I Just Watched...

[BagelOnAPlate]

THE SWIMMER (1968) last night on TCM. I first saw this in a mid 1970s TV broadcast...

I just saw this again for the third or fourth time. I still get engrossed in it. I believe it's Burt Lancaster's best performance.

This is a really great movie. I watched TCM's broadcast of it too. It is a unique premise and there isn't much to the film other than Lancaster's performance and his interactions with his neighbors, so it is up to Lancaster to make it compelling. And he does. I love how he just casually drops trou in the (blurred) background when he reaches his nudist neighbors' home.

I've read the short story by John Cheever that the movie was adapted from and found it mesmerizing --- possibly the best short story I have ever read.
I didn't see how it could be made into a movie but based on the comments here I will have to give this one a watch.

[Detective Jim McLeod]

Woman's World (1954) Youtube -8/10

An auto tycoon (Clifton Webb) invites three candidates and their wives to New York to decide which one will be named to the coveted position of general manager of the firm.

I spoke about this one on another thread about films worth of re discovery. This is the first time I have seen it in years but it is still highly entertaining. It is Cinemascope and in Technicolor so it is great to look at and the cast is excellent. The copy on Youtube is great.

Van Heflin is a quiet, seemingly unambitious Texan with a gold digger wife (Arlene Dahl). Fred MacMurray is a Philadelphia workaholic married to Lauren Bacall, who loves him but wants a divorce due to his obsession with work. Cornel Wilde is a loving husband and father from Kansas City, his wife is a well meaning klutz played by June Allyson.

The story is similar to another film from the same year Executive Suite. But that film was a stark B&W drama compared to this glossy film which is much more light hearted and entertaining. Ironically June Allyson appears in both films as a wife. Her performance in WW is hilarious and maybe my favorite part of the movie. There are also some nice shots of New York City.

I would recommend this to anyone who is a fan of 1950s color comedy/dramas, it has some soap opera vibes but I found the comedy the best part.

[Swithin]

I remember liking Russell's film The Boy Friend, but that was his most restrained work, at least by his standards. Women in Love was OK as well, but Tommy felt like my eyes and eardrums were being attacked.

I always want to like Ken Russell's films, but they often do not live up to my expectations. I loved Women in Love, which I haven't seen in years; and I love The Lair of the White Worm (1986), which has sort of an OTT plot, but which is very well done, has a great cast and script, and is at times howlingly funny. I remember going to many of the other Ken Russell films when they were released, and in fact found the ones judged to be OTT to be not OTT enough. I do remember liking The Devils. And Russell has directed some fine work (mostly documentaries) for television.

Gothic is an example of a film that could have been a contender. Great story, based on that famous evening at the Villa Diodati in Geneva in 1816, but it just doesn't work as well as it should. A snippet of the story is presented at the top of Bride of Frankenstein (1935), with Mary and Percy Shelley, and Lord Byron.

One of the funniest scenes in The Lair of the White Worm is when Amanda Donohoe is snake-charmed.

I saw Lair of the White Worm last week, and aside from one brief scene that I found offensive, I had a pretty good time with it. Its so over the top, and has such a rich vein of deadpan humor amidst the blood and nudity. It also gave me a lot to think about the next time I go back to see an episode of LA Law with Amanda Donohue in it.....

I think I can guess which scene you had a problem with. I assume it's the one with Amanda and the scout.

Paul Brooke, an actor I admired in many of the Royal Shakespeare Company's plays in the late 1970s, is quite good in a supporting role in Lair of the White Worm.

[Belle]

Woman's World (1954) Youtube -8/10

An auto tycoon (Clifton Webb) invites three candidates and their wives to New York to decide which one will be named to the coveted position of general manager of the firm.

I spoke about this one on another thread about films worth of re discovery. This is the first time I have seen it in years but it is still highly entertaining. It is Cinemascope and in Technicolor so it is great to look at and the cast is excellent. The copy on Youtube is great.

Van Heflin is a quiet, seemingly unambitious Texan with a gold digger wife (Arlene Dahl). Fred MacMurray is a Philadelphia workaholic married to Lauren Bacall, who loves him but wants a divorce due to his obsession with work. Cornel Wilde is a loving husband and father from Kansas City, his wife is a well meaning klutz played by June Allyson.

The story is similar to another film from the same year Executive Suite. But that film was a stark B&W drama compared to this glossy film which is much more light hearted and entertaining. Ironically June Allyson appears in both films as a wife. Her performance in WW is hilarious and maybe my favorite part of the movie. There are also some nice shots of New York City.

I would recommend this to anyone who is a fan of 1950s color comedy/dramas, it has some soap opera vibes but I found the comedy the best part.

I hadn't heard of this film; thanks for the heads-up. "Executive Suite" is a very fine film, as you say. I've always admired Van Heflin and regard him as a somewhat under-rated actor. Cornel Wilde, not so much. I'll watch the film this morning, after your recommendation.

I've just watched the opening credits and I see that Australia really exists; it's on that map at the beginning!! Also, the film forms part of the zeitgeist post WW2 of 're-feminizing' women after factory work during the war and upon the re-establishment of domesticity. The complete antithesis of the feminist movement; in that sense the film is something of a historical record. Director Jean Negulesco tells me this will not be your "Show of Shows" but your "soap of soaps"!!

[Dargo]

Woman's World (1954) Youtube -8/10

An auto tycoon (Clifton Webb) invites three candidates and their wives to New York to decide which one will be named to the coveted position of general manager of the firm.

I spoke about this one on another thread about films worth of re discovery. This is the first time I have seen it in years but it is still highly entertaining. It is Cinemascope and in Technicolor so it is great to look at and the cast is excellent. The copy on Youtube is great.

Van Heflin is a quiet, seemingly unambitious Texan with a gold digger wife (Arlene Dahl). Fred MacMurray is a Philadelphia workaholic married to Lauren Bacall, who loves him but wants a divorce due to his obsession with work. Cornel Wilde is a loving husband and father from Kansas City, his wife is a well meaning klutz played by June Allyson.

The story is similar to another film from the same year Executive Suite. But that film was a stark B&W drama compared to this glossy film which is much more light hearted and entertaining. Ironically June Allyson appears in both films as a wife. Her performance in WW is hilarious and maybe my favorite part of the movie. There are also some nice shots of New York City.

I would recommend this to anyone who is a fan of 1950s color comedy/dramas, it has some soap opera vibes but I found the comedy the best part.

I hadn't heard of this film; thanks for the heads-up. "Executive Suite" is a very fine film, as you say. I've always admired Van Heflin and regard him as a somewhat under-rated actor. Cornel Wilde, not so much. I'll watch the film this morning, after your recommendation.

I've just watched the opening credits and I see that Australia really exists; it's on that map at the beginning!! Also, the film forms part of the zeitgeist post WW2 of 're-feminizing' women after factory work during the war and upon the re-establishment of domesticity. The complete antithesis of the feminist movement; in that sense the film is something of a historical record. Director Jean Negulesco tells me this will not be your "Show of Shows" but your "soap of soaps"!!

This one is also fun to watch if you happen to have been a young person with dreams of one day being a car designer (and like yours truly here in my youth) and thanks to the Ford Motor Company graciously allowing its Mercury Division's future design studio to be featured at one point within the film.

That's what I've always remembered most about this film.

(...well okay, THAT and watching Van Heflin once again playing a cuckold husband in some movie)

[Belle]

Dargo, it's great to hear your personal story!! So, it was a Ford Mercury and not a Gifford (of course not!!) featured in the film!!

I've just finished watching the film and it was absolutely priceless. I thought the standout was Fred McMurray, who's always great value. June Allyson just got on my nerves as the silly hick from Kansas and Lauren Bacall was predictably cold and statuesque. Sorry but Clifton Webb doesn't come across as appealing to any women, no matter what their reason or motivation. He will always be Lynn Belvedere to me!! I loved Van Heflin and especially his role in "Green Dolphin Street". There was something 'everyman' about this actor and another fine film of his was "Tap Roots".

"Woman's World" was a celebration of the corporate life, fashion, the big city and the value of CONFORMITY over individuality; a problem we have on steroids this very day.

[monsieur_sniffles]

FINALLY, crossed Phaedra off my 'Dassin Completist' list. Due to it's unavailability, I always imagined something smaller and scrappier along the lines of "The Law". I was very, very mistaken. Anyway, WILD movie. Euro-ennui meets Greek tragedy (with a couple dashes of Billy Wilder)?

[TikiSoo]

I watched Dead Of Winter on Pluto yesterday.
Thanks to Cinema International and others here who mentioned this movie. I had never heard of it, but the comments made me seek it out.

Yup I watched it last night too!

I enjoyed all the performances, the sets & photography were great-overall it was a fun movie.
The premise however, did not age well.

First off, NO ONE would go on an out-of-town unknown destination audition alone. But that shows the difference between 1987 and 2023. Anyone watching it today would laugh at the heroine's panic of not having a phone!
So the suspension of disbelief you must have for movies will work better for this movie if you're over 30.

It was great to see Mary Steenburgen do some serious acting. (Her 80's clothes were hilarious) I loved her as the villain!
She is so pretty and retains just the tiniest touch of southern accent, her voice & cadence reminding me very much of Andie McDowell's voice.

(After writing that, I looked at Steenburgen's Wiki: "Since 2014, Steenburgen's son Charlie McDowell has had a running joke at her expense, claiming on numerous occasions on social media that his mother is actress Andie MacDowell.[24]"

[Detective Jim McLeod]

I loved Van Heflin and especially his role in "Green Dolphin Street". There was something 'everyman' about this actor and another fine film of his was "Tap Roots".

My favorite Van Heflin performance was probably in 3:10 To Yuma (1957) , he was great at playing hard working average guys who can be tough and heroic when they need to be.

[Detective Jim McLeod]

Fear Strikes Out (1957) TCM- 8/10

A bio-pic of Jimmy Piersall (Anthony Perkins) who battled mental illness when playing for the Boston Red Sox.

I always this loved this film, it has Perkins second best performance (after Psycho of course.) Karl Malden is also excellent as Piersall's pushy father. The real Piersall disowned the film, he especially objected to the casting of Perkins, who he said looked more like an ballerina on the field than an major league ball player. He also said it distorted the facts of his relationship with his father, making it look like he was the sole cause of his mental breakdown. Whatever the true facts, the film makes for stark, engrossing drama.

[jamesjazzguitar]

Fear Strikes Out (1957) TCM- 8/10

A bio-pic of Jimmy Piersall (Anthony Perkins) who battled mental illness when playing for the Boston Red Sox.

I always this loved this film, it has Perkins second best performance (after Psycho of course.) Karl Malden is also excellent as Piersall's pushy father. The real Piersall disowned the film, he especially objected to the casting of Perkins, who he said looked more like an ballerina on the field than an major league ball player. He also said it distorted the facts of his relationship with his father, making it look like he was the sole cause of his mental breakdown. Whatever the true facts, the film makes for stark, engrossing drama.

Watching SUTS day for Perkins reminded me of how fine an actor he was. I watched Fear Strikes Out with my wife who hadn't seen it before: it really is very relevant to today, where many first-rate athletes are being more open about mental health issues and sometimes having to take breaks due to the increased pressure from social media and what some might say is an overly aggressive press.

[Cinemaspeak59]

The Late Show (1977) Start with a generous helping of The Maltese Falcon, and then top it off with several heaping spoonfuls of The Big Sleep, and you have this enjoyable neo-noir about an over-the-hill private detective (Art Carney), and his eccentric sidekick (Lily Tomlin), solving murders in a seedy L.A.

[Belle]

I loved Van Heflin and especially his role in "Green Dolphin Street". There was something 'everyman' about this actor and another fine film of his was "Tap Roots".

My favorite Van Heflin performance was probably in 3:10 To Yuma (1957) , he was great at playing hard working average guys who can be tough and heroic when they need to be.

That's actually a very good film!!

[Swithin]

My Sailor, My Love (2022)

I watched My Sailor, My Love on a flight to London yesterday. It's a quiet story about an elderly curmudgeon (James Cosmo) whose daughter (Catherine Walker) arranges a part-time housekeeper (Brid Brennan) for her father. At first, the father sends the housekeeper away, quite rudely. Then, suddenly, he takes flowers to her and apologizes. She returns, they become close, he proposes. The daughter, who is having trouble with her own husband, is in some kind of odd therapy. She's furious that the woman whom she considers to be her employee, becomes more than that to her father. It's a pretty good film which gets bogged down in the almost caricatured unpleasantness of the daughter. It takes place in the west of Ireland, on the Mayo coast. It helped pass the time on a nearly six-hour flight, and it is touching. The actors give fine performances.

[Bronxgirl48]

I loved Joan in "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn"!!

My favorite Joan Blondell performance.