WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

[feaito]

You've nailed it, Feaito. The Huston film is fun. Is it as memorable as "Falcon"? No. As thorough as ASPHALT JUNGLE? Maybe not. But the pace and the playfulness never let up. The sense of adventure, both personal and on the larger scale, is infectious. Directors always tell young actors, "If you have fun with it, the audience will."

"Souls at Sea"...the Raft thread

There's gotta be a pun in there somewhere!

I'm glad you agree RR. In facts, in the future I'm going to recommend Across the Pacific to all the new Classic film buffs...It's a good film to begin with...Funny and amusing.

As for Souls at Sea & Raft....no pun at all

[feaito]

Theresa, I will be looking forward to your new MovieChat!

Alison, Run to see Souls at Sea, I liked "Spawn of the North", but the former film IMO is superior and Raft's perfromance is memorable.

[CineMaven]

...I haven't watched Souls at Sea yet, I watched Spawn of the North which was made around the same time, I'm looking forward to Souls at Sea though...

Oooh I'm sorry. My baaad, I cited the wrong film. Guess I got my souls mixed up with my spawn.

[feaito]

You cited the right film Theresa, it is Souls at Sea which I saw and which Alison is going to see.

"Spawn of the North" (1938) was made by Paramount one year after and it stars Henry Fonda and Raft. It is a good adventure film set on small town near the sea -as far as I recall, and it has a seal in it?- , but "Souls at Sea" IMO is superior.

[CineMaven]

You cited the right film Theresa, it is Souls at Sea which I saw and which Alison is going to see.

I've watched about an hour so far. I was surprised to see a Hollywood movie of that time actually SHOW the human cargo in the hold of that ship. It felt so warm to see George Raft so easy breezy and not so stiff. But that must be attributed to his co-star Gary Cooper, I'll bet. I'm lovin' Coop here not showing signs of that "Aw shucks" persona he saddled himself with in a little while. But the biggest shock so far is to see the name of the slave ship.

My father's name is William Brown.

[feaito]

That's uncanny Theresa.

I'm glad that you are enjoying the film. The depiction of the human cargo also impressed me. I remember there's another film related with the subject: Tay Garnett's MGM released "Slave Ship" (1937), starring Warner Baxter. Have you ever seen it?

[charliechaplinfan]

Theresa, I will be looking forward to your new MovieChat!

Alison, Run to see Souls at Sea, I liked "Spawn of the North", but the former film IMO is superior and Raft's perfromance is memorable.

Even though Souls at Sea hasn't got the seal? I'm a sucker for animals especially ones who kiss their owners so sweetly.

[feaito]

Even though Souls at Sea hasn't got the seal? I'm a sucker for animals especially ones who kiss their owners so sweetly.

Even so my friend

[charliechaplinfan]

Then I can't wait

[MikeBSG]

Today I watched "Start the Revolution Without Me" (1970) directed by Bud Yorkin.

I remember when I saw the movie on TV back in elementary school I thought it was hillarious. Today it was only mediocre. The large-scale comic action (in this story of mismatched twins in the French Revolution) are mostly sloppily directed scenes of extras tripping over their own feet.

What saved the movie was Gene Wilder in a dual role as both an obnoxious nobleman and a cowardly peasant (actually brothers separated at birth.) He brought real conviction and comic flare to his roles and made me wish the rest of the cast was better. (Donald Sutherland played Wilder's brothers, but he seemed stuck in a different tempo, if not universe, than Wilder. The two seemed to have very different comic styles that didn't gel.)

Seeing this film reminded me what a debt Gene Wilder owes Mel Brooks. "The Producers" and "Young Frankenstein" have much better staging and pacing than this film. (It also reminded me of how easily "Love and Death," which is somewhat similiar to "Start the Revolution Without Me," could have become a lackluster film like this one.)

[MikeBSG]

Today I watched "Ziegfeld Follies" (1946) directed by Vincente Minnelli (mostly).

It was enjoyable, if a mixed bag. I really liked the puppet show at the start of the film, the sequence in which Astaire is a jewel thief, Red Skelton's routine, and the number with Astaire and Gene Kelly. Esther Williams was lovely. Apart from Skelton, the comedy scenes fell a bit flat for me, (while I thought Keenan Wynn did okay, Lou Costello did a very similar routine about telephone frustration in "Who Done It?" that lays me out on the floor. Wynn was competing against heavy odds there.)

I guess I can't really get into the revue format. I watched the numbers, like "Limehouse Blues," and just felt I needed to know more about these people before I cared. And the final "Beauty" number with the dancers plunging through the pillars of bubbles -- I couldn't really connect with that.

However, as I watched this, I kept thinking of "The Red Shoes" and the ballets in MGM musicals to come. "Ziegfeld Follies" seemed to be a good first step in that direction, but I guess I need my big dance sequences grounded (however tenuously) in plots before I give myself over to them.

[CineMaven]

"The Hucksters" is one of my favorite films. Gable's so engaging in it, and young Deborah Kerr, wow! Her first Hollywood film...and she's playing a mother ( a war widow. ) Ava, looking very comfortable playing opposite the King ( she and Kerr would team up years later in "Night of the Iguana." ) Yes, I liked and was disgusted by Sidney Greenstreet, loathed and loved the synchophantic Adolphe Menjou ( married in this movie to Dracula's Daughter. ) I really enjoyed Keenan Wynn, and Wynn with Gable. But I have to say my favorite scene is when Gable is trying to get Edward Arnold to accept his apology. How sad and sincere Gable was when he asked Arnold for his forgiveness. And how hurt Arnold was not giving it.

Great movie. ( If I see you at the festival next year KR, would you give me one of your bars of Beautee Soap? )