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Post by Ish Kabbible on Sept 19, 2016 3:17:55 GMT -5
Carmen Miranda's First Starring Role..And No Fruitty Hat Greenwich Village (1944) Don Ameche, Carmen Miranda, William Bendix, Vivian Blaine Greenwich Village, NYC in 1922. Don Ameche, a hick classical music composer from the mid-west arrives to showcase his concerto to a famed conductor. But William Bendix, who runs a speakeasy would rather use that music for his upcoming gaiety follies review. The plot is not important. The selling points are Carmen Miranda having the opportunity to do several numbers and the great William Bendix with a juicy role. And, man-o-man, 20th Century Fox and their super-saturated Technicolor production. The screen bursts with vivid hues. The DVD print is nicely preserved and shows it all as if it came out yesterday. Although there is no fruits on top of Miranda's head, there are candy canes and giant feather plumes. My big disappointment was my hoping to see location shots of Greenwich Village back in the 1940s. Alas no, everything is filmed on a Hollywood back-lot. I guess, with the war on and movie budgets being tight, location shooting was a no-go
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Post by Hoosier X on Sept 19, 2016 10:40:24 GMT -5
Yesterday was a pretty good day for me for movies! I saw a really good short film from 1932 with a comedy team that I've been wanting to see for almost twenty years. And I saw a couple of more recent films that were both great! I'll just write up some short reviews one at a time ... In chronological order, the comedy short Show Business (1932) comes first. This features the comedy team of ZaSu Pitts and Thelma Todd. And it's pretty funny at times! It's a bit disjointed and the ending is very abrupt. But a lot of the time, it's very funny. Plus you get to see Thelma Todd in her underwear a lot. After the success of Laurel and Hardy, producer Hal Roach wondered if he could duplicate the success with a female comedy team. So he paired up Thelma Todd and ZaSu Pitts, who had been making comedy shorts for the studio. The comedy team of Pitts and Todd made 17 films, but Pitts left the studio, so she was replaced with Patsy Kelly. Then Thelma Todd died (or was murdered! Does everyone know about that awful little Hollywood scandal? Lucky Luciano may have killed her.) and the team went through several more changes. (I just looked on Wikipedia for a moment to see how many short films Pitts and Todd made together. I knew about Patsy Kelly but I had no idea it got so complicated.) These films are kind of hard to find. (I bet some of them are on YouTube. I've never looked.) I love both ZaSu and Thelma, so I've been wanting to see one of these shorts since I heard about them in the 1990s. And TCM showed Show Business a few days ago and I was so happy to finally get the chance to see them! ZaSu Pitts had a long career, mostly as a comedian, but she's probably most famous for appearing in a movie that's not funny at all! She's in von Stroheim's infamous Greed, wallowing nude in a pile of gold pieces. But you can see her here and there, in movies like Bad Sister (Bette Davis's first movie) and Ruggles of Red Gap and a couple of films in the Mexican Spitfire series. And Thelma Todd is one of my favorite obscure actresses! I keep seeing her lately. She was in Broadminded with Joe E. Brown and Bela Lugosi, and then I caught her in Hips, Hips, Hooray! a few days ago. And now Show Business! She was great! She's probably best known for playing the college widow in Horse Feathers with the Marx Brothers, but she was also in Monkey Business and several Laurel and Hardy films. She's hilarious! It's too bad her career was cut short. She was found dead in her car in a garage. The coroner said it was monoxide poisoning, and the bruises about her face and neck were caused by convulsions. In Show Business, Pitts and Todd have an unspecified stage act that involves a monkey. (Because of course they do.) They get called at the last minute as a replacement act and have to rush to the train station! They (and the monkey) quickly run afoul with the star of the show (hilarious (and hysterical) Anita Garvin), the producer, the station cop, the conductor, the porter ... well, pretty much everybody on the train. The monkey is hilarious. There's a scene with Anita Garvin's dog that is one of the most precious things I've seen for a while. Show Business isn't as funny as Laurel and Hardy at their best, but it's still amusing all the way through and it's frequently very funny. I'm going to keep my eyes open for more of these Pitts and Todd shorts. I hope there's a few on YouTube!
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Post by Hoosier X on Sept 19, 2016 11:52:56 GMT -5
I forgot to mention that Show Business was directed by Jules White, who produced and directed bunches of Three Stooges shorts.
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Post by Hoosier X on Sept 19, 2016 12:03:10 GMT -5
The other two films I saw yesterday are less than ten years old, but they were both such great films, so original and funny, that I think they both get "Instant Classic" status. I'm not going to say too much about Four Lions. I didn't know too much about it. I knew the basic premise, and I knew that a lot of film buffs I know online are saying that it's pretty damn funny. It's a very dark comedy about suicide bombers. I didn't know I wanted to see a comedy about suicide bombers until I heard of this movie; then I wanted to see it pretty bad. Four Lions doesn't hold back. These guys are pretty awful, in so many ways. But they are also hilarious. And the film is surprisingly touching at times. One word of warning. These guys are Muslims living in London, so they have pretty thick British accents, and it doesn't help that a couple of them think they are gangstas, so the dialogue might be a little hard to follow at times. I would normally have used the English sub-titles, but the DVD doesn't have any. And I was watching it late, so I had the sound very low with the air conditioning on and the fountain bubbling on the front porch. It does have Spanish sub-titles, so I turned those on and that helped a lot. But I really want to watch this again when I can have the sound louder. Highly recommended, especially if you like dark British comedy, or if you like a unique movie experience.
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Post by Hoosier X on Sept 19, 2016 12:15:59 GMT -5
And in the afternoon, my nephew and I went to Ontario (Calif.) to see Sausage Party (2016). It's wrong. It's wrong like 100 episodes of "Family Guy." One hundred MEG episodes. But it's so damn funny. And awful. And insensitive. And disgusting. When it was over, a friend of mine texted me to ask how I felt about taking my 13-year-old nephew to a porn film. I'm still sorting that out. (Fortunately my nephew covered his eyes and kept asking me if it was over during the worst scene.) I had no idea what I was going to see. I thought I did. But I wasn't prepared for that. If you can handle it, Sausage Party is the must-see movie for 2016. They pushed the envelope across the desk, off the edge and into the oven. WOW! Just wow! And for the icing on the cake, fundamentalist christians are taking it personally! And Salma Hayek plays a lesbian taco shell.
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Sept 19, 2016 12:27:44 GMT -5
And in the afternoon, my nephew and I went to Ontario (Calif.) to see Sausage Party (2016).
Sausage Party is due out on DVD Nov. 8th and like I do with most current films, I put a reserve on it via the library and get it within 2-3 weeks after the release. It's on my list. Here's a bunch of other recent movies I'm awaiting with announced DVD dates where known THE INVITATION 14-Jun TALE OF TALES 6-Sep POPSTAR:NEVER STOP 13-Sep CAPTAIN AMERICA-CIVIL WAR 13-Sep NEIGHBORS 2 20-Sep CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE 27-Sep THE SHALLOWS 27-Sep XMEN APOCALYPSE 4-Oct INTO THE FOREST 4-Oct INDEPENDENCE DAY:RESURGENCE 18-Oct LIGHTS OUT 25-Oct STAR TREK BEYOND 1-Nov BAD MOMS 1-Nov SAUSAGE PARTY 8-Nov FINDING DORY 15-Nov JASON BOURNE 22-Nov SECRET LIVES OF PETS 22-Nov KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS 22-Nov DON'T BREATHE 29-Nov DON'T THINK TWICE 2016 SUICIDE SQUAD 2016 HELL OR HIGH WATER 2016 FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS 2016 BLOOD FATHER 2016 HANDS OF STONE 2016 WAR DOGS 2016 SULLY 2016 BEATLES:EIGHT DAYS A WEEK 2016 BRIDGET JONE'S BABY 2016
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Post by Hoosier X on Sept 19, 2016 17:04:02 GMT -5
Here's a heads-up! TCM is showing a 1936 movie called Chatterbox on Wednesday. I don't know a thing about it except that it has Anne Shirley and it's less than 70 minutes long.
And that's enough for me!
So don't get mad at me if you miss it! I tried to warn you.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 19, 2016 21:28:49 GMT -5
Here's a heads-up! TCM is showing a 1936 movie called Chatterbox on Wednesday. I don't know a thing about it except that it has Anne Shirley and it's less than 70 minutes long. And that's enough for me! So don't get mad at me if you miss it! I tried to warn you. Thanks for the heads up and it's closed captioned for me! ... I always wanted to watch that movie.
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Sept 19, 2016 21:46:53 GMT -5
I'm about to slobber all over this film in high praiseIt's a movie that was far ahead of it's time, even though it's based on a play by Henrik Ibsen from the 1880s It's a movie that one of the biggest stars in Hollywood wanted to get made that he was willing to forego his usual salary and work for union scale It's a movie that Warner Bros.had no idea how to market so after a couple of screenings they shelved it. Only released briefly after the star of the film passed away Imagine a small town in Norway during the 1880s, slowly becoming prosperous due to it's medicinal natural springs and the tourists it attracts for it's health resorts. But the town doctor has confirmed that the town's water is slowly being poisoned by the new tannery spewing it's chemicals into the environment. At first some newspaper men agree to help spread the word. But the doctor's own brother-the mayor of the village-aims to put a stop to this rabble rousing If the word gets out about the health concerns over the water, huge taxes will be levied for a clean up. The tourist business will disappear as well and the town will be destitute. The town turns against the doctor as if he's nothing but a revolutionary. They vote to censure him. His landlord evicts him. He loses his job. People throw rocks through his windows. His children are beaten at school. He is now branded as.. An Enemy Of The People (1978) Steve McQueen, Charles Durning, Bibi Andersson, Richard Dysart
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Post by Hoosier X on Sept 19, 2016 22:22:54 GMT -5
Bibi Andersson! I am so onboard if I ever get a chance to see this.
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Sept 19, 2016 22:32:30 GMT -5
3 more episodes from The Studio One Anthology-a series I'm getting more and more impressed with
Pontius Pilate-Cyril Ritchard, Geraldine Fitzgerald Directed by Franklin Schaffner
Pilate struggles with the decision to crucify Jesus. Act 2 shows Pilate 15 years later with his own wife on trial as a newly converted Christian. Ritchard and Fitzgerald are dynamic in their performance and the dialogue sparkles.
The Storm-Marsha Hunt, Dean Harens Directed by Yul Brynner
Didn't know Yul Brynner was both a director and actor in the early days of TV. This was an episode that would be at home on the Alfred Hitchcock show. Young woman quickly marries a man without really getting to know him. He then begins losing his temper for no reason. his own brother tells the newly wedded wife to be careful and finally she finds a body in the basement
1984- Eddie Albert, Lorne Greene
1953 production with great lighting effects hiding the bare minimalist stage sets. Doesn't see the irony of Big Brother watching you via TV. Eddie Albert as Winston
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Sept 19, 2016 22:36:49 GMT -5
Bibi Andersson! I am so onboard if I ever get a chance to see this. Then I have done my job. And now UP UP AND AWAY P.S. It's available via Warner Brothers Archive Collection on DVD which many libraries in my city have available. And check out Warner's home streaming service where, for a month-by-month fee you get unlimited access to hundreds and hundreds of excellent hard to find classics
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Sept 20, 2016 1:04:01 GMT -5
Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda The Fallen Sparrow (1943) John Garfield, Maureen O'Hara, Walter Slezak, Patricia Morison, Hugh Beaumont John Garfield in a great tough guy, psychologically damaged role. Noir lighting effects. Beautiful women. Nazi spies. But the plot? So very muddled. John Garfield was held as a prisoner in the Spanish civil war for several years under torture. Now he's in NYC investigating the death of a long time friend who was a police detective. Nazi's are after Garfield and people he's acquainted with because he has something they want. The Maltese Falcon seems to be the inspiration for this flick and it's fine to watch as long as you don't hurt yourself when scratching your head trying to figure out the character's motivations . It sure looks good though
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Sept 20, 2016 4:56:46 GMT -5
2 more episodes from the Studio One Anthology
Confessions Of A Nervous Man-Art Carney Written by George Axelrod
This comedy is a bit of a strange bird. Playwright and author of this episode George Axelrod appears on screen at the beginning. He had written the hit play The Seven Year Itch the year before and explains this episode is about the wait overnight from when the Broadway show premiered and the morning newspapers with the critics' review. Art Carney plays George Axelrod and gives a marvelous performance as George frets over what the reviews will bring. He's surrounded by friends at a bar awaiting the news with him. His emotions go up and down like a roller coaster as he fantasizes being famous and rich or shunned and poor. He imagines the play performed in other countries. He imagines being the mystery guest on What's My Line. He even imagines Betty Furness showing him the latest refrigerator. A very imaginative episode. Plus Jacqueline Suzanne is one of the party, later to be a famed authoress herself
Don't worry about George Axelrod. He'll later go on to write the screenplays for Bus Stop, Breakfast At Tiffany's, The Manchurian Candidate and more
The Strike-James Daly Written by Rod Serling
During the Korean War, Major Gaylord (James Daly) is put to the supreme test for a battlefield commander: he must issue an order that will almost certainly result in the death of twenty of his men, in order to save the remaining hundreds of lives of the other soldiers he commands. Will he be able to issue the order, and more importantly, will he be able to forgive himself for having to exercise such a tragic choice?
Rod Serling presents a very compelling moral dilemma with no easy answers.Black and white photography is perfect to depict the bombed out, grungy headquaters for this platoon at a Korean farmhouse
Each episode has a mention of whats to be featured the following week. Lord knows what other prints have been preserved from this show but there is another Art Carney show out there as well as a submarine drama starring Walter Matthau. I Wonder if YouTube has any
5 more episodes to go within the box set
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Post by Hoosier X on Sept 20, 2016 10:36:11 GMT -5
I'll have to look for The Fallen Sparrow, Ish. I love me some Patricia Morison. (And Maureen O'Hara is more than a little bit of all right.) Patricia Morison is still alive. She turned 101 in March.
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