Movies, Mom & Me

• 
  Commentary:  Under construction.
    Directed by Raffaello Matarazzo.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  • 
    Chains
    Commentary:  Under construction.
      

    Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
    Amedeo Nazzari	Guglielmo	Yvonne Sanson	Rosa	Aldo Nicodemi	Emilio	Teresa Franchini	Anna Aniello/Guglielmo's mother
    Aldo Silvani	Prosecutor	Roberto Murolo	Emigrant	Nino Marchesini	Defense Attny	Gianfranco Magalotti	Tonino Aniello

    
      Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
      Release Date: 1949
    
    
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    Tormento
    Commentary:  Under construction.
      

    Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
    Amedeo Nazzari	Carlo Guarnieri	Yvonne Sanson	Anna Ferrari	Annibale Betrone	Gaetano Ferrari	Mario Ferrari	L'avvocato Bianchi
    Teresa Franchini	Rosina	Tina Lattanzi	Matilde Ferrari	Aldo Nicodemi	Ruffini	Giuditta Rissone	Madre Celeste

    
      Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
      Release Date: 1950
    
    
  • 
    Nobody's Children
    Commentary:  Under construction.
      

    Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
    Amedeo Nazzari	Guido Canali	Yvonne Sanson	Luisa Fanti/Sister Addolorata	Françoise Rosay	Contessa Canali	Folco Lulli	Anselmo Vannini
    Enrica Dyrell	Elena	Teresa Franchini	Marta	Gualtiero Tumiati	Padre Demetrio	Alberto Farnese	Poldo
    Aristide Baghetti	Bernardo Fanti/Luisa's father	Enrico Glori	Rinadi	Olga Solbelli	Mother Superior	Nino Marchesini	il dottore

    
      Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
      Release Date: 1950
    
    
  • 
    The White Angel
    Commentary:  Under construction.
      

    Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
    Amedeo Nazzari	Guido Carani	Yvonne Sanson	Lina Marcolin/Luisa Fanti	Enrico Olivieri	Bruno Carani	Enrica Dyrell	Elena Carani
    Alberto Farnese	Alberto Farnese	Flora Lillo	Flora	Philippe Hersent	Mario La Torre	Nerio Bernardi	Avvocato Rossi
    Virgilio Riento	Dottor Marini	Olga Solbelli	Madre Superiora	Ignazio Balsamo	Poliziotto	Franca Parisi	Cameriera

    
      Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
      Release Date: 1955
    
    
    The site from which I linked the individual reviews of the movies, above, also features an overall review of the series, by David Blakeslee, who has assigned himself the task of reviewing all Criterion releases. The article he's written on this series includes acknowledgment of it's relative rarity in critical circles, until recently. In addition, he talks about the stars and the popularity of these over-the-top melodramas in Italy. Interesting read. I decided to purchase the set because of my attraction to and collection of Douglas Sirk's melodramas, which, to my surprise, were released within the same time frame as Matarazzo's melodramas. Blakeslee mentions this correlation in Sirk's and Matarazzo's output. Makes me wonder if there was a worldwide, or, even, Western-wide thirst for melodrama during this time period. I should check that out, and research what, in culture, might have caused this thirst. Could it have had anything to do with this period corresponding to the wake of World War II, I wonder? As well, are there any melodramatic movie correlations in Japanese culture?

Labels: Criterion8, melodramaD

# posted by gail @ 00:52    0 comments    email......this post

• 
  Commentary:  Under construction.
    DVD Savant has written some articles on this movie, including about its restoration. I've connected a link to a search of his site in the title of this post, but, below, I've linked each article individually, by title:
      The Restoration of Kiss Me Deadly
      Kiss Me Deadly Savant Blu-ray Review
      DVD Savant Review - Kiss Me Deadly
      Kiss Me Deadly - DVD Savant finds a lost conclusion to a classic Film Noir
      DVD Savant - The Lost Conclusion to a Classic Film Noir FOUND
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Ralph Meeker	Mike Hammer	Albert Dekker	Dr. G.E. Soberin	Paul Stewart	Carl Evello	Juano Hernandez	Eddie Yeager
  Wesley Addy	Lt. Pat Murphy	Maxine Cooper	Velda Wakeman	Cloris Leachman	Christina Bailey	Gaby Rodgers	Lily Carver/Gabrielle

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1955
    Directed by Robert Aldrich.

Labels: Criterion5, film-noir1, melodramaD

# posted by gail @ 22:53    0 comments    email......this post

• 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

# posted by gail @ 02:22    0 comments    email......this post

• 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

# posted by gail @ 02:17    0 comments    email......this post