I Just Watched...

[JamesJazGuitar]

"People Will Talk" (1951)--Joseph Mankiewisczs' broadside at The House of UnAmerican Activities Committee (HUAC); film is talky, but also funny and doesn't insult its' audience; film assumes audience will get mythological references, etc.  Cary Grant & Jeanne Crain star; both have dialogue asserting their favor of free speech.  Burgess Meredith is a truly hateful character.  In spite of "User Reviews" opinions, I found this a funny, thought provoking film.  A good restoration (in spite of # of views) is on YT  8.7/10 stars.

 

I assume you meant Hume Cronyn as the hateful character and not Meredith (who isn't in the film).

[film lover 293]

Thanks for the correction, jamesjazzguitar,  Yes I meant Cronyn.

[film lover 293]

"Robot Monster" (1953)--This film is notable for two things: it has one of Elmer Bernsteins' first scores (which is a Lot better than the film deserves) and there is a "Billion Bubble Machine" in the villains' ( a man in a gorilla suit with a diving helmet over his head) cave.  Film is unbelievably dumb.  I was grateful for the ten minutes or so of stock footage of various dinosaurs fighting; that left only fifty minutes for the original(?) footage.  Is supposed to be funny (and the bubble machine/death ray is), but otherwise film is a pain in the *** to watch.  3/10 stars; One for Bernsteins' score, one for the "Billion Bubble Machine", & one for the ten minutes of dinosaurs fighting.  Are multiple copies on YT.

[LawrenceA]

"Robot Monster" (1953)--This film is notable for two things: it has one of Elmer Bernsteins' first scores (which is a Lot better than the film deserves) and there is a "Billion Bubble Machine" in the villains' ( a man in a gorilla suit with a diving helmet over his head) cave.  Film is unbelievably dumb.  I was grateful for the ten minutes or so of stock footage of various dinosaurs fighting; that left only fifty minutes for the original(?) footage.  Is supposed to be funny (and the bubble machine/death ray is), but otherwise film is a pain in the *** to watch.  3/10 stars; One for Bernsteins' score, one for the "Billion Bubble Machine", & one for the ten minutes of dinosaurs fighting.  Are multiple copies on YT.

This was one my "Larry's Choice" picks for 1953!

[TomJH]

"Robot Monster" (1953)--This film is notable for two things: it has one of Elmer Bernsteins' first scores (which is a Lot better than the film deserves) and there is a "Billion Bubble Machine" in the villains' ( a man in a gorilla suit with a diving helmet over his head) cave.  Film is unbelievably dumb.  I was grateful for the ten minutes or so of stock footage of various dinosaurs fighting; that left only fifty minutes for the original(?) footage.  Is supposed to be funny (and the bubble machine/death ray is), but otherwise film is a pain in the *** to watch.  3/10 stars; One for Bernsteins' score, one for the "Billion Bubble Machine", & one for the ten minutes of dinosaurs fighting.  Are multiple copies on YT.

 

 

I see that Robot Monster was originally shown in 3D. Perhaps the film would have made a bigger impression upon you, film lover, if you had seen the guy in the gorilla suit wearing the diver's helmut hitting a paddle ball directly at you.

 

Stuff like that can only be seen once in a lifetime . . . if you're lucky.

[speedracer5]

Just watched GIGI again for the millionth time. This time was struck by these things:

--Leslie Caron is so believable as a young awkward teen

--The scenes at Maxim's--costumes, lights, & camera-- look like they are RIGHT out of a Toulouse Lautrec painting

--Maurice Chevalier has so much charisma I feel it seeping out of the screen

--Can't believe this got past the code

--Men should all dress the way Louis Jourdan & Maurice dress in this movie

--Paris itself a character in the film: this movie wouldn't be as good without the locations

--I wish I was that rich

I just saw Gigi for the first time last night.  I thought it was a really fun movie.  The Paris settings were gorgeous.

 

My thoughts:

 

1. This movie seems very similar to My Fair Lady.

2. Leslie Caron looks much prettier here than in An American in Paris.  She looks very similar to Audrey Hepburn in this film.

3. Maurice Chevalier is pretty much the same in everything I see him in.  He embodies everything I think of when I think of a stereotypical French man.

4. OMG is that Zsa Zsa...err...wait... Eva Gabor?

5. Gaston?! Like in Beauty and the Beast ?

6. I felt bad for Gigi when I figured out that they were training her to be a courtesan.

7. Paris is a beautiful city.  I wish to visit someday.

8. Where is the fountain scene? I heard that the fountain scene in Clueless is an homage to Gigi. 

[sapphiere]

"People Will Talk" (1951)--Joseph Mankiewisczs' broadside at The House of UnAmerican Activities Committee (HUAC); film is talky, but also funny and doesn't insult its' audience; film assumes audience will get mythological references, etc.  Cary Grant & Jeanne Crain star; both have dialogue asserting their favor of free speech.  Burgess Meredith is a truly hateful character.  In spite of "User Reviews" opinions, I found this a funny, thought provoking film.  A good restoration (in spite of # of views) is on YT  8.7/10 stars.

PEOPLE WILL TALK 1951 is available on Amazon Prime.

[LornaHansonForbes]

MY REPLIES IN ALL CAPS- LHF (at least til the end. Using my phone hEre)

 

I just saw Gigi for the first time last night. I thought it was a really fun movie.

1. This movie seems very similar to My Fair Lady.

 

YES IT IS, ISNT IT? MUST BE A COINCIDENCE AND SURELY NOT ONE STUDIO TRYING TO BEAT ANOTHER TO THE BOX OFFICE WITH A BETA VERSION.

 

2. Leslie Caron looks much prettier here than in An American in Paris. She looks very similar to Audrey Hepburn in this film.

 

YES AND AGAIN- MUST BE COINCIDENCE. (Snort)

 

3. Maurice Chevalier is pretty much the same in everything I see him in. He embodies everything I think of when I think of a stereotypical French man.

 

LE SKUNK!!! LE PEW!!!! LE FAINT!!!!

 

5. Gaston?! Like in Beauty and the Beast ?

 

AND PRACTICALLY EVERY INCH OF THIS GASTON IS ALSO COVERED IN HAIR.

 

6. I felt bad for Gigi when I figured out that they were training her to be a courtesan.

 

YEAH. THAT IS SOME BULLFLOP. AND MY BIGGEST ISsUE with the film. And that is that the actors are not characters they are props. I think it is very telling the film received a ton of Oscar nominations for its technical aspects, but not one for any of the performers. One of the biggest things that bothers me about the movie is how Leslie Caron is given so little voice, so little chances to protest or stand up for stay who she really is or what she really wants to be. Most damning is the fact then she doesn't have a single spoken line in the last two scenes of the film. It is such an anti feminist movie. I think a better alternate title is LE PROSTITUTION, UN MUSICALE.

 

8. Where is the fountain scene? I heard that the fountain scene in Clueless is an homage to Gigi.

 

NEaR THE END WHEN LOUIS JOURDAN SINGS THE TITLE SONG. ITS IN THE BACKGROUND.

[LonesomePolecat]

Just re-watched my all time favorite Woody Allen film LOVE AND DEATH. Favorite because, as a true nerd, I love that it's a parody/satire of Russian literature, Ingmar Bergman, 19th century philosophy, and Tsarist Russian culture all in a postmodern bundle with each of the 8 types of humor jammed in. "What kind of life would that be, living with a Swiss cheese and rented children?!"

[cigarjoe]

Caught the last half of The Unfaithful (1947) yesterday it had some great location shots of Bunker Hill Angel's Flight, and smoggy LA.  This one I'd like to catch from the beginning. 

[LornaHansonForbes]

Caught the last half of The Unfaithful (1947) yesterday it had some great location shots of Bunker Hill Angel's Flight, and smoggy LA.  This one I'd like to catch from the beginning. 

 

Yes it does.

 

THE UNFAITHFUL is a film I've caught bits and pieces of before; basically a remake of THE LETTER, but pretty loose translation....it was, I think, directed by Vincent Sherman- who was a very stylish director who, IMO, never made a fully satisfying film.

 

Yesterday was, I believe, the second time within a six month period that there has been an all-day Lew Ayres tribute- which compounded with the fact that there have been numerous DR. KILDAREathons over the years- leads me to wonder: who in the scheduling department has the hots for Lew? and more importantly: WHY?

 

I know I've been a real Negative Nancy lately, but honestly- he was not a very good actor at all. And it's not entirely his fault- no doubt as a result of his being Dr. Kildare, he is given numerous clinical, didactic soliloquoys in every role he did afterwards; there always comes a moment in every Lew Ayres film where you expect the other actors to hold while the lights dim and a spot shines on Lew as he breaks the fourth wall and illuminates the audience on any number of issues- from the nature of marriage to the importance of medical research in the area of the s p a s t i c  colon.

 

He has one such moment near the end of THE UNFAITHFUL and it is SO CORNY it stops the film dead in its tracks.

 

ps- yes, "sp as tic" is censored.

[film lover 293]

"Cat-Women of the Moon" (1953)--Film is just over an hour long, & is still too long.  Film is notable for another early Elmer Bernstein score, & he was improving fast.  Score fits the mood of the scene now, doesn't dominate it.  Film has too many stupidities to list, but a few:  gravity in the spaceship and on the moon; crew of the space ship goes around the moon minus space suits in regular clothing; One intentionally (I Think) amusing note: shots of spaceship traveling across the screen are animation, of some sort.  4/10 stars.

[scsu1975]

"Robot Monster" (1953)--This film is notable for two things: it has one of Elmer Bernsteins' first scores (which is a Lot better than the film deserves) and there is a "Billion Bubble Machine" in the villains' ( a man in a gorilla suit with a diving helmet over his head) cave.  Film is unbelievably dumb.  I was grateful for the ten minutes or so of stock footage of various dinosaurs fighting; that left only fifty minutes for the original(?) footage.  Is supposed to be funny (and the bubble machine/death ray is), but otherwise film is a pain in the *** to watch.  3/10 stars; One for Bernsteins' score, one for the "Billion Bubble Machine", & one for the ten minutes of dinosaurs fighting.  Are multiple copies on YT.

Ro-Man: "I cannot, yet I must. How do you calculate that? At what point on the graph do must and cannot meet? Yet I must, but I cannot."

[scsu1975]

"Cat-Women of the Moon" (1953)--Film is just over an hour long, & is still too long.  Film is notable for another early Elmer Bernstein score, & he was improving fast.  Score fits the mood of the scene now, doesn't dominate it.  Film has too many stupidities to list, but a few:  gravity in the spaceship and on the moon; crew of the space ship goes around the moon minus space suits in regular clothing; One intentionally (I Think) amusing note: shots of spaceship traveling across the screen are animation, of some sort.  4/10 stars.

The highlight is the intergender wrestling match between Victor Jory and Marie Windsor. Here, Jory puts an armbar on Windsor:

[Dargo]

The highlight is the intergender wrestling match between Victor Jory and Marie Windsor. Here, Jory puts an armbar on Windsor:

 

Might this have actually been the origin of the..ahem.."Windsor Knot"???

 

(...sorry)

[scsu1975]

Might this have actually been the origin of the..ahem.."Windsor Knot"???

 

 

More likely the origin of the "Hung Jory."

[HoldenIsHere]

Just re-watched my all time favorite Woody Allen film LOVE AND DEATH. Favorite because, as a true nerd, I love that it's a parody/satire of Russian literature, Ingmar Bergman, 19th century philosophy, and Tsarist Russian culture all in a postmodern bundle with each of the 8 types of humor jammed in. "What kind of life would that be, living with a Swiss cheese and rented children?!"

 

"The boys usually just call me Juanita."

[cigarjoe]

Yes it does.

 

THE UNFAITHFUL is a film I've caught bits and pieces of before; basically a remake of THE LETTER, but pretty loose translation....it was, I think, directed by Vincent Sherman- who was a very stylish director who, IMO, never made a fully satisfying film.

 

Yesterday was, I believe, the second time within a six month period that there has been an all-day Lew Ayres tribute- which compounded with the fact that there have been numerous DR. KILDAREathons over the years- leads me to wonder: who in the scheduling department has the hots for Lew? and more importantly: WHY?

 

I know I've been a real Negative Nancy lately, but honestly- he was not a very good actor at all. And it's not entirely his fault- no doubt as a result of his being Dr. Kildare, he is given numerous clinical, didactic soliloquoys in every role he did afterwards; there always comes a moment in every Lew Ayres film where you expect the other actors to hold while the lights dim and a spot shines on Lew as he breaks the fourth wall and illuminates the audience on any number of issues- from the nature of marriage to the importance of medical research in the area of the s p a s t i c  colon.

 

He has one such moment near the end of THE UNFAITHFUL and it is SO CORNY it stops the film dead in its tracks.

 

ps- yes, "sp as tic" is censored.

I know the moment you mean it's Lew's sermon about marriage.

[film lover 293]

"War of The Worlds" (1953)--Oscar winning Special Effects claim pride of place in this George Pal produced film.   After them are the  score, the films' pace, then the actors.  They are competent enough to give the script believability, and that's all that's required.  The film is a grand show; one of the best sci-fi movies of the 1950's.  9/10 stars.

[Movie Collector OH]

 

I see that Robot Monster was originally shown in 3D. Perhaps the film would have made a bigger impression upon you, film lover, if you had seen the guy in the gorilla suit wearing the diver's helmut hitting a paddle ball directly at you.

 

Stuff like that can only be seen once in a lifetime . . . if you're lucky.

 

I don't remember seeing a padde ball in Robot Monster, but there was a guy in House Of Wax who was a professional paddle-ball "street artist".  I think he was just some guy they found in the phone book.  He used more than one paddle ball at once, and they always ended up in his mouth.  He appeared in that film in an outdoor scene, with people standing around and watching.  I also remember seeing him in some early 1950s filmed editions of Colgate Comedy Hour TV shows, I think either when Milton Berle or Spike Jones hosted.  The things some people did back then for amusement...

[Movie Collector OH]

"Robot Monster" (1953)--This film is notable for two things: it has one of Elmer Bernsteins' first scores (which is a Lot better than the film deserves) and there is a "Billion Bubble Machine" in the villains' ( a man in a gorilla suit with a diving helmet over his head) cave.  Film is unbelievably dumb.  I was grateful for the ten minutes or so of stock footage of various dinosaurs fighting; that left only fifty minutes for the original(?) footage.  Is supposed to be funny (and the bubble machine/death ray is), but otherwise film is a pain in the *** to watch.  3/10 stars; One for Bernsteins' score, one for the "Billion Bubble Machine", & one for the ten minutes of dinosaurs fighting.  Are multiple copies on YT.

 

The "Billion Dollar Bubble Machine" seemed to not work all that well.  In fact it looked as if it was breaking down on the set.  I'm sure the whole thing was somebody's idea of a joke.  Lawrence Welk had much better bubble machines.

[sapphiere]

I know the moment you mean it's Lew's sermon about marriage.

I thought that Lew Ayres was excellent as the country doctor who helped Belinda in JOHNNY BELINDA 1948.The Motion Picture Academy recognized Lew`s efforts, and he was nominated for Best Actor for this role.

[misswonderly3]

Regarding Lorna's comments about Gigi:  (by the way, I could not directly quote Lorna's entire post, had to copy and paste instead. How do you people do that multiple quotes in one post thing??)

 

LornaHansonForbes said:

 

"MY REPLIES IN ALL CAPS- LHF (at least til the end. Using my phone hEre)

I just saw Gigi for the first time last night. I thought it was a really fun movie.
1. This movie seems very similar to My Fair Lady.

YES IT IS, ISNT IT? MUST BE A COINCIDENCE AND SURELY NOT ONE STUDIO TRYING TO BEAT ANOTHER TO THE BOX OFFICE WITH A BETA VERSION.

2. Leslie Caron looks much prettier here than in An American in Paris. She looks very similar to Audrey Hepburn in this film.

YES AND AGAIN- MUST BE COINCIDENCE. (Snort) "

 

 

 

I infer, perhaps incorrectly, that Lorna is suggesting Gigi copied My Fair Lady in a number of ways. But I must have misunderstood something, because I'm pretty sure Lorna would know that Gigi (1958) was in fact made 6 years before My Fair Lady (1964.) Of course, it's possible Gigi might still be copy-catting MFL, not from the movie but from the stage production, which first appeared on Broadway, according to wiki, in 1956. But that wouldn't account for the implied attempt to make Caron seem similar to Audrey Hepburn.

What-evah.

 

It's maybe worth noting that Gigi is based on a novella by the French writer Colette. You know, sometimes wikipedia really is quite informative: I just found out that a stage production of Gigi was mounted in 1951 - and that Colette herself personally selected Audrey Hepburn to play the title role ! 

[Tikisoo]

The things some people did back then for amusement...

 

I can't hear SABRE DANCE without thinking of these guys:

[TomJH]

I don't remember seeing a padde ball in Robot Monster, but there was a guy in House Of Wax who was a professional paddle-ball "street artist".

 

That's the problem with the moves. There just aren't enough paddle ball scenes!