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Post by Doghouse6 on Jul 18, 2020 14:14:48 GMT
Can't Help Singing is another good one, and is enlivened by stunning location photography in gorgeous mid-'40s Technicolor, a witty script and music by Jerome Kern with lyrics by E.Y. Harburg. I hadn’t heard of this one - thanks for the tip! There's another that comes to mind: Lady On A Train, which puts the emphasis on mystery rather than music, with Durbin playing a woman who witnesses a murder from the window of her passing train (as would a character in Agatha Christie's 4:50 From Paddington a dozen years later). Untypical for Durbin and lots of fun, with great character players like Edward Everett Horton, Ralph Bellamy, Dan Duryea, Allen Jenkins, William Frawley and George Coulouris. One doesn't have to be a Durbin fan to enjoy this nifty whodunit. |
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Post by teleadm on Jul 18, 2020 14:17:45 GMT
Vera Hruba Ralston, I don't think I've ever seen a movie with her, yet she was a big star at Republic Pictures. Well I have seen a fair few and believe me teleadm you should not feel too deprived...  .
She was really a skating star who drifted into films ....a sort of Road Company Sonja Henie. She was certainly a big star in the imagination of Herbert Yates, The Head of Republic Studios, who eventually married her in 1952, and foisted her on the public in an assortment of films for nearly two decades.
But which of her movies to watch? A real Sophie's Choice for classic buffs! 
Hands down the most hilarious is ANGEL ON THE AMAZON - a priceless piece of jungle tat with Vera as a mystery woman ensnaring George Brent... she seemingly finding the secret of eternal youth - it also trapped Constance Bennett and Brian Aherne.
I JANE DOE from the same year (1948) is almost as ludicrous, with Vera the pregnant mistress of John Carroll, on trial for his murder and defended in court by his widow Ruth Hussey....
STORM OVER LISBON is pretty good - a budget CASABLANCA much enlivened by Erich Von Stroheim.
MURDER IN THE MUSIC HALL is OK - good cast in amiable whodunnit
HOODLUM EMPIRE - not really a "VR film..." as such - she has a fairly small part as the hero's lost love - John Russell, Brian Donlevy, Claire Trevor, Luther Adler & Richard Jaeckel appear
JUBILEE TRAIL was Republic's attempt to have their own GONE WITH THE WIND - Yates' feud with Fox meaning he could not get right to use Cinemascope, which would have increased the film's marketability....... The public were "indifferent" according to JR Parish in his chapter on Ralston in THE GLAMOUR GIRLS
She appeared in movies opposite big names such as John Wayne, Fred MacMurray and Sterling Hayden.... but the likes of John Carroll, David Brian & Rod Cameron are more typical costars
Thanks for the lesson! Not meant in any rude way! |
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Post by cynthiagreen on Jul 18, 2020 19:21:56 GMT
I hadn’t heard of this one - thanks for the tip! There's another that comes to mind: Lady On A Train, which puts the emphasis on mystery rather than music, with Durbin playing a woman who witnesses a murder from the window of her passing train (as would a character in Agatha Christie's 4:50 From Paddington a dozen years later). Untypical for Durbin and lots of fun, with great character players like Edward Everett Horton, Ralph Bellamy, Dan Duryea, Allen Jenkins, William Frawley and George Coulouris. One doesn't have to be a Durbin fan to enjoy this nifty whodunit. I'll second that one - Dan is on top form.... a fine lightweight thriller.....I don't like operetta so she's not really for me - another atypical one is the noirish CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY... from an S Maugham story....with Gene Kelly as bad penny husband, Gale Sondergaard as mother in law from hell... and a beautiful song (SPRING WILL BE A LITTLE LATE THIS YEAR). It doesn't quite work overall but it is an interesting change of pace for her. Here's that song.
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Post by rudeboy on Jul 19, 2020 0:14:01 GMT
I hadn’t heard of this one - thanks for the tip! There's another that comes to mind: Lady On A Train, which puts the emphasis on mystery rather than music, with Durbin playing a woman who witnesses a murder from the window of her passing train (as would a character in Agatha Christie's 4:50 From Paddington a dozen years later). Untypical for Durbin and lots of fun, with great character players like Edward Everett Horton, Ralph Bellamy, Dan Duryea, Allen Jenkins, William Frawley and George Coulouris. One doesn't have to be a Durbin fan to enjoy this nifty whodunit. Plenty of promising movies to look forward to! Thanks for the recommendations, guys. |
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Jul 19, 2020 4:15:46 GMT
You've never watched any of the Scream films at all? Surprisingly no. It’s one of those franchises that I never got around to. I was pretty late to the game as far as that franchise was concerned as well. I never even saw one of the films until only a few years back, I think. |
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Post by Doghouse6 on Jul 19, 2020 12:57:16 GMT
There's another that comes to mind: Lady On A Train, which puts the emphasis on mystery rather than music, with Durbin playing a woman who witnesses a murder from the window of her passing train (as would a character in Agatha Christie's 4:50 From Paddington a dozen years later). Untypical for Durbin and lots of fun, with great character players like Edward Everett Horton, Ralph Bellamy, Dan Duryea, Allen Jenkins, William Frawley and George Coulouris. One doesn't have to be a Durbin fan to enjoy this nifty whodunit. I'll second that one - Dan is on top form.... a fine lightweight thriller.....I don't like operetta so she's not really for me - another atypical one is the noirish CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY... from an S Maugham story....with Gene Kelly as bad penny husband, Gale Sondergaard as mother in law from hell... and a beautiful song (SPRING WILL BE A LITTLE LATE THIS YEAR). It doesn't quite work overall but it is an interesting change of pace for her. is one that's always eluded me, so I tracked it down and want to thank you for mentioning it. Very interesting and unusual film. I see what you mean about it not quite working. It front-loads heavily with intriguing possibilities and tantalizing subtext, building curiosity about where it's leading for most of the first half, but never fully delivering on its early promise. Just the same, Robert Siodmak's direction is stylish, elegant and imaginative, as are the images captured by DP Woody Bredell (who brought so much noir atmosphere to films like The Unsuspected, The Killers and Phantom Lady), and I'm quite glad to have seen it. And related to the thread topic is the appearance of Richard Whorf as the reptilian and omnipresent reporter Simon Fenimore. His career behind the camera as director was more prolific than the one before it as an actor, but in the handful of films in which I've seen him, he's displayed impressive versatility, from the wimpy son in 1934's Midnight (that's not the Claudette Colbert one), to the guarded, subtly sinister majordomo in Keeper Of the Flame to an earnest and enthusiastic bandleader in Blues In the Night (a rare leading role). He offers something new each time I see him. Thanks again. |
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Post by cynthiagreen on Jul 19, 2020 16:28:23 GMT
I'll second that one - Dan is on top form.... a fine lightweight thriller.....I don't like operetta so she's not really for me - another atypical one is the noirish CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY... from an S Maugham story....with Gene Kelly as bad penny husband, Gale Sondergaard as mother in law from hell... and a beautiful song (SPRING WILL BE A LITTLE LATE THIS YEAR). It doesn't quite work overall but it is an interesting change of pace for her. is one that's always eluded me, so I tracked it down and want to thank you for mentioning it. Very interesting and unusual film. I see what you mean about it not quite working. It front-loads heavily with intriguing possibilities and tantalizing subtext, building curiosity about where it's leading for most of the first half, but never fully delivering on its early promise. Just the same, Robert Siodmak's direction is stylish, elegant and imaginative, as are the images captured by DP Woody Bredell (who brought so much noir atmosphere to films like The Unsuspected, The Killers and Phantom Lady), and I'm quite glad to have seen it. And related to the thread topic is the appearance of Richard Whorf as the reptilian and omnipresent reporter Simon Fenimore. His career behind the camera as director was more prolific than the one before it as an actor, but in the handful of films in which I've seen him, he's displayed impressive versatility, from the wimpy son in 1934's Midnight (that's not the Claudette Colbert one), to the guarded, subtly sinister majordomo in Keeper Of the Flame to an earnest and enthusiastic bandleader in Blues In the Night (a rare leading role). He offers something new each time I see him. Thanks again. Yes count me a BLUES IN THE NIGHT fan - loved Betty Field in it... and Kazan acting!.....and Whorf's JUKE GIRL was fun too. His first as a director features Gloria Grahame's debut in BLONDE FEVER... Mary Asor is her romantic adversary And Ava Gardner has a bit. Yes - a couple of big time directing gigs later on. |
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