1940's Hall of Fame II

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mark f's Avatar
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Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
06-05-17
Everybody understands that His Girl Friday is a version of The Front Page with Hildy getting a sex change, n'est-ce pas?
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Women will be your undoing, Pépé
06-05-17
Originally Posted by Jeff Costello
Wanna hear a mind-blowing fact ? William Conrad, an actor who played Quinn in "Body and Soul" was only 26 year old at the time of shooting. I was shocked when I found that out. He looked like he could legitimately pass for a fifty.

Originally Posted by cricket
So was that make-up or just what he looked like?
I do remember, way back, that they would use like talcum powder or baby powder to make hair whiter, to make someone look much older.
Not sure if that's true or not, though.
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Noir Time
06-05-17
Originally Posted by Blix the Goblin
I guess Cricket is my rival in this HOF. Two very different movies though, top shelf noir vs whizbang crowd-pleaser.
I do believe there's at least one Errol Flynn fan here, probably a bunch more I really liked Gentlemen Jim when I watched it last, but that was years ago so I'm looking forward to watching it again.

Originally Posted by Jeff Costello
Wanna hear a mind-blowing fact ? William Conrad, an actor who played Quinn in "Body and Soul" was only 26 year old at the time of shooting. I was shocked when I found that out. He looked like he could legitimately pass for a fifty.
Only 26 Now that's acting!


Originally Posted by mark f
He looked like this in The Killers which was a year earlier. He and Charles McGraw were the title characters. The problem with Conrad in his early movies is he almost always had a hat on, but he did normally have dark (black) hair.
I thought I was imaging things when I seen Conrad with blonde hair.

Seeing how everyone is watching His Girl Friday, I'll give that a go. It will be a second watch for me, or maybe it's a third watch...anyway it's been awhile.



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06-05-17

Day of Wrath (1943)

It's 7:48 PM PST....and I'm going to write this really, really fast, as dinner is on the stove and spaghetti doesn't take long to boil.

Bravo! I'm impressed...I starting watching this late at night and wasn't in the mood for a movie, but right from the start the movie hooked me and drew me into it's dark netherworld of religious zealots and witch hunts.

The film has this air about it, like time standing still. The people speak in slow weighted speech, as if their entire world is dark and bleak and each second is an entirety. Only when Anne falls in love with Martin does the tone lighten some...but even then it's a forbidden happiness and the heady atmosphere of despair fills each scene, layered on top of her joy.

Besides the dramatic opening act, the film is subdued. There's something about the stillness and lack of action that speaks louder than words. This is sublime film making, it says a lot with little dialogue and less action.

All of the cast was well suited to fitting their archetypes. I scarely even thought of them as actors. I took them for the real thing as if I had a telescope that could see back to the 17th century. I especially was intrigued by Lisbeth Movin, Ann who was the young wife of the Reverend. She had both a sincere and otherworldly quality about her, that made her seem alive....while the Reverend and his mother seemed to be the walking dead.

I thought this was amazing and I would hope it makes the Top 40s Countdown. I hope all of our noms, make the Countdown.

7:59 PM PST...done. Not bad for 11 minutes





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Women will be your undoing, Pépé
06-06-17
that is some SERIOUS speed writing, CR!!
enjoyed the write up. Referring to the "stillness and lack of action that speaks louder than words." Rather liked that.

I just finished His Girl Friday, but I won't be able to speed write a review. It'll be tomorrow



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06-06-17
Originally Posted by cricket
His Girl Friday


This was my second time watching this movie and I feel the same way. It's a strong case of a movie I don't find much fault in, but one I just don't love in any way. There's not a whole lot of old comedy that I love besides Some Like it Hot, yet I think the comedy it has is reasonably effective. I feel like the movie is trying to be too many things in a short amount of time. If it were largely a love story with a touch of comedy, or a love story mixed with the story of the inmate, I may have loved this movie. Each option has the love story, so obviously that's where I find the most promise. The two leads have plenty of chemistry. I always like watching Cary Grant, even if this particular character was not his most likable. I'm not otherwise familiar with Rosalind Russell, but I thought she was fantastic. I didn't really think any of the supporting characters stood out. So yea, I think every aspect of the movie is solid, but I would have liked to have seen more focus. Just as an aside, Howard Hawks is some director to have such a wide variety of excellent films. The Big Sky, which is not one of his most well known, happens to be my favorite, with Sergeant York, Red River, and To Have and Have Not close behind.

-
Man that was much more than i expected.

His Girl Friday is basically my nom too now BTW, coz i like it a tonne more than my own which i like.



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You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
06-06-17
Body and Soul

Like Cosmic, I hate boxing, (in fact, I think it's barbaric, and I don't consider it a "sport"), so when I read the description of this movie, I didn't think I would like it. But I gave it the benefit of the doubt for two reasons.

1) Because I like the 1979 movie The Champ, even though that movie is about a boxer (and his son), and
2) Because this movie was mentioned in an episode of "The Dick Van Dyke Show", which is one of my all-time favorite TV shows. (I always thought he wasn't talking about a real movie, but the episode is about boxing, and I remembered the line "You're no Lilli Palmer", so when I saw this movie was about boxing, and one of the stars was Lilli Palmer, I realized this was the movie he was talking about in that episode.)

Fortunately, this movie isn't focused on boxing, but it's more about the characters, money, greed, and how the pursuit of success can affect people, so it turned out to be a good movie, and I'm glad I watched it.

However, there were minor issues that I had with the movie, the one that bothered me the most was the ending.

WARNING: "SPOILERS ABOUT THE ENDING!!!!" spoilers below
Charlie Davis was paid off the throw the fight, but he didn't, and then he expects to just walk away, without the guys who paid him coming after him?! That just doesn't make sense. There would be consequences to his actions, and most likely, they would come after him and kill him. So basically, him trying to redeem himself at the end would just be worthless.


But overall, I liked the movie, but the ending just didn't work for me.
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You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
06-06-17
Originally Posted by Citizen Rules
Is anybody having a hard time finding Mr. Lucky (1943)? I had a hard time finding a link but did find one. Also it's available on iTunes, YouTube, VuDu, and Google Play. Let me know if you can't find it.
Originally Posted by cricket
I could use that link. I tried yesterday morning for a short time but didn't find one. If it doesn't work for me, I'll watch it on iTunes.

I didn't think Mr. Lucky would be hard to find links for because when I searched it, it seemed to be available on several streaming sites, (iTunes, YouTube, VuDu, and Google Play), but if it turns out to be a problem for most people to find this movie, let Citizen Rules know ASAP, and if necessary, we can switch back to my second choice movie, (Unfaithfully Yours).



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06-06-17
Originally Posted by gbgoodies
I didn't think Mr. Lucky would be hard to find links for because when I searched it, it seemed to be available on several streaming sites, (iTunes, YouTube, VuDu, and Google Play), but if it turns out to be a problem for most people to find this movie, let Citizen Rules know ASAP, and if necessary, we can switch back to my second choice movie, (Unfaithfully Yours).
If anyone can't find it elsewhere and has no problem watching it online, PM me.



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06-06-17
However, there were minor issues that I had with the movie, the one that bothered me the most was the ending.
I generally didn't have a problem with the ending. However I thought it was a bit unrealistic and abrupt.

WARNING: "spoiler" spoilers below
After being paid to throw the fight and failing to do so, like you I was anticipating consequences for Charlie's actions. That's why I mentioned in my review, that I was expecting a much gloomier ending. Perhaps it was left like that on purpose, giving the final scene a bit of a bittersweet feel, with the viewer knowing Charlie would most likely get killed and that his involvement with the mafia won't magically dissapear.


Also I like "The Champ" as well. Rick Schroder gave one of the best child perfromances I've ever seen in it.



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06-06-17
It's funny that you guys are talking about The Champ right now. Me, my friend and my mum ended up talking about false memories after my friend brought up something last week about something another friend of ours believes he was there for when he wasn't (he's heard us talk about it that much that he's convinced himself he was there because it was that long ago and has started using it as his own anecdote, it's a really weird thing to observe), we were all bringing up examples later. Our main family one was my older sister believing she was there when we gave our dog away when i was about 8 years old; she honestly wasn't there but she has been a part of the conversation so much that she believes she was and she was so close to the dog (it was basically hers) that we haven't corrected her.

My mum ended up blowing my mind when she mentioned that i didn't watch the Jon Voight The Champ film with them even though i honestly have that memory. What happened was i was about 7 or 8 years old and i've mentioned here alot that i watched The Exorcist around then for the first time and had nightmares for months, well after that she didn't (my mum absolutely didn't allow me to watch The Exorcist then for the record, it was my oldest sister when my parents weren't around) want me getting messed up by a really sad film but my (older by 3 years, not my oldest sister who showed me The Exorcist) sister wantedt to watch it because her friend had mentioned it to her. Anyway, she basically tricked my stupid 7 year old brain to go and do whatever i would have done if i didn't want to watch this film because my sister did, and after they watched it my sister told me what happened at the end and my mum said over the years she has seen that morph into me having watched it with them which never happened. There's every chance i watched it myself or with someone on tv or whatever but that memory i have of watching it with my dad, mum and sister never happened.

So yeah, that blew my mind. Sorry if that was really boring haha.



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06-06-17
Originally Posted by gbgoodies
Like Cosmic, I hate boxing, (in fact, I think it's barbaric, and I don't consider it a "sport"), so when I read the description of this movie, I didn't think I would like it.
I guess it's different for other people but I make a big distinction between sports and sports movies. One is a competition, the other is a story with characters.

I hate sports. I mean I can't stand watching sports of any kind, period. They bore me to tears. At family gatherings such as Thanksgiving, as soon as it's "sports watching time" I have to leave. Sorry, but I promised my friend so-and-so I'd meet up with him at the bar at such-and-such time, enjoy the game. Some of my relatives think I'm an ass because of this, but I just can't sit in a room watching and talking about some dumb contest for hours, I'd sooner drink bleach.

However, I love movies about sports, especially older ones. I find them immensely charming and often inspiring. What matters is the context. I get to know a character, and I care about his struggle, I then care about him winning a match and triumphing against all odds. With any old game, there is no context. I don't know these people, so why should I care if they win or lose?

Anyway, just my two cents.



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06-06-17
Don't feel the same as Blix about sports but i like films about sports i don't like or other things i have no interest in, so i agree with him there in being able to separate the two.

Boxing is so great for the record



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06-06-17
Originally Posted by gbgoodies
However, there were minor issues that I had with the movie, the one that bothered me the most was the ending.

WARNING: "SPOILERS ABOUT THE ENDING!!!!" spoilers below
Charlie Davis was paid off the throw the fight, but he didn't, and then he expects to just walk away, without the guys who paid him coming after him?! That just doesn't make sense. There would be consequences to his actions, and most likely, they would come after him and kill him. So basically, him trying to redeem himself at the end would just be worthless.
I think Charlie is a pretty fearless guy, and I thought he just decided to stand up and call their bluff. Nothing was going to happen there anyway with all those people around. To elongate the movie in a further direction would have changed the movie completely. I also think part of his decision had to do with Ben.

Originally Posted by Jeff Costello
WARNING: "spoiler" spoilers below
After being paid to throw the fight and failing to do so, like you I was anticipating consequences for Charlie's actions. That's why I mentioned in my review, that I was expecting a much gloomier ending. Perhaps it was left like that on purpose, giving the final scene a bit of a bittersweet feel, with the viewer knowing Charlie would most likely get killed and that his involvement with the mafia won't magically dissapear.
That's how I felt.



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06-06-17
Beauty and the Beast


When I first saw all the nominations, it was easily Beauty and the Beast that had the best odds to be my least favorite. As some of you know, I have a hard time getting into fantasy. I didn't care for the only Lord of the Rings movie I saw, I haven't seen any Harry Potter movies, I didn't care for Avatar, I don't like the Star Wars movies the way I used to, and the list goes on and on. I think it's the reason I'm not a big Sci-Fi fan, and even as a horror fan I strongly prefer violent maniac stuff over the supernatural. On top of that, I didn't like Disney's version of Beauty and the Beast at all. Suffice it to say, this nomination was up against it with me.

I was captivated by it right from the start. I think that was from a combination of the look of the film and the characters. It's not that all the characters were likable, far from it, but they all brought something to the table. As soon as the father got lost in the forest, I was able to get lost in my imagination. This is something that never happens with me and for that I am very grateful that this movie was nominated. I felt like I was able to break a new barrier as a viewer, even though the reality is that I think it's probably just this particular movie. I thought the atmosphere, effects, and musical score were absolutely amazing. The dialogue was surprisingly simple, and I think that's another thing that helped me. It also helped that it's an adult friendly fantasy. As much as I loved the beast, he was no saint. I mean his method to get Belle to his place wasn't very nice, and from there he did place a bit of pressure on her. But hey, if you're a hideous beast, you've got to do what you've got to do. I didn't think it was a flawless movie. Sometimes the editing from scene to scene was so abrupt it was startling. That did not hurt my enjoyment at all, but it is something I noticed. The only thing I didn't like was the transformation scene at the end. I thought it was weak. If it were another wow scene, I probably would have added an extra half popcorn to my rating. It's ok because I loved the rest of it, and that's a lot more than I expected.




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06-06-17
I'm pleasantly surprised that you enjoyed Beauty and the Beast, Cricket, especially since I knew you don't typically care for Fantasy. I still need to rewatch the film (I might watch it next I think), but based on what I remember, I agree with everything you said.

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