I Just Watched...

[LornaHansonForbes]

THERE IS A SLIGHT "POUTY" QUALITY TO ATWILL'S MAKEUP IN THE 1933 FILM:

EDIT- KINDA REMINDS ME OF MEL BROOKS AS "YOGURT" IN "SPACEBALLS"

[LornaHansonForbes]

I watched THE SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA aka THE RITES OF DRACULA aka COUNT DRACULA AND HIS VAMPIRE BRIDE as it was shown on TCM

This film slipped into THE PUBLIC DOMAIN, and every print of it I have ever seen was (delightfully) HIDEOUS and SUPER SATURATED, like a 70's p0rn movie or a FIONA APPLE VIDEO.

This version that ran on TCM actually had the 70's WARNER LOGO on it and was in ASTOUNDINGLY GOOD CONDITION- it looked COMPLETELY DIFFERENT from how I had seen it before- it's a QUITE WELL-PHOTOGRAPHED MOVIE FOR THE MOST PART! (although the locations are all HIDEOUS) I also SWEAR there are a couple of scenes that were not in any version I have seen.

COME AT ME IF YOU WANT, but this is a good movie. it's a HELL OF A LOT better than DRACULA AD 1972- and moves in a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT WAY- one of the more creative HAMMER sequels- although not without some limits.

there is also a startlingly relevant plot point about A VERSION OF THE BUBONIC PLAGUE THAT DRACULA- NOW A CORPORATE INDUSTRIALIST IN ENGLAND-  is looking to unleash.

also some excellent make-up and special effects...

even if DRACULA is killed in the end by...

(GASP!!!)

A SHRUBBERY!!!!!!!!

[Hoganman1]

I just watched COMPULSION from 1959 on FXM Retro. I did some research and it's a fairly accurate portrayal of the infamous Leopold and Loeb  case once called "the crime of the century". In Chicago in 1924 two college students kidnapped and murdered a fourteen year old boy trying to commit the perfect crime to prove their superior intellect.  The movie stars Bradford Dillman, Dean Stockwell and Orson Wells.  Although Wells doesn't appear on screen until halfway through the film, he dominates the conclusion.  His character is based on Clarence Darrow who was probably the most famous defense attorney in the country during the early 1900s. ROPE by Hitchcock  was an earlier adaptation very loosely based on the crime but with a different story line. If you liked ROPE or are a fan of Orson Wells, I think you'll like COMPULSION>

[speedracer5]

I've watched quite a few films recently that I loved and some that I was lukewarm about, but I wanted to discuss one in particular...

::SPOILERS:: 

Detour (1945).  I finally watched this noir with Tom Neal (as you may recall beat  the crap out of Franchot Tone while the two men were embroiled in a love triangle with Barbara Payton; then later he was in jail for manslaughter) and as Lorna refers to her, ANN SAH-VAGE.  Basically in a nutshell, Tom Neal plays a disillusioned pianist who decides to hitchhike across country to reunite with his girlfriend in Hollywood.  His girlfriend has just left him for a chance at stardom in Hollywood.  He wanted to get married and she's like: "I'm moving across country to Hollywood."  He tries to carry on without her, but is too depressed and just wants to be with her again.  Not having any money, he decides to hitch-hike across country.  He makes it about 3/4 of the way through various short jaunts until he is finally picked up by someone going all the way to LA.  The motorist, "Haskell" a seemingly wealthy bookie driving a nice car picks up Neal.  Neal notices some deep scratches on Haskell's hands and Haskell tells him that those were caused by a female hitchhiker he picked up a few states back and ditched.  

From the way Haskell is popping pills, we know something bad is going to happen.  And it does.  He dies in the car while Neal is driving.  Neal freaks out because circumstantial evidence will make it look like he murdered Haskell.  But then, he makes things worse by hiding the man's body in some brush, stealing his money and clothing, and then taking his identification before driving off with the car.  Neal is now impersonating Haskell.

Then he meets Vera (Ann Sah-vage), a female hitch-hiker to whom he offers a ride.  Man oh man.  This woman is bonkers, you can see it in her eyes from the get-go.  Things quickly go from bad to worse when Vera tells  Neal that she's got his number and he isn't getting away from her that easily.

::SUPER "SPOILER-Y" section::

 Okay.  So Vera presumably has consumption, evidenced by all the coughing, so we know she isn't long for the world.  Then she abruptly dies.  I thought that she just dropped dead from the consumption, but I guess we're supposed to think that she strangled herself with the phone cord? It didn't really seem all that tight for her to strangle herself.  Then at one point, you can see Vera's eyes flutter (and rather prominently) and I thought that this was the director telling us that Vera wasn't really dead.  I was waiting for her to pop-up.  Then she didn't.  So I guess that was just a goof in the movie.

Anyway, I actually really liked this film.  Ann Sah-vage was amazing and I now want her to be in everything.  While I love Gene Tierney, can you imagine her in "Leave Her to Heaven" ?  I did find out that Ann Sah-vage was in an episode of "Saved by the Bell" which is amazing.

[Det Jim McLeod]

Girl Friends (1978) TCM On Demand 7/10

Susan, a struggling photographer tries living alone after her best friend and roommate gets married and moves out.

I liked this one, it has that great, grainy low budget 1970s feel and and an excellent performance by Melanie Mayron as Susan. I recalled her as Art Carney's teenage traveling companion in Harry And Tonto. This film has Eli Wallach as a rabbi who Susan nearly has an affair. Christopher Guest has an early role as a new boyfriend. Viveca Lindfors plays a gallery owner. Well worth seeing if you like realistic films made in the 1970s.

[LornaHansonForbes]

25 minutes ago, speedracer5 said:

I've watched quite a few films recently that I loved and some that I was lukewarm about, but I wanted to discuss one in particular...

::SPOILERS:: 

Detour (1945).  I finally watched this noir with Tom Neal (as you may recall beat  the crap out of Franchot Tone while the two men were embroiled in a love triangle with Barbara Payton; then later he was in jail for manslaughter) and as Lorna refers to her, ANN SAH-VAGE. 

Anyway, I actually really liked this film.  Ann Sah-vage was amazing and I now want her to be in everything.  While I love Gene Tierney, can you imagine her in "Leave Her to Heaven" ?  I did find out that Ann Sah-vage was in an episode of "Saved by the Bell" which is amazing.

LOVE IT!!!!!!

You understand what I mean though, yes? She IS "SAH-VAGE!"

I HAD NO CLUE SHE DID AN EP OF "SAVED BY THE BELL"!!!!!!!

If ANN SAH-VAGE had done LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN, she would have PERSONALLY JUMPED OUT OF THE ROWBOAT, GONE UNDERWATER, AND THE FOLLOWING SCENE WOULD BE LIKE THE DEATH OF CHRISSIE IN "JAWS" ONLY STARRING DARYL HICKMAN!

 

[speedracer5]

47 minutes ago, LornaHansonForbes said:

LOVE IT!!!!!!

You understand what I mean though, yes? She IS "SAH-VAGE!"

I HAD NO CLUE SHE DID AN EP OF "SAVED BY THE BELL"!!!!!!!

If ANN SAH-VAGE had done LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN, she would have PERSONALLY JUMPED OUT OF THE ROWBOAT, GONE UNDERWATER, AND THE FOLLOWING SCENE WOULD BE LIKE THE DEATH OF CHRISSIE IN "JAWS" ONLY STARRING DARYL HICKMAN!

 

Yes.  Ann Sah-vage is every inch the Sah-vage.  She speaks with this very hostile, clipped speech.  The way that she delivers those lines, and those eyes (!) is what makes her character and what makes her so Sah-vage.  Can you imagine her in something like Gilda? Or as either Mildred or Veda in Mildred Pierce? She would have eaten Zachary Scott alive. 

Re: Saved by the Bell.  She's in one of the beach episodes (you know when the entire gang, save Lisa, manage to all get a job at the beach club).  She plays one of the club patrons in the episode when Stacy (Leah Remini) overbooks the beach clubhouse with an anniversary party and a birthday party.  I believe Ann Sah-vage is the older woman who is celebrating  an anniversary. I didn't know about this either until I was looking up to see what other movies she was in, so now I want to find the episode and see it. I now wish that it would have been a 70-year old Vera celebrating her wedding anniversary and discovers the overbooking and rips the Saved by the Bell gang to shreds. 

[CinemaInternational]

Didn't mention this the other day, but I took a spin on HBO's latest miniseries. It's called The Undoing and I was drawn into watching it based on the cast and crew. It promises to be a twisty little miniseries filled with big shocks around every corner. It's in large part a murder mystery, an attempt to find out who brutally murdered a Hispanic woman whose child had just started attending a luxury prep school on scholarship. Certainly this woman was a risk taker, given her ways of exhibitionism (walking around fully nude in a locker room with no shame) and her curious attempts to seemingly seduce a woman (Nicole Kidman) who she had only known for two days, mistaking the woman's intrinsic kindness for something else. But based on what is above the table so far, it is an enigma why this particular woman was killed by having her face ripped off. The miniseries though focuses on Kidman's character, an exceedingly wealthy woman in a claustrophobic world where wealth and snobbery are everywhere and little to no signs of awareness of any other social circle of life, and how this murder of a woman she barely knew seems set to upend her entire life. Hugh Grant plays Kidman's husband, who seems to be hiding things. Donald Sutherland appears briefly as her father. The whole miniseries had a distinctly polished air to it, and for a story set in the modern day, its vistas of a busy New York already feel like a period piece. Its based on a book (unread by me), but adapted for the screen by longtime TV power player David E. Kelly (LA Law, Doogie Houser MD,  Picket Fences, Chicago Hope,  Ally McBeal, The Practice, Boston Public, Boston Legal, Harry's Law, Big Little Lies) and directed by an esteemed Danish director, Susanne Bier in the style of a silky neo-noir. I shall be continuing to watch it, as it seems quite absorbing so far, anchored by a great performance from Nicole Kidman.

[ElCid]

42 minutes ago, CinemaInternational said:

Didn't mention this the other day, but I took a spin on HBO's latest miniseries. It's called The Undoing and I was drawn into watching it based on the cast and crew. It promises to be a twisty little miniseries filled with big shocks around every corner. It's in large part a murder mystery, an attempt to find out who brutally murdered a Hispanic woman whose child had just started attending a luxury prep school on scholarship. Certainly this woman was a risk taker, given her ways of exhibitionism (walking around fully nude in a locker room with no shame) and her curious attempts to seemingly seduce a woman (Nicole Kidman) who she had only known for two days, mistaking the woman's intrinsic kindness for something else. But based on what is above the table so far, it is an enigma why this particular woman was killed by having her face ripped off. The miniseries though focuses on Kidman's character, an exceedingly wealthy woman in a claustrophobic world where wealth and snobbery are everywhere and little to no signs of awareness of any other social circle of life, and how this murder of a woman she barely knew seems set to upend her entire life. Hugh Grant plays Kidman's husband, who seems to be hiding things. Donald Sutherland appears briefly as her father. The whole miniseries had a distinctly polished air to it, and for a story set in the modern day, its vistas of a busy New York already feel like a period piece. Its based on a book (unread by me), but adapted for the screen by longtime TV power player David E. Kelly (LA Law, Doogie Houser MD,  Picket Fences, Chicago Hope,  Ally McBeal, The Practice, Boston Public, Boston Legal, Harry's Law, Big Little Lies) and directed by an esteemed Danish director, Susanne Bier in the style of a silky neo-noir. I shall be continuing to watch it, as it seems quite absorbing so far, anchored by a great performance from Nicole Kidman.

I didn't realize that I have access to HBO Max on Spectrum (Charter) as it is in with HBO at no extra charge.   I Googled to find out where The Undoing is and found references to where no extra charge if already have HBO.

Unfortunately many of the TV "networks" are adding new sub-networks and then forcing you to subscribe to an additional service.

[speedracer5]

4 hours ago, LornaHansonForbes said:

LOVE IT!!!!!!

You understand what I mean though, yes? She IS "SAH-VAGE!"

I HAD NO CLUE SHE DID AN EP OF "SAVED BY THE BELL"!!!!!!!

If ANN SAH-VAGE had done LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN, she would have PERSONALLY JUMPED OUT OF THE ROWBOAT, GONE UNDERWATER, AND THE FOLLOWING SCENE WOULD BE LIKE THE DEATH OF CHRISSIE IN "JAWS" ONLY STARRING DARYL HICKMAN!

 

Suffice it to say, I need Ann Sah-vage in everything now.  She is my queen.

[CinemaInternational]

6 minutes ago, ElCid said:

I didn't realize that I have access to HBO Max on Spectrum (Charter) as it is in with HBO at no extra charge.   I Googled to find out where The Undoing is and found references to where no extra charge if already have HBO.

Unfortunately many of the TV "networks" are adding new sub-networks and then forcing you to subscribe to an additional service.

That's true. But its also airing on the actual channel as well, so you would not have to deal with HBO Max if you didn't want to.

[Lori Ann]

I watched "They Made Me A Criminal" with John Garfield & Gloria Dickson.  Directed by the amazing Busby Berkeley from 1939.  I wanted to see it for the Dead End Kids.  I'm a big fan of the Bowery Boys.  But they were the Dead End Kids & East Side Kids before becoming the Bowery Boys.  I know 3 Dead End Kids films.  This film was very good, but I'd have written a different ending.

Lori

[JamesJazGuitar]

44 minutes ago, Lori Ann said:

I watched "They Made Me A Criminal" with John Garfield & Gloria Dickson.  Directed by the amazing Busby Berkeley from 1939.  I wanted to see it for the Dead End Kids.  I'm a big fan of the Bowery Boys.  But they were the Dead End Kids & East Side Kids before becoming the Bowery Boys.  I know 3 Dead End Kids films.  This film was very good, but I'd have written a different ending.

Lori

Good film but I like the pre-code version just a little more.

 

[ElCid]

15 hours ago, CinemaInternational said:

That's true. But its also airing on the actual channel as well, so you would not have to deal with HBO Max if you didn't want to.

Watched it last night.  Apparently, for now anyway, HBO just rolls it into regular HBO On Demand, as well as showing on the regular HBO channel.

Interesting show - so far.

[JamesJazGuitar]

Watched the MGM 1949 noir Scene of the Crime.     This is one of the more gritty MGM noir films directed by Roy Rowland,  staring Van Johnson,  Gloria De Haven and John McIntire.     A lot of "against type" casting in this film especially by Johnson,  as a hardnosed disillusioned cop  and De Haven (as a stripper).    Also features Arlene Dahl as Johnson's wife (but the film might have been better if she wasn't  featured so much as a wife that wishes here husband wasn't a cop OR if Johnson was unmarried and could have really made moves on De Haven to get the dirt he was seeking from her).

Van Johnson and De Haven are very good in the film.   The scenes with violence are well done as well as the photography.    De Haven doesn't show much skin when she does her stripper routine but she looks great in this film with one of the best pouts there is.

 

[TomJH]

Now and Forever (1934)

Entertaining, handsomely produced comedy drama from Paramount, with the unexpected casting of Gary Cooper as a con artist living by his wits who travels around the world while fleecing people. Accompanying him is girl friend Carole Lombard, who starts to have cravings to settle down to a more normal life. Cooper then comes up with a plan to sell his daughter (Shirley Temple) for $75,000 to his wealthy brother-in-law. Those plans change when he meets his daughter for the first time in years and she wins him over with her precocious charms.

Please note that this is not a Shirley Temple vehicle. She has a prominent supporting role in a film which centers upon Cooper's con man and that, for me, is one of the saving graces of this production. I can handle Shirley in support better than I can when she is the star of the show. The film benefits from the surprising chemistry between Cooper and Temple, a reflection, apparently, of the off camera affection that the two had for one another.

Cooper, cast in a Gable-like role, as a charmer with a larcenous streak, is remarkably good in his role. He captures the charm of a superficial man who admits he's not a particularly nice person but, later in the film, when he reforms and feels regret for some of his past behaviour, he is most convincing. The actor doesn't make it seem like an artificial contrivance, predictable as the writing may be. And I must admit that Temple, a child actress I have always found quite easy to resist, has a number of scenes in this film in which I was surprised at how really good she was.

Lombard has a largely decorative role as the "conscience" in the film wanting Cooper to reform his ways. It is also interesting to see Sir Guy Standing, he of the often regal British aristocracy bearing, playing a fellow con artist who is on to Cooper. Standing shows charm in his role for a character who turns out to be surprisingly ruthless.

Now and Forever is a little remembered, if minor, film, that will please Cooper fans for the skill of his performance. As for female viewers, as well as some male, Coop was 33 when he made this film and arguably at the peak of his male beauty.

2.5 out of 4

[Lori Ann]

I haven't seen that one yet.  But I want to.  I love Shirley Temple!  My favorite actress, tied with Doris Day.  I know all the early Shirley movies except 4.  Her only adult movie I know is "Fort Apache".

Lori

[TomJH]

5 minutes ago, Lori Ann said:

I haven't seen that one yet.  But I want to.  I love Shirley Temple!  My favorite actress, tied with Doris Day.  I know all the early Shirley movies except 4.  Her only adult movie I know is "Fort Apache".

Lori

Don't hold your breath for this Paramount film to come on TCM, Lori Ann. It is available as part of the Universal Vault series of DVDs.

[laffite]

On 10/9/2020 at 12:20 PM, Janet0312 said:

I made it to 43 seconds and that was more than enough. That's a man, right?

66

[laffite]

On 10/29/2020 at 9:02 AM, Hoganman1 said:

I just watched COMPULSION from 1959 on FXM Retro. I did some research and it's a fairly accurate portrayal of the infamous Leopold and Loeb  case once called "the crime of the century". In Chicago in 1924 two college students kidnapped and murdered a fourteen year old boy trying to commit the perfect crime to prove their superior intellect.  The movie stars Bradford Dillman, Dean Stockwell and Orson Wells.  Although Wells doesn't appear on screen until halfway through the film, he dominates the conclusion.  His character is based on Clarence Darrow who was probably the most famous defense attorney in the country during the early 1900s. ROPE by Hitchcock  was an earlier adaptation very loosely based on the crime but with a different story line. If you liked ROPE or are a fan of Orson Wells, I think you'll like COMPULSION>

Welles deliberately toned down his portrayal. Darrow was known for his emotional verve.  Welles did the same thing with Falstaff in CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT. The standard is a fat, roguish, loud, irreverent and wholly comedic.  Welles made him of calm demeanor, circumspect. I would like to have seen a more loutish performance ibn both cases.

[laffite]

@JamesJazzGuitar

66 seconds, you couldn't figure that out?

[Det Jim McLeod]

Night Of Dark Shadows (1971) TCM On Demand 2/10

An artist and his wife move into a Maine estate and are haunted by the ghost of a condemned witch.

I was a fan of the original TV series and thought the first film House Of Dark Shadows was very good too. This one is just a slapdash bore fest. David Selby plays Quentin Collins, his character from the show. Lara Parker plays the beautiful suspected witch Angelique who is also the mistress of his ancestor. Angelique was one of the best characters on the show but we don't see enough of her. It is never explained if she is really a witch, though on the show it was clear she was. Other members of the original cast are here like Grayson Hall, John Karlen and Nancy Barrett but they play different parts than they did in the original. Kate Jackson (before her TV stardom in The Rookies and Charlie's Angels) actually gets the most screen time as Quentin's wife. There is a twist ending if you can make it that far.

[laffite]

,

[Curtis DeHaven]

On 10/29/2020 at 6:24 AM, LornaHansonForbes said:

you might like to check out any one of the TORCHY BLAINE Film series starring Glenda Farrell – who played the dynamite female reporter in “wax museum.

Yes!  Glenda Farrell did a great job playing that reporter.  I really liked her fast line delivery.   That can't be easy...  Yesterday afternoon, I searched my library for her and found several films I have.  I ended up watching We're in the Money (1935) with her and Joan Blondell, a comedy where the girls play a team of gold-diggers serving subpornas for a zany lawyer (Hugh Herbert).  With a runtime of 1:06 it was a wonderful way to stress down from a day at work, as well as getting more familiar with Farrell.  

Thanks for the Torchy Blaine tip.  I checked that out - looks interesting.   I'll keep an eye out for them...

[Janet0312]

1 hour ago, Det Jim McLeod said:

Night Of Dark Shadows (1971) TCM On Demand 2/10

An artist and his wife move into a Maine estate and are haunted by the ghost of a condemned witch.

I was a fan of the original TV series and thought the first film House Of Dark Shadows was very good too. This one is just a slapdash bore fest. David Selby plays Quentin Collins, his character from the show. Lara Parker plays the beautiful suspected witch Angelique who is also the mistress of his ancestor. Angelique was one of the best characters on the show but we don't see enough of her. It is never explained if she is really a witch, though on the show it was clear she was. Other members of the original cast are here like Grayson Hall, John Karlen and Nancy Barrett but they play different parts than they did in the original. Kate Jackson (before her TV stardom in The Rookies and Charlie's Angels) actually gets the most screen time as Quentin's wife. There is a twist ending if you can make it that far.

Not my favorite. And so many scenes were cut out.  I honestly could never make it out heads nor tails. John Karlen's first foray to learning to ride a bike. 

If you watch the series, these main characters were so long gone from the show to make the movie, such as it was.