Movies, Mom & Me

• 
  Commentary:  Under construction.
    Even though the scenario in this movie is common enough in movie-story telling, let alone any kind of story telling, there is something universally perverse in its presentation in this movie, not to mention that the choice of actors was (and remains) genius. I've probably seen this movie, one way or another, at least five times over my movie-watching life time. I will never hesitate to watch it again. And again. Magnificent world building.
    This movie, by the way, is one of Roger Ebert's Great Movies.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Fred MacMurray	Walter Neff	Barbara Stanwyck	Phyllis Dietrichson	Edward G. Robinson	Barton Keyes	Porter Hall	Jackson
  Jean Heather	Lola Dietrichson	Tom Powers	Dietrichson	Byron Barr	Nino Zachetti	Richard Gaines	Norton
  Fortunio Bonanova	Sam Gorlopis	John Philliber	Joe Pete	Raymond Chandler	Man Reading Magazine	Bess Flowers	Norton's Secretary

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1944
    Directed by Billy Wilder.

Labels: barbara-stanwyck, Criterion8, film-noir3, thriller4

# posted by gail @ 19:34    0 comments    email......this post

• 
  Commentary:  Under construction.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Joan Crawford	Myra Hudson	Jack Palance	Lester Blaine	Gloria Grahame	Irene Neves	Bruce Bennett	Steve Kearney
  Virginia Huston	Ann Taylor	Mike Connors	Junior Kearney	Selmer Jackson	Dr. Van Roan	George Chan	Butler Julius

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1952
    Directed by David Miller.

Labels: film-noir3, goflexB, jack-palance, joan-crawford, melodramaB

# posted by gail @ 17:30    0 comments    email......this post

• 
  Commentary:  Under construction.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  William Holden	Jerry McKibbon	Edmond O'Brien	John Conroy	Alexis Smith	Amanda Waycross	Tom Tully	Matt Conroy
  Ed Begley	Neil Eichelberger	Danny Dayton	Roy Ackerman	Adele Longmire	Carmelina LaRue	Ray Teal	Police Cpt Clint

  
    Carolyn Jones played Miss Lillian Smith, her first feature film role, uncredited.
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1952
    Directed by William Dieterle.

Labels: film-noir3, goflexC, melodramaB

# posted by gail @ 17:30    0 comments    email......this post

• 
  Commentary:  Under construction.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Bette Davis	Janet Frobisher	Gary Merrill	George Bates	Emlyn Williams	Dr. Henderson	Anthony Steel	Larry Stevens

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1951
    Directed by Irving Rapper.

Labels: bette-davis, birth-year, film-noir3, goflexA, melodramaB, thriller4

# posted by gail @ 17:01    0 comments    email......this post

• 
  Commentary:  Under construction.
    Aside from the write-up of this film attached to the title of this post, I also found an interesting article about not only the film, but the criminal who inspired it.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Edmond O'Brien	Roy Collins	Frank Lovejoy	Gilbert Bowen	William Talman	Emmett Myers	José Torvay	Captain Alvarado
  Wendell Niles	Radio Announcer Self	Jean Del Val	Inspector General	Clark Howat	Government Agent	Natividad Vacío	José

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1953
    Directed by Ida Lupino.

Labels: female-director3, film-noir3, goflexA, melodramaC, suspense3, thriller3

# posted by gail @ 17:14    0 comments    email......this post

• 
  Commentary:  Under construction.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Angela Lansbury	Myra Leeds	Raymond Burr	Atty Craig Carlson	Dick Foran	Joe Leeds	John Dehner	Dist Atty Ray Willis
  Lamont Johnson	Carl Holt	Robert Griffin	Lou Kazarian	Denver Pyle	Det Lt Bradley	Russ Thorson	Judge
  Madge Blake	Jenny	Steve Carruthers	Trial Spectator	Michael Jeffers	Trial Spectator	Frank Mills	Trial Spectator

  
    You might notice, above in the table of Actors and Roles, that I've included an unusual amount of "trial spectators", all uncredited. This is because I discovered that the ones I've listed were actors with outstanding reputations, already honed through many roles, and yet playing what would be considered "bit parts" in this movie. My guess is that these actors probably wanted the exposure in this movie, which leads me to believe that its quality might be a pleasant surprise.
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1956
    Directed by by Peter Godfrey.

Labels: angela-lansbury, film-noir3, goflexB, melodramaC

# posted by gail @ 13:07    0 comments    email......this post

• 
  Commentary:  This is one I'd seen before and it didn't disappoint the second time around.
    I'm glad I own it (not only because it's a good movie, but because it was released in the year I was born. In my post about Ace in the Hole I mention my interest in watching films from that year).
    Psychologically dastardly.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Farley Granger	Guy Haines	Ruth Roman	Anne Morton	Robert Walker	Bruno Antony	Leo G. Carroll	Senator Morton
  Patricia Hitchcock	Barbara Morton	Kasey Rogers	Miriam Joyce Haines	Marion Lorne	Mrs. Antony	Jonathan Hale	Mr. Antony

  
    One of Roger Ebert's Great Movies.
    Originally published in this journal on 081416.
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1951
    Directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

Labels: alfred-hitchcock, birth-year, film-noir3, melodramaB

# posted by gail @ 01:37    0 comments    email......this post

• Who's watched:  M & G
• Mentions:  *1*
• 
  Commentary:  This is one of those movies neither Mom nor I had seen but it was one of my father's/her husband's favorites. So, one day I found a classic video rental store in Prescott (What a find!) and we spent the weekend watching 'old' movies, including our first viewing of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and this movie, with which we were both taken. I didn't realize it was such a dark story. As well, I found myself enjoying Gary Cooper, who's performance in Mr. Deeds Goes to Town was a little too over the top for me. Plus, one of the disturbing things about Capra movies is that the same actors keep showing up, playing essentially the same roles...Beulah Bondi, for instance; and the guy who plays drunken Diz, Thomas Mitchell, also plays addled Uncle Billy. It's eerie...like, you're not watching a movie, you're spying on another dimension. Not true for this movie. Thank the movie gods.
    Although I already have a post title review tagged above for this movie, out of curiosity, I wondered why I hadn't used Roger Ebert's review for it. Turns out, he didn't do a full review of the movie, although he mini-reviewed it on his PBS show and mentioned it in other pieces a few times. In answer to a question on his site about the whys and why-nots of his list of "Great Movies", Roger had this to say about the movie: "I recently screened "High Noon" (No. 33) as a candidate for my Great Movies series, and rejected it as, frankly, just not a very good film. I chose Howard Hawks' great Red River instead."
    Many reviewers disagree with Roger, such as the one whose review I linked to the title of this post. For fans of High Noon, the immediately previous link is to a four star review of the film.
  Update 11/17/2021:  This post was originally published February 6, 2005. It was one of the accidental deletions that occurred, which is covered in this post.
  Update 5/24/22:  Yet another post re-published on 4/09/09 that "disappeared" and I had to recapture.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Gary Cooper	Will Kane	Thomas Mitchell	Mayor Jonas Henderson	Lloyd Bridges	Dep. Marshal Harvey Pell	Katy Jurado	Helen Ramirez
  Grace Kelly	Amy Fowler Kane	Otto Kruger	Judge Percy Mettrick	Lon Chaney	Martin Howell	Harry Morgan	Sam Fuller
  Ian MacDonald	Frank Miller	Sheb Wooley	Ben Miller	Lee Van Cleef	Jack Colby	Robert J. Wilke	Jim Pierce

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1952
    Directed by Fred Zinnemann.

Labels: dad-favorite, dramaC, film-noir3, melodramaC, revisionist-western, thomas-mitchell

# posted by gail @ 11:15    0 comments    email......this post

• 
  Commentary:  I watched this movie last night (7/23/21). I knew nothing about it, which, I think, intensified my reaction (for the better). What an extraordinary movie! Look at all the labels I (legitimately) attached to it! It's got something for everyone, and the entire story [which is, really, a series of stories with one bright red thread (think Ellen's lipstick) running through them] attaches everything that happens to everything else! Yikes!
    First of all, Gene Tierney is amazing as the antagonist. The other actors' performances are well turned out, but they are all supportive. The movie belongs to Tierney's character, and, holy jesus, what a character she plays and how well she plays her!
    Secondly, when the movie starts, you'll notice it has an odd format: It's full-screen color. Once the movie starts, though, it takes no time to get used to this.
    Thirdly, this is not a popcorn-and-soda movie. Go ahead and put out snacks if you want, but, I can guarantee, you will be so riveted from the very beginning to the very end that you'll forget everything except the story, including any food you've supplied.
    Finally, the Criterion "special feature" material, both the film essay and the written essay, don't do justice to this movie's singularity. I've seen a lot of movies, in my time, and I am a fan of horror. The only movie I can think of that even approaches the horrific enjoyment I experienced from watching this movie is Midsommar, and, frankly, at this time, fresh from this movie, I can't tell you which I will favor. Perhaps they'll sit atop my horror genre choices in a category of their own.
    This is just a gem of a horror movie, in part because it isn't marketed as a horror movie, which was a wise choice by somebody, not sure who. I didn't even realize it was headed in that direction until a little less than half the way through. The story is masterfully manipulated. The settings give absolutely no clue as to what is going to happen. The relationships between the characters start out, and continue for quite awhile, so innocently that you cannot help but be astonished at what is happening, from scene to scene, right before your eyes, and then, when you think you've reached peak astonishment, well, hang onto your hat! No wonder Criterion has this movie in their catalog. It deserves the high honor that a Criterion production confers!
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Gene Tierney	Ellen Berent Harland	Cornel Wilde	Richard Harland	Jeanne Crain	Ruth Berent	Vincent Price	Russell Quinton
  Mary Philips	Mrs. Berent	Ray Collins	Glen Robie	Gene Lockhart	Dr. Saunders	Reed Hadley	Dr. Mason
  Darryl Hickman	Danny Harland	Chill Wills	Leick Thome	Olive Blakeney	Mrs. Louise Robie	Jim Farley	Train Conductor

  
    Here's the link to the Wikipedia write-up of this movie.
    Release Date: 1945
    Directed by John M. Stahl.

Labels: Criterion2, film-noir3, horror1, legal, melodramaA, popcorn-and-soda6, psychological1, romance4, suspense3, thriller2, tragedy2, violence4

# posted by gail @ 20:13    0 comments    email......this post

• 
  Commentary:  Yes, yes, yes. Patty MacCormack and Nancy Kelly's acting was waaay overdone. I think this might have been because both forgot to wash the stage off before they stepped in front of a camera. It also may have happened because the stage play received so much attention that the film director thought keeping stage performance acting would increase interest in the film. And, yes, in places, the story seems so preposterous that even I, alone, at home, watching the movie last night (not my first watching by any means) grinned a lot, and sometimes chuckled aloud. Still and all, this is one movie I love to watch! There is something about watching the story of a perfectly devlish child, regardless of how the story ends. My preference, by the way, is that the child survives, so that I, as a member of the audience, am allowed to speculate on further horrors that child may perpetuate. I am always aware, when I watch the film, that the stage play, in fact, doesn't end with "sweet" Rhoda's death, but, rather, her mother's death, and the assumption that Rhoda continues her murderous life. Considering that it has survived as a novel, a stage play and a couple of movies, including one that is said to have been inspired by it, The Good Son, I suspect I am not the only person with this preference, since the change of ending for the film was not dictated by a clear thinking director but by the Production Code Administration.
    I'm not sure I understand what the appeal of devlish children is. Perhaps it has something to do with all the anger toward life one acquires in childhood that is never resolved and, after childhood, never really thought about, again, and, yet, does not simply disappear. Which is, I think, precisely why there is so much psycho-babble in the script, often through the character of "Aunt Monica" (excellently played by the way, in the movie).
    I was surprised that the edition I purchased was widescreen. I have memories of watching this on TV in full screen rather than widescreen. Those memories, though, may be erroneous.
    You might also find TCM's notes on the film interesting, rather than my usual Wikipedia article, although, if you're curious, you can find Wikipedia's write-up here.
  Quick Administrative Note:  This movie is the first in my collection to which I've applied the label "melodrama". I was surprised to discover that I've never used that label and had to add it to my label list. I guess that means I don't have, nor am I attracted to, melodramatic movies. Except this one. The fact that it's a melodrama is what makes it so much fun!
    There is something alluring about this film. It's one I've checked out of our public library occasionally in the past several years. It's one I watched on TV with my mom when she was alive, who, by the way, enjoyed it, too, despite her pure soul, love of children and having been an enthusiastic, top-flight teacher of older elementary school children. In the Wikipedia article about this film there is an "Analysis" comparing the this movie with The Good Son. It's short, but interesting, and may, in part, explain the durability of this film and the idea behind it. And, yes. I found a free copy of the novel, downloaded it, and intend to read it one of these sooner days, just because, well, I want to know if the novel speaks about childhood wickedness in the same way the play and the movie do.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Patty McCormack	Rhoda Penmark	Nancy Kelly	Christine Penmark	William Hopper	Col. Kenneth Penmark	Henry Jones	Leroy
  Eileen Heckart	Mrs. Hortense Daigle	Frank Cady	Henry Daigle	Jesse White	Emory	Shelley Fabares	Margie

  
    Release Date: 1956
    Directed by Mervyn LeRoy.

Labels: film-noir3, henry-jones, horror1, melodramaA, psychological1

# posted by gail @ 20:46    0 comments    email......this post

• 
  Commentary:  Under construction.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Charlie Chaplin	Monsieur Henri Verdoux	Mady Correll	Mona Verdoux	Allison Roddan	Peter Verdoux	Robert Lewis	Maurice Bottello
  Audrey Betz	Martha Bottello	Martha Raye	Annabella Bonheur	Isobel Elsom	Marie Grosnay	Marilyn Nash	The Girl
  Irving Bacon	Pierre Couvais	Edwin Mills	Jean Couvais	Virginia Brissac	Carlotta Couvais	William Frawley	Jean La Salle

  
    Here is the Wikipedia write-up on this film.
    Release Date: 1947
    Directed by Charlie Chaplin.

Labels: charlie-chaplin, comedy1, Criterion1, film-noir3, melodramaB

# posted by gail @ 12:46    0 comments    email......this post

• 
  Commentary:  Okay. So this is the "bad, bad, really bad" Denzel Washington movie to which I refer in the this post. It's got a lot of great actors in it, too, John Goodman, for instance, Embeth Davitz, Donald f-ing Sutherland, for godssakes, so I have to assume that all these amazing actors were probably in need of money and needing to keep their craft polished (and, perhaps, their names, as well). Frankly, I can only imagine that this movie would have been glorious fun to do, especially with the gang of top-notch actors involved. And every single one of the top shelf actors delivers, sometimes a little over the top, it's true, but I think they're allowed and, anyway, the story takes itself so seriously as a horror set-up that the whole production is pushed over into the realm of unintentional hilarity. Or, maybe the hilarity was intentional.
    If I had not received this as a bonus tagged onto a movie I wanted, I'm sure I not only wouldn't own it, I would not check it out, once having read the case description, despite the talent line-up. I have to also believe that none of the actors would have participated in this if their involvement did not fulfill some immediate material and/or professional need. Maybe, that's what makes this film fun to watch (although I've only watched it once, giggled and laughed through the whole showing, and I doubt I'll ever watch it again). Everything about it is desperate; desperately bad, that is, except for the performances, and that's what makes this film a wonder to behold. I'm attaching only one tag to this movie, because that's all it deserves. I'm grinning while I attach the label, though. In fact, as I close off this review, I'm seriously considering watching this movie again ... just for fun, and to experience, again, the unbelievability of it all.
    Frankly, I'm surprised Roger Ebert reviewed this movie, at all, let alone gave it an above-middling review. I've attached his review to the title of this post. Check it out.
  Update 8/4/21:  Some time earlier this year, I decided to attach two more tags to this movie, one of them being "popcorn-and-soda", referring to the experience of watching it, of course, not the movie, itself. Although ...
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Denzel Washington	Det. John Hobbes	John Goodman	Det. Jones	Donald Sutherland	Lt. Stanton	Embeth Davidtz	Grett Milano
  James Gandolfini	Det. Lou	Elias Koteas	Edgar Reese	Gabriel Casseus	Art Hobbes	Michael J. Pagan	Sam Hobbes

  
    The Wikipedia write-up for the movie is here.
    Release Date: 1998
    Directed by Gregory Hoblit.

Labels: denzel-washington, donald-sutherland, film-noir3, horror1, popcorn-and-soda2, religion1

# posted by gail @ 15:20    0 comments    email......this post

• 
  Commentary:  Believe it. The first time I saw this movie, in my life, was late last year. What can I say, part of my Alfred Hitchcock ambivalence, I guess. I was driven to check out the movie and watch it when I was watching a review of old films on YouTube and saw a cut of Jimmy Stewart's face from this movie looking very much like that cut of horror on his face in It's a Wonderful Life when he is on the brink of suicide. Hmmm... I thought. I'd like to see more of that. I always enjoy a Jimmy Stewart performance that pits his nice-guy image against his horrified image, even if it was a Hitchcock film and, thus, previously a point of avoidance for me.
    Well, I was riveted from the beginning. Firstly, it's a treat for me to watch a movie for the first time that is decades old and made with completely different techniques across the board. This movie was not a disappointment. Secondly, it's a fucking good movie! In fact, I understand why it's considered a great movie. Thirdly, the swing of the movie is so active and masterful that it completely involved me right up to the end. There wasn't a second, from the benign beginning to the surprisingly melodramatic ending, that allowed me to look away. It was a no-brainer that I would add this movie to my collection. I've already watched it twice since it entered my house. I just can't get enough of it.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  James Stewart	John Ferguson	Kim Novak	Judy Barton/Madeleine Elster	Barbara Bel Geddes	Marjorie Wood	Tom Helmore	Gavin Elster
  Henry Jones	The Coroner	Raymond Bailey	Ferguson's Doctor	Ellen Corby	McKittrick Hotel Mgr.	Lee Patrick	Car Owner mistaken for Madeleine

  
    One of Roger Ebert's Great Movies.
    Just in case, here's the Wikipedia write-up on this film.
    Release Date: 1958
    Directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

Labels: alfred-hitchcock, drama4, film-noir3, henry-jones, james-stewart, melodramaC, popcorn-and-soda2, suspense1, thriller1, tragedy1

# posted by gail @ 12:28    0 comments    email......this post