Chekist (1992) 8.5/10
I watched Love Affair (1939) starring Charles Boyer and Irene Dunne. Directed by Leo McCarey, he remade the film years later as An Affair to Remember (Cary Grant & Deborah Kerr). Although Sleepless in Seattle is not a remake there are nods in that film to Love Affair.
At the beginning of the film I found it a bit difficult to make out what Charles Boyer was saying but after a while I got used to his voice.
Charles Boyer's grandmother was played by Maria Ouspenskaya. Although she was in the film for only quite a short time, her role was the standout particularly when she says farewell to the couple.
I Wish (Kiseki) (2011) 8.5/10
The Call (2013) 5/10
Rozstanie (1961) 8/10
I watched Mr Lucky (1943) starring Cary Grant and Laraine Day. Story of a gambler who plans to swindle money from a charity but starts to have second thoughts when he falls in love with Laraine Day.
Part comedy, part romance, part gangster, part serious (particularly the scene where Cary Grant goes into a Greek church and asks a priest to translate a letter written in Greek).
It's one of Cary Grant's best lesser known films. It was directed by H C Potter whose previous film was Hellzapoppin' which is possible the maddest film of the 1940s.
Mr Lucky has quite a lot of rhyming slang which according to the film comes from Australia. Cockneys might disagree.
I watched The Boy who turned Yellow (1972).
This 50 minute film was made for the Children's Film Foundation for children to watch at the Saturday morning matinees which used to be shown.
The only reason I watched it (on a DVD from BFI) was that it was Michael Powell's and Emeric Pressburger's last collaboration and Powell's last fictional film (The documentary Return to the Edge of the World was his last film).
The film would be of interest only to Powell fans and to those who saw the film years ago and have fond memories of it (it was voted the best CFF film by children both in 1972 and 1973). On a point of trivia the doctor in the film was played by Esmond Knight who appeared in quite a few of Powell's films.
Before Midnight (2013) 9.5/10
I saw The Half Naked Truth (1932) a RKO comedy starring Lee Tracy and Lupe Velez (best known for her later series of Mexican Spitfire films).
Fast paced tale of a carnival promoter and a sideshow dancer who flee the carnival from the police, get to Broadway, and con their way to Velez becoming a Broadway sensation.
Strong support from Eugene Pallette (Friar Tuck in the classic Robin Hood film) and Frank Morgan (the Wizard of Oz).
A pre-Hays code film with Lupe Velez in a rather skimpy outfit at times and a couple of scenes involving pseudo-nudists (but totally unrevealing) - hence the title of the film is a play on words.
Dvoje (1961) 7/10
I rewatched I Confess (1953), the Hitchcock film starring Montgomery Clift, Anne Baxter and Karl Malden,
Story of a Roman Catholic priest who is told about a murder by the murderer during confession. The priest becomes the prime suspect in the murder case and is tried for murder but is unable to disclose the truth because of it being told to him in confession.
Dark brooding film - Clift full of angst which he excelled at. Not one of the Hitchcock better known films but worth watching.
The film is based on the principle that what is said in confession remains confidential. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S..._the_Catholic_Church
Hello El Loro ,jackassfan
I've not posted for ages still read up though ,cancelled my Sky package too expensive,but I still can get quite a few programmes through my box ,and you can get some movies,I may consider one of the movie packages but the thought of watching on the laptop makes me shudder.
Just thought I would let you know still an avid reader and love films ,pictures movies whatever
sees you take care xx
Shell (2012) 8.5/10
I resaw The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947) starring Danny Kaye and Virginia Mayo. Featured Boris Karloff. Recently remade starring Ben Stiller but not yet released. The film is based on a story by James Thurber. It's quite a good film but Kaye's The Court Jester is a much better film.
I resaw To Catch a Thief (1955) starring Cary Grant and Grace Kelly, It's closer to a romance rather than a typical Hitchcock thriller.
A slight connection between the two films. Needless to say Hitchcock made his customary cameo appearance sitting next to Cary Grant on a bus. On the other side of Grant was a woman with a bird in a cage (and in The Birds Hitchcock's cameo is coming out of a shop with a bird in a cage).
In the Walter Mitty film apparently Robert Altman can be seen having a drink. That seems likely to be his debut in any capacity in the film world.
I watched Spirit of the People (AKA Abe Lincoln in Illinois) (1940). Biopic of Lincoln's life from young adult to being elected President. Starred Raymond Massey.
The film may have suffered at the box office as Young Mr Lincoln (starring Henry Fonda and directed by John Ford) was released less than a year before this.
Raymond Massey was very convincing as Lincoln and in the final scene as he departs you could actually think you were seeing the real Lincoln.
The film was adapted by Robert Sherwood from his Pulitzer winning play and there were times where the film did feel like a filmed play. Lincoln's wife Mary was played by Ruth Gordon. At that time Ruth Gordon was principally a stage actress and that did show. A fascinating role nevertheless and very few film actresses could have done it (Bette Davis, Glenn Close, Meryl Streep ignoring the age of the film).
I watched Fly Away Home (1996) which starred Jeff Daniels and Anna Paquin. A pleasant family film about a father and daughter who decide to attempt to lead a flock of orphaned Canada geese by air to go south for the winter. Fictionalised but loosely based on real experiments to help migrating birds.
The father's girlfriend was played by Dana Delany who nowadays is best known as Megan Hunt in the television series Body of Proof.
Originally Posted by El Loro:
I watched Fly Away Home (1996) which starred Jeff Daniels and Anna Paquin. A pleasant family film about a father and daughter who decide to attempt to lead a flock of orphaned Canada geese by air to go south for the winter. Fictionalised but loosely based on real experiments to help migrating birds.
The father's girlfriend was played by Dana Delany who nowadays is best known as Megan Hunt in the television series Body of Proof.
I think this is a great film, great performances from Anna Paquin and Jeff Daniels
They starred in another film together in 2005 (The Squid And The Whale) his character was a teacher and her character a student and they have an affair
The Big Clock (1948) 8/10
I watched Baby for Sale (2004) an American television movie based on a true story about a couple trying to adopt a baby and find that the baby is being auctioned off to the highest bidder. They agree to take part in a sting operation and the man responsible is caught.
The film caused outrage in the States and lead to Hillary Clinton bringing in legislation for tougher penalties for baby selling and trafficking.
Haze (Pus) (2010) 8.5/10
The Conjuring (2013) 5/10
I watched Angel on my shoulder (1946) which starred Paul Muni, Anne Baxter and Claude Rains.
Gangster is murdered, sent to Hell, and is persuaded by the Devil to return to Earth to take over the body of a good judge and destroy the judge's reputation.
Written by the same man who wrote the earlier Here Comes Mr Jordan (Heaven can wait). Claude Rains was also in that film, but in Angel he plays the part of the Devil.
Recently on Freeview there has been a new channel called True Entertainment (channel 61). It's not mentioned in the Radio Times programme pages. Looking at the things shown the majority of the programmes are old American series like The Waltons and Little House on the Prairie and American television movies.
However, and this is the reason for mentioning this channel, on Friday evenings at 11 pm they seem to be showing films which may be of considerably more interest and very different to the rest of their output. They are showing European films.
Yesterday they showed The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979) which was directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder who was the leading German film director of the 1970s.
Next Friday they are showing The Return of Martin Guerre (1982), a French film which starred Gerard Depardieu (remade in America as Sommersby).
I watched The Lost Moment (1947) which starred Robert Cummings, Susan Hayward and Agnes Moorehead.
Based on the novel The Aspern Papers by Henry James, a book publisher (Cummings) rents a room in a mansion in Venice where a centenarian recluse (Moorehead who was 47 at the time) lives in order to locate the letters from her vanished lover to publish them. The mansion is run by her niece (Hayward) who is very severe.
It's an interesting film and I felt there was a touch of Orson Welles about the film. Agnes Moorehead is the obvious connection. The ending of the film is a bit like the end of Jane Eyre (in the 1943 version Welles played Rochester & may well have influenced the style of the film).
The film was directed by Martin Gabel. This was the only film he directed and he subsequently became a character actor. It turns out that Martin Gabel had been a member of The Mercury Theatre Company and of course that was run by Orson Welles. I'm not aware of any direct involvement by Welles in this film, but Gabel was certainly influenced by his Citizen Kane in the style of the film.
I rewatched Hans Christian Andersen (1952) after a gap of many years. It starred Danny Kaye with songs by Frank Loesser. The film makes it clear from the start that this is not a biopic but more of a fairy tales built around the stories.
Danny Kaye (in a relatively subdued non-humorous role) and the songs are delightful.
Quite a large proportion of the film involves a ballerina (played by Zizi Jeanmaire) and her husband (Farley Granger) and the staging of a ballet based on The Little Mermaid. The ballerina had been intended to be played by Moira Shearer but she withdrew as she discovered she was pregnant. I am not surprised that Moira Shearer was intended for the part as this part of the film is clearly intended to emulate the likes of the Michael Powell fims "The Red Shoes" (1948) and "Tales of Hoffman" (1951) where she was the actress/ballerina.
I watched Bachelor Mother (1939) which starred Ginger Rogers and David Niven. Very enjoyable and well worth watching. The Radio Times rating of 3/5 is too low. IMDB rating of 7.4 is closer.
Rogers and Niven work well in this film. She works in a department store at a counter where she sells Donald Duck wind up toys, and Donald Duck is in the credits as himself.
I resaw Matilda (1996) based on the Roald Dahl book and directed by Danny DeVito who also appeared in the film alongside his wife Rhea Perlman (best known for Cheers).
Matilda was played by Mara Wilson, quite remarkable considering that she had just lost her mother. Pam Ferris played the monstrous Miss Trunchbull, the headmistress of the school (which I doubt would have passed any OFSTED inspection) and Embeth Davidtz played Miss Honey, who as the name suggests was the very sweet teacher.
Ultranova (2005) 7.5/10
I watched a Russian film Ovsyanki (Silent Souls) (2010).
A quiet reflective film. When Miron's beloved wife Tanya passes away, he asks his best friend Aist to help him say goodbye to her according to the rituals of the Merya culture, an ancient Finno-Ugric tribe from Lake Nero, a picturesque region in West-Central Russia. Although the Merya people blended into Russians in the 17th century, their myths and traditions live on in their descendants' modern life. The two men set out on a roadtrip thousands of miles across the boundless lands. With them, two small birds in a cage. Along the way, as is custom for the Meryas, Miron shares intimate memories of his conjugal life. But as they reach the banks of the sacred lake where they will forever part with the body, he realizes he wasn't the only one in love with Tanya...
Ovsyanki means buntings, the two birds who accompany the men.
I saw The Little Minister (1934). Based on a book by J M Barrie (of Peter Pan fame) it is set in 1840s Scotland and is about a new pastor who is beguiled by a mysterious gypsy girl. Although it is very old fashioned it is still a charming film.
The pastor is played by John Beal and the girl by Katherine Hepburn. This was her 6th film and she was at her most attractive in this film. Although a very different type of film, there are some similarities between her character in this film and the classic Bringing Up Baby.
I watched The Westerner (1940) which starred Gary Cooper and Walter Brennan. Good western, Although the storyline was fictitious, parts of it were true. Brennan played the part of Judge Roy Bean, a real person who was made notorious in films as the hanging judge but actually only sentenced 2 people to hang. In the film, a self-declared judge, but actually was appointed a justice of the peace. Bean really did have a liking for Lily Langtry and did rename the town after her as in the film.
The film is regarded as the film debut of Dana Andrews though 3 of his films were released before this one.
I resaw 'Pimpernel' Smith (1941). A WW2 version of the Scarlet Pimpernel with an unassuming archaeological professor (Leslie Howard) rescuing scientists etc from the Nazis. Howard also directed and produced the film. Also an early film role for David Tomlinson who yeats later would become best known as Mr Banks in Mary Poppins.
I watched The Lost Squadron (1932). Flyers after the end of WW1 struggle to find work, eventually become stunt pilots for a film director. The brutish film director was played by Erich von Stroheim, well cast for that role. Exciting aerial scenes and an unusual story. Definitely a pre Hays code film in that there is a scene where one pilot uses the middle finger sign.
Originally Posted by jackassfan:
An indifferent film from the novella by Harlan Ellison. I'm not a fan of his with one exception. In 1969 he wrote the script for the Star Trek episode "The City on the Edge of Forever". That is the episode with Joan Collins set in the past and showed that a popular science fiction series could have something much deeper than just space opera. The episode is regarded by many as the greatest episode of the original series.
Originally Posted by El Loro:
Originally Posted by jackassfan:
An indifferent film from the novella by Harlan Ellison. I'm not a fan of his with one exception. In 1969 he wrote the script for the Star Trek episode "The City on the Edge of Forever". That is the episode with Joan Collins set in the past and showed that a popular science fiction series could have something much deeper than just space opera. The episode is regarded by many as the greatest episode of the original series.
Not a fan of Star Trek (not my kind of thing at all)
The Stroll (Progulka) (2003) 8.5/10
Behind The Candelabra (2013) 7.5/10
Matrimonio (2013) 7/10
Juha (1999) 6/10
I resaw the film Born to Kill AKA Lady of Deceit (1947). Starred Claire Trevor and Lawrence Tierney.
Quite possibly the most noir of the film noir genre as far as the 40s are concerned.
Early film from the director Robert Wise and very different to his later films such as the Sound of Music.
Originally Posted by jackassfan:
Paradise: Hope (Paradies: Hoffnung) (2013) 8/10
Not a film I've seen but it's the third in a trilogy of films and I'm not sure if you have seen the first two.
Originally Posted by El Loro:
Originally Posted by jackassfan:
Paradise: Hope (Paradies: Hoffnung) (2013) 8/10
Not a film I've seen but it's the third in a trilogy of films and I'm not sure if you have seen the first two.
I have not seen the other two films yet, but they are on my lovefilm rental queue
Blast Of Silence (1961) 8.5/10
After many years I resaw Carry on Screaming (1966). It doesn't have Sid James in as he was ill at the time so he was replaced with Harry H Corbett.
A couple of musical amusing asides. Corbett is the police detective and when he is driving his ancient police car the music includes a little snippet from the Z card theme. There's also a scene where he's on a horse and cart and there's a snippet from the Steptoe and Sons theme.
Eureka (2000) 9.5/10
Wadjda (2013) 8.5/10
Ik Omhels Je Met 1000 Armen (2006) 8/10
Dirch (2011) 7/10
The Heat (2013) 4/10