WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

[CineMaven]

Alison, if you can train Lara to do what Lily does for Wendy...you guys will be rich. Alert the media!

[JackFavell]

I saw it too, kingrat, and felt the same way. I did have a smile on my face at the end.

[charliechaplinfan]

Alison, if you can train Lara to do what Lily does for Wendy...you guys will be rich. Alert the media!

I'd be so lucky if she would bring tissues and make soup for me but she's too busy planning how to eat my supper.

[MikeBSG]

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."

I was secretly amused by the trial scene, with Ames and Jim Backus as opposing lawyers. "Look, it's Mr. Magoo vs. the neighbor from Mr. Ed!!"

Seriously, I really enjoyed "Angel Face." I think it is a splendid noir, a splendid achievement for Preminger. And I like the film even though Mona Freeman, who plays the good woman whom Mitchum throws away, looked just like my college classmate who got drunk and told me how much she hated me. I kept thinking of that while I watched the film, and I still enjoyed myself. Now THAT is a good movie.

[CineMaven]

Bon voyage......

I enjoy this Preminger film as well. What an ending...and then the cab pulls up to wait. You're right, it does seem a mixture of some other films. Jean Simmons was great. And how did Mitchum allow himself to get mixed up with this mixed up chick. But this:

...And I like the film even though Mona Freeman, who plays the good woman whom Mitchum throws away, looked just like my college classmate who got drunk and told me how much she hated me. I kept thinking of that while I watched the film, and I still enjoyed myself. Now THAT is a good movie.

...sounds like the more interesting story, Mike!

[JackFavell]

I was just like you, Mike, I am not the biggest Mitchum or Simmons fan, but this movie is great.

[RedRiver]

ANGEL FACE is good. Kind of a dark, disturbing soap opera. Preminger didn't make many films I consider outstanding, but this is one of his better efforts.

Alec Guinness plays G.K. Chesterton's Father Brown

How very interesting! I don't know that I've heard of this one. Definitely haven't seen it. Nor have I read Chesterton. But his name comes up a lot in discussions of mystery fiction.

[JackFavell]

The Father Brown stories are just marvelous. I just started reading them a little while ago. The movie is not as interesting. I never thought there could be a movie too small for me to like, but this might be it.

[charliechaplinfan]

I watched A Tree Grows in Brooklyn for the first time, I wrote about it on the Kazan thread. I think I must have no soul, it didn't do a great deal for me, perhaps I expected too much because it's so loved, I'm so surprised it's Kazan. It was pleasant.

[JackFavell]

It's funny, I guess sometimes the hype on a film can dull it for a viewer. I am that way with (forgive me) To Kill a Mockingbird. It's nice...

[charliechaplinfan]

Me too, I'm a big fan of the book but the movie is nice but doesn't pack the punch of the book.

I expanded a bit more on the Elia Kazan thread. Isn't it always the case, you save up a film because you've heard great things about it and it fails to live up to how you think it should be, then I can pop a film in just to fill some time and be so absorbed by it. But there are movies I've watched and not connected with them the first time, then I've seen them again and appreciated them more. Just like the films I've loved and then watched again and they didn't live up to the memory.

[RedRiver]

Just like the films I've loved and then watched again and they didn't live up to the memory.

I generally go with the first impression. Or maybe the second. Saw it and liked it. Watched again more attentively. If subsequent viewings bring out the critic in me, I take him with a grain of salt. First impressions are emotional, not analytical. In the long run, that's more important!

[CineMaven]

I like the mercurial nature of movies...movie watching...movie recommendations..."I'm going to hate what you love"..."I'm going to love what you hate". I think for the purposes of these Boards, I'll quell a full-throated "YOU MUST WATCH THIS FILM" ( even though I just told Red he must see the wonderfully titled "Safe in Hell." ) It's such a psychological stew - connecting to films. It's such a personal personal subjective thing. You liked the book...you hated the movie...he reminds me of my second wife's third cousin. My safe bet here is to say "I hope you enjoy it." Or "that's too bad you didn't like it; I did." 0r use self-deprecating humor.