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Post by Lebowskidoo 🦞 on Mar 17, 2019 16:47:25 GMT
Disclaimer: This thread only exists because of my confusion over Mercedes McCambridge and Ruth Roman in photos from the Mercedes McCambridge thread I made earlier. Specifically this one: Not even sure now how I could confuse the two, sure, they were both dark-haired and had sultry voices. I feel quite stupid now. Mercedes McCambridge...yes, I know the difference now. Ruth Roman made her debut in Stage Door Canteen (1943) in a bit part. From there she went on to other tiny parts in Gilda (1946) and A Night in Casablanca (1946). She eventually moved on to substantial roles in Beyond the Forest (1949), Lightning Strikes Twice (1951) and Strangers on a Train (1951). Taken from Ruth Roman's IMDB page: She, her son Richard "Dickie" Hall, and Betsy Drake were first-class passengers aboard the Andrea Doria when the ship collided with the Stockholm and sank in 1956. They were among almost 1,700 saved in the sinking. Roman and her son were separated during the rescue. She arrived in New York first and waited for him, surrounded by news photographers and reporters. She was on the pier to greet him when the rescue ship arrived in New York the next day.Also: Dated Ronald Reagan.
Roman went on to have a fairly healthy and long career, mostly in TV. GunsmokeThe Baby (1973) is where I first took real notice of her. A bizarro, weird movie about a woman who treats a grown son as a baby, for real! Seems like a horror movie until you watch it, it's just odd. Ruth Roman, a fine actress worth remembering! All the Ruth Roman movies I've seen, so far: Gilda A Night in Casablanca Strangers on a Train The Far Country The Baby Impulse (1974)
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Post by petrolino on Mar 17, 2019 16:49:14 GMT
That black cat could crawl at midnight.
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Post by Lebowskidoo 🦞 on Mar 17, 2019 16:58:17 GMT
That black cat could crawl at midnight. I have an affinity for classic movie actresses who liked cats. (See: My Mercedes McCambridge thread too)
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Post by jervistetch on Mar 17, 2019 17:21:33 GMT
Ruth smolders as a dangerous woman in the Noir THE WINDOW.
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Post by wmcclain on Mar 17, 2019 18:36:28 GMT
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Post by timshelboy on Mar 17, 2019 18:48:46 GMT
Yes - a very sexy lady.
Bit of a shame that her most famous film STRANGERS ON A TRAIN - gives her such a nothing part.
Most of her movies were routine (or less) but a few stand out.
THE FAR COUNTRY was probably her best chance, although she has good secondary roles in CHAMPION and THE WINDOW. THREE SECRETS is a solid "woman's picture". LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE is a tolerable thriller and she was well teamed with Sterling Hayden in FIVE STEPS TO DANGER.
TOMORROW IS ANOTHER DAY was the one she went blonde for
She was a good bad girl in the enjoyable weepie INVITATION, distracting "paid for" suitor Van Johnson from his duties romancing terminally ill heiress Dorothy McGuire. And she was good enough as (Mrs) JOE MACBETH to make you wish the film was better. Sid James as Banquo in that is a once in a lifetime viewing opportunity.
LOVE HAS MANY FACES Is fairly hilarious - she gets Hugh O'Brian in tiny briefs as an Acapulco gigolo... whilst Lana Turner gets gored by a bull!. If you thought JOHNNY GUITAR was a bad movie brace yourself for this one Nice Nancy Wilson theme tune though.
Would be interested in source for THE SINNER aka DESERT DEPERADOES - only one from her star run I have not seen.
PS - as a public service I should mention she almost gets a wet T shirt scene in TANGANYIKA from 1954
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Post by wmcclain on Mar 17, 2019 19:04:39 GMT
I agree that The Window is a fine little thriller, but for some reason my thumbnails missed Ruth Roman! The Window (1949)
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Post by london777 on Mar 18, 2019 1:23:41 GMT
Gilda A Night in Casablanca Strangers on a Train The Far Country The Baby Impulse (1974)
Interesting. I never knew she was in "Gilda", or in "The Big Clock" (also uncredited). She certainly acted in a load of crap. A good and striking actress with a long career but not one leading role in a really good movie. Must have had a lousy agent. Best role was probably as "Lady" Macbeth in Ken Hughes' version of "Macbeth" as a gangster movie: Joe Macbeth (1955), though even that suffered from a typically British penny-pinching budget.
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Mar 18, 2019 2:39:20 GMT
Adding support for the excellent The Window
Like the boy who cried wolf.
A belter of a B noir out of RKO. Story plays as a variant to the boy who cried wolf legend and finds young Bobby Driscoll as Tommy, a boy prone to telling tall tales. So when one night he spies upstairs neighbours murdering a man, nobody believes him...
The build up to the crime is considered, we are privy to Tommy's home life in a cramped New York tenement, his parents loyal and hard working and they have plenty of love for their fanciful son.
Once the crime is committed, a shocking incident compounded by the fact it's perpetrated by a normal looking male and female couple, a destitute pairing prepared to do the unthinkable just for cash, then things get real tense and the thrills begin to roll.
Tommy is now under threat from the killers and he needs to be silenced, so as the cramp confines of the hot and sweaty tenement area are vividly brought to life via noir visuals, Ted Tetzlaff (director) and his cinematographers (Robert De Grasse & William O. Steiner) excelling, the paranoia and tension builds to the point that the gripping finale acts as a merciful release.
Very well performed by a cast that also includes Paul Stewart, Ruth Roman, Arthur Kennedy and Barabara Hale, this late 1940s noir is highly recommended. 8/10
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Mar 18, 2019 3:00:06 GMT
Going through her CV I see Beyond the Forest (1949) and I think I may have that somewhere. Hope so!
Rebel in Town (1956)
What the sons of some men do to the sons of others. There's the tragedy of the world.
Rebel in Town is directed by Alfred Werker and written by Danny Arnold. It stars John Payne, Ruth Roman, J. Carrol Naish, Ben Johnson, Ben Cooper and John Smith. Music is by Les Baxter and cinematography by Gordon Avil.
The phrase a hidden gem gets used far too much, so much so I try my utmost to veer away from it if at all possibly. However, for fans of grown up Westerns then Rebel in Town is most assuredly a gem of a find for sure. Story is set just after the American Civil War in the town of Kittreck Wells. A family of Confederate soldiers (The Masons) have staged a robbery in a nearby town and need to go into Kittreck for water supplies. A turn of events will bring the family of outlaws into the life of ex Union soldier John Willoughby (Payne), a hard working family man, who still has a fierce commitment to rid the land of Confederate rebels.
It could have ended up as just another trite "B" Western message movie, but this is so much more, the quality of the writing is such that the script demands full attention. The effects of the Civil War are of course central, where the characters from both sides of the fence are here painted in rich colours. John Willoughby had a tenuous grip on post war forgiveness before his family is shattered by the arrival in town of the Mason family, but soon enough his thirst for revenge begins to tip him over the edge. The Mason family are not merely outlaw fodder, they are a complex bunch, each of the four brothers different in their own values and approach to life, but it's with the patriarch Bedloe (Naish) where the screenplay finds real strength. A God fearing man, he hates what his family has become, and although he clearly rules the roost, he is given to complete democracy, his boys always are given the vote on the decisions the family must make. The juxtaposition between the two heads of family, from different sides of the war, is intelligently thought out by the makers.
Added bonus here as well is the characterisation afforded Ruth Roman as Nora Willoughby. So often in "B" Westerns female characters are given to being love interests or a cause for macho posturing, not so here. Nora Willoughby is arguably the key character, she fights throughout the play to not only overcome her grief, but also that of her husband. She is relentless in her attempts to stop John from become a crazed revenge fuelled mad man, for she can see the bigger picture that her man simply can't. The other key character of note is Ben Cooper's Gray Mason, the younger of the Mason family and the family's conscience, his interaction with - via a plot development to integrate him with the Willoughby's - is a priceless commodity for the picture's dramatic worth. With characters of great substance it only then needs good performances from the actors to make it all work, and we get that. Even the smaller supporting roles are well held by director Werker, such as Marshal Adam Russel (James Griffith) who is calm and measured and a mile away from the caricature type of law men we get in the genre.
The look of the piece is terrific, Avil's black and white photography comes from the film noir stlyed playbook, which is most befitting for the story's psychological axis. Werker had dabbled in film noir, notably with the excellent He Walked By Night, so his instruction to Avil for the look on show is astute and makes sense. Action scenes are well staged, but it's with certain scenes where the pic soars high. The catalyst scene that sets the wheels in motion is boosted by an authentic recoil, which is great to see. Also attention grabbing is a corporal punishment section that should make you wince, while the father and son axis between John and his son Peter at the film's beginning begs for deeper thought once film reaches its closure. With a lovely print being shown on TCM-HD rounding out the bonuses, this is a super treat for Western fans and therefore comes highly recommended. 8/10
Great Day in the Morning (1956)
Even big men cry sometimes.
Great Day in the Morning is directed by Jacques Tourneur and written by Lesser Samuels. It stars Robert Stack, Virginia Mayo, Raymond Burr, Ruth Roman, Alex Nicol, Leo Gordon and Regis Toomey. Music is by Leith Stevens and cinematography by William E. Snyder.
A Technicolor/Superscope production, story is set in Colorado Territory 1861, a mining town just as The Civil War is to break out. North and South divisions, lustful passions and the hunger for power and gold, all reside here...
This would turn out to be the great Jacques Tourneur's last Western offering, thankfully for his fans it turned out pretty great. This is no all action piece, the action here is mainly focused on the human condition and all the shaky traits that come with such. This town is a powder-keg waiting to ignite, with Stack's (excellent) fence sitter (he's from the South but his affiliations are money based) Owen Pentecost firmly in the middle of things. Moral compasses are set at faulty, whilst loyalties and fancies of the heart bring much conflict of interest.
Tourneur and his charges serve up fine production value, starting with the location filming out of Silverton. The landscape that surrounds the town is gorgeous, itself a beautiful observer of the ugliness (Roman and Mayo's sexiness exempt of course) that unfolds. Ugliness that rears its most potent head via bouts of shocking violence, the majority of which takes one by surprise (one of the film's many strengths). The clever screenplay throws in memorable sequences, such as a heated debate backed by Roman tinkling the piano with tunes befitting the discourse, while odd visuals - like the main saloon being based on a circus tent (its actual name and it ties in with Burr's character) - strike good notes.
With a grumpy Stack on fine form it's dandy to find the support brings weighty worth as well. Roman and Mayo are given good female roles to play (no tokens here thanks), raising the emotional stakes as much as the temperature. To good effect Burr stomps around like a sulky bully, Nicol has a good presence, and then there's Gordon. Gordon makes his mark straight away, first section of pic you know he's the sort who wants a war before the war has started, and he nails it as a gruff hot-headed bastardo - putting one in mind of Robert Shaw later down the line. Touneur's eye for detail is backed by that of Snyder to round it off as a picture well worth tracking down. 7.5/10
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Post by mikef6 on Mar 20, 2019 2:41:50 GMT
Ruth Roman was the Special Guest Villain on Mission: Impossible during its third season - which many fans believe to be the best series overall. See "The Elixer" S. 3, Ep. 7 broadcast on November 24, 1968. A fine example of this TV series at its best.
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Post by taranofprydain on Mar 20, 2019 23:26:15 GMT
Ruth Roman was the Special Guest Villain on Mission: Impossible during its third season - which many fans believe to be the best series overall. See "The Elixer" S. 3, Ep. 7 broadcast on November 24, 1968. A fine example of this TV series at its best. Her TV work also included an arc on Knots Landing and 3 episodes of Murder She Wrote (3 of that shows best episodes, no less)
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