GBGoodies 2015 Movie Logbook

Blindfold (1965) - I watched this movie for the upcoming 1965 movie list.

Dr. Bartholomew Snow, (Rock Hudson), is a psychiatrist who is asked by government agent General Pratt, (Jack Warden), to treat Arthur Vicenti, (Alejandro Rey), a former patient of his who is now a government scientist who has had a mental breakdown. However the patient is being held in a secret place known only as "Base X", so Dr. Snow has to wear a blindfold whenever he is taken there. The patient's sister Vicky Vicenti, (Claudia Cardinale), thinks that her brother has been kidnapped by Dr. Snow, so she has him arrested. When he is released by the police, she tries to tell the press about her brother, forcing Dr. Snow to kiss her to shut her up, and then tell the press that they are engaged. Later a man named James Fitzpatrick, (Guy Stockwell), shows up claiming to be the real government agent, and telling Dr. Snow that Pratt is actually an enemy agent. Dr. Snow has to figure out who is telling the truth, and who is lying, and try to use clues to figure out where his patient is being held.

This is a fun suspense thriller with some comedy and a little romance thrown in for good measure. The swamp scene is a bit unbelievable, overall this is a very good movie. If Hitchcock had made a comedy film, he might have made something similar to this movie. It's not quite up to Hitchcock's standards, but it feels like it could have been influenced by him.

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The Knack...And How to Get It (1965) - I watched this movie for the upcoming 1965 movie list, and also because I'm I big fan of Michael Crawford. I always enjoy watching him, but sadly this movie wasn't very good.

Awkward schoolteacher Colin, (Michael Crawford), is frustrated because he can never get the girl, so he turns to his womanizing roommate Tolen, (Ray Brooks), for help. While Colin and his other roommate Tom, (Donal Donnelly), are bringing a brass bed back to their home, they meet Nancy Jones, (Rita Tushingham), and she goes home with them. Tolen tries to help Colin seduce Nancy, but Tolen ends up with her instead, and Colin is determined to get her back.

This is a comedy movie, and maybe it's just not my type of humor, but I didn't find it very funny. It has some funny moments, but they were few and far between. The acting was good, but the movie just didn't do much for me. Michael Crawford voice sounds like he hasn't hit puberty yet. It's easy to see how the guy who starred in this movie went on to star as Frank Spencer in the British comedy "Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em", but it's hard to believe that the same guy later went on to star in "The Phantom of the Opera".

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Crack in the World (1965) - I watched this movie for the upcoming 1965 movie list. I had never heard of it before, but after watching Laura for the Noir HoF, I went looking for other movies with Dana Andrews, and this one sounded interesting.

Dr. Stephen Sorenson (Dana Andrews), is a scientist who plans to tap the geothermal energy of the Earth by detonating a thermonuclear device deep within the earth's core. However another scientist, Dr. Ted Rampion (Kieron Moore), warns him that the detonation could produce a massive crack that could destroy the Earth. When the device is detonated, it causes a massive crack that is growing fast, and threatens to split the Earth in two. The scientists have to race against time to stop the crack and save the Earth.

This is a better-than-average disaster movie. The special effects are somewhat dated, but they were good for their time. There are some great suspenseful and thrilling scenes, but there are some predictable moments as well. The ending is good, but not great. If you've seen a lot of these disaster movies, than you will see the fates of the main characters coming from miles away, but it's still an exciting ride getting there.

If you like end-of-the-world disaster movies, and somewhat cheesy sci-fi movies, than this one is definitely worth seeing.

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I watched The Knack last week and felt the same way you did.

I have never heard of Crack in the World before. I see you haven't either.I'm glad you posted about that, I like to see that one.

The Bedford Incident (1965) - I watched this movie for the upcoming 1965 movie list. After watching a couple of other Richard Widmark movies, I wanted to see some more of his work, and this movie sounded good.

While Captain Eric Finlander, (Richard Widmark), and the American destroyer USS Bedford are on a mission to patrol for Russian submarine activity, they detect a Soviet submarine violating territorial waters. The two ships get into a dangerous game of cat and mouse, and the captain becomes obsessed with stopping the submarine, putting the crew and a civilian photojournalist, Ben Munceford, (Sidney Poitier), at risk and on edge.

This movie is filled with tension and suspense, and it also has some light moments early in the movie. Although I haven't seen The Hunt for Red October in many years, this movie kind of reminded me of it. The acting is excellent, especially Richard Widmark and Sidney Poitier.

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I'm glad to hear this. From the comments I read on IMDB after I watched the movie, I expected to get blasted for not liking it. I still love Michael Crawford, but not in this movie.

I thought it sounded like your type of sci-fi movie. (I bet Capt. would love it too.)

Like Citizen I'd never heard of Crack in the World but what a fantastic title! I love that. Made me think of the Angel episode where Illyria was introduced; "there's a hole in the world."

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I've started finding new movies by searching IMDB for the actors that I like, and this has given me a lot of movies for the upcoming 1965 movie list that I've never seen or even heard of before.

I had never thought about searching that way. I'll have to try it.

I think a lot of people think about searching for other movies by their favorite directors, by I don't get as attached to most directors as the rest of you do, so I decided to try searching for my favorite actors instead.

So far, it's worked pretty well for me, with the exception of the Michael Crawford movie, but he hasn't done as many movies as most of my other favorites, and I really like his Broadway work, so I wasn't too surprised about that one. But I've been in the mood to watch my Barnum DVD since then.

I think few people over here who've seen The Knack,,, think much of it. Not only has it dated horribley it's just not that good or funny. It's a shame people haven't done the same thing with Blow Up.

I should try and see The Crack In The World. Sometimes I like that kind of 60's film. Had they made it in the 70's, I'd probably have already seen it and loved it. The Bedford Incident is OK. I'd certainly recommend it to people, though it's not something I'll watch from the start (only once or twice, I think) but I usually catch it after it's started.

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5-time MoFo Award winner.

I hadn't heard of any of those movies before I watched them. All three were movies that I picked because they were 1965 movies starring actors that I liked in other movies. The Bedford Incident was my favorite of the three, but it's interesting to see which actors get stuck in a rut of playing the same types of characters over and over again, and which actors branch out and try different types of roles.

A Very Special Favor (1965) - I watched this movie for the upcoming 1965 movie list, and because it stars three actors that I like in other movies, Rock Hudson, Charles Boyer, and Leslie Caron.

Michel Boullard, (Charles Boyer), wants to reunite with his daughter, Dr. Lauren Boullard, (Leslie Caron), who he hasn't seen in over 20 years. He finds out that she is a domineering woman who is engaged to Arnold Plum, (Dick Shawn), a pushover who she orders around, and who will do anything for her. Michel Boullard doesn't like that she is a control freak, and he wants to find a way to break up her engagement, so he asks womanizer Paul Chadwick, (Rock Hudson), for a very special favor. He wants Chadwick to woo her away from her fiancé. Dr. Lauren Boullard is a psychologist, so Chadwick pretends to be a patient who has a problem with women. He tricks her into thinking that she's in love with him, and things soon spiral out of control.

This is a very funny movie at times, but it's just a bit too far-fetched. There is too much going on in this movie that just doesn't make sense. For example, why would any father want his daughter to get involved with that kind of man? And how dumb does the psychologist have to be to believe his crazy stories?

Rock Hudson's acting is a bit over the top, especially when he first tells the doctor about Wanda. And there's little chemistry between the two of them. Dick Shawn doesn't get much screen time, but he's very funny as her wimpy fiancé when we get to see him.

This movie is filled with some great acting talent, but it's definitely not the best movie for any of them. However if you're just looking for a fun movie and you can suspend belief for some of the craziness in the movie, it's a pretty good movie, but don't set your expectations too high.

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Dear Brigitte (1965) - I watched this movie for the upcoming 1965 movie list, and because it stars Jimmy Stewart. I also think little Billy Mumy was so cute when he was little, and I like seeing some of his works from when he was kid.

Professor Robert Leaf, (James Stewart), and his wife Vina, (Glynis Johns), find out that their 8-year old son Erasmus, (Bill Mumy), is a math genius. He's also colorblind and tone deaf, and he has a such a big crush on actress Brigitte Bardot that he writes her a letter every day. When the news gets out about the young math whiz everyone wants to exploit his gift, while his older sister Pandora, (Cindy Carol), and her boyfriend Kenneth 'Kenny' Taylor, (Fabian), use his talent for their homework assignments, and for picking the winning horses at the racetrack. Meanwhile, Peregrine Upjohn, (John Williams), is a British con-man who uses the boy's gift to help Professor Leaf raise money for scholarships, but he secretly plans to steal the money, while little Erasmus wants to use the money they won to fund a trip to Paris to meet Brigitte Bardot, who answered his letters by inviting him to Paris.

This is a cute movie, but it's nowhere near the caliber of most of Jimmy Stewart's other films. There are some fun scenes, and some laughs, but no good laugh-out-loud moments. Little Billy Mumy is adorable as the young math whiz. If you're just looking for some light entertainment, it's worth watching.

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Baby the Rain Must Fall (1965) - I watched this for the upcoming 1965 movie list. I had pretty high expectations for it because of Steve McQueen and Lee Remick, but sadly, it didn't even come close to my expectations.

Henry Thomas, (Steve McQueen), is a singer who has recently been paroled from prison, when his wife Georgette, (Lee Remick), and her six-year-old daughter Margaret Rose, (Kimberly Block), show up unexpectedly. He tries to work hard and make a happy life for his family, but Kate Dawson, (Georgia Simmons), the mean, old woman who raised him, threatens to have him returned to prison if he doesn't do what she demands.

The movie itself is okay, but Steve McQueen's lip-synching is TERRIBLE. It's way too obvious that he's not singing. I watch a lot of musicals, many of which have singing voices that are dubbed, and this is by far, the worst that I have ever seen. The voice doesn't even sound anything like him. The acting in the fight scenes is pretty bad too.

With the exception of the singing and fighting scenes, Steve McQueen's acting was pretty good, and Lee Remick turns in a good performance as well, but neither was enough to save this movie. It's just a depressing movie with few redeeming qualities.

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Bunny Lake is Missing (1965) - This is another movie that I watched for the upcoming 1965 movie list. I didn't know anything about it, but it was recommended by Hello101 in the "List of Major 1965 Films" thread.

Ann Lake, (Carol Lynley), is a single mother who recently moved to London with her 4-year old daughter Bunny, (Suky Appleby). She drops Bunny off for her first day at kindergarten, but when she goes to pick her up, Bunny has mysteriously disappeared from the school. Ann and her brother Steven, (Keir Dullea), search the school, but they can't find the girl, so they call the police. There is no record that the girl was registered at the school, or even any evidence that she ever existed, leading Superintendent Newhouse, (Laurence Olivier), to believe that Bunny is just a figment of Ann's imagination.

This is a pretty good suspense movie with some great edge-of-your-seat moments, It has some minor plot holes, but nothing so bad that they hurt the movie. The ending is good, although parts of the ending were predictable, and there are some things that Ann does near the end that she could have done differently to make the ending more realistic. The acting was good, but not great.

Personally for similar movies, I prefer The Forgotten and Flightplan over this movie, but this is worth watching.

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Mickey One (1965) - I watched this movie for the upcoming 1965 movie list. It's a movie that I knew nothing about, but it aired recently on a local cable movie channel, so I decided to give it a try.

A Detroit stand-up comic, (Warren Beatty), gets into some kind of trouble with the mob. He doesn't know if it's due to gambling debts or a woman, but he knows that he's in danger so he flees to Chicago. He changes his name to Mickey One, finds work as a nightclub comic, and meets Jenny, (Alexandra Stewart). Before long, he starts to suspect that the mob has found him, and he thinks everyone he sees is after him.

The movie starts out feeling almost like a Noir crime story, but it gets off track pretty quickly. There are a bunch of crazy scenes that feel completely out of place in this movie. Warren Beatty is just bad in this movie. He's just not a very likable character at all, and even his jokes aren't funny. The only thing good about this movie was the music. It has some nice jazz music.

This movie had the potential to be a great Noir film, but instead, it's just a big mess. Don't waste your time with this one.

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Inside Daisy Clover (1965) - I watched this movie for the upcoming 1965 movie list. This is another movie that I watched for several actors that I normally like, but again, this movie was a bit of a disappointment.

Daisy Clover, (Natalie Wood), wants to be a singer, so she sends a recording to Swan Studios, which is headed by Raymond Swan, (Christopher Plummer). She signs a contract with the studio, and begins her rise to stardom. Along the way, she meets and falls in love with Wade Lewis, (Robert Redford), another star who is also signed to a Swan Studios contract. Unfortunately Daisy soon learns that stardom isn't all it's cracked up to be.

The movie itself is okay, but not great, but the biggest problem with this movie is that Natalie Wood, who was 26 or 27 when this was filmed, looked too old to play a 15-year old. Ironically, Natalie Wood and Robert Redford are wonderful together, which just proves even more that Wood was too old for the role because Redford doesn't look too old for her. Ruth Gordon is great as Daisy's mother, but sadly Roddy McDowall is completely wasted in this film as Swan's assistant, Mr. Walter Baines. The highlights of this movie are the scenes of Daisy singing, but it's just not enough to carry the whole movie.

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