Wednesday, December 15, 2021
Christmas Movies and Me
- Commentary: For a rundown on how I feel about Christmas Movies, read the first three paragraphs of my write-up for Remember the Night.
P.S.: Notice, I have no animated movies in my Christmas Collection. I did, one (I won't even bother to insert the name of the movie), which Mom liked, but I got rid of it after she died because I didn't care for it and knew I'd never watch it again.
Christmas in Connecticut
- Commentary: As with the previous Christmas movie, I just received this today and haven't watched it. But I'll be watching it either tomorrow or Friday of this week. I'll post more then.
By the way, Nell Minow contributed a very interesting and laudatory piece about Stanwyck's involvement in movies, including a bit about her life. If Barbara Stanwyck strikes you, at all, read it.
Update 5/15/2022: It's almost six months since I received and posted this movie and I still haven't watched it. I'm between Christmas seasons by almost exactly half, and likely won't watch this until the next season, six months from now. Although I live in a place where the summers are temperate and, during the monsoon, you can almost make yourself believe winter is coming, still, this place also produces a decent winter, including, most years, snow, so, I think I'll wait for another six months to watch this. Maybe over the Thanksgiving Holiday weekend. Remind me, please.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Barbara Stanwyck Elizabeth Dennis Morgan Jefferson Jones Sydney Greenstreet Alexander Yardley Reginald Gardiner John Sloan S.Z. Sakall Felix Bassenak Robert Shayne Dudley Beecham Una O'Connor Norah Frank Jenks Sinkewicz
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 1945
Directed by Peter Godfrey.
Labels: §, barbara-stanwyck, Christmas, dramedy3
Remember the Night
- Commentary: This is one of two Christmas movies I ordered, both featuring Barbara Stanwyck, both filmed in the 1940's (this one in 1940, the other in 1945). My route to obtaining both of these Christmas movies didn't start even close to my destination. Last week I noticed, upon receiving Die Hard, that my Christmas collection of movies is paltry. This didn't surprise me. I'm not a fan of just any old Christmas or Holiday movie. As you can see, if you check out the list attached to the "Christmas" label, back there, I've even gotten rid of two Christmas movies since my mother's death (both of which she loved) that I just couldn't stand. I'm very discerning when it comes to holiday movies, so much so that if the cover of the case even looks like a TV Christmas production, I shake my head and turn away.
But, I wanted to enrich my Christmas collection, this year. For some reason, which I doubt I'll plumb, I'm in the mood for Christmas movies this year. This isn't the first time it's happened, but it is pretty rare. So, I went on a hunt for a couple more, having had such luck with Die Hard. The search was increasingly dismal. I almost gave up. Then, I stumbled across these two Barbara Stanwyck movies [the other is Christmas in Connecticut]. I looked up information on them and thought, yeah! That's what I'm looking for! So I ordered both. Now, I'm looking forward to a Christmas movie session this year, and it'll start tomorrow night.
The Christmas movies I've collected (and kept), though, are dear to my heart. I can't imagine going through "the season" without watching all of them every year between a bit before Christmas up to New Years. I even like every single one of them enough so that it's not unusual to watch any one of them throughout the year during the "off-holiday season" (which is, of course, the entire rest of the year excepting the Christmas season). And, by the way, don't even mention Thanksgiving movies. Not having any, thank you.
Stay tuned for more, later, when I actually watch these two movies.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Barbara Stanwyck Lee Leander Fred MacMurray John Sargent Beulah Bondi Mrs. Sargent Elizabeth Patterson Aunt Emma Willard Robertson Francis X. O'Leary Sterling Holloway Willie Simms Charles Waldron NY Judge Paul Guilfoyle NY DA
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 1940
Directed by Preston Sturges.
Labels: §, barbara-stanwyck, beulah-bondi, Christmas, dramaE
Magnificent Obsession
- Commentary: When I looked for links about this movie to attach to the title of this post, I found two competing write-ups by two movie reviewers I respect and couldn't decide between them, so, I did a kind of blind movie case flip (front=Emanuel Levy's review; back=DVD Savant's Glenn Erickson's review). Now that I've thoroughly perused both reviews, I have to say, I'm glad Glenn Erickson's "won", because he writes, as well, about the history of the movie and Douglas Sirk's movie art, really fascinating stuff. Here is the Emanuel Levy review, which is little more than a perfunctory rundown of the story.
Okay. So, I just received this movie, as well as two Barbara Stanwyck Christmas movies in the post. I've seen none of them. That's what I'll be doing tonight and, probably tomorrow. Not sure which movie I'll watch first. I'll decide that while I'm waiting for the sun to go down.
Later, readers.
Update 5/15/2022: Unlike the two Christmas movies I received with this, I've seen this movie at least twice since I received it. I'm turning into a fan of 1950's lush melodramas [Should I be concerned?!?], particularly if they star Rock Hudson, it seems. I obtained three such movies at the same time and have to say, yikes! Apparently, they (primarily Douglas Sirk) knew what they were doing with melodrama in the 1950's. I was born at the beginning of that decade, so I was too young (and too isolated, frankly, living on an island where going to see a movie was a chore and television, well, forget ever seeing a film on the one local channel we received) to be exposed to any of these movies. When I became interested in movies it was the late 1960's and early 1970's and quite a different kind of movie was being produced, as well as since.
Anyway, what fun to discover these movies! They are all engaging as hell. They are so good at plucking the woman-strings, even now, they almost make me ashamed to have any lingerings of high-50's-female-sentiment. I really thought I'd missed out on all that! Anyway, this one is a stunner, featuring world travel, blindness, playboy-to-physician changes of character, you name the dramatic set-up, it's in this movie. And, much to my surprise, I love it! It's not, I might add, what I would ever have wanted for my life, but I can truly understand what was so beguiling about the life-style on which this movie is framed. And Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson! Plus a dash of pseudo-philosophical bullshit, I mean, how lucky could those 1950's women get?!? And then Agnes Moorehead shows up in two out of these three tear jerkers (although, I have to admit, it takes a lot more than any of these movies to make me cry; I may have been born in the 50's, but I'm not of the 50's)? And a playfully, preternaturally wise Girl Child! Wow! Bring it on, baby!
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Jane Wyman Helen Phillips Rock Hudson Bob Merrick Barbara Rush Joyce Phillips Agnes Moorehead Nancy Ashford Otto Kruger Randolph Gregg Palmer Tom Masterson Paul Cavanagh Dr. Giraud Sara Shane Valerie Richard H. Cutting Dr. Dodge Judy Nugent Judy Helen Kleeb Mrs. Eden Rudolph Anders Dr. Fuss
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 1954
Directed by Douglas Sirk.
Labels: Criterion3, douglas-sirk, dramaE, rock-hudson
