WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

[MikeBSG]

Yesterday I watched "Carry On Cleo" (1964) directed by Gerald Thomas.

While I really liked "Carry On Screaming" (1966) when I saw it a couple of weeks ago, "Carry On Cleo" struck me as only so-so. I really loved Kenneth Williams as the foppish, ineffectual Julius Caesar. However, when he wasn't around, my enjoyment of the film went crashing to the floor.

[movieman1957]

Today I watched "Angel Face" (1952), directed by Otto Preminger.

I was really taken with this one. The score by Dmitri Tiomkin was terrific, very romantic. I'm a little surprised it isn't better known. I've never been that big a fan of either Robert Mitchum or Jean Simmons, but they were both outstanding here.

The movie itself felt like two different movies mashed together. The first half, as Mitchum falls in love with Simmons, reminded me of a Val Lewton horror film, sort of like "Cat People" or "Seventh victim." Then, after the car crash, that feeling was replaced by the sense that the film had turned into a James M. Cain story. Maybe this was the presence of Leon Ames, but the last third of the movie, with the trial and the falling out between Mitchum and Simmons reminded me of "Postman Always Rings Twice" and the ending of the novel "Double Indemnity."

Seriously, I really enjoyed "Angel Face." I think it is a splendid noir, a splendid achievement for Preminger.

Mike spells it out pretty well. I too felt like it was two movies. The first moves along pretty well. I liked that in 15 minutes we already pretty much know all we need to know about the characters. By the midway point and at the trial it takes a much more leisurely pace.

I do think Mitchum and Simmons are very good here, especially Simmons. (I do like Jean. On a purely chauvinistic level I think she is lovely and has a wonderful voice.) The thing I thought was so good about her is she is so subtle about how crazy she really is. I think all the performances were understated. This is the kind of thing where one usually gets a bit out of hand but that didn't happen.

The accidents were well staged but my only issue is that I can't imagine there is any way the bodies would have stayed in the car on their trip.

Someone tell me that was the same house they used in "Sabrina."

P.S. I did edit Mike's comments a little.

[JackFavell]

I really like that one too, Chris. I never was much of a Mitchum fan, or Simmons, but they both hit on all cylinders here, Mitchum's never seemed more masculine and Simmons has never seemed more feminine. I can see how he gets entangled, because Simmons is really subtle.

[RedRiver]

I'm OK with this Preminger psycho-drama all the way through. It's not my favorite movie. Not a must-see. But I find it intriguing, even scintillating, on pretty much all levels. Jean Simmons is always fine. This is one of her stronger efforts.

[CineMaven]

FASTEN YOUR SEAT BELT:



Count me in as a fan of "ANGEL FACE" too. Love Mitchum and Jean Simmons. That sci-fi redhead Kenneth Tobey gets the girl. Theresa Harris has a small role as a nurse. And look...Scarlet O'Hara's mother is in it too. Ahhh Jean, her voice like velvet, eyes black as coals, a beautiful girl as crazy as a looon.

[RedRiver]

Love that voice! Arguably, her two best roles were as whack-jobs. She's great in HOME BEFORE DARK.

CINE-MASTERFUL!

[CineMaven]

Old Man Ribber...how's it going?

Though I wouldn't characterize Jeanie as a whack job in "Home Before Dark." I think her husband and Rhonda Fleming were gaslighting her.

[RedRiver]

Hmm...your Cine-memory is better than mine. I guess I'd forgotten that! I love Jean in ELMER GANTRY and THE ACTRESS too. Let's face it. I'm a fan!

[CineMaven]

And I am a fan of this man, who passed away fifty-three years ago today:

[RedRiver]

I had the vaguest awareness of this. My mother was a movie fan, a GWTW fanatic. The news was noted in our house.

[RedRiver]

Last night I watched ANGEL FACE, inspired by our recent discusssion, and Ida Lupino's fun THE HITCHHIKER. Not a good copy, but I like the movie. Hamilton Burger is downright menacing! The reliable Edmund O'Brien and Frank Lovejoy make believable hostages. Wary, but not intimidated. This is not a great movie. That's why I like it. The small, one dimensional attitude puts it right in your lap. There are no distractions from the main story.

I also picked up CROSS-FIRE and FORCE OF EVIL. Haven't watched them yet, but we've all seen these classics before. I just get really tired of the crap on real TV!

[JackFavell]

I just watched Hamilton Burger in The Racket yesterday, and was thinking this was the nicest I ever saw him!

[JackFavell]

The ads for that movie made me want to see it badly, it looked so good, and I'm a fan of Bradley Cooper. But there was a flurry of movies out about the same time it came out and it disappeared from our theater before I got to see it.