Post by mikef6 on Mar 3, 2019 16:04:52 GMT
The Private Life Of Henry VIII / Alexander Korda (1933). London Film Productions. We just managed to live through The 91st Academy Awards so let’s take a trip back to the 6th Academy Awards and the first British movie to be nominated for Best Picture and the second Subject of the Queen to win Best Actor (Charles Laughton). The movie is indeed about the King’s private life, meaning of course, four of his six marriages. There is nothing about England’s break with the Roman Catholic Church, the King’s wars, diplomacy, or governing. His first marriage is skipped over completely and the movie starts on the day his second wife, Anne Boleyn (Merle Oberon), is executed. The bulk of what is shown takes place during his fifth marriage to Katherine Howard (well-played by Binnie Barnes). It was she who Henry loved the most and the one who betrayed him in an affair with his trusted advisor, Thomas Culpeper (Robert Donat). Else Lanchester has a delightful moment as wife #4, a German noble named Anne of Cleves. Anne didn’t want to be Queen of England so on their wedding night, the King shows up ready for a romp in bed but she keeps putting him off. They end up playing cards until morning. The marriage was annulled as being unconsummated. You can tell by this that we have a robust pre-code picture here whose forthright talk about married sex and were babies and heirs come from could never have passed under Joe Breen. A fun movie.
Charles Laughton and Binnie Barnes
Elsa Lanchester
The Strange Woman / Edgar G. Ulmer (1946). Hunt Stromberg Productions. At last director Edgar Ulmer gets an A-picture budget, stars, and a costume saga to bring his noir sentiments to. Set in Bangor, Maine during the 1820s, Jenny Hager (Hedy Lamarr) has, from her childhood, vowed to escape the poverty her abusive father (Dennis Hoey) has raised her in – no matter what she has to do. She first marries an older man (Gene Lockhart) who is also the richest man in the entire area, but she then precedes to seduce the old man’s weak-willed son (Louis Hayward) and then the fiancé (George Sanders) of her best friend. However, she is loved by the townspeople because of her charitable work which she pursues with what looks like sincerity. It is to the film’s credit that these two sides of Jenny – femme fatale and philanthropist - are not given a pat explanation. The story may be just a bit too sprawling and it turns a little soapy toward the end, but an engrossing story all the same. The melodious and striking score is from composer Carmen Dragon, winner of an Oscar for Best Scoring Of A Musical Picture for the 1944 film “Cover Girl.” (Side Note: This Oscar category was last awarded for “West Side Story” at the 34th Academy Awards. It was dropped after that.)
Shed No Tears / Jean Yarbrough (1948). The movie opens as Sam Grover (the always excellent Wallace Ford) is setting a fire in an upper story hotel room. He then meets up with his wife Edna (June Vincent) and we find out that he has just faked his own death. The plan is for Sam to lay low for period of time after Edna has collected his substantial life insurance, then meet up below the border. But Edna has other ideas. She has a lover on the side with whom she plans to escape, cutting Sam out of the deal. June Vincent in a fine performance plays Edna as a hard-boiled ‘40s mean girl only out for herself. The movie is packed with incident throughout its 70 minute runtime but wraps up rather abruptly. This aside, all the noir elements are in place for an entertaining ride.
MeTV ran two Monkees episodes back-to-back whose stories featured Peter Tork. I find The Monkees to be funnier now than when I first watched the show back in the ‘60s. But, as the old saying goes, if you can remember the Sixties, you weren’t there.
The Monkees S.1 Ep. 13 “One Man Shy” December 5, 1966. Peter becomes infatuated with a rich girl but is too shy to approach her so his buddies attempt to help him out. The featured music in this episode is what would be their second hit to reach #1, Neil Diamond’s “I’m A Believer.”
The Monkees S. 2 Ep. 20 “The Devil and Peter Tork” February 5, 1968. Peter unknowingly signs away his soul for fame, fortune, and the ability to play the harp. The second half riffs on “The Devil and Daniel Webster” as the Monkees contest the contract at a trial in hell.
Peter fights a duel for Valerie’s affections
Peter is tormented by go-go girl devils
The Children Act / Richard Eyre (2017). Fiona Maye (Emma Thompson) is an experienced British Justice who presides over a family court. One of her cases concerns a teenage boy, Adam (Fionn Whitehead, Dunkirk). who is just two months from his 18th birthday and legal adulthood. He has contracted a virulent form of leukemia which requires blood transfusions as part of his treatment. He and his family, however, are Jehovah Witnesses so his parents (Ben Chaplin and Eileen Walsh) want to withhold the blood and rely on prayer and God’s will. The hospital is suing to allow the transfusions. Meanwhile, at home her marriage is suddenly falling apart. Her husband (Stanley Tucci), tired of a lack of intimacy with his busy wife, wants to find it elsewhere. Fiona’s private interview with Adam, her legal decision, and her confrontation with her husband lead to consequences for her life. Once again Emma Thompson has come up with an impossibly brilliant performance that should not be missed.
![]()
The Equalizer 2 / Antoine Fuqua (2018). Retired super-secret agent Robert McCall (Denzel Washington), who uses his fighting and killing skills to protect innocent people (often with them not knowing about his help), returns in Denzel’s first sequel of his movie career. Those sequences, which open and close the movie, are quiet good and involving. Most of the movie’s time, however, is taken up by a standard revenge plot which begins with the death of one of McCall’s former colleagues in the spy business. This story and how it develops turns quite tedious. A major draw of the film is the performance, almost a cameo, by 90-year-old Orson Bean who plays a Holocaust survivor trying to work the legal system to recover a painting he did of his sister which was lost when taken by the Nazis and is now in private hands. Bean made the entire movie for me.
Juliet, Naked / Jesse Peretz (2018). I thought this was going to be a drama but about half-way through I realized I was greatly enjoying a *gasp* Romantic Comedy. To clear something up right away, neither Juliet or anyone else is naked in this movie. Juliet is not even a person, but the title of an obscure alternative rock album from the 1990s. Annie (Rose Byrne) is in a dull relationship with Duncan (Chris O’Dowd in a wonderful comedy characterization) who is part of an on-line conspiracy group which is obsessed with the disappearance of the rocker Tucker Crowe who only produced one album (named Juliet) and soon after walked out of a gig between sets and was never seen again. One day Duncan receives a CD of the original demo of “Juliet” with only Crowe and his guitar but no other back-up music (hence “naked”). Annie listens to the disc and hates it. She signs on to Duncan’s group and anonymously writes a bad review. The review is read by Tucker Crowe (Ethan Hawke) who, it turns out, was not all that hard to find. Crowe contacts Annie and they begin a long distance relationship. Funny and touching, “Juliet, Naked” is one of the best films of 2018.
Charles Laughton and Binnie Barnes
Elsa Lanchester
The Strange Woman / Edgar G. Ulmer (1946). Hunt Stromberg Productions. At last director Edgar Ulmer gets an A-picture budget, stars, and a costume saga to bring his noir sentiments to. Set in Bangor, Maine during the 1820s, Jenny Hager (Hedy Lamarr) has, from her childhood, vowed to escape the poverty her abusive father (Dennis Hoey) has raised her in – no matter what she has to do. She first marries an older man (Gene Lockhart) who is also the richest man in the entire area, but she then precedes to seduce the old man’s weak-willed son (Louis Hayward) and then the fiancé (George Sanders) of her best friend. However, she is loved by the townspeople because of her charitable work which she pursues with what looks like sincerity. It is to the film’s credit that these two sides of Jenny – femme fatale and philanthropist - are not given a pat explanation. The story may be just a bit too sprawling and it turns a little soapy toward the end, but an engrossing story all the same. The melodious and striking score is from composer Carmen Dragon, winner of an Oscar for Best Scoring Of A Musical Picture for the 1944 film “Cover Girl.” (Side Note: This Oscar category was last awarded for “West Side Story” at the 34th Academy Awards. It was dropped after that.)
Shed No Tears / Jean Yarbrough (1948). The movie opens as Sam Grover (the always excellent Wallace Ford) is setting a fire in an upper story hotel room. He then meets up with his wife Edna (June Vincent) and we find out that he has just faked his own death. The plan is for Sam to lay low for period of time after Edna has collected his substantial life insurance, then meet up below the border. But Edna has other ideas. She has a lover on the side with whom she plans to escape, cutting Sam out of the deal. June Vincent in a fine performance plays Edna as a hard-boiled ‘40s mean girl only out for herself. The movie is packed with incident throughout its 70 minute runtime but wraps up rather abruptly. This aside, all the noir elements are in place for an entertaining ride.
MeTV ran two Monkees episodes back-to-back whose stories featured Peter Tork. I find The Monkees to be funnier now than when I first watched the show back in the ‘60s. But, as the old saying goes, if you can remember the Sixties, you weren’t there.
The Monkees S.1 Ep. 13 “One Man Shy” December 5, 1966. Peter becomes infatuated with a rich girl but is too shy to approach her so his buddies attempt to help him out. The featured music in this episode is what would be their second hit to reach #1, Neil Diamond’s “I’m A Believer.”
The Monkees S. 2 Ep. 20 “The Devil and Peter Tork” February 5, 1968. Peter unknowingly signs away his soul for fame, fortune, and the ability to play the harp. The second half riffs on “The Devil and Daniel Webster” as the Monkees contest the contract at a trial in hell.
Peter fights a duel for Valerie’s affections
Peter is tormented by go-go girl devils
The Children Act / Richard Eyre (2017). Fiona Maye (Emma Thompson) is an experienced British Justice who presides over a family court. One of her cases concerns a teenage boy, Adam (Fionn Whitehead, Dunkirk). who is just two months from his 18th birthday and legal adulthood. He has contracted a virulent form of leukemia which requires blood transfusions as part of his treatment. He and his family, however, are Jehovah Witnesses so his parents (Ben Chaplin and Eileen Walsh) want to withhold the blood and rely on prayer and God’s will. The hospital is suing to allow the transfusions. Meanwhile, at home her marriage is suddenly falling apart. Her husband (Stanley Tucci), tired of a lack of intimacy with his busy wife, wants to find it elsewhere. Fiona’s private interview with Adam, her legal decision, and her confrontation with her husband lead to consequences for her life. Once again Emma Thompson has come up with an impossibly brilliant performance that should not be missed.
The Equalizer 2 / Antoine Fuqua (2018). Retired super-secret agent Robert McCall (Denzel Washington), who uses his fighting and killing skills to protect innocent people (often with them not knowing about his help), returns in Denzel’s first sequel of his movie career. Those sequences, which open and close the movie, are quiet good and involving. Most of the movie’s time, however, is taken up by a standard revenge plot which begins with the death of one of McCall’s former colleagues in the spy business. This story and how it develops turns quite tedious. A major draw of the film is the performance, almost a cameo, by 90-year-old Orson Bean who plays a Holocaust survivor trying to work the legal system to recover a painting he did of his sister which was lost when taken by the Nazis and is now in private hands. Bean made the entire movie for me.
Juliet, Naked / Jesse Peretz (2018). I thought this was going to be a drama but about half-way through I realized I was greatly enjoying a *gasp* Romantic Comedy. To clear something up right away, neither Juliet or anyone else is naked in this movie. Juliet is not even a person, but the title of an obscure alternative rock album from the 1990s. Annie (Rose Byrne) is in a dull relationship with Duncan (Chris O’Dowd in a wonderful comedy characterization) who is part of an on-line conspiracy group which is obsessed with the disappearance of the rocker Tucker Crowe who only produced one album (named Juliet) and soon after walked out of a gig between sets and was never seen again. One day Duncan receives a CD of the original demo of “Juliet” with only Crowe and his guitar but no other back-up music (hence “naked”). Annie listens to the disc and hates it. She signs on to Duncan’s group and anonymously writes a bad review. The review is read by Tucker Crowe (Ethan Hawke) who, it turns out, was not all that hard to find. Crowe contacts Annie and they begin a long distance relationship. Funny and touching, “Juliet, Naked” is one of the best films of 2018.