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Post by gothos on May 18, 2014 18:14:36 GMT -5
Yellow Sky (1948)
Gregory Peck,Richard Widmark,Anne Baxter,Henry Morgan
D-William Wellman
After a bank robbery,"Stretch" Dawson(Peck) and his gang cross the desert to elude the posse and hide out in a ghost town An excellent oater.Peck and his gang are fully realized characters.Filmed at Death Valley,the desert scenes are stark and compeling. Anne Baxter as the gun-toting grand daughter of an old prospector is believable as she slugs Peck for making a pass at her.And,of course,Richard Widmark can be one mean ole' varmint.The Peck gang is full of great western character actors too.This here's a mighty fine western,you betcha 8 of 10 stars Yeah, that's an overlooked gem. Baxter's one of my favorite actresses-in-a-western: gritty yet unmistakably feminine. And Widmark's one of those guys who makes as good a hero as a villain. I watched him as a good guy in THE LAST WAGON not long ago. |
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Post by Jesse on May 18, 2014 19:43:20 GMT -5
Anyone here seen Invasion of the Body Snatchers?(the remake). Is it worth my time? There were a few films based on Jack Finney's novel The Body Snatchers. The 1956 and the 1978 films are must watch movies. The 70's version is phenomenal and brilliantly pays homage to the Don Siegel film. There's even a Kevin McCarthy cameo. The 1993 Body Snatchers is worth checking out but not as good as the earlier versions. I haven't watched the more recent The Invasion with Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig. |
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Post by Hoosier X on May 18, 2014 23:06:56 GMT -5
I watched Gentlemen's Agreement tonight. I had forgotten what a great movie it is. Despite being a "relevant" film about anti-Semitism, it is very watchable and entertaining, as well as thought-provoking. With Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, John Garfield and Celeste Holm.
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Post by MDG on May 19, 2014 9:58:55 GMT -5
Youth Of The Beast (1963)
Joe Shishido D-Seijun Suzuki
Joe Shishido plays a tough guy with a secret agenda. His violent behavior comes to the attention of a yakuza boss who immediately recruits him. He soon makes a deal with a rival gang and starts a gang war.Joe's real motivations are gradually revealed as we find out why he wants to wipe out both gangs Watched the Criterion DVD version. This was director Suzuki's breakout film.He is known for his rich,vibrant colors and hallucinatory sequences.Plenty of action here and an obvious love of older American gangster flicks.What with its 60s sensibilities,loud colors and slam-bang cheesy fight scenes,I sometimes was reminded of the Adam West Batman show. 6 of 10 stars This got me hooked on Sezuki and 60s Japanese crime films a couple years back. a lot of fun and creative stuff in them. |
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Post by Ish Kabbible on May 19, 2014 10:00:04 GMT -5
The Wheeler Dealers (1963)
James Garner,Lee Remick,Phil Harris,Chill Wills,Jim Backus,Louis Nye,John Astin,Patricia Crowley
D-Arthur Hiller
Henry J. Tyroone (Garner)leaves Texas where his oil wells are drying up and arrives in New York with a lot of oil money to play with in the stock market. He meets stock analyst Molly Thatcher (remick), who he falls in love with.
I guess Doris Day was busy because this is the type of movie she's known for. An early feminist slant in the movie with Lee Remick's character as the only employee of a large Wall Street investment company who suffers all sorts of chauvinistic behavior from her boss (Jim Backus).Meanwhile James Garner arrives in NY for some wheelin' an a-dealin'.Expressionistic paintings,high-class french restaurants and even good old American widgets are some of his investments where the profits can be enormous and if they don't pan out,well,stick the loses on the federal government
This movie should have been better but the comedy never really rises above TV situation comedy levels.James Garner is always a delight but there just wasn't much to work with. The best thing about the movie is the amount of co-stars who were both already recognizable or about to be,especially on TV.A partial list:
Pat Crowley of "Please Don't Eat The Daisies"
Jim Backus of "Gilligan's Island"
Howard McNear of "The Andy Griffith Show"
John Astin of "The Addams Family"
Louis Nye of "The Beverly Hillbillies"
James Doohan of "Star Trek"
Dal McKennon of "Daniel Boone"
Pat Harrington, Jr. of "The Danny Thomas Show", "One Day At A Time"
Alan Sues of "Laugh In"
Bernie Kopell of "Get Smart", "That Girl", "The Love Boat"
Pretty impressive. 5 of 10 stars
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Post by Ish Kabbible on May 19, 2014 13:38:30 GMT -5
Join me as I embark on a series of 6 films from 1943 thru 1945 based on a popular radio show of that time. The door creaks open as you arrive.The sound can only mean that you are about to enter
INNER SANCTUM MYSTERIES
Calling Dr.Death (1943)
Lon Chaney Jr,Patricia Morison,J.Carrol Naish,Ramsey Ames,David Bruce
D-Reginald Le Borg
Losing his memories of the last few days, neurologist Dr. Steele (Chaney)is told that his wife has been brutally murdered. Steele, aware of his conniving wife's infidelity, believes he may have been the killer and enlists the aid of his pretty nurse Stella(Morison) to hypnotize him into recovering his lost memories.
The movie opens with a crystal ball and inside a disembodied,shimmering head warning you of what you're about to see.Pretty effective.This is more a mystery thriller-no horror elements at all.J.Carrol Naish plays a detective that will remind you of Columbo,always returning with another question to ask Dr.Steele about his wive's murder.She was smashed over the head with a blunt object and had acid poured on her face.But seeing how she admitted earlier to her husband that she's seeing other men,laughs about it to his face and tells him she is staying only for his money,you knew her demise would be gruesome.
Good directing with effective camera angles,nice acting and moves fast-only lasts for 64 minutes.6 and 1/2 stars of 10
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Post by Pharozonk on May 19, 2014 20:04:42 GMT -5
Anyone here seen Invasion of the Body Snatchers?(the remake). Is it worth my time? There were a few films based on Jack Finney's novel The Body Snatchers. The 1956 and the 1978 films are must watch movies. The 70's version is phenomenal and brilliantly pays homage to the Don Siegel film. There's even a Kevin McCarthy cameo. The 1993 Body Snatchers is worth checking out but not as good as the earlier versions. I haven't watched the more recent The Invasion with Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig. Thanks! I was looking into the 1978 film so I'll check that out first after I finish my Godzilla marathon. |
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Post by Ish Kabbible on May 19, 2014 22:00:26 GMT -5
The Inner Sanctum Mysteries movies are based on the long running radio series (Jan 7,1941-Oct 5,1952).A total of 526 radio shows were broadcast.Universal Pictures picked up the movie rights and used them as a starring vehicle for Lon Chaney Jr.He would be the only actor to appear in all 6 films. Besides Lon Chaney Jr, the other motifs to this series includes the floating,wavy head within the glass bottle on a table that would introduve the movie.Also we would hear the thoughts of the Lon Chaney character during the film from time to time as a whispering monologue. Here's a link to an old radio show site that has over one hundred Inner Sanctum on-line episodes.Inner Sanctum sounds like it was the originator of having a creepy host introduce it's episodes using bad puns. Later EC comics would further popularize this with their horror host ghouls and witches along with Warren magazines' Uncle Creepy and Cousin Eerie,DC's Cain and Abel and so,so many more www.myoldradio.com/old-radio-shows/inner-sanctum-mysteries   |
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Post by berkley on May 19, 2014 22:44:01 GMT -5
I saw The Pink Panther just a few weeks ago. It is quite a lot of fun. It has all those silly Blake Edwards chase gags that really shouldn't be funny but they are (for a while).
But Fran Jeffries singing "Meglio Stasera" steals the show. I had The Pink Panther on DVR and I watched the "Meglio Stasera" segment a bunch of times over the next week before I deleted it. (I think it's on YouTube.)
Fran Jeffries is also in Sex and the Single Girl with Natalie Wood, Tony Curtis, Lauren Bacall and Henry Fonda.
That is a great scene. Doesn't Capucine have a song in that movie as well? The last time I saw this, maybe about 5 years ago or more, I remember liking Sellers's very last line in the final scene. |
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Post by Ish Kabbible on May 20, 2014 11:29:48 GMT -5
Inner Sanctum Mysteries
Weird Woman (1944)
Lon Chaney Jr,Anne Gwynne,Evelyn Ankers D-Reginald Le Borg
"This is the Inner Sanctum. A strange fantastic world controlled by a mass of living, pulsating flesh, the mind. It destroys, distorts, creates monsters, commits murder! Yes, even you without knowing can commit murder".
So says the bottled head at the beginning of the movie.As he'll keep telling you by way of introduction. Weird Woman is an adaptation of Fritz Leiber's "Conjure Wife" which is also the basis of the later movie "Burn,Witch,Burn".Sociology Professor Norman Reed (Chaney), a celebrated author on a book dismissing superstitions, is married to young Paula (Anne Gwynne), the daughter of missionaries and raised deep within the voodoo-laden jungles. Paula still practices witchcraft as a guard against evil forces, despite her husband’s wishes against it, but when strange events and murders occur around their campus home, he is almost convinced that her peculiar practices have some credibility. The interesting cast also includes Evelyn Ankers, Elizabeth Russell (THE CORPSE VANISHES), Ralph Morgan (THE MONSTER MAKER) and Phil Brown (Uncle Owen in STAR WARS) as an obnoxious student who picks a fight with Chaney. Lon Chaney Jr. is a big clodhopper but you got to sympathize with him. All the women in this movie love this lug which leads to his troubles when one is jealous enough to make him doubt his own beliefs.I'm wondering if all these films will have his thoughts ,as whispers, saying"Am I going mad?Is what they are saying about me true?" The movie is packed with howling winds and creepy organ music,voodoo dolls and jungle ritual.But its more of a melodrama then a horror film. Even so,the titles for these films are all great. 6 and 1/2 stars of 10  
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Post by Hoosier X on May 20, 2014 12:15:00 GMT -5
Lon Chaney AND Anne Gwynne AND Evelyn Ankers!
I hope this is on YouTube!
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Post by MDG on May 20, 2014 12:43:36 GMT -5
Lon Chaney AND Anne Gwynne AND Evelyn Ankers! I hope this is on YouTube! |
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Post by Hoosier X on May 20, 2014 13:28:38 GMT -5
Thanks, MDG! I did a search for Weird Woman and I got so many hits that fit that criteria (like "Ten Weird Things about Women" and "Weird Woman at Wal-Mart") that I put it aside as a task for later.
I love movies that are 60 to 65 minutes from the early 1940s. Even if they aren't any good, it's only an hour, plus you frequently get to see those great 1940s actors, from Lugosi and Karloff to Ava Gardner to Dwight Frye to Rita Hayworth to Vince Barnett to Joan Woodbury.
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Post by Hoosier X on May 20, 2014 13:29:11 GMT -5
And as a bonus - French sub-titles!
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Post by Ish Kabbible on May 20, 2014 13:34:40 GMT -5
And as a bonus - French sub-titles! I've a feeling that you'll enjoy these Hoosier |
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