I Just Watched...

[Allhallowsday]

THE SWIMMER (1968) last night on TCM. I first saw this in a mid 1970s TV broadcast...

I just saw this again for the third or fourth time. I still get engrossed in it. I believe it's Burt Lancaster's best performance.

I think it might be SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS... he always does a good job.

[Belle]

"The Music of Max Steiner: the Epic Life of ....." by Steven C. Smith - who was the author of the only book about the music of Bernard Herrmann. It's an interesting talk from Smith about Steiner and his work and influence. Highly recommended for film-music lovers.

[Detective Jim McLeod]

Romeo And Juliet (1968) DVD-8/10

The tragic story of Shakespeare's star crossed lovers.

My favorite version of Shakespeare brought to the screen. Franco Zeffirelli directed and he makes the story come to life. The sumptuous color, striking costumes and haunting musical score really make this a great experience. Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey seem to have been born to play these roles. My favorite scene is the masked ball where the beautiful ballad "What Is A Youth" is sung.

[Bronxgirl48]

At least Whiting and Hussey were closer in age to the characters. Leslie Howard and Norma Shearer almost looked like they could collect Social Security.

[Detective Jim McLeod]

At least Whiting and Hussey were closer in age to the characters. Leslie Howard and Norma Shearer almost looked like they could collect Social Security.

Yes, TCM ran that version yesterday, which inspired me to whip out my DVD of the 1968 film.

I have seen bits and pieces of the 1936 version but never the whole thing. I would like to some day, if only to see Basil Rathbone's Oscar nominated performance as Tybalt.

[jamesjazzguitar]

At least Whiting and Hussey were closer in age to the characters. Leslie Howard and Norma Shearer almost looked like they could collect Social Security.

Yes, TCM ran that version yesterday, which inspired me to whip out my DVD of the 1968 film.

I have seen bits and pieces of the 1936 version but never the whole thing. I would like to some day, if only to see Basil Rathbone's Oscar nominated performance as Tybalt.

While Howard and Shearer were around 20 years too old for their roles, the 1936 MGM version is a first-rate production costing almost one million dollars to make. Many fine supporting actors like John Barrymore, Edna May Oliver, C Aubrey Smith and even Andy Devine. Basil Rathbone does give the best performance in the film.

The age of the leads does make a difference since the overall innocence of the two characters is lost. Only young (first time), love can be that naive and the magic of such love, as well as tragedy, can't be communicated as so well expressed in the play.

[Bronxgirl48]

I have to admit I've never been able to watch the '36 version all the way through and the other day was no different. And I'm a Basil Rathbone fan. Go figure. Oh well, maybe next time.

[Belle]

"Time Limit", 1957, Karl Malden, Director; Richard Widmark, Richard Basehart, Rip Torn, Martin Balsam. Based on a stage play.

A fine film, gripping to the end, set in the aftermath of the Korean War. Widmark is an army lawyer called upon to establish the truth for a possible court marshal of an officer interned in a POW camp in North Korea. Intelligent, complex and thought-provoking. Highly recommended viewing.

[Grumpytoad]

Once in awhile I just HAVE to indulge in a 1930's Joan Blondell fix. Just finished watching a picture I have not seen or heard of before. Even if it turned out to be awful, it was still gonna be Joan.

Got very lucky. DAMES(1934).

Musical comedy, though at first it seemed about 95% comedy. Very funny stuff, with Guy Kibbee sweating bullets through most of the movie trying to keep a secret from ruining his chance at financial security. Am a fan of Kibbee anyway, and the best work I've seen from him.

Hugh Herbert did well also as a morals crusader. Used to watching him playing silly characters, but liked this performance much better. Mostly a serious character in this picture, who by the end of the movie succumbs to the very thing he condemned in the beginning of the story.

ZaSu Pitts did her usual comedy stuff. Reliable acting performance, but nothing exceptional.

Ruby Keeler. Adorable. Ingenue part, cute and mostly sweet. Did a short solo dance early in the story, and killed it!

Dick Powell as a man willing to do anything to live his dream. For the first time, I really enjoyed his work. Seen him plenty of times in movies, but never "got" what others saw in him. Now I do.

Joan Blondell in a supporting role as Powell's partner in crime. Beautiful, sassy. Exactly what I was hoping for.

Towards the end the movie did turn into a musical. When Busby Berkeley is in charge of choreography, you know you're going to get something special. This time was beyond all that. Best ever.

Finally, there is one scene in the movie that I can't make up my mind about. It's a musical number with Blondell and an ironing board. My initial reaction was to laugh, because I thought it was intended as a parody of really bad musical theatre. Sort of like a bit of comic relief before returning to the real musical plot.
But what if it wasn't parody, and just unintentionally bad? When the movie ended, that little number just did NOT seem to fit into the rest of the musical within the movie. Am confused. Anyone here who has seen DAMES have any insight on this?

[TikiSoo]

Once in awhile I just HAVE to indulge in a 1930's Joan Blondell fix. Just finished watching a picture I have not seen or heard of before. Even if it turned out to be awful, it was still gonna be Joan.

Glad you liked it! Blondell is a fave in this household too, she could do it all. My favorite photo-

[Belle]

I loved Joan in "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn"!!

[Allhallowsday]

GLENGARRY GLENROSS (1992) on TCM last night.

[BagelOnAPlate]

I watched Dead Of Winter on Pluto yesterday.
Thanks to Cinema International and others here who mentioned this movie. I had never heard of it, but the comments made me seek it out.

Some of the twists were predictable, but I enjoyed it nevertheless.
I had no idea that Mary Steenburgen played three roles in the movie. I knew that she played Julie Ross and the actress hired to "replace" her, but I was surprised to see that she also played Julie's sister. She rocked the hat and the fur coat in that role!
I'm pretty sure that someone else's voice was dubbed in for the early New Years Eve scene where she played Julie in the car with the bag of money.
The movie was directed by Athur Penn, who also directed The Miracle Worker and Bonnie and Clyde.

I also watched Mary Steenburgen in Time After Time recently on Watch TCM. I had no idea that she had been married to Malcolm McDowell, her co-star in that movie. Malcolm McDowell was endearing in the role of H.G. Wells in Time After Time, but I couldn't get his very disturbing work in A Clockwork Orange out of my mind completely when watching Time After Time.

[Masha]

Good Omens 2(2023)

An angel and a demon who both have issues with authority find they have similar interests in small things such as preventing the end of the world.

I loved: Good Omens (2019) and was delighted that they would make a sequel/second season.

I am sorry to say that I was disappointed. GO2 is quite good but it lacks much of the verve and off-your-derriere antics of the original. It lacks also anything which resembles a plot to interest a viewer. It purports to be a mystery but it is ill-conceived as items are presented as definite clues but it is impossible for a viewer to know what the clues mean prior to the resolution.

David Tennant is a joy to watch and he brings his character to life magnificently! I will be quite surprised and seriously disappointed if I do no meet one such as him when I take up residence in the afterlife.

Michael Sheen is superb as usual but the script makes him considerably less dithery than the original. This is a considerable loss.

It is a loss also that they choose to replace: Anna Maxwell Martin as: Beelzebub. She had the demeanor, voice and presence to play the role perfectly. The replacement is a fine actress and was battling a weak script but she simply did not have 'it' to play the character.

There is talk of a 'third season' which will be a true sequel to the 'first season' in that it will follow the outline which Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman created as a sequel to the novel. I hope that it does not take four years and cheap out as this 'second season' does.

I am sorry to say that this is: Amazon Prime Video production and is not currently available elsewhere.

Good Omens (2019): 8.6/11
Good Omens 2 (2023): 6.4/12

[Grumpytoad]

Once in awhile I just HAVE to indulge in a 1930's Joan Blondell fix. Just finished watching a picture I have not seen or heard of before. Even if it turned out to be awful, it was still gonna be Joan.

Glad you liked it! Blondell is a fave in this household too, she could do it all.

I believe I recall someone saying on a forum that a husband called her big eyes, which is so appropriate.

Nice photo choice! I have always been partial to this one: