I Just Watched...

[Cinemaspeak59]

Dust Be My Destiny (1939) John Garfield and Priscilla Lane make a fine pairing as unlucky lovers on the run. Along the way they are helped by good people (proof the world isn’t all bad). Eventually, the law catches up to them. There’s a great courtroom scene at the end. The chemistry between Garfield and Lane make this an enjoyable WB melodrama.

[BagelOnAPlate]

I'm a fan of movies set in New York City in 1890s, but I did not become familiar with The Strawberry Blonde until recently.
A restoration of this Warner Brothers movie was screened at the 2023 TCM Classic Film Festiva last month, which I attended, but I was at the Looney Tunes At The Oscars presentation when The Strawberry Blonde was shown at the Chinese Multiplex.
Signage with James Cagney and Oliva de Havilland was on display outside the Roosevelt Hotel. I did a double take when I saw it because I wasn't aware that James Cagney and Oliva de Havilland had played a romantic couple in a movie! (I knew they were both in Max Reinhardt's bizarre Warner Brothers production of A Midsummer Night's Dream.)

I watched the movie on Watch TCM today and I highly recommend watching it before it leaves that platform in the next 4 days. A great introduction by Wes Anderson is aired before the movie.

The title of the movie is taken from the lyrics of "The Band Played On," a song that plays an important part in the movie's plot. The strawberry blonde is played by Rita Hayworth. Warner Brothers intended for Ann Sheridan to play the part (it would have been a perfect role for her), but Rita Hayworth is fantastic.
James Cagney's character falls for the glamorous Hayworth character but his "friend" (I use the term loosely) played by Jack Carson marries her. Cagney's character ends up with the more serious character played by Olivia de Havilland.

At the end of the movie, there is an opportunity to sign along to "The Band Played On." The lyrics appear on the screen. One of the verses references "Biff Grimes," which was the name of James Cagney's character in the movie. I don't think those were the original lyrics from the 1890s. I wonder if the audience watching at the TCM Film Festival sang along?

[txfilmfan]

I'm a fan of movies set in New York City in 1890s, but I did not become familiar with The Strawberry Blonde until recently.
A restoration of this Warner Brothers movie was screened at the 2023 TCM Classic Film Festiva last month, which I attended, but I was at the Looney Tunes At The Oscars presentation when The Strawberry Blonde was shown at the Chinese Multiplex.
Signage with James Cagney and Oliva de Havilland was on display outside the Roosevelt Hotel. I did a double take when I saw it because I wasn't aware that James Cagney and Oliva de Havilland had played a romantic couple in a movie! (I knew they were both in Max Reinhardt's bizarre Warner Brothers production of A Midsummer Night's Dream.)

I watched the movie on Watch TCM today and I highly recommend watching it before it leaves that platform in the next 4 days. A great introduction by Wes Anderson is aired before the movie.

The title of the movie is taken from the lyrics of "The Band Played On," a song that plays an important part in the movie's plot. The strawberry blonde is played by Rita Hayworth. Warner Brothers intended for Ann Sheridan to play the part (it would have been a perfect role for her), but Rita Hayworth is fantastic.
James Cagney's character falls for the glamorous Hayworth character but his "friend" (I use the term loosely) played by Jack Carson marries her. Cagney's character ends up with the more serious character played by Olivia de Havilland.

At the end of the movie, there is an opportunity to sign along to "The Band Played On." The lyrics appear on the screen. One of the verses references "Biff Grimes," which was the name of James Cagney's character in the movie. I don't think those were the original lyrics from the 1890s. I wonder if the audience watching at the TCM Film Festival sang along?

I was not familiar with this film before the 2023 festival. I attended the screening there. They also showed a cartoon and short before this film, all from the same year as this film's release. There was no newsreel, as WB didn't have a newsreel department until 1947, when they bought RKO-Pathe News, and they were recreating a Warner Bros. night at the movies for 1941. It was an entertaining film and I wondered why I'd never come across it before.

Raoul Walsh directed and the cinematographer was the celebrated James Wong Howe. George Reeves (TV's Superman) has a supporting role as a mustachioed college jock who irritates James Cagney's character. Also look for Bewitched's George Tobias as Cagney's best friend.

As far as the song goes, no those lyrics aren't the original ones. For one thing, the original song is a hybrid 2/4, 3/4 song, with the chorus (the only part anyone knows these days) in 3/4 waltz time while the verses are in 2/4. So what is sung at the end of the movie is just the chorus. Being the chorus, there's only one set of lyrics, about Matt Casey, and not BIff.

The song also features prominently in Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train, sung by another future-Bewitched alum (Kasey Rogers) & "friends" while riding the carousel. It's also heard throughout the amusement park scenes, along with "Ain't We Got Fun", "Ain't She Sweet" and "Oh, You Beautiful Doll". Hitchcock had a warped sense of humor.

And yes, we sang along!

[Swithin]

I'm a fan of movies set in New York City in 1890s,

Raoul Walsh was born in NYC in 1887 and a natural to direct films set in the City. I guess his most famous of that genre was The Roaring Twenties (1939), but one that should not be overlooked is the pre-code film The Bowery (1933), which you can find on YouTube. It's based on two real New York characters of the 1890s and has a great feel for the period, including the music. It stars Wallace Beery, George Raft (who actually has a brief dance scene), Jackie Cooper, Fay Wray, and perhaps most wonderfully, Pert Kelton. The Bowery is not widely shown today, due to its rather stark stereotypes and total political incorrectness (from the first frame), but it's a fun, evocative film.

Here's Pert Kelton's first song, near the top of the movie:

[Allhallowsday]

THE WHALE (2022) an uncomfortable film I could not stop watching.  Imperfect script?  Hateful characters?  Probably yes.  
BRENDAN FRASER's performance was riveting.  I can't say I liked the film, but I won't forget it.  

[BagelOnAPlate]

I'm a fan of movies set in New York City in 1890s, but I did not become familiar with The Strawberry Blonde until recently.
A restoration of this Warner Brothers movie was screened at the 2023 TCM Classic Film Festiva last month, which I attended, but I was at the Looney Tunes At The Oscars presentation when The Strawberry Blonde was shown at the Chinese Multiplex.
Signage with James Cagney and Oliva de Havilland was on display outside the Roosevelt Hotel. I did a double take when I saw it because I wasn't aware that James Cagney and Oliva de Havilland had played a romantic couple in a movie! (I knew they were both in Max Reinhardt's bizarre Warner Brothers production of A Midsummer Night's Dream.)

I watched the movie on Watch TCM today and I highly recommend watching it before it leaves that platform in the next 4 days. A great introduction by Wes Anderson is aired before the movie.

The title of the movie is taken from the lyrics of "The Band Played On," a song that plays an important part in the movie's plot. The strawberry blonde is played by Rita Hayworth. Warner Brothers intended for Ann Sheridan to play the part (it would have been a perfect role for her), but Rita Hayworth is fantastic.
James Cagney's character falls for the glamorous Hayworth character but his "friend" (I use the term loosely) played by Jack Carson marries her. Cagney's character ends up with the more serious character played by Olivia de Havilland.

At the end of the movie, there is an opportunity to sign along to "The Band Played On." The lyrics appear on the screen. One of the verses references "Biff Grimes," which was the name of James Cagney's character in the movie. I don't think those were the original lyrics from the 1890s. I wonder if the audience watching at the TCM Film Festival sang along?

I was not familiar with this film before the 2023 festival. I attended the screening there. They also showed a cartoon and short before this film, all from the same year as this film's release. There was no newsreel, as WB didn't have a newsreel department until 1947, when they bought RKO-Pathe News, and they were recreating a Warner Bros. night at the movies for 1941. It was an entertaining film and I wondered why I'd never come across it before.

Raoul Walsh directed and the cinematographer was the celebrated James Wong Howe. George Reeves (TV's Superman) has a supporting role as a mustachioed college jock who irritates James Cagney's character. Also look for Bewitched's George Tobias as Cagney's best friend.

As far as the song goes, no those lyrics aren't the original ones. For one thing, the original song is a hybrid 2/4, 3/4 song, with the chorus (the only part anyone knows these days) in 3/4 waltz time while the verses are in 2/4. So what is sung at the end of the movie is just the chorus. Being the chorus, there's only one set of lyrics, about Matt Casey, and not BIff.

The song also features prominently in Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train, sung by another future-Bewitched alum (Kasey Rogers) & "friends" while riding the carousel. It's also heard throughout the amusement park scenes, along with "Ain't We Got Fun", "Ain't She Sweet" and "Oh, You Beautiful Doll". Hitchcock had a warped sense of humor.

And yes, we sang along!

George Tobias had a very interesting hairstyle in The Strawberry Blonde . . .



I meant to mention in my previous post that I saw Olivia de Havilland's hand prints and foot prints outside the Chinese Theatre when I was at the TCM Film Festival.
I was surprised at how small her hands and feet were!

[Cinemaspeak59]

The Imperialists Are Still Alive! (2010) Writer-director Zeina Durra creates quite a character in Asya, (played fantastically by Élodie Bouchez). Asya is a Middle Eastern conceptual artist living in post 9/11 New York. When her ex, and first love, goes missing, she thinks the CIA may have put him on a rendition plane. Perhaps Asya is under surveillance. Don’t worry, this is not a political thriller, even though serious subjects play in the background. The mood has a delightful lightness, and is very funny. We get to visit underground nightclubs, experimental theaters, and avant-garde art galleries as Asya and her boyfriend try to unravel the mystery. Whit Stillman of Metropolitan fame makes the most of a wordless cameo.

[CinemaInternational]

Just have to say that Matinee (1993), which was on TCM yesterday afternoon was some of the most fun I've had at the movies for quite a while. Don't let the Cuban Missile Era part of the plot scare you all, its an affectionate comedy that doubles as both a coming of age film and as a spot-on parody of the old monster B-movies. It's blissfully charming, and the script and direction are ideal. Also want to make note that Cathy Moriarty's performance here is comic genius; almost every line she has is hilarious.

[Detective Jim McLeod]

Mr Wu (1927) Youtube 7/10

Set in China, Mandarin Mr. Wu (Lon Chaney) has been schooled in the ways of the West, he has arranged a marriage for his daughter Nang Ping (Renee Adoree) but she falls in love with visiting Englishman Basil Gregory (Ralph Forbes).

A very good silent film, a bit slow to start but the pre code moments are jaw dropping. When Nang Ping becomes pregnant, Wu must take vengeance according to ancient Chinese law. It builds to a lurid and shocking climax as Gregory's mother is given a horrible choice. Well worth seeing for Chaney fans. Another interesting thing is Anna May Wong as Nang Ping's servant girl.

[Hibi]

I have read that some people believe that it is over-the-top. It is Audrey Hepburn wearing Givenchy clothes and Cartier jewels. It is Peter O'Toole in a comedy role. It is set in the Paris art world of the 1960s. It is Hugh Griffith and Moustache in supporting roles.

What sane and sensible person would ever have the slightest hint of an idea that it is not extravagantly over-the-top?

Surprisingly, Hepburn isn't wearing Givenchy in Green Mansions.

I wonder how this costume would have looked if it had been designed by Givenchy.

But someone did design it. Dorothy Jeakins.

[BagelOnAPlate]

Surprisingly, Hepburn isn't wearing Givenchy in Green Mansions.

I wonder how this costume would have looked if it had been designed by Givenchy.

But someone did design it. Dorothy Jeakins.

Yes, Dorothy Jeakins had a distinguished career.
Her costumes for Young Frankenstein are among my favorites.

[laffite]

By coincidence, I just watched two movies featuring Nick and Nora Charles -- NOT!

Star of Midnight (1935)
A year after making The Thin Man, William Powell starred as a hard-drinking playboy/detective who gets roped into trying to solve a murder that took place in his apartment. Ginger Rogers (between Roberta and Top Hat) stars as the woman who has loved him since she was a little girl. Ginger helps him with the case. Gene Lockhart is Powell's valet. There are other characters who flesh out this thin and at times confusing plot. J. Farrell McDonald is the best of the bunch, as Police Inspector Doremus, a name surely stolen (perhaps an homage) to the exasperated coroner of the Philo Vance stories (of which this is not one). Star of Midnight is light fun, but unlike The Thin Man, the supporting characters are not very well drawn.


William Powell, Ginger Rogers

Stamboul Quest (1934) is unusual in that the story is about espionage and counter espionage (and perhaps counter counter espionage) among the Germans during World War I, at a time before America entered the war. Myrna Loy plays a German spy, sent by her spy boss (Lionel Atwill) to find out whether the head of the Turkish forces (very well played by C. Henry Gordon) is a double agent, spying for the British. The Dardanelles are involved, and military secrets. Myrna's life and mission are complicated by the fact that George Brent, an American studying medicine in Germany, is accidentally arrested in a dentist's office, during the ambush of Leo G. Carroll, who is also a double agent. Rudolph Amendt (who would play the mad doctor in She Demons nearly 25 years later) has a small role. There are nuns in this movie, and a convent, at the opening and closing. Myrna, having outed Mata Hari as a double agent, herself falls in love, jeopardizing her work. There is some very clever dialogue in this film, as well as a little bit of well placed humour, and a great scene in which C. Henry Gordon writes secrets in invisible ink on Myrna Loy's naked back.

(I've just read on Wikipedia that Loy's character -- Fraulein Doktor -- was based on a real person!)


George Brent, Myrna Loy, C. Henry Gordon

It has been said (and as I have read) that "Hollywood did not know what to do with her," prior to 1934 when they I guess found out, as Nora. The Barbarian (1932), and Stamboul Quest (1934) apparently did not faze them. Myrna is excellent in both films. Everybody loves her as Nora, as I do, but preferring drama to comedies (I still like comedies, when they click) I would have liked to have seen more with her in dramatic roles a this stage.

[laffite]

Some more things seen recently....





Australia (2008) contains the paradox of almost all films directed by Baz Luhrmann; it starts in a choppy, aggressive, rather goofy style, and then removes its brittle shell to reveal something far more deep and emotional underneath. This extremely long (165 minutes) and astoundingly expensive ($130 million) film found few takers in 2008, but if you get past those early passages (which do contain a very misguided brief moment of kangaroo poaching), you end up with something that feels floridly rich, like a Golden Age Hollywood melodrama. The episodic story finds Nicole Kidman as an English woman who comes to Australia in 1939 on reports that her estranged husband, who lives there, has been stepping out on her. She arrives to find out that he has been murdered, and that she now owns his ramshackle property much coveted by her
ality of some in the Old West, but the sequence is formless and stops the film dead cold. Still, much of the rest is quite powerful, and Richard Widmark, Carroll Baker and Dolores Del Rio stand out in the ensemble cast. Its not perfect, but it is worth a look.

I started this but watched only a bit of it. She is in Australia and discovered the death of her husband ... but not much later than that. It might have been when that particular sequence you describe as "stops the film cold." But I did not go away mad or especially disappointed, can't remember why, perhaps "the goofy" style because I remember thinking as a bit quirky. I may have another look after reading your fine review, and another inducement might be the "disturbing" plane crash, as i am fond of disturbing plane crashes (not morbidly so), an offshoot of my lifelong fascination with airplanes in general.

[LostHorizons]

Okay, I'm done.

I thought it just meant he was done for THAT day (?)

Nah, he’s gone for good it looks. His letterbox is still active however.

https://letterboxd.com/lawrencea/