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Post by Prime etc. on Jun 28, 2019 7:50:52 GMT
COPLAN SAVES HIS SKIN 1968 - French spy movie with Margaret Lee and Klaus Kinski. The first half is mostly people loitering around Istanbul but then in the second half it switches into James Bond mode--a mastermind bad guy with half his face masked and a blonde assassin accomplice who hunts the hero in the valleys of remote Turkey (unique locations).
SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SHERIFF! 1969 -- Always liked James Garner and had seen one of his comedy westerns or both a long time ago. In looking it up at IMDB a user commentator mentioned how Blazing Saddles gets more attention but SYLS was more successful in humor. I have to say I detected zero joke misfires which is impressive for a 50-year-old comedy. Expertly made and performed.
Pa Danby: What's he supposed to be?
Jason McCullough: Well, that's my deputy.
Pa Danby: Why last week he was shovelin' horse... he was workin' in the stable.
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Post by sostie on Jun 28, 2019 9:50:32 GMT
The Flight of the Phoenix (1965) One of the rare days I was able to work from home, which is always an opportunity to channel hop looking for and old classic that can play while I work on the laptop, and this was the gem I stumbled upon. This was one of my favourite films as a child, and the first time I've watched it in years (maybe decades). Still a damn fine film, but good god what an amazing cast...I mean Jimmy Stewart and Richard Attenborough alone is a great combo, but throw in the likes of Hardy Krüger, Peter Finch, Ernest Borgnine, Ian Bannen, Ronald Fraser, George Kennedy into the mix...wow! The scene where the Phoenix engine is fired up for the first time is glorious. And when that finished a couple of clicks of hopping later and I managed to catch the last half of Ice Cold In Alex. Helluva of a double bill.
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Post by teleadm on Jun 28, 2019 17:11:26 GMT
When Worlds Collide 1951. Doomsday Science Fiction. Cardboard characters with George Pal's special effects, old fashioned but still have some charm. Our new planet is called Zyra.
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Post by kijii on Jun 29, 2019 5:33:20 GMT
The Way Ahead (1944) / Carol Reed DVR'd from TCM
It's always nice to discover another good movie directed by Carol Reed. This movie, written by Eric Ambler and Peter Ustinov, traces the life of several British men, starting with their enrollment into the army to fight Hitler; their basic training; and, finally, their face-to-face combat experience in Northern Africa. David Niven plays the role of the CO to a bunch of privates wondering when and where they will finally meet the enemy.
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Post by ZolotoyRetriever on Jun 29, 2019 20:25:09 GMT
*Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker (1981). Mostly directed by William Asher - opening sequence directed by Michael Miller, who was fired and replaced by Asher. With Susan Tyrell, Jimmy McNichol, Bo Svenson, Julia Duffy, Steve Eastin, Britt Leach, Bill Paxton. DVR'd from recent TCM telecast.
Exploitative, borderline campy slasher film that, although not my typical cup of tea when it comes to movies, was actually pretty good. Well-acted, especially the parts played by Susan Tyrell and Bo Svenson, whose performances were "unbelievably believable"!
If you can handle a little bit of over-the-top violence and madness with some blood and gore thrown in, you might want to give this one a shot. *Note that the film's original title was Night Warning, so you might not find it unless you search for it under that title. www.imdb.com/title/tt0082813/?ref_=ttqt_qt_tt
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butcher,_Baker,_Nightmare_Maker
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Post by Prime etc. on Jun 30, 2019 0:14:03 GMT
AGAINST ALL FLAGS - 1952 Errol Flynn, Anthony Quinn, Maureen O'Hara. Was surprised to see this was a Universal film-didn't know EF was freelancing outside of Warner Bros. by this time. Interesting pair up with him and O'Hara since she is very different from de Haviland and even Ida Lupino (easy to tell in the latter case that she and EF hit it off). The sub-plot with the Indian princess was amusing.
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Post by kijii on Jul 1, 2019 5:20:12 GMT
Black Legion (1937) / Archie Mayo Rented for streaming
This may have been the first A rated movie made with Humphrey Bogart as the lead character. This movie about a local KKK-type organization, wanting to sock it to "non-American" Americans, is not very subtle. This is an early example of Warner Brothers wanting to deliver a movie with a message. The messages is delivered at the end of the movie by the court judge, played by Samuel S. Hinds.
Wikipedia plot synopsis with SPOILERS: When passed over for promotion at work in favor of a foreign-born friend, Frank Taylor (Humphrey Bogart), a midwestern factory worker, joins the anti-immigrant Black Legion, a secret white vigilante organization[3] portrayed as related to the Ku Klux Klan. Dressed in black robes and hoods, Taylor and the Legion mount a torchlight raid and burn down the friend's chicken farm, driving him out of town, so that Taylor can gain the job he believed was his. Soon, however, Taylor's recruiting activities with the Legion get in the way of his work, and he is demoted in favor of his Irish neighbor Mike Grogan (Clifford Soubier). The Legion takes action again, attacking Grogan.
Under the continued influence of the Legion, Taylor becomes a brutal racist,[3] and alienates his wife (Erin O'Brien-Moore). He starts drinking heavily and takes up with a loose woman (Helen Flint). When his friend Ed Jackson (Dick Foran) tries to counsel him, a drunken Taylor tells about his Legion activities. Taylor reports the conversation to Cliff, a co-worker and fellow member of the Legion, who initiates a false rumor that Jackson is a woman-beater. On the pretext of punishing him for that offense, the Legion kidnaps Jackson, planning to flog him. Jackson tries to escape. As he is running away, Taylor shoots and kills him; breaking down afterward with guilt and remorse, he exclaims, "I didn't mean to shoot!"[4]
Taylor is arrested for the murder, and the Legion threatens his wife and son to prevent him from implicating the secret group in the crime. Taylor finally tells the truth, resulting in all the members of the Black Legion being convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison
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Post by ZolotoyRetriever on Jul 1, 2019 23:43:23 GMT
The Godless Girl (1928). Directed by Cecil B. DeMille, with Lina Basquette, Tom Keene, Marie Prevost, Noah Beery, Eddie quillan. DVR'd from TCM telecast earlier this year. *entire film can be found on YouTube.
Interesting and compelling silent film (DeMille's last silent picture before transitioning to talkies). This one is bursting with melodramatic acting, a good bit of over-the-top brutality and mayhem, and a script that is undeniably propagandistic in nature. It is, however, well-plotted and imaginatively staged and filmed; also has some goofy little touches of humor sprinkled throughout. Oh, and it has a fantastic soundtrack that I, personally, could listen to as a stand-alone piece.
Fans of silent film should not miss this one, but even if you're not necessarily a fan, but just into classic films in general, you should check this one out. I might add that not only is the film interesting viewing in its own right, but some of the backstory behind its production makes for some fascinating reading.
www.imdb.com/title/tt0019935/trivia?ref_=tt_trv_trv
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Godless_Girl
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Post by kijii on Jul 2, 2019 5:14:00 GMT
Prince of Players (1955) / Philip Dunne Viewed from DVD
Based on the biography of Edwin Booth by Eleanor Ruggles, with the screenplay by Moss Hart, this movie combines American history and Shakespeare all in one very effective project. Actually, this is a biopic about the famous Booth family of 19th Century America, but it concentrates on Edwin Booth (the "Prince" of the movie's title). It seems as though about half of the movie is made up of excerpts from Shakespearean drama, and with the booming voice of Richard Burton portraying characters such as Henry IV to his father's Fastaff, Richard III, Prospero, Hamlet, Romeo Henry V; I was totally drawn into the movie.
The movie opens with the Booth family patriarch, Junius Brutus Booth (Raymond Massey), portraying Lear and Richard III and failing badly due to the ravages of chronic alcoholism. Realizing that he can act no more, the elder Booth walks out of his contract in the American West and his son takes on his mantle to carry on the family tradition even after the family name is tarnished when Edwin's Brother, John Wilkes Booth (John Derek), assassinates Lincoln.
Another interesting aspect of this movie for me is that Maggie McNamara plays Edwin Booth's wife, Mary Devlin Booth. It seemed as though McNamara might have a successful movie career, after being nominated for Best Actress Oscar in the movie version of The Moon Is Blue (1953). However, she only made three feature films for 20th Century Fox before committing suicide.
Full TCM Synopsis with SPOILERS:
In 1848, young Edwin Booth desperately searches for his father, famed actor Junius Brutus Booth, who is late for a performance. Ned finds Booth in a nearby saloon and drags the drunken actor to the theater, where Booth yells at the restive audience that he will give them the "damnedest King Lear they ever saw." After the performance, Ned struggles to keep Booth in their room, for Booth has an attack of his "madness" and tries to escape to go drinking. Soon, Ned and his father return home to Maryland, where they are greeted by Ned's older sister Asia and younger brother John Wilkes. After Booth regains his strength, he encourages John's acting, while the shy Ned longs for the attention lavished on his brother by Asia and Booth. Ned continues to tour with Booth, memorizing his repertory and attempting to keep him sober. In 1857, after Ned has grown to manhood and become one of the company's actors, he travels with Booth to San Francisco, where financier Dave Prescott has built a theater for the great actor. During their performance of Richard III , however, the ailing Booth cannot remember his lines, and afterward, tells Prescott that he is retiring. Booth gives his prop crown to Ned, and soon after, a nervous Prescott presents Ned at a rough mining camp. The miners are infuriated when they learn that Ned is the Booth they have paid to see, not his father, but after roaring that he will present "the damnedest Richard they have ever seen," Ned captivates the crowd with his performance. Prescott is baffled by Ned's disappearance after the show, and in the desert, alone, Ned cries out that he, not John, is his father's true successor. Terrified that he has inherited his father's mental instability as well as his talent, Ned gets drunk, and the next morning, is awakened by Prescott, who informs him that Booth is dead. Following his successful tour, Ned goes east, and at Ford's Theatre, watches John's well-received performance in The Taming of the Shrew . Asia and John assume that Ned will serve as John's manager, but Ned caustically informs John that he needs training and discipline. Stung by John's insulting reply, Ned declares that he paid with his childhood for the opportunity to become the next great Booth, and storms out. Ned then begins another tour, and in New Orleans, Mary Devlin, a member of his company, is forced to retrieve him from a bordello for a rehearsal. Ned is touched by Mary's impassioned reading of scene from Romeo and Juliet , and despite warnings from other actors that the Booths have a "taint" in them, Mary falls deeply in love with Ned. Although he fears that he will break Mary's heart, Ned soon reciprocates her feelings and the couple is married. Buoyed by Mary's devotion, Ned quits drinking and is acclaimed wherever he performs. One day, Ned receives a summons from Asia, who informs him that John, deeply jealous of Ned's success as an actor, has become involved in the Confederate cause. Asia sends Ned to Harper's Ferry, where John is awaiting the hanging of abolitionist John Brown, and there, Ned tries to persuade John to accompany him to London, where Ned is to begin a tour of Hamlet . John bitterly refuses, stating that to destroy greatness is to partake of it, and that he would rather play in the "mortal drama" of the war between the states. Ned and the now-pregnant Mary then travel to London, and on opening night, Mary suffers an attack due to her weak lungs. Ned pleads with her never to leave him, and after comforting him, Mary insists that he continue with his tour, which has been extended due to excellent reviews. One night, Mary gives birth to their daughter and Ned tenderly drapes an American flag over their bed to celebrate. Back in the United States, Asia discovers that John is acting as a courier for Confederate spies, and he laughingly responds to her outrage by stating that he has become the most valuable actor in the south. Mary and Ned eventually return to New York, although due to her illness, Mary is forced to leave for a drier climate. Ned attempts to equal his London success as Hamlet, but without Mary's steadying influence, is soon drinking and missing performances. Prescott writes to Mary, begging her to come home, but when she attempts to leave her bed, she suffers a fatal attack. Devastated by Mary's death, Ned ignores his family and the theater, choosing instead to kneel by her graveside every day. After a year passes, Ned summons Prescott and tells him that he is ready to return to acting and is confident that there is no madness he cannot overcome. Asia's happiness at Ned's recovery is doubled by the ending of the war, which she assumes will ensure John's safety. Asia and Ned are horrified, however, when John assassinates President Abraham Lincoln, and is then hunted down and killed. On 15 June 1865, Ned decides to re-open his Hamlet , despite the huge mob that gathers at the theater to protest against him and all actors. Although Prescott warns Ned that he will be lynched if he goes on, Ned declares that he owes it to his profession not to let John's actions ruin the lives of all actors. Ned takes the stage and sits silently as he is pelted with fruit and insults, until finally, the crowd grows quiet and one man shouts out that Ned has "got guts." Impressed by Ned's courage, the crowd applauds and cheers, while Ned looks up to the box where Mary always sat and remembers her recitation of Juliet's lines: "Goodnight, goodnight! Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say goodnight till it be morrow."
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Post by teleadm on Jul 3, 2019 17:50:05 GMT
Marathon Man 1976, directed by John Schlesinger, based on a novel by William Goldman, starring Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Olivier, Roy Scheider, William Devane, Marthe Keller, Fritz Weaver, Richard Bright, Marc Lawrence, Ben Dova, Lou Gilbert, Jacques Marin and others. Thriller-Drama. A graduate history student is unwittingly caught in the middle of an international conspiracy involving stolen diamonds, an exiled Nazi war criminal, and a rogue government agent. I noticed sombody else had seen it recently and came to think that I haven't seen it myself in a very long time. If one can get over Dustin Hoffman as a student, this is a very good character driven thriller where you never know who you can trust, if not your own brother. Well not in this movie. It's a very complicated plot, where nobody is what they say they are, but then who are they? Some very memorable scenes, including a famous dentist scene, and some great location shots from New York and Paris. An old favorite of mine that didn't disappoint. Laurence Olivier was nominated for a Best Actor in a Supporting Role Oscar. A little sidenote, the little man who played Oliver's brother who dies in a car accident and sets the story in motion, was played by an old vaudeville artist named Ben Dova, who's speciality act was this:
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Post by kijii on Jul 3, 2019 19:15:45 GMT
teleadm--
I think this is one of John Schlesinger's GREAT movies. It really lives up to its title in that when I think of this movie, I think of Dustin Hoffman running and running all the time. That made even more of an impression on me than Olivier oft repeated question: "Is it safe?"
Christian Szell : Is it safe?... Is it safe? Babe : You're talking to me? Christian Szell : Is it safe? Babe : Is what safe? Christian Szell : Is it safe? Babe : I don't know what you mean. I can't tell you something's safe or not, unless I know specifically what you're talking about. Christian Szell : Is it safe? Babe : Tell me what the "it" refers to. Christian Szell : Is it safe? Babe : Yes, it's safe, it's very safe, it's so safe you wouldn't believe it. Christian Szell : Is it safe? Babe : No. It's not safe, it's... very dangerous, be careful.
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Post by ZolotoyRetriever on Jul 3, 2019 19:52:48 GMT
Nora Prentiss (1947). Directed by Vincent Sherman, with Ann Sheridan, Kent Smith, Bruce Bennett et al. DVR'd from recent TCM "Noir Alley" telecast, hosted by Eddie Muller. First-time viewing for me.
Film noir pic with a plot that really stretches one's ability to suspend disbelief, but in other respects it is a satisfying watch. Good acting and some nice location shots of 1940s San Francisco. Cars, clothes, music and hairstyles of that era were well-represented, and fun to look at. And the cinematography was great: very stylized and atmospheric... fine work by DP James Wong Howe.
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Post by teleadm on Jul 5, 2019 16:20:25 GMT
Key Largo 1948, directed by John Huston, based on a play by Maxwell Anderson, starring Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, Lauren Bacall, Lionel Barrymore, Claire Trevor, Thomas Gomez, Harry Lewis, John Rodney, Marc Lawrence, Dan Seymour, Monte Blue and others. Crime Drama. A man visits his war buddy's family hotel and finds a gangster running things. As a hurricane approaches, the two end up confronting each other, to put it simple. Some movies are like good old friends, when they visit they always entertains, never fails and always have some some little detail I've never thought of before even if ought to have been obvious. The "little" detail I hadn't thought of before was how sparse dialogue Bogart, Bacall and Barrymore has, but their bodies and eyes tells so much more than words, while Robinson and his gang talks so much more. A great cast assembled that delivers the goods. One of my favorite movies Claire Trevor earned/won the Best Actress in a Supporting Role Oscar. The movie wasn't nominated in any other category. This was my second movie this week with Marc Lawrence in the cast. Did he ever play a nice guy? He acted in movies between 1932 ( If I Had a Million) and 2003 ( Looney Tunes: Back in Action).
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Post by Doghouse6 on Jul 5, 2019 16:48:45 GMT
I love this observation, teleadm: It's a sentiment I've long held myself: they're welcome any time they drop in, and their entertaining unfolding of the same stories makes them dependable. But when we pay close enough attention, we can find something new in each. The final photo has satisfied curiosity I've had since I first saw the film nearly forty years ago. The illumination of the dock scene, effectively depicting the overcast daylight of a gathering storm, is so skillfully done that I was never sure if it was shot outdoors or on a soundstage. Thanks to you, I finally know.
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Post by teleadm on Jul 5, 2019 17:10:48 GMT
The final photo has satisfied curiosity I've had since I first saw the film nearly forty years ago. The illumination of the dock scene, effectively depicting the overcast daylight of a gathering storm, is so skillfully done that I was never sure if it was shot outdoors or on a soundstage. Thanks to you, I finally know. That last photo was a pure fluke, I was wondering who that old lady was, she made one more movie and died in 1967, that was all I could find. The photo also shows, at least I think so, that acting in movies is no easy matter, just look how many disturbances that is around and all the cables that would be possible to stumble over. You might know this better, after the costs of Sierra Madre, Jack Warner didn't allow Huston to make any shots outside the studio when doing this movie.
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Post by Prime etc. on Jul 5, 2019 18:04:41 GMT
"Copper, I'll say one thing for you you sure can take it. The way Toots was laying it on I thought you'd never wake up."
"You hick! I'll be back pulling strings to get guys elected mayor or governor before you see a 10 buck raise!"
I watched
HIGHWAY DRAGNET 1954--Richard Conte is suspected for murder in a Las Vegas hotel--he hitches a ride with magazine photographer Joan Bennett and her child-like model. We are kept guessing whether or not he did it, and there are some amusing exchanges between him and Bennett since they share a similar worldly-wise attitude. Story by Roger Corman.
THIS MAN CAN'T DIE 1968 - Guy Madison in a spaghetti western which is decent enough despite so many familiar elements. In fact, the score lifts musical sections from Morricone's A Fistful of Dollars! never encountered that before. He's a mercenary and black sheep of his family who is returning home only to discover his parents have been killed and his youngest sister raped--so he joins the survivors in seeking justice.
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Post by Doghouse6 on Jul 5, 2019 18:25:12 GMT
The final photo has satisfied curiosity I've had since I first saw the film nearly forty years ago. The illumination of the dock scene, effectively depicting the overcast daylight of a gathering storm, is so skillfully done that I was never sure if it was shot outdoors or on a soundstage. Thanks to you, I finally know. You might know this better, after the costs of Sierra Madre, Jack Warner didn't allow Huston to make any shots outside the studio when doing this movie. That's something else I hadn't known. Bean counters, I guess, will always bust chops over budgets, but the results of that Sierra Madre location work showed on the screen. 'Course, they couldn't have known while calculating their 1948 balance sheets how well it would hold up decades hence.
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Post by ZolotoyRetriever on Jul 5, 2019 19:20:13 GMT
teleadm: good analogy! I'm also finding a different variation on that analogy: some movies are like old friends that suddenly have become boring and really offer you nothing, like there's no real benefit in you visiting them anymore. So you simply stop seeing them. You used to like them, but not anymore!
I've noted over the past couple of years I'm "retiring" certain films - films that I used to watch, but now just don't plan to watch ever again.
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Eλευθερί
Junior Member
@eleutheri
Posts: 3,710
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Post by Eλευθερί on Jul 6, 2019 19:29:14 GMT
Tora! Tora! Tora! A lot of the film deals with the failure of US govt to adequately prepare for the attack by the Japanese, which they had had ample warnings would imminently occur. And of the disconnect between the civilian military command at the White House and State Department officials on the one hand, and the military personnel in the field on the other, which led to spectacular levels of incompetence. (For example, several scenes show how a new high-tech radar device was deployed to the island where Pearl Harbor is, but the army failed to get permits from the National Parks Service to be able to position it on a hilltop where it would have been most useful; the personnel assigned to use the radar had not been sufficiently trained in how to operate it or what to do if they detected unusual activity using it; and the personnel initially didn't even have phones or radios available to be able to warn the command of a problem if they did spot something.) A lot of parallels to the wider conflict in Vietnam, which was underway while this film was being made & when it was released--as well as for the Sept 11, 2001 attack.
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Post by Prime etc. on Jul 7, 2019 6:52:43 GMT
THE MUMMY'S GHOST 1944 -- Years and years ago I saw the pics of John Carradine in a fez with a mummy and finally I watched the film. These mummy films are an oddity in that Kharis never got to join the other monster mashers like Frankenstein and Dracula. Not sure if he would fit (would be hard on Lon Chaney's costume changes). I was surprised by the ending--that gal was a looker-surprised they would get rid of her like that. But even more surprising to see Barton MacClane in a Universal film. I assumed he was exclusively at Warners at this time (I know he turns up in RKO films later).
THE LADY CONFESSES 1945-- I don't know who Mary Beth Hughes is but she was an interesting lead--kind of on the chubby side which was a welcome change. But even more interesting and shocking was to see Hugh Beaumont walking around drunk and later even more out of his Ward Cleaver persona. What would Eddie Haskell think??? A decent mystery crime film for what seems to be "poverty row."
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