What classics did you see last week ? (10 Jun - 16 Jun 2018)

The Letter / William Wyler (1940). The famous opening shot features a lot of shots. We see the front of house. There is a gun shot and a man comes stumbling though the door. Right behind him is Bette Davis who fires bullets into his body until the revolver is empty. Based on a 1927 play by W. Somerset Maugham and set on a rubber plantation in colonial Malaysia, Leslie Crosbie (Davis) has killed a family friend who she says tried to rape her when her husband (Herbert Marshall) was away for the night. She is defended at her trial by Howard Joyce (James Stephenson). But a letter being held by the dead man’s Malaysian wife (Gale Sondergaard), reveals that Leslie and her victim had been lovers. Joyce wrestles with the ethical dilemma of what to do about this new evidence. At the time this film was made Bette Davis was perhaps THE most popular actress in movies and her performance here only enhanced that status. British stage actor Stephenson wasn’t in movies for very long but is excellent as the male lead. Sondergaard is very menacing even though she only speak a few words and none in English. I also want to emphasize the performance of Chinese-American actor Victor Sen Yung. As Joyce’s legal assistant he is always smiling and deferential but thinking a step ahead of his boss, canceling appointments or making reservations before being told to and acting as go-between in the purchase of the letter. Devious and intelligent under his false front of respect, he is a great counterpoint to the film’s casual colonial racism. A great film and a true Classic American Movie.

Victor Sen Yung, Bette Davis, James Stephenson


Three Strangers / Jean Negulesco (1946). One of the strangest and most fascinating movies that I had never heard of before. The screenplay is by John Huston and Howard Koch based on an idea by Huston. The progression of the plot is so bizarre and unusual that I hesitate to describe even the opening scene that sets the stage for fear of spoilers. Let me just say that three total strangers who don’t even know each other’s names agree to share a sweepstakes ticket, the agreement coming under very unusual circumstances. Suffice it to say that the title trio are played by Geraldine Fitzgerald, Sydney Greenstreet, and Peter Lorre. All three play characters whose lives are in crisis. The story cuts back and forth among the three so we learn more about them and their fates. The three stars give excellent performances. This is one of those rare films where you never know what will happen next or how it will end. Also in the cast are Joan Lorring, Alan Napier, Robert Shayne, Arthur Shields, and Peter Whitney. Highly recommended.

Greenstreet, Fitzgerald, Lorre


The Lady From Shanghai / Orson Welles (1947). As per usual with Orson Welles, he needed cash to finance his own personal projects (in this case a lavish stage production). He made a deal with Columbia’s mogul Harry Cohn to make this movie as payback for a loan. Welles shot the film with himself starring and directing. He also cast his wife, Rita Hayworth, and his friend from his Mercury Theater days, Everett Sloane, in major roles. Although shot on location with many stylistic innovations, Cohn hit the ceiling because it was so unlike a typical crime film. After the movie had been turned over to Columbia, it was another year before release because Cohn ordered cuts (about an hour of footage eliminated and lost) and reshoots. Orson Welles was appalled at the result, yet today “The Lady From Shanghai” stands as one of the truly great films from classic Hollywood. There is, indeed, a basic mystery plot underneath all the clever talk and interesting, sometimes startling, camera set-ups. Michael O’Hara (Welles), a man with a checkered past, is hired by wealthy but disabled criminal defense lawyer Arthur Bannister (Sloane) as a hand on Bannister’s yacht for a voyage down the coast to South America. Also along is Bannister’s trophy wife, Elsa (Hayworth) and Bannister’s partner, the always sweaty George Grisby (Glenn Anders). O’Hara comes to suspect that someone or ones is plotting to murder someone else, all the while falling into an obsessive love affair with Elsa even though he calls himself a fool for doing so (“Maybe if I live long enough I will forget her or maybe I will die trying”). But who is plotting, who is the victim, and what is the motive? Some of the set-pieces seem designed to amuse rather than increase tension, witness the surreal murder trial in which Bannister gets to cross-examine himself. The resolution takes place in the fun house of a deserted carnival and is one of movie’s most celebrated and amazing moments. Seeing both “The Lady From Shanghai” and “The Letter” makes this one of my best movie watching weeks in a long time. I have them both on my list of Movies Seen but about 35 years ago for both and only had vague memories of a scene or two so they were like new to me and I marveled at them.

Welles and Hayworth


Please Murder Me! / Peter Godfrey (1956). One year before Raymond Burr got the call to play crusader for justice Perry Mason, he played another defense lawyer whose moral and ethical quandary sends him into noir darkness. The film opens at night as an unidentifiable man walks the dark streets to ultimately buy a handgun. Going to a similarly dark office, he begins to talk into a tape recorder. This is when we see that the man is Craig Carlson (Burr) and he is (shades of Double Indemnity) dictating the details of an event to the District Attorney. As he tells the story, we flashback with him. He meets with Joe Leeds (Dick Foran) an old friend who had saved Carlson’s life in the war. Carlson has some bad news for his buddy. Carlson has fallen in love with Myra (Angela Lansbury), Joe’s wife. Myra wants a divorce to marry Carlson. Joe is stunned and askes for time to think. A few days later, in an angry mood, he returns home to confront Myra. Shots ring out. Joe is dead. At this point I will give the warning about SPOILERS even though the twist at a little past the halfway point is given away in the plot summary at the movie database and on YouTube so I will just take the Spoiler that far. Myra is tried for murder but is acquitted after a clever defense by Carlson. Then, when the trial is over, Carlson learns that Myra was, indeed, a cold-blooded killer. From here on, however, my lips are sealed about any other plot developments. This well-plotted mystery is from an original story by two screenwriters. Cinematographer Alan Stensvold (Thunder Road, Panic In The City) provides the required light and shadows plus a couple of near Wellesean crazy camera angles. Burr and Lansbury both give very intense performances that should be seen by fans of both actors. A hidden, even forgotten, little gem of a noir. Can be seen on YouTube in a fairly good print but with intermittent spots where the sound seems to drop low and distorted making it hard to understand. John Dehner as the D.A. and Denver Pyle as a police detective make important contributions.

Angela Lansbury and Raymond Burr standing in that noir lighting that we all love.


Aknyeo (The Villainess) / Byung-gil Jung (2017). South Korea is emerging as the leading national film industry for exciting action movies. Most of the time Hollywood’s got nothing on them. Case in point is “The Villainess,” a complex spy plot which is made even more dizzying with a kind of stream-of-consciousness and time shifting storytelling that will move into a flashback without indication or show us a report of an agent being kidnapped before we see the actual kidnapping. In addition, the film begins and ends with two extended action scenes that are totally amazing – impossible, but amazing. The only thing in American film that I can think off to compare it is “Atomic Blonde” and “John Wick” but they still don’t come close. After she has single-handedly taken out a drug gang in a gun and knife battle, Sook-he (Ok-bin Kim) is recruited by a super secret government agency whose job is to assassinate the leaders of organized crime. Her past, however, and her need for revenge for the killing of her father when she was a child, come back to haunt her and leads to a breath-taking climax. Bloody and bleak. “The Villainess” played out of competition at Cannes in the festival’s Midnight Movie series where it received a standing ovation.



Mary Shelley / Haifaa Al-Mansour (2017). This true story of the author of “Frankenstein” demonstrates the top notch set design and costuming that has become the standard in period pictures. Other than that it is a by-the-numbers bio-pic and something of a snooze until the final quarter. Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin (1979-1851) grew up in a household of free-thinkers in a time where views such as those held by her parents were considered revolutionary and dangerous. She was especially influenced by her mother, the seminal feminist thinker Mary Wollstonecraft who died as a result of the younger Mary’s birth. Even so, when at age 17, she decided to live with poet Percy Bysshe Shelley as an unmarried couple she became estranged from her father and step-mother. Once her story arrives at the actual writing of her famous novel, interest picks up a little even though there is a contrived ending where Mary, who was forced to issue the first printing of “Frankenstein” anonymously because of her gender, is finally acknowledged as the only author. Elle Fanning is Mary, Douglas Booth is Shelley, Bel Powley is Mary’s step-sister who runs away with her, and adding some needed liveliness to the middle part of the film is Tom Sturridge as Lord Byron.

A quiet week of movie watching but both were better than I expected. Only 3 Best Pictures left to see..

A fun week of movies for me, more rewatching than I usually do.

My thoughts on Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982) are here in their own thread on the boards, let's just say it's super-silly and fun, especially for classic movie lovers.



Big Stone Gap (2014) is a rom-com set in a charming small town, Ashley Judd is sure purdy! Nothing overly original, but a pleasant enough viewing experience.



If I Stay (2014) was very depressing in many ways, but a great soundtrack.



Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) is a rollicking good time and a great Star Wars movie, not sure why no one is going in droves to see this, I loved it.



After seeing Solo: A Star Wars Story, I felt the need to revisit Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002), Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005), Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) and Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017).






I found a cheap copy of Howard the Duck (1986) which I hadn't seen since the 80's. The duck looks great considering it was the 80's, Lea Thompson and Tim Robbins are great support for Howard, but the script could have been so much better. It's now the ugly duckling of my movie collection.



Don't Open The Door (1975) has such potential but it was quite dull throughout, the ending was good though. It is also known by the title, Don't Hang Up, which makes more sense as a title because the lead character spends most of the movie on the phone with a pervy heavy breather/killer and getting off on it. Weird. The 70's were a strange time.



The Miracle Worker (1962) with Patty Duke really going for it, Anne Bancroft as well. Some familiar TV faces in supporting roles with Andrew Prine from V and Inga Swenson from Benson in the cast. The movie poster makes me think of The Exorcist for some reason.