LISTS

[RedRiver]

As for “Shane”- it's ending makes me think of “Casablanca” where instead of sending ‘Ilsa’ away, he rides away. I wonder where he went.

This is out of left field, but...might Shane be dying? In the very last moment of the movie, he slumps pretty far to one side of the saddle. The boy has observed that he's wounded. Maybe Shane doesn't want him to how badly. There's probably nothing to my hare-brained theory. Certainly it's not concrete. I just wonder if the director wanted people to have this discussion. 60 years later, no less!

[movieman1957]

The Bride and I have contemplated the same thing about "Shane." If I recall correctly he rides through a cemetery so that added to the possibility. I do think it leaves room for one to make an argument either way.

[CineMaven]

All speculation is welcome here at the Oasis:

[RedRiver]

Lord, that's a cool costume! Like a super hero in the old west.

[CineMaven]

1960

THE SIXTIES ... the Civil Rights-changing, British invading mad, mod, hippie, swinging, groovy, psychedlic, Haight-Ashbury, love-in, laugh-in, sit-in sixties. This is where Old Hollywood starts to drop off (( )) bit by bit, studio by studio, mogul by mogul. But friends...Romans...cinemabuffs. I come not to lament movies but to celebrate them. So to start this new decade, these are my picks, for favorite movies of 1960. And for me, SOAP OPERA, is the operative word this year:

“PSYCHO” - ( ALFRED HITCHCOCK )


Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh

Hitchcock twists us into a pretzel and never lets us go. Ever.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

“BUTTERFIELD 8” - ( DANIEL MANN)


Laurence Harvey and Elizabeth Taylor

If you have any notion of “National Velvet” or “Father of the Bride” this film will obliterate that. She’s a call girl who does what she wants. Woe be to the man who falls in love with her, when she doesn’t really love herself. This is a flashy soap.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

“THE BRAMBLE BUSH” - ( DANIEL PETRIE )


Richard Burton and Barbara Rush

Potboiling soap opera infused with sex and euthanaisa. Admittedly, I need to revisit it, but it is like a burning bush in my memory.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

“FROM THE TERRACE” - ( MARK ROBSON )


Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward

Always love seeing Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. This time they’re a couple at odds in this sprawling soap opera. Newman gets a second chance at love with the lovely Ina Balin after making a name for himself in business. Myrna Loy has a heartbreaking scene as Newman’s lonely mother. And so does character actor supreme, Leon Ames, as his grief-stricken father.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

“LEECH WOMAN” - ( EDWARD DEIN )


Grant Williams and Coleen Gray

Looks like monster movies will fade out in the sixties, but this is one of my sentimental favorites. You’ve got to feel sorry for women who chase Youth via animal extract. This never ends well. But what’s the deeper message here in all of these movies ( i.e. “Wasp Woman” ) ? Women go for the thing men covet, in order to win men over. If men valued high I.Q.s, wouldn't women be trying to read hundreds of books a day? Look, I can’t justify why I like this movie so much. And I don’t have to. Nyeh!!!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

“MIDNIGHT LACE” - ( DAVID MILLER )


Doris Day

An eerie voice on the phone threatens to kill Doris Day. Yep, Day’s in peril again in this thriller. It’s a nailbiter in the Hitchcock vein of suspense. Day is good, as always, playing this high state of hysteria... as uncomfortable as it is to watch. The film also stars Rex Harrison, John Gavin and Myrna Loy.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

“PORTRAIT IN BLACK” - ( MICHAEL GORDON )


Anthony Quinn and Lana Turner

Lovers who commit murder are now blackmailed. Lust, greed and blackmail make a lovely mixed salad. Besides, what’d I tell you about Lana? This time Lana is matched with Anthony Quinn for the lust and greed part. This is the last we see of the great Anna May Wong in films.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

“SERGEANT RUTLEDGE” - ( JOHN FORD )


Woody Strode

John Ford honors the contribution of the military’s Buffalo Soldier in this courtoom drama of rape, murder and racism. The majestic Woody Strode stands accused and Jeffrey Hunter is his attorney. Strode is the strong silent type conveying much while saying very little. First and foremost...he is a Soldier.

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“STRANGERS WHEN WE MEET” - ( RICHARD QUINE )


Kim Novak and Kirk Douglas

Kirk Douglas is a stay-at-home architect who meets a stay-at-home mom ( who doesn’t look like any mother waiting at the school bus stop. ) One thing leads to another, as it must when you have a Mom who looks like Kim Novak. Well she can’t bake cookies all day, can she? A very even-handed movie. The wife ( Barbara Rush ) is not shrewish, and Novak’s husband brings home the bacon; he's not really a bad guy...other than being sexually repressed. People fall into habits and routines...it happens. Good movie. I couldn’t wait to grow up, get married and live in the suburbs ( "No Down Payment." )

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

“WHERE THE BOYS ARE” - ( HENRY LEVIN )


Paula Prentiss, Dolores Hart, Yvette Mimieux and Connie Francis

This movie is a romp for me when I was a pre-teen. I envied the girls in the movie and what college was all about: Spring break, drinking and partying and meeting boys. I just had to get through junior high and high school first. The girls are great: smart & pretty Dolores Hart, boy-hungry Connie Frances, innocent & damaged Yvette Mimieux; and my favorite: tall & sporty Paula Prentiss. ( A life-long wish came true...finally seeing Paula Prentiss at the TCMFF this year when she introduced Peter Sellers’ “The World of Henry Orient.” ) Made before Women’s Lib really took hold of the American Girl, this was a movie about young women’s lives and our adventures. Many good lessons in this film, maybe tweaked ( and “twerked” ) a bit for the 21st century.

If you are the least bit curious about the fashion styles of each of the actresses, I urge you to the “Movie Star Makeover” website and read up a nice write-up on each actress. Go on now...take a peak: http://moviestarmakeover.com/category/w ... oys-are-2/

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“PLEASE DON'T EAT THE DAISIES” - ( CHARLES WALTERS )


David Niven and Doris Day

The versatile Doris Day does it again. She plays a different kind of character than she did in "Midnight Lace." She's the wife of Broadway critic David Niven and the mother to four rambunctious boys ( and a giant sheepdog. ) Frankly, she makes all that look sexy too. Changing their lifestyle from urban dwellers to suburbanites is fraught with comic adjustments and a little stress on their marriage. Wonderful chemistry between Day and Niven. ( A side note ) : I like that Janis Paige plays a supporting role in this movie as the Broadway diva. In Doris Day's first movie, "Romance On the High Seas", it starred Janis Paige. ( Oh...and please be on the look out for my girl, Margaret Lindsay, as hostess to the Broadway soiree Niven and Day attend. ) I'm telling you and trust me when I say this, a Doris Day movie is the perfect anectdote for the blues.

[Mr. Arkadin]

The Bride and I have contemplated the same thing about "Shane." If I recall correctly he rides through a cemetery so that added to the possibility. I do think it leaves room for one to make an argument either way.

There is a lot of speculation on that. He also heads back to the mountains where he came from, which seems to suggest a faint gospel subtext. There is also the mirroring of Shane & Joe, who personify different examples of manhood to Joey. Some older thoughts on this:

It's interesting that young Joey looks up to Shane, but Shane respects Joe who might be the unsung hero of this film, deftly played by Van Heflin. Although Shane has a skill, it mainly wreaks havoc and death. Joe is a farmer who brings forth life and nurtures it. Shane would gladly trade his abilities for Joe's, but could never change his nature or the fact that one day his past might catch up with him (as evidenced early in the film by reaching for his gun whenever he hears a noise). Instead, he uses his killing ability to save those he loves. As he tells Marion: "A gun is a tool and no better or worse than the man who wears it." So too does Shane become a tool, like a wild force of nature, cleansing the land so that others might start anew.

[RedRiver]

Shane respects Joe who might be the unsung hero of this film

Joe is the noble character in the story. He's everything a father should be. He just doesn't have a cool costume!

[RedRiver]

Cinerama-ding dong!

I never argue with anyone who says PSYCHO is Hitchcock's best work. There are others I like just as much. But PSYCHO is the movie that makes Hitchcock Hitchcock! I've heard of STRANGERS WHEN WE MEET. It sounds good. Of course, anything with Kimmy sounds good to me! BUTTERFIELD 8 is not a favorite. The book is simply sordid. Maybe that spoiled me. I like Frank Gorshin in WTBA. As a kid, I enjoyed seeing The Riddler in a movie!

[RedRiver]

As I told The Maven a few days ago, THE APARTMENT is my favorite from this transitional year. Poetic in its balance of gentle drama and the darkest of humor, it's Billy Wilder's finest film. This in spite of his brilliant contributions to the previous two decades. This is one of the great movies of any year, any era.

[CineMaven]

Hollywood rarely showed more attractive, healthy, and natural portrayals of a woman’s sexuality than Deborah Kerr in THE SUNDOWNERS and Lee Remick in WILD RIVER.

You're so right, Brother Rat.

[ChiO]

Two or three 1960 movies are on tap for re-visiting this week at the Roxie. May make a difference.

[RedRiver]

1960

THE APARTMENT
PSYCHO
ELMER GANTRY
INHERIT THE WIND

I don't know of any others that deserve mention alongside these giants. With The Board's permission, I will skip to my Best of Decade list. That post to follow!