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Post by Ish Kabbible on Aug 3, 2016 11:53:09 GMT -5
The first day we watched The Snake Pit (1948), with Olivia de Haviland. The Snake Pit was one of those rare films that was most mostly critically praised and helped to raise public awareness of conditions in mental health facilities which lead to reforms in several states. An important film indeed
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Post by Hoosier X on Aug 3, 2016 17:51:04 GMT -5
One afternoon we watched Hell Below (1933), a World War I submarine movie starring Walter Huston, Robert Montgomery, Robert Young, Jimmy Durante, Eugene Pallette, Madge Evans and Sterling Holloway. It's pretty trippy, with enough interesting wartime action to help you get through some of the dippy drama scenes. But the most amazing thing: JIMMY DURANTE BOXES WITH A KANGAROO! They have shore leave in Taranto, Italy, and Durante is wandering around in a sailor suit, and somebody tells him he can make $5 for boxing and he says "sure" and they put the gloves on him and throw him in the ring to box with a kangaroo for the amusement of the crowd, which is mostly made up of British Marines! And Durante - a good navy man - hates Marines even when they're British! It's very surreal. Taranto, Italy, circa 1918, looks like one CRAZY DESTINATION! And you should see the big-nosed Italian girl they dig up for Durante when they go out on the town!
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Post by dupersuper on Aug 3, 2016 22:29:50 GMT -5
Watched this little cult classic the other day. A 1967 production from the one-and-only showman director William Castle Best known for being Richard Pryor's first film. Weirdly enough, it's a straight man's role as a police lieutenant. What a huge assemblage of comedians from the mid-1960s. Its also an adaptation from a Donald Westlake novel Sid Caesar is promoted to the board of directors of the crime syndicate headed by Robert Ryan. That's because Ryan likes the way Sid dresses and always remembers that Ryan likes a side of mustard with his corn beef sandwich. Sid's first job is to be in charge of the funeral of another mobster, including what the corpse should wear. Sid picks out the suit, not knowing $5,000,000 is sewn into the lining. Robert Ryan goes ballistic about the missing money and orders Sid to retrieve it-or else. The grave is exhumed but the body is missing. Sid Caesar doesn't have much time to solve the mystery before Robert Ryan or Lieutenant Richard Pryor catch him It's the cast that drives the film. A few good jokes but it should have been funnier. Ah well Poster by Drew Friedman. Obviously inspired by It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
Another classic I know only through Simpsons homage.
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Aug 8, 2016 1:49:45 GMT -5
Cinema Obscura-Rescued From A Dusty DVD ShelfBlack Gold (1947) Anthony Quinn Quinn plays an American Indian in the modern day Texas. He finds a young Chinese American boy in the prairie whose father was just gunned down by evil white men. Quinn brings him back to his home to raise as a son with his wife. Quinn also dreams of racing his prized horse in The Kentucky Derby Gotta give this film props for preaching racial tolerance, a rarity for 1947. The Chinese boy is played by Ducky Louie, love that name. Lots of good horsie scenes too and a nice finish at Churchill Downs as Black Gold, the race horse, vies for the Kentucky Derby winners circle. Good vintage Derby footage.
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Post by Hoosier X on Aug 8, 2016 10:16:49 GMT -5
I watched Road to Morocco (1942) last night. It's been one of my favorites for a very long time, since the 1970s. I noticed something I've never seen before. In the opening, where the newscasters are all reporting on the ship that exploded, one of the Asian broadcasters sticks a button into his coat that says "I Am Chinese." Well, the war was on, and Chinese Americans were eager to distinguish themselves from Japanese Americans. (And I remember seeing an article from an old issue of - I think - LIFE magazine telling how to tell the difference. There were charts and things citing characteristics like "Japanese have lower body fat" and "Chinese are more prone to be stocky" and "Japanese have thinner faces because Chinese have fat cheeks." Because SCIENCE!) But I didn't know you could get a button! Does anybody know if that's a real thing or just a joke for the movie? It seems like it must be just a joke but the past can be very weird sometimes. And Jean Harlowe was the star of the day on TCM yesterday. Because I haven't really seen that many Harlowe movies, I went crazy with the DVR. I got China Seas and Red Dust. I haven't seen either of them before, and Red Dust seems to be a key Harlowe movie. I should have seen it a long time ago. And I also DVRed Red-Headed Woman. I try not to clog up the DVR with more movies than I can watch in a week, but I love Red-Headed Woman. I saw it once, years and years ago, and I hadn't thought about it for a long time, but I watched the Jean Harlowe documentary and they showed some clips that reminded me what an awesome movie it is. (I was tempted to DVR Bombshell and Dinner at Eight as well because they are a couple of great movies. But I've seen Dinner at Eight a few times and TCM shows Bombshell from time to time, so I decided not to load up the DVR.) I haven't watched any of them yet. I also DVRed Too Late for Tears last week but I haven't gotten to it yet. That's one of my Film Noir Super Five Movies. I've seen it a few times over the years.
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Aug 8, 2016 20:39:35 GMT -5
The Inspiration For The TV Show F Troop?Advance To The Rear was released in the summer of 1964. During the Civil War, a union troop was formed, consisting of the worst soldiers and misfit losers found in the Union Army. They are dispatched to the far west in order to not cause any further trouble. Lt. Glenn Ford and Sgt. Alan Hale are in charge of a brigade that includes a soldier who can't stop his hiccups, a pyromaniac, a trooper who horses find irresistible, a kleptomaniac and other weirdos. The Confederacy mistakenly believes this is an elite brigade on a top secret mission and therefore send their top spy, the beautiful Stella Stevens to infiltrate . Jim Backus, Joan Blondell, Melvyn Douglas and Yvonne Craig are also on hand.The cast and situations are fine, the dialogue is lacking enough humour and the special effect sounds are annoying. Should have been better and rates a 5 out of 10 Have no idea how it performed at the box office. A year later, F Troop debuted on TV. Co-incidence, I think not
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Aug 9, 2016 0:30:04 GMT -5
I have been remiss up to this point with not mentioning my new partner in home cinema viewing. I'll rectify that now
Her name is Gaby Kabbible, a finicky but frisky feline viewer. Gaby usually joins me at about 9PM each night. She has her favorite chair to watch the big screen. She seems to enjoy color films more than b & w but I'm working to break that prejudice. She is a fan of MGM films and perks up when Leo The Lion roars at its introduction. I'll be consulting with Gaby in the future on her reponse to whats playing. But be advised that she'll rarely comment on a movie's ending. About 75 minutes or so from the start, Gaby will excuse herself and go nosh at her bowl or stare out the window. Then she expects me to tell her how the film ended. As usual, I live to service her
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Aug 10, 2016 3:56:09 GMT -5
The Movie I Vowed Not To See And Now Decades Later I Did
It came out in the 1970s and was one of the most talked about, highest grossing films of the year. But teenage Ish had no desire to see it cuz he felt it was so blatantly manipulative emotionally speaking and too sentimental. Not cool . Didn't watch it on TV or home video. Until tonight. What the hell. It wasn't bad after all. But I won't tell you the title. See if you can guess
Two college kids meet at Harvard. She's from a poor family and a wise-crackin' smart-ass. He's from a rich family, doesn't get along with his father and has problems with authority figures. They fall in love. The rich family disowns the son for marrying a commoner. They marry and struggle to make ends meet. The girl is diagnosed with a blood disease and will die within months at age 25. She dies. The end
Actually I didn't reveal the ending because they tell you she dies at the very beginning of the film.
Yeah, it's a movie true cinema lovers need to see. Got a haunting piano theme too that you'd probably recognize
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Aug 10, 2016 15:04:28 GMT -5
A few interesting items about the above mystery movie. The rich father was played by a veteran actor and it was the first time he appeared on screen without a toupee.
The rebellious son was played by a young actor who mostly did TV work previously and because of this movie became an in-demand star for the balance of the decade
The young actress was only in 2 previous films and this was her breakout role. Curiously it took 2 years for her to do another film, then she married a famous movie star and stopped performing for about 6 years. She resumed after their divorce but obviously her time in the spotlight as a box office draw had passed.
There was a sequel to the film 8 years later which bombed
It was based on an original screenplay, adapted into a novel in time for the films' release. The novel became one of the biggest sellers for that year as well
There is a line of dialogue from the film that made it very high up on the American Film Institute's list of memorable movie lines
When the film finally arrived on prime time TV later in the decade, it became, at that time, the highest rated movie on TV in history
Hang your head in shame cinemaphiles if you can't guess the flick
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Post by dupersuper on Aug 10, 2016 21:46:53 GMT -5
The Movie I Vowed Not To See And Now Decades Later I DidIt came out in the 1970s and was one of the most talked about, highest grossing films of the year. But teenage Ish had no desire to see it cuz he felt it was so blatantly manipulative emotionally speaking and too sentimental. Not cool . Didn't watch it on TV or home video. Until tonight. What the hell. It wasn't bad after all. But I won't tell you the title. See if you can guess Two college kids meet at Harvard. She's from a poor family and a wise-crackin' smart-ass. He's from a rich family, doesn't get along with his father and has problems with authority figures. They fall in love. The rich family disowns the son for marrying a commoner. They marry and struggle to make ends meet. The girl is diagnosed with a blood disease and will die within months at age 25. She dies. The end Actually I didn't reveal the ending because they tell you she dies at the very beginning of the film. Yeah, it's a movie true cinema lovers need to see. Got a haunting piano theme too that you'd probably recognize The Depressing Film that Makes You Give up on Life?
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Aug 13, 2016 12:09:21 GMT -5
Nothing Like Seeing For The First Time A Classic That Floors YouThe Hunchback Of Notre Dame (1939) Charles Laughton, Maureen O'Hara,Cedric Hardwicke, Thomas Mitchell, Edmond O'Brien, George Zucco I had seen the 1923 silent film version earlier this year with Lon Chaney and was quite impressed. The acrobatic scenes of his climbing and navigating through the cathedral was amazing. But this is the definitive one. The make-up, the sets, the atmosphere are absolutely stunning Charles Laughton spent 2 1/2 hours each day getting the make-up applied. Forget about Karloff's Frankenstein, IMHO this is the best from the classic age of Hollywood. Besides that, there are some of the creepiest, dark and horrific scenes ever filmed in early Hollywood as when the young Gringoire, running from the authorities, stumbles into the beggar's section of the city. The denizens of this enclave will send shivers down your spine The sets are ornate and overwhelming. The crowd of hundreds of extras for the film are, as a group, fantastic. And to top it all off , you get Maureen O'Hara as the beautiful gypsy girl. Cedric Hardwicke plays a great dastardly villain as well 1939 had been, what I considered, the greatest year for movies. This film cinches it for me
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Post by berkley on Aug 13, 2016 17:38:52 GMT -5
The Movie I Vowed Not To See And Now Decades Later I DidIt came out in the 1970s and was one of the most talked about, highest grossing films of the year. But teenage Ish had no desire to see it cuz he felt it was so blatantly manipulative emotionally speaking and too sentimental. Not cool . Didn't watch it on TV or home video. Until tonight. What the hell. It wasn't bad after all. But I won't tell you the title. See if you can guess Two college kids meet at Harvard. She's from a poor family and a wise-crackin' smart-ass. He's from a rich family, doesn't get along with his father and has problems with authority figures. They fall in love. The rich family disowns the son for marrying a commoner. They marry and struggle to make ends meet. The girl is diagnosed with a blood disease and will die within months at age 25. She dies. The end Actually I didn't reveal the ending because they tell you she dies at the very beginning of the film. Yeah, it's a movie true cinema lovers need to see. Got a haunting piano theme too that you'd probably recognize Love Story ? I seem to remember hearing about the death part. I've never seen it either if that's the one. I was too young when it came out in the theatres and never had any desire to watch it when VCRs and everything got on the go years later, more or less for the same reasons Ish mentioned.
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Aug 13, 2016 18:16:13 GMT -5
The Movie I Vowed Not To See And Now Decades Later I Did. See if you can guess Love Story ? I seem to remember hearing about the death part. I've never seen it either if that's the one. I was too young when it came out in the theatres and never had any desire to watch it when VCRs and everything got on the go years later, more or less for the same reasons Ish mentioned. Winner, winner, chicken dinner
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Aug 13, 2016 19:09:10 GMT -5
Ryan O'Neal and Ali MacGraw play the two lovers in the film and due to it's blockbuster performance they were both in the superstar category as of 1970. O'Neal scored big again a few years later with his daughter Tatum in 1973's Paper Moon and has continued to work constantly in films and TV since then
Ali MacGraw, inexplicably, only did 1972's The Getaway, married her co-star Steve McQueen, and quit the biz until 1978. Unfortunately she chose the film Convoy as the comeback feature and did minimum film work since. Her last feature was in 1997. She did do the TV mini-series Winds Of War and 1 year of Dynasty
Ray Milland was the veteran actor appearing without his toupee for the first time
Let's do another Guess-The-Film since this was so bad it's not worth a write up nor images. I first saw it 30 years ago on Home Video or HBO and inexplicably I bought the DVD version. Watching it once again, I can assert that time has not improved it
Here's The Clue
The producer was already in financial difficulties and heavily invested in this movie as a gamble. When it proved to be a stinker, the producer had to sell his assets to pay off debts. Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple bought the special effects division that worked on the movie. That division later became Pixar Animation Studios.
Every cloud has a silver lining. What's the movie name? Who's The producer?
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Post by berkley on Aug 13, 2016 20:07:09 GMT -5
I haven't seen Paper Moon either, though I do remember reading the MAD parody of that one, unlike Love Story - did MAD ever do LS? They must have, it was such a talked-about thing at the time.
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