Citizen Rules...Cinemaesque Chat-n-Review

Sorry to do this, Rules, but your reviews always seem to bring back memories. And I'm probably repeating this story...

But Stripes is the movie I saw at the North Brunswick Drive-In theater (one of the last in NJ). My first vehicle was a pick-up truck (it was my father's) and I'd just started driving. When my gal & I went to see Stripes, I parked backwards, put down a blanket in the bed of the truck, and dropped the tailgate. We propped up our heads with some blankets, and had a nice picnic dinner while reclining and watching the movie!

Those were the days!

Good if I don't have people posting I lose faith.

Great story Captain! I can almost picture it now, a happy teen couple under the stars, having a fun time. And you brought food too, that's a nice touch. Where did you hang the speaker?

I use to drive my dad's truck on dates too, but I never tried the blanket in the back part.

I think I either positioned the speaker on the edge of the truck bed or draped the cord over the side so the speaker was hanging inside the bed with us. We might have even left it on its post as you could hear the movie pretty well from all the other speakers nearby.

It was great for drive-ins, but parking backwards got some weird looks (and people walking by would always peer into the back of the truck to see what you were doing!)
There might have been a rule that you can't park backward, I'm not sure. Either way, no one hassled us. I think I purposefully tried to park father away from most of the cars.

Hard to believe that experience was 34 years ago!

There are people on this site who aren't even that old.

I remember drive-ins It was such a big event to go and watch a movie in your car. We went when I was a little kid in my pajamas.

I once did the classic bone-head maneuver with the speaker. I was on a date and in my pride and joy, a 1969 muscle car that I had just had painted and fixed up. I had the speaker on the door glass which was rolled down just a bit so the speaker would hang on it. The movie was over, don't ask me what it was?....and...I drove away with the speaker!...So I quickly put it in reverse, stuck the speaker back on the poll and popped it into first gear and got the hell out of there!

Dinner time, catch ya latter.

I like the newer drive-ins that use your car radio as a speaker. One theater I went to a few years ago had two different movies playing, so after the first movie was over, we just turned around, changed the radio station, and watched the other movie.

The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1944)
Director/Writer: Preston Sturges
Cast: Betty Hutton, Eddie Bracken, Diana Lynn, William Demarest
Genre: Social Commentary Comedy

For the average person watching this film today, it's nothing more than a zany screwball comedy...But for audiences back in 1944 this was one helluva gusty movie. It was made during WWII and deals with a serious concern of the time.

Betty Hutton is a young woman living at home with her strict father (William Demarest) and her wise beyond years, younger sister (Diana Lynn).

The local town boys have enlisted in the army and are about to be shipped off to fight in the war. Betty feels it's her duty to attend an all night dance party to help send the boys off right, it's the least she can do for them. Her father forbids her to go, so she lies and says she's going to the movies with a goofy guy who's physically unfit for the army, (Eddie Bracken). Eddie has the hots for Betty. She leaves him at the movies and takes his car to the big party.


The next morning Betty drives up to the town's theater where Eddie has been waiting for her all night. She's drunk as a skunk and says she got married but doesn't remember to who and she has no marriage licenses either. Latter Betty finds out she's pregnant.

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Enjoyed reading your review of Stripes Citizen...John Ringeer is one of my favorite Bill Murray characters and though the fun doesn't last all the way to the closing credits, I think most of the film is a very funny and entertaining ride.

Yeah. when I was a kid, my parents put us in our pajamas very Friday night and took us to the V Drive in Vestal, New York. Two movies for the price of one and you didn't even have to get out of your car. For some reason, I was the only member of the family who stayed awake for both movies and I even remember some movies that I saw for the first time at the drive in...Marriage on the Rocks, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, The Wrecking Crew, Bandolero, The Cheyenne Social Club, and Beach Blanket Bingo are among the films that I saw for the very first time at the V drive in.

I've never seen The Miracle of Morgan's Creek but heard nothing but great things about it...I enjoyed reading your review.

Thanks Gideon, I really appreciate that. That was a different type of review for me. Usually I don't do a synopsis of the story but for some reason it felt right to tell the story (without spoiling the end of course.)

The Man with the Golden Arm (1955)
Director: Otto Preminger
Cast: Frank Sinatra, Kim Novak, Eleanor Parker, Arnold Stag
Genre: Drama
Length: 119 minutes

An ex-junkie returns from prison and takes up hanging with the same wrong crowd that he hung with before. His nagging crippled wife and former card shark boss makes his decision to stay clean, a hard one.

The Man With The Golden Arm deserves to be watched by any serious film buff. This film and The Blue Moon both by Otto Preminger were the first films to skirt the Hays Production Code and still be released for viewing and make a good profit, thanks to the notoriety of the subject matter. Today's audiences would find a story about a drug addict passe, but to 1950's audiences this film must have been electrifying! With the success of this film, the Hays Production Code censorship grip began to fade.


In what is still a graphic scene today, Frankie Machine (Frank Sinatra) shoots up. The scene is gritty and real.

This was a plum role for Frank Sinatra who was fresh off an Academy Award win with From Here to Eternity. Frank does his acting like his singing, no nonsense, no fluff, he gets right to it and he's excellent in this part.

Elanor Parker who's one of the best 1950's actresses, plays an eccentric, wheel chaired, neurotic woman...who's nagging drives Frankie from the home and into the arms of Kim Novak.


What's with the whistle?...It adds to the neurotic, out of touch feel of the character.

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I saw The Man With the Golden Arm, but not recently, so I don't remember it very well, but as I recall, it was only okay. Overall, I think Sinatra was a better singer than he was an actor, but maybe it's worth giving The Man With the Golden Arm a rewatch.

I wouldn't be surprised if The Man With The Golden Arm turns up on the Top 100 1950's Countdown...at least it should as it's an important film.

That looks pretty good, but I usually don't like movies that look like plays.

Cricket it was mainly the street scenes that to me looked like a play. Actually nothing happens in the streets, I just didn't like the look of them.

I gotta see this one before the list. Hoping some great stuff shows up in the HOF.

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Letterboxd

I'm ready for the 50s HOF too. The Man With The Golden Arm was going to be my nom for the HOF, but after watching it I decided to go with another. I bet we have a bunch of great films to watch

I know that the first time I ever watched "The Man With The Golden Arm" was when I was 12. I know it was around Easter time (of all times of the year!). And I remember this because I was so sick. I just remember this as being the time that I seemed to be sick beyond sick (I was sick a lot as a kid). In my memory, this was the worst flu - or whatever it was - that I ever had. And it was the worst I'd felt since I had pneumonia.

Anyway, I was so sick that I could barely get out of bed. And this was the year that I actually tolerated both "The Sound of Music" and "The Ten Commandments" (two films that didn't make me feel any better ). There was no cable in the bedroom. I was stuck with what was on TV.

Then there was "The Man With The Golden Arm". I started to watch it because Frank Sinatra was in it. I liked him. And I can say that my 12 year-old self was immediately drawn into it. I loved it. I liked the story. I loved the acting. And I never once started to doze off during it.

I didn't get a chance to watch it again until a couple of years later. I remembered liking it, but on second viewing, would I still? So, I watched it again, and I think I liked it even better the second time around. I was older (and not deathly ill this time). I could appreciate the overall film even more now.

Glad that you liked it, too.

Well, another movie that ranks fairly high on my 1950's list. Whether or not it will place in the top 25, as I said last night about "Compulsion", we'll just have to wait and see.

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I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity - Edgar Allan Poe

Ahk! you and GBG just talked me into it......So, I just borrowed Compulsion from my library.So far I haven't seen that many films with Orson Welles in it that I liked (besides his own films).This one sounds good.