WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

[JackFavell]

Oh my gosh, I forgot about Lee Patrick, Larry! You're right, these two really make the movie worth watching.

I feel the same way about Laurence Harvey.

[RedRiver]

Having just watched SHADOW OF A DOUBT, I must say that little Teresa Wright was more than just a pretty face. The girl could act! She takes the melodramatic style that was accepted in the era and turns it into something sincere and believable. That's not easy. With all respect to her murderous uncle Charlie, it's Ms. Wright who carries the show. Without her well drawn and perfectly played character bringing all the elements together, this story might have wandered off track.

I've always liked her in "Best Years," but I considered that a fluke. Who wouldn't be good with material such as that? Her roles in PRIDE OF THE YANKEES and MRS. MINIVER are less dominating. She kind of gets lost in the shuffle. In my alarmingly narrow mind, I labeled this actress a Polly Purebread; Little Miss Goody-Goody. It requires considerable talent to play those roles convincingly. This is an actress I must give more credit, and one I'd like to see more of.

[CineMaven]

Having just watched SHADOW OF A DOUBT, I must say that little Teresa Wright was more than just a pretty face. The girl could act!....

I'm so glad you watched "SHADOW OF A DOUBT."



It's one of Hitchcock's best and I understand he considers it his favorite film. This in no small part is due to the dance between Joseph Cotten and Teresa Wright. I'm glad you see that Wright is not "just a pretty face." Cotten was good. But the movie hinges on who plays Charlie. Teresa Wright does a really good job as the savior of her family. She's no super woman like Mrs. Peel. She gives a subtle performance going from a hero-worshipping girl to a woman, with the full knowledge that her mother's brother is a serial killer. I find Teresa Wright to be a sincere actress. And I'm glad to read you're going to give her a chance.

And if you have the access, and a half - hour to spare, you can see me chat about "Shadow of a Doubt" in my "MovieCHAT" project with the Oasis' Robert Regan. Just click on Teresa Wright's photo above.

[MikeBSG]

Saw "The Wolf of Wall Street" (2013) directed by Martin Scorsese yesterday.

Wow.

It is terrific. The movie is one of Scorsese's best. It uses voice-over, flashbacks, all the tools a filmmaker can use to tell a story that makes us take a look at the basic American assumption that it's all about getting rich.

It has been compared to "Goodfellas," and while I see that (particularly in how the movie ends), I have to say that "Goodfellas" is a more visceral film. "Wolf" gives the viewer a bit of distance so he can think about what's happening on the screen.

Martin Scorsese has often said how much he likes "Force of Evil." (A film noir that has never really appealed to me.) I guess "Wolf of Wall Street" is his "Force of Evil" and I think it is an epic accomplishment.

[ChiO]

Sex, drugs and...not so much rock 'n' roll as money...lots and lots of money.

Our daughter and I saw THE WOLF OF WALL STREET yesterday, too (didn't see you in the audience, Mike). I would not quite put it in the "terrific" category, but certainly the "very good." Scorsese follows the Welles dictum of making your monsters human (RAGING BULL, GOODFELLAS, THE AVIATOR). He makes one loathe, hate, respect, pity, and envy Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio, who is terrific) , sometimes all at the same time. Scorsese accomplishes that, in part, by having the character break the fourth wall. The result: confronting the audience and making it question the quest for and achievement of the American Dream.

My favorite twist: the most honorable character is Jordan's one neighborhood pal who doesn't join in on the brokerage scam, and he's a drug dealer.

My laugh-out-loud moment: At the end, Jordan is pitching his salesmanship concepts (echoing an early scene) to a dullish looking group of New Zealanders and the music playing is "Cast Your Fate to the Wind."

This would make a wonderful double-feature with THE BARON OF ARIZONA (Samuel Fuller 1950). I like to think that Marty would approve.

It seemed altogether appropriate that the first two articles I read in the newspaper this morning were this and this.

[norfious]

I got The Falcon Mystery Movie Collection for Christmas this year, so I have been watching those quite a bit. The first few with George Sanders are by far my favorite. He pulls of the character so well. However, I was surprised how unceremoniously they switched to Tom Conway in the role. I know they are two separate characters, but Tom takes over the "Falcon" title so quickly without much thought to his brother. I was sort of disappointed by that.

Other than that, though, the films are quite fun. I noticed that the later pictures in the series follow up with each other, which was nice. It makes me wonder if these were released as features at theaters, or if they were more like serials played before a feature? Does anyone know?

[Vienna]

I too think Teresa Wright is great in Shadow of a Doubt. She had such a great start to her career,I always wondered why her film parts became so much lesser in the late 40s.
I was lucky enough to see Teresa in person in Edinburgh when she gave a talk on working with Hitchcock. She spoke very well and had terrific recall of events 40 years earlier.

[movieman1957]

"Thieves Highway" is a drama involving trucking produce to a SF market and the back stabbing that goes on between the truckers themselves and the buyers at the end of the run. It stars Richard Conte, Lee J. Cobb, Millard Mitchell and Jack Oakie. Valentina Cortese is the female lead.

I wasn't all that enthralled with it. I didn't find it a terribly interesting story. It is built on Conte's revenge of a SF market owner, Cobb, for hurting his father on a previous run. Conte seems to be the only regular guy in the bunch. Everyone else is out to short change everyone else. (Some turn of a phrase, huh?) Cortese is set up by Cobb to keep Conte busy while he disposes of Conte's load. Things happen.

I couldn't quite get into it which may be my fault. I didn't care for Contese. Conte was good but Cobb spends his time yelling. That includes whether he is mad or not. The ending didn't ring quite true. Some may enjoy it more than I did. Not bad just not all that good for me.

A Criterion DVD from Netflix. Comes with a commentary and a short interview by director Jules Dassin.

[RedRiver]

"Thieves" didn't enthrall me either, MovieMan. It's OK. Not thrilling. I watched it on the strength of the director. I so admire RIFIFI and NAKED CITY. Norfious, I suspect the delightful Falcon series played primarily as the B feature. That's my guess, anyway. George Sanders may have been a more complex actor than his brother, but the Conway entries are just as entertaining. This is my favorite detective series!

My friend insists Hitchcock had just returned from a fishing trip and intended to make the groundbreaking, SHADOW OF A TROUT. This has not been documented.

[ChiO]

THIEVES' HIGHWAY is one of my favorite Noirs (maybe it's the Greek angle), which gives Dassin four of my favorites in four years -- BRUTE FORCE (1947), THE NAKED CITY (1948), THIEVES' HIGHWAY (1949) and NIGHT AND THE CITY (1950). That stretch rivals Anthony Mann's during the same period.

The Falcon series was B-features, though with the consecutive release of ...OUT WEST (1944), ...IN MEXICO (1944), ...IN HOLLYWOOD (1944), and ...IN SAN FRANCISCO (1945) it can seem like a serial.

[movieman1957]

ChiO;

"Brute Force" was great. I also liked "Naked City." I can see on imdb there is not a long listing in Dassin's work so it should be easy enough to go through. Oh, was also no fan of "Reunion in France" but it has been years since I've seen it.

[ChiO]

Polonsky's blacklisting simply created a halo around Force of Evil, although another John Garfield vehicle, He Ran All the Way, by another blacklisted director, John Berry, seems the superior work to me.

One could certainly have a lively discussion over which film is better. And a case could be made that "Polonsky's blacklisting simply created a halo around Force of Evil." But if such a halo effect were created, wouldn't there also be a halo effect around the films noir of directors such as Edward Dmytryk and John Berry and Joseph Losey and Cy Endfield and Jules Dassin and Robert Rossen and John Cromwell and Michael Gordon? Then there are the actors and writers who were blacklisted. A halo around their works as well? (Where's the Roger Maris asterisk when you need it?)

Point: Even if there were a halo effect, it would encompass so many that at some point one would think that such a supposed effect becomes relatively meaningless and the movies, performances and scripts stand on their own merits.

As you note, both FORCE OF EVIL and HE RAN ALL THE WAY are directed by persons who were blacklisted. Why would one have a blacklist halo effect and not the other? The blacklisting and histories of the directors and Garfield adds texture to the the films and their interpretation, but I think the films are amenable to being - and generally are - judged on their own cinematic merits.

[MikeBSG]

Chio, there were only three people when I was in the theater for "Wolf of Wall Street" yesterday. Which is better than when I was the only person seeing "American Hustle" the week before.

I loved the use of "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" too. And the reference to "Freaks."

And I have to say I loved Rob Reiner in this one. Especially when he's trying to watch TV and he gets a phone call.