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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 6, 2017 3:19:30 GMT -5
The last movie I saw in 2016 was Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the River (1968). It's not good. But I did like Jacqueline Pearce (she's so CUTE!) and Patricia Routledge (who has ALL the funny moments). And it was kind of neat to see Bernard Cribbins, who I know as Rose Tyler's granddad on Doctor Who. Patricia Routledge - as somebody pointed out above - is Hyacinth on the wonderful British TV show "Keeping up Appearances." I had never seen it until recently, but I was visiting my aunt and uncle over the summer and my aunt LOVES the show. But PBS isn't showing it anymore. So her daughter got her the DVD collection! The Complete Hyacinth! But my aunt can't figure out the DVD player. (She's very intelligent, and has a master's degree in education and used to be an elementary school principal! But she is now over 80 years old and is somewhat technologically challenged. She has figured out how to answer her cell phone, so perhaps there is hope.) So I was there for about ten days and most days, I started "Keeping Up Appearances" on the DVR and watched an episode with her. We watched the second season and maybe a couple of episodes in the third. Great show! The first movie I saw in 2017 was Straight Outta Compton (2015). I've heard good things about it, and I liked it a lot! Very well-made and very entertaining. I'd forgotten what a great song "F*** tha Police" is. (I understand why the police don't like the song. But maybe the police should take a moment to understand why Ice Cube wrote it and why it was so popular. It just gets more and more relevant, doesn't it?) And I've also seen Lonelyhearts (1958) and The Moon Is Down (1943). They're both very good. Lonelyhearts is based on a short novel by Nathanael West, the author of "The Day of the Locust," the Hollywood novel from which the name "Homer Simpson" is derived. (Donald Sutherland is Homer Simpson.") In Lonelyhearts, Montgomery Clift gets a job as an advice columnist for a newspaper and he starts to crack up trying to deal with all the sad stories he has to deal with. Also featuring Myrna Loy, Robert Ryan and Maureen Stapleton. The Moon Is Down is based on the John Steinbeck novel about a small mining village in Norway occupied by the Nazis. It's not as brutal as Hitler's Madman but it's still surprising for a 1943 film. Henry Travers is the village mayor, standing up to the Nazi occupation, led by Cedric Hardwicke. After seeing The Moon Is Down, I don't think I will ever think of Clarence the angel in quite the same way. It may be sacrilege to some Whovians; but, I love the Peter Cushing Doctor Who movies. The second, Daleks- Invasion Earth: 2150 AD, features Bernard Cribbins as a police constable, who blunders into the TARDIS, after trying to foil a robbery-in-progress. He has a great comedic scene, where he is disguised as a Ro-man (zombified humans, remotely controlled by the Daleks) and the ro-men are getting lunch from the Dalek "catering service." Cribbins can also be seen in Casino Royale and is very prominent in The Mouse on the Moon, the sequel to The Mouse That Roared, taking over one of Peter Sellers roles. It's not quite up to the first film; but, it is quite entertaining. The Moon is Down was secretly printed by resistance cells, across occupied Europe, during the war, despite the Nazi ban on it. It became an inspiring force and was often the source of code words, between cells.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 6, 2017 3:28:24 GMT -5
I just watched Tora, Tora, Tora today on TCM and it was the first time in many years that I have seen it and it's one of the better war/documentary/drama movie that built on the buildup of the Japaneses Navy/Air Attack on Pearl Harbor. I loved the ending of which Admiral Yamamoto said at the end of the movie ... "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve"Anyway, it's done realistically and I was impressed by the series of mini-events that lead to the attack. Excellent film and you can't beat the scenes of the B-17 landing on one wheel and the crashing P-40, with the prop that spins off. The stunt people were actually running for their lives, as that wasn't supposed to happen that way. Footage from this was later reused in Midway (another great historical war drama) and the tv mini-series Pearl and From Here to Eternity (that's the tv one, not the movie). They even used some footage for an episode of Magnum PI. Isoroku Yamamoto spent time in the US, as a naval attache, and had toured US factories and was impressed by our industrial might. He warned against attacking the US, more due to our industrial strength than our military; but, when the decision was made, he carried out his duty. He was also essentially assassinated, as the US military intercepted code transmissions relating to his flight and deliberately sent P-38's to shoot it down.
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Jan 6, 2017 5:00:12 GMT -5
My weekly foray to the library has yielded both new releases and some intriguing though somewhat obscure classics. For the brand new they include :
The Secret Life Of Pets Suicide Squad Don't Think Twice
For the classics, I got:
The Love God? (1969) Don Knotts, Anne Francis Love Is Better Than Ever(1951) Elizabeth Taylor The Moon's Our Home (1936) Henry Fonda Let's Scare Jessica To Death (1971) Let's Do It Again (1953) Ray Milland, Jane Wyman, Aldo Ray Little Nellie Kelly (1940) Judy Garland Last Exit To Brooklyn (1989) Jennifer Jason Leigh, Stephen Baldwin, Jerry Orbach Lilith (1964) Warren Beatty Stephen King's The Langoliers (1995)
Plus this week from my home collection I'll be watching a box set of director Sam Katzman's classic monster films
The Giant Claw (1957) Creature With The Atom Brain (1955) Zombies Of Mora Tau (1957) The Werewolf (1956)
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2017 7:26:17 GMT -5
codystarbuckYou're a certified history buff and I've couldn't agree you more about that Movie and I loved the part of the B-17 that you've described here and your knowledge of Yamamoto is right on the nose. Thanks for sharing it and I also enjoy Midway of which one of the most decisive battle of World War Two.
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Post by Prince Hal on Jan 6, 2017 10:49:04 GMT -5
I just watched Tora, Tora, Tora today on TCM and it was the first time in many years that I have seen it and it's one of the better war/documentary/drama movie that built on the buildup of the Japaneses Navy/Air Attack on Pearl Harbor. I loved the ending of which Admiral Yamamoto said at the end of the movie ... "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve"Anyway, it's done realistically and I was impressed by the series of mini-events that lead to the attack. Excellent film and you can't beat the scenes of the B-17 landing on one wheel and the crashing P-40, with the prop that spins off. The stunt people were actually running for their lives, as that wasn't supposed to happen that way. Footage from this was later reused in Midway (another great historical war drama) and the tv mini-series Pearl and From Here to Eternity (that's the tv one, not the movie). They even used some footage for an episode of Magnum PI. Isoroku Yamamoto spent time in the US, as a naval attache, and had toured US factories and was impressed by our industrial might. He warned against attacking the US, more due to our industrial strength than our military; but, when the decision was made, he carried out his duty. He was also essentially assassinated, as the US military intercepted code transmissions relating to his flight and deliberately sent P-38's to shoot it down. Yes, indeed. Yamamoto had first written and talked about the importance of an attack on Pearl Harbor in 1904. From 1931-1941, a standard exam question at the Japanese "Annapolis" was about planning an attack on Pearl Harbor.
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,703
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Post by shaxper on Jan 6, 2017 11:02:52 GMT -5
Excellent film and you can't beat the scenes of the B-17 landing on one wheel and the crashing P-40, with the prop that spins off. The stunt people were actually running for their lives, as that wasn't supposed to happen that way. Footage from this was later reused in Midway (another great historical war drama) and the tv mini-series Pearl and From Here to Eternity (that's the tv one, not the movie). They even used some footage for an episode of Magnum PI. Isoroku Yamamoto spent time in the US, as a naval attache, and had toured US factories and was impressed by our industrial might. He warned against attacking the US, more due to our industrial strength than our military; but, when the decision was made, he carried out his duty. He was also essentially assassinated, as the US military intercepted code transmissions relating to his flight and deliberately sent P-38's to shoot it down. Yes, indeed. Yamamoto had first written and talked about the importance of an attack on Pearl Harbor in 1904. From 1931-1941, a standard exam question at the Japanese "Annapolis" was about planning an attack on Pearl Harbor. I hope I'm not taking this too far off topic, but I've legitimately never understood Japan's motives in attacking Pearl Harbor. It suited America's purposes perfectly, but what in the world was it supposed to accomplish for them?
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Post by Prince Hal on Jan 6, 2017 11:14:50 GMT -5
Yes, indeed. Yamamoto had first written and talked about the importance of an attack on Pearl Harbor in 1904. From 1931-1941, a standard exam question at the Japanese "Annapolis" was about planning an attack on Pearl Harbor. I hope I'm not taking this too far off topic, but I've legitimately never understood Japan's motives in attacking Pearl Harbor. It suited America's purposes perfectly, but what in the world was it supposed to accomplish for them? In very general terms... The key was to deprive the US of its Pacific naval headquarters. If Japan could destroy the fleet, particularly the carrier force, and destroy the oil and gasoline supplies in Hawaii, the US would be left with no barrier between Japan and the West Coast and would be deprived of any means to create one, leaving the Pacific an enormous Japanese lake. Though the attack was devastating, it accomplished neither of those two goals. With the carrier fleet still active and Hawaii operational as a fuel supply station and command post, a bulwark against further encroachment, the Japanese were not able to run free in the Pacific as they'd hoped. Combined with the essentially fatal blow the US delivered to the Japanese fleet at Midway six months later, the fate of Japan was assured... though of course it took three more horrifying years to seal that fate.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 6, 2017 12:06:52 GMT -5
If you look at the attacks, from Pearl Harbor to the Philippines, you see that they were US and UK naval installations, of varying sizes. Originally, many were coaling stations, for old steam ships, dating back to the Spanish American War. Over time, they became bigger outposts, for other fuel supplies, fresh food, and other essentials. As said, the Pacific Fleet was based in Pearl Harbor, which gave it a forward position. Japan emerged as a major military power from the Russo-Japanese War, when they stunned the world by defeating the Russians at Tsushima. The militarists continued to gain power in Japan from that point on. They gained a seat in various military conferences, following WW1. The US and Japan were allies, for a time, though tensions began to increase as Japan flexed its muscles and sought more territory and resources for its growing industry. It came to a head with Japan's invasion of Manchuria. The US imposed heavy economic sanctions. The Japanese needed to expand there sphere to fuel their war machine and needed the oil and other resources available in the East Indies and other parts of the Pacific. The Army pretty much controlled the government, though the Navy fought for influence. Yamamoto was the Navy's chief voice against attacking the US; but, was overruled by the Army and tasked with developing and carrying out the task. Adm. Nagumo led the strike force which hit Pearl Harbor. Although the battleship fleet was heavily damaged, the carriers were not in port. Japan followed up the attack with additional strikes at US bases in Guam, Wake Island, and the Philippines (and several other points). It took a bit of time; but, the US did launch tentative naval operations. The two biggest were the Doolittle Raid, which was more a propaganda piece, than a military strike, as it did little damage; but, proved that the Japanese mainland could be attacked and the US was still in the fight. The more decisive action was in the Coral Sea, where the US Navy turned back the Japanese, preventing them from expanding into the Indian Ocean and threatening the British in India, though at the loss of the USS Lexington. This culminated in the Battle of Midway, where the Navy had intercepted and partially decoded Japanese messages about the planned attack on Midway and the Aleutian Islands, off Alaska. Adm. Nimitz made a big gamble and committed the bulk of the carrier fleet (the Enterprise, Yorktown, and Hornet) to stopping the Japanese. The Yorktown had been damaged at Coral Sea and had limped back to pearl harbor. In a major triumph of industrial power, it was refitted and repaired and sent out to participate in the Battle of Midway, in just 48 hours (we used to lament about this when we tried to speed up repairs by our shipyard workers, when I was a naval officer). The US engaged the Japanese fleet and sunk 4 carriers, via aerial attacks, though we lost the Yorktown. With the loss of the Yorktown, the US still had minimal naval capability; but, Japan lost almost all of her carriers. It hamstrung her operations to her existing territories and ended long range operations. That gave the US time to rebuild and deploy more ships and carriers and begin the island hopping campaign.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 6, 2017 12:12:15 GMT -5
The Army felt the US lacked the will to fight that far from home and that they were all but invincible. Yamamoto had seen the US industrial might firsthand and felt it just needed the right inspiration to rise up to its full ability. Pearl Harbor did just that. From that point on, industry was geared towards building weapons and equipment, for the US and our allies. We had all of the resources we needed at home, so we didn't need to split our forces defending them. We could build with impunity and draw upon our large population for personnel. Our industrial might was our biggest asset in the war, as sheer numbers often did more to win battles than strategy.
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Post by Hoosier X on Jan 6, 2017 12:41:05 GMT -5
Yes, indeed. Yamamoto had first written and talked about the importance of an attack on Pearl Harbor in 1904. From 1931-1941, a standard exam question at the Japanese "Annapolis" was about planning an attack on Pearl Harbor. I hope I'm not taking this too far off topic, but I've legitimately never understood Japan's motives in attacking Pearl Harbor. It suited America's purposes perfectly, but what in the world was it supposed to accomplish for them? Take a look at what else happened that day or within the next few days. Japan launched a massive series of attacks on numerous possessions of Britain and the Netherlands. Also on the Philippines. There was no way that the U.S. wouldn't get involved in the war sooner rather than later. The attack on Pearl Harbor was an attempt to cripple the US military in the Pacific, if not indefinitely, at least for long enough to allow Japan to solidify its control over planned Pacific conquests. The third wave of the airplane attacks on Pearl Harbor - which was called off - was going to target the oil supplies. A successful third-wave attack would have slowed down the US war effort quite a bit because most US oil came from the East Coast in tankers and would have had to go through the Panama Canal. Also, US isolationism - a potent force in the 1930s - was wavering a lot by the end of 1941. Remove the attack on Pearl Harbor from the equation and the US would still have been in the war within a few months at the latest. For a good summary on Pearl Harbor, read the relevant chapters of "The Prize" by Daniel Yergin. As for wavering US isolationism, there's probably a book or article about it somewhere, but my own opinion on this subject is based on material picked up from old newspapers, old magazines, biographies, discussions with older relatives, stuff like that. It's kind of hard to pin down. It's just a general feeling I've gotten that US isolationist feeling in late 1941 has been much exaggerated over the years.
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Post by Hoosier X on Jan 6, 2017 12:51:40 GMT -5
I've been watching Terry Jones's BBC series on life in the Middle Ages, so I didn't watch any movies for a few days. But last night, I watched The Toast of New York (1937), with Cary Grant, Edward Arnold, Jack Oakie and Frances Farmer.
It's set in the 1860s and early 1870s. Edward Arnold is Jim Fisk, one of the robber barons who manipulated the stock market, tried to corner the gold market, shady things like that. Cary Grant and Jack Oakie are his business partners. Frances Farmer is a would-be actress Fisk falls in love with. But she falls in love with Cary.
It's OK. They did a good job of re-creating New York and its style circa 1870.
After seeing this, I've seen every movie Cary Grant made from 1937 on, except one.
I looked at IMDB to see how many of his movies this leaves in the 1932 to 1936 era. Cary Grant made a lot of movies early in his career! I've seen a decent number, but there's still 21 I haven't seen!
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Post by Hoosier X on Jan 6, 2017 14:05:19 GMT -5
And then there's the idea that FDR knew the Japanese were going to attack Pearl Harbor and kept his mouth shut. It's RIDICULOUS! The more you learn about 1941, the state of the world in general and the attack itself in particular, the more ridiculous it gets.
I won't go into any specifics because we're getting off topic.
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Post by Prince Hal on Jan 6, 2017 14:43:41 GMT -5
And then there's the idea that FDR knew the Japanese were going to attack Pearl Harbor and kept his mouth shut. He's still alive in Area 51. With Elvis. And the fourth secret of Fatima. BWAH-HAH-HA!
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Jan 6, 2017 14:55:01 GMT -5
And then there's the idea that FDR knew the Japanese were going to attack Pearl Harbor and kept his mouth shut. He's still alive in Area 51. With Elvis. And the fourth secret of Fatima. BWAH-HAH-HA! FDR was still alive in 1963, hiding in the grassy knoll of Dallas I'd imagine in 1941 the American public's attention was more focused on the European side of WWII, what with most American's ancestry originating from that continent and a large amount of news correspondents reporting from England. This was despite the fact that Japan was more of a direct threat, with our presence in the Philippines, Hawaii and The Aleutian Islands
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Post by Prince Hal on Jan 6, 2017 15:27:12 GMT -5
Well, as Wesley said, the conflict in the Pacific actually had been brewing and escalating for well over a year, as the Japanese had decided to be just like their Western counterparts and be the big dog in their portion of the hemisphere. They needed the rubber, oil and other raw materials of East and Southeast Asia and saw no reason that the US and Europens (British and Dutch, primarily) should be calling the shots in what they regarded as their neighborhood. (See Doctrine, Monroe)
When the US began cutting off its shipments of oil and scrap metal to Japan (IIRC, in 1940), as a means to exert pressure on Japan to stiop its imperialistic expansion (Japan had invaded China in 1937), matters just got worse and the conflict of worda and diplomacy intensified. By early December, the US was expecting an attck and the miltary was on alert. The attack was expected to be on the Philippines, which was like a bone in the throat of the Japanese, having been a US possession since 1898.
The attack on Pearl harbor was a surprise for that reaosn as well as because the US thought that Pearl was beyond the reach of the Japanese navy. Of course, with all the attenton paid to the canard that FDR knew and did nothing to prevent the attack on PH, the greater irony is that in the aftermath, Manila was also attacked and most of the American airplanes destroyed because they were still parked wingtip to wingtip, a standard arrangement to prevent sabotage, but the worst way t keep your planes in the event of an attack by air.
This despite the American commander knowing about the attack on PH nine hours before the Japanese attacked!
Of course the indecisive ineffective commander was relieved of duty and disgraced, much as Husband Kimmel bore the blame for Pearl Harbor.
Not!
Somehow the commander not only maintained his position, he eventually left the hopelessly undefended Philippines for Australia while communicating the no surrender order to those who remained behind, many of whom would suffer the horror of the Bataan Death March as the culimination of months of starvation, disease, bombardment and misery.
But the media loved the guy and he could work them. (Sound familiar?)
Oh, his name? Douglas MacArthur.
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