I Just Watched...

[cigarjoe]

Destiny (1944) weird sort of a fantasy noir. A small time crook finds love with a blind girl in a sort of shangri la. Its a cross between On Dangerous Ground (1951) and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). I know sounds completely ridiculous. 6/10

[TomJH]

Black Orchid (1958)

A gangster's widow (Sophia Loren) is courted by a widower (Anthony Quinn). The primary dramatic conflicts are provided by the children of these two, in particular Quinn's adult daughter engaged to be married (Ina Balin) who deeply resents Loren.

This is a slickly produced soaper, with a pair of okay performances by the two leads. In the final analysis, though, it's just another manipulative tear jerker and a fairly transparent one, at that.

Balin brings nothing but misery to herself and everyone around her by her hysterical overreaction to her father wanting to date (and, heaven forbid, even marry) "that woman" (of whom she knows next to nothing outside of idle talk). You just want to slap the brat hard across the face until her eyes rattle back and forth cartoon fashion inside her skull, hoping her one active brain cell might start to work. If that doesn't work, then just slap her again for the hell of it.

Sorry, as you can see I got a little hostile with Balin's pain-in-the-butt character.

2.5 out of 4

[kingrat]

Without intending to, I re-watched The Locket last night, and liked it as much as ever, maybe even more. The interlocking flashbacks are a delight, and John Brahm is a good director for this material. Laraine Day never judges the character she plays, which makes it easy to understand why people (men especially) keep assuming that Nancy is the charming girl she appears to be. As in Mr. Lucky, Laraine Day seems like an leading lady who should have had a much bigger career. Brian Aherne as the psychiatrist can be overconfident, even fatuous, but sympathetic at other times, tormented in other scenes. Robert Mitchum may not be the top choice to play a modern painter, but he is always interesting onscreen, and the dynamics of his relationship with Day ring true. Katherine Emery also shines as the rich woman who doesn't want her daughter playing with the housekeeper's child. The scene where she questions the child about the missing locket is quite well-written; what could easily have been a crude stereotype of an overbearing woman instead becomes a careful examination of how a woman of her class uses her power.

[LawrenceA]

Hot Spell (1958) - Sweaty melodrama from Paramount Pictures and director Daniel Mann. Alma (Shirley Booth) is trying to get things just right for her husband (Anthony Quinn) John Henry's birthday. He's been distant lately, and Alma hopes to rekindle their romance. Eldest son John Henry Jr. (Earl Holliman) has a strained relationship with his father, but wants a business loan to strike out on his own. Other son Billy (Clint Kimbrough), a meek library worker, wants to be his own man, as well. Daughter Virginia (Shirley MacLaine) has a new steady boyfriend who might just be "the one". All of them face tumult and heartbreak on a particularly hot night. Also featuring Eileen Heckart, Warren Stevens, and Jody Lawrence.

This is the kind of overheated melodrama that was particularly popular with filmmakers in the 1950's, and the kind of thing I don't usually care too much for. This isn't really an exception, although it has its moments. Booth isn't among my favorite performers, mainly due to her voice and the type of characters she usually plays. She's as whiny and needy as usual, but my favorite scene of the film was one with her and friend Eileen Heckart sharing a smoke and a drink in an attempt to teach Shirley to be more alluring. Quinn, as a deeply dissatisfied man dealing with a mid-life crisis, is okay, although he'd played this kind of part a dozen times or more by this point in his career. MacLaine has a couple of good moments as a young woman struggling with expectations.    (6/10)

Source: YouTube

 

[laffite]

[Fedya]

My Reputation (1946).

Barbara Stanwyck plays a widow who's just lost her husband to illness at the height of World War II.  Her shrewish mother (Lucile Watson) and her conventional rich friends all expect her to mourn and suffer for the rest of her life, but she goes off to Tahoe with Eve Arden and her husband, where she meets Army major George Brent.  The two begin a torrid love affair, to the point that you wouldn't realize there's a war on.  But all of Stanwyck's old friends except for Eve gossip about her.

6/10.  Stanwyck tries, but the material lets her and everybody down.  There was one amusing scene of Stanwyck meeting a friend (I think Arden) across the aisles of a grocery store a la Double Indemnity, but without the can'd milk.

[LornaHansonForbes]

9 hours ago, kingrat said:

Without intending to, I re-watched The Locket last night, and liked it as much as ever,  Laraine Day never judges the character she plays, which makes it easy to understand why people (men especially) keep assuming that Nancy is the charming girl she appears to be..... Katherine Emery also shines as the rich woman who doesn't want her daughter playing with the housekeeper's child. The scene where she questions the child about the missing locket is quite well-written; what could easily have been a crude stereotype of an overbearing woman instead becomes a careful examination of how a woman of her class uses her power.

you hit some excellent points.

1946 (the year THE LOCKET was released) was an ASTOUNDINGLY sympathetic year for women's characters, I don't frankly know that there has ever been a year where there were not only so many quality performances by actresses, but also so many surprisingly sympathetic roles for "unconventional" women as well...Bergman in NOTORIOUS, Olivia DeHavilland in TO EACH HIS OWN, Celia Johnson in BRIEF ENCOUNTER, Crawford in HUMORESQUE,- and others I forget- are all portrayed with a surprising understanding, although among them you have adultery, alcoholism, mental illness and other "issues" that would've had a heroine driven out of town by mob in years both before and after.

The fact that THE LOCKET doesn't judge its leading lady is, to me, one of its great attributes.

 

[Swithin]

5 hours ago, LornaHansonForbes said:

1946 (the year THE LOCKET was released) was an ASTOUNDINGLY sympathetic year for women's characters, I don't frankly know that there has ever been a year where there were not only so many quality performances by actresses,

I'm quite fond of Sister Kenny (1946), the biopic which features one of Rosalind Russell's best performances as the nurse who developed a treatment for polio and had to fight the prejudice of the male doctors who doubted that a woman (and a nurse) could make such a meaningful contribution to medicine.

[LawrenceA]

Ice Cold in Alex (1958) - Terrific British WW2 film, from British-Pathe and Fox, and director J. Lee Thompson. An ambulance containing British Army Captain Anson (John Mills), Sergeant Pugh (Harry Andrews), and two nurses, Diana (Sylvia Syms) and Denise (Diane Clare), evacuates Tobruk in North Africa ahead of the advancing German army. They want to make it to British HQ in Alexandria, a long, perilous journey through the unforgiving desert. They happen upon Captain van der Poel (Anthony Quayle), a South African army officer who got separated from his battalion. He joins them as venture further into the desert and uncertain escape. Also featuring Richard Leech, Liam Redmond, Allan Cuthbertson, David Lodge, and Walter Gotell.

I've seen literally dozens of desert survival movies, and didn't expect to see any more that would bring something different to the table. So I was pleasantly surprised by this British war film, as it brings some unexpected turns to the tale. The entire cast has some of their career-best roles, with Quayle and Mills at the head of the class. Director Thompson depicts the oppressive heat of the setting vividly. This is a fairly obscure film in the U.S., and it deserves to be better known. Its initial American release was botched when Fox renamed it Desert Attack and hacked nearly an hour from its running time. Recommended.    (8/10)

Source: StudioCanal Blu-ray

[LornaHansonForbes]

2 hours ago, Swithin said:

I'm quite fond of Sister Kenny (1946), the biopic which features one of Rosalind Russell's best performances as the nurse who developed a treatment for polio and had to fight the prejudice of the male doctors who doubted that a woman (and a nurse) could make such a meaningful contribution to medicine.

That’s funny, I almost included SISTER KENNY, but I felt bad about putting her in the company of the alcoholic adulteresses, but yes. I also thought of CLUNY BROWN which is a very feminist tale and, even if it was filmed in 1943, MY REPUTATION which came out in 46.

[LawrenceA]

Lafayette Escadrille (1958) - WW1 aviation fun from Warner Brothers and writer-director William Wellman. Based on Wellman's own experiences, the story follows the American men who journeyed to France in the early days of Word War One to become fighter pilots. One particular pilot is Thad Walker (Tab Hunter), a troublemaker back in the States who falls in love with French prostitute Renee (Etchika Choureau) almost as soon as he arrives in the country. He makes times in between training sessions to head back to Paris to visit her, eventually landing in trouble. The large cast includes David Janssen, Will Hutchins, Paul Fix, Marcel Dalio, Clint Eastwood, Tom Laughlin, Brett Halsey, James Stacy, and introducing Jody (son of Joel) McCrea, Dennis (son of Andy) Devine, and William Wellman Jr.

Wellman also made Darby's Rangers this same year and with some of the same cast, and the two films are similar in tone, with more emphasis on romance and guys goofing off rather than serious war drama or action. Some of it is funny, but much of it isn't, and the movie seems longer than its modest 93 minute runtime. None of the performers really stand out, although Janssen, sporting a Clark Gable 'stashe, tries to be the coolest guy in the room. I was amused by Eastwood and Laughlin as rivals who had attended Yale and Princeton, respectively. It's "Dirty Harry vs Billy Jack"!   (6/10)

Source: TCM

[cigarjoe]

Play It Again, Sam (1972) Paramount film directed by Herbert Ross, written by Woody Allen and based on the play by Woody Allen. I have only seen maybe a short clip of this before. It was Woody doing his neurotic standard shtick and adding some of Peter Sellers Inspector Clouseau. Jerry Lacey (Dark Shadows TV Seriers Rev. Trask) is great doing a Bogart impersonation acting as Woody's spiritual mentor with women. Susan Anspach plays Woody's ex wife, Diane Keaton wife of Tony Roberts is his gal pal. Nice tie in to Casablanca. 8/10 

source: Kanopy

[TomJH]

44 minutes ago, cigarjoe said:

Play It Again, Sam (1972) Paramount film directed by Herbert Ross, written by Woody Allen and based on the play by Woody Allen. I have only seen maybe a short clip of this before. It was Woody doing his neurotic standard shtick and adding some of Peter Sellers Inspector Clouseau. Jerry Lacey (Dark Shadows TV Seriers Rev. Trask) is great doing a Bogart impersonation acting as Woody's spiritual mentor with women. Susan Anspach plays Woody's ex wife, Diane Keaton wife of Tony Roberts is his gal pal. Nice tie in to Casablanca. 8/10 

source: Kanopy

One of my favourite Woody lines in this film, as he observes a hot looking woman, "My God, I'd sell my mother to the Arabs for her."

[MaryGH]

Ladies of Washington 1944

Sheila Ryan is Jerry Dailey, a vindictive woman who stops at nothing in order to get even with men after playing mistress to a married man of prestige in Washington, DC. She eventually hooks up with Anthony Quinn, and mistakes him for a man of wealth when he turns out to be a foreign spy. Robert Bailey is the young doctor who falls in love with Sheila but true to form, spurns him. Tight directing from Louis King, and the movie is well-paced for its 61 minute length. Uncredited appearance from Tom Tyler as an FBI agent. Love the tie he wears in this movie.

 

[LawrenceA]

Le Beau Serge (1958) - French drama from Gaumont and writer-producer-director Claude Chabrol. Francois (Jean-Claude Brialy) returns to his small hometown after an long absence and an extended illness. He finds the town has become more rundown, and his old best friend Serge (Gerard Blain) has become a miserable drunk. Francois tries to help Serge, who seems bent on self-destruction. Francois also becomes the target for the affections of Serge's bad girl sister-in-law Marie (Bernadette Lafont). Also featuring Michele Meritz, Claude Cerval, Jeanne Perez, Edmond Beauchamp, Michel Creuze, and Philippe de Broca as "Jacques Rivette".

This is generally considered the first feature film of the French New Wave, and like many from that critically overpraised movement, I found it hit-or-miss at best. There's some striking imagery in the last act during a snowy night, and the performances of Brialy, Blain and Lafont are good, but I didn't think the film really had much to say, and many of the actions and reactions of the characters seemed phony.    (6/10)

Source: TCM

[LawrenceA]

Letter from Siberia (1958) - French documentary from writer-director Chris Marker. This hour-long, color look at Russia's most inhospitable region is laced with much humor and visual inventiveness. The film depicts the hardscrabble life of the region's natives, as well as the massive public works of the time attempting to modernize and tame the region, including the construction of highways, hydroelectric dams, and even entire towns started from scratch. The entire thing is narrated (the version I watched was in English) with a witty prose and the occasional fanciful digression. There is also the random switch into animation, or stark B&W film. It's an interesting, unusual film. At one point the action pauses to show a mock commercial for reindeer products, hosted by a mechanical owl wearing an "I Hate Elvis" badge.    (7/10)

Source: FilmStruck

 

[TomJH]

Broadway Bad (1933)

Joan Blondell plays a chorus girl whose wealthy husband mistakenly believes she had an affair with her show's sponsor, taking her to court for a high publicity divorce. Afterwards she decides to milk the publicity for all that it's worth, and becomes a Broadway success with mouth gawking crowds coming to see her perform as a "notorious" singer (with plenty of boyfriends).

This Fox drama starts on a train with the camera panning across a stream of chorus girls in flimsy attire making with the gossip and wisecracks. At this point the film feels like it's going to be a breezy Warner Brothers-type affair, especially with a cast of familiar faces headed by Blondell. As the story progresses, however, it develops into more of a soap opera, with Joan trying to cover up the fact that she has a child (an adorable little tyke, of course, with the kind of stifflingly "cute" unreal performance that can bring some films to a halt).

In spite of that this drama is worth a look, if only for its cast. Blondell is solid in the lead (though her "singing" in one sequence is clearly dubbed). Ricardo Cortez is also effective as the show's sponsor and the man named as her co-respondent in the divorce case. You never know when you see this actor whether he will be a sleaze or not. In this case, he's not. In fact he turns out to be an all round good egg who will eventually be supportive to our leading lady. Cortez, like Blondell, is always a pleasure for me to watch.

In a small role but still effective is Ginger Rogers as Joan's best pal. She gets a chance to wisecrack a bit, at one point telling one chorus girl that if she hears one more crack from her her neck is going to get tangled in her fingers. Soon after this Ginger would be cast as "Anytime Annie" in Warner's 42nd Street and fans/critics would really start to take notice of her.

Scoring particularly well in this film is Adrienne Ames as a chorus girl and former girlfriend of Cortez who has plenty of catty comments about Blondell. She's good enough that you wonder why the actress hadn't had more effective parts like this in her career. Donald Crisp pops up as a prosecuting attorney.

I noticed that the lobby card below lists Victor Jory as part of the cast. I sure didn't spot him in the print of the film I saw.

2.5 out of 4

[TomJH]

Reap the Wild Wind (1942)

Lusty extravaganza from producer director Cecil B. DeMille about ship wrecks and salvagers in the Florida Keys of the 1840s with a romantic tale of the rivalry between a sea captain, who eventually falls in with bad company, and a gentleman dandy for the love of a sea going Scarlett O'Hara.

Boasting handsome sets and costumes, and filmed in a vibrant Technicolor, this production was a roaring success with audiences at the time of its release, and holds up well as larger-than-life entertainment. The climax of the film is an underwater fight with a giant squid, a special effects sequence which still works well, particularly when you consider the technical limitations at the time compared to today's computer effects.

Ray Milland thought little of the film and later claimed that his eventual hair loss began when he was forced to get a perm by DeMille for his role as the dandy. Still, despite the actor's own disparaging opinion of the film, Milland is genuinely charming in a somewhat swashbuckling role.

John Wayne, as the sea captain, had reservations about accepting his role, not pleased with the fact that, among other things, the script called for him to lose a fist fight to Milland. Still, the Duke is quite good in one of the few occasions of his career when he played a character with some darkness rather than the usual stainless steel hero.

And, as the object of desire for Wayne and Milland we have Paulette Goddard as her most feisty and vivacious. Goddard was arguably never more beautifully photographed than in this film, and she is, indeed, fully worthy of the attention given to her by both leading men. As a young boy I fell head over heels in love with Goddard when I first saw this film and, all these years later, I can still fully understand why.

Raymond Massey is fun as a dank haired, black hearted head of a band of cut throat scalvagers who are frequently fully informed in advance of a ship wreck about to occur. The supporting cast includes Robert Preston, Susan Hayward and Lynne Overman. Preston's small role, as Massey's brother, is a real comedown for the actor after his sizeable supporting parts in DeMille's two previous productions, Union Pacific and North West Mounted Police (in which it was he who was enjoying the love scenes with Goddard, rather than Milland or Wayne).

Reap the Wild Wind is available on DVD and has been shown on TCM in the past in a print whose colour was more vibrant than that on the disc. This production remains, in my opinion, one of DeMille's most entertaining films.

3.5 out of 4

 

[kingrat]

17 hours ago, LawrenceA said:

Lafayette Escadrille (1958) - WW1 aviation fun from Warner Brothers and writer-director William Wellman. Based on Wellman's own experiences, the story follows the American men who journeyed to France in the early days of Word War One to become fighter pilots. One particular pilot is Thad Walker (Tab Hunter), a troublemaker back in the States who falls in love with French prostitute Renee (Etchika Choureau) almost as soon as he arrives in the country. He makes times in between training sessions to head back to Paris to visit her, eventually landing in trouble. The large cast includes David Janssen, Will Hutchins, Paul Fix, Marcel Dalio, Clint Eastwood, Tom Laughlin, Brett Halsey, James Stacy, and introducing Jody (son of Joel) McCrea, Dennis (son of Andy) Devine, and William Wellman Jr.

Wellman also made Darby's Rangers this same year and with some of the same cast, and the two films are similar in tone, with more emphasis on romance and guys goofing off rather than serious war drama or action. Some of it is funny, but much of it isn't, and the movie seems longer than its modest 93 minute runtime. None of the performers really stand out, although Janssen, sporting a Clark Gable 'stashe, tries to be the coolest guy in the room. I was amused by Eastwood and Laughlin as rivals who had attended Yale and Princeton, respectively. It's "Dirty Harry vs Billy Jack"!   (6/10)

Source: TCM

Lafayette Escadrille is a film Wellman really wanted to make, and perhaps it would have been a better film a decade or two earlier. Everything seems to be recycled from other movies. Another point of interest about the movie: Etchika Chereau is the woman Tab Hunter almost married. But the Billy Jack vs. Dirty Harry faceoff is way cooler. Thanks, Lawrence.

[kingrat]

Tom, I'm another big fan of Reap the Wild Wind and of Paulette Goddard. The film is basically another version of GWTW, except that this time around Ashley (Milland) proves himself a better man than Rhett (Wayne). Goddard might have played the original Scarlett had her marital status with Chaplin not been questionable, so it's good that she got to play this Scarlett-like character.

[TomJH]

5 minutes ago, kingrat said:

Tom, I'm another big fan of Reap the Wild Wind and of Paulette Goddard. The film is basically another version of GWTW, except that this time around Ashley (Milland) proves himself a better man than Rhett (Wayne). Goddard might have played the original Scarlett had her marital status with Chaplin not been questionable, so it's good that she got to play this Scarlett-like character.

Clips of Goddard's screen test as Scarlett make the mouth water. I know she didn't have the same dramatic depths as an actress as Vivien Leigh but she had ten times the charm, in my opinion.

[LawrenceA]

The Magician (1958) - Swedish comedy/drama from Svensk Filmindustri and writer-director Ingmar Bergman. In 19th century Sweden, a traveling magic show that's one step ahead of the law gets stopped in a small town. The contemptuous town elders mock and ridicule the performers, and then ask them to put on a private show for them and their wives. The results are not what was expected. Featuring Max von Sydow as the main attraction, the mute Dr. Vogel; Ingrid Thulin as his androgynous assistant; Naima Wifstrand as Vogel's witch grandmother; Ake Fridell as the exuberant barker Tubal; and Gunnar Bjornstrand as the town doctor, chief skeptic and critic. Also featuring Bibi Andersson, Bengt Ekerot, Gertrud Fridh, Lars Ekborg, Erland Josephson, Toivo Pawlo, Sif Ruud, Oscar Ljung, Ulla Sjoblom, Axel Duberg, and Birgitta Pettersson.

The Swedish title is Ansiktet, which translates as The Face, which perhaps would have been a better English title, since the film is obsessed with faces. The false faces of performers, the facades of public officials or those attempting to impress their peers, even the false faces we show to our most intimate relations. Bergman pays special attention to von Sydow's face, an impressive sight under normal circumstances, here enhanced by a black beard and wig. And it's accentuated by frequent intense close-ups, as are the faces of most of the other characters. The performances are uniformly good, even if a few are rather broad (one gets the feeling that was Bergman's intention). My chief complaint about the movie would be the uneven tone, lurching from metaphysical mystery to ribald sex comedy to searing introspective drama to ironic farce, leaving the viewer battered and bewildered like some of the film's characters. Still, this is well worth a look.   (7/10)

Source: FilmStruck

[laffite]

14 minutes ago, LawrenceA said:

The Magician (1958) -

Ha, I have this coming on the Flix. I look forward to reading your review after watching.

[Hibi]

23 hours ago, LornaHansonForbes said:

That’s funny, I almost included SISTER KENNY, but I felt bad about putting her in the company of the alcoholic adulteresses, but yes. I also thought of CLUNY BROWN which is a very feminist tale and, even if it was filmed in 1943, MY REPUTATION which came out in 46.

My Reputation was actually filmed a few years earlier and sat on the shelf...

[LawrenceA]

Merry Andrew (1958) - Musical comedy from MGM and director Michael Kidd. Danny Kaye stars as Andrew Larrabee, a teacher at an exclusive English boarding school. To impress his domineering father, he sets out to find an ancient statue that he believes to be buried in a field near some old Roman ruins. However, when he arrives, he discovers that a traveling circus is setting up shop for the week. Andrew ends up participating the circus, and even falling for trapeze artist Selena (Pier Angeli). Also featuring Salvatore Baccaloni, Noel Purcell, Robert Coote, Rhys Williams, Patricia Cutts, Rex Evans, Walter Kingsford, Peter Mamakos, Tommy Rall, and Richard Anderson.

A mildly pleasant timewaster that was probably appreciated more by children of the time, this is certainly not my kind of movie, as I care not for musicals, circus movies, or Danny Kaye in general. He's not too annoying here, though, and Angeli is appealing. The songs weren't very memorable, and despite Kidd's participation, there isn't really any impressive dancing, either. As for why I watched this, to paraphrase Mallory, "Because it was there."    (6/10)

Source: FilmStruck