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Post by Nalkarj on Mar 5, 2019 4:17:39 GMT
I saw Victor/Victoria for the first time the other night on TCM... Pretty much loved every minute of it, smiling and chuckling all the way to the end. As BATouttaheck noted, you have to suspend your disbelief that anyone would mistake the ever-so-lovely Julie Andrews for a man, but with that said it’s all just superb. (My only criticisms revolve around the private detective slapstick, which would be funny in one of Edwards’ Pink Panther movies but which just doesn’t fit the style of humor here.) Andrews is as great as always; it’s always wonderful to see Prof. Harold Hill himself, Robert Preston; and James Garner and Alex Karras give such excellent, subtle performances. (I shouldn’t ever underrate Garner, but it’s difficult to see his talents when he’s playing Jim Rockford.) I had such fun watching it. Oh, and if anyone is ever interested in my ramblings about lyrics (first of all, thanks! ), Victor/Victoria gives us some fairly interesting songs by Henry Mancini (of course) and Leslie Bricusse. Bricusse was the lyricist for “What Kind of Fool Am I?” and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and his lyrics aren’t usually that interesting, but “Gay Paree” is a decent Cole Porter parody, and “The Shady Dame from Seville” is fantastic. Some of the rhymes don’t quite work (the stress is off in “rat-tat at her door” and matador), but they’re so audacious that you can’t help but admire them. Rhyming “distressed her” and siesta (which only works in British English—or Bostonese) is brilliant. And the staging… Oh, just watch it:
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Post by BATouttaheck on Mar 5, 2019 4:30:18 GMT
Nalkarj The FRIENDSHIP in V/V is as interesting (and delightful) to me as the rom/com aspect of it. Mary Poppins and Henry Hill together with Bret Maverick and the lady we will just have to call Leslie Ann Warren are terrific as is the football player. Supporting players … especially at the restaurant with the walking salad …. brilliant. Glad you enjoyed it .. finally !
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Post by kijii on Mar 5, 2019 4:57:43 GMT
Nalkarj The FRIENDSHIP in V/V is as interesting (and delightful) to me as the rom/com aspect of it. Mary Poppins and Henry Hill together with Bret Maverick and the lady we will just have to call Leslie Ann Warren are terrific as is the football player. Supporting players … especially at the restaurant with the walking salad …. brilliant. Glad you enjoyed it .. finally ! BAT-- I've never seen this Blake Edwards movie from beginning to end, but your post has renewed my interest to do just that.
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Post by BATouttaheck on Mar 5, 2019 5:06:48 GMT
kijiiwell... I was just adding to Nalkarj's commentary so there are at least two yes votes on its likability. Looking forward to your commentary … soon !
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Post by kijii on Mar 5, 2019 6:16:39 GMT
..Still continuing to concentrate on Douglas Sirk & Nicholas Ray movies..Never Say Goodbye (1956) / Jerry Hopper, Douglas Sirk (uncredited)
This melodrama has the look and feel of a Douglas Sirk movie. However, it seems to have an almost pre-planned awkwardness to it with regard to the way it unfolds. We feel like we know how the movie will end but, like a Mahler symphony, it keeps veering away from its natural conclusion. One wants to get the characters together and just have them talk to each other and explain to poor little Suzy Parker (Shelley Fabares) why and how her real mother, Lisa Gosting (Cornell Borchers), and father, Dr. Michael Parker (Rock Hudson), were married and in 1945, in post-war Vienna, and separated after Suzy was born. The movie is filled with misunderstandings, and even lies, which could have been easily understood with a little more communication between the various parties. In any case, Suzy grows up in America with her father telling her that her mother had died. (But, I don't remember what he told Suzy about how she died.) In any case, Suzy grows up idolizing her dead mother. Then, there is this mysterious relationship between Lisa and her working partner, Victor (George Sanders) , a caricature artist who made his living from drawing people's caricatures in nightclubs around Europe. Why, we ask ourselves, is Victor so important to Lisa and vise versa?
It seems as though Victor may have helped Lisa to escape the Communists after the Iron Curtain fell, March 5, 1946. Following the war, Berlin and Vienna were occupied (by sectors) with the Russians and the Anglo-Americans controlling different sectors of those major former Nazi countries. This split of control between Democratciess and Communists is the basis of several movies: The Third Man (1949); A Foreign Affair (1948); The Red Danube (1949). etc.
Just imagine how Suzy must have felt when her father suddenly returns from a medical convention in New York with a new wife... who (unknown to Suzy) is really her real mother and her father's real wife, rediscovered and still working the night club circuit with Victor, the caricature artist? Why not tell Suzy the truth now? No...(say the experts) Suzy has to accept Lisa as her father's NEW wife first. The rules in this melodrama seemed very strange to me. Too bad that Suzy didn't have the advantage of seeing the flashback that we had while watching the movie. Full TCM Synopsis with SPOILERS: In 1955, orthopedic researcher Dr. Michael Parker leaves his beloved daughter Suzy behind in California in order to speak at a conference in New York City. Since the death of his wife seven years earlier, however, he and Suzy maintain their practice of never saying good-bye. At the conference, Mike's speech is a success, and the National Orthopedic Foundation leaders, Dr. Barnes and Dr. Bailey, invite him out for a drink. They go to Timmy's Tavern, and while Mike uses the pay phone to call Suzy, Bailey spots caricature artist Victor, and invites him to their table. Victor brings with him his pianist, whom he introduces as Dorian Kent, but when Mike returns to the table he recognizes her immediately as his wife, Lisa Gosting. She jumps up in horror and races out into the street, where she is hit by a car. At the hospital, Victor warns that she may not be strong enough for major surgery, as she has suffered many years of trauma in the Russian sector of post-war Austria. Mike, however, champions her strength, and with his help, the operation is a success. While he and Victor wait for Lisa to revive, Victor accuses Mike of being responsible for her tragic imprisonment behind the Iron Curtain, which has killed her spirit. After he leaves, Mike remembers his years with Lisa: In 1945 in Vienna, Mike is an Army doctor who visits the bar where Victor and Lisa entertain. When Lisa sprains her ankle on the stairs, Mike is asked to examine it, and by the time he brings her to the hospital, then carries her into her apartment, they are in love. Weeks later, she reveals to Mike that Victor has arranged a new job in Germany, which will allow her to escape the Communist threat of the Russians. Mike immediately reveals that his boss has asked him to stay on at the American hospital as a civilian, and proposes to Lisa, who accepts with a kiss. At their wedding reception, Victor makes a drunken toast promising to love her forever. Within months Lisa is pregnant and, although they are struggling to stretch out Mike's small salary, the couple remains blissfully happy. Weeks after she gives birth to their adored Suzy, Mike returns home to find Lisa and Victor reminiscing about their days working together, and becomes blindly jealous. Two years later, Mike is working day and night, and when he comes home early one evening, he is furious to discover that Lisa is out with Victor and another friend. She returns home happy and animated, and although Mike is at first resentful, he soon forgives her and shows her Suzy's birthday present, a gold locket. On their third anniversary, Mike plans a surprise party for Lisa, but just as it is about to start, he overhears a neighborhood gossipmonger whispering about Lisa's twice-weekly rendezvous with a strange man. Mike does not believe Lisa's story that she has been giving music lessons to make extra money, but, assuming she is having an affair with Victor, grabs Suzy and leaves. After Lisa finds his note warning her not to try to find them, in desperation she runs to her father, who lives in the Russian sector. He reassures her that Mike will soon cool down and return, and she stays the night, but by the morning the increasingly authoritarian Communists close the border. By the time a contrite Mike returns to the apartment, Lisa has been arrested on suspicion of being a spy, and has disappeared without a trace. Mike searches for her for weeks with the help of American Col. E. R. Washburn, but finally Washburn informs him that Mr. Gosting has been killed, and they must assume that Lisa is also dead. Later, just before he leaves for America, Lisa's blind piano student, a middle-aged man, visits to ask why she has not attended her twice-weekly appointments, and Mike realizes that he has been wrong about everything. In the present, Lisa is brought to her room, where she weakly asks Mike to leave her alone. Desperate to make up his past mistakes, however, Mike returns to the hospital as soon as she is recovered. He begs her to return, and although Victor warns her she may face bitter disappointment, she reluctantly agrees, but only to regain the love of her daughter. They arrive at Mike's to discover that Suzy has become hysterical at the news that he is returning with a new wife. Neighboring pediatrician Dr. Kelly Andrews warns the couple not to further disturb Suzy with the news that her mother, for so long considered dead, has come back. Over the next few days, Lisa, presented only as Mike's new wife, woos Suzy, but the jealous little girl refuses to accept her, swearing that Lisa will never take the place of her real mother. Finally exhausted from having to compete with an idealized version of herself, Lisa reveals the truth to Suzy, who insists that Lisa is lying in an attempt to win her affection. Soon after, Suzy's beloved governess, Miss Tucker, deduces Lisa's real identity and gives notice, explaining that Suzy will only turn to Lisa if she has no one else on whom to lean. Suzy, however, blames Lisa, who decides that there is no hope and she must leave. During Suzy's tenth birthday party, Victor visits and charms the girls with his caricatures, while Lisa informs Mike that she is leaving for Europe as soon as the guests have left. Hours later, as she prepares to go, Mike asks Victor to draw a picture of Suzy's real mother from Suzy's description, and Suzy eagerly awaits the sketch. Lisa joins them and describes her memory of Suzy as a baby, and distraught, Suzy runs off. Now thoroughly defeated, Lisa packs her bags, while outside Suzy asks her father why he told Lisa their private memories. After Mike swears that he has not told Lisa a thing, Lisa says goodbye to Suzy and tells her to remember how much she loves her. Victor then gives Suzy his sketch, and seeing Lisa's likeness on the page, Suzy suddenly realizes the truth and chases after Lisa, calling out for her mother. Victor, who sacrificed his love for Lisa's happiness, watches the Parker family embrace tearfully and return to their home.
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Post by Prime etc. on Mar 5, 2019 6:44:09 GMT
ESCAPE FROM ZAHRAIN 1962 Yul Brynner is a rebel leader sprung from jail by student Sal Mineo to lead an uprising to take back the arab country from foreign oil companies and a corrupt puppet ruler. Jack Warden is a western oil worker accused of embezzling who joins the escape (he has amusing interactions with a homicidal prisoner who he calls "Frankie" aka Frankenstein). Intelligent script with a surprise star cameo (won't spoil it but wikipedia does).
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Post by teleadm on Mar 5, 2019 18:53:59 GMT
The Wild Geese 1978, directed by Andrew V. McLaglen, based on a novel by Daniel Carney, starring Richard Burton, Roger Moore, Richard Harris, Hardy Krüger, Stewart Granger, Winston Ntshona, John Kani, Jack Watson, Frank Finlay, Kenneth Griffith, Barry Foster, Ronald Fraser, Patrick Allen and others. British-Swiss action "A British banker (Granger) hires a group of British mercenaries (led by Burton, Harris, Moore and Krüger) to rescue a deposed African President (Ntshona) from the hands of a corrupt African dictator". The reason is to get access to copper. Old-fashioned all-star action movie that turns very bloody, with many people dead, when the whole operation turn sour when a deal unknown to the mercenaries is made in London with the corrupt dictator to access copper, and the mercenaries must flea throu hostile territories with a price on their heads. It's fun to see this kind of movies that I remember very well from the seventies, and seeing them again I'm also surpriced at all the violence and how many people that was killed, but also how free it is from any political correctness. Since it was made in the seventies, South Africa was still an Apartheit country. Granger get's the chance to play a villain, a very slimy banker. Harris gives his mercinary a heart,and he has a son that he cares for. Moore without a smoking is still ellegance, but giiven a cigar to chomp on. Burton seems very sick in some scenes, but he still brings a sort of dignity to the role, a self-loathing mercinary who can't live a normal life. There are no big female parts, in a way that is refreshing, because they would have been there only for some fake glamour. It's entertaining for what it is, and as a sort of evidence of the kind of movies they can't do anymore. Joan Armatrading wrote and sings the title song "Flight of the Wild Geese". It was the fifth biggest box-office success in the world when it came, even if it hardly was distributed in U.S.A., and that was due to that the company that the rights went bankrupt (Allied Artists) before it should have premiered. A sequel came in 1985, Wild Geese II, without any of the original actors.
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Post by Doghouse6 on Mar 5, 2019 19:09:58 GMT
..Still continuing to concentrate on Douglas Sirk & Nicholas Ray movies.. I enjoyed your write-up. That's probably true of at least half the films ever made, from romantic dramas to screwball comedies. But without those contrivances, their running times would be no more than 15 minutes or so. It can be frustrating when it's carried beyond all credible logic. The same is true for films in which people do patently stupid things (" Don't handle the murder weapon, dummy!"). But it's misunderstandings, miscommunications, poor judgement and clumsy mistakes upon which so much drama is made, no? Films in which everyone did only the smartest, simplest, most honest and logical things would be short, boring or both.
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Post by vegalyra on Mar 5, 2019 19:13:33 GMT
Wow, Escape from Zahrain and Wild Geese within a post of each other! Two of my favorite films. Great write ups. Both fairly forgotten films nowadays but hold up extremely well when revisited.
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Post by Prime etc. on Mar 5, 2019 19:15:00 GMT
The producer of it even left a message on IMDB: Thanks to all who enjoyed my film euan-617 November 2004 It is not often a producer has the chance to thank his critics in this form. I do so now. The blood-sweat and tears that went into the making of THE WILD GEESE is all forgotten. Appreciation of one's endeavors of some 25 years ago, thanks to DVD, is gratefully received. The Zone 1 version is yet to appear, the lateness due to sloppy distribution. To answer questions about the film's very limited theatrical release in the United States and Canada in 1978, this was due solely to the financial collapse of its distributor, Allied Artists. Chapter II was applied and, to my disgust, it failed to reach many theaters. However, the NBC Network and HBO aired the movie with great success. Euan Lloyd.
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Post by vegalyra on Mar 5, 2019 19:20:04 GMT
The producer of it even left a message on IMDB: Thanks to all who enjoyed my film euan-617 November 2004 It is not often a producer has the chance to thank his critics in this form. I do so now. The blood-sweat and tears that went into the making of THE WILD GEESE is all forgotten. Appreciation of one's endeavors of some 25 years ago, thanks to DVD, is gratefully received. The Zone 1 version is yet to appear, the lateness due to sloppy distribution. To answer questions about the film's very limited theatrical release in the United States and Canada in 1978, this was due solely to the financial collapse of its distributor, Allied Artists. Chapter II was applied and, to my disgust, it failed to reach many theaters. However, the NBC Network and HBO aired the movie with great success. Euan Lloyd.
That's one thing I miss from the old imdb boards, sometimes someone that had something to do with these old films would chime in. I believe I remember seeing this post, I would frequent that board quite a bit although I don't remember it being extremely active (as opposed to a film like Raiders). Interesting about the US distribution. I imagine it would have done well.
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Post by teleadm on Mar 6, 2019 18:58:05 GMT
Django 1966, directed by Sergio Corbucci, starring Franco Nero, Loredana Nusciak, Ángel Álvarez, José Bódalo, Eduardo Fajardo and a lot of others i've never heard of. Italian-Spanish Euro Western "A coffin-dragging gunslinger (Nero) and a half-breed prostitute (Nusciak) become embroiled in a bitter feud between a Klan of Southern racists and a band of Mexican Revolutionaries". Not sure if they were called Spaghetti Westerns yet. I've read that this movie was the first of this kind of movies that got a wider distribution in America, and it's success paved the way for this sub-genre. It has a gritty and violent style, though not in the more refined style of the Sergio Leone westerns. I didn't do any bodycount but very many died in this movie, in fact I only think two persons survived out of hundreds. Though it was fun to finally having seen it, I'm not sure I was the correct audience for this movie, not that it was bad, I'm just not the right person to judge if this was a bad or a good movie in it's genre. There are many movies that came after this, using the name Django, but I'm not sure if any of them were any sequels, or just cashing in on a popular name. There is a song sung during the main titles and the end titles by someone called Rocky Roberts, who sound like an Elvis impersonator.
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Post by BATouttaheck on Mar 8, 2019 5:05:19 GMT
Finally got to see (and liked !)
Marlowe lighting a match produced a chuckle: was struck several times by the fact that Dick Powell looked so tiny next to Mike Mazurki … it's explained here : It was hard to get Mike Mazurki to tower over Dick Powell who 6' 2", with Mazurki only slightly taller at 6' 4 1/2". For many scenes, Powell had to stand in a trench. In order to make Mike Mazurki more threatening, Edward Dmytryk had the sets built with slanted ceilings to force the perspective. As Mazurki walked closer to the camera, he seemed almost to grow.
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Post by kijii on Mar 8, 2019 7:38:05 GMT
Five Came Back (1939) / John Farrow Viewed on TCM
This is a pretty good B movie. The story is interesting enough to catch your attention and has the advantage of showing an ensemble cast of B actors (who usually appear in supporting roles) now in leading roles: Chester Morris, Lucille Ball, Wendy Barrie, John Carradine, Allen Jenkins, Joseph Calleia, and C. Aubrey Smith.
As the movie begins, a diverse group of people are boarding a plane bound for Panama with a stop over in Mexico. But, when the plane flies off course due to a storm and is forced to land in a South American jungle, the classism of the characters breaks down. Those that work in a cooperative way to aide in the survival of the group are valued more. Some have more to live for than they had before they were really needed, i.e, Peggy Nolan (Lucille Ball) who seemed to be running away from life. After the crash and long survival period, money and class no longer hold the value they once had, and the dynamics of the group members change. The LA flight to Panama starts with nine passengers and three crew members. Who are the five would come back, and why?
Full TCM Synopsis with SPOILERS: In Los Angeles, nine passengers board the Silver Queen, a plane piloted by Bill Brooks bound for Panama City. Bill's human cargo consists of Crimp, a detective determined to return his prisoner, the anarchist Vasquez, to a South American capital to collect a $5,000 dollar reward; wealthy Judson Ellis, who is eloping with his secretary, Alice Melbourne; the elderly Professor Henry Spengler and his wife Martha; Tommy, a gang chief's small son; his chaperone Pete, a gunman; and Peggy Nolan, a woman of the streets. When a heavy storm forces the plane down in a dense jungle, the voyagers' true natures emerge as Bill and his co-pilot Joe labor to repair the craft. Under the twin threats of an impending attack by natives and the realization that the group may be permanently stranded, Crimp becomes a menacing bully and Ellis reveals himself to be a spoiled, cynical drunk, whereas Vasquez demonstrates the humanitarianism which drove him to anarchy. As the days wear on, Peggy becomes a substitute mother to little Tommy, thus winning Bill's respect, and Alice slowly realizes that she is in love with Joe. On the twenty-third day, the plane is repaired, but it can only carry five passengers. With the native drums threatening attack, Crimp and Pete disappear into the jungle and are slain by Indians. As the drums grow more ominous, Vasquez seizes the gun and proclaims that because the return to civilization means certain death to him, only he is objective enough to decide who will escape. Thus, the elderly professor and his wife, who are at the end of their lives, remain behind, as well as Ellis, who is shot as he grabs for the gun. As Vasquez, the professor and Martha gaze skyward, Tommy, Peggy, Bill, Alice and Joe ascend the skies to safety to begin new lives.
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Post by Prime etc. on Mar 8, 2019 9:03:38 GMT
THE ILLUSTRATED MAN 1969 - A film I had seen on tv but remembered little about. It has an interesting framing story (what a serene location). The stories themselves are kind of weird--the first made me think of how it predicted Star Trek's holodeck--the set design was rather cool in it as well--I liked the all plastic-looking house. I don't think it works as an anthology film since the stories are too mundane in outcome. Steiger keeps one engaged, although he reminded me so much of Richard Burton here I wonder how he would have done it, given that I find Burton to be rather unsympathetic--I could see him being really mean and crazy in this role, especially if Elizabeth Taylor was Felicia.
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Post by teleadm on Mar 8, 2019 20:18:24 GMT
The Phantom Planet 1961, directed by William Marshall, starring Dean Fredericks, Coleen Gray, Anthony Dexter, Francis X. Bushman, Richard Weber, All Jarvis, Dick Haynes, Richard Kiel, and introducing Dolores Faith as Zetha, and a few others. Low-budget Science-Fiction. In the future (in this movie 1980 was the future!) all space travels goes from the moon. Several spaceships exploring the space yet unknown (in this movie 15 hours away) disappears and are never heard of again. So they send out their ace, Chip Chapman, to see what happened... Well Chip dissapears to a planet that looks like a very dried sponge, that somehow has the advanced ability to change positions in space, with a gravily that shrimps people people to be only 6 inches tall. The Planet is called Raycon, but could as well be called The Boring Planet with beautiful women. Some very bad movies can turn out to be entertaining just the same, but this movie was just plain bad and boring. Surpricingly it has some decent special effects, Chips' shrimping is not too bad. Francis X. Bushman, once a silent movie star, sleepwalks through this movie, reading jibberish as it was from the Bible as a wise man (King) of the elusive planet. Dean Fredericks who plays Chip, once played Steve Canyon in a TV-Series, but never could make a career of it, as this movie proves, looks like a Flash Gordon copy with short hair. Richard Kiel who would years later play steel teethed Jaws in two James Bond movies, playes a too late threat to Boring planet's enemies, in a horrible rubber mask. William Marshall the director, was a small part actor who somehow also was a business partner with Errol Flynn, and directed Adventures of Captain Fabian 1951 with Flynn. Unless you are a die-hard fan of any of the actors, don't watch this! and you have 80 minutes to do other things!
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Post by Feologild Oakes on Mar 8, 2019 20:49:20 GMT
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Post by BATouttaheck on Mar 8, 2019 22:44:49 GMT
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Post by kijii on Mar 9, 2019 6:26:53 GMT
Trial (1955) / Mark Robson Recorded from TCM during the 31 Days of Oscar
Arthur Kennedy received his third of five Oscar nominations in this movie. This drama, written by Don Mankiewicz (novel and screenplay), ingeniously combines a great courtroom drama with many twists--racial and political. The movie combines the talent of three great performers in their prime: Glenn Ford, Dorothy McGuire, and Arthur Kennedy. It also presents Dominican, Rafael Campos in his second feature film with Glenn Ford--the other being Richard Brooks' Blackboard Jungle (1955).
Another great actor in this movie who rarely gave a bad performance is Juano Hernandez who plays a key role in this movie as the judge in the courtroom. The drama is about a law professor, David Blake (Glenn Ford) who needs to get courtroom experience to continue in his teaching job at a law school. While most law firms turn him down, Barney Castle (Arthur Kennedy) agrees to hire Blake for the Summer if he agrees to take on case defending a juvenile hispanic, Angel Chavez (Rafael Campos), accused of murdering a girl while at a private beach. The case is loaded with problems and Castle knows it. However, HIS cause--unknown to Blake--is to promote the local Communist Party by bilking money at a NYC rally to defend Chavez, a minority client. Angel Chavez's mother is played by Katy Jurado who received an Oscar nomination for Broken Lance (1954). Dorothy McGuire plays Abbe Nyle, a "fellow traveler" who assists Blake in the case and then falls in love with him. This is really a great movie, filled with human drama, local politics and corruption. David Blake (Glenn Ford) : [Blake and Castle are discussing the fund-raising for Angel Chavez's defense fund] Look, it's not only the way you are raising the money, it's the people that are raising it.The All Peoples Party. Barney, half of them are a bunch of Communists, you know that! Bernard 'Barney' Castle (Arthur Kennedy): I'd say sixty percent, and some of the others are cheating the Party out if its dues. Full TCM Synopsis with SPOILERS: After being informed that his lack of trial experience threatens his chances of achieving tenure, State University law professor David Blake decides to spend his summer vacation interning for a local attorney. In the nearby resort town of San Juno, California, David is unsuccessful until he happens into the small law office of Barney Castle. Barney enthusiastically offers to pay David's expenses in exchange for assistance on his biggest case to date, the pro bono defense of Angel Chavez, a Mexican-American teenager accused of murdering Marie Wiltse, a local white girl. Marie's body was discovered the evening before on San Juno's private beach after beachgoers heard her screams. Nearby, police found a trembling and frightened Angel and immediately hauled him off to jail. Angel admits that he trespassed onto the beach and ran into Marie, an acquaintance from school. According to Angel, he and Marie kissed, but Marie suddenly became frightened of getting caught and bolted. Noting that Marie suffered from a serious heart condition, Barney declares the state's case weak and refuses to accept District Attorney John Armstrong's offer of a plea bargain.
Meanwhile, the simmering racial tension between San Juno's white and Mexican-American communities threatens to explode, leading Barney and David to visit the dead girl's grieving parents to request that they hold a small, private funeral. Mrs. Wiltse agrees to their request, but the following day, two of the town's most outspoken racists, Ralph Castillo and Cap Grant, show up at Marie's funeral and incite the crowd with calls for vengeance and racial segregation. Transformed into a lynch mob, the crowd heads over to the town jail to demand that Angel be handed over. Barney and David, aware that the jailer, A. A. "Fats" Sanders, is sympathetic to the mob, rush to the jail to demand Angel's protection. Eventually, Sanders convinces the assembled townspeople to disperse by promising them a "legal hanging." David begins preparing for the upcoming trial, working after hours at Barney's beach house with Abbe Nyle, Barney's attractive secretary. Meanwhile, in order to raise funds for Angel's defense, Barney travels to New York City with Consuela Chavez, Angel's mother. Judge Theodore Motley, a black man, is assigned to preside over the case, arousing David's suspicion that the choice of judge has been influenced by the powerful town bigots in an attempt to give the trial the appearance of fairness. When David cautiously approaches Judge Motley with his concerns, the judge, greatly insulted, accuses David of racism. Jury selection begins, after which Barney summons David to New York in order to make a speech at a fundraising rally for Angel. David suspects that Barney's New York colleagues are Communists and confronts Barney with his suspicions. In response, Barney cynically proclaims that he does not care whether the money he raises for Angel is "clean, American money." At the Madison Square Garden rally, David reluctantly delivers the short speech Barney has prepared for him, but when he attempts to speak out against Communism, he is drowned out by a large, brass band.
Back in California, a disillusioned David is furious with Abbe for not warning him about Barney's political leanings and, to make matters worse, his presence at the New York rally catches the attention of the zealous Senator Battle, chairman of the State Un-American Activities Committee. David soon confronts Abbe, with whom he was beginning to fall in love, with his suspicion that both she and Barney are Communist Party members. Abbe admits that Barney is a Communist, and confesses that she was a "fellow traveler" in her idealistic college days, but insists that she no longer supports the Party. David accepts Abbe's tearful apology and their romantic involvement deepens. With jury selection completed, Angel's trial begins. In his opening statement, Armstrong asks for the death penalty, declaring that Marie died in the act of defending herself from a sexual assault by Angel. David decides against calling defense witnesses, preferring instead to raise doubts about the prosecution's case, a strategy which proves successful as he rigorously cross-examines first Marie's cardiologist and then an eyewitness. Barney returns from New York and, over David's objections, inexplicably insists that Angel take the stand. Soon realizing that Barney plans to sabotage any chance of Angel's acquittal in order to make the boy a martyr for the Communist cause, Abbe advises David to resign from the case, but David refuses to abandon Angel. On the stand, Angel is convincing under David's gentle questioning, but begins to falter when Armstrong catches him in a number of lies, most notably concerning the extent of his sexual education. The jury returns a guilty verdict and David begins preparing an appeal, but Barney promptly fires him. Later, David and Abbe visit Mrs. Chavez hoping to convince her to dismiss Barney from the case, but Barney has successfully manipulated her into believing that the sacrifice of her son will benefit the fight for racial equality. The next morning, as Angel's sentencing commences, David bursts into the courtroom and demands to be heard as a "friend of the court." After Barney's attempts to silence him fail, David makes an impassioned speech revealing Barney's plan to engineer Angel's execution in order to drum up support for the Communist Party. The judge believes David, as do the prosecutor and assembled townspeople, who greatly fear becoming pawns in a Communist plot. Judge Motley sentences Angel to a short term in reform school, causing Barney to denounce him as an "Uncle Tom." Barney's outburst earns him a thirty-day sentence for contempt, while David learns that Sen. Battle's committee is no longer investigating him. A relieved David and Abbe leave the now empty courtroom arm in arm, as a pensive Judge Motley looks on.
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Post by teleadm on Mar 9, 2019 23:21:49 GMT
Damn! I need to watch that one again soon! Thanks for reminnding!
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