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Post by teleadm on May 21, 2020 17:27:37 GMT
Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? 1972, before it moves over to a horror variation of Hansel and Gretel. Rich American widow (Shelley Winters) takes part in seances were they try to contact her dead daughter. The medium (Sir Ralph Richardson) as it turns out is in cahoots with two others (butler and cook), and is just fooling her, getting well payed for their cons.
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Post by london777 on May 21, 2020 18:44:48 GMT
I watched this last night for the first time for 30-odd years. It was much better than I had remembered. Very sharp script with not a word wasted and I picked up on more clues to the characters motivations this time, making a far-fetched scenario more believable. And some great supporting acting by the other tin men in their respective teams. Dir: Barry Levinson. A rare case of my rating (7.5) higher than IMDb raters (6.6).
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Post by Rufus-T on May 22, 2020 3:18:22 GMT
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Post by Rufus-T on May 24, 2020 17:46:07 GMT
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Post by london777 on Dec 28, 2021 0:22:36 GMT
Hell Is Sold Out (1951) dir: Michael Anderson In this one there is a profitable confidence trick pulled off before the action of the movie commences. but no confidence trickster as such, as the perpetrator (Mai Zetterling) excuses herself by explaining that. until the unforeseen happened, it would have been "win, win" all round. She has published her novel under the name of a successful, but deceased, author. The snag occurs when he, a Resistance hero (played by Herbert Lom), returns from the dead. A common movie trope, but in the immediate post-war years it was a frequent occurence. It is a great set-up, which the move wastes by declining into a rom-com, with true love eventually overcoming obstacles. From the title and Lom's presence I expected something psychologically darker. For example, Richard Attenborough plays the loyal best friend with headaches and blackouts caused by a piece of shrapnel in his head, but this played no part in the story whatsover. He might as well have had a boil on his bum. Set in Paris, with a lot of crude national stereotyping and passages of broad comedy, but actually made in the very limited studio facilities of Nettlefold Studios in my home town. I have mentioned before that, when the studio folded, my father purchased the lot to use for storing building materials. Based on a novel by Maurice Dekobra, who was enormously successful between the World Wars but is now forgotten. I enjoyed the film, but I suspect it was an opportunity wasted by the prosaic Anderson, who went on to make many big-budget Hollywood movies.
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Post by marshamae on Dec 28, 2021 2:40:54 GMT
Lovely thread!
Must give another shout out to BedTime Story starring David Niven and Marlon Brando. I would love to know how they got on during filming. I suspect it went something like the film , starting with entirely different styles and find8ng a way to work together. There is a hilarious scene with Brando pretending to be the all but bestial Ruprecht as part of the scam. Brando, fully committed to such a character is as funny as anything Robin WILLIAMS every committed to film.
Another shout out to GAMES starring JAMES CAAN, Katherine Ross and Simone Signoret. A wonderful twisty tale about a wealthy young couple playing fantasy games that get out of hand . After you have seen it it will remind you of a fine French Film This is a great slice of the 60’s with so many fashions decor and habits to remind you of those days.
NIGHTMARE ALLEY, Tyrone Powers greatest role , a terrifying indictment of psychiatry and the darkest of the dark films
My own additions,
LEAP OF FAITH an enjoyable comedy starring Steve Martin as an evangelist / faith healer working the tent circuit and Debra winger as his assistant . True love and true faith enter the picture accompanied by a slamming Gospel soundtrack featuring Edwin Hawkins , who led the choir and arranged the Gospel numbers , his baby sister Lynette Hawkins Stephens , a leader of the Edwin Hawkins singers , and Patti LaBelle who can sing anything she has a mind to. The music lifts this into a new level .
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Post by manfromplanetx on Nov 22, 2023 6:01:36 GMT
Формула любви , Formula of Love (1984) Soviet Union directed by Mark Zakharov based on the story by Aleksey Tolstoy "Count Cagliostro". Lighthearted and musical this highly entertaining film is loosely based on the real-life character Italian occultist Giuseppe Balsamo (1743 – 1795) whose adventurous travels brought him on tour to Russia in 1780. Under the alias "Count Cagliostro" the self-styled spiritualist and magician (brilliant swindler) now famous throughout Europe arrives in Russia. Hoping to capitalize on his reputation the count associates himself among the highest nobility. He pursues a beautiful young woman through deception and tries to make her fall in love, and later comes across a young aristocrat in love with a marble statue hoping Cagliostro can revive the frozen beauty……. Giuseppe Balsamo practiced various occult arts, including psychic healing and alchemy he became a glamourous figure who was sought after in the royal courts of Europe. In the years following his death his reputation was trashed. Once famous "Count Cagliostro" was denounced as a fraud a quack a charlatan, and an impostor… Orson Welles relishes his role of Joseph Balsamo hypnotist and magician in Black Magic (1949). An Adaptation of Alexandre Dumas's novel Joseph Balsamo the film was directed by Gregory Ratoff. Despite the presence and obvious creative influence of Welles, I found the film to be mildly entertaining, however it is a different cinematic story and provides further background to the 18th century charlatan. Nodar Mgaloblishvili as Count Giuseppe Cagliostro
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