WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

[JackFavell]

Was this one on TCM? I missed it if it was. Your review makes me wish I'd seen it, kingrat. I remember when the other version came out, with Brendan Fraser who was in everything for a couple years, and Michael Caine, who was the older journalist. I remember Caine saying in an interview that he was happy to be in a movie he could really sink his teeth into, because he'd just come off a string of movies like Blame it On Rio. I never got to see the later version of TQA either but the story fascinates me.

[RedRiver]

This story is a winner all the way around. I've only seen a portion of the Murphy vehicle, but appreciated what I saw. The more recent film is quite good. It, in turn, inspired me to read the book. Also excellent!

Wendy, your reference to the Caine interview reminds me of another one. He loved that Woody Allen let him play a person rather than "an Englishman." He said so many American filmmakers felt the need to explain his accent. His mother was a war bride. Blah-blah-blah. Allen cast him as a character. Not a nationality.

[JackFavell]

That's so true, we have really turned the poor man into a representation of the cheeky Englishman. He's great in Hannah and Her Sisters. I adore Michael Caine, especially as Peachy in The Man Who Would Be King but I would watch him in anything, even those movies he did for the cash.

Even more, I loved seeing Caine on TV on talk shows... the man is so very entertaining! A great guest, always funny, ready to poke fun, most often at himself.

[JackFavell]

I watched Peyton Place last night, and it was better than I remembered it. I've always thought of the movie as a guilty pleasure, but I think in retrospect, it is a fine fine drama, less than a potboiler brought to life, full of great performances. Diane Varsi and especially Hope Lange give sensitive portrayals of their characters, with no snobbery about the source material. Varsi's voice-over is excellent, and her acting is very quiet and emotional. I really see the trajectory of her character. But it's Lange who holds the screen, she's tremendous, and I would imagine after this movie she could pretty much pick her own roles. She was luminous as the victimized Selena.

I've always thought that this movie had Lloyd Nolan's best and warmest role - heaven help me, were I ever in trouble in some way I would want a doctor like him treating me, ethics be damned. As a mom now watching, I felt Lana's portrait of the prim woman escaping a sordid past was spot on, and I really felt for her this time through. She did a great job. The setting was lovely and adds immeasurably to the great enjoyment of watching this drama.

I also watched The Male Animal this morning. I've always liked it, though it's political leanings and moralizing seemed quaint and a bit foolish to me up until recently. Also the treatment of Cleota is pretty cringe-worthy, though god bless Hattie McDaniel, she's having none of that guff and somehow plays it again as the smartest person in the household.

It's funny how movies come back into fashion. The Male Animal's message about hometown fascism actually struck me as quite up to date again, surprisingly so. The words Henry Fonda speaks at the end (aside from the Vanzetti letter) have never been more appropriate, his sentiments about school boards and their fear of actually teaching anything or inspiring young people should be required watching nowadays, because they have never rung as true as they do now. Though the personal problems of the characters and the holier-than-thou intellectual viewpoint don't play out particularly well, they aren't as obnoxious as I had previously felt they were. The players give it their all, with Jack Carson as a standout - the man could play anything, funny or smarmy, and this role o0f the commitment-shy football star from wayback should have been written for him if it wasn't already.

[Rita Hayworth]

Mister Roberts

The quartet of James Cagney, Henry Fonda, Jack Lemmon, and William Powell never, ever failed me ... I watch this enduring comedy that really delightful to watch to see the antics of Lemmon, the urgency of Fonda, the temperament of Cagney, and the wisdom of Powell in one of the most cherish war comedies of all time.

I just love this movie on TCM last night ... I watch it faithfully at least once a year for good ole sake.

[feaito]

Been watching many films lately. Last WE I was "in" for menage-a-trois... ...after seeing the 2012 released Spanish film "El Sexo de los Ángeles" (Sex of the Angels/Angels of Sex), about a young man in love with her childhood girlfriend, who becomes infatuated by a street dancer and then....I rememberd two American films of diverse quality that I had seem back in the 1990s, dealing with the subject: "Threesome" (1994) with Lara Flynn-Boyle, Josh Charles and Stephen Baldwin, which I revisited and is much better than I remembered and "Splendor" (1999) directed by Gregg Araki, which I plan to see soon. I'll probably en up watching the "granddaddy" of all these films: Lubistch brilliant, and superior of course: "Design for Living" (1933).

Two weeks ago I revisited Bigas Luna's (who died recently) very controversial "Las Edades de Lulú" (The Ages of Lulu) (1990) which deals with the first sexual experiences of a young adolescent girl, who later on ends up exploring some very dark corners of life....I had seen it many, many years ago, but the last scenes made a strong effects on me...perhaps, with the years I've become more sensitive. I remember that back in the '80s and early '90s I used to see a lot of Art-House European films, some of which were very avant-garde and/or with strong imagery; I've realized that as of today I haven't got the fondness, patience and/or the strength to watch this type of films; i.e I wouldn't watch again "Biase Moi", "Irreversible", "Las Nuites Fauves", "Crash" (Cronenberg) et al.

[RedRiver]

PEYTON PLACE is a TYPE of drama I can like. Highly emotional. Personal. And I do appreciate the 1950s look it has. But I can't quite recommend the whole package. It's just too long, and not exciting. We can agree, though, about the contribution of young Ms. Lange!

I assume THE MALE ANIMAL would play better on stage, though I've never seen it performed. The more the film moves the action to football games and the likes, the less focus it has. It loses its intimacy. Still, I enjoy the movie. Like you, Wendy, I find the themes challenging, and not so dated as one might think. The beleaguered school teacher stands not for the right to make a certain political point, but to teach his students as he sees fit. The climactic moment is moving.

The play was co-authored by James Thurber and Elliott Nugent, two gentlemen whose wit is well known. With WW2 raging in Europe, it's easy to imagine the fears and uncertainty experienced in academic circles, as well as all walks of life. This is a pretty good filming of a very good play.

[JackFavell]

One of the things I love best about The Male Animal, Red, is the "all American" football team - with names from all different ethnicities. It never fails to get a laugh out of me. I bet that's Thurber's influence.

[movieman1957]

Wendy:

I finally got around to "The Big Combo." First, for a cast of second tier actors they were terrific. (I never did pick out Whit Bissel.)

It's kind of a convoluted story but when you sail along with it you can let some things go. Theresa was right in her review of this and she would say it better than I but the film has a distinct and unusual atmosphere. She mentions the opening "chase" but I thought it odd that two grown men were having a hard time catching up to a lady running in heels. No matter, they do catch her in that short paragraph of dialogue you pretty much get to know everything you need to know about her. She's trapped with someone she has no business knowing never mind being involved with.

I think the director wants us to see the "Laura" part of it Theresa alluded to but that's not really the story. It may have started that way but it really becomes about getting Richard Conte. And getting him is all there is for Wilde.

I was struck at the casting of Conte and Brian Donlevy. I thought for sure the roles would have been better reversed. Until, that is, Donlevy thinks he has the better of Conte. At that point the Donlevy I was expecting came out but only for a minute.

This is a film that for me is much better for the acting than the story. It looks grand and realistic. Lee Van Cleef and a baby faced Earl Holliman are an odd but interesting pair. Robert Middleton I thought was quite good in a role that was certainly a rarity for him - a good guy. The music angle was short and odd. There was only a mention for Jean Wallace early on and then the scene at the recital I thought served only to show her state of mind as the music, a piece I don't know, was agitated and complicated.

Wilde, as Theresa pointed out, isn't Dana Andrews but that doesn't make his character any less interesting. I'm not sure he gives it as much undercurrent as Andrews might have but does a good job.

Thanks to you and Theresa for the comments. I'd like to hear more from you.

[JackFavell]

This is a film that for me is much better for the acting than the story.

I totally agree, Chris! Sometimes, story isn't really the important factor in a movie, only what a director makes of it. We've seen countless stories like this one, but THIS one is fashioned so well, and acted so finely that the story ends up taking second, or even third place to those considerations.

Wilde really surprised me, but I'm with you that Dana could have added more.

I actually LOVED Donlevy here, and really enjoyed the twist of having him play the second to Conte... it is amazing what that guy can do with a role. WOW! He's just incredible. I think I too had a momentary feeling that he should have played the crime boss... but in a way, he did didn't he? Wasn't he in Conte's position, till Conte toppled him? Then kept him around to torture with the knowledge that he was now a nothing? Maybe I'm remembering wrong...

As for that opening, I wouldn't change it for the world, even if two men in street shoes COULD catch up to a woman in heels... this is the way noir should be.

[movieman1957]

You're right. Conte did steal Donlevy's job once upon a time. (It does give him a chance for another type of role though.)

Of course you are right about the opening. To have any less of them running her down would diminish the tension and her desperation. She is plenty desperate.

Another film I never knew but am glad I found through you and the gang.

[JackFavell]

You're right. Conte did steal Donlevy's job once upon a time. (It does give him a chance for another type of role though.)

And you can see how Conte got the best of Donlevy here. Donlevy is just a bit slow on the uptake, not particularly cunning. Like in that scene you mentioned, where he thinks he's got the drop on Conte, but it works the other way. Conte has a certain kind of smarts, that cunning one-upsmanship that it takes to ruthlessly get his own way no matter what, in 'business' or in private. That's what makes his downfall so splendidly vengeful. You've got to want to see him go down in flames.

I love movies with several types of villains. This one is chock full.

[RedRiver]

This movie is pretty dark. That's only one of the things I like about it! It must have taken some courage to produce this one. No real stars, unless you count Wilde. No fun and games. It even has a low budget look about it. A winner in my book. But not one of the most popular movies of the era. I wonder if Wilde was behind the scenes on this one. He got involved in "the business end," didn't he?

[movieman1957]

No wonder I couldn't find Whit Bissell. imdb says his scenes were deleted.