steals the show. This will be playing for "Aldo Ray Day" late in September. (I love Aldo Ray) Thanks!

[LornaHansonForbes]

I finally finished SUNDAY, BLOODY SUNDAY (1971)- it was worth it to see PETER FINCH'S bit at the end where he looks straight into the camera and delivers a great monologue with such honesty and directness I really wish he hadn't been taken from the world so soon. He's like an equally theatrical RICHARD BURTON, only more genuine and believable.

I also wish the film had been 2/3 him and 1/3 Glenda Jackson, instead of the other way around- but girl had just won BEST ACTRESS after all...

That said, Ole' ACTION JACKSON was terrific in the part and absolutely deserved her nomination; perhaps I rib Glenda a bit because there is something about her brittle persona that reminds me a tad of meself...It's funny, I made a joke about her giving herself unflattering bangs before I saw the part where her character does indeed get a haircut, although it's more of a lateral move as far as being "fetching."

fyi: I was born in 1978 and before this year, had very little interest in films of the 1970s and there is a lot i have not seen. i am also doing my catching up all the Hell out of sync, so I am seeing the influences in reverse and how people took the ball when someone did something innovative and ran like Holy Hell with it (sometimes in the wrong direction.)

and still, I don't think I can ever really really fully appreciate SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY and its sister the next year CABARET because- being of a later generation- there's part of me that can never fully grasp WHAT A BIG DEAL IT WAS TO SEE SUCH RESPECTFUL, DEFERENTIAL, INTELLIGENT AND HONEST REPRESENTATION of sexuality on screen and how VALIDATING IT MUST HAVE FELT for people who were of age to see these films and feel like they were not alone...

it's even easier for these kids nowadays to see something like that and not realize just how bold it was for the time.

i also have to salute JOHN SCHLESINGER (sp?) who earned an Oscar nod for Best Director in one of those rare instances where I think nominating the director but not the film for Best Picture was 100% right. He brings a sort of classic movie sensibility to the whole thing, a dignity and a certain honesty- he also knows how to move a camera and the composition of his shots was sensational...although the story is pretty simple, he tells it visually in a way that compels you.

OMG VIVIAN PICKLES (aka MOTHER from HAROLD AND MAUDE) is in this in a total 180 of a part!!!

aLSO ALSo, yeah, i figured ONE NIGHT IN BANGKOK wasn't about anything salacious, I don't care- it's one of those tunes like THE FREAKS COME OUT AT NIGHT or WORD UP by CAMEO or LICK IT by TRINA that you simply CANNOT HEAR and remain in a bad mood for long.

 

[Swithin]

11 hours ago, LawrenceA said:

 

In mentioning The Man Who Turned to Stone, attention must be paid to the performance by evil Ann Doran: "And... you're to stop the fancy fripperies like motion pictures."

[Hibi]

On 8/17/2018 at 3:22 PM, TomJH said:

Private Worlds (1935)

Intriguing medical drama from Paramount, benefiting from the participation of a first rate cast.

Set in a progressive psychiatric hospital, Claudette Colbert, with carefully manicured eyebrows, a suit and usually wearing a tie, plays a dedicated psychiatrist in charge of the male patients. Her co worker is Joel McCrea, another professional with whom she has a close friendship but no romance. He is married to Joan Bennett, a trusting, naive soul who will do anything for her husband and regards Colbert as a friend.

Dramatic tension occurs, however, with the arrival of Charles Boyer as the new head of the hospital. A conservative who does not believe in women working in the upper echelons of hospitals, he immediately demotes Colbert to being in charge of male out patients. The even tempered Colbert acquiesces to his decision while McCrea is outraged by his old fashioned attitude.

Arriving with Boyer at the hospital is his sister (Helen Vinson), an empty headed, bored man trap and it isn't long before she has the disgruntled McCrea as her not so secretive playmate.

It may sound like the makings of a hospital soaper and, to a small degree, it is, but the film thankfully largely rises above that level with moments of unexpected sensitivity.

The best scene in the film, to my liking, at least, occurs at about the half way point. One of the patients in the hospital ward is an old man known only as "the Arab." He lies in a bed, talking softly to himself but no one understands his language. On seeing him, however, Boyer, who does speak Arabic, says that the man is dying and wants someone to pray with him.

Boyer orders screens to be placed around the old man's bed out of respect for his privacy. He then sits with him, holds his hand and joins him in prayer. Colbert watches silently as a light on the old man's face finally turns to darkness, signalling to the audience he has passed away.

Suddenly another patient ("Big Boy" Guinn Williams) wakes up. He is a strong, burly man who has a pathological need to see the entire ward room at all times. When he sees the screens around the old man's bed he is driven to sudden violence, knocking down the screens, as well as Boyer.

That is followed by a fast edited sequence of orderlies trying to subdue Williams who knocks them aside. Intermingled with these shots are closeups of other patients, some afraid, some laughing and excited, cheering Williams on. Director Gregory La Cava has one shot of the shadows on a wall of the men struggling. Finally Colbert, who had also been knocked down by Williams, rushes forward once again and reasons with him. Williams, relaxing with her words of reassurance and suddenly overcome with remorse over his own behaviour, begins to weep. The crisis is over.

Aside from the impressive visual execution of the sequence, it is a scene that reaffirms Colbert's cool professionalism in a stressful situation while also, with its demonstration of Boyer's sensitivity towards a dying man, softening his character to make him appear far more human. And the scene ends on a touching note, with a closeup Big Boy Williams' tears flowing in a surprisingly affecting performance from an actor known more for his brawn than acting skills, perhaps best remembered today as a muscular, comical sidekick to Errol Flynn in a few big budget westerns.

The later portion of the film, primarily involving Joan Bennett's character, turns rather predictably melodramatic. Audiences anticipating a romance between Colbert and Boyer may be surprised that it occupies so little screen time. I think the film is stronger, too, for largely avoiding that cliche.

Colbert, who received an Oscar nomination for her portrayal, delivers a mature, intelligent performance. That her character is a little too caring, a little too emotionally well balanced, a little too perfect, is really only to be expected from the screenplay of a film from this period. A flaw in her character might have made her a little more interesting but that's a minor complaint.

For years Private Worlds was one of a large number of Paramount productions that became a challenge to find after becoming the property of Universal Studios. It has now been released on DVD as part of the Universal Vault Series in a decent looking print.

2.5 out of 4

 

I'm hoping this means it may turn up on TCM soon!

[Hibi]

6 hours ago, LornaHansonForbes said:

I finally finished SUNDAY, BLOODY SUNDAY (1971)- it was worth it to see PETER FINCH'S bit at the end where he looks straight into the camera and delivers a great monologue with such honesty and directness I really wish he hadn't been taken from the world so soon. He's like an equally theatrical RICHARD BURTON, only more genuine and believable.

I also wish the film had been 2/3 him and 1/3 Glenda Jackson, instead of the other way around- but girl had just won BEST ACTRESS after all...

That said, Ole' ACTION JACKSON was terrific in the part and absolutely deserved her nomination; perhaps I rib Glenda a bit because there is something about her brittle persona that reminds me a tad of meself...It's funny, I made a joke about her giving herself unflattering bangs before I saw the part where her character does indeed get a haircut, although it's more of a lateral move as far as being "fetching."

fyi: I was born in 1978 and before this year, had very little interest in films of the 1970s and there is a lot i have not seen. i am also doing my catching up all the Hell out of sync, so I am seeing the influences in reverse and how people took the ball when someone did something innovative and ran like Holy Hell with it (sometimes in the wrong direction.)

and still, I don't think I can ever really really fully appreciate SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY and its sister the next year CABARET because- being of a later generation- there's part of me that can never fully grasp WHAT A BIG DEAL IT WAS TO SEE SUCH RESPECTFUL, DEFERENTIAL, INTELLIGENT AND HONEST REPRESENTATION of sexuality on screen and how VALIDATING IT MUST HAVE FELT for people who were of age to see these films and feel like they were not alone...

it's even easier for these kids nowadays to see something like that and not realize just how bold it was for the time.

i also have to salute JOHN SCHLESINGER (sp?) who earned an Oscar nod for Best Director in one of those rare instances where I think nominating the director but not the film for Best Picture was 100% right. He brings a sort of classic movie sensibility to the whole thing, a dignity and a certain honesty- he also knows how to move a camera and the composition of his shots was sensational...although the story is pretty simple, he tells it visually in a way that compels you.

OMG VIVIAN PICKLES (aka MOTHER from HAROLD AND MAUDE) is in this in a total 180 of a part!!!

aLSO ALSo, yeah, i figured ONE NIGHT IN BANGKOK wasn't about anything salacious, I don't care- it's one of those tunes like THE FREAKS COME OUT AT NIGHT or WORD UP by CAMEO or LICK IT by TRINA that you simply CANNOT HEAR and remain in a bad mood for long.

 

 

I agree with most of what you said, but I felt it should've been up for Best Picture as well (and photography!)

[LornaHansonForbes]

23 minutes ago, Hibi said:

 

I agree with most of what you said, but I felt it should've been up for Best Picture as well (and photography!)

and Bessie Love was wonderful in her pretty substantial supporting part too.

[Hibi]

On 8/18/2018 at 9:28 AM, LornaHansonForbes said:

I watched KONGO (1933) with LUPE VELEZ and WALTER HUSTON on TCM ON DEMAND.

It was NUTS.

Reminded me a lot of HENDERSON THE RAIN KING, only trashy and not boring (although they're neck and neck in the department of condescension.).

although she is second billed Lupe has more of a large supporting part, but she makes the most of it (and apparently made the most of the local supply of baby oil, she is POSITIVELY LUBED in this thing.)

It's a remake of a LON CHANEY pic and HUSTON GOES BANANAS in the part; in the years after CHANEY'S death, it seems as if a few older leading men in HOLLYWOOD tried to pick up the CHANEY MANTLE by tackling some of his former triumphs. It is a RAW, INSANE, UNHINGED performance- at times, he looks more like THE DEVIL HIMSELF than he does in THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER.

VIRGINIA BRUCE is in this, and she is lovely, even (in moments) after her character has become a drug addict (the hair in her later scenes was a major influence on VERONICA LAKE I think)

The second male lead was kind of cute, but not a good actor. i did not recognize him. THE SKELETON FROM THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL has an important early part as well.

THIS THING RUNS AN ASTOUNDING PARALLEL TO THE SHANGHAI GESTURE (1941), also starring Huston- although saying too much else would be a spoiler. although they are both delightfully bad movies.

R a p e  is strongly implied. Adultery and prostitution openly discussed. Violence is everywhere. There's drugs galore. Multiple ritual sacrifices and Lupe's head gets sawed off in a REALLY CONVINCING magic trick (the last one is not a spoiler, honest)

I bet they LOVED this one in Pomona!

I recorded this, but havent watched it yet. I had to pick and choose on Lupe day, and TCM gave this 3 stars...