I Just Watched...

[LornaHansonForbes]

I loved THE HIGH WALL.  I had not seen it for several years.  Herbert shone in every performance.  A friend who likes  pre-code films just

 

You would love this film too.  It is very intriguing and scary.

 

Wow.

 

I just listened to the radio version of THE HIGH WALL that aired in 1946 as part of the SUSPENSE! radio series- which was a long running show that featured quite a few big screen adaptations and a parade of top-level, A-List film stars.

 

This version, I guess, predates the film version with Robert Taylor that I thought came out in 1947; Robert Young plays the  troubled vet this time, and while I have not seen the film, I really, really recommend listening to the broadcast which I have posted below.

 

I really don't want to say anything to spoil the ending to either film or radio version (and again, I don't know exactly how the film ends not having seen it), but.... I have just a feeling that the ending to the radio version is really different from what they used in the film.

 

Again, really worth listening to for those of you that have the 25 or so minutes to check it out (I keep meaning to start an Old Time Radio Thread, but things are so quiet and Spammy around here of late.)

 

[scsu1975]

The Show (1927)

 

I am catching up on my silents, and this one is really a little gem. If you have not seen it, check it out on TCM On Demand. Weird (well, it's Tod Browning), but engrossing, with a great performance by John Gilbert. Alternately funny, suspenseful, and moving. The final title card is hilarious.

[film lover 293]

"Something For Everyone" (1970)--A comedy about money, and what people will do to get it.  Angela Lansbury and Michael York are terrific.  A cynical, sarcastic delight.  9/10 stars

 

"Anatahan" (1953)--Among director Josef von Sternbergs' final films, film is nearly incoherent, tied together only by von Sternberg's philosophical musings as a soundtrack.  There are long portions of the film in Japanese, with no subtitles.  Film has a following.  I apparently missed some symbolism. Interesting camerawork.  5/10 stars.

[EugeniaH]

Tonight I watched "Bigger than Life," with James Mason. I am normally not a big fan of Mason but he was great in this, as a schoolteacher sinking to the depths of prescription drug (Cortisone) addiction. As the movie unfolds you can see all the different ways his personality changes as the drug takes hold, and the effect on the people around him. Great range.

[LonesomePolecat]

THE MAGNIFICENT DOPE

LOVED this, though I was already prepared to after I saw it was a 1942 comedy (love those) with Henry Fonda, Edward Everett Horton, and one of my mega vintage crushes, Don Ameche. Then I saw the magic words in the credits: "written by George Seaton" and my happiness was complete. I love Seaton's screenplays (try saying that five times fast!) -- his inventive storylines and witty dialogue make me happy. This film did not disappoint.

[scsu1975]

Tonight I watched "Bigger than Life," with James Mason. I am normally not a big fan of Mason but he was great in this, as a schoolteacher sinking to the depths of prescription drug (Cortisone) addiction. As the movie unfolds you can see all the different ways his personality changes as the drug takes hold, and the effect on the people around him. Great range.

That is a very good movie, and should be shown more often. My favorite scene is where James Mason won't let his son eat dinner until he  solves a word problem.

[LornaHansonForbes]

The Tod Browning salute yesterday was a lot of fun...although I still wonder whether he was a genuine talent, or just really lucky (DRACULA being exhibit A in the case against him.)

 

I do love FREAKS though, with all my heart and I always make time for it when it is on. It is like an Old Friend I always welcome in. Ditto MARK OF THE VAMPIRE, although it is nowhere near as good as FREAKS.)

 

I was not able to watch everything yesterday, but enjoyed much of what i was able to see as I checked in throughout the day for an hour here and there.

 

Were things not so Damn SPAMMY around here lately, I would;ve sent out an alert about THE THIRTEENTH CHAIR (1929)- which is a fascinating film, especially for DRACULA fans, as it dispels the myth that Lugosi had to learn English phonetically in order to play the Count. He appears in this film as a detective solving a murder at a seance in- I think- Colonial India. Margaret Wycherly costars (she was later in SGT YORK and WHITE HEAT) and watching the two of them together is a delight. For a 1929 film, the flow is pretty good and it moves at a nice clip, I know they were just getting used to sound in those days and sometimes films made around that time are awkward, this did not seem so to me. It also- like DRACULA- takes places largely on one drawing room set, but unlike DRACULA, the cuts and edits and pacing and dialogue move the film as opposed to bringing it to a screeching halt.

 

If it shows again, give it a shot (it may be available online, that is where I originally saw it.)

[EugeniaH]

That is a very good movie, and should be shown more often. My favorite scene is where James Mason won't let his son eat dinner until he  solves a word problem.

 

And it gets so much worse after that!  Things really takes a turn for the creepy, but Mason always makes it believable.  So far I think I can say now that this is my favorite role of his.

[TomJH]

Tonight I watched "Bigger than Life," with James Mason. I am normally not a big fan of Mason but he was great in this, as a schoolteacher sinking to the depths of prescription drug (Cortisone) addiction. As the movie unfolds you can see all the different ways his personality changes as the drug takes hold, and the effect on the people around him. Great range.

 

Mason is very effective, and even frightening, in portraying the gradual change overcoming his character through drug use. Bigger Than Life is clearly one of the actor's better performances and films.

 

My favourite Mason performance: Lolita. My favourite Mason film: Five Fingers.

[film lover 293]

"Gorgo" (1961)--Great Britains' contribution in the Monster movie fad that swept the screen in the 50's and early 60's.  Special Effects are well done; film starts out as Disaster film, then goes the "sunken treasure with Something guarding it" route. You can predict the plot from there.  But film is quite well done and worth a watch. Is on YT  7/10 stars.

 

Warning: For some reason, there is a "K" in the middle of the screen on the copy I saw on YT that goes from indistinct to prominent ( doesn't ruin the film, IMHO, and colors it is superimposed  on make it indistinct for more than half the film).  

[MCannady1]

Actually, it's Wynant, but seeing as how you know a lot more about all the THIN-sequels than I do, it is forgiven.

 

It was the third film I was thinking of, which was released in the US as THE RETURN OF THE THIN MAN and overseas as ANOTHER THIN MAN (guess European audiences were more discerning about title-character-related anachronisms.)

 

Am I alone in thinking that this third film in the series is really dark? Not just the plot- which involves multiple murders and some inter-familial homicide as well as arson and a dog murder- it's literally dark, like with some proto-noir shadowy lighting and production design.

I like all these Thin Man movies too!  Yes, this one looks dark - maybe intentional with the lighting.    Kind of added to the Film Noir

setting.  I love WIlliam Powell and Myrna Loy in their roles and Asta, the adorable dog.

 

Each Thin Man film had an interesting and intriguing story.

[MCannady1]

Mason is very effective, and even frightening, in portraying the gradual change overcoming his character through drug use. Bigger Than Life is clearly one of the actor's better performances and films.

 

My favourite Mason performance: Lolita. My favourite Mason film: Five Fingers.

Mason was really superb in this film as well as in Lolita and The Five Fingers. 

 

However, I feel he had some superb performances prior to this one; from the 40's, Odd Man Out and The Seventh Veil.  IT was only a year or so ago that I watched Odd Man Out.  A friend had recommended it and I got so engrossed in the film, that I ordered the book!  The Seventh Veil was also a very intriguing film where Mason goes through a variety of feelings which is clearly noticeable by the viewer.

 

Sadly, Mason was an under-rated actor.  When speaking to friends and acquaintances about James Mason, they usually say,

"Yeah, the bad guy in North by North West".  And that is how he is usually recalled

[LornaHansonForbes]

"Gorgo" (1961)--Great Britains' contribution in the Monster movie fad that swept the screen in the 50's and early 60's.  Special Effects are well done; film starts out as Disaster film, then goes the "sunken treasure with Something guarding it" route. You can predict the plot from there.  But film is quite well done and worth a watch. Is on YT  7/10 stars.

 

Warning: For some reason, there is a "K" in the middle of the screen on the copy I saw on YT that goes from indistinct to prominent ( doesn't ruin the film, IMHO, and colors it is superimposed  on make it indistinct for more than half the film).  

 

You do know GORGO was featured on MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 during their run on the SyFy Network, don't you?

 

They had a fun time with the fact that the circus featured in the movie is called "Dorkin's Circus" ("Oh, to go and see the Dorkin Clowns, The Dorkin Men on the Flying Trapeze, all the Dorkin animals in their cages, and the tiny car full of Dorkin Little People!!!!" )

 

They also do a funny bit called Waiting for Gorgot based on the fact that a character in the movie looks a lot like Irish playwright Samuel Beckett.

 

It's not one of my favorites, but it's still pretty funny, and like almost all MST episodes is available on youtube in full.

 

They did a lot of depressing British "sci-fi" and "horror" movies in their second season.

[MCannady1]

The Tod Browning salute yesterday was a lot of fun...although I still wonder whether he was a genuine talent, or just really lucky (DRACULA being exhibit A in the case against him.)

 

I do love FREAKS though, with all my heart and I always make time for it when it is on. It is like an Old Friend I always welcome in. Ditto MARK OF THE VAMPIRE, although it is nowhere near as good as FREAKS.)

 

I was not able to watch everything yesterday, but enjoyed much of what i was able to see as I checked in throughout the day for an hour here and there.

 

Were things not so Damn SPAMMY around here lately, I would;ve sent out an alert about THE THIRTEENTH CHAIR (1929)- which is a fascinating film, especially for DRACULA fans, as it dispels the myth that Lugosi had to learn English phonetically in order to play the Count. He appears in this film as a detective solving a murder at a seance in- I think- Colonial India. Margaret Wycherly costars (she was later in SGT YORK and WHITE HEAT) and watching the two of them together is a delight. For a 1929 film, the flow is pretty good and it moves at a nice clip, I know they were just getting used to sound in those days and sometimes films made around that time are awkward, this did not seem so to me. It also- like DRACULA- takes places largely on one drawing room set, but unlike DRACULA, the cuts and edits and pacing and dialogue move the film as opposed to bringing it to a screeching halt.

 

If it shows again, give it a shot (it may be available online, that is where I originally saw it.)

I like all of these too!  In watching Freaks recently, I found it to be a good story.  However, a feeling of deep pity rose up within me for the real victms that were born that way.  Some of the film is hard to watch in some respects, but very well done.

 

I too like the old Vampire movies and like Mark of the Vampire.  (Another good one comes to mind with the wonderful Frieda Inescourt reading from a text about a legendary vampire - her hypnotic voice was melodious and reaching out to the the viewer as she reads.  It is Return of the Vampire).

 

 

The Thirteenth Chair  '29  is also one of my favorites.  I too was impressed by Margaret Wycherly in this film as the medium and all of the cast,. It is kind of fun to compare different versions here.  I also recorded a few months ago THe Thirteenth Chair '36 and Dame Mae Whitty was also wonderful as the medium there.

[MCannady1]

I'm partial to the second one, but that's mostly because it's got James Stewart and Elissa Landi.

 

I think I've mentioned it before, but after Landi left Hollywood, she settled in my home town of Kingston, NY, where she died in 1949. There's a street named after her, although the street name is misspelled "Elisa Landi Drive" with only one S.

 

I love Landi in The Sign of the Cross.

I find that info. about Elissa Landi very interesting.  A few years ago I first saw her in a sem-comedy, By Candlelight with Paul Lukas.  It was a very entertaining film. 

(Also, it is always good too see James Stewart and Elissa Landi.  Young James gave a good performance there in the Thin Man movie).

I just love Elissa in Sign of the Cross too!  She gave a very memorable performance there. 

Sad, that she died too young at 43.

[scsu1975]

Were things not so Damn SPAMMY around here lately, I would;ve sent out an alert about THE THIRTEENTH CHAIR (1929)- which is a fascinating film, especially for DRACULA fans, as it dispels the myth that Lugosi had to learn English phonetically in order to play the Count. He appears in this film as a detective solving a murder at a seance in- I think- Colonial India. Margaret Wycherly costars (she was later in SGT YORK and WHITE HEAT) and watching the two of them together is a delight. For a 1929 film, the flow is pretty good and it moves at a nice clip, I know they were just getting used to sound in those days and sometimes films made around that time are awkward, this did not seem so to me. It also- like DRACULA- takes places largely on one drawing room set, but unlike DRACULA, the cuts and edits and pacing and dialogue move the film as opposed to bringing it to a screeching halt.

 

I don't agree about the editing/pacing. There is at least one very badly edited scene in this film, and it occurs near the end. Most of the characters are gathered in a room (before they enter the other room to repeat the seance). At first, they are all standing around quietly. Then, almost on cue (and it probably was on cue), they all start talking at once, muttering stuff like "never in my life ... blah blah blah." There were other instances where it was clear a character was moving across the room to speak to someone ... and it took forever for the character to show up in the next scene. I could have crawled faster than these people moved.

 

As far as the acting, maybe the less said the better. But here goes. I didn't think anyone was very good. Wycherly was okay, but not exceptional in any way. Lugosi was way over the top with his gestures and yelling. He also had no idea how to run an investigation. He must have gone to the Jacques Clouseau Detective School. Conrad Nagel was boring as ever, and Helene Millard (as Mary Eastwood) was dreadful, especially during her last scene. Leila Hyams looked pretty good, though, so I didn't care about her acting. Hard to believe that about ten years before this film was made, Holmes Herbert was a leading man in silent films.

[film lover 293]

"Beat the Devil" (1953)--Gloriously funny spy spoof where the stars are outshone by the supporting cast.  Stars Humphrey Bogart & Gina Lollobrigida (as a London born lady).  Jennifer Jones goes blonde and steals the film as a compulsive liar, and Robert Morley is close behind as an Englishman who is interested in uranium.  Some of the best lines appear to be ad-libbed; "Shall I get the hymnbooks?" Script trouble dogged the film, and the script was rewritten 2-3 days ahead of the shooting schedule.  Is The happy accident where near-disaster turned out fine.  9.5/10 stars.

[SansFin]

It has become my custom to not watch a full movie in a single sitting. I place a DVD instead in the player and set it on endless repeat and allow it to play as I do other things. It is much nicer than having television programs playing because it does not require attention which is necessary when horrid programs begin.

 

I have been in this way playing/watching/having as background the movie: Serenity (2005) for several days. I know that some will turn away at once because it is modern movie or because it is action adventure comedy romance set in Dystopian future. I feel that this is a loss as it is a wonderful movie which rises far above its genres in many ways.

 

The movie is of a whole because it is vision of: Joss Whedon who wrote and directed it. All actors are comfortable and believable in their roles as they were cast of ill-fated, Emmy-winning television program on which the movie is based. 

 

It is a story of a war hero on the losing side who is now: smuggler/freebooter/gun-for-hire/thief leading a crew of damaged people with a ship which has bits falling off of it.

 

Mal: You told me those couplings would hold for another week!

Kaylee: That was six months ago, Cap'n.

 

It is a story of a young girl who was subjected to horrific psychological tortures as part of government program to transform her into a specialized soldier. She is played by Summer Glau who was ballerina before becoming an actress. Her waif-like appearance and wonderfully expressive face make her the character. I believe it is quite rare to find a person who so very much becomes their character.

 

Mal: The government's man says you're a danger to us. Not worth helping. Is he right? Are you anything but a weapon? I've staked my crew's life on the theory that you're a person, actual and whole, and if I'm wrong, you'd best shoot me now ... [she pulls back the hammer of the gun she is pointing at him] ... or, we could talk more.

 

One aspect which makes this movie perfectly wonderful is that there are many scenes which are normal for this type of movie and the situations within it and the viewer is comfortable that they know how the scene will end. Then there is of a sudden a completely unexpected moment of great intensity which adds layers of complexity to the world and the character. These are not cardboard characters being pushed around the props of standard Dystopian future. These are real people with real pasts and real feelings and real problems.

 

The Operative: I believe in something greater than myself. A better world. A world without sin.

Mal: So me and mine gotta lay down and die, so you can live in your better world?

The Operative: I'm not going to live there. There's no place for me there any more than there is for you, Malcolm. I'm a monster. What I do is evil. I have no illusions about it, but it must be done.

 

There are times when revelations are even more personal:

 

Kaylee: Goin' on a year now I ain't had nothin' twixt my nethers weren't run on batteries!

 

I freely admit that production values and cinematography are not of highest quality. I find they are sufficient to show the story with no intrusions on viewers identifying with the characters within that world. It is not nearly so cheesy as Doctor Who nor is it refined gosh-wow of current  Hollywood blockbusters.

 

I find quite wonderful that: CGI is limited to those things which it does exceptionally well: space ships and structures. The only animated characters are in advertisement for: Oatey Bars. 

 

This is a movie about love in its many forms. Kaylee's unrequited love for the ship's doctor. The love between the meek pilot and the gung-ho second-in-command. Jayne's love of shooting holes in things. The doctor's love for his damaged sister. Mal's love for a professional companion and his love for his ship.

 

Mal: You can learn all the math in the 'Verse, but you take a boat in the air that you don't love, she'll shake you off just as sure as the turning of the worlds. Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down, tells you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens. Makes her a home.

[Bogie56]

The last time that I watched Hammer's The Brides of Dracula (1960) was almost 40 years ago.  It was just as fun as I remembered it and Peter Cushing always delivers.

This time though I noticed the performances of two of London's best stage actresses at the time, that of Martita Hunt, as Baroness Meinster and Freda Jackson as Greta the vampire midwife.  Both were fantastic in this.  Hunt was of course also famous for playing Miss Havisham in David Lean's Great Expectations (1946).  I'm sure both ladies had lots of fun going from the Old Vic to this set.

[LornaHansonForbes]

I don't agree about the editing/pacing (of THE THIRTEENTH CHAIR). There is at least one very badly edited scene in this film, and it occurs near the end. Most of the characters are gathered in a room (before they enter the other room to repeat the seance). At first, they are all standing around quietly. Then, almost on cue (and it probably was on cue), they all start talking at once, muttering stuff like "never in my life ... blah blah blah." There were other instances where it was clear a character was moving across the room to speak to someone ... and it took forever for the character to show up in the next scene. I could have crawled faster than these people moved.

 

As far as the acting, maybe the less said the better. But here goes. I didn't think anyone was very good. Wycherly was okay, but not exceptional in any way. Lugosi was way over the top with his gestures and yelling. He also had no idea how to run an investigation. He must have gone to the Jacques Clouseau Detective School. Conrad Nagel was boring as ever, and Helene Millard (as Mary Eastwood) was dreadful, especially during her last scene. Leila Hyams looked pretty good, though, so I didn't care about her acting. Hard to believe that about ten years before this film was made, Holmes Herbert was a leading man in silent films.

 

wow, i am schooled.

 

maybe i should have reworded my review to note that the editing and pacing (and blocking) of THE THIRTEENTH CHAIR, while a little pokey in its own right, benefits from comparison to a lot of 1929 films (when they were still getting used to sound) and very well to DRACULA (1931),  a film I have seen a hundred times but one that I readily admit moves slower than Grandma's underpants.

 

IN RE: LUGOSI- everything you say about his character and performance is right, and yet- I just can't help it, I love Bela to pieces, and being able to see him in a big role, with a lot of dialogue three years before DRACULA (he's only forty, and looks great) is just too much of a treat for me to do silly things like question the plot or wonder exactly what sort of police manual he's working from.

[scsu1975]

 

 

IN RE: LUGOSI- everything you say about his character and performance is right, and yet- I just can't help it, I love Bela to pieces, and being able to see him in a big role, with a lot of dialogue three years before DRACULA (he's only forty, and looks great) is just too much of a treat for me to do silly things like question the plot or wonder exactly what sort of police manual he's working from.

I agree, it is a treat to see Lugosi pre-Dracula, Even at forty, he was quite handsome in his 3-piece suit. He also dominates every scene (whether he was overacting or not).

[Swithin]

I watched The White Angel (1936), a William Dieterle biopic about Florence Nightingale, starring Kay Francis. Dieterle was a master director of biopics (Louis Pasteur, Dr. Ehrlich, Emile Zola, Reuters, Juarez, etc.), but his film about Ms. Nightingale is not very successful. I enjoyed it -- Kay Francis and the cast are excellent -- but the whole thing is just not put together very well.

 

However there is one scene -- a long shot of Florence visiting a soldier's grave -- that must have inspired the "As God is my witness..." shot in GWTW.

[LornaHansonForbes]

I agree, it is a treat to see Lugosi pre-Dracula, Even at forty, he was quite handsome in his 3-piece suit. He also dominates every scene (whether he was overacting or not).

 

I have to admit, I would love to get a peak at The Training Manual for Hungarian Police Detectives in Faithful Service to His Majesty in Colonial India, c. 1906*.

 

"Further interrogation techniques in matters of homicide when killer is indeterminate include openly admitting when any of the amateur ruses discussed in section IV fails to get the killer to admit his or her identity right away; accusing any and everyone present loudly and belligerantly of being the murderer, sometimes simultaneously; and maintaining a distance of no greater than 6 (six) centimetres from anyone while you question/berate/accuse them. Also: seek out the elderly among the crowd and be especially brutal in your treatment of them- this won't actually help with the investigation, but is just fun."

 

 

 

*I'm really not sure when the hell THE THIRTEENTH CHAIR takes place, but

allow me this and any anachronisms for the sake of the bit.

[scsu1975]

 

 

 

 

*I'm really not sure when the hell THE THIRTEENTH CHAIR takes place, but

allow me this and any anachronisms for the sake of the bit.

And a jolly good bit it is!

The play was published and performed in 1916. I just looked at the cast of characters in the play, and there is no "Inspector Delzante." I wonder if the part was written in for Lugosi.

[Fedya]

IN RE: LUGOSI- everything you say about his character and performance is right, and yet- I just can't help it, I love Bela to pieces, and being able to see him in a big role, with a lot of dialogue three years before DRACULA (he's only forty, and looks great) is just too much of a treat for me to do silly things like question the plot or wonder exactly what sort of police manual he's working from.

Have you seen Broadminded by any chance? Lugosi plays South American in this one, and is the foil for Joe E. Brown.

 

It's a bizarre little movie, with an opening scene that's either hilarious or disturbing depending upon your point of view, of a baby party in which all the spoiled rich adults dress up as babies, including Brown in a baby carriage.