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Post by kijii on Dec 8, 2018 6:07:45 GMT
Funny how things can turn out sometimes, since the movie I've seen depicts the some historical time and events as Cromwell 1970 as Primemovermithrax Pejorative reviewed recently. To Kill a King 2003, directed by Mike Barker, staring Tim Roth, Dougray Scott, Olivia Williams, James Bolam, Corin Redgrave, Rupert Everett and others. British-German historical drama. In 1645, after the revolutionary movement of the puritans against the King of England Charles I of Stuart (Everett), under the leadership of the best friends General Oliver Cromwell (Roth) and General Thomas Fairfax (Scott), the king is judged and condemned to death by decapitation. General Oliver Cromwell wishes to implement the republic in England, but his monarchist friend Fairfax does not agree, and they break their friendship. Cromwell becomes a dictator, with the title of Lord Protector of the Commonwealth, until 1658, when he is very sick and dies. Historical events I know very little about, and that England for a short time was a republic. We had our own kins and queens to read about in Sweden, and they sure did kill and poison each others here too. How accurate this movie is compared to history is very hard for me to tell, but as a cinema movie it's interesting, beautifully made, but somehow never gripped me. If it's true as showed in this movie, they disposed one tyrant only to be replaced by another tyrant. Those expecting a spectacle might be very dissapointed, as it's mostly indoors walking and talking. Not bad and worth a look. I seem attracted to movies about the English Civil war---the only break in the monarchy since William the Conqueror. This just shows you that Oliver Cromwell was a more complicated figure than we learn about in world history courses. While I have seen Cromwell (1970), I haven't seen To Kill a King (2003) but I will try to seek it out and see it. After seeing, Cromwell, my recollection was that Oliver Cromwell's desire was to replace the monarchy with an active Parliamentary Republic, but that the parliament failed to meet and take control of the government after Charles I was ousted from the throne. Thus, the Roundhead's victories over the Cavaliers turned out to be futile to him.
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Post by kijii on Dec 8, 2018 6:15:32 GMT
No Down Payment (1957) / Martin Ritt
Continuing my Martin Ritt viewing quest... After looking all over the place for this movie, I found it on YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDhnsh_mw6w. Based on John McPartland's novel, this was Martin Ritt's 2nd feature film and (as with many of his other movies) it is a movie about significant social issues relevant to the time it was made. Here, Ritt exposes a drama about four married couples who come to the suburbs after WWII and Korea. Each of the couples hope to find the suburbs as a place to peacefully raise their families and find financial success. (This was that time in the mid-50s when the male was usually the only breadwinner of the marriage.) Since all four couples live near each other. They are all good friends and often have gatherings with each other. However, the tensions in each of the marriages arise out of different problems: (but, usually the wives and their husbands disagree about what the husband should be doing to make a living.) The Boones--Troy (Cameron Mitchell) and Leola (Joanne Woodward) come from Tennessee and feel inferior to the other couples due to their lower social and educational status. Troy manages a garage but dreams of becoming a policeman in the community. He has never really found himself since his military successes as a hero in the Marines during WWII. Leola dreams of having another baby after the Boones had previously given up their child for adoption. The Flaggs --Jerry (Tony Randall) and Isabelle (Sheree North) have a young son. Jerry is a dreamer and an borderline alcoholic who would rather work as a used car salesman than take a regular salaried job. (This may be one of the most serious roles I have ever seen Tony Randall in.)The Martins--David (Jeffrey Hunter and Jean (Patricia Owens) are the newest members to the group, having just moved into the community. David is a researcher with his company, but Jean would like to see him go into sales where there is more money. The Kreitzers--Herman (Pat Hingle)--- who often reminds me of an earlier Nick Nolte--and Betty (Barbara Rush) are the most established of the four couples. Yet, they have their disagreements too. Herman manages a department store. But, as a member of the City Council, he is is faced with trying to get Troy on the community police force as well as being confronted with getting his neighborhood to accept integrating his hard working and talented Japanese employee, Iko (Aki Aleong), into his segregated community. I think it is only available on YouTube so the picture and sound quality are not perfect. But, it is still well worth viewing. It is captivating to watch as the four couples stories blend together as one. This movie makes for a powerful drama; I would highly recommend giving it a shot!! Full TCM Synopsis with SPOILERS:When electrical engineer David Martin and his ambitious wife Jean move into the Sunrise Hills suburban housing development, their neighbors, Herman and Betty Kreitzer, invite them to a barbeque. Also invited are Jerry Flagg, a shiftless, used car salesman who cloaks his disappointment with life in an alcoholic haze, Jerry's long-suffering wife Isabelle, Troy Boone, a crude, uneducated auto mechanic who glories in his past as a war hero, and Troy's sultry wife Leola. At the party, David comments that he feels fortunate to be able to buy a house, to which Jerry cynically replies that they are all at least twenty-five years in debt. When the drunken, lecherous Jerry asks Jean to dance and then clings to her suggestively, Isabelle runs home in tears. Later, at home, Jean prods David to leave engineering, a job he loves, for a higher paying position in sales. The next morning, Leola, restless, reproaches Troy for forcing her to give away the child she bore before they were married. When Leola pleads with Troy to have another baby, Troy, who has applied for the job of police chief, insists on waiting until he is hired. After Troy leaves for work, Leola sobs in silent desperation. Meanwhile, at the Markham used car lot, Jerry, bent on earning enough money to buy his son a new bike, pressures the Burnetts, a naĂŻve, unsuspecting couple, into spending their last dollar on a used car. With the anticipated commission from the sale, Jerry insists on throwing a lavish party for the neighbors. Meanwhile, Herman, the manager of an appliance store, is asked by his Japanese employee Iko to help persuade the subdivision's developers to allow his family to move into the community. When Betty expresses reluctance to become involved in a racial controversy, Herman angrily criticizes her for claiming devotion to religious tenets while refusing to help fight racial intolerance. At the party that night, Jerry is boasting that easy credit and no money down is the secret to prosperity when Markham, his boss, appears at the door, furious that Jerry financed the Burnetts' loan through a usurious finance company. When Markham demands that Jerry immediately return the Burnetts' money, Jerry speeds away, drunk. As Isabelle and Herman drive off in search of Jerry, Troy invites Jean to his garage to view his war trophies and there confides that his war memories are the only thing keeping him alive. Leola, meanwhile, gets drunk and begins to babble about the baby Troy made her give away. After Troy hauls the squalling Leola home, Jerry returns and begins to jabber about his get-rich schemes, causing Isabelle to scream in frustration. The next day, Herman, the head of the City Council, tells Troy that he has been disqualified from the chief's job because of his lack of education. Troy, who had hoped to regain his former glory through the police chief's uniform, explodes and goes home, drunk and seething with resentment. After he accuses Leola of trying to pass off someone else's baby as his and then kicks in the television set, Leola flees and Troy goes to bed, bottle in hand. Some time later that night, Troy, intoxicated, menacingly lumbers into Jean's kitchen. David is away on a business trip, and Jean, helpless and alone, tries to fend off Troy's advances to no avail. After Troy rapes her, she runs in hysterics next door to Betty and Herman's house. When David returns home the next morning, Jean tells David that Troy raped her. Furious, David hurries next door to confront him, but Troy claims that Jean wanted to have sex with him. As Leola watches, the two men fight and Troy slugs David to the floor. David then returns home to reassure Jean that he still loves her. Denouncing Troy, Leola declares that she is leaving him, and when he tries to stop her, she pushes him away, causing him to fall underneath their car, which is supported only by a jack. When the car crashes down on Troy, David, hearing the commotion, rushes into the garage and raises the car with the jack, freeing Troy, who then dies in Leola's arms. The following Sunday, all the neighbors, including Iko, attend church while Leola climbs into a cab and drives out of town, passing a sign that reads "Happy Acres, the happy end to your house hunting."
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Post by petrolino on Dec 8, 2018 16:17:03 GMT
'Distant Drums' (1951) - Western set during the Second Seminole War in the 1840s. Director Raoul Walsh shoots in the Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine, Florida. I read that this movie introduced the Wilhelm scream sound effect which is used "to vocalize a character being bitten by an alligator". Lithuanian leading lady Mari Aldon married film director Tay Garnett. Walsh and Garnett would later co-write the Mickey Spillane adaptation 'The Delta Factor' (1970) starring legendary alligator hunter Christopher George.
'Christopher George was born in Royal Oak, Michigan, on February 25, 1931, the son of Greek immigrants John and Vaseleke George. John was born in Thebes, Greece, and was a veteran of World War I, and Vaseleke was born in Athens. George could not speak English until he was six years old, because his family only spoke Greek at home. His father was a traveling salesman during his childhood. He accompanied his father on selling trips to cities such as Akron, New York City, Chicago, St. Louis, Memphis, and Detroit. From Michigan, the family moved to Mountain Lakes, New Jersey. Once he began learning to speak English, his father enrolled him in Greek school in addition to his regular school so that he would not forget the Greek language. That was where George first became interested in acting; at Greek school they performed Greek plays and recited Greek poetry. When he was 14, he and his family moved to Miami, Florida. As a child, he lived in the Coconut Grove section of Miami and attended Shenandoah Elementary School and Miami Senior High School. In school, he played soccer, football and baseball and ran track. While in Florida, he used to hunt for alligators in the Everglades. After obtaining his driver's license, he worked for his father, driving trucks between Miami and other cities along the Eastern seaboard. When he was young, George felt bound to enter the Greek Orthodox Church and his family prepared him for it; his brother Nick said that all through his childhood, Christopher was an altar boy and a choir boy and that his parents and the priest were trying to groom him to become a priest. He served as an altar boy at St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Miami. George enlisted in the United States Marine Corps (USMC) on October 13, 1948, at Jacksonville, Florida, at age 17. He lied about his age on his recruitment form by giving his year of birth as 1929, which then stuck with him for most of his adult life. He attributed his enlistment to being inspired by John Wayne, saying, "You know, he caused the enlistment of hundreds of kids in the Marines and I was one of them." According to his military record at the National Personnel Records Center, he attended boot camp at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina, and graduated with a meritorious promotion to private first class on December 31, 1948. His first duty station was Headquarters Squadron, Marine Corps Air Station Quantico, Virginia. In April 1950, he transferred to Aircraft Engineering Squadron 12 (AES-12), also located at Quantico. AES-12 maintained the aircraft for school pilots and also used them as a demonstration squadron for members of the United States Congress, demonstrating new rockets and bombs. While assigned to AES-12, he rose to the rank of sergeant. He had forced landings in airplanes while he was in the Marines, and while stationed at Quantico, was very sick, lying in the hospital with "a 110-degree fever." While stationed at Quantico, George was a passenger in an aircraft flown by one of AES-12's officers. The weather was clear and sunny that day when both of the engines failed at approximately 8,000 feet (2,400 m) above the Carolinas. Both pilots worked to get the engines restarted, dipping to an altitude of about 1,000 feet (300 m) before they succeeded. Another time, an aircraft caught fire; he had to bail out, in the first parachute jump of his life. During the Korean War, George skippered a Marine Corps crash boat, and served as gunner aboard the type of rescue aircraft used to fly wounded out of Korea. He completed a three-year enlistment with the Marines and stayed for an additional year, before requesting an honorable discharge and returning home to Miami. He left active service on August 29, 1952. After that, as a sergeant in the Marine Corps Reserves, he joined Marine Fighter Squadron 142 (VMF-142) of the Marine Air Reserve Training Command, Marine Corps Air Station Miami, Florida. He also served in the 4th Supply Company, in Stockton, California. Finally, he reverted to inactive reserve status and was assigned to Headquarters, 6th MCR&RD (Marine Corps Reserve and Recruiting District), Atlanta, Georgia, until completing his enlisted service and receiving a discharge on September 3, 1956. While in the Marine Corps, his superior officers encouraged him to apply for flight school and a commission; instead, he chose to receive a discharge so he could return to school. He passed a high school equivalency exam. During the summer of 1976, he appeared in a recruiting film made for the Marine Corps Air Reserves. On May 5, 2009, the Marine Corps flew a flag over the Iwo Jima Memorial in honor of his service in the Corps. Christopher George earned the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal and the National Defense Service Medal. These awards are documented in his official military personnel file available at the National Archives and Records Administration.'
- Wikipedia
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Post by Doghouse6 on Dec 8, 2018 23:25:20 GMT
Perfectly stated, Doghouse--- Whenever I see Robert Ryan on the screen, I can feel that his anger is under the surface, about ready to explode. In fact, when you see him in another type of role, such as About Mrs. Leslie , I am surprised. That's a lovely and interesting film; unusual story and casting. And one of the relatively few roles allowing primacy to the real Ryan's intelligent sensitivity. Like the gentle Boris Karloff, menace just seemed to come naturally to Ryan on the screen. In a very early appearance, he had a small role in, of all things, a Fred Astaire musical: The Sky's the Limit (1943). Ducking out on D.C. hoopla celebrating his heroic exploits as a Flying Tiger, Astaire - incognito in civvies - sets his sights on photojournalist Joan Leslie. In one nightclub scene meant to be comical, he encounters Ryan and another buddy who threaten to blow his cover unless he gets up on the table and does a snake dance, during which Ryan all-too-convincingly drips with malevolence.
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Post by mikef6 on Dec 9, 2018 1:12:43 GMT
Widows / Steve McQueen (2018)
Elizabeth Debicki, Cynthia Erivo, Michelle Rodriguez, Viola Davis Full review coming tomorrow (maybe) on the weekly thread.
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Post by kijii on Dec 9, 2018 6:12:35 GMT
Stanley & Iris (1990) / Martin Ritt Seen from Region 2 DVD
This was another hard-to-find movie, but it is WELL worth seeing. It's hard to imagine Jane Fonda (Iris) and Robert De Niro (Stanley) playing opposite each other, but this works very well. Fonda plays a poor recently-widowed baking factory worker with a complex family to support: her sister, brother-in-law (both out of work), her pre-teenage boy, and pregnant teenage daughter all live together under one roof.
De Niro plays a cook in the factory's cafeteria. They meet by accident and she discovers that he can neither read nor write and has been hiding it for years. As she teaches him to read and write their relationship builds. Though not a conventional couple, this movie has somewhat the same feeling tone as Martin Ritt's Murphy's Romance (1985). The story is about an evolving relationship. No great drama, just a very nice story, and an enjoyable to experience. Iris King (Jane Fonda): You live at home with your father, you do you own cooking, and you're not married. I that the whole story? Stanley Cox (Robert De Niro): I'm think that's about as much as I'm gonna talk about.
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Post by them1ghtyhumph on Dec 10, 2018 1:35:02 GMT
Boys Town.
Hadn't seen it in quite a few years. It was fantastic.
Great performances by Spencer Tracy, Mickey Rooney and Bobs Watson.
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Post by jeffersoncody on Dec 10, 2018 17:12:40 GMT
No Down Payment (1957) / Martin Ritt
Continuing my Martin Ritt viewing quest... After looking all over the place for this movie, I found it on YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDhnsh_mw6w. Based on John McPartland's novel, this was Martin Ritt's 2nd feature film and (as with many of his other movies) it is a movie about significant social issues relevant to the time it was made. Here, Ritt exposes a drama about four married couples who come to the suburbs after WWII and Korea. Each of the couples hope to find the suburbs as a place to peacefully raise their families and find financial success. (This was that time in the mid-50s when the male was usually the only breadwinner of the marriage.) Since all four couples live near each other. They are all good friends and often have gatherings with each other. However, the tensions in each of the marriages arise out of different problems: (but, usually the wives and their husbands disagree about what the husband should be doing to make a living.) The Boones--Troy (Cameron Mitchell) and Leola (Joanne Woodward) come from Tennessee and feel inferior to the other couples due to their lower social and educational status. Troy manages a garage but dreams of becoming a policeman in the community. He has never really found himself since his military successes as a hero in the Marines during WWII. Leola dreams of having another baby after the Boones had previously given up their child for adoption. The Flaggs --Jerry (Tony Randall) and Isabelle (Sheree North) have a young son. Jerry is a dreamer and an borderline alcoholic who would rather work as a used car salesman than take a regular salaried job. (This may be one of the most serious roles I have ever seen Tony Randall in.)The Martins--David (Jeffrey Hunter and Jean (Patricia Owens) are the newest members to the group, having just moved into the community. David is a researcher with his company, but Jean would like to see him go into sales where there is more money. The Kreitzers--Herman (Pat Hingle)---who often reminds me of an earlier Nick Nolte--and Betty (Barbara Rush) are the most established of the four couples. Yet, they have their disagreements too. Herman manages a department store. But, as a member of the City Council, he is is faced with trying to get Troy on the community police force as well as being confronted with getting his neighborhood to accept integrating his hard working and talented Japanese employee, Iko (Aki Aleong), into his segregated community. I think it is only available on YouTube so the picture and sound quality are not perfect. But, it is still well worth viewing. It is captivating to watch as the four couples stories blend together as one. This movie makes for a powerful drama; I would highly recommend giving it a shot!! Full TCM Synopsis with SPOILERS:When electrical engineer David Martin and his ambitious wife Jean move into the Sunrise Hills suburban housing development, their neighbors, Herman and Betty Kreitzer, invite them to a barbeque. Also invited are Jerry Flagg, a shiftless, used car salesman who cloaks his disappointment with life in an alcoholic haze, Jerry's long-suffering wife Isabelle, Troy Boone, a crude, uneducated auto mechanic who glories in his past as a war hero, and Troy's sultry wife Leola. At the party, David comments that he feels fortunate to be able to buy a house, to which Jerry cynically replies that they are all at least twenty-five years in debt. When the drunken, lecherous Jerry asks Jean to dance and then clings to her suggestively, Isabelle runs home in tears. Later, at home, Jean prods David to leave engineering, a job he loves, for a higher paying position in sales. The next morning, Leola, restless, reproaches Troy for forcing her to give away the child she bore before they were married. When Leola pleads with Troy to have another baby, Troy, who has applied for the job of police chief, insists on waiting until he is hired. After Troy leaves for work, Leola sobs in silent desperation. Meanwhile, at the Markham used car lot, Jerry, bent on earning enough money to buy his son a new bike, pressures the Burnetts, a naĂŻve, unsuspecting couple, into spending their last dollar on a used car. With the anticipated commission from the sale, Jerry insists on throwing a lavish party for the neighbors. Meanwhile, Herman, the manager of an appliance store, is asked by his Japanese employee Iko to help persuade the subdivision's developers to allow his family to move into the community. When Betty expresses reluctance to become involved in a racial controversy, Herman angrily criticizes her for claiming devotion to religious tenets while refusing to help fight racial intolerance. At the party that night, Jerry is boasting that easy credit and no money down is the secret to prosperity when Markham, his boss, appears at the door, furious that Jerry financed the Burnetts' loan through a usurious finance company. When Markham demands that Jerry immediately return the Burnetts' money, Jerry speeds away, drunk. As Isabelle and Herman drive off in search of Jerry, Troy invites Jean to his garage to view his war trophies and there confides that his war memories are the only thing keeping him alive. Leola, meanwhile, gets drunk and begins to babble about the baby Troy made her give away. After Troy hauls the squalling Leola home, Jerry returns and begins to jabber about his get-rich schemes, causing Isabelle to scream in frustration. The next day, Herman, the head of the City Council, tells Troy that he has been disqualified from the chief's job because of his lack of education. Troy, who had hoped to regain his former glory through the police chief's uniform, explodes and goes home, drunk and seething with resentment. After he accuses Leola of trying to pass off someone else's baby as his and then kicks in the television set, Leola flees and Troy goes to bed, bottle in hand. Some time later that night, Troy, intoxicated, menacingly lumbers into Jean's kitchen. David is away on a business trip, and Jean, helpless and alone, tries to fend off Troy's advances to no avail. After Troy rapes her, she runs in hysterics next door to Betty and Herman's house. When David returns home the next morning, Jean tells David that Troy raped her. Furious, David hurries next door to confront him, but Troy claims that Jean wanted to have sex with him. As Leola watches, the two men fight and Troy slugs David to the floor. David then returns home to reassure Jean that he still loves her. Denouncing Troy, Leola declares that she is leaving him, and when he tries to stop her, she pushes him away, causing him to fall underneath their car, which is supported only by a jack. When the car crashes down on Troy, David, hearing the commotion, rushes into the garage and raises the car with the jack, freeing Troy, who then dies in Leola's arms. The following Sunday, all the neighbors, including Iko, attend church while Leola climbs into a cab and drives out of town, passing a sign that reads "Happy Acres, the happy end to your house hunting."
For the record book kijii, NO DOWN PAYMENT is available on Blu Ray from Twilight Time. I have it and can tell you print - in the correct 2.35:1 aspect ratio - quality is pristine.
www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDReviews28/no_down_payment_blu-ray.htm
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Post by kijii on Dec 10, 2018 20:51:16 GMT
Thank you---jeffersoncody
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Post by kijii on Dec 11, 2018 3:09:09 GMT
The Great White Hope (1970) / Martin Ritt Viewed from DVDBased on the life of Jack Johnson, the first black American Heavyweight Boxing Champion, this movie is a film adaptation of Howard Sackler's Broadway play. Both James Earl Jones (Jack Jefferson) and Jane Alexander (Eleanor Backman) received Oscar nominations for their roles. Though the play is a fictional account of Jack Johnson's life in the ring, there were several similarities: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Johnson_%28boxer%29. James Earl Jones and Jane Alexander are joined by some great supporting actors in this movie. Reporter : Now you're the first black man in the history of the ring who's ever had a crack at the heavyweight title. Now white folks, of course, are behind Brady. He's the redeemer of the race and so on. But you, Jack Jefferson, are you the black hope? Jack Jefferson (James Earl Jones): Well, I'm black and I'm hopin'. Goldie (Lou Gilbert) : Answer him straight, Jack.
Jack Jefferson : Hey, look, man, I ain't fighting for no race, I ain't redeeming nobody. My mama told me *Mr. Lincoln* done that. Ain't that why you shot him?
Full TCM Synopsis with SPOILERS: In the first decade of the 20th century boxer Jack Jefferson beats Frank Brady in Reno and becomes the first black heavyweight champion of the world. To the consternation of his common-law wife Clara and the militant Scipio, the irrepressible fighter takes as his mistress white divorcée Eleanor Bachman. After crossing the Illinois-Wisconsin state line with Eleanor, Jefferson is arrested in a hotel, charged under the Mann Act, and sentenced to three years in the state penitentiary at Joliet. Disguised as a member of a black baseball team, however, Jefferson escapes to Canada. Accompanied by Eleanor he travels to London, where he is refused a license to fight. In Paris he beats his white opponent so badly that none will challenge him. A pariah, he journeys to Germany. In Budapest the boxer is so reduced in circumstances as to play the title role in a cabaret performance of Uncle Tom's Cabin. Although offered a reduced sentence by a federal agent in return for throwing a fight in Havana, Jefferson refuses. He retires to Mexico, where he and Eleanor eke out a marginal existence. In desperation Eleanor begs Jefferson to accept the Havana match. The infuriated boxer berates his mistress, blaming her for their hopeless situation. Distraught, Eleanor drowns herself in a well, after which Jefferson agrees to the fixed fight. During its final rounds he rebels and attempts, too late, to win the bout.
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Post by jeffersoncody on Dec 11, 2018 9:25:27 GMT
The Great White Hope (1970) / Martin Ritt Viewed from DVDBased on the life of Jack Johnson, the first black American Heavyweight Boxing Champion, this movie is a film adaptation of Howard Sackler's Broadway play. Both James Earl Jones (Jack Jefferson) and Jane Alexander (Eleanor Backman) received Oscar nominations for their roles. Though the play is a fictional account of Jack Johnson's life in the ring, there were several similarities: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Johnson_%28boxer%29. James Earl Jones and Jane Alexander are joined by some great supporting actors in this movie. Reporter : Now you're the first black man in the history of the ring who's ever had a crack at the heavyweight title. Now white folks, of course, are behind Brady. He's the redeemer of the race and so on. But you, Jack Jefferson, are you the black hope? Jack Jefferson (James Earl Jones): Well, I'm black and I'm hopin'. Goldie (Lou Gilbert) : Answer him straight, Jack.
Jack Jefferson : Hey, look, man, I ain't fighting for no race, I ain't redeeming nobody. My mama told me *Mr. Lincoln* done that. Ain't that why you shot him?
Full TCM Synopsis with SPOILERS: In the first decade of the 20th century boxer Jack Jefferson beats Frank Brady in Reno and becomes the first black heavyweight champion of the world. To the consternation of his common-law wife Clara and the militant Scipio, the irrepressible fighter takes as his mistress white divorcée Eleanor Bachman. After crossing the Illinois-Wisconsin state line with Eleanor, Jefferson is arrested in a hotel, charged under the Mann Act, and sentenced to three years in the state penitentiary at Joliet. Disguised as a member of a black baseball team, however, Jefferson escapes to Canada. Accompanied by Eleanor he travels to London, where he is refused a license to fight. In Paris he beats his white opponent so badly that none will challenge him. A pariah, he journeys to Germany. In Budapest the boxer is so reduced in circumstances as to play the title role in a cabaret performance of Uncle Tom's Cabin. Although offered a reduced sentence by a federal agent in return for throwing a fight in Havana, Jefferson refuses. He retires to Mexico, where he and Eleanor eke out a marginal existence. In desperation Eleanor begs Jefferson to accept the Havana match. The infuriated boxer berates his mistress, blaming her for their hopeless situation. Distraught, Eleanor drowns herself in a well, after which Jefferson agrees to the fixed fight. During its final rounds he rebels and attempts, too late, to win the bout. while you are doing your Martin Ritt thing, try and track down CASEY'S SHADOW (1978)
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Post by Lebowskidoo 🦞 on Dec 11, 2018 13:53:45 GMT
Hostiles (2017), a really great modern western!
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Post by kijii on Dec 11, 2018 15:43:51 GMT
Jeffersoncody--
I reviewed Casey's Shadow in late November. I totally LOVED it!! It is fun from start to finish. It's a non-conventional movie about horse racing and breeding. Since I subscribe to Amazon Prime, I rented it for streaming from there.
Walter Matthau was great, and even Alexis Smith is in it. (I only regret that I could not find a way to insert some images from the movie since I didn't know how to do it from that site.)
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Post by teleadm on Dec 11, 2018 18:39:39 GMT
633 Squadron 1964, directed by Walter Grauman, based on a novel by Frederick E. Smith, staring Cliff Robertson, George Chakiris, Maria Perschy, Harry Andrews, Donald Houston, Michael Goodliffe, John Meillon, John Bonney and others Aerial war drama. 633 Squadron has enjoyed an unqualified string of successes. Their luck changes when they are assigned to bomb a German rocket fuel plant, in Norway which is guarded by heavy anti-aircraft defences, and the plant is considered bomb-proof. Their nearly impossible mission is further complicated by a German air raid, the difficult approach to the target and the capture and torture of the underground leader who is assisting the squadron. There is a B-movie feeling over this movie, though with a capable cast, it's never un-interesting, and it has s great music score by Ron Goodwin. Maybe there just is too many impossible missions movies made, and this one is just not on the top shelf. Director Grauman feels too much of a TV director and doesn't seem to have the visualisation or injection this story could have needed. Some have written that the mission has some parallels with Star Wars 1977, but I have read about many movies that's supposed to have such parallels. Great Scottish location shots standing in for Norway. Worth watching if you like seeing aerial WWII fights, and war movies in general, and for completists of the stars
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Post by The Herald Erjen on Dec 11, 2018 18:49:06 GMT
"Eyes Wide Shut" Watched it last Sunday. It was mailed to me by a friend in another state. It was four Kubrick classics in one case, but I had already seen the other three (2001: A Space Odyssey, Barry Lyndon, and The Shining).
I hardly watch movies at all anymore but my friend and I were discussing Kubrick and possible symbolism in his films over the phone, and I mentioned that I had never seen this one, so she sent it to me. It's a very strange film.
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Post by The Herald Erjen on Dec 11, 2018 18:56:31 GMT
633 Squadron 1964, directed by Walter Grauman, based on a novel by Frederick E. Smith, staring Cliff Robertson, George Chakiris, Maria Perschy, Harry Andrews, Donald Houston, Michael Goodliffe, John Meillon, John Bonney and others Aerial war drama. 633 Squadron has enjoyed an unqualified string of successes. Their luck changes when they are assigned to bomb a German rocket fuel plant, in Norway which is guarded by heavy anti-aircraft defences, and the plant is considered bomb-proof. Their nearly impossible mission is further complicated by a German air raid, the difficult approach to the target and the capture and torture of the underground leader who is assisting the squadron. There is a B-movie feeling over this movie, though with a capable cast, it's never un-interesting, and it has s great music score by Ron Goodwin. Maybe there just is too many impossible missions movies made, and this one is just not on the top shelf. Director Grauman feels too much of a TV director and doesn't seem to have the visualisation or injection this story could have needed. Some have written that the mission has some parallels with Star Wars 1977, but I have read about many movies that's supposed to have such parallels. Great Scottish location shots standing in for Norway. Worth watching if you like seeing aerial WWII fights, and war movies in general, and for completists of the stars Good movie, but I wish it had followed the book more closely.
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Post by Nalkarj on Dec 11, 2018 19:16:17 GMT
I finished rewatching the Alastair Sim Scrooge (’51) last night. There are so many wonderful things in it, and I’m a huge Sim fan, but–somehow I just don’t like it as much as the Scott or Finney versions. The Christmas Past sections are superb, and make for probably the best part of the movie–curiously, as I usually find the school stuff to be a bit dull in many other adaptations. Here, all the casting is spot-on, the school stuff is well-done, and expanded material about the business is genuinely interesting. (Scrooge and Marley’s post-Fezziwig boss was created for the movie, but he seems perfectly organic with the rest of it and has a fittingly Dickensian name–“Mr. Jorkin”!) And everything before the Ghosts is a lot of fun. Why don’t I love it, then? Sim, curiously, just doesn’t look or sound like Scrooge to me–he’s not really a wizened old geezer, he doesn’t seem to fit the part. (Hicks, Finney, and Scott are all closer to Dickens’ man–particularly Finney, portraying Scrooge as an empty husk of a man.) And his transformation is a bit rushed, as in many adaptations. Scrooge has to open up gradually, after how broken and horrible he was in the beginning of the story. Mervyn Johns and Hermione Baddeley are great as Mr. and Mrs. Cratchit, but Tiny Tim (Glyn Dearman), though he looks the part, falters in his line-readings. (I shouldn’t criticize a child actor that much, I know, but the Tim story is the emotional heart of the movie.) I’m also not convinced by Francis de Wolff’s Ghost of Christmas Present, who needs more warmth and bonhomie. With that said, Sim gives a superb performance, as usual, and there is, as mentioned, a great deal of this that’s excellent, as well as some lovely cinematography. I’m happy it’s many people’s favorite–it’s just not mine. But still very good.
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Post by kijii on Dec 12, 2018 7:01:29 GMT
The Front (1976) / Martin Ritt Rented from Amazon PrimeThe thing that is original about this movie is that it was written and directed by two people who where blacklisted as well had staring several people who were blacklisted. Other than that, those who are familiar with the story won't find much new offered here.
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Post by kijii on Dec 12, 2018 16:29:53 GMT
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Post by teleadm on Dec 12, 2018 19:02:10 GMT
The Dolly Sisters 1945, directed by Irving Cummings, staring Betty Grable, John Payne, June Haver, S.Z. Sakall, Reginald Gardiner, Frank Latimore, Gene Sheldon, Sig Ruman, Trudy Marshall and others. Musical Biography Drama about two Hungarian born sisters who made it big in show bussiness in the early 20th century America and Paris, and the men they met and fell in love with. "They're Beautiful...They're Glamorous...They're Scandalous..." Cramed with wellknown and newly written songs there's hardly time for any plot. The movie follows a wellworn plot-line, from unknowns to the big break to becoming famous everywhere to sorrows and sadness to a tearfull reunion and a happy ending. The movie has nearly nothing to do with the real Dolly Sisters who's story I looked up, and would have made a much darker and more interesting movie. As it is, it's a wellmade pollished production that is sadly very forgettable. In the movie the sisters is unlucky in gambling, but lucky with men, in real life they were very unlucky with men, but extremly lucky in gambling and won lots of money, but you can't put that in a wholesome musical moral booster. It had it's premiere when WWII was still going and in the end titles it asks it's audience to not forget buying US War Bonds. One of the big production numbers, "The Darktown Strutters' Ball", has a lot of chorus girls in blackface or more in brownface, just to warn those who might get a moral panic. The movie was nominated for one Oscar, in the Best Music, Original Song category, "I Can't Begin to Tell You" by James V. Monaco and Mack Gordon. The real Dolly Sisters
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