HOUSE OF NOIR

[CineMaven]

Thank you for that direction, Knitwit. I'll be on the lookout for the Edward G. Robinson film. I'm interested in seeing more films of hers. Knitwit. Are you sure it's okay to call you that??

[MissGoddess]

Fantastic write-up on The Arnelo Affair, Maven! It's gorgeous and you hit all the high points as I never could. I'm so glad you enjoyed it, it really scored big with me, unlike Hodiak with Frances.

I really appreciated the scene in the restaurant, when Hodiak just couldn't keep still, he had to take on the "smugness" and I thought that was excellent---what did he say? "Don't give me that 'but for the grace of God go I' business" Ha haaa!!! He saw through their hypocracy, knew how they really didn't believe that phony line, knew that HIS kind and THEIRS were different and never the twain shall meet. The beautiful iriony is he still tried to make them meet...tried with everything he had. Marvelous! I actually was cheering him at that point.

[knitwit45]

Knitwit, Knitty, doofus, hey you or Nancy....take your pick! I'm the token brainless fan who just likes to watch movies. I'm no whiz about direction, editing, etc....the rest of the crew around here just pat me on the head and tell me to go sit in the corner and LISTEN...I've learned a lot, but have a long way to go!

And Edward G. will break your heart and make you adore him in this movie! His interaction with his daughter, Margaret O'Brien, is the best papa-daughter relationship I think I've ever seen on screen. Hope you get to see it soon

[Ollie]

I've never seen OUR VINES but that cast is superb and these recommendations make it a must-see. TCM's Suggestion page, here I come.

[moira finnie]

I've never seen OUR VINES but that cast is superb and these recommendations make it a must-see. TCM's Suggestion page, here I come.

Mr. Robinson, Margaret O'Brien, and Butch Jenkins in "Our Vines Have Tender Grapes" (1945).

Ollie,
Our Vines Have Tender Grapes is unlike anything you've ever seen Edward G. Robinson in before. Truly a movie that creeps up on you, (if, perhaps edited a bit too much by some ham fist at MGM). From what I've read, it was almost completely neglected by the studio and the public when first released.

I'm sure that our resident Agnes Moorehead fan, Professional Tourist, might also agree that the actress, playing a farm wife and mother, has a chance to portray a tender earthiness in this film--a bit of a warm-up for her endearing work as a brusquer but loving Aunt in Johnny Belinda a few years later.

You might look for four well-done scenes: the roller skates, when the elephant comes to town, the spring thaw, and the light in the night sky. Well, that's enough of an off-topic intrusion on this lovely thread by me for one day!

[knitwit45]

Hey Boss, sorry I got to yakkin, and forgot to tend to business....just don't dock me, ok? I need to make another payment on my cemetery plot.............


Moe

[Dewey1960]

Moe - Lord knows I don't mind a bit of straying off topic but...OUR VINES HAVE TENDER GRAPES????
Dare I say it: this is NOT the House of Pinot Noir!!
Just kidding, of course. Here at the House of Noir there are no rules.

[klondike]

I need to make another payment on my cemetery plot.............

Moe

Hey, Moe, wasn't that also a goal that Elvis' pop, Dean Jagger, was moanin' about in King Creole?

[knitwit45]

Hi Lefty. me and pop are planning on having adjoining plots . Always have had a fondness for those tall drinks of water.......

[CineMaven]

"Our Vines Have Tender Grapes" interest me for one reason: Frances Gifford.

But Eddie G. a farmer? Ohhhhkay. I concede...he can do anything: gangsta: ("Little Caesar") sadist: ("Key Largo") insurance man/father-figure: ("Double Indemnity") lascivious lecher: ("The Ten Commandments") - poor Debra Paget and tasty meal: ("Soylent Green.")

[klondike]

"Our Vines Have Tender Grapes" interest me for one reason: Frances Gifford.

But Eddie G. a farmer? Ohhhhkay. I concede...he can do anything: gangsta: ("Little Caesar") sadist: ("Key Largo") insurance man/father-figure: ("Double Indemnity") lascivious lecher: ("The Ten Commandments") - poor Debra Paget and tasty meal: ("Soylent Green.")

Don't forget: electrical lineman (Man Power), Nazi hunter (The Stranger), clairvoyant (The Night Has a Thousand Eyes), high-stakes cardsharp (Cincinnati Kid), tuna fisherman (Tiger Shark), forensic psychologist (The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse), homicide detective (Nightmare), monastic botanist (Brother Orchid), and wealthy financier turned bum (Tales of Manhattan).

[Ollie]

Four or five years ago, the cheapo-DVD bins had SCARLET STREET and RED HOUSE for a dollar each, and I was so impressed with Edward G's milquetoast SCARLET STREET character. I've seen him do this in other films like MR. WINKLE GOES TO WAR. His '40s catalog gave him many of these milquetoast, reticent characters, but he was still plotting flower sales and revenge in BROTHER ORCHID, or selling luggage in LARCENY INC, or doing his rather standard Rico-type while visiting Key Largo. And then he puts on some gray hair and comes back as this smarter, older chess-player character in DOUBLE INDEMNITY, THE STRANGER and so many others.

He didn't have a huge range of characters, but enough to make my watching his career in films interesting.

(I appreciate this thread's latitude, as well. Any film with Edward G. and Agnes Moorehead should be included for those alone. haha)

[jdb1]

He didn't have a huge range of characters, but enough to make my watching his career in films interesting.

EGR may not have been given a huge range of characters by his studios, but he was an actor with a huge range, which he showed us in everything he did. One of the things our favorite Classic Hollywood stars excelled at was making unlikeable characters at least in part likeable, and EGR was no exception. It is a constant regret of mine that although he played the role on Broadway, he was not given the part of Jerry in Middle of the Night (about a May-December romance). I know he would have been extraordinarily warm and sympathetic in the part. He rarely got to do "romantic."

[klondike]

Lefty here . .
Listen, ya cravin' a change from all that neon-glistening pavement, and those slanty venetian-blind shadows?
How about some mackinawed skullduggery by lantern-light?

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Not sure when TCM or AMC will be running this one again, but if it looks good enough to ya, scope out the video vault @ your local rental shop for it.
Ya might get lucky (and I don't mean my cousin, neither).

[ChiO]

A film noir thread with Edward G. Robinson being a prime suspect...and nobody has yet mentioned my favorite Robinson noir, HOUSE OF STRANGERS.

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