Wednesday, November 30, 2022
Shockproof
- Commentary: Under construction.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Cornel Wilde Griff Marat Patricia Knight Jenny Marsh John Baragrey Harry Wesson Esther Minciotti Mrs. Marat Howard St. John Sam Brooks Russell Collins Frederick Bauer Charles Bates Tommy Marat Gilbert Barnett Barry
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 1949
Directed by Douglas Sirk.
Labels: douglas-sirk, film-noir2, goflexB, melodramaB
Monday, November 28, 2022
The Stranger
- Commentary: Under construction.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Orson Welles Franz Kindler/Prof. Charles Rankin Edward G. Robinson Mr. Wilson Loretta Young Mary Longstreet Rankin Philip Merivale Judge Adam Longstreet Richard Long Noah Longstreet Konstantin Shayne Conrad Meinike Byron Keith Dr. Jeffrey Lawrence Billy House Mr. Potter Martha Wentworth Sara Isabel O'Madigan Mrs. Lawrence Pietro Sosso Mr. Peabody Erskine Sanford Party Guest
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 1946
Directed by Orson Welles.
Labels: film-noir2, goflexB, melodramaA, thriller3
Sunday, November 27, 2022
Quicksand
- Commentary: Under construction.
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Mickey Rooney Dan Jeanne Cagney Vera Barbara Bates Helen Peter Lorre Nick Taylor Holmes Harvey Art Smith Mackey Red Nichols Himself Wally Cassell Chuck Richard Lane Lt. Nelson Patsy O'Connor Millie John Gallaudet Moriarty Minerva Urecal Landlady Sidney Marion Shorty Lester Dorr Baldy Kitty O'Neil Madame Zaronga Jack Elam Man at Bar
Release Date: 1950
Directed by Irving Pichel.
Labels: film-noir2, goflexB, melodramaA
Woman on the Run
- Commentary: Under construction.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Ann Sheridan Eleanor Johnson Dennis O'Keefe Daniel Legget Robert Keith Inspector Martin Ferris John Qualen Maibus Frank Jenks Detective Shaw Ross Elliott Frank Johnson Jane Liddell Messenger Girl Joan Fulton Tipsy Blonde
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 1950
Directed by Norman Foster.
Labels: film-noir2, goflexC, melodramaB
Friday, November 25, 2022
The Second Woman
- Commentary: Under construction.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Robert Young Jeff Cohalan Betsy Drake Ellen Foster John Sutton Keith Ferris Florence Bates Amelia Foster Morris Carnovsky Dr. Raymond Hartley Henry O'Neill Ben Sheppard Jean Rogers Dodo Ferris Raymond Largay Major Badger Shirley Ballard Vivian Sheppard Vici Raaf Sue a Secretary Jason Robards, Sr. Stacy Rogers Steven Geray Balthazar Jones
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 1950
Directed by James V. Kern.
Labels: film-noir2, goflexB, melodramaB
Friday, October 21, 2022
Notorious
- Commentary: Under construction.
Roger Ebert christened this movie as one of his Great Movies.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Cary Grant T. R. Devlin Ingrid Bergman Alicia Huberman Claude Rains Alexander Sebastian Leopoldine Konstantin Madame Anna Sebastian Louis Calhern Cpt. Paul Prescott Reinhold Schünzel Dr. Anderson Moroni Olsen Walter Beardsley Ivan Triesault Eric Mathis Alexis Minotis Joseph, butler Wally Brown Mr. Hopkins Sir Charles Mendl Commodore Ricardo Costa Dr. Julio Barbosa Eberhard Krumschmidt Emil Hupka Fay Baker Ethel Bea Benaderet File Clerk Friedrich von Ledebur Knerr
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 1946
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
Labels: §5, alfred-hitchcock, cary-grant, claude-rains, Criterion4, film-noir2, ingrid-bergman, melodramaB, spy, thriller3
Thursday, April 09, 2009
Katharine Hepburn 100th Anniversary Collection
- Who's watched: M & G
- Mentions: none
- Commentary: The Collection contains the following movies:
The Corn is Green - directed by George Cukor
This was Mom's favorite of the collection. Of course it was. Mom was a teacher, not by default, as so many are, but by choice. She believes in the importance of good teaching. When she was in the Navy she was an instructor, in fact; a gunnery instructor. She was a crack shot, in and out of uniform. That's how she met my father. He was one of her students in the Navy.
I think she would have liked to have been in a situation like the one laid out in the movie. In fact, considering that she taught in country schools in very rural areas before going into the Navy, perhaps she was.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Katharine Hepburn Lilly Moffat Ian Saynor Morgan Evans Bill Fraser The Squire Patricia Hayes Mrs. Watty Anna Massey Miss Ronberry Artro Morris John Goronwy Jones Dorothea Phillips Sarah Pugh Toyah Willcox Bessie Watty
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 1979
Morning Glory - directed by Lowell Sherman
Although the idea of the movie attracted me because I have actors in my family, in many ways I find this movie uncomfortably jittery, rather like Hepburn's portrayal of Eva Lovelace. Mom found it too jittery to watch for long. I don't think she ever viewed the entire movie of a piece. I don't blame her but, frankly, I'm glad I have a copy of it, if for no other reason that to remind me of the crazier aspects of pursuing the acting profession. Not everyone who does exhibits behavior like Eva's, but, believe me, such aspiring actors are not in the minority.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Katharine Hepburn Eva Lovelace Douglas Fairbanks Jr Joseph Sheridan Adolphe Menjou Louis Easton Mary Duncan Rita Verdon C. Aubrey Smith Robert Harley Hedges Don Alvarado Pepi Velez Fredric Santley Will Seymour Richard Carle Henry Lawrence Tyler Brooke Charley Van Duesen Geneva Mitchell Gwendoline Hall Helen Ware Nellie Navarre Robert Adair Roberts
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 1933
Sylvia Scarlett - directed by George Cukor
Mom didn't find this one interesting, despite her interest in gender-bender movies, but I did. The caper part of the story was beside the point, to me, but Hepburn was able to play a superb boy, I think.
Since Mom's death, though, I've learned more about the film itself and now that "we're" in an LBGTQ kind of mood, I find watching the movie for trans detail pretty interesting. I've done this twice within the last couple of years. It has a strong feminist undercurrent.
Although the movie has certain peculiarities that could be (and were, at the time of its release) considered flaws, those same pointed-out flaws now seem more like societal misunderstandings that included both critics and audiences, like it just wasn't time, yet, for this movie or this idea.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Katharine Hepburn Sylvia Scarlett Cary Grant Jimmy Monkey Brian Aherne Michael Fane Edmund Gwenn Henry Scarlett
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 1935
Undercurrent - directed by Vincente Minnelli
I honestly don't remember anything about this movie, even though I'm sure we watched it. I have no idea if Mom does.
Update 5/23/2022: As of this day, I still don't know whether I, or we, ever watched this film. That's something I should do tonight. Maybe it's one of those movies, like Keeper of the Flame, that's so turgid that the only way you can remember it is by watching it yet again.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Katharine Hepburn Ann Hamilton Robert Taylor Alan Garroway Edmund Gwenn Prof. "Dink" Hamilton Marjorie Main Lucy Jayne Meadows Sylvia Lea Burton Clinton Sundberg Mr. Warmsley Dan Tobin Prof. Joseph Bangs Kathryn Card Mrs. Foster
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 1946
→ film-noir2
Without Love - directed by Harold S. Bucquet
I found this movie minimally intriguing, because of Hepburn's and Tracey's IRL relationship, but for me, that was almost all that was intriguing about it. Mom liked it very much.
I was disappointed because it was one of the few Tracy/Hepburn movies I hadn't seen and the description interested me...but, I don't know, their chemistry seemed off in this film, as though they were having a long personal argument underneath the script. It was distracting. However, Lucille Ball plays a fun part in it and Gloria Grahame (Violet Bick in It's a Wonderful Life)
Mom really liked the character that Hepburn played in this movie, which didn't surprise me...I think Mom imagined herself as "that type".
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Spencer Tracy Patrick Jameson Katharine Hepburn Jamie Rowan Lucille Ball Kitty Trimble Keenan Wynn Quentin Ladd Carl Esmond Paul Carrell Patricia Morison Edwina Collins Felix Bressart Prof. Ginza Gloria Grahame Flower Girl
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 1945
Dragon Seed - directed by Harold S. Bucquet & Jack Conway
I would have loved to have managed to link to a full copy of James Agee's review of this film. Not being able to find it, though, I did find a description of it that included excerpts, thank you Claude Rains Fan Club. The Dragon Seed review is the first review on this page. That being said, both Mom and I were a little off-put by this movie, almost too much to enjoy it. Both of us have always been annoyed with yellow-black-red-any/face. Although all were a common practice during a certain time period in Hollywood (and, sometimes, even now), it's very distracting. Hollywood, find actors who are of the ethnicity you need! If you can't find anyone, look harder! They're out there!
Update 5/23/20: Regarding yellow face: While putting together the Actor/Role table, below, my curiosity got the best of me and I searched for a really full cast listing of this movie to see if the one Asian American named among the first sixteen actors listed was the only Asian American. Turns out, quite a few Asian Americans appeared in this movie but, of course, not in any upper lead roles. The further down you go on the Cast & Crew list, the more likely you are to find an Asian American actor. Shameful for its time, indeed! The Asian American actors were out there, and, apparently, were enlisted in this cast, but only one appeared in an leading role.
P.S DVD Savant's article on this collection, linked to the title of this post, gives meticulous, interesting reviews for each one of the movies above. It's easy to find them in his write-up.
This collection was clearly put together to make a little money off Hepburn's lesser known works. That's okay. I'm always interested in viewing odd movies by, so to speak, "even" (in this case, meaning "famous") people. This collection is a doozy! I'm surprised The Madwoman of Chaillot wasn't included! Yes, Virginia, I saw that film. 'Nuf said.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Katharine Hepburn Jade Walter Huston Ling Tan Aline MacMahon Ling Tan's Wife Akim Tamiroff Wu Lien Turhan Bey Lao Er Tan Hurd Hatfield Lao San Tan J. Carrol Naish Japanese Kitchen Overseer Agnes Moorehead Third Cousin's Wife Henry Travers Third Cousin Robert Bice Lao Ta Tan Robert Lewis Captain Sato Frances Rafferty Japanese Official Leonard Strong Japanese Official Jacqueline deWit Wu Lien's wife Clarence Lung Fourth Cousin Paul E. Burns Neighbor Shen
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 1944
Labels: cary-grant, film-noir2, gender-bender, katharine-hepburn, marjorie-main, melodramaB, pre-code, spencer-tracy, teaching, tracy-hepburn
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
The Letter - The Bette Davis Collection
- Who's watched: M & G
- Mentions: *1*
- Commentary: It took us two tries to get through this one, even though it was the shortest of the Bette Davis movies we bought in the collection with which this one came. Neither of us found it disturbing, but we just couldn't get into the story. When we finally watched it, at the end Mom and I looked at one another.
"Well," she said, "we don't have to do that again."
"Yeah, I know what you mean."
I'm not sure what our problem with it was. It could simply be that we're both hard sells for this type of movie. I have to say, though, since watching it, I've found that several of the scenes have continued to haunt me, probably because of both the staging and framing. As well, I have to admit, Bette Davis was, as usual, a dazzling intepreter of this character. I may, indeed, watch it again. Not soon, though.
I've linked the title of this post to a site that gets it done when it comes to collections (and other reviews, as well). Thank you, DVD Savant, now CineSavant! His review of this movie is the fifth review on the page.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Bette Davis Leslie Crosbie Herbert Marshall Robert Crosbie James Stephenson Howard Joyce Frieda Inescort Dorothy Joyce Gale Sondergaard Mrs. Hammond Bruce Lester John Withers Elizabeth Earl Adele Ainsworth Cecil Kellaway Prescott Sen Yung Ong Chi Seng Doris Lloyd Mrs. Cooper Willie Fung Chung Hi Tetsu Komai Head Boy
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 1940
Directed by William Wyler.
Labels: bette-davis, drama9, film-noir2, melodramaA, suspense2
Sunday, October 09, 2005
Possessed - The Joan Crawford Collection
- Who's watched: Neither
- Mentions: None
- Commentary: This came as one of five in a Joan Crawford Collection (Click the part of the title that says "The Joan Crawford Collection" for a different summary and review). Yet another in the we haven't watched, although it sounds as tantalizing as the rest.
We finally watched this film and it had the same effect on us as The Damned Don't Cry. It's not only fascinating to watch Joan Crawford emote her way through this movie, the breadth of this movie is huge, which makes it treacherously engaging. I mean, if you think you can watch bits of it here and there, forget it. Once you start this picture, you will be cancelling whatever activities you had planned to interrupt the film into sections.
Update: 9/23/21: I've watched this film many times since Mom's death. For some reason I find the old style psychiatric babble spewed as Louise is being diagnosed fascinating. It's pretty much old school, now, but it's, hmmm, educational, I guess, to listen to. In addition, Louise's murderous rage seems likely to this day, and, yes, Louise, David is surely a cad, you should have given him up, but it's hard, isn't it, when you love someone and even you can't explain why, because he's a cad. Plus, there's all the drama going on with the man she marries, Dean Graham, and his daughter, who is maturing before her eyes and becomes an imaginary threat to Louise. Such a delectable movie! So full of Louise's internal histrionics! This one's a keeper!
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Joan Crawford Louise Howell Van Heflin David Sutton Raymond Massey Dean Graham Geraldine Brooks Carol Graham Stanley Ridges Dr. Willard Nana Bryant Pauline Graham Peter Miles Wynn Graham Griff Barnett Coroner
Here you can find a link to the Wikipedia write-up on this film. The first link attached to the title of this post will take you to TCM's article on this film. In addition, if you move your cursor through to the second link in the title above, you will find DVD Savant's review of this movie in second place on the page.
Release Date: 1947
Directed by Curtis Bernhardt.
Labels: dramaA, film-noir2, joan-crawford, melodramaA, van-heflin
Mildred Pierce 1945 film - The Joan Crawford Collection
- Who's watched: M & G
- Mentions: *1*
- Commentary: This came as one of five in a Joan Crawford Collection (Click the part of the title that says "The Joan Crawford Collection" for a different summary and review). Each of us had seen this at least once before we acquired it. Both of us are fascinated by the emotional violence in the film.
Update 9/23/21: I often watch this version and Kate Winslet's Mildred Pierce mini-series back-to-back. They both feature terrific actors in all parts. The actors who play Veda are both equally electrifying. Despite the fact that Joan Crawford has a penchant for playing "bad women", she was equally effective in this movie as a good woman, a woman who values her cohorts, a woman who expects nothing but the same from her husband but is not devastated when he fails, and a woman who over-values a talented but uncompassionate daughter. Granted, the daughter in this version isn't really much to hang one's hopes on, while Kate Winslet's daughter Veda is promising. And, in the mini-series, no one gets killed. But, the overall effect is the same, and quite delicious to watch!
An added delight with this version is Eve Arden as Ida Corwin, the role Mare Winningham plays in the miniseries. Eve Arden is sassy and smart as Ida Corwin, but we don't get a lot of her character development in the movie. In the mini-series, Ida's trajectory expands and becomes a mini-story in its own right.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Joan Crawford Mildred Pierce Jack Carson Wally Fay Zachary Scott Monty Beragon Eve Arden Ida Corwin Ann Blyth Veda Pierce Bruce Bennett Bert Pierce Lee Patrick Maggie Biederhof Moroni Olsen Inspector Peterson
The link to the Wikipedia write-up of this film can be found here.
Release Date: 1945
Directed by Michael Curtiz.
Labels: dramaA, film-noir2, joan-crawford, me-favorite3, melodramaA, mystery2
Humoresque - The Joan Crawford Collection
- Who's watched: M & G
- Mentions: None
- Commentary: This came as one of five in a Joan Crawford Collection (Click the part of the title that says "The Joan Crawford Collection" for a different summary and review). Both of us were surprised at the drama and melodrama. I enjoyed Joan Crawford's performance. It was much more vulnerable that I expected. As usual, Mom and I loved the clothes of the period. Mom hasn't seen the movie all the way through but has seen all of it in fits and starts.
I'm beginning to think that this collection, alone, has turned me into a staunch Joan Crawford fan! This movie is one of the most rapturous and elegant she did that I've seen. John Garfield's performance is stellar. The inclusion of Oscar Levant as the deadly comical Sid Jeffers is perfect for alleviating what could have been a smothering disaster. Instead, this film is quite blatant in its description of the patron and the artist on all counts. I think the lesson of the movie is that patrons simply cannot expect the same devotion from their artists as they give to their artists. My guess is that this is a lesson that continues to be played over and over in the art world, which means this movie, which has already stood the test of time, despite, or, perhaps because of, being pilloried, the object of satire and misunderstood will remain a spectacular referent of a potent object lesson for years to come. And, the music! Oscar Levant and Isaac Stern! Who couldn't love this combination?
For DVD Savant's review of this movie, click down the page connected to the second link in the title, up there, and you'll find his review as the first of three Joan Crawford movies reviewed on that page. TCM also has an informative write-up about the movie that you can access by clicking on the first link in the title above.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Joan Crawford Helen Wright John Garfield Paul Boray Robert Blake Paul Boray child Tommy Cook Paul Boray child J. Carrol Naish Papa Rudy Boray Ruth Nelson Mama Esther Boray Peggy Knudsen Florence Boray Tom D'Andrea Phil Boray Joan Chandler Gina Oscar Levant Sid Jeffers Richard Gaines Bauer John Abbott Conductor Bauer
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 1946
Directed by Jean Negulesco.
Labels: dramaA, film-noir2, joan-crawford, melodramaD, romance3
The Damned Don't Cry - The Joan Crawford Collection
- Who's watched: Neither
- Mentions: None
- Commentary: This came as one of five in a Joan Crawford Collection (Click the part of the title that says "The Joan Crawford Collection" for a different summary and review), only two of which either of us had seen. The name, alone, causes us to mention reminders to each other to watch it.
When we finally watched this movie, we were both mesmerized. My mother's comment after watching it was: "My goodness, she's good at playing desperate characters! I can't take my eyes off her, no matter what she does!" My sentiments, exactly.
The DVD Savant's review of this film can be found by scrolling down to the last movie review on the page connected to the second link in the title of this post. In addition, at the first link in the title to this post you can find links to two TCM articles loaded with information about this movie.
Update 9/29/19: An argument can be made for not including this in my "gang-movie" category, but, it is a gang movie, just from a mid-20th-century woman's perspective. As well, Joan Crawford is stupendous in the role of a gangster's moll.
Update: 9/23/21: This movie expertly portrays the heat (both physical and emotional) and the brittleness of Las Vegas. It's not a wonder that it does this so well. There's an umbilical link between Las Vegas and Hollywood that has existed for decades. It also well accentuates what might cause someone seeking their fortune to seek out either of these places and do what they have to do to succeed. It does this not through just Joan Crawford's character, but through many others, major and minor. The end is raw and devastating, as it shows what happens when the last good character has to make bad choices.
Update: 5/12/22: I've included Strother Martin in the table, below, because, although it's a walk-on, dive-off part which probably refuses any on-film recognition to the actor, he became ubiquitous as a character actor in both film and television after this and a few other parts (this part was his very first on-film part) and is generally celebrated as a premiere character actor. Check out his credits in his Wikipedia write-up, to which I've linked above. He's instantly recognizable. The guy was everywhere, in everything, for good reason. He died too young, but he made the absolute most of his time. Thank you, Strother. Do they make them like this, anymore? Let's hope so.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Joan Crawford Ethel Whitehead/Lorna Hansen Forbes David Brian Joe Cavany/George Castleman Steve Cochran Nick Prenta Kent Smith Martin Blackford Selena Royle Patricia Longworth Morris Ankrum Mr. Whitehead Richard Egan Roy Whitehead Strother Martin Springboard Diver
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 1950
Directed by Vincent Sherman.
Labels: dramaA, film-noir2, gang-movie, joan-crawford, melodramaD
