WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

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Bogie
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Post by Bogie »

I saw a couple movies on TCM this morning

Men are Such Fools (1938) - Strange comedy movie which didn't quite work for me because of the way the female lead as she waffled between hating her fiance and loving him to pieces. A lot of the scenes were over the top to the point that it was plain silliness! I will say that Prscilla Lane was one hot number back in the day! Also it was weird seeing Bogie in a very limited role and being made a fool of but oh well. Oh and I loved Hugh Herbert as Mr. Bates. Did he always have that kind of mannerism in other movies? If so, I think i'll have to hunt them down.


You Can't Fool Your Wife
(1940) - It's always cool to see a pre Lucy Show Lucile Ball. This was an interesting little comedy and the actual story was quite good but the actors were um...a bit bland especially Lucy's husband in the movie (played by James Elisson) The movie starts off a bit slow but I really love the whole mistaken identity comedy regarding Lucy and a Spanish lady at a party. The last 15-20 minutes saved the movie IMO.
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Bogie
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Post by Bogie »

I just watched To Be or not To Be 1942 and I must say it's an interesting film. Seeing Jack Benny as the male lead usually means it's going to be a rollicking good time but this movie was tempered greatly by its subject matter. In some of the more serious scenes Benny actually was quite credible. Of course, when the film called him to be funny he was quite good especially when he was in costume pretending to be the Gestapo agent.

Carole Lombard was fantastic in what was her final film role but she didn't really have very much to do for a whole chunk of the middle of the film. Nonetheless when she was on screen she truly lit it up and was very very good.

One other actor should be mentioned and that is the actor that played Col. Erhardt (Sig Ruman) The character was your typical comedic German foe that you'd find in US propaganda movies and such but there was a certain charm and gravitas to the portrayal that while Erhardt was somewhat bumbling there was still that mean and efficient German streak to him. It was actually pretty nuanced in bits and pieces.

So while the movie wasn't quite what I thought it would be it was far more richer in content as it was truly a statement against Nazi Germany at a time when the US was waffling on what to do. (the movie was completed in '41 but released the year after)

A solid 4 out of 5
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charliechaplinfan
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Post by charliechaplinfan »

Only 4 out of 5. It's a 5 for me or at least a 4 and a half.

Carole Lombard is so beautiful. It does sadden me to watch it when she died so soon after. Her last film was a great one.
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
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movieman1957
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Post by movieman1957 »

I never quite liked Benny here. Somehow it's too tough for me to buy him as a Polish actor that does Shakespeare. Maybe that was the point.

I love Benny but mostly in his TV show.
Chris

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Bogie
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Post by Bogie »

movieman1957 wrote:I never quite liked Benny here. Somehow it's too tough for me to buy him as a Polish actor that does Shakespeare. Maybe that was the point.

I love Benny but mostly in his TV show.
Maybe if the movie wasn't dealing with such a serious topic I think they would've went over the top with that aspect of the story.
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charliechaplinfan
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Post by charliechaplinfan »

My only experience of Jack Benny is this film. Perhaps that makes the difference.
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
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movieman1957
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Post by movieman1957 »

He's better suited in "George Washington Slept Here." On the whole he did not have a great movie career. As I mentioned his TV career was a whole different story.
Chris

"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana."
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Bogie
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Post by Bogie »

movieman1957 wrote:He's better suited in "George Washington Slept Here." On the whole he did not have a great movie career. As I mentioned his TV career was a whole different story.
Wasn't he good in The Horn Blows at Midnight? His radio show made some good hay off of that movie and I was under the assumption that even though he downplayed it and basically wrote it off as a crummy performance that he was actually pretty good in it.

It's actually a film i've been wanting to see for a long time.
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movieman1957
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Post by movieman1957 »

Bogie:

I've wanted to see it too just to see if it is as bad as he said. (That may have been his point.)
Chris

"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana."
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charliechaplinfan
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Post by charliechaplinfan »

This morning I spent a delightful 90 minutes or so whilst the kids were out of the house watching Theodora Goes Wild. I did feel incredibly guilty because there are always plenty of things to be done, I personally feel I couldn't have used 90 minutes in a better way.

I can't believe I haven't seen Melvyn Douglas in anything before, I'm immediately a fan. I've been a big fan of Irene Dunne for a while. Theodora ranks with the best screwball comedies. I can't possibly describe the plot because as with all screwball comedies it's so zany, it can't be described. Irene Dunne is a resident of a small stuffy town who has written a best selling racy novel incognito, one that the literary circle of the town has banned. Irene Dunne gets chance to dress like a stuffy small town lady and as the title suggest 'goes wild' she is hilarious when she comes back to that small town dressed in her finery carrying a baby. She certainly blew the cobwebs off that community.

I'm so glad I watched this instead of cleaning the bathroom and bedrooms :lol:
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
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movieman1957
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Post by movieman1957 »

Probably one of the most under rated if unknown comedies from that time. Everyone knows Irene excelled at these but those came later.
I felt like you when I discovered it.

Douglas is wonderful. Have you not seen him in "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House"? Although he plays the thankless friend role he has the same easy charm he shows in "Theodora."

This is one I alwasy suggest when they are looking for some new comedy. Glad you caught it. (The bathrooms can wait.)
Chris

"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana."
MikeBSG
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Post by MikeBSG »

This week, I watched two films from the Czech New Wave of the 1960s.

"Daisies" was something like Goddard's "Weekend." Two young women live a frivolous and ever more violent life-style. It starts out in a very eye-catching way, but ultimately it is about 15 minutes too long. I can't see how the director of this film didn't realize that it would get her into trouble with the Communist authorities.

"The End of August at the Hotel Ozone" was very interesting. It is about a generation after WWIII. An old woman guides 8 younger women through a blasted landscape to try to find other people. They find a old man in the ruins of the Hotel Ozone.

This was very well done. The black-and-white photography was excellent, and the characters were sketched in with a minimum of dialogue. It was both sentimental and scary. In a lot of ways, it reminded me of "Earth Abides" the classic 1940s SF novel by George Stewart. It had a similar theme, but the plot was utterly different.

oddly, it also felt like a Soviet bloc echo of "Planet of the Apes," which actually came out a year or so later. Were both films a response to the missile-rattling of earlier in the Sixties?
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charliechaplinfan
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Post by charliechaplinfan »

Last night I watched Under Two Flags filmed in 1936 starring Ronald Colman, Claudette Colbert, Rosalind Russell and Victor McClaglen. The story was quite predictable but I loved it. Ronald Colman and Claudette Colbert have sizzling chemistry between them. Especially in a scene when they race off into the desert, say more, it isn't even a precode.

Claudette/Cigarette isn't destined to keep her man when Rosalind Russell comes into town. Claudette is a woman of the legion and follows them, tends to them. Rosalind Russell is English like Ronald/Sgt Victor and he falls for her, Claudette/Cigarette finds out but still goes to save Ronald in battle dying in his arms. It's very moving, her bravery gets her a heroes funeral.

I loved it but I confess I'd have changed the ending so that Cigarette got Sgt Victor. :D
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
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movieman1957
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Post by movieman1957 »

"Becket." Who could not enjoy watching Burton and O'Toole at work. The story takes quite a left turn when Burton is made Archbishop. Political intrigue and a game of "let's see who's smarter" makes this worthwhile.
Chris

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Post by jdb1 »

I saw a bizzare but interesting one this morning - it was either Sundance or IFC. It's called No Such Thing. Hard to describe because there were so many elements involved, and not all really belonged together.

I missed the beginning, but it seems that it's a sort of parable taking place in a not-too-distant future time when the media runs everything and everyone's life is fair game for reportage. A young woman (Sarah Polley) works for some sort of tabloid, run by Helen Mirren. Polley's cameraman boyfriend has been killed in Iceland, reportedly by a "monster" he was sent to find and film, and she is sent out there to see what happened. Polley's plane crashes, and we are treated to extended scenes of her hospital stay, some too long and detailed scenes of her treatment for spinal injuries; but since her doctor is Julie Christie, it's not all that bad.

Dr. Julie knows about the legend of this monster, who is supposed to dwell in a remote seashore location on the opposite side of Iceland, and she accompanies Polley (who was in this hospital for 6 months, but has now fully recovered), to find it. We get many, many scenes of them driving through mud and rocks, then they reach a farm (what do they farm in remote Iceland?) where Polley and a guide ride ponies to the shore.

Now the film starts to look a lot like The Village, with atmospheric long shots of the empty terrain. Polley is taken to a little settlement on the shore and the guide leaves her. The people are all "strange," and tell her hair-raising tales of the bloodthirsty monster, who actually is living on a rocky island just offshore. They say they row over there once in a while to leave him whiskey and beer, but that sometimes he comes to shore and murders a few people (seemingly just for fun). What they don't tell Polley is that they often drug the few scarce visitors and take them over the island as offerings for the monster, who apparently eats them or something. Of course, this is what happens to poor - now what was her character's name? - yes, Beatrice.

So Beatrice is given drugged schnapps and wrapped in a sheet and taken to the monster's lair. She wakes up in what looks like a generating plant, and there is the monster, who looks a lot like the demons we've seen on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. For reasons never explained, he is dressed in a sort of 18th century suit, but he talks not Icelandic, or English with an Icelandic accent, but pure, colloquial, and salty New Yorkese. He is played by Robert John Burke, an actor we see frequently on shows like Law and Order. He was quite good here.
It turns out that he has existed for all time, has various beastly attributes, like scales, horns and firery breath, but he is tired of living, only he is immortal. His raids on the locals are caused by his rage at his fate; he says if he should kill Beatrice, she shouldn't take it personally - it's just what he does. Our little Beatrice, though, is one of those fairy-tale plucky girls who refuses to be frightened, and wants only to see the good in the beast. She forgives him for killing her boyfriend, and offers to help him, but only if he'll promise not to kill any one. You see, there's this mad Icelandic scientist who may be able to help the monster die, only the scientist was taken to the loony bin and the monster doesn't know where he is.

So Beatrice offers to find this scientist, and the two of them row back to the shore and amble by the shocked Village People. There are a few lyrical scenes of them traversing the Icelandic countryside. Back at the farm where Beatrice started out, she calls her boss, Mirren, knowing that she will have the resources to find the mad scientist and help the monster.

Next we go to New York, where the expected media circus takes place. The monster is given a sharp new suit to wear and lots of booze to drink. The mad scientist is found, but Mirren decides to keep him away from the monster until the public's interest in him dies down (she figures it will take two or three days). Beatrice learns of this, gets the beast away (he makes a sad speech about the futility of the existence of the human race and how much he hates them, but how he also wishes he could be as adaptable as they are, and maybe he's still existing because he's God, but he hopes not). With the help of some sympathetic co-workers, Beatrice manages to get the mad scientist (he's pretty cool, like a younger, Icelandic Prof. Irwin Corey) and the monster back to the rocky island, where the monster is hooked up to a weird metal frame with magnifying glasses attached to it. Meanwhile, for reasons I didn't understand, the Icelandic SWAT team is storming the island and running up the stairs of the generating plant, but the switch is pulled in time, and we get a montage of the monster trying to get dead while Beatrice makes beautiful faces and electronic, Bjork-like music plays. The ending consists of a complete blackout, so I guess the monster gets his wish.

Whew. It was an exhausting and undisciplined movie, but I liked it.
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