Movies, Mom & Me

• 
  Commentary:  This movie was originally listed in the post Movies I've Seen, Do Not Own but Can't Forget. It was the first movie listed. As of today, I own it. Although I'll write more once I've watched the movie as my property (which I expect to do tonight), in the meantime I want to append what I wrote when I was jonesing for this movie:
    I saw this movie, initially, with my mom, probably on TCM, since, during her life, we had a cable TV subscription. It's been over a decade since I've had access to TCM, but it hasn't been that long since I've seen this movie. It initially intrigued me because I have had dental problems all my life. As a non-dependent adult, some of those problems have been exacerbated because dental care is too expensive for me to afford. This is part of the initial reason why Henry Fonda's character in this movie ends up in a position to be mis-identified by the police. Although the rest of the movie is thoroughly engrossing, this minor fact is what drew me into watching this movie more than once. I was, frankly, gob-smacked that inability to afford dental care was a rampant problem in 1956! Everyone, in these days of rallying for Medicare for All, rants about the disgusting inequity of health care in the U.S. Why does no one, anywhere in the world, rant about the long-standing unaffordability of dental care?
    There. That's done. More later.
  Update 5/24/21:  After having watched this movie last night, start to finish, I'm not sure I ever watched it in its entirety before. I discovered that I didn't remember quite a bit of it.
    What a movie! The story is subtly told. Henry Fonda's performance is appropriately understated. For most of the movie he looks like Everyman in a Stupor, and that's not a dis, that's a high compliment, as, how else could one look as someone who is, indeed, "The Wrong Man"?!? Balestrero, as played by Fonda, when being confronted by this absurd accusation, never, ever looks like he finally "gets it". When he is pulled back into his normal life, as he is often throughout the film, he looks and acts and appears to think like a normal working guy with a wife and family. When he becomes The Wrongly Accused, he is perpetually dumbfounded. It is hard not to think that, if he had not had a normal, job-home-family life to consistently fall back into, he would have gone as crazy as his wife. The three main lighting contrasts, sharp-dark for the accusation scenes, brightly lit for the home and personal investigative scenes and a kind of anticipatory light gray for the courtroom and lawyer's office scenes, are revelatory in themselves. The scenes with his lawyer and in the courtroom are especially delicious because he is in a legal situation in which he has no way of helping himself, and this is dramatised beautifully.
    I have to say, after watching it last night I think, if I had watched the movie before, it was likely snippets, during my companionship with my mother, never beginning to end, as I experienced it last night. It's impossible not to feel the jaws of a trap not set for Balestrero closing around Balestrero's soul.
    I have to admit to some disbelief of Rose Balestrero's reaction, although, since it's the telling of a true story, I suppose her reaction and her subsequent predicament happened. Perhaps I was raised in the wrong era. I can not only not imagine myself reacting that way to my husband being wrongly accused and tried, I know no one for whom Rose Balestrero's behavior would emerge in any situation, let alone one like this. I wonder if that's one of the differences of women being raised in an environment that emphasizes domesticity versus my having been raised in an environment that emphasized women's full participation in society (despite the fact that this was only partially achieved).
    Wonderful production, astonishing story (which the epilogue makes clear is, in fact, a true story), well acted, well staged, well directed, well produced, well done! This may not be the scariest movie Hitchcock ever made (although I'm willing to bet that, for people who have been through similar circumstances, it might be, and, as well, it packs the extra punch of being true), but it's way up there. Bravo, Alfred!
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Henry Fonda	Christopher Emmanuel Balestrero	Vera Miles	Rose Balestrero	Anthony Quayle	Frank O'Connor	Harold J. Stone	Det. Lt. Bowers
  Charles Cooper	Det. Matthews	John Hildebrand	Tomasini	Esther Minciotti	Mama Balestrero	Doreen Lang	Ann James
  Laurinda Barrett	Constance Willis	Norma Connolly	Betty Todd	Nehemiah Persoff	Gene Conforti	Lola D'Annunzio	Olga Conforti
  Werner Klemperer	Dr. Bannay	Bonnie Franklin	Young Girl	Tuesday Weld	Giggly Girl	Harry Dean Stanton	Dept. of Corrections Employee

  
    Here's the Wikipedia write-up on the movie.
    Release Date: 1956
    Directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

Labels: alfred-hitchcock, drama1, film-noir1, harry-dean-stanton, henry-fonda, melodramaC, mystery1, nehemiah-persoff, psychological1, suspense1, thriller1, tuesday-weld

# posted by gail @ 13:17    0 comments    email......this post

• 
  Commentary:  This collection, dear Reader, is my prize. I stumbled across it while looking for a copy of one of my all time favorite movies, A Face in the Crowd. After Donald Trump was elected U.S. President, I couldn't get this movie out of my head. I was not alone in this. Four Films That Explain the Rise of Donald Trump, a thoughtful article written by Sean Mulvihill on the Roger Ebert website, meditates on this, as well. Interestingly, long before Donald Trump was elected U. S. President, I owned all of the four films Sean Mulvihill talks about. Our library, at the time I was ravenous to watch A Face in the Crowd, didn't have a copy (it does, now; I suspect there were several people requesting it after Trump's election). Every copy I found for sale was horribly expensive. Then, I noticed this collection that included this movie. It was priced out of my range but I kept my eye on it, day after day, month after month. Finally, it dropped by half, which brought the price down to just under $2.00 a movie. That I could afford. I scanned the collection of the other 14 movies. Some I'd seen, some I hadn't, two I already owned (which meant I could give copies of those movies to my actor niece, both of which are classics). I knew of all of them and was excited about seeing all of them. The list below is what was contained in the collection. There are still four (or, maybe five, I can't remember) that I haven't seen. Owning this collection is a delight. I'd never paid much attention to Elia Kazan as a director. Now, I'm much better educated!
  • 
    A Letter to Elia:  The collection includes an "intensely personal and deeply moving tribute" to Elia Kazan by Martin Scorsese and a coffee table type book about the films and Kazan's development. The tribute is pretty much a vanity project, but the book is interesting and the tribute is not a complete waste of time.
      Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
      Release Date: 2010
  
  
  • 
    A Tree Grows in Brooklyn:  Under construction.
      

    Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
    Dorothy McGuire	Katie Nolan	Joan Blondell	Aunt Sissy	James Dunn	Johnny Nolan	Lloyd Nolan	Officer McShane
    James Gleason	McGarrity	Ted Donaldson	Neeley Nolan	Peggy Ann Garner	Francie Nolan	Ruth Nelson	Miss McDonough
    John Alexander	Steve Edwards	B.S. Pully	Christmas Tree Vendor	Ferike Boros	Grandma Rommely	Charles Halton	Mr. Barker

    
      Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
      Release Date: 1945
  
  
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    Boomerang:  Pretty interesting legal drama. Made me wonder if this created a standard by which all legal dramas are now measured.
      Arthur Miller appeared in this movie as a suspect in a police lineup.
      

    Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
    Dana Andrews	Henry L. Harvey	Jane Wyatt	Madge Harvey	Lee J. Cobb	Chief Harold F. Robinson	Cara Williams	Irene Nelson
    Arthur Kennedy	John Waldron	Sam Levene	Dave Woods	Taylor Holmes	T. M. Wade	Robert Keith	Mac McCreery
    Ed Begley	Paul Harris	Karl Malden	Det. Lt. White	William Challee	Stone	Lewis Leverett	Whitney

    
      Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
      Release Date: 1947
    → film-noir1; lee-j-cobb
  
  
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    Gentleman's Agreement:  Dated but engaging film about anti-Semitism in the U.S. Disturbing despite its datedness.
      

    Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
    Gregory Peck	Philip Schuyler Green	Anne Revere	Mrs. Green	Dorothy McGuire	Kathy Lacey	June Havoc	Elaine Wales
    John Garfield	Dave Goldman	Albert Dekker	John Minify	Celeste Holm	Anne Dettrey	Jane Wyatt	Jane
    Dean Stockwell	Tommy Green	Nicholas Joy	Dr. Craigie	Sam Jaffe	Prof. Fred Lieberman	Harold Vermilyea	Lou Jordan

    
      Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
      Release Date: 1947
    → gregory-peck
  
  
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    Pinky:  An unusual take on discrimination in the U.S. South. Shows, obliquely, how idiotic, and yet how powerful, it is.
      

    Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
    Jeanne Crain	Patricia "Pinky" Johnson	Ethel Barrymore	Miss Em	Ethel Waters	Dicey Johnson	William Lundigan	Dr. Thomas Adams
    Basil Ruysdael	Judge Walker	Kenny Washington	Dr. Canady	Nina Mae McKinney	Rozelia	Griff Barnett	Dr. Joe McGill
    Frederick O'Neal	Jake Waters	Evelyn Varden	Melba Wooley	Raymond Greenleaf	Judge Shoreman	Juanita Moore	Nurse

    
      Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
      Release Date: 1949
  
  
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    Panic in the Streets:  An early plague movie with a film-noir twist. Engaging.
      

    Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
    Richard Widmark	Lt. Cmdr. Reed, M.D.	Paul Douglas	Cpt. Tom Warren	Barbara Bel Geddes	Nancy Reed	Jack Palance	Blackie
    Zero Mostel	Raymond Fitch	Alexis Minotis	John Mefaris	Dan Riss	Nef	Guy Thonajan	Poldi

    
      Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
      Release Date: 1950
    → film-noir2; jack-palance
  
  
  • 
    A Streetcar Named Desire:  My write-up, including Actor/Role table, is linked to the title.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
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    Viva Zapata!:  Under construction.
      

    Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
    Marlon Brando	Emiliano Zapata	Jean Peters	Josefa Zapata	Anthony Quinn	Eufemio Zapata	Joseph Wiseman	Fernando Aguirre
    Arnold Moss	Don Nacio	Alan Reed	Pancho Villa	Margo	Soldadera	Harold Gordon	Francisco Ignacio Madero
    Lou Gilbert	Pablo	Frank Silvera	Victoriano Huerta	Florenz Ames	Señor Espejo	Richard Garrick	Old General
    Fay Roope	Porfirio Díaz	Mildred Dunnock	Señora Espejo	Henry Silva	Hernández	Ross Bagdasarian	Officer

    
      Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
      Release Date: 1952
  
  
  • 
    Man on a Tightrope:  Under construction.
      

    Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
    Fredric March	Karel Černík	Terry Moore	Tereza Černík	Gloria Grahame	Zama Černík	Cameron Mitchell	Joe Vosdek
    Adolphe Menjou	Fesker	Robert Beatty	Barović	Alexander D'Arcy	Rudolph	Richard Boone	Krofta

    
      Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
      Release Date: 1953
  → marlon-brando
  
  
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    On the Waterfront:  I am ashamed to admit that I have not watched this yet. I keep avoiding it, despite my curiosity. I'm not sure why but will report back when I've watched it.
      Yes, Roger Ebert christened this movies as one of his Great Movies.
      Yet another movie, by the way, that has actors who were later stars playing small, uncredited roles.
      

    Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
    Marlon Brando	Terry Malloy	Karl Malden	Father Pete Barry	Lee J. Cobb	Michael J. Skelly	Rod Steiger	Charlie Malloy
    Eva Marie Saint	Edie Doyle	Pat Henning	Timothy J. Dugan	John F. Hamilton	Pop Doyle	Ben Wagner	Joey Doyle
    Fred Gwynne	Mladen Sekulovich	Martin Balsam	Gillette	Pat Hingle	Jocko	Nehemiah Persoff	Cab Driver

    
      Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
      Release Date: 1954
    → pat-hingle; nehemiah-persoff; marlon-brando; lee-j-cobb
  
  
  • 
    East of Eden:  My write-up, including Actor/Role table, is linked to the title.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
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    Baby Doll:  This is a dark, satirical romp that is multi-layered. I've watched it twice in astonishment. Each time I notice something else bizarre. Everyone performs exquisitely.
      

    Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
    Karl Malden	Archie Lee Meighan	Carroll Baker	Baby Doll Meighan	Eli Wallach	Silva Vacarro	Mildred Dunnock	Aunt Rose Comfort
    Lonny Chapman	Rock	Eades Hogue	Town Marshal	Madeleine Sherwood	Nurse	Rip Torn	Dentist

    
      Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up for this movie.
      Release Date: 1956
    → southern-gothic; eli-wallach
  
  
  • 
    A Face in the Crowd:  Watch this movie because Donald Trump is President of the U.S. Watch it because Andy Griffith's performance will blow you away. It will make you wonder how the hell he got stuck in Mayberry.
      

    Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
    Andy Griffith	Larry Rhodes	Patricia Neal	Marcia Jeffries	Anthony Franciosa	Joey DePalma	Walter Matthau	Mel Miller
    Lee Remick	Betty Lou Fleckum	Percy Waram	Gen. Haynesworth	Paul McGrath	Macey	Rod Brasfield	Beanie
    Marshall Neilan	Sen. Worthington Fuller	Kay Medford	1st Mrs. Rhodes	Lois Nettleton	Nurse	Rip Torn	Barry Mills

    
      Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
      Release Date: 1957
  
  
  • 
    Wild River:  Under construction.
      

    Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
    Montgomery Clift	Chuck Glover	Lee Remick	Carol Garth Baldwin	Jo Van Fleet	Ella Garth	Albert Salmi	R.J. Bailey
    Jay C. Flippen	Hamilton Garth	James Westerfield	Cal Garth	Barbara Loden	Betty Jackson	Frank Overton	Walter Clark
    Malcolm Atterbury	Sy Moore	Bruce Dern	Jack Roper	Robert Earl Jones	Sam Johnson	Ross Apperson	Attorney Armstrong

    
      Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
      Release Date: 1960
    → southern-gothic; pat-hingle
  
  
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    Splendor in the Grass:  The first time I saw this movie I was unmoved. After I received this collection I watched it again and became surprisingly caught up in it. The final scenes are perfect.
      Both TCM and Emmanuel Levy have a flurry of pages about this movie. I've linked the title of the movie to the TCM posts. A list of Emmanuel Levy's posts about this movie is here. They all look interesting.
      In addition, DVD Savant has a review well worth reading in this post about the Natalie Wood Signature Collection. The review for this movie can be found as the third movie reviewed down the page.
      

    Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
    Natalie Wood	Wilma Dean Loomis	Pat Hingle	Ace Stamper	Audrey Christie	Mrs. Loomis	Barbara Loden	Virginia Stamper
    Zohra Lampert	Angelina	Warren Beatty	Bud Stamper	Fred Stewart	Del Loomis	Joanna Roos	Mrs. Stamper
    John McGovern	Doc Smiley	Jan Norris	Juanita Howard	Martine Bartlett	Miss Metcalf	Gary Lockwood	Allen Tuttle
    Sandy Dennis	Kay	Crystal Field	Hazel	Marla Adams	June	Lynn Loring	Carolyn
    Phyllis Diller	Texas Guinan	Sean Garrison	Glen	Mark Slade	Rusty	William Inge	Reverend Whitman

    
      Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
      Release Date: 1961
    → pat-hingle
  
  
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    America America:  Haven't watched this yet but I suspect I am going to fall in love with it. It's an old world/new world historical drama with an emphasis on character; right up my alley. I'll report back.
      

    Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
    Stathis Giallelis	Stavros Topouzoglou	Frank Wolff	Vartan Damadian	Harry Davis	Isaac Topouzoglou	Elena Karam	Vasso Topouzoglou
    Estelle Hemsley	Grandmother Topouzoglou	Gregory Rozakis	Hohannes Gardashian	Lou Antonio	Abdul	Salem Ludwig	Odysseus Topouzoglou
    John Marley	Garabet	Joanna Frank	Vartuhi	Paul Mann	Aleko Sinnikoglou	Linda Marsh	Thomna Sinnikoglou

    
      Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up for this movie.
      Release Date: 1963
    

Labels: carroll-baker, eli-wallach, elia-kazan, film-noir1&2, gang-movie, gregory-peck, jack-palance, karl-malden, lee-j-cobb, marlon-brando, martin-scorsese, melodramaB, natalie-wood, nehemiah-persoff, pat-hingle

# posted by gail @ 19:47    0 comments    email......this post

• Who's watched:  M & G
• Mentions:  *1*
• 
  Commentary:  This is the second movie I've bought since Mom died, strictly in memory of Mom, this time. This was one of her favorites. Although it didn't play on the cable channels often, I doubt that we ever missed a showing of it. There are many reasons she liked it: Its portrayal of a bright, gutsy young woman refusing to give up her dreams and desires in the face of a woman-stifling culture; its periodicity; its intriguing presentation of a woman who is so successful at masquerading as a man that she marries a woman who thinks she's an exceptional (because she's a woman) man (Mom has always loved gender-benders); the very messy, thus very realistic resolution. Although its not one of my favorites, I have to say that certain scenes have the power to mesmerize me, despite the outlandishness of the story. The movie wasn't released on video until this year, some months after Mom died. When I saw it at Costco I knew it was necessary for me to purchase it. And watch it, multiple times, I'm sure. In honor of Mom...and Momandme.
    Rewatched: 3/5/22 - Today, 3/6/22, I read the Isaac Bashevis Singer story upon which this movie is based. The story is much more subtle and complicated than the movie. As I rewatched the movie yesterday, I realized, and was frustrated, that Hadass is only barely drawn. This is even more true of the written story. However, I find the character of Anshel deeper and more compelling in the written story than in the movie, except that Anshel's sympathy toward Hadass is far more evident in the movie than in the written story, which is something I prefer about the movie.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Barbra Streisand	Yentl Mendel	Mandy Patinkin	Avigdor	Amy Irving	Hadass Vishkower	Nehemiah Persoff	Rebbe Mendel
  Steven Hill	Reb Alter Vishkower	Allan Corduner	Shimmele	David de Keyser	Rabbi Zalman	Miriam Margolyes	Sarah
  Doreen Mantle	Mrs. Shaemen	Lynda Baron	Peshe	Ruth Goring	Esther Rachel	Jack Lynn	Bookseller

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1983
    Directed by Barbra Streisand.

Labels: barbra-streisand, buddy, drama6, fantasy2, female-director3, gender-bender, mom-favorite1, nehemiah-persoff, period3, political3, popcorn-and-soda2, religion2, romance2

# posted by gail @ 18:44    0 comments    email......this post

• Who's watched:  M & G
• Mentions:  *1* *2* *3*
• 
  Commentary:  I noticed, in the mentions, one of them states that Mom always thinks she wants to see this movie, then she gets bored with it. This is no longer true. It is now one that she asked after the last time we did a "jesus movie" festival, so, this year, I purchased it.
    For me, as well, the more I watch the movie, the more I like it. I tend, now, to ignore the discontinuities, like yet another Nordic Jesus, Harvey Keitel as a red-headed Judas and Barbara Hershey's bee-stung lips. Especially since I've read the book, I tend to appreciate the story more for what it symbolizes rather than what it portrays.
    I think what Mom likes about it is the gritty realism and the startling detail, like how the crosses are made. We watched this movie again, recently, right after I ordered it and just after a couple of other Jesus movies. It seems that each movie has its own version of how crucifixion crosses are constructed, which mom noticed this time around, which led to yet another Jesus movie festival.
    The only disappointing aspect of this movie was that it promised subtitles and they may exist but they aren't listed in any of the menus so I'm not sure if listing this as a feature was an error or if there is an Easter Egg technique to cuing them. I need to check this out. It does not feature Closed Captioning. I was afraid this would be a problem for Mom but the first time we watched it after receiving it, Mom had no problem with it. This is, at any rate, primarily a visual feast for her, so I guess that's why it doesn't matter. As well, the dialogue is not mumbled or distorted by other sound tracks.
    The review linked to the title of this post is an interesting view of the movie from the perspective of how it had been (up to the point of its writing) and may continue to be viewed by the religious community. It seemed to me a relevent discussion to have about it.
    Roger Ebert reviewed the movie twice, once as a "regular" movie and once more as a Great Movie.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Willem Dafoe	Jesus	Harvey Keitel	Judas Iscariot	Barbara Hershey	Mary Magdalene	Harry Dean Stanton	Saul/Paul of Tarsus
  David Bowie	Pontius Pilate	Verna Bloom	Mary, Mother of Jesus	Andre Gregory	John the Baptist	Nehemiah Persoff	Rabbi
  Leo Marks	Voice of Satan	Tomas Arana	Lazarus	Victor Argo	Peter	Martin Scorsese	Isaiah

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1988
    Directed by Martin Scorsese.

Labels: barbara-hershey, bible-movies1, Criterion2, drama8, fantasy3, harry-dean-stanton, harvey-keitel, jesus-dvds, martin-scorsese, nehemiah-persoff, period4, religion1, shared-favorite, spiritual1, willem-dafoe

# posted by gail @ 12:24    0 comments    email......this post