The Silver Screen Oasis

Welll I just watched Tribute to a Bad Man a movie with one of the more misleading titles i've ever come across. Cagney's character isn't so much bad it's just that he's filling the void with the absence of the law. The script is a little contrived in the way that it tries to make Cagney seem "bad" but really he was a firm man who was brutal when he needed to be and he loved his woman deeply.

Despite the flaws of the script the acting was quite good. Cagney does a tremendous job of playing Roddock. At the beginning of the film you really get the sense that he's a bitter type of guy but when you see him interacting with the love interest Jocasta (played by Irene Papas) you really get a sense of who Roddock is.

As for the narrator of the film and young easterner that works for Roddock Don Dubbins (in his first credited film role) plays Steve Millar who is tender, caring and well "soft". I liked Dubbins' acting style. It kinda reminded me of a young Jimmy Stewart in some scenes and you truly see that he loves both Roddock and Jo. He loves Roddock in spite of the rough things that he does.

All in all the acting saved this movie from being just merely average. Robert Wise's direction also greatly benefited the film and it held my interest throughout.

I'd give it a 2 1/2 out of 5 stars.

Fernando wrote:Smilin' Through (1932). This film had been in my "Want" list since I was five or eight years old. It was one of my maternal grandparents most cherished and well remembered movies; they always spoke with high regard of it. In my country it was titled (in Spanish) Love That Does Not Die. The film lived absolutely up to my very high expectations. It undoubtedly contains one of Norma Shearer's best and most sincere performances (along with Barretts of Wimpole Street and Private Lives). Fredric March has excellent rapport with Shearer. Leslie Howard is good as the embittered uncle. O.P. Heggie, Ralph Forbes and Beryl Mercer add fine support too. Elegant direction by Sidney Franklin. Superior to the 1941 remake. Miss Shearer looks ravishing as Moonyean Clare with that blonde wig.

This is high on my list too! Where did you see it? It's not available on DVD, is it?

Moraldo Rubini wrote:

Fernando wrote:Smilin' Through (1932). This film had been in my "Want" list since I was five or eight years old. It was one of my maternal grandparents most cherished and well remembered movies; they always spoke with high regard of it. In my country it was titled (in Spanish) Love That Does Not Die. The film lived absolutely up to my very high expectations. It undoubtedly contains one of Norma Shearer's best and most sincere performances (along with Barretts of Wimpole Street and Private Lives). Fredric March has excellent rapport with Shearer. Leslie Howard is good as the embittered uncle. O.P. Heggie, Ralph Forbes and Beryl Mercer add fine support too. Elegant direction by Sidney Franklin. Superior to the 1941 remake. Miss Shearer looks ravishing as Moonyean Clare with that blonde wig.

This is high on my list too! Where did you see it? It's not available on DVD, is it?

I got a copy taped off TCM from a friend in the U.S. Apparently it's regularly aired on TCM. Isn't it? There is also a out-of-print (officially released) VHS of the film that's being sold by market sellers at Amazon.com

jdb1 wrote:I haven't seen this one, but your mention of O.P. Heggie in the cast piques my interest. Heggie is best-known as the blind man who befriends the Monster in "Frankenstein," but he was in quite a few movies in the 1930s. I saw him a while back in "Anne of Green Gables" (1934) as Matthew Cuthbert, the brother in the brother and sister pair who adopt Anne. His acting style was rather Old School, but he was very good and very sympathetic as Matthew. He died in 1936.

Hi Judith!

I wanted to watch this 1932 version back to back with the 1941 Borzage remake (which I also have), but did not have the time; I hope to watch it soon.

Now about O.P Heggie, you are right, he was superb as the blind hermit in "The Bride of Frankenstein", my all-time favorite Horror film. I have also enjoyed his performances in the rather stiff, but cute early talkie "Devotion" opposite Ann Harding and Leslie Howard; again opposite Ms. Harding in "East Lynne", impersonating Lord Mount Severn, her impoverished father and as Frances Dee's dad in "Playboy of Paris". I do not recall his performance in Robert Donat's "Count of Monte Cristo", but that's because I saw that film a long time ago.

BTW, I plan to watch soon Loretta Young's "Zoo in Budapest" in which he's third billed.

I just watched Douglas Sirk's "A Scandal in Paris," which I enjoyed much more than "Lured." Here the plot is focused on George Sanders' march to power as the cad who eventually becomes police chief of Paris and reforms.

In some ways, this reminded me of "Kind Hearts and Coronets," particularly in the early scenes, and also given the fact that Sanders was presented with a nice and a wicked love interest. Also, much of the humor, particularly with Carole Landis' hats, reminded me of Lubitsch's work. Only toward the end, when Gene Lockhart killed Landis and went mad, did this seem like the Sirk I knew from his Fifties films.

Still, "A Scandal in Paris" was a lot of fun and should be a better-known film.

Well I finally saw The Set-up What a tight and wonderfully directed film. Robert Ryan was very believable as Stoker Thompson and everyone fit their parts to a tee. I especially liked how the boxing scenes near the end didn't just focus on the fight but gave the crowd a personality and a place in the film.

The only thing that irked me was the wife played by Audrey Totter. I don't want to spoil the movie but I really felt that the last line which was spoken by her was VERY selfish in some ways. That kinda ended the movie on a bit of a downer for me.

Overall a 5 out of 5 star film.

I saw the Nanny Diaries tonight. What a disappointment. Laura Linney and Scarlett Johannson head an excellent cast with a preposterous script. Johannson's character is nonsensically submissive. Paul Giamatti plays a two-dimensional character as Linney's husband. A nice surprise was the gorgeous Alicia Keyes. I hadn't realized she wanted to act, and this was a nice first step for her. I liked the anthropologist point of view, and the idea of the Mary Poppins allusions, but overall it just didn't gel. Want to see it? Save it for DVD...

I'm having a bout of insomnia so i'm still awake after watching Her Twelve Men, Bright Road and Grand Old Girl

The first film was "eh" tho I did enjoy seeing Greer Garson and her interaction with all the boys that she was teaching, especially the boy who's parents neglected him. There was an empathy to her portrayal that made the movie worth watching.

Bright Road was a revelation to me. I don't want to spoil it for anyone who didn't see the film but Dorothy Dandridge was EXCELLENT and the young man who portrayed the troubled C.T. was magnificent in his acting. The movie did lightly touch on some topics that was a little surprising to me considering the film was made in 1954. It didn't go deep into the topics but it was worthwhile to see them brought up.

The May Robson Grand Old Girl wasn't the greatest of movies but she gave a tour de force performance. She was funny, caring, sweet and generally just entertaining to watch. The last part of the movie stretched the imagination tho. Look out for the scene where she wins Alan Hale's money with crooked dice. That was a funny bit right there.

I enjoyed all three movies and they were worth watching.

SPTO wrote:Welll I just watched Tribute to a Bad Man a movie with one of the more misleading titles i've ever come across. Cagney's character isn't so much bad it's just that he's filling the void with the absence of the law. The script is a little contrived in the way that it tries to make Cagney seem "bad" but really he was a firm man who was brutal when he needed to be and he loved his woman deeply.

Despite the flaws of the script the acting was quite good. Cagney does a tremendous job of playing Roddock. At the beginning of the film you really get the sense that he's a bitter type of guy but when you see him interacting with the love interest Jocasta (played by Irene Papas) you really get a sense of who Roddock is.

As for the narrator of the film and young easterner that works for Roddock Don Dubbins (in his first credited film role) plays Steve Millar who is tender, caring and well "soft". I liked Dubbins' acting style. It kinda reminded me of a young Jimmy Stewart in some scenes and you truly see that he loves both Roddock and Jo. He loves Roddock in spite of the rough things that he does.

All in all the acting saved this movie from being just merely average. Robert Wise's direction also greatly benefited the film and it held my interest throughout.

I'd give it a 2 1/2 out of 5 stars.

I only saw the last hour or so of the movie but I was hooked! I really want to see it all again because I liked Cagney's character very much. Agreed that the title is very misleading.

MikeBSG wrote:I just watched Douglas Sirk's "A Scandal in Paris," which I enjoyed much more than "Lured." Here the plot is focused on George Sanders' march to power as the cad who eventually becomes police chief of Paris and reforms.

In some ways, this reminded me of "Kind Hearts and Coronets," particularly in the early scenes, and also given the fact that Sanders was presented with a nice and a wicked love interest. Also, much of the humor, particularly with Carole Landis' hats, reminded me of Lubitsch's work. Only toward the end, when Gene Lockhart killed Landis and went mad, did this seem like the Sirk I knew from his Fifties films.

Still, "A Scandal in Paris" was a lot of fun and should be a better-known film.

Mike---A Scandal in Paris is on of my very favorite movies with George Sanders, and is a remarkable film in many ways. I always recommend it to people who think they may not be a fan of Douglas Sirk.

Hi everyone,
I just got home from a hellacious week at work to a nice treat on TCM, just began as I walked in: THE CAT BURGLAR (1961)!! Very cool B, hilarious, campy! GREAT!!
Mark

I saw what I think may have been one of the best roles Cagney ever took in City For Conquest. This movie had a LOT going on. I liked the semi narration with the "old-timer" it reminded me kinda of Burl Ives in the old Rudolph christmas special. The movie was more then just a story of a young man sacrificing things for his younger brother and trying to keep his girlfriend. It was a love song to New York City.

One of the best working class films i've ever seen in my life. The ending with a blind Cagney talking to his girl is one of the more touching scenes i've seen and well I kinda teared up.

I think that Ann Sheridan, IMHO, Cagney's best leading lady, along with Joan Blondell, was ill used in this film, and she wasn't on screen enough.

I guess this long weekend I'm going to have a field day watching movies.
You may ask yourselves why this guy talks about a long weekend? Well, here in Chile every 18th of September we celebrate our Independence day and on September 19th we celebrate our Armed Forces and there is a huge Parade attended by the President and all the authorities. And this year since Monday 17th was in between the weekend and these two festivities which are National Holidays, the Congress passed a Law and decided to declare the 17th another Holiday. So we have 5 free days!!!

I began today in the afternoon and watched 3 films:

"The Half-Naked Truth" (1932). I have this film on a tape together with 4 other movies- all directed by Gregory La Cava. I thought I taped them off of TCM, during a Tribute to this gifted director. The other four are "Smart Woman" (1931), "Symphony of 6 Million" (1932), "Gabriel Over the White House" (1933) and "What Every Woman Knows" (1934) (which is the only one I have yet to see).

Lee Tracy stars in this great comedy and more or less steals the show from everybody else (much like in every other film of his I've seen). He plays a cross between a con man and a press agent who is always pulling all kinds of publicity stunts. Lupe Vélez plays the fiery "hot tamale" who's the centerpiece of one of his stunts. She's delightfully full of pizzazz, cursing in Spanish, dancing and singing -she has gorgeous features too. Eugene Pallette is super-funny as Tracy's rather absent-minded sidekick, who's even presented (unknowingly) as a Turkish eunuch in one of Tracy's stunts. Frank Morgan is excellent as a self-important Ziegfeld-type of theatrical producer. A fast paced Pre-Code and a small gem.

"Green Fire" (1954). A glossy MGM exotic adventure film starring Grace Kelly and Stewart Granger. I hadn't seen this film in years and the only image I had in my mind of it was ***SPOILERS AHEAD**** the two leads' final scene kissing under the heavy rain.

"The Swan" (1956). Has any woman the right of looking so ravishingly beautiful as Grace Kelly appears in this film? She's flawless, perfect, as Princess Alexandra! What a face and body. Such class! The story is engaging but not for all tastes. Some even might find it rather boring. Louis Jourdan is very romantic and dashing as the Tutor who falls in love with this gorgeous Princess and Alec Guinness is good as the Crown Prince. The most precious performance though come from the supporting cast: a delightful Jessie Royce Landis, Brian Aherne, Leo G. Carroll, the equally talented Agnes Moorehead and the deliriously funny, ironic, grand dame of the Theatre, Estelle Winwood. Why this wonderful actress did so few films? She's been one of my favorite character actresses ever since I saw her in "The Glass Slipper" and in this film. She's simply divine.

Anyone has seen the 1925 version (starring producer Samuel Goldwyn's wife in the title role) of this Molnar tale or the early talkie version titled "One Romantic Night" with Lillian Gish in Grace's role?

Wow, Fernando---lucky you!!! I envy you being able to chill for 5 days and catch up on film-viewing! I'm doing a little of that this weekend, but 2 days is usually not enough for me to relax and chill out to get some serous viewing in---I did that over our Labor Day weekend though, a few weeks ago!

I must have taped that same day on TCM a few years ago, as I also had all of those LaCava films on tape, which I've transferred to DVD since. They are all great!

Tonight I'll be riveted to my TV set as TCM honors the lovely Fay Wray--KING KONG, MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM, DIRIGIBLE, BELOW THE SEA, DOCTOR X, THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME. Will be a GREAT night!