I saw Carnival Boat (1932). Just over an hour long, story set in a lumber camp where the son of the foreman falls in love with an entertainer on the carnival boat (no sign of any carnival though).
Scenes on a runaway lumber train and logs jammed in a dam provide some excitement. Some of the acting was poor.
The entertainer was played by Ginger Rogers in a very early film in her career and made a year before she and Fred Astaire came to prominence in Flying down to Rio.
Cropsey 6/10
[Netflix documentary on child abductions and murders, possibly carried out on the grounds of an abandoned asylum on NY's Staten Island ].
The Omen 8/10
[Rewatched it on Youtube - still atmospheric despite the silliness. Great acting saves it, and the child looks the part ]
I saw The Penguin Pool Murder (1932) - murder mystery set at an aquarium where the victim is discovered in the penguin pool. Schoolteacher (Edna May Oliver) assists the police inspector in solving the mystery. Minor film and is in the Miss Marple/Murder She Wrote genre.
Frances Ha (2012) 8.5/10
I watched Second Chorus (1940) which starred Fred Astaire and Paulette Goddard. Ok film but not one of Astaire's best. Paulette Goddard is attractive in the film but was not a singer and had to be trained by Astaire for the one number where they danced.
Burgess Meredith was also in the film. At the time Paulette Goddard was married to Charlie Chaplin, divorced him in 1942 and 2 years later married Burgess Meredith.
The Caretaker (1963) 8.5/10
Rescue Dawn 7/10
Kuma (2012) 7/10
I saw Stage Struck (1958). An aspiring actress is trying to break through into Broadway theatre. The film is a remake of Morning Glory (1933) which was Katherine Hepburn's third film.
Susan Strasberg who played the actress in Stage Struck was the daughter of Lee Strasberg who set up the Actors Studio and was the key person in method acting. This film was also her third film but she was no Katherine Hepburn and did not get to the top as Hepburn did. The film does have its moments but isn't a great film.
The film was directed by Sidney Lumet and this was his second feature film but it is not in the same league as his first, which is the great 12 Angry Men.
The film also starred Henry Fonda. It also starred Christopher Plummer in his feature film debut, Joan Greenwood and Herbert Marshall.
The Ashes (Popioly) (1965) 9.5/10
The Ashes (Popioly) (1965) 9.5/10
But nothing to do with The Ashes which starts tonight 
The Ashes (Popioly) (1965) 9.5/10
But nothing to do with The Ashes which starts tonight
I never watch that awful sport 
I saw Ann Vickers (1933) which starred Irene Dunne. Based on a novel by Sinclair Lewis it's a short film at 76 minutes but could easily have been made into a longer film with the material it covered. Definitely a pre-Hay code film where the heroine is assumed to have an abortion, scenes in a women's prison where a convict is executed by hanging and another convict is being whipped, the heroine subsequently has an affair with a married man and has an illegitimate child and the film is allowed to have a happy ending.
The film starts in 1918 where the USA becomes involved. In an early scene where there's a party for the departing soldiers, I saw a man looking rather admiringly at Irene Dunne. That is irrelevant to the film but I've checked and it was a cameo appearance by the film's director John Cromwell.
There's a scene in a hotel room with Irene Dunne and her first lover in the film. The camera pans away from them to the open window where we see a cinema with a sign announcing next week's film "Joan the Woman". The scene darkens for a moment and then lightens again to show that a week has passed and the next week's film is "Shoulder Arms". That of course is the Chaplin film. That may be a bit of a goof as Shoulder Arms was released in the States on 20 October 1918 and WW1 ended of course on 11 November 2018.
Sara (1997) 7/10
Hunted (1952) 8.5/10
Foster Child (2007) 8.5/10
Silence (2012) 7/10
I watched The Stars Look Down (1940) which starred Michael Redgrave and Margaret Lockwood.
A bleak film about a coal mining community in North-East England based on the book by A J Cronin. A forerunner of the kitchen sink dramas of the late 50s and 60s, Well acted and was directed by Carol Reed (who would go on to direct Odd Man Out and The Third Man).
I watched The Captive Heart (1946). One of the best POW British films made with a strong cast lead by Michael Redgrave who was excellent.
I also watched the French film "Les ÃĐmotifs anonymes"(Romantics Anonymous) (2010). Delightful short romantic comedy about 2 timid and nervous people, and chocolate.
I saw Stage Struck (1958). An aspiring actress is trying to break through into Broadway theatre. The film is a remake of Morning Glory (1933) which was Katherine Hepburn's third film.
Susan Strasberg who played the actress in Stage Struck was the daughter of Lee Strasberg who set up the Actors Studio and was the key person in method acting. This film was also her third film but she was no Katherine Hepburn and did not get to the top as Hepburn did. The film does have its moments but isn't a great film.
I've now seen Morning Glory (1933). Besides Katherine Hepburn it atarred Adolphe Menjou and Douglas Faibanks Jnr. Near identical to Stage Struck but Katherine Hepburn made far more of her role than Susan Strasberg.
The final scene between her and Helen Ware (who played her costumer) is extraordinary. The costumer was once a young actress rising to the top but like the morning glory flower fades away. Hepburn is torn between despair, exhilaration, sadness, and determination showing all those emotions at the same time. She justifiably won her first Oscar.
In 1942 Adolphe Menjou recreated his role in a version for The Lux Radio Theatre. Hepburn's role was played by Judy Garland who would of course later be the lead in A Star in Born.
Circles (Krugovi) (2013) 8.5/10
I saw Murder on a Honeymoon (1935) which was the third in the series of comedy murder films starring Edna May Oliver as Hildegarde Withers. The film also featured Leo G Carroll (best known for North by Northwest and The Man from Uncle). Very early role for him but looked and sounded just like he did years later.
I also saw Animal Farm (1954), the most significant serious British animated film ever made. The film was narrated by Gordon Heath with all of the animals being voiced by Maurice Denham.
I wastched Hanna (2011). 16 year old girl (Saiorse Ronan) brought up in the snowy wilderness in Finland by her father (Eric Bana) is pursued by her father's ex-employers lead by Cate Blanchett.
In part a derivative action film, but Saiorse Ronan brings a quality to her role which made me wonder what happened to her character after the end of the film. It's not an American blockbuster type of film and is more European in feel. The girl had read the Brothers Grimm stories and in part the film has a touch of the darker side of those stories.
I watched A Foreign Affair (1948) which starred Jean Arthur, John Lund and Marlene Dietrich and was directed by Billy Wilder.
I have a minority view compared to the ratings and reviews on IMDB. I did not like the film at all, came close to stop watching it, though Jean Arthur was dreadful, John Lund was just about adequate in a role which would have better suited Cary Grant, thought the storyline was silly, and considering the film was supposed to be a comedy unfunny and distasteful by making light of the ruins of post war Berlin and the people living there. Only Marlene Dietrich rescued the film from being a 1 out of 10.
I resaw after many years Double Indemnity (1944).
The best film noir ever made and one of the major classics of American film.
Outstanding performances by Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck and Edward G Robinson.
Based on James M Cain, the script was by Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler and is outstanding.
Directed by Billy Wilder, his first of his major classic films.
The Hobbit .... I love Richard Armitage 
I resaw Places in the Heart (1984). In the 30s, a widow (Sally Field) tries to run the cotton farm with the help of an itinerant man (Danny Glover) and others. Strong drama and well acted. Robert Benton wrote and directed the film. He set the film in his birthplace and clearly had a strong connection with the people there.
Ultimately, the film is about forgiveness. The final scene reflects this and what is truly in the places in the heart in a strongly Christian way.
I saw the 4th of the Pirates of the Caribbean films, On Stranger Tides.
I was a bit surprised to see a cameo appearance from Anton Lesser and even more surprised by a cameo appearance from Judi Dench.
I hvae yet to see this, The first Pirates of The Caribbean was excellent, thankfully the awful performances by Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley didn't harm the film, 2nd film was very good and the 3rd film was ok but was ruined by giving Keira's character a bigger part in the film, Will and Elizabeth might have been better characters had they gotten 2 actors that could actually act
Curse Of Chucky.
8/10
I watched The Informer (1935). It starred Victor McLaglen as a drunken hulk of a man informing on a friend, being given ÂĢ20 for his betrayal. He had intended to give it to his girlfriend so that they could emigrate from Ireland to the States, but fritters it away.
One of John Ford's Irish films but far more serious than The Quiet Man. McLaglen was of course also in that as John Wayne's opponent in the famous fighting scene.
The Informer was McLaglen's best film and he and the film got Oscars.
The film is stylish, but Odd Man Out is the better film.
I resaw after many years The Fallen Idol (1948). The film starred Ralph Richardson and Bobby Henrey as the young boy who is effectively the lead.
The screenplay was by Graham Greene from one of his stories.
The film is a minor British classic from Carol Reed though not as famous as his previous film Odd Man Out or his next The Third Man.
The original Walter Mitty film was one of my Dad's favourite films.
