|
Post by Ish Kabbible on Aug 25, 2016 3:15:24 GMT -5
Miss This GuyWatching The Last Castle (2001) with Robert Redford as a 3 star General convicted and sent to a military prison run by James Gandolfini reminded me how much I miss this guy's presence on the screen He played his role so perfectly as the punitive prison commander determined to halt Redford from organizing the inmates to oppose him. It would have been easy for Gandolfini to over-emote and play it like a typical movie villain. Instead his menacing demeanor was shown through his eyes and smile, making him even more dangerous
|
|
|
Post by Ish Kabbible on Aug 26, 2016 2:29:54 GMT -5
Old Man Showing His AgeI'd guess only a few would know what I'm writing about but, whatever... In the fall of 1969, on Wednesday nights, in between The Flying Nun and Room 222 on ABC TV, I would watch The Courtship Of Eddie's Father, a sentimental comedy sitcom starring Bill Bixby. He played a recently widowed husband, raising his only young son, with the help of a Japanese nanny. Many plots would revolve around the women Bixby would date.Some his son would approve of and some he didn't. I only watched the first year, it was decent but not must-see, and I moved on yo something else the following season. The show is remembered by many for it's wonderful theme song by Harry Nilsson Now I discover it's source material unbeknownst to me The Courtship Of Eddie's Father (1962) Glenn Ford, Shirley Jones, Stella Stevens, Dina Merrill, Jerry Van Dyke and Ronnie (Opie/Richie Cunningham) Howard as Eddie The TV show didn't change the basic premise except the original nanny helping Dad was not Japanese but rather an older woman listening to spanish language teaching records. It's an MGM production which means it's classy and directed by Vincente Minelli, a classy director. It's Ron Howard's big screen follow-up to The Music Man and he was appearing in The Andy Griffith Show concurrently. Stella Stevens plays a ditzy redhead that I would swear they wrote the part for Shirley MacLaine. jerry Van Dyke plays a radio show morning jock and there are celebrity pictures ion the wall of his studio that includes his brother Dick A decent film. And just like the other week when I watched the early film titled The Many Loves Of Dobie Gillis, it's strange to watch the source material for the first time long after the TV version is thoroughly embedded into your memory
|
|
|
Post by Ish Kabbible on Aug 27, 2016 3:58:25 GMT -5
When You Were 16 Years Old, Would You Have Ignored This Girl?Cynthia (1947) Elizabeth Taylor, Mary Astor, George Murphy The movie that took Liz Taylor from young girl roles paired with horses and doggies to a young teen. They couldn't pull off a story about an ugly-duckling schoolgirl feeling dejected but they kind-a, sort-a tried. You see, Cynthia was a sickly child and she catches colds and flu very easily. Her parents are over protective and don't let her out of the house except for school. And the slightest sniffle or cough lands her in bed for a week or two. So her fellow students hardly know her and all the girls have boyfriends except Cynthia. Man, I'd have killed to be a teen in this town if Liz Taylor was thought of as the bottom of the barrel. Of course, you'd have to put up with those wild teenage antics of 1947 including marching through the streets singing "Buckle Up Winsockie" or stencilling silly poems on the side of your car. Liz is ga-ga over a complete dork of a boy too. That guy's voice is even worse than his looks. Cheer up Liz. Things will get better
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2016 8:45:24 GMT -5
No, Ish ... I wouldn't ignore that girl at all!
|
|
|
Post by berkley on Aug 27, 2016 16:59:06 GMT -5
A Most Interesting Movie Anthology Spirits Of The Dead AKA Tales Of Mystery (1968) I saw this on tv as a kid in the early 70s and found it pretty fascinating, even William Wilson, though my questionable memories agree that it was the weakest of the three segments. There was a nude scene - they didn't cut them on CBC - that I always used to say featured Brigitte Bardot, but now I'm not sure it was her - it might have been in Metzengerstein, which means it was Fonda or someone else - it's so long ago I can't rely on my memory. The last segment, Never Bet the Devil Your Head made the biggest impact. Gave me nightmares as a kid.
|
|
|
Post by Ish Kabbible on Aug 27, 2016 17:12:18 GMT -5
A Most Interesting Movie Anthology Spirits Of The Dead AKA Tales Of Mystery (1968) I saw this on tv as a kid in the early 70s and found it pretty fascinating, even William Wilson, though my questionable memories agree that it was the weakest of the three segments. There was a nude scene - they didn't cut them on CBC - that I always used to say featured Brigitte Bardot, but now I'm not sure it was her - it might have been in Metzengerstein, which means it was Fonda or someone else - it's so long ago I can't rely on my memory. The last segment, Never Bet the Devil Your Head made the biggest impact. Gave me nightmares as a kid. You're probably recalling Jane Fonda's opening segment Metzengerstein with its castle orgies. Fonda herself wasn't nude but did wear revealing costumes, some in fleshtones and she did take a bath with another woman. Other participants in those orgies were coyly hidden to avoid full nudity which was done quite often in an artsy-fartsy way in the 1960s
|
|
|
Post by berkley on Aug 27, 2016 21:32:11 GMT -5
You're probably right. I look forward to watching it again one of these days to find out for myself.
|
|
|
Post by Ish Kabbible on Aug 28, 2016 0:47:31 GMT -5
I Never Knew This Existed Till NowA Child Is Waiting (1962) Burt Lancaster, Judy Garland, Gena Rowlands, Steven Hill Burt Lancaster is the head doctor for a school for children suffering Downs Syndrome. Judy Garland, drifting from job to job, obtains a job there. The late 50s/early 60s saw Hollywood tackling big and controversial social issues and psychology was was a hot button topic. The film used many actual children afflicted with this mental disease. It's guaranteed to tear at your heartstrings as the staff at the school tries to teach the children to socialize with each other as well as to learn skills for later life. Lancaster, as usual, plays his role with magnificence, a man at the peak of his career. It is Judy Garland though that is most interesting to watch. This was her next to last film, and already going through so much turmoil in her personal life. One wonders her reaction, working with these children and how she might have compared their struggles against her own. Their is no glamour in her performance but it is convincing The director was John Cassavetes, his third film, and producer Stanley Kramer fired him during the final editing A film you would only watch once but stays on your mind Oh, Billy Mumy is briefly seen now and then as one of the children in the institution, mumbling something about a cornfield
|
|
|
Post by Ish Kabbible on Aug 28, 2016 5:42:44 GMT -5
Nifty Noir Suspenser Cry Vengeance (1954) Mark Stevens, Martha Hyer, Skip Hormeier Actor Mark Stevens is someone I'm not familiar with by name but then I notice that he was in The Snake Pit, The Street With No Name, Objective Burma, The Dark Corner among others. he stars in this as well as directs the film. And man, is this a surprisingly gritty little piece Mark Stevens plays Vic Barron, a cop who was framed with dirty money. His wife and daughter died by the gangster as well. And Vic's car got blown up with him inside, leaving half his face scarred. Vic serves 3 years in prison, only thinking of revenge. Vic having a tough life is quite the understatement but now he's out and all he wants to know is where is the man responsible, Tino Morelli. Vic buys a gun, slugs his former cop pals who try to talk sense into him and give up the revenge quest. Vic learns Tino fled the states and is up in Alaska. But we learn, that even though Tino committed many crimes, he's actually innocent concerning what happened to Vic. Tino has reformed, leading a new honest life and is caring for his own daughter As the movie progresses, the ex-cop comes off as the bad guy and the ex-gangster is the one we sympathise. There's a scene where Vic comes upon Tino's lovable little daughter and gives her a bullet, telling her to show it to daddy and tell him Vic is coming. Definitely a movie that will keep you on your toes. Similar to a previous movie The Big Heat. An early widescreen movie too. Catch it if it plays on TV or grab the DVD released by Olive Films 3 years ago. Oh, and Richard Deacon is a bartender.
|
|
|
Post by Ish Kabbible on Aug 29, 2016 4:58:04 GMT -5
So, besides making headway in my stack of unwatched DVDs I own at home, I've been renting from the library other classic movie films. This one I'm glad I did not spend money on Cauldron Of Blood (1970-according to IMDB but the DVD box says 1967) Boris Karloff, Viveca Lindfors, Jean-Pierre Aumont Jean-Pierre is an photographer/magazine writer or something but definitely thinks he's a dashing ladies man. Anyway he arrives to interview Boris who's a world famous sculptor and recently blinded and limps badly. Boris' possessive wife (Lindfors) sees to his professional needs . Boris needs skeletal models as the basis for his statues. So his wife, along with her lover, kidnaps people, drops them in a vat of boiling acid, and gives the blind Boris the bones to build his art. He has no idea where she gets the bones, thinking they are from dead animals Sounds better than it is. On the plus side, the colors are vivid and has the strobe-lighting late 60s effect with twangy guitar music. Plus Boris and Viveca do the best they can. And one of the girls is a dead ringer for Nancy Sinatra However, it's very slow, especially the first half. it takes that long for the plot to really kick in. Before that, it's bad Italian acting. And no surprises or shocks. In fact, there's no blood. I don't remember seeing a drop. People get strangled, you see white bones come out of the pool of acid and there's nothing to give you a thrill or a chill. Everything is telegraphed 10 minutes before it happens. Am I ruining it if I tell you the villain dies by falling into the vat of acid? What, you didn't see that coming?
|
|
|
Post by Ish Kabbible on Aug 30, 2016 1:23:23 GMT -5
Dog-Gone It, That's Some DogThe Courage Of Lassie (1946) Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Morgan Saw the first Lassie film, haven't seen the second, but here's the third of the great Lassie saga. it's actually the story of one of Lassie's pups who gets separated from his family and grows up in the forest on his own. So for the first 20 minutes or so we see the youngster mixing it up with bears and skunks and learning the ways of survival. He's accidentally shot by hunters. However Elizabeth Taylor is on the scene to get him help and adopt him, naming the dog Bill. Frank Morgan, the wonderful Wizard Of Oz is also on hand giving sage advice Liz trains Bill to be a sheepdog. he rescues the flock during a terrific snowstorm. Bill gets run over by a truck, out of eyesight of Liz, and taken to to an animal hospital. He recovers, but they don't know who owns him. So Bill gets drafted and sent to the Alaskan Aleutian Islands to fight the Japanese Bill is a hero, saving a platoon of soldiers but again gets wounded. This time, as he recuperates, he comes down with battle fatigue and becomes Dark Bill, snarling and growling. He goes AWOL and tries to find his way home He lives off the land as he journeys back to his place. He eats chickens on the way. Liz finds him but he's still Dark Bill and growls at her. Liz is shocked, falls, bumps her head and knocked unconscious. This snaps Bill back to being Good Bill and everyone is happy But wait, the sheriff arrives and arrests Bill for chicken-snatching. Bill goes to trial, muzzled. The Wizard Of Oz acts like his defense lawyer. Liz is crying her eyes out. 15 people identify Bill as eating their chickens Land O Goshen, I loves me these Lassie movies. More please
|
|
|
Post by Ish Kabbible on Aug 31, 2016 0:37:25 GMT -5
Don't Think, Just WatchCaptive Wild Woman (1943) John Carradine, Evelyn Ankers, Milburn Stone, Aquanetta John Carradine, in his first leading role, plays a mad scientist ("Mad, Am I?). He's a glandular disease specialist and injects human blood into a smart ape to turn the simian into a girl. The ape/woman is Aquanetta who then hangs out at a circus and stares at the lions and tigers while an animal trainer gets the credit for being in a cage with them. Or something like that. I really have no idea what John Carradine was trying to accomplish here. The film uses lots of footage from a previous circus film, The Big Cage, and the tussle between lion and tiger is real. So if you like wild animal circus scenes, this is a movie for you. Aquanetta supposedly was a terrible actress but they solved that problem here since she had no dialogue and only opened her eyes wide and stared I think Hoosier commented on this movie previously. It only runs an hour so you won't be scratching your head for too long Scream Queen Evelyn Ankers gets a chance to let loose a few
|
|
|
Post by Ish Kabbible on Sept 1, 2016 2:23:33 GMT -5
OK, not an aged classic but I expressed my remorse of the untimely death of James Gandolfini a week ago and found this 2013 film at the library. It's a romantic comedy with the two leads seemingly totally out-of-place. But they made it work, it was pretty good. Any fan of one or the other should check it out. It was Gandolfini's next-to-last feature film
|
|
|
Post by Prince Hal on Sept 1, 2016 9:45:50 GMT -5
Gandolfini was really, really talented.
|
|
|
Post by Ish Kabbible on Sept 1, 2016 14:40:30 GMT -5
Gandolfini was really, really talented. Have you seen this one?
|
|