More from 1930s Warner Brothers

I recently rewatched some old movies.

The Big Shakedown (1934): Chemist Jimmy (Charles Farrell) and fiancee Norma (Bette Davis) are running a neighborhood drug store but not making much money. A representative from a big chain store offers a low bid for the store, threatening that what the chain wants, it usually gets. Enter Dutch Barnes (Ricardo Cortez). His beer business is on the rocks and he's looking for a headache powder. Jimmy mixes up one as good as the brand name. Dutch starts a new business counterfeiting toothpaste and makeup that Jimmy makes. When Dutch moves into counterfeiting drugs, Jimmy tries to quit, but finds it's not so easy. 

Bette is the female lead but has nothing to do. At least, Glenda Farrell gets a catfight and a death scene.

The trailer billed Charles Farrell and Davis the newest love team in their first pairing.  Okay, they must have written that before they saw the footage. Or they saw something that I didn't. (Wonder how Glenda Farrell and Davis would fare.)

Bullets or Ballots (1936): I hadn't seen this one in years. The title comes from a speech by anti-crime crusader Ward Bryant (Henry O'Neill) shortly before he is murdered, but voting has nothing to do with the plot.

Robinson plays Johnny Blake a cop demoted to the outer boroughs who expects a break when his buddy is appointed to a special commission. Instead, he is fired. Luckily, local racketeer Al Kruger (Barton MacLane) offers Blake a job. But, his second-in-command Bugs Fenner (Humphrey Bogart) doesn't like it. 

One thing I really liked about this film was that it was halfway through before it was revealed that Blake is working as an undercover cop. What a relief! He was a good guy all along. The Hayes Office must have been relieved. 

Although four bulled, Bogart is the Robinson's main antagonist. MacLane's Al Kruger is more of a crooked businessman than a thug; he's just a link to the big bosses--supposedly upright citizens. It's Bugs Fenner who kills Bryant and later Kruger. He's also responsible for Blake's death, but Blake manages to deliver money to the big bosses to complete his assignment. 

Joan Blondell is second billed as Lee Morgan, the girl that got away. She's actually a pretty well rounded character--a smart businesswoman rather than the girlfriend waiting for her man. Lee was instrumental in Blake's successful assignment. But she must have been racked with guilt for not recognizing he was near death.  I wonder what happened to her after the film ended.

I Love B Movies

I've always loved movies. I spent many an afternoon at the Saturday matinee. At home, I watched series such as the Bowery Boys and horror films, including a Mexican vampire series starting with this film. 

Then there was the Basil Rathbone--Nigel Bruce Sherlock Holmes series. The series debuted in 1939. The first two films, The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, had good budgets and production values. The rest of the series were strictly B movies--updated to World War II with lots of quotes from Churchill. The films were loosely based on the stories and novels (I read all of them.) Yes, the series made Watson was a lovable bumbler and the pro-Britain speech gat a bit thick (but hey, it was against Hitler, so I can't complain) but I loved them.

I love the Warner Brothers Nancy Drew series (four films) and the Torchy Blane films (nine.) I will gladly rewatch all of those films when they appear.

Recently, I've been watching some Charlie Chan movies. I was surprised to read that there are 49 films, with the first in 1926. Most of the films available are with Sidney Toler and a few with Roland Winters. I remember seeing Warner Oland in the role, but haven't come across any of his films recently. I'm keeping my eyes open hoping to catch one of  best in the series such as Charlie Chan at the Opera.

Happy Birthday Bette Davis

As I noted the date today, I remembered it meant something, but what? Oh yeah, Bette.

TCM is commemorating the day by showing a series of Bette's films with offerings ranging from 1936, The Golden Arrow and The Petrified Forest, to 1965, The Nanny. There were also bonuses yesterday as part of a series of Michael Curtiz directed films, including 1932's The Cabin the the Cotton. 

It's always a pleasure to see a series of Bette Davis films. I like to think of what films I'd include. She had quite a career.

Another TCM Movie Catch-Up

Caught up on some movies the last two weeks.

The Purchase Price:  TCM's description says it best: "A night-club singer on the lam becomes a farmer's mail-order bride." This could have been a great movie: pre-code, Barbara Stanwyck and Lyle Talbot. Stanwyck even sings. Well, the actors are better than the script in this preposterous story. George Brent, cast against type, plays the doofus husband. I didn't buy that Stanwyck fell in love with Brent as quickly as she did. The biggest problem is that Lyle Talbot is the nicest gangster ever. There's no conflict when he reappears. He even pays off Brent's mortgage.

Berkeley Square: Leslie Howard manages to time travel and take the place of his ancestor arriving at Berkeley Square from America. Armed with the ancestor's diary, Howard thinks he can handle any contingency. From the start, he makes mistakes: he knows things he shouldn't know; he doesn't know people he should; he uses odd expressions. Howard meets his soul mate, but they are destined to live apart.

This Land is Mine: Timid school teacher finds his courage and his voice to fight the Nazis.Charles Laughton led a good cast led including Maureen O'Hara, George Sanders and Walter Slezak.

The North Star: It must have been fight the Nazis day on TCM. I recorded this just after This Land is Mine. It was a mistake: I thought I was recording Edge of Darkness--another Nazi resistance tale. The North Star focuses on a group including Farley Granger, Dana Andrews and Anne Baxter on a walking trip to Kiev, singing along the way. Things change quickly when the Nazis invade.

Nicholas and Alexandra: I was surprised how long it's been since I last saw this movie. I half-watched it as I was cleaning. On this viewing, a few things struck me. One was the sheer number of people just standing at attention as Nicholas and Alexandra leave for a party. Roderic Noble is excellent as Alexis in his first (of only two) films. This time I noticed Julian Glover's name in the credits: Maester Pycelle himself. Apparently, I've seen him in several films over the year. Now I'll take a closer look.

First Book of 2018

I finished Mary Queen of Scots by Antonia Fraser Friday night. I enjoyed it. As I wrote before, I didn't like the use of  French quotations without translations, but there weren't many of these after Mary left France.

I didn't know much about Queen Mary before I saw Mary, Queen of Scots. Apparently, it wasn't historically accurate.It's also been a long time since I've seen the movie. I remember the film's Mary as self-centered, shallow and naive. She didn't seem worthy to rule.

In hindsight, I wonder if I fell for the idea that Mary was more feminine and therefore a weaker ruler than the pragmatic Elizabeth. Was that the filmmakers' intent? Maybe it's unfair to speculate when I haven't seen he film in something like 30 years, but I've seen my share of movies. That intent wouldn't surprise me. Specifically I'm thinking of the portrayal of Mary's and Bothwell's relationship as "true love." In reality, Bothwell may have been abducted and raped Mary. Not everyone agrees. 

Reading Fraser's book has me questioning my first impressions of Mary Queen of Scots, just as I questioned first impressions of another Mary.

Saturday Night Movie

Last night Jeff and I watched the HBO Saturday night premiere:Snatched starring Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn.

I was disappointed; I expected to laugh more. Jeff and I both laughed at one scene. Amy is freshening up her vaginal area in a bar restroom. Her potential hook-up sees what's she's doing when another woman opens the ladies' room door.

I also laughed when would be rescuers Wanda Sykes and Joan Cusack (who is retired special ops, not regular ops) jump from a balcony to the roof of a truck to get access to the room where Goldie is being held. Just as Amy is going to join them, the truck speeds away. Wanda and Joan were the best part of the movie for me.

Overall, a grade C.

Three with Margaret Lindsay

Here a a few of TCM's offerings that I saw over the last few days.

Caught a quickie--60 minutes long--yesterday: 1936's Isle of Fury. In addition to Margaret Lindsay, it stars Humphrey Bogart. The film begins with their wedding, which is interrupted by a shipwreck which brings a new arrival (Donald Woods) as a rival to Bogart. The problem is that the romantic rivalry is never really developed or possibly too subtle under the Production Code. Bogart and Woods become best buddies despite the underlying conflict between their positions. I can't discuss this film without mentioning the stupid octopus attack. The whole sequence makes no sense. Bogart is going pearl diving to show the natives it's not dangerous. But he wears a deep sea diving suit--they have no such equipment. The octopus is ludicrous. Then Woods dives in--sans suit--and saves Bogart. Strange.

I had previously seen and recently recorded Fog Over Frisco (1934.) This stars Lindsay and Woods along with the great Bette Davis. Davis is the "bad influence" sister of Lindsay and is involved in securities fraud. She pays for her crimes by dying halfway through the film. This is one of her few early films that Davis enjoyed. It's fast paced and fairly complex with good San Francisco location shots. Although some IMDB users compared Fog Over Frisco to Psycho, the comparisons are few. Both films involved the star stealing money and both stars died in the first half of the movie.

Today's film was Private Detective 62 (1933). This time Lindsay stars with William Powell. They had great chemistry. Come to think of it, I can't think of anyone Powell didn't have good chemistry with. (I would love to re-watch Fashions of 1934 to see him with Davis.) Powell plays a moral private detective in an immoral profession. He reluctantly takes a job to discredit Lindsay, but falls in love instead. He ultimately saves her from being framed for murder.

To sum up: Isle of Fury is only worth watching for fans of Bogart, Warner Brothers B films and bad octopi. The other two are much more enjoyable.

Catching Up with a Trio of Bette Davis Films on TCM

Recent TCM offerings include: The Girl from Tenth Avenue, The Golden Arrow and That Certain Woman.

Let's start with The Girl from Tenth Avenue (1935.) This is one of my favorites of the early Bette Davis "fluff" movies. Bette had already shown her acting chops in Bordertown and Of Human Bondage. Warners shouldn't have wasted her in this. But I still found it fun and wrote about it here. I enjoyed Bette's scenes with Alison Skipworth, who coaches Bette on how to be a lady. Full disclosure: The book Mother Goddamn by Whitney Stine with commentary by Bette Davis categorizes The Girl from Tenth Avenue as one of "Three Stinkers All in A Row."

The Golden Arrow: I think this is more of a stinker than The Girl from Tenth Avenue. Here Bette is pretending to be a face cream heiress to get publicity for the company. She inexplicably falls in love with reporter George Brent, who inexplicably falls for her when he learns she's a fake. Huh? Enough said. At least The Girl from Tenth Avenue had Alison Skipworth and a thrown grapefruit. What a letdown die Bette from her roles in Dangerous and The Petrified Forest. 

That Certain Woman: This movie annoys me. Of course, Bette and Donald Crisp are good, as are the supporting players, especially Anita Louise. But Henry Fonda can't do anything with the weak character of Jack Merrick. How could Bette love him? Weak is too weak of a word to describe him. As someone who loves soap operas, the plot is too soapy for me. Apparently, Bette thought it was an important step in her career to work with director Edmund Goulding (per Mother Goddamn.) It's hard for me to understand this based on this film.

Luckily, better roles would be coming for Bette.

Film Round-Up

It's been a while since I've posted about films I've recently watched, so here I go.

Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie: I wasn't sure what to expect from the movie. I don't think the later seasons of the show were as funny as the first three. And after all this time... But I loved it. It was a lot of fun. In a way it reminds me of Veronica Mars: The Movie: I'm not sure if people who didn't love the show will really appreciate the movies. At least non-show film-watchers won't recognize and know the history of many characters.

Scarlet Street: I found this on TCM one afternoon. I had missed the first 10-15 minutes but didn't think this was a problem because I'd seen the film before. (A few weeks later, I caught the beginning.) But, as I watched I realized I didn't remember it. It wasn't that I confused the film with The Woman in the Window. I remember that film clearly: the same director and main cast of Scarlet Street. I haven't seen The Woman in the Window in years but it was weakened by the "it was a dream" ending. I read somewhere that the studio (International-RKO) required director Fritz Lang to film the "dream" ending. I prefer Scarlet Street and its "real" ending. Robinson is awesome as the mild-mannered, hen-pecked clerk who thinks he found the woman who understands him. He is an actor of great range--far beyond the Little Caesar-type gangster that most people remember. Dan Duryea shines as the pimp/boyfriend of Joan Bennett, the object of of Robinson's affections. Duryea is always great as a sleaze--I especially loved him in Too Late for Tears and The Little Foxes--the latter is only his second screen credit. Joan Bennett is good at Kitty--she's playing roles of sweetheart and artist--but in reality she's a scheming opportunist.

The Maltese Falcon (1931): The first of three versions by Warner Brothers holds up well although it pales in comparison to the iconic 1941 version. (We should all forget about the 1936 version Satan Met A Lady--even Bette Davis couldn't save that one.) Ricardo Cortez is underrated; he does a good job as Sam Spade. I also liked Bebe Daniels. But I missed Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre and Elisha Cook Junior. All three were much more memorable than their 1931 counterparts. I disliked the 1931 ending when Sam visits Ruth Wonderly in prison. The 1941 ending with Spade and Polhaus discussing the "stuff that dreams are made of " is stronger and quoteworthy.

To Bette Davis

April 5 was Bette Davis's birthday. I've written many posts about Bette because she is my favorite actress. 

She has a wealth of 123 credits on imdb. (In comparison, Katharine Hepburn has only 52.) A few of the awards she won are two Oscars, a Golden Globe, an Emmy and an American Film Institute Lifetime Achievement Award.

Among her iconic performances are Mildred in Of Human Bondage, Leslie in The Letter (my favorite performance) Margo in All About Eve and Jane in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?

She is always a pleasure to watch and makes any movie better. I recently recorded Bordertown and look forward to watching it again. 

Movie Time

We watched the Ghostbusters remake this weekend. Full disclosure--I wasn't much of a fan of the original. I thought it was dumb. I thought the same of the remake. I don't know why people were so angry about the remake. Oh wait--I do. They were sexist bigots.

Another dumb movie: Escape in the Desert. I recorded it because it was  described as a remake of The Petrified Forest. It wasn't really a remake. There are only the bar bones of the original story. The setting is a restaurant/bar in the middle of the desert. A young woman--a frustrated painter--feels trapped. There's some beefy guy who likes the painter, but she's not interested. Instead of Duke Mantee and his band of bank robbers, there are escaped Nazis. I read this movie was rushed to take advantage of a real Nazi prisoner escape. It wasn't worth the effort.

Hope our next movie selections are better.

More Favorite Films

One of my first posts listed my five favorite movies. I decided to expand my list. I'm not putting this in any particular order.

The Best Years of Our Lives: I wrote about it here. It's a great film with a wonderful cast.

All About Eve: One of Bette's best performances--posted about this film too.

F/X: I learned to appreciate Brian Dennehy from this film.

The Hidden: just re-watched this tonight after years. It still holds up.

It's A Wonderful Life: not just a Christmas favorite.

Laura: Dana Andrews falls in love with a murder victim, or did he?

Double Indemnity: a classic noir

Too Late For Tears: a rediscovered noir

The Sea Hawk: swashbuckling Errol Flynn at his best

Nancy Drew and The Hidden Staircase: Bonita Granville may not be the Nancy Drew of the books, but she's fun.

Black Sunday and Kiss of the Vampire: 60's movie matinee horror at its best

Smart Blonde: the first Torchy Blane film

Auntie Mame: have this on the DVR to rewatch soon.

Little Miss Sunshine: a crazy road trip, Proust, a self-help course and a beauty contest

Silver Linings Playbook: I need to rewatch this to see if I still like it as much as I did.

Marked Woman: Bette against the gangster responsible for her sister's death

Dick: the "true" story of Watergate

Thoughts on Another TCM Movie: Julia

I watched the movie Julia as I folded and put away laundry today. I've seen the movie once or twice, but it's been a long time. It's a pretty good film with good performances.

Today I was fascinated by beach house where Lily (Jane Fonda) wrote. All right, I was insanely jealous. The house was small and simple, right on the beach. I could see myself writing in that house, gazing out to the sea, taking long walks on the beach.

I empathized when a frustrated Lily threw her typewriter out the window. I've been tempted to do the same with my pc.

What I've Been Reading

I got two books for Christmas: both Tudor related. The Boleyn King and At Home with Henry VIII His life, his wives, his palaces.

I finished The Boleyn King yesterday. This is an alternate or re-imagined history. What if Anne Boleyn did not miscarry in 1536? What if she had given birth to a healthy son? What if Henry had never married wives three through six (Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard and Katherine Parr.)

I love alternate histories:
George Bailey seeing how Bedford Falls transformed into Potterville in It's A Wonderful Life
Helen's life changes based on whether she catches a specific train in Sliding Doors
Worf shifting through alternate universes in Parallels, an episode of Star Trek The Next Generation.

I even liked Mr. Destiny: Jim Belushi hits a home run instead of striking out in a baseball game and his whole future changes. (Unfortunately, this movie is ruined by a ridiculous revenge car chase scene.)

I was predisposed to like The Boleyn King, but I was disappointed.

First, Anne is just a minor character in the book. That's not a fault necessarily, but was a negative for me.

More importantly, the book is more a stereotypical romance novel than a historical novel. The main character Minuette is almost a Mary Sue. Two other major characters (plus a secondary character) fall madly in love with her. She's so alluring they can barely control their ardor.

A probable murder occurs in Chapter Three; I figured out the killer at the same time. (My suspicion is seemingly confirmed in the last chapter.) Usually I'm not that quick: to me that's a sign of a poor plot point.

Perhaps the worst thing is that nothing is resolved in the book. The last line indicates that conspiracies are only beginning. Ah, the author wrote a trilogy named The Boleyn Trilogy, and she's started a second, The Tudor Legacy. Was the lack of resolution just a ploy to sell more books?

Overall, a great idea, a quick read, but a disappointment.

TCM Noir Night--Elevator to the Gallows

Saturday night I watched Elevator to the Gallows--a film I recorded last year as part of TCM's Summer of Darkness film noir course.

This film has subtitles. I'm not anti-subtitles per se, but it means that I have to pay close attention.

Overall, I liked the film. I was originally going to describe it as a "What could go wrong?" plot. But the meticulously planned murder hinges on a rope climb outside an office building on a busy street in Paris in broad daylight. It's such a foolish move--it takes me out of the movie.Then the murderer leaves the rope hanging from the window after he makes his "getaway." His attempt to retrieve the rope leads to him being trapped in the elevator in the title.

A series of seemingly random acts follow that complicate and jeopardize the original plan.This is the part of the movie that I liked--the things that could go wrong.

I had a few other issues. Why did the accomplice wander the streets of Paris asking if anyone had seen the murderer? Isn't that suspicious?

There's a final twist that will take too long to describe in detail--there are enough spoilers in the post as it is. At the end of the film, the policeman tells the accomplice--a woman--that she will serve more time than the man who actually pulled the trigger. At this point, there's only circumstantial evidence against the woman. I'm no expert on French law, but that just didn't seem right--and more than a little sexist.

TCM VCR Catch Up: Anne of the Thousand Days

Anne of the Thousand Days, starring Richard Burton and Genevieve Bujold, may have started my fascination with Anne Boleyn.The timing of the release date is right.

I thought the performances were good--I was surprised to read that Burton hated his performance.

I had more issues with the screenplay. Henry VIII gets a sympathetic portrayal: a man haunted by his failure to produce a male heir, tormented by fear that his marriage was invalid in the eyes of God (as revealed in a prayer scene.) Anne's father and uncle are also given more sympathetic portrayals than history may warrant--they are passive rather than ambitious.

In an early scene, Anne tells Harry Percy that she is not a virgin. There's no point to this scene. It would make sense if this information was later discussed in the investigation or trial. Instead: there's no further mention of it. Is this some kind of slut-shaming?

Henry was all over the place in the last third of the film. He says he wants to get rid of Anne, but makes an appearance at her trial and discredits the testimony of Mark Smeaton. Then he says the adultery charge could be true after all. It makes no sense. Other scenes show his confusion about the charges as if he was some innocent victim of Cromwell's machinations.

The men found guilty of adultery with Anne besides Smeaton and George Boleyn (Norris, Brereton and Weston) are listed in the credits but barely have a presence in the film. George is also vague. The screenwriters miss a great dramatic moment when Percy has to declare Anne guilty. Too bad.

Final quibbles: Henry VIII should be a redhead. Bujold is too beautiful to be Anne Boleyn. But maybe she has to be beautiful to convince the audience of her appeal.

Still a good movie.

70 Years Ago Today

The Best Years of Our Lives premiered.

I first saw the film as part of a college course: Film and American Society 1930's through 1950's. That course was awesome: I saw so many good films for the first time, including A Night at the Opera and Citizen Kane. My father later told me that my stepmother was appalled that he was paying good money for me to watch movies in college. But what I learned from that course has stayed with me.

The Best Years of Our Lives is the first film I saw that didn't show a rosy view of returning veterans. It wasn't all parades and cheers. Al, Fred and Homer each faced challenges adjusting to civilian life. The three love stories of Al and Milly, Fred and Peggy, and Homer and Wilma were poignant.

I'll never forget Peggy's (Teresa Wright) line: "I'm going to break that marriage up." It led to laughter and cheers when I watched the film with my class

The acting is incredible across the board: Fredric March won his second leading actor Oscar and Harold Russell became the only person to win two Oscars for the same role.

The Best Years of Our Lives is one of those films that I can watch over and over and never get tired of it. A great film.

DVR Catch-Up

I'm one of those persons that likes to have the TV on as background noise when I'm working around the house. Today I watched The Cotton Club--which I recorded in May--as I cleaned the bedroom and sorted the laundry.

I've seen The Cotton Club several times before, and think it's an underrated film. I loved the combination of musical numbers (especially Crazy Rhythm and Minnie the Moocher) the romances, and the mob stories. There's also the Mad Dog Coll element. As far as I know, he's no relation to me, but I've wanted to learn more about him.

The cast was good; I was especially surprised by Fred Gwynne who I only knew as Officer Francis Muldoon of Car 54 and Herman Munster.

A good film that managed a happy ending.

Weekend Movies

Friday night we watched Spectre, the latest James Bond film. I liked it, but it was too long. I got bored during the chase scenes--they were too long and repetitive. I'm in the minority in my opinions on chase scenes: a little is enough.The last two Bond films are a blur, so I can't comment on inconsistencies from those films to this one (as someone on imdb commented.)

Last night we watched Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. I really enjoyed this. (I also liked Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.)  It would have been better if I had read the original Pride and Prejudice. I have a copy that I picked up at a book sale a few years ago. I'll have to crack it open.

We also watched Blood and Black Lace last night. Maybe it was too late, but I just couldn't get into it. The director is Mario Bava; I loved his Black Sunday. Maybe Blood and Black Lace deserves another viewing. But not for awhile, I already deleted the recording.

Thanks TCM

I love classic horror movies: recent movies are too gory, too torture-y for me. I searched Netflix, Amazon, Crackle and pay-per-view lists; I only found  one film that interested me: the sub-titled version of The Vampire's Coffin, a sequel to The Vampire. I first saw these films on a late night chiller theater type show out of Philadelphia, probably on Channel 48. 

The Vampire is the better film of the two, though I haven't seen it in awhile. The Vampire's Coffin has a good scene with the Count stalking a young woman, shot mostly in shadows. I also liked the setting of the museum of torture devices--of course someone meets s a gruesome death there.

Last night TCM set things right with a a roster of classic horror.

We recorded several films, watched Boris Karloff in The Mummy last night and Bela Lugosi as Dracula today. Six more to go.