WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

[feaito]

I saw Elia Kazan's "Panic in the Streets" (1950), an action film which struck me as very realistically made, especially by late '40s or '50s standards. My feeling is that for most of the secondary roles the director used real people from the slums and wharfs. When I began watching it I thought it was going to be the typical Film Noir and although it has Noirish characteristics it's more a crime-human-drama; no Femme Fatales here, just a very real suburban wife, beautifully played by pretty Barbara Bel Geddes. It's a pleasant surprise to see Dick Widmark playing a regular, idealistic, good guy for a change. He's an excellent actor, believable as psychos, killers and good guys. There are some beautifully-done domestic scenes featuring him and Bel Geddes, as well as Tommy Rettig, who plays the couple's only son. Paul Douglas is the policeman who works side by side with Widmark, trying to find the murderers of a mysterious European immigrant, but not for the reasons on would think. Jack Palance plays a bad guy with authority as usual. Zero Mostel is one of his henchmen. Excellently done and very absorbing. Must-see.

[mrsl]

I'm glad you liked Panic in the Streets, Feaito. It's one of my favorite Widmark movies, probably because, as you said he plays a nice guy for a change. Also, one of my other favorites, Paul Douglas as his sidekick, and together they made a great buddy movie. I enjoy those kind of piece together tiny clues and come up with the bad guy or whatever films. Those guys went through an awful lot to save the city, and you're right, Barbara Bel Geddes played a believable housewife, who worried about what her hubby was getting into, knowing it was work related and not some worrisome thing.

Anne

[feaito]

Great minds think alike Anne

[MichiganJ]

I re-watched the Maximilian Schell documentary on Marlene Dietrich, Marlene, and had forgotten how absolutely brilliant the film is. Dietrich refused to appear on-camera, but agreed to sit down for a series of audio interviews--half in German, half in English. Amazingly, Schell turns Dietrich's stipulation to his advantage, making a riveting and extremely visual film. But more importantly, because the interviews are audio only, Schell creates a genuine intimacy that has rarely, if ever, been achieved in a documentary on a Hollywood star.

And what a star. Dietrich is impatient, combative, (always points out the various contract stipulations, etc.), and brutally honest about nearly everything. Of course, she lies, too. And when Schell calls her on them...phew. (I had no idea that she appeared in some German silents. She says no, The Blue Angel was her first movie. But she says this as we are watching her in a silent film.)

Off course there are the requisite film clips (including one of my favorites, the fight scene from Destry) and clips of Dietrich from her stage performances. Some great clips, too, of Dietrich entertaining the troops. The discussion of her returning to Germany after the war, and the mixed reception she received is fascinating, and that leads to the clips from Judgement at Nuremberg (which co-stared Schell--but I didn't have to tell you that). Even the short snippets show the brilliance of her performance (and Spencer Tracy's, too!)

And then there's Touch of Evil and Welles. "Cross yourself before you mention his name!" That's pretty much all she has to say, but what else is there?

I could go on and on but it should be mentioned that Schell takes advantage of the artifice of the entire project by periodically showing us all of the mechanics going on behind the scenes and somehow it makes the documentary all the more real.

[Professional Tourist]

And then there's Touch of Evil and Welles. "Cross yourself before you mention his name!" That's pretty much all she has to say, but what else is there?

Once when asked in an interview about Welles, Marlene said (words to the effect): "When he talks to me, I feel like a plant being watered." That one is my personal favorite. I'd love to see this documentary, if it's been released on DVD.

[klondike]

And then there's Touch of Evil and Welles. "Cross yourself before you mention his name!" That's pretty much all she has to say, but what else is there?

Well, there is my favorite Marlene line from TOE (aimed, leisurely, right between Orson's wheezy, piggish eyes):
"I suggest ya lay off the candy bahs."
Toss-away trivial, but it sure stuck in my mind.

[feaito]

I have just finished watching William Wyler's "Detective Story" (1951). Its stage origins are quite apparent and in a way to me it looked a little bit like a filmed stage play. I guess that some of the actors who were featured in the stage version of the play repeated their roles in this film; I'd guess that both Lee Grant, who plays the shoplifter and the actor who plays the burglar Charley Gennini, are two of such; the actor who plays Gennini (Joseph Wiseman) gives the most theatrical, OTT performance of all the actors featured in this film; I even sometimes felt a little bit embarrassed by his overplaying. Stage actors can't act their roles in movies like they performed them on stage, because it doesn't look right on screen and here's an example. Lee Grant on the other hand, does better; her performance is more restrained. But the entire atmosphere of the film is more stagey rather than cinematic. I liked the movie very much and I found it very absorbing and well acted in general, Joseph Wiseman notwithstanding, but the apparent staginess bothered me a little bit.

Kirk Douglas gives an intense performance as Detective McLeod, although sometimes it seemed to me that his performance also had a stagey quality. When I was watching the film I could not stop thinking about McLeod's connections with Victor Hugo's Javert from "Les Misérables". He's the son of a criminal, who's lived always strictly by the law, applying it to his job and personal life -no flaws admitted; people don't change; no-one deserves an opportunity and this is the cause of this character's doom. Then we have Eleanor Parker giving the best cinematic performance of the film: beautifully restrained, carefully subdued, understated, top-notch. She deserved her AA nomination. Cathy O'Donnell, as the girl in love with the first offender played by Craig Hill, also gives a beautiful performance, reminiscent of her role in Wyler's "The Best Years of Our Lives" (1946). Horace McMahon, Bill Bendix and George MacReady also give grand performances.

In all, a very good film, marred a little bit by its stage origins but well acted in general, with an absorbing plot. The print of the DVD is beautiful. 8/10

[feaito]

Some days ago I watched “The Glass Key” (1942) and I enjoyed every single minute of it. I was especially impressed by Alan Ladd’s cool performance, which dominates the film. His aloofness, inexpressiveness, his complete loyalty to the character played by Brain Donlevy are among the assets of his winning performance. Brian Donlevy is very good as the corrupt, coarse politician who falls for the snooty character played by Veronica Lake. Lake and Ladd are a good match and she’s quite alluring in this film. The supporting cast is full of good character actors: William Bendix, Joseph Calleia, Bonita Granville and Donald MacBride and Moroni Olsen. Also in the cast in small roles: Frances Gifford as a nurse who looks after Ladd and Dane Clark. The scene in which Ladd seduces the publisher’s passionate wife, deftly played by Margaret Hayes is a knockout and it impressed me that such an overtly adulterous scene passed the censors. Superb entertainment!

I haven’t seen the 1935 version with George Raft and Edward Arnold and I’d like to compare it with this one.

[klondike]

Fernando, The Glass Key is, for me, such an iconic, nearly apocryphal noir that to this day, whenever Mrs. K mentions someone by name whom we know but don't care for, I'll pop my eyes, stick my jaw out and start the Bill Bendix " - he's a HEEL!" rant.

[feaito]

By the way, Bill Bendix was indeed a versatile as an actor comparing for instance, his roles in "The Glass Key" and "Detective Story". I feel that maybe early in his career he was sort of typecast in roles of brutes ("The Hairy Ape" (1944) et al). Wasn't he?

Last night I wacthed 1/3 of Preminger's "Whirlpool" (1950); so far excellent! I'm in a Noir roll...

[mrsl]

Vengeance Valley: (1951) Starring Burt Lancaster, Robert Walker, Jo Anne Dru. Might have been good with a different director but it seemed like EVERYONE was only there to fill in time. Jo Ann, although married to Walker, seems to have a crush on Burt, but if so, she's sending her signals by way of China. There didn't seem to be any chemistry there that I could see, and there wasn't for poor Robert either who grew up in Burt's shadow, even though he was an orphan Roberts father brought home as a baby, and proceeded to treat, and act like he was the foremost recipient of whatever papa left. So Robert plans to trick Burt in Dad's eyes as the father of his own illegitimate child, and from there the story starts. But as I said nobody seems interested in pleasing either the audience or each other. High budget, color film, big names, certainly expected more.

Anne

[Garbomaniac]

The Swan was on today. It is such a beautiful movie. I kept thinking about Grace and how easily she played the part of a princess. She probably made it seem so easy after she married Rainer. After all, most of life is ACTING!

I loved all of the cast. Louis Jordan was so young and handsome; he and Grace made a beautiful couple, but as life takes its course, we often end up with whom we are supposed to be, not the one we want. And, PT, Agnes was wonderful as the queen. I have seen the film before, so the whole time I was watching, I was waiting for her to arrive! I loved her line about having read a book the proves without a doubt that Napoleon NEVER existed! Ha!

The last scene with Grace and Alec on the terrace is wonderful. He gives his little speech about the swan. It is so moving.

[Professional Tourist]

And, PT, Agnes was wonderful as the queen. I have seen the film before, so the whole time I was watching, I was waiting for her to arrive! I loved her line about having read a book the proves without a doubt that Napoleon NEVER existed! Ha!

Yes, I so want to see The Swan! All I have is a few black-and-white stills. But at least now I've finally seen her as Queen Elizabeth, thanks to the Warner Archive. Btw, Agnes and Grace were good friends.

[feaito]

When I was kid, during the mid to late 1970s, every day of the week I watched the old movies shown in Public TV Channels in two programs called "Cine in su Casa" (Cinema in your Home) and "Tardes de Cine" (Afternoons of Cinema) where there were usually aired MGM films from the 1940s and 1950s. One of my favorites was "The Swan" (1956). Grace Kelly made such a beautiful couple with Louis Jourdan and since she was destined to be Princess, by marriage, the role was so telling about what was going to be... although here she plays a Princess of the blood. I think it is the film where her beauty is at its peak; flawless... and the supporting cast was a especially a favorite ensemble of mine. What can beat Jessie Royce Landis, Agnes Moorehead and Estelle Winwood together? Since during those years I was also very fond of (and still am) the TV Series "Bewitched" it was a special treat to see Agnes in this earlier role. She was born to play regal, commanding characters. Boy what a lady! And Estelle Winwood, with that zany air of hers -"The Glass Slipper" (1955) was also a favorite and permantely aired in those days. And yes, we mustn't forget Brian Aherne as the humble priest of noble origin and Alec Guinness as the King.

I've never been able to see the two earlier versions made in 1930 as "One Romantic Night" with Lillian Gish in Kelly's role and in 1925 as "The Swan" with Frances Howard, later Goldwyn.

[Garbomaniac]

Oh, Fernando, I haven't seen The Glass Slipper in so long. I have it on VHS. I should watch it again since you brought it up. Nobody talks about that film, and I think it is great! Richard Chamberlain is one of those forgotten stars who could do so much and bring so much to any film in which he participated.