What classics did you see last week ? (29 Jul - 4 Aug 2018)

Boring rehash of a TV Series I never cared about.


Hong Kong action


For a lazy Sunday this one worked remararkbly well


Please bury this mess so nobody will hear about it again


It actually becomes better with each viewing


Morbid laughs, comedy with thrills, I like it!

Scene Of The Crime / Roy Rowland (1949). Tough cop Mike Conovan (Van Johnson) is called in when an off duty cop is killed in what looks like the robbery of an illegal bookmaking operation. But Conovan is in his element as his neglected wife Gloria (Arlene Dahl) tells him when, yet again, a phone call comes and their plans for the evening are ruined. Conovan is working with a newly promoted detective, C.C. Gordon (Tom Drake) and old timer Detective Piper (John McIntire). Conovan goes on the hunt for a couple of “lobos,” criminal brothers from out of town. This leads him to Lili (Gloria DeHaven), a stripper who had once dated one of the brothers. Conovan asks for her help in corralling her lobo. Conovan has to juggle problems with his team, the growing affection of Lily, and problems in his marriage due to his dedication to his job. Also in the cast is Norman Lloyd who, as a hyperactive snitch, would have stolen the movie if he had been allowed more screen time. This is a pretty good procedural with more than a drop of noir to compliment it. FUN FACT: “Scene of the Crime” was nominated by the Mystery Writers Of America for an “Edgar” as Best Motion Picture of 1950. Its fellow nominees were “White Heat,” “Criss Cross,” and “Chicago Deadline.” Pretty good company. The winner was “The Window” from a Cornell Woolrich story starring Bobby Driscoll.

Van Johnson, Norman Lloyd, John McIntyre, Tom Drake


Gloria DeHaven


Cry Danger / Robert Parrish (1951). Rocky Mulloy (Dick Powell) has just been released from prison and is arriving back home to Los Angeles as the movie opens. He had been convicted of murder and robbery along with a friend, Dusty, who was still in prison. Rocky, however, had just been given an alibi. Delong (Richard Erdman), a marine who had been overseas until recently and out of touch with local news, provided the alibi for Mulloy. Cop Gus Cobb (Regis Toomey), however, doesn’t believe in Rocky’s innocence and vows to follow Rocky everywhere to recover $100,000 in stolen money. After Cobb leaves them alone, Rocky reveals that he has no idea who Delong is. The ex-Marine explains that he sprung Rocky in hopes that he would be cut in on the missing loot. When he realizes that Rocky is innocent, he agrees to help get evidence against the man who framed Rocky. The two men rent a mobile home near Nancy (Rhonda Fleming), Dusty’s wife and Rocky’s ex-girlfriend. The man behind the robbery and the frame-up is gangster Castro (William Conrad) who explains that he is now “60% legit.” This film was shot in 12 days skimping on expensive studio time by shooting almost exclusively on location in the Bunker Hill area of Los Angeles. (see below). Powell, although quick with a quip, plays Rocky deadpan, holding in his anger for the imprisonment and his feelings for Nancy. Perhaps only Robert Mitchum could have carried off such a performance. An essential for noir aficionados.

From Cry Danger.


For those of you interested in such things: To see the Clover Trailer Park location today, search 644 North Hill Place, Los Angeles, CA at Google Maps and select street view (I have never found Google Maps’ links or pictures to post on this message board). The house with the up and down identical windows is still easily recognizable. It is the only structure on the street that still exists from the 1950s. The automobile is a 1950 Nash Ambassador Six Super Brougham 'Airflyte'


Return From The Ashes / J. Lee Thompson (1965). The startling, attention grabbing pre-credit sequence introduces Michele Wolf (Ingrid Thulin), an emotional shell of a woman, thought dead by her family, returning home from a concentration camp at the end of WWII. We learn in flashback that she was a popular and successful physician in Vienna before the war. She had been wooed and won by a charming rogue named Stanislaus Pilgrin (Maximilian Schell) who never claimed to be anything but a sponger who lived for chess and was a master of the game. They married on the day the Nazis arrived in Vienna. Michele was arrested for being Jewish and disappeared from sight. After her return she was reluctant to reveal herself to Stan and Fabienne (Samantha Eggar), her step-daughter from her previous marriage because she had changed so much. But she recognized by her step-daughter. Up to this point we are engaged in a moving story about a person struggling to get her life back after a horrendous, unimaginable experience. But that story peters out and becomes a domestic drama as we learn that Stan and Fabi are sexually involved. After that is resolved, a murder plot develops. So, what is this movie about and where is it going? Does the script and the director really know? It is frustrating for the viewer as well. By the ending, the beginning seems forgotten as Michele is very calm and resolved after what has happened to her family on top of her concentration camp experience. Thulin (her surname is pronounced something like te-LIN, not THU-lin as Ben Mankiewicz pronounced; perhaps our friend from Sweden can help us out with this) had a long career in Sweden and is chiefly known for her films with Ingmar Bergman. In the ‘60s, she made a brief run at Hollywood success. She had a major role in “The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse” (1962), only to have most or all of her dialog dubbed by Angela Lansbury. Except for a few small roles in the 1970s, she seems to have given up English language films after “Ashes.” One last matter: the first person to recognize Michele is her hospital colleague, Dr. Bovard (Herbert Lom). She tells Bovard, “The concentration camp at Dacha did one thing for me: it made me a Jew and a mother. I had almost forgotten I was Jewish, then I was reminded of the fact very harshly. I saw too many mothers and daughters being torn from each other.” In light of current events in the U.S., I will just let that quote speak for itself.

NOTE: The movie database that we do not name claims that “Return From the Ashes” was “Remade to great acclaim in 2014 as 'Phoenix'” Well…..no. After Michele is spotted on the street by her step-daughter in the very early going, she and Stan, believing Michele to be dead, plot to pass off this look-a-like as Michele so her riches can be claimed. Michele goes along with this for a short time and the reveals herself as that story line drops out. “Phoenix,” however, plays that line out to the ending, an ending that can’t be anticipated, yet turns into one of the greatest in movie history. Directed by Christian Petzold, “Phoenix” echoes “Return From The Ashes” as well as “Vertigo” in its quest for true identity as one person gets groomed to be another, but this is a masterpiece, one of the best films of the decade, and definitely NOT a “remake” of anything. “Phoenix” is decidedly unique.

OldAussie I actually love the more recent Mission: Impossible movies more than the first three, the series has improved over time.

mikef6 and how to pronounce Thulin, as if the "h" isn't there, "Tulin" and sometimes depending where you live in this country as "Tulijn".

Bergman is in Sweden pronounced "Berjman", with a "j"-sound and not with a "g"-sound.

Swedish gramatics don't always make any sense.

SLIGHT SPOILER CONTAINED




I believe I posted it in the Film General thread, but I recently watched Captain from Castile with Tyrone Power. Great film, and the blu ray from Twilight Time looks incredible. Brilliant bright colors and just enough grain to retain its film like appearance. Definitely recommend it. The film is fun although it has some bleak and pretty edgy moments for a film of the era (including Power's little sister being killed off screen by the Inquisition). A great adventure story.

Thanks for the recommendation. I'll definitely have to check that out. I really enjoy Power, and I love the genre, especially from the classic film era.