I Just Watched...

[Tikisoo]

18 hours ago, TheCid said:

Kitten with a Whip is a movie I would like to see again.  Think I saw it on TCM years and years ago.  Entertaining, but not sure I would want to purchase it. 

Ech, it's horrible. It is available streaming. PM me if you can't find it anywhere, I have the Mystery Science Theater 3000 version which is a little more fun.

[Tikisoo]

14 hours ago, LawrenceA said:

Lesley Gore (snipped) all make appearances and perform a few songs apiece.

Lesley is in quite a few movies - even Dannis Steckler's Incredibly Strange Creatures...

Lesley Gore was certainly a cutie and had a great voice. I wonder why she wasn't more successful in movies? Maybe she wasn't comfortable acting?

[ElCid]

14 hours ago, LawrenceA said:

The Girls on the Beach (1965)  -  5/10

Comedy fluff about a group of sorority sisters who try to figure out ways to save their financially-strapped sorority house from foreclosure. They enter various contests and organize a big party/concert where the Beatles are supposed to headline. They also spend plenty of time at the beach being chased by boys. Starring Noreen Corcoran, Linda Marshall, Ahna Capri, Lana Wood, Nancy Spry, Mary Mitchel, Gail Gilmore, Lori Saunders, Sheila Bromley, Martin West, Aron Kincaid, Steven Rogers, Peter Brooks, Bruno VeSota, Leo Gordon, and Dick Miller. The Crickets, Lesley Gore, and The Beach Boys all make appearances and perform a few songs apiece. There's a lot of eye candy on display, and some of the songs are good, but the story is as threadbare as it sounds, and the dialogue isn't any better.

Source: TCM

 

When is it on?  Sorry.  Just realized this is not one of the upcoming TCM movie threads.  It is not on the TCM schedule.

[JamesJazGuitar]

Watched Wyoming the 1940 MGM western with Wallace Berry and Marjorie Mann.    It was very similar to many Berry pirate films;  Berry is a bad-guy that isn't bad after all - once he gets the father of a family killed,,,well he goes and helps them!

What surprised me about the film is how all the killings got passed the censors and allowed Berry to NOT be punished for any of them.    I lost count of how many guys Berry guns down.    Now all of them were bad men, but Berry was NOT the law,  and in many cases Berry had the upper-hand (i.e. he could have just walked away after disarming the gent,  but shoots him down instead).

Berry gets away with some of the same stuff in those pirate films.    In this sense he has a unique place in Hollywood history!

 

 

[LawrenceA]

The Heroes of Telemark (1965)  -  6/10

WWII action directed by Anthony Mann, with Kirk Douglas as a Norwegian scientist (!!!) who teams with Norwegian partisan Richard Harris in order to stop the Nazi occupying forces from developing an atomic weapon at a Norwegian hydro-power plant. Also featuring Michael Redgrave, Ulla Jacobsson, Anton Diffring, Roy Dotrice, David Weston, Geoffrey Keen, Eric Porter, Mervyn Johns, Maurice Denham, and Karel Stepanek. Based on a true story but highly embellished, as usual, this benefits from frigidly beautiful location footage. Unfortunately the script doesn't deliver enough of interest to keep the 130-minute feature from lagging in places. There's only so many times that you can watch Kirk and Richard's stunt doubles ski over the same hills. 

Source: Sony DVD

[LawrenceA]

Little Fugitive (1953)  -  8/10

A prime example of quality not being dependent on budget, this amusing and moving slice-of-life concerns a little boy named Joey (Richie Andrusco). His father is dead and his mother leaves for the weekend to see a sick relative, leaving Joey in the care of his older brother Lennie (Richard Brewster). When Joey thinks that he's killed his brother, the little boy runs off to Coney Island, where he lives every kid's fantasy of over-indulgence. This was shot with handheld cameras and a non-professional cast. The sound was all done in post, and there's a lone harmonica proving the score. That last bit was the film's weakest point, as the music became repetitive, but not to the point of hurting of the film at all. The film manages to capture one of the least phony depictions of boyhood that I've seen in a narrative film. This was included in the National Film Registry in 1997. Recommended.

Source: TCM

[Hibi]

DAMN! I forgot this was on today. I MISSED IT AGAIN!!!!! :(

[lavenderblue19]

1 hour ago, Hibi said:

DAMN! I forgot this was on today. I MISSED IT AGAIN!!!!!

Sorry Hibi, I should have reminded you it was on today, glad I recommended the film and reminded Lawrence that The Little Fugitive was on today. I knew he'd enjoy it. Great little film and a favorite  

 

[LawrenceA]

5 minutes ago, lavenderblue19 said:

Sorry Hibi, I should have reminded you it was on today, glad I recommended the film and reminded Lawrence that The Little Fugitive was on today. I knew he'd enjoy it. Great little film and a favorite  

Moments I really liked: the watermelon scene, the brother writing his chalk messages everywhere (and the "parashoot" spelling), Joey walking across the empty beach, and the bit with the photographer.

[Hibi]

10 hours ago, TikiSoo said:

Lesley is in quite a few movies - even Dannis Steckler's Incredibly Strange Creatures...

Lesley Gore was certainly a cutie and had a great voice. I wonder why she wasn't more successful in movies? Maybe she wasn't comfortable acting?

I don't think she did any acting in movies. Just musical numbers in these teen movies. She put her singing career on hold to go to college. When she came back she was never able to reignite her career, despite high praise for her later music releases.

[Hibi]

19 minutes ago, lavenderblue19 said:

Sorry Hibi, I should have reminded you it was on today, glad I recommended the film and reminded Lawrence that The Little Fugitive was on today. I knew he'd enjoy it. Great little film and a favorite  

 

It's partly my fault. I noticed it was on the schedule over the wknd then didnt put it on record. I kept thinking it was on later in the week. My DVR is full and I need to watch stuff so I can delete and record something new. Oh well. Hopefully it will be on again.

[LawrenceA]

How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965)  -  4/10

Exceptionally dumb entry in the Beach Party series from AIP. With Frankie (Frankie Avalon) away serving in the US Naval Reserves, Dee Dee (Annette Funicello) is left alone on the beach back home, where advertising exec Ricky (Dwayne Hickman) takes a shine to her. Frankie asks a witch doctor (Buster Keaton) to cast a spell to keep the guys away from Dee Dee, so the witch doctor creates the "most irresistible girl" (Beverly Adams) to act as a diversion, causing havoc back on the beach. Also featuring Jody McCrea, John Ashley, Harvey Lembeck, Mickey Rooney, Brian Donlevy, Len Lesser, Marianne Gaba, Bobbi Shaw, Irene Tsu, and Michele Carey. The Kingsmen also appear and perform some songs. The rest of the music is uninspired, and the spark seems to have left the series. Annette seems bored, and Hickman doesn't invigorate things much in Frankie's absence (Avalon only appears briefly at the film's opening and closing). 

Source: TCM

[cigarjoe]

4 hours ago, LawrenceA said:

The Heroes of Telemark (1965)  -  6/10

WWII action directed by Anthony Mann, with Kirk Douglas as a Norwegian scientist (!!!) who teams with Norwegian partisan Richard Harris in order to stop the Nazi occupying forces from developing an atomic weapon at a Norwegian hydro-power plant. Also featuring Michael Redgrave, Ulla Jacobsson, Anton Diffring, Roy Dotrice, David Weston, Geoffrey Keen, Eric Porter, Mervyn Johns, Maurice Denham, and Karel Stepanek. Based on a true story but highly embellished, as usual, this benefits from frigidly beautiful location footage. Unfortunately the script doesn't deliver enough of interest to keep the 130-minute feature from lagging in places. There's only so many times that you can watch Kirk and Richard's stunt doubles ski over the same hills. 

Source: Sony DVD

Saw it on the big screen in Times Square, it was impressive that way I'd go up a notch. 7/10

[cigarjoe]

2 hours ago, LawrenceA said:

Little Fugitive (1953)  -  8/10

A prime example of quality not being dependent on budget, this amusing and moving slice-of-life concerns a little boy named Joey (Richie Andrusco). His father is dead and his mother leaves for the weekend to see a sick relative, leaving Joey in the care of his older brother Lennie (Richard Brewster). When Joey thinks that he's killed his brother, the little boy runs off to Coney Island, where he lives every kid's fantasy of over-indulgence. This was shot with handheld cameras and a non-professional cast. The sound was all done in post, and there's a lone harmonica proving the score. That last bit was the film's weakest point, as the music became repetitive, but not to the point of hurting of the film at all. The film manages to capture one of the least phony depictions of boyhood that I've seen in a narrative film. This was included in the National Film Registry in 1997. Recommended.

Source: TCM

Agree a beautiful film and an archival time capsule to 1950s Coney Island

[cigarjoe]

What I just watched over the last couple of days.

Fury at Gunsight Pass (1956) 

David Brian's part of an outlaw gang rides into town to rob the bank and their accomplice is the local undertaker (Percy Helton). They are supposed to wait for gang leader Dan Duryea's other part of the gang to get to town before starting the robbery. However Percy Helton tells Brian that the stage is gonna take a big part of the banks money as soon as a marriage ceremony gets done. Brain decides to go ahead with it. The robbery goes awry and Brian's part of the gang are captured. However the money is not found. The second half of the film takes place in a horrendous dust storm. 6.5/10

Rafles sur la ville (1958) AKA Sinners of Paris

A French Film Noir  where Michel Piccoli plays a police inspector whose best friend is is shot down by escaping gang boss Charles Vanel. Piccoli has not only lost a friend but his moral compass. He starts to have an affair with the wife of his replacement while pumping stoolies for information. 7/10

[LawrenceA]

The Human Duplicators (1965)  -  2/10 or 8/10

How did I miss this bad-movie classic all these years? Dr. Kolos (big Richard Kiel of Eegah and Jaws-in-James-Bond fame) is an alien scientist sent to Earth on a mission of conquest. He replaces various leaders and scientists with exact android duplicates, aided by Earth scientist George Macready. Earth special agent George Nader is assigned to get to the bottom of things. Also featuring Hugh Beaumont as his Earth boss, Barbara Nichols as the Miss Moneypenny character, Dolores Faith as a blind girl who draws the attraction of Kolos, Richard Arlen, Ted Durant as "The Galaxy Being", and John Indrisano as "Thor". Kiel gets to do the most acting of his career, and he talks with an odd inflection that may be due to his alien origins or poor acting skills. The action is ridiculous (the androids take multiple bullets and keep coming, but if you push one over they shatter like pottery), and the dialogue full of howlers. I see that this has run on Mystery Science Theater 3000, but they are in no way necessary to enjoy this vivid turkey.

Source: YouTube

 

[LawrenceA]

Hysteria (1965)  -  6/10

Hammer took a break from supernatural horror for this mystery/thriller starring Robert Webber as an American in England, suffering from amnesia after a car crash some months ago. He struggles to learn of his past, as well as the identity of the mysterious benefactor who has anonymously been paying for his care. However, he soon finds himself wrapped up in a convoluted scheme involving murder. Also featuring Anthony Newlands, Jennifer Jayne, Lelia Goldoni, Maurice Denham, Peter Woodthorpe, Sandra Boize, Sue Lloyd, and Marianne Stone. This doesn't break any new ground at all, but it's reasonably entertaining if one is in an undemanding mood. 

Source: TCM

[cigarjoe]

The Happy Hooker Goes to Washington (1977) Trash

 

Really dumb film starring Joey Heatherton as (Xaviera Hollander) and George Hamilton. The film is loosely based on Hollander who was a former Dutch call girl, madam, and author. She was a flash in the pan for her best-selling memoir The Happy Hooker: My Own Story.

"In 1968 she resigned from her job as secretary of the Dutch consulate in Manhattan to become a call girl,where she made $1,000 a night. A year later she opened her own brothel, the Vertical Whorehouse, and soon became New York City's leading madam. In 1971 she was arrested for prostitution by New York Police and forced to leave the United States." (IMDb)

The jokes are lame, and the T&A is plentiful. I kept thinking to my self where are the song and dance numbers? This may have worked as a Mel Brooks film, something along the lines of The Producers, where the jokes are punctuated with "Springtime for Hitler" show pieces.

I won't rate it since I didn't finish it. lol

Source: streaming free for Amazon Prime members

[cigarjoe]

Just an image that comes up in my mind every time I think of LawrenceA's ability to marathon watch mass quantities of film and TV series. 

[Tikisoo]

Last night I watched STAN & OLLIE from 2018. WOW was it great!

I mentioned in the Stan & Ollie thread months ago that I wasn't a L&H fan, but was interested in seeing this. I think John C Reilly is one of our greatest modern actors and there just isn't enough good, meaty roles for him.

JimMcLeod agreed then added "And another thing about his performance, he also perfectly captured Oliver Hardy's rich, beautiful singing voice" something I also was very struck by.

The portrayals of both charactors was so true and believable, I was completely enraptured by the story. With personalities so strong & distinct (like Cary Grant's) we just can't IMAGINE these people outside of their movie personas. This movie creates that "real life" atmosphere through excellent writing but mostly due to the talents of the principles. Wow.

Steve Coogan closely resembles Laurel, even has his particular accent and facial expressions down, I completely believed his portrayal. Even under heavy make up I always saw Reilly underneath, especially because of his distinctive voice, but was transported by his performance.

And I would not call these "imitations" because both actors had to portray their characters in & out of performances. When both actors go into performance, it's so familiar to us that seeing them out of performance/real life also becomes "real"-it's uncanny. Both performances illustrate true acting talent.

As for the story, writing, editing - also just perfect. It's never fun seeing the end of anyone's career, but this story brings real heart & dignity to their ending. It also made me see the comedy duo in a wholly different light- especially by their charming singing & dancing routines over their sometimes childish humor.

The movie was strong enough to engage those who are not familiar with Lauren & Hardy to hopefully seek out their shorts & feature movies. A must-see for any classic film fan. (it'll make you a fan)

 

[Hibi]

16 hours ago, LawrenceA said:

How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965)  -  4/10

Exceptionally dumb entry in the Beach Party series from AIP. With Frankie (Frankie Avalon) away serving in the US Naval Reserves, Dee Dee (Annette Funicello) is left alone on the beach back home, where advertising exec Ricky (Dwayne Hickman) takes a shine to her. Frankie asks a witch doctor (Buster Keaton) to cast a spell to keep the guys away from Dee Dee, so the witch doctor creates the "most irresistible girl" (Beverly Adams) to act as a diversion, causing havoc back on the beach. Also featuring Jody McCrea, John Ashley, Harvey Lembeck, Mickey Rooney, Brian Donlevy, Len Lesser, Marianne Gaba, Bobbi Shaw, Irene Tsu, and Michele Carey. The Kingsmen also appear and perform some songs. The rest of the music is uninspired, and the spark seems to have left the series. Annette seems bored, and Hickman doesn't invigorate things much in Frankie's absence (Avalon only appears briefly at the film's opening and closing). 

Source: TCM

Poor Buster Keaton. He must've really needed the money.

[EricJ]

5 hours ago, TikiSoo said:

Last night I watched STAN & OLLIE from 2018. WOW was it great!

I mentioned in the Stan & Ollie thread months ago that I wasn't a L&H fan, but was interested in seeing this.

Despite, ahem, another poster's pre-occupation with the movie because we just weren't discussing all the Oscars he heard it was going to get...  😆 (Which traumatic association is one reason I've been dragging my heels about renting the disk, even though it looks good.)

There's another good made-for-BBC biopic, Stan (2006) available on free Amazon Prime, which follows the same/similar history of how they got together, with the framing device of Laurel reminiscing with a bedridden Hardy after his stroke.

https://www.amazon.com/Stan-BBC-Jim-Norton/dp/B00YRMXI7Y/

First thought the movie was going to be a direct Americanized-remake of that, but looks like they went for the "farewell tour" plot instead.

Quote

I think John C Reilly is one of our greatest modern actors and there just isn't enough good, meaty roles for him.

He's a good straight actor, as we saw in "Chicago", but HOW do we keep Reilly away from Will Ferrell without slapping a restraining order?  (And after "Holmes & Watson", they might just do it, too.)

[LawrenceA]

I Knew Her Well (1965)  -  8/10

Italian drama from director Antonio Pietrangeli. Stefania Sandrelli stars as a young woman working in a seaside beauty salon with dreams of becoming a movie star. Her efforts in that direction have mixed results. Also featuring Ugo Tognazzi, Mario Adorf, Jean-Claude Brialy, Joachim Fuchsberger, Nino Manfredi, Robert Hoffmann, Enrico Maria Salerno, Franco Frabrizi, Veronique Vendell, Karin Dor, and Franco Nero.

This more of a character study than a plot-driven narrative. It's also a critique on the exploitation of women. Sandrelli is very good as the beautiful Adriana, who's not so much ambitious as bored with her life. She's shallow in that way that beautiful young women can be when they don't have to exert much effort to move in social circles. However, she's also used by virtually everyone she meets, either for profit or pleasure, and Adriana is usually left alone and in the same place as where she started. Adriana's desire for change is also exhibited in her hairstyles - she sports more than a half dozen throughout the film.

Director Pietrangeli also makes the audience complicit in the exploitation of Adriana, with camera "ogling" like her much as her many suitors do. From what I've read, this film is also well-liked in Italy for the many mid-60's pop music hits heard on the soundtrack. Recommended.

Source: The Criterion Channel

[LawrenceA]

I Saw What You Did (1965)  -  6/10

Thriller from producer-director William Castle with 2 teen girls (Andi Garrett and Sara Lane) prank calling people. On one call, they tell the answering voice the title message. Unfortunately, the voice belongs to John Ireland, who has just murdered his wife. Now the deranged man thinks he needs to track down and eliminate these "witnesses". Also featuring Joan Crawford, Leif Erickson, Sharyl Locke, John Archer, Patricia Breslin, John Crawford, and Joyce Meadows. This seems like a youth-appeal spine-tingler, but the onscreen murder is extremely brutal for the time. It's Castle's twist on the Psycho shower scene. There was also a similar shower murder in this same year's Hysteria that I watched last night. Joan Crawford's role is small, barely more than a cameo. The Castle gimmick this time around were seatbelts installed in theaters to keep patrons from "leaping out of their seat with fear"! I saw the 1988 TV remake when it premiered, and only got around to original today. 

Source: internet

[cigarjoe]

Coffy (1973) Blaxploitation

Pam Grier is out for vengeance and after the pushers who got her little sister hooked on heroin. Groundbreaking with a strong female lead. Of course it has healthy doses the T&A that made America great. Noticed Sig Haig from Jackie Brown, and House of 1000 Corpses, and actress Linda Haynes who played Gretchen in The Drowning Pool as part of the cast also. 7/10

Source TCM