[u]MOIRA[/u] [u]FINNIE[/u] wrote: In honor of this latter-day Susan Hayward performance (and her heavy breathing, post-Oscar acting style) I give it three out of four flaring nostrils and will look in to see if I can catch the leading lady tossing her red mane haughtily two or three times.
Men Must Fight (1933) was a very VERY odd mix. Strangely prescient in its basic premise, that men will end up killing one another in war by 1940, it was at the same time quaint and old fashioned in its vision of the future. I was actually glad that it didn't go in for too much futuristic stuff, although the skyping part really made me laugh, because we still are only beginning this technological step now. Mainly, it made me think how sad it was that the premise of this film would turn out to be all too true, and that by 1940, as it said, we would be losing our young men and women to WWII.
Diana Wynyard turned in a very good performance, one of the best I've seen from her, without the stagy, annoying mannerisms that have always bothered me. She was toned down and I wonder if it's because this was an American production, and we were starting to underplay in films more. Perhaps because she was playing older than she really was, her starchiness didn't seem out of place.
Her character, something like Olivia de Havilland's in To Each His Own, loses her great love, flyer Robert Young, to WWI. Friend Lewis Stone is the ever faithful friend, who steps nobly in to marry her when she finds she is pregnant and alone. They grow older together, and become political forces, she on the side of peace at any cost, he a statesman who must do his duty, even if it means promoting a war. The script becomes muddled at this point, her son grows to manhood hating war. He finds and loses his love, refusing to fight even when those around him are losing their heads in the clamor to sign up. Finally, the truth comes out, he's adopted, his father was a flyer who didn't shirk his job when war came. He joins the air corp just as it's revealed that we are losing the war, he will more than likely be cannon fodder.
The movie was clumsy at times, and yet it was thought provoking. Thinking of it in terms of WWII, it was clear that the folks who imagined this had no idea that forces like Hitler and Fascist parties would be in the offing, despite some cross cuts of German and Japanese (and others) flag waving dropped into the film randomly. I wished there had been more Robert Young, he was almost the only vibrant thing in the story, and made me appreciate his easygoing style more. Philips Holmes was quite good, but again, he plays the weakish, philisophical type that would go out of style within a year or so. I wished he'd been played by Young, simply because his vitality would have been even more sad to lose at the end. Holmes was a bit of a pill, not through the actor's fault but as a character. I wished he'd stayed on one side or the other, and really done something different.
The last scene, with Wynyard, Peggy Chase as the girlfriend, and May Robson as the grandmother was a pip. The young woman, now wife of Philips Holmes, vows that her unborn son will never go to war, and the older women muse on why women are not in charge of world politics. Are we still that far off from such a thing?
A couple of goooood provocative dramas are on tonight on TCM. You've got "Cry Danger" "The Prowler" and "99 River Street." ( The trailer for this one was an absolute, over-the-top hoot!! ) But for my money, the film I would recommend as a MUST - SEE for you guys is "TOMORROW IS ANOTHER DAY."
Steve Cochran, in prison since the age of fourteen, is finally released at thirty-something, a full-grown man who doesn't know the ropes...about anything. The Mighty Roman takes him under her blonde wing and he promptly...has to run away or face a murder rap. ( I'm telling you fellas, never trust a blonde who's a brunette. ) It becomes a couple-on-the-run sort of thing. It also shows the growing trust this couple will develop for each other. Lurene Tuttle and Ray Teal are also cast. I think Tuttle is excellent in this. And Steve Cochran was very believable to me as a young man who doesn't know the score. Girls, look at this:
I know...I know. He's no Felix Bressart. But doesn't he bring out the maternal instincts in you? Watch this movie tonite. You won't regret it.
MissGoddess wrote:I always find it fun to listen to the different ways people pronounce RIFIFFI and TOPKAPI.
I like the TOPKAPI trailer, and never realized I've been pronouncing Peter Ustinov's name wrong all these years. According to Melina, it's "Oooh-TEE-nov". (I guess much like Akim Tah-MEER-off) I've always said: "YEW-steh-noff".
By the way, how does one pronounce RIFIFI? (great film! Jean Servais looks like Paul Henreid, but there the resemblance ends, lol)
Last edited by Bronxgirl48 on January 20th, 2013, 1:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I've been pronouncing it wrong too, Bronxie, if Melina is to be trusted....
I love that trailer, everything about it, except for the conspicuous lack of Maximilian Schell scenes shown. You'd think they'd have wanted to capitalize on his good looks. It's one of my very favorite movies and was my introduction to Maxie and Melina. I remember staying up till 4 in the morning one night as a kiddie to watch it because the TV guide said it had 4 stars, and I was enthralled. Now all these years later Jules Dassin is one of my favorite directors.
I know it's a little late in the game, but tonight at 10PM ET, the movie Cold Turkey is playing on TCM. I remember seeing this when it came out. A lot of it was over my head, but I also remember how funny it was, the wicked, wicked satire, and what a great cast it had. If you like Norman Lear's TV shows, you may just like this movie.
Glad you enjoyed "Tomorrow Is Another Day." I haven't watched my recording yet to see Eddie Muller, but the "NOIR ELVIS" is hilarious. I enjoyed him in this. He stayed in character throughout.
Saw "CRY DANGER" which was a tough little picture. I wish Rhonda Fleming was a little more lethal lady. Loved the California sunlight; and Powell walking down the hill. Noir fits Powell like a West Point cadet's glove.
I saw "Django Unchained." I can do Tarantino all day long standing on my head with a handful of Twizzlers tied behind my back, without flinching. But this movie that was on the other morning:
Awmigawd!!! Harrowing painful powerful and well done. Widmark....what can you say about how he sinks his teeth into a part? Hissssssssssssssssssssssssss!
kingrat asked:
Isn't ChiO a big fan of Felix Feist as a director?
Right you are. From a Dec. 18, 2010 post:
Steve Cochran, having spent most of his life in prison, is released and has trouble fitting into society in TOMORROW IS ANOTHER DAY (Felix Feist, 1951). He meets dime-a-dance dame Ruth Roman and we get: sexual obsession, fetishism, killing, frame-up, deceit, couple-on-the-lam, paranoia, love, paranoia, treachery and paranoia. All while subverting legal and family institutions. In short, it's GREAT! In spite of an unambiguous happy ending. Who woulda thought?
Because of HOW TO BE A DETECTIVE (1936, short), THE DEVIL THUMBS A RIDE (1947), THE THREAT (1949), THE MAN WHO CHEATED HIMSELF (1950), THE BASKETBALL FIX (1951), THIS WOMAN IS DANGEROUS (1952) and now this, Felix Feist has become another of my minor obsessions.
I might also add that the key entry is THE DEVIL THUMBS A RIDE (1947). Starring Lawrence Tierney. No bonus points for guessing to whose character the title may be alluding.
Everyday people...that's what's wrong with the world. -- Morgan Morgan I love movies. But don't get me wrong. I hate Hollywood. -- Orson Welles Movies can only go forward in spite of the motion picture industry. -- Orson Welles
I watched Tomorrow is Another Day as well, and I just loved it!
Am I wrong in saying that Steve's pouty outcast is an earlier version of James Dean's drifter in Rebel Without a Cause? The scene in the leather jackets and jeans cemented this feeling for me.
The dime a dance scenes were awesome, so cold and clinical, with the buzzer going off every minute. A true hell hole. You can see how Ruth Roman got the way she was. Speaking of, I thought she was incredibly believable here, it's such a shame she's known only for Strangers on a Train, because almost every other movie I've seen her in gives her more to do. She's a terrific actress...
I thought the scene with the hair dye was outstandingly acted and sexy as all get out. I also liked the way that this movie rolled, it became more and more tense as their paranoia and guilt grew, giving the film a really wonderful arc. Heck, I even liked the ending!
JackFavell wrote:I've been pronouncing it wrong too, Bronxie, if Melina is to be trusted....
I love that trailer, everything about it, except for the conspicuous lack of Maximilian Schell scenes shown. You'd think they'd have wanted to capitalize on his good looks. It's one of my very favorite movies and was my introduction to Maxie and Melina. I remember staying up till 4 in the morning one night as a kiddie to watch it because the TV guide said it had 4 stars, and I was enthralled. Now all these years later Jules Dassin is one of my favorite directors.
Yes, more of Max is ALWAYS a good thing! My first intro to Max was JUDGEMENT, and Melina in NEVER ON SUNDAY, upon which now that I've seen NIGHT AND THE CITY and RIFIFI, I'm thinking is probably the least of Dassin's films (although ZORBA THE GREEK owes much to it)
Thanks for the heads up on "Nudie," David. His car is at the museum in Lone Pine. It's covered in silver dollars and has longhorn steer horns on the front. It is something else!
The Mighty Roman takes him under her blonde wing and he promptly...has to run away or face a murder rap. ( I'm telling you fellas, never trust a blonde who's a brunette. ) It becomes a couple-on-the-run sort of thing. It also shows the growing trust this couple will develop for each other. Lurene Tuttle and Ray Teal are also cast. I think Tuttle is excellent in this. And Steve Cochran was very believable to me as a young man who doesn't know the score. Girls, look at this:
