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Post by ZolotoyRetriever on Oct 26, 2018 19:26:22 GMT
Desperate (1947). Directed by Anthony Mann, with Steve Brodie, Audrey Long, Raymond Burr. DVR’d from TCM telecast on their Noir Alley series, hosted by Eddie Muller. First-time viewing.
Uneven but absorbing film noir with some improbable twists and turns about an independent truck driver and his young wife who are forced to go on the run after some hoods have conned the husband into participating in a heist involving stolen furs. The heist goes bad, resulting in the hoods as well as the police pursuing the couple who are actually innocent of any wrongdoing.
A bevy of seedy characters populate this story, including a sadistic Raymond Burr as the boss of the heisters, Douglas Fowley as an oily private eye, and Jason Robards, Sr. as a cynical police detective who may or may not believe in the innocence of the truck driver. There’s also a memorable little scene with a rather creepy used car salesman that, if you hate used car salesmen, will make you hate them even more.
All in all a pretty good crime noir, worth a look for fans of the genre.
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Post by ZolotoyRetriever on Oct 27, 2018 23:09:12 GMT
Slither (1973). Directed by Howard Zieff, with James Caan, Peter Boyle, Sally Kellerman, Louise Lasser. DVR’d from recent TCM telecast.
This makes about the 4th time I’ve watched this film. It starts out with a pretty tense scenario that involves gunfire and explosions, but boy, does it change from then on. And how. What *should* be a tense crime drama about a quest for recovery of embezzled money instead turns into an offbeat, quirky and comical film peopled by some rather nutty people. It may not appeal to all viewers (I’ve read a few scathing reviews that really despised this one), but others, like myself, really enjoyed the random, odd humor of it all. Not to mention, it has some good road-trip location filming in and around coastal areas of California.
There is also some very good soundtrack accompaniment, as one of the characters happens to be a fan of Swing-era music, so snippets of 30s and 40s Swing music are heard throughout. And last but not least, the film features two of the ugliest camper vans you’ll ever see, 1971 RecTrans Discoverers, painted in hideous black:
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Post by marth on Oct 27, 2018 23:47:55 GMT
The Sound of Music
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Post by teleadm on Oct 28, 2018 0:35:22 GMT
Slither (1973). Directed by Howard Zieff, with James Caan, Peter Boyle, Sally Kellerman, Louise Lasser. DVR’d from recent TCM telecast.
This makes about the 4th time I’ve watched this film. It starts out with a pretty tense scenario that involves gunfire and explosions, but boy, does it change from then on. And how. What *should* be a tense crime drama about a quest for recovery of embezzled money instead turns into an offbeat, quirky and comical film peopled by some rather nutty people. It may not appeal to all viewers (I’ve read a few scathing reviews that really despised this one), but others, like myself, really enjoyed the random, odd humor of it all. Not to mention, it has some good road-trip location filming in and around coastal areas of California.
There is also some very good soundtrack accompaniment, as one of the characters happens to be a fan of Swing-era music, so snippets of 30s and 40s Swing music are heard throughout. And last but not least, the film features two of the ugliest camper vans you’ll ever see, 1971 RecTrans Discoverers, painted in hideous black:
Been wondering about that movie, thanks for sharing, those vans looks very home-made to put it mildly
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Post by Nalkarj on Oct 28, 2018 2:09:50 GMT
I just finished William Castle’s 13 Ghosts, thanks to Svengoolie. It’s pretty lousy, but there are a couple of neat scenes.
It stinks, though, that there are no scares and no atmosphere; House on Haunted Hill, as ridiculous and hammy as it is, has some scares that still hold up (particularly in the cellar) and great atmospherics, even in the gimmicky moments (the hearses, for example) that define Castle films. The adults, particularly parents Rosemary DeCamp and Donald Woods, are all awful in this; 12-year-old Charles Herbert actually gives the best performance in the thing. Poor Margaret Hamilton gets nothing to do, but we’re supposed to chuckle because Herbert thinks she’s a witch. Ho hum. At least Jo Marrow is gorgeous.
One odd thing, though: Castle and/or writer Robb White seem to have gone out of their way to find naturalistic explanations to supernatural phenomena, even in movies with genuine supernatural phenomena. It’s a bit odd, especially as the mystery element in this one is “solved” the moment it’s revealed. It does lead to probably the most ineffectual murder method in the history of the movies, though.
It’s not terrible, despite my write-up—Castle’s stuff is way too silly and fun to be terrible—but it’s not the best (which is probably, again, House on Haunted Hill).
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Post by kijii on Oct 30, 2018 2:07:02 GMT
Forever Amber (1947) / Otto Preminger DVD -2nd viewingThis 20th Century Fox drama/adventure, based on a novel by Kathleen Winsor, traces the story of Amber St. Clair (Linda Darnell), a foundling left at the door of a Puritan family at the beginning of the English Civil War. But, when she becomes a young woman she wants to break from the Puritan ways (about the time of the Restoration) and become a woman of the world. Her love affairs and upward mobility finally places her in the court of Charles II (George Sanders), after she had been imprisoned and given birth to baby boy, the love child to her lover, Bruce Carlton (Cornel Wild). The movie traces the Great Plague and London Fire of the 1666. This is a pretty good movie for its type, sort of a swashbuckler from the post-restoration Stuart period. The cast includes: Jessica Tandy as Amber's maid Nan, Anne Revere, as Mother Red Cap (not your conventional mother), and Margaret Wycherly as a London nurse during the plague (not your conventional nurse). Full TCM synopsis with SPOILERS: In 1644, during the revolt of the English Parliament and Oliver Cromwell's army against the tyrannical rule of King Charles I, a baby wrapped in a blanket on which the name "Amber" is sewn, is left at the front door of a Puritan farmer by a fleeing nobleman, who is then killed by his pursuers. By 1660, after the death of Cromwell and the restoration of the House of Stuart, in the person of Charles II, Amber, now an attractive young woman, is betrothed by her ward, Matt Goodgroome, to a farmer. She rebels against the match, as she does not want to remain in a small village her whole life, and becomes enamored of Lord Bruce Carlton, a soldier for hire who stops at the village. Although he refuses to take her with him to London, she follows him and his best friend, Lord Harry Almsbury, and in London, she and Bruce become lovers. Because Charles believes that Bruce is pursuing his mistress, Barbara Palmer, Countess Castelmaine, with whom Bruce earlier had a romance, Charles provides Bruce two ships with which to establish a privateering enterprise and share the profits he makes robbing foreign treasure ships. When Amber learns that Bruce has gone to sea, she vows to use her wiles to achieve a social level above that of Bruce so that he will want her. She is soon cheated out of the money Bruce left her by a crooked investor and, although pregnant, is sent to prison on a false charge. In prison, she meets Black Jack Mallard, an infamous highwayman, and seeing that he is attracted to her, convinces him to take her with him when he escapes, so that her baby will be born outside of prison. Their escape is arranged by Mother Red Cap, the head of Jack's gang, who puts Amber to work after she gives birth, luring men so that the gang can rob them. Jack is killed by the King's men during one robbery attempt, and Amber avoids capture by hiding in the home of Rex Morgan, a captain of the king's guard. Morgan uses his influence to obtain Amber work as an actress, and she raises enough money to get her son, named Bruce, from Mother Red Cap and put him up in a nice country home. Amber lives with Morgan, but when he proposes, she refuses. While Morgan is in Wales, Charles sees Amber onstage and invites her to dine with him. Amber turns him down, however, when she learns that Harry has brought Bruce to the theater. She takes him to see their son, hoping he will want to settle down with her, but he plans to return to sea, as he intensely dislikes the goings on at court. When Morgan, having returned, finds them together, he challenges Bruce to a duel, saying that Amber is his fiancée. Disgusted at Amber, Bruce accepts but tries to convince Morgan to end the duel after the first blood has been drawn. Morgan refuses and Bruce kills him, then angrily berates Amber when she tries to comfort him. After Bruce departs England again, Amber marries the elderly widowed Earl of Radcliffe in order to become a countess, hoping that the title will interest Bruce. She diverts their wedding party to London, where the Black Plague is spreading, when she learns that Bruce's ship has docked there. She finds him as he is about to succumb to the plague and struggles to save his life, first killing a mercenary nurse and then lancing a dangerous boil on his chest. Bruce recovers, but Radcliffe tracks him down, and when Bruce learns that Amber is his wife, he leaves for Virginia. As a devastating fire sweeps through London, Charles attempts to seduce Amber at a ball at Whitehall. Radcliffe spirits her home, however, and locks her in her room so she cannot return to the ball. That night, as fire destroys Radcliffe Hall, Radcliffe threatens to send Amber to the country for good, then struggles with her, before a disgruntled servant hits him and throws him into the conflagration to his death. Amber soon becomes Charles' mistress. When Bruce and his new wife Corinna visit from Virginia, he tries to convince Amber, who believes he still loves her, to let him adopt their child and take him back to Virginia, as he despises the "sick age" and court life to which the boy will be exposed. Amber invites Corinna to dine with her and Charles and retires, leaving them alone, then writes a note to Bruce about his wife's whereabouts. Charles, however, deduces Amber's scheme and allows Corinna to leave, her virtue unscathed. He then tells Amber to leave because her actions, which have made him realize that she truly loves Bruce, have shattered the illusion of happiness he had created because he could not find love as a king. When Bruce comes for the child and Amber sees that the boy, who is bored with court life, is excited about going, she gives him up and sadly watches them depart.
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Post by jeffersoncody on Oct 30, 2018 4:52:18 GMT
FIVE FINGERS FOR MARSEILLES (2017). This stunningly photographed and highly original South Africa neo western makes for gripping viewing. 8 out of 10. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. If you enjoyed the likes of JERUSALEMA and the Oscar-winning TSOTSI, don't miss FIVE FINGERS FOR MARSEILLES, it is a one-of-a-kind flick.
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Post by kijii on Oct 30, 2018 18:32:17 GMT
The Baron of Arizona (1950) / Samuel Fuller Seen on DVD
This was Samuel Fuller's second feature film. It presents an interesting, seldom-told story about one of America's biggest real estate swindle attempts. The movie begins with a group of state politicians gathered in a room on the day that Arizona became, America's 48th state, only one month after New Mexico had become its the 47th state in 1912. The story is told in retrospect, by John Griff (Reed Hadley), about a time in the late 19th century when Arizona was just a territory.
James Addison Reavis (Vincent Price) conceived of a plot to take over the entire Arizona territory by faking old Spanish land grants (granted by under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo) and inventing an inheritor of those grants. The supposed inheritor of those old Spanish grants was an unknown foundling, Sofia, being raised by a poor man illiterate Mexican, Pepito (Vladimir Sokoloff). While Pepito and Sofia's hired governess, Loma (Beulah Bondi), raised the child to become Sofia de Peralta-Reavis 'The Baroness of Arizona,' Reavis spent years and years forging and altering documents, even spending time in the Spanish monastery that housed the original documents. Once Reavis had planned the plot, he came back to the Arizona territory and married the now-adult Baroness (Ellen Drew) which made him the Baron of Arizona with all that its title granted to him.
However, his plot was discovered and he confessed to the it in the mist of the threat of the whites who were settling that region.
(The story is complicated but interesting...I may have a few facts wrong, so one should read the synposis summary below for the correct version. Better yet, see the movie.)
Sofia 'The Baroness' de Peralta-Reavis (Ellen Drew): I am Mrs. James Reavis, and one of us must have the dignity to accept punishment. One of us must have the dignity to recognize love. I'll always love you. Nothing can change that. James Addison 'The Baron' Reavis, aka Brother Anthony (Vincent Price) : You still want me? Sofia 'The Baroness' de Peralta-Reavis : I'll want you until the day I die. It is not death - it is dying that alarms me. it is not your crime - it is your weakness that alarms me.
John Griff (Reed Hadley) : There's only one thing about this case I can't understand. James Addison 'The Baron' Reavis, aka Brother Anthony (Vincent Price) : What's that? John Griff : After devoting so many years to this scheme, what made you confess? James Addison 'The Baron' Reavis, aka Brother Anthony : I fell in love with my wife.
Full TCM synopsis with SPOILERS: In 1912, during a party at the governor's mansion to celebrate Arizona's admission to the Union, John Griff, an employee of the Department of the Interior, tells the story of the notorious James Addison Reavis, a clerk working at the land office in Santa Fe, New Mexico, who almost "stole" Arizona: In 1872, Reavis visits the home of Pepito Alvarez, a Mexican living in Phoenix. After telling Pepito that he works in the federal land office, Reavis inquires about Sofia, an infant whom Reavis left with Pepito some years previous. When Reavis meets Sofia, now a shy young girl, he tells her that he is going to bring her to live with him in Santa Fe. Reavis, who is plotting to turn himself into a phony baron, wants Sofia as his baroness and hires governess Loma Morales to school her in proper etiquette. In the meantime, Reavis spends long hours chiseling his forged land grant into a stone tablet which he will use to establish the claim of his fictitious "first baron of Arizona," Miguel de Peralta. Later, Reavis purchases some headstones to establish the births and deaths of Sofia's "parents" and then sails to Europe to complete the forgery. In Spain, he joins a monastery at which the original land grant book of King Ferdinand VI is kept. Taking the name Brother Anthony, Reavis waits three years for an opportunity to be left alone in the library so that he can alter the grants record book, giving his baron the territory of Arizona. During this time, Reavis learns from the monastery's head, Father Guardian, that a second copy of the book is kept at the Madrid castle of the Marquis de Santella. When Reavis is finally able to commit the forgery, he is caught by Father Guardian and forced to flee. Reavis steals a horse-driven cart, but it overturns along the winding monastery road. He is rescued by a band of gypsies, then travels to Madrid, and after befriending the Marquesa, convinces her to invite him to the castle. There, Reavis alters the entry in Santella's book, returns to Arizona, marries Sofia and claims Arizona. Suspecting forgery, the surveyor general, Miller, investigates the claim, which is validated by the discovery of the tablets. When Reavis begins evicting the residents of Arizona, Griff, an expert in the art of forgery, is consulted. After the local newspaper criticizes Reavis, a displaced landowner, Tom Lansing, firebombs his office in town. Reavis then rejects a government offer to buy the territory for $25,000,000, and he and Sofia are summoned to federal court to defend their claim. Griff states that he cannot prove that Reavis' claim is false, but later, Pepito tells Reavis that he plans to break his silence and tell Griff about Sofia's real parents, who were Indians. Reavis attempts to flee the country, but Griff arranges for an immediate local trial. After Pepito is shot by an angry mob, Reavis is nearly lynched, but saves himself by reminding the displaced landowners that they need his testimony in order to reclaim their land. Years later, when Reavis is released from prison, he is surprised to see his faithful wife, a now recovered Pepito and Loma waiting to take him home.
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Post by teleadm on Oct 30, 2018 19:10:58 GMT
L'alpagueur aka Hunter Will Get You 1976, directed by Philippe Labro, staring Jean-Paul Belmondo, Bruno Cremer, Jean Négroni, Patrick Fierry, Jean-Pierre Jorris, Victor Garrivier and others. French action-thriller about L'Alpagueur (Belmondo) who works as a sort of free-lance agent for anyone who hires him, mostly for the law, and takes on cases in unconventional ways to hunt down those that law can't reach, in this case a serial-killer who employs young boys to help him robbing banks before killing them. This is Belmondo's movie all the way, and that is totally okey, but the plot never really excites as one wish it would. I can't help but feel that Belmondo had done one too many of these kind of movies, or he only did them because they were very popular among the paying audiences. It's not a bad movie, since I wanted to know how he catched the serial killer, and lots of location shots from northern France that has not been overused in other movies. For Belmondo fans it's offcourse a must.
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Post by kijii on Oct 30, 2018 20:56:56 GMT
Conquest (1937) / Clarence Brown Seen on DVD
Clarence Brown's 2nd historical drama, gave Charles Boyer an Oscar nomination as an actual Frenchman playing the role of Napoleon. This is the story Napoleon's love affair with the Polish Countess Marie Walewska (Greta Garbo), Brown's 2nd movie with Garbo after Anna Karenina (1935). While Napoleon had two wives, he could not marry Walewska since he needed a wife from a Royal family to give him a son who could succeed him to the throne. Bonaparte and Walenska did have a son, but he could only be a love child since he was not of a royal family. This movie is sort of ok, but it drags along episodically (over many years) without moving a good plot along with it. One soon wants the movie to finish its story and be done.
Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte (Charles Boyer) : Are you real? Or, born of a snow drift? Countess Marie Walewska (Greta Garbo) : Whichever your majesty wishes. Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte : Snow vanishes. I prefer you real. Quite real.
Napoleon first officially meets Countess Walewska with her husband and his family:
Count Anastas Walewski (Henry Stephenson): I am 75 years old, sire. Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte : And Madame is your first wife? Count Anastas Walewski : My third, sire. Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte : Let me congratulate you, Chamberlain, on your excellent taste. How old are you, Madame? Countess Marie Walewska : If that is a command, sire, it is one that women have a right to disobey. Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte : Very well spoken. I do not forget courage in either man or woman. Is this gentleman your son? Count Anastas Walewski : Yes, sire. Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte : And this? Count Anastas Walewski : My grandson. Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte : I congratulate you, Madame. For a grandmother, you are extraordinarily well preserved. I regret, I did not know you when you were young.
Full TCM synopsis with SPOILERS: In Eastern Poland, in January 1807, the home of the Count Walewska and his wife Marie is overrun by pilaging Russian soldiers who make fun of the young countess and her aging husband. Soon after they leave, Marie's brother, Paul Lachinski, arrives and enthralls Marie with tales of the French Emperor Napoleon, whose armies have just arrived in Poland. Later, Marie briefly encounters the emporor near a church and is as impressed with him as he is with her. Two months later, Marie and her husband are formally introduced to Napoleon at a ball at the Poniatowski Palace in Warsaw, and she is pleased that he does not reveal their earlier brief meeting, but is uneasy about his obvious attraction to her. When he sends notes to her proclaiming his admiration and suggesting that her responsiveness would benefit her country, she is upset and confides in her husband. He wants to take her away, but when some of the Polish leaders beg Marie to give in to Napoleon to save their country, she decides to go to him. When she returns to the count, he leaves her. Soon Napoleon and his personal staff take quarters in Marie's home. Although she is antagonistic toward him at first, her sympathy for his inner loneliness soon softens her feelings and she returns his love. They become more and more happily in love, but her happiness is marred by her brother's adverse reaction to their relationship and by Napoleon's long absences. Two years later, while Napoleon seeks a divorce from his wife, the count obtains an annulment of his marriage, and Marie secretly awaits the birth of her child. She is summoned to Vienna to join Napoleon, but when she arrives, she learns that Napoleon is planning to marry the Princess Marie Louise of Austria in the hopes of establishing a strong dynasty. Though she is shattered, Marie accepts Napoleon's marriage and leaves him to have her child alone. During the course of the next few years, Napoleon suffers many defeats. His army is forced to retreat from their position in Moscow and, despite a last attempt to recapture his former empire, he eventually loses everything at the Battle of Waterloo. In his final exile on the island of Elba, he sends for Marie. She and her son Alexandre go to him and stay with him until he dies.
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Post by ZolotoyRetriever on Oct 31, 2018 1:27:17 GMT
West of Broadway (1931). Directed by Harry Beaumont, with John Gilbert, Lois Moran, El Brendel, Ralph Bellamy. DVR’d from recent TCM telecast. First-time viewing.
Oddly interesting pre-code drama featuring former silent star John Gilbert in one of his few talking roles - and one of his last pictures (he made 4 more after this one).
The plot is rather puzzling. It revolves around a U.S. Army sergeant (Gilbert), returning home after some rugged service on the battlefield of WWI France. He’s sustained some serious battle injuries, including “a whiff of gas.” Now back in New York City, he gets jilted by the society girl he expected to be waiting for him, so he takes up with a woman (Lois Moran) who - it’s implied - is essentially a call girl. He arranges a quickie sham marriage to her, if only to assuage his bruised ego over the previous jilting, then the next morning promptly announces to the poor girl that he’s annulling the marriage - and then, he heads off to his very own dude ranch out West to recuperate from war wounds. It turns out he’s a multi-millionaire man of property. And, a wretched drunk, to boot. Very strange plot formula. Hardly believable, but there it is.
It all makes for an oddly interesting story, though, with some amusing secondary characters, not least of whom is Axel “Swede” Axelson (El Brendel) as Gilbert’s loyal valet, Wing (Willie Fung) as the Chinese cook of the dude ranch, and Maizie (Gwen Lee) as a sassy call-girl associate of Moran’s. Also look for a young Ralph Bellamy in only his 3rd credited film role, as Mac, the ranch foreman. Hedda Hopper also appears in a small role.
Interesting to note that the main character’s alcohol abuse plays a major theme in this picture. In real life, Gilbert died just a few years later from health issues brought on by his own alcoholism.
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Post by teleadm on Oct 31, 2018 18:19:34 GMT
North by Northwest 1959, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, staring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason, Jessie Royce Landis, Leo G. Carroll, Josephine Hutchinson, Philip Ober, Martin Landau and others. Thriller that I hope don't need any closer presentation. This is one of those movies that I can watch over and over and never get tired of, though it's been awhile since the last time. So there is a few scenes I had forgotten, like the early scenes with Leo G. Carroll and some others discussing around a table about what to do with this sudden Roger Thornhill who has been mistaken for the mysterious Mr Kaplan. I had also forgotten the great music by Bernard Herrman. Grant, Saint and Mason makes a great triangle of intrigue. The movie was Oscar nominated for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color and Best Film Editing.
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Post by Primemovermithrax Pejorative on Oct 31, 2018 19:41:43 GMT
THE RAVEN 1963 and THE COMEDY OF TERRORS 1964
I generally avoid comedy films because it's such a hit or miss--if you do not find it funny then there isn't usually much to watch unless you like a particular actor. Not a problem in these cases as I found they both had some enduring laugh out loud moments. Interesting to consider the line between comedy and horror when you have so many horror stars being effective in comedy moments. Not to mention Richard Matheson's writing--and he had a producer role in the latter film.
Price said comedy was much harder to do than horror but it seems so natural.
After Boris Karloff zaps Peter Lorre's wand and it goes limp:
Lorre: Oh you dirty old man!
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Post by kijii on Nov 1, 2018 17:00:03 GMT
The Nitwits (1935) / George Stevens Viewed from DVD ordered on ebay which was dubbed from TCM
I got this movie mainly to extend my "complete" George Stevens viewings (from this movie to the end of his career). Of all of the mad-cap movies I have seen, this may be the screwiest. It features a comedy team that I had never heard of, Burt Wheeler & Robert Woolsey. The two are trying to solve a crime. There a couple of songs in this movie as well as tons of "gages." Betty Grable also appears in this mid-30s musical/comedy.
Newton (Robert Woolsey): It's the greatest idea I've ever had. And, boy, you know I've had a lot of them. Johnnie (Bert Wheeler): Yeah, but none of them ever worked. Newton : A mere coincidence.
Full TCM synopsis with SPOILERS: After music publisher Winfield Lake receives an extortion letter from someone calling himself The Black Widow, his wife Alice insists that he hire William Darrell, a famous private detective, to protect him. As Darrell begins his assignment for Lake, unsuspecting Johnny and Newton, who run the cigar store in Lake's office building, audition their new song, "The Black Widow Is Going to Get You If You Don't Watch Out," for him. Terrified, Lake angrily rejects the song and storms up to his office, where he is greeted by songwriter George Clark, who charges him with cheating on his royalty payments. Lake then accuses Lurch, his auditor, of tampering with the account books and assures Clark that he will investigate the matter. After locking Clark's file in his desk, Lake flirts with his secretary, Mary Roberts, who is also Johnny's girl friend. When Johnny shows up with an unloaded gun to "plug" his song again, he sees Lake being repulsed by Mary and slugs him, then announces that Mary is quitting. While Mary prepares to go, Lake is murdered by The Black Widow, who fires his gun through a hole hidden in the ceiling. Caught hiding on the balcony with Johnny's gun, Mary is arrested in spite of "confessions" from both Johnny and Newton. That night Johnny and Newton visit Mary's jail cell and learn that she saw Lurch trying to break into Lake's desk shortly after the murder. Determined to help Mary, Johnny and Newton return to the Lake Building to plant Newton's "truth device" invention on Lake's chair and then trick Lurch into confessing. At the same time, the police surround the building in order to catch The Black Widow, who is to collect extortion money that has been deposited by Alice and others in the basement. While Johnny and Newton set up their device, Darrell shows up and suggests that they re-enact the crime. By accident, Darrell activates the truth device and confesses that he is The Black Widow, but Johnny and Newton conclude that the device has malfunctioned and proceed with the re-enactment. After the boys barely escape with their lives, Darrell murders Lurch, who has shown up to retrieve Clark's file, and then knocks out Clark as he arrives on the scene. A group of blacks, meanwhile, who have snuck into a costume company office to play a game of craps, discover Darrell's money, which has blown up the ventilation shaft from the basement, in a heating grate. To retrieve his money, Darrell dons a "skeleton" costume and scares the blacks, but is then confronted by Johnny and Newton. After an extended chase and fight involving Darrell, his men, the blacks, and Johnny and Newton, the police burst in and apprehend Darrell. Cleared of all charges, Mary accepts both Johnny's proposal and his pegboard engagement ring.
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Post by teleadm on Nov 1, 2018 18:55:24 GMT
The Fly 1958, directed by Kurt Neumann, based on a story by George Langelaan, staring David Hedison (billed as Al Hedison), Patricia Owens, Vincent Price, Herbert Marshall, Kathleen Freeman, Betty Lou Gerson, Charles Herbert and others. Horror Science-Fiction about a scientist (Hedison) who has been too eager to try his teleportation system, from one glass chanmber to another, when a little fly happens to get into the chamber when he tries to teleport himself...thing go wrong. A clever little movie that I liked, nearly no histronics, the scientist is happily married with a loving wife and a kid. The movie starts out as a murder case, but via flashbacks we get the whole true, but to the police it sounds like an unlikely story. Since the scientist and his understanding wife obviously are very much in love with each other, it also develops into a tragic love story too. The movie begun as a B-Movie but after a few test sceenings was moved up to A-Movie status. For director Neumann this was the most successful movie in his career, something he never got to experience because he died just five weeks after it's official premiere, he didn't commit suicide as some older encyclopedias has stated. Herbert Marshall, who played the questioning police, had an artifical leg is never seen walking down the stairs, he starts walking down a staircase with one foot, cut and we see Vincent Price (who played the scientist's brother) waiting downstairs, we hear Marshall's footsteps, and the Marshall walk in to the frame again downstairs. Just a clever little thing I noticed as to hide the fact that Marshall couldn't walk up or down stairs without showing he had in real life an artificial leg. Unusual role too for Vincent Price, as he place a normal guy for a change in a horror movie, he actually plays a loving and concerned character.
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Post by ZolotoyRetriever on Nov 1, 2018 23:41:36 GMT
Affair in Trinidad (1952). Directed by Vincent Sherman, with Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, Alexander Scourby, Torin Thatcher, et al. DVR’d from recent TCM telecast. 2nd time viewing for me.
Another pairing of Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford, this one an early-50s “Trouble in the Tropics” pic, with very stylized sets and visuals, all done in a sort of dreamy black and white cinematography. Viewers of this film who’ve also seen 1946’s Gilda will note more than a few similarities, as both films feature Hayworth, Ford, a powerful wealthy man, South America, and some form of enemy foreign agents. But the similarities aren’t enough to leave you feeling like you’re watching a lame remake or something.
I found it reasonably interesting and entertaining - Hayworth, although older and more mature than she was in Gilda, is still an eyeful here worth looking at. Plus there is a lot of clever, “snappy” dialogue throughout, especially from Glenn Ford’s character.
One note about the plot: without giving away too much, it sure seemed to anticipate the basis for the Cuban Missile Crisis some ten years ahead of time. Maybe Nikita Khrushchev saw this film and liked it, and got some ideas from it.
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Post by vegalyra on Nov 2, 2018 0:20:11 GMT
Is Paris Burning?
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Post by kijii on Nov 4, 2018 21:48:06 GMT
The Brotherhood (1968) / Martin Ritt Streamed from Amazon Prime
I'm now beginning to start filling missing viewing links to Martin Ritt movies. This movie is an American Mafia movie, with actors such as Kirk Douglas (where he dominates the movie with great acting); Alex Cord who plays Douglas' younger brother; Irene Papas as Douglas' wife; Susan Strasberg (as Cord's new wife), and veteran actor, Luther Adler as her father. The movie start and ends in Sicily, but the majority of the movie occurs in America. The movie was released four years before The Godfather (1972), but has some of the same feeling and ambiance with brother pitted against brother.
TCM Synoopsis with SPOILERS: Following his discharge from the Army, Vince Ginetta, a young Italian-American, marries his girl friend, Emma, and at their wedding celebration a Sicilian folk song, "Vitti 'na Crozza," is sung. He then goes to work for the Mafia in New York City as a bookkeeper. Obviously pleased by the decision is Vince's older brother, Frank, a syndicate board member who adheres to old customs and opposes expanding into new activities such as electronics unions. Despite their mutual affection, the two brothers clash when Frank vetoes any involvement that might cause trouble with the Federal government. As Vince's father-in-law, Bertolo, who is also a board member, instigates a move to replace Frank with his brother, deposed Mafia leader Don Peppino tells Frank that his father and 40 other loyal Mafia members were betrayed by Bertolo and massacred by the new regime. Compelled by tradition to avenge the killings, Frank brutally murders Bertolo and flees to Sicily with his wife, Ida, and his daughter, Carmela. When Vince arrives sometime later, Frank readily understands that his brother has been assigned to murder him in order to test his loyalty to the Mafia. After saying goodby to his wife, Frank takes Vince for a walk and hands him a rifle that belonged to their father. Fully aware that Vince's family will be murdered if he fails to carry out his assignment, Frank kisses his brother and asks for the fatal bullet. Once he has killed his brother, Vince permits Frank's chauffeur to drive him to the airport.
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Post by kijii on Nov 5, 2018 16:04:10 GMT
The Outrage (1964) / Martin Ritt Streamed from Amazon Prime
This is an English-language version of Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon set in the old Southwest of America with Howard Da Silva as an old prospector; William Shatner as a preacher; Edward G. Robinson as the con man listening to a recount of the trial. The incident being tried involves: Laurence Harvey; Claire Bloom as his wife; and Paul Newman as the Mexican bandit who supposedly rapped Claire Bloom and stabbed her husband to death. But, exactly DID happen?
TCM Synopsis: Late in the 19th century a disillusioned preacher, a grizzled prospector, and a cynical con man meet by chance at a southwestern railway station. The first two relate events in the recent trial of Juan Carrasco, the territory's most notorious outlaw, who has been sentenced to death for murdering a southern gentleman and raping his wife. The trial was confusing because three witnesses each told conflicting versions of what had occurred: Carrasco claimed that he bound the husband, forced him to watch the rape, and then killed the husband in a duel; the wife claimed that after Carrasco raped her and fled, she killed her husband in a fit of rage when he accused her of having encouraged the bandit; and an old Indian testified that the husband killed himself because of the humiliation he had suffered. After this last account a cry is heard, and the three men discover an abandoned baby. The con man attempts to steal some gold that has been left for the child, and an ensuing argument reveals that the prospector was also involved in the incident: he had witnessed the crime but did not testify because he had stolen the jeweled dagger from the dying man's chest. The prospector claims that the bandit showed remorse after the rape and begged his victim to come away with him, but fancying herself as a prize to be won, she shamed the two unwilling men into a fight over her, and her husband accidentally fell on the dagger. When the prospector offers to raise the child, even though he has five others at home, the preacher's faith in humanity is somewhat restored, and he is able to return to his congregation and the Lord's work.
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Post by teleadm on Nov 6, 2018 18:58:31 GMT
Les choses de la vie aka The Things in Life 1970, directed by Claude Sautet, staring Michel Piccoli, Romy Schneider, Gérard Lartigau, Jean Bouise and others. French-Italian-Swiss romantic drama. A highway engineer is involved in a car crash, after which, near death, he remembers his life leading up to the accident. A very French movie that I had big difficulty to appreciate. I just couldn't feel involved in the very French love troubles. It also felt like the world's longest cigarette commercial since they all the time lights a new cigareete in nearly every scene. Not saying it was a bad movie, it just didn't speak to me, but it might speak to others. In fact it spoke to many in France and other middle European countries where it became a big hit I watched the French speaking version. It was remade in USA as Intersection 1994 by Mark Rydell and stared Richard Gere and Sharon Stone.
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