I Just Watched...

[Lorna]

DECISION BEFORE DAWN (1951)

Can't believe I've never before watched this excellent WWII-themed film. Recorded it the other night off the Movies! channel (this way one can FF past all the commercials) and watched it last night.....
I was particularly impressed with how six years after the end of this world conflict the film's director Anatole Litvak was able to so effectively recreate the visuals and the chaotic circumstances of war-torn German cities and their inhabitants as the fall of the Third Reich being just months away.

(my rating: 8/10)

FYI- This film was nominated at the 1951/52 OSCARS for BEST PICTURE and BEST EDITING and NOTHING ELSE!

I am pretty sure it was the last BEST PICTURE NOMINEE to only get ONE OTHER NOMINATION in ANY CATEGORY until FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL in 1994.

[Hibi]

OH MY GOD GOLD STAR FOR ME I FIGGERED OUT HOW TO DO PICS@!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You're one up on me!

it's um...not not hard.
gonna try and save it for special occasions!

I've tried it with mixed results........

[Lorna]

I've been watching THE MUNSTERS original series here and there- full eps are on youtube for the moment.

I LOVED this show on THE SUPERSTATION growing up, and for some reason remembered it as not being all that funny. I was wrong- every episode I've seen has had several laugh-out-loud moments (it helps that I'm a student of classic pop culture) but the show makes a lot of genuinely funny references to politics and culture of the time, a joke about THE EDSEL MAKING A COMEBACK when someone first lays eyes on THE MONSTER KOACH had me HOWLING.

Also, the acting and SPECIAL EFFECTS are top notch.

[txfilmfan]

I've been watching THE MUNSTERS original series here and there- full eps are on youtube for the moment.

I LOVED this show on THE SUPERSTATION growing up, and for some reason remembered it as not being all that funny. I was wrong- every episode I've seen has had several laugh-out-loud moments (it helps that I'm a student of classic pop culture) but the show makes a lot of genuinely funny references to politics and culture of the time, a joke about THE EDSEL MAKING A COMEBACK when someone first lays eyes on THE MONSTER KOACH had me HOWLING.

Also, the acting and SPECIAL EFFECTS are top notch.

From the same team that brought you Leave it to Beaver, Bob Mosher & Joe Connelly. They also share an Oscar nomination for The Private War of Major Benson.

[jamesjazzguitar]

DECISION BEFORE DAWN (1951)

Can't believe I've never before watched this excellent WWII-themed film. Recorded it the other night off the Movies! channel (this way one can FF past all the commercials) and watched it last night.

Richard Basehart gets top billing as an American Army officer who is assigned to an intelligence operation headed by Gary Merrill, and with the latter coming up with the idea to select captured German POWs to spy for American forces behind German enemy lines. Basehart's character isn't completely on-board with this idea.

Now, who actually should have gotten top billing in this would be Austrian actor Oskar Werner who is the POW selected for this venture, as a large percentage in the middle of this film is devoted to his attempting to find the information of German troop and tank movements and then eluding capture after his indentity becomes known by the Germans. Warner is excellent in this part as a man who had become disillusioned with his country's politics and war-making and enough so to turn traitor and help end the war more quickly during its closing year and after the tide of the war had tuned in the Allied Forces' favor.

I was particularly impressed with how six years after the end of this world conflict the film's director Anatole Litvak was able to so effectively recreate the visuals and the chaotic circumstances of war-torn German cities and their inhabitants as the fall of the Third Reich being just months away.

(my rating: 8/10)

Dargo, I am also a fan of this film, one of the most obscure films ever nominated for an Oscar, yet fully worthy of that nomination. The balance of the film is a little off, for the very reason you mention, that Richard Basehart and Gary Merrill seem to be the stars, and they are both fine, but then Oskar Werner's character and his extraordinary performance take over, and we see things from his point of view. Hildegarde Knef is also outstanding as the woman he meets. Litvak is an undervalued director, with THE LONG NIGHT, THE JOURNEY, and DECISION BEFORE DAWN to his credit, along with THE SNAKE PIT, CITY FOR CONQUEST, BLUES IN THE NIGHT, and the "women's pictures" he is best known for.

If it is true, that "This film was nominated at the 1951/52 OSCARS for BEST PICTURE and BEST EDITING and NOTHING ELSE!", one could say that this indicates the film is very "balanced": I.e. no one actor, performance, script, direction etc. (other than editing), lead the Academy to nominate the film for Best Picture.

[Grumpytoad]

Angel Heart (1987)

Saw on original release. Recalled liking the movie at that time, but no longer remembered why. Thus, decided to watch it again.

This is a crime/horror picture. Gory for its day, today less so. But one would still need a strong stomach to enjoy the otherwise well written story.

Originally given an X rating by the Motion Picture Association for explicit sex scene. Recut to get an R rating, the version I watched the other night was uncut. Were it to be shown today in theatres, it would be an R.

1950's private detective from Brooklyn is hired to search for a missing person. He eventually finds his target out of town.

Potential spoiler.
A character's true identity is teased within 5 minutes of the movie's beginning. A sledgehammer striking concrete would have been more subtle. Didn't ruin the picture, but it would have been a better movie without it. End of spoiler.

Mickey Rourke as the detective. Performs the part as a bright guy, who finds himself way out of his element. Rourke does the job so well that he holds his own against Robert De Niro who plays the detective's low-key but disturbing employer.

The detective has to travel to Louisiana in pursuit of his goal, where he eventually meets a young woman played by Lisa Bonet. As the two become intensely involved with each other the plot thickens (in multiple ways). Bonet does a good job in the picture, but not to the extent that the other two actors do.

Because the story takes place in the 50's, and is mostly shot in faded colours, the movie kind of has a black and white feel to it.

The soundtrack of the movie is really well done also. Sometimes it is melancholy, sometimes scary. And almost as a reliever, there are also some old blues tunes played live in the movie by legendary musicians from Louisiana.

[/img]

[Lorna]

[THE ORIGINAL MUNSTERS TV SERIES IS] From the same team that brought you Leave it to Beaver, Bob Mosher & Joe Connelly. They also share an Oscar nomination for The Private War of Major Benson.

HAH!
Thank you, I did not know that! (my knowledge of classic television is not great.)

it seems like the writers of THE MUNSTERS took a special relish in SUBVERTING SUUUUUUPER TYPICAL SUBURBAN IMAGES and TROPES of popular sitcoms (they also reference other shows of the era, which i presume were on the same network, GRANDPA actually had MY THREE SONS playing in an episode i watched the other day)- and THE LEAVE IT TO BEAVER house shows up in multiple episodes.

it's a shame it only ran for two seasons- but at the same time, they would have likely run out of ideas at some point unless they were smoking some good s***, which they might well have been.

side note- really and truly though, even if it wasn't funny (which it is) or well acted (which it DEFINITELY is), it would still be worth watching THE MUNSTERS for THE SPECIAL EFFECTS, which are ****ing WILD.

i was watching an episode the other day and BUTCH PATRICK- not a double, it was DEFINITELY him- was SITTING IN THE FIREPLACE with LIT LOGS all around him, holy **** I can't BELIEVE they did that (I bet some kids tried it at home.)

That PURPLE VELVET SUIT and THOSE PROSTHETICS just HAD to be flammable, I seriously DUNNO HOW THEY PULLED IT OFF!!!

[txfilmfan]

[THE ORIGINAL MUNSTERS TV SERIES IS] From the same team that brought you Leave it to Beaver, Bob Mosher & Joe Connelly. They also share an Oscar nomination for The Private War of Major Benson.

HAH!
Thank you, I did not know that! (my knowledge of classic television is not great.)

it seems like the writers of THE MUNSTERS took a special relish in SUBVERTING SUUUUUUPER TYPICAL SUBURBAN IMAGES and TROPES of popular sitcoms (they also reference other shows of the era, which i presume were on the same network, GRANDPA actually had MY THREE SONS playing in an episode i watched the other day)- and THE LEAVE IT TO BEAVER house shows up in multiple episodes.

it's a shame it only ran for two seasons- but at the same time, they would have likely run out of ideas at some point unless they were smoking some good s***, which they might well have been.

side note- really and truly though, even if it wasn't funny (which it is) or well acted (which it DEFINITELY is), it would still be worth watching THE MUNSTERS for THE SPECIAL EFFECTS, which are ****ing WILD.

i was watching an episode the other day and BUTCH PATRICK- not a double, it was DEFINITELY him- was SITTING IN THE FIREPLACE with LIT LOGS all around him, holy **** I can't BELIEVE they did that (I bet some kids tried it at home.)

That PURPLE VELVET SUIT and THOSE PROSTHETICS just HAD to be flammable, I seriously DUNNO HOW THEY PULLED IT OFF!!!

The Munsters was broadcast on CBS and filmed at Universal Studios.

Both My Three Sons and Leave it to Beaver were broadcast on CBS and ABC.

CBS carried LITB for the first season, and ABC had it for the rest of the run.
ABC carried MTS through the B&W years (first 5 seasons) and CBS thereafter (in color), starting in September 1965.

Also, both shows were filmed at different studios through their runs.

MTS was filmed at Desilu until Lucille Ball sold Desilu Studios to Paramount/Gulf+Western in late 1967. MTS moved production to CBS Studio Center (formerly Republic Studios) after that.

The first two seasons of LITB were filmed at the old Republic Studios (later CBS Studio Center). They moved production to Universal starting with the 3rd season. This is why the Cleavers move at the start of the 3rd season. The business reason is that LITB was produced, in part, by MCA, before MCA bought Universal. MCA production was at Republic Studios. Once MCA bought Universal, they moved their shows to the larger Universal lot.

So the LITB house shows up because they used the same backlot at Universal.

The MTS reference was probably in the second season of The Munsters, when both shows were on CBS. The networks didn't like promoting another network's show. On the Tonight Show, whenever a guest was promoting an ABC or CBS show, it was typically referred to as running on "another network."

The old CBS Studio Center (Republic Studios) is now just known as the Radford Studio Center. CBS sold the property to a real estate investment company, as they did with CBS Television City. Studio Center was home to a variety of shows like Gunsmoke, Gilligan's Island, and nearly all (if not all) the MTM shows in the 70s and 80s.

[Lorna]

Angel Heart (1987)

Saw on original release. Recalled liking the movie at that time, but no longer remembered why. Thus, decided to watch it again.

The detective has to travel to Louisiana in pursuit of his goal, where he eventually meets a young woman played by Lisa Bonet. As the two become intensely involved with each other the plot thickens (in multiple ways). Bonet does a good job in the picture, but not to the extent that the other two actors do. Because the story takes place in the 50's, and is mostly shot in faded colours, the movie kind of has a black and white feel to it.

large parts of ANGEL HEART were filmed in my home town of WILMINGTON NC, quite a few scenes were shot at a big mansion that's right around the corner from where I live and I am 99.9999% sure that the interiors in HALLOWEEN ENDS (2022) were filmed in their front hallway.

i VIVIDLY RECALL that (at the time) THE NATIONAL ENQUIRER had MULTIPLE STORIES of how SCANDALIZED BILL COSBY was over his TV DAUGHTER LISA BONET'S involvement in this movie.

(snort laughter)

God, I miss bulls*** 1980's tabloid culture that would later prove DEEPLY IRONIC.

[Lorna]

TEXASFILMFANWROTE:

The Munsters was broadcast on CBS and filmed at Universal Studios.

The MY THREE SONS reference was probably in the second season of The Munsters, when both shows were on CBS. The networks didn't like promoting another network's show. On the Tonight Show, whenever a guest was promoting an ABC or CBS show, it was typically referred to as running on "another network."

The old CBS Studio Center (Republic Studios) is now just known as the Radford Studio Center. CBS sold the property to a real estate investment company, as they did with CBS Television City. Studio Center was home to a variety of shows like Gunsmoke, Gilligan's Island, and nearly all (if not all) the MTM shows in the 70s and 80s.
[ endquote]



Indeed, the MY THREE SONS reference is in a SEASON 2 episode.

It may be in the same episode or it may be another- but GRANDPA references a DAYTIME BIOGRAPHY SHOW whose name I don't recall and did not recognize, he then recaps the show's episode he watched and says something along the lines of "two suicides, a long lost twin, three murders and four busted marriages, that show is getting to be kinda dull."

I lived in LA for a time and always wanted to see THE "CBS"/RADFORD studios because I knew the history was RICH and, at the time (early 2000's) a lot of big shows filmed there, but I could never quite find it. I know it's close to THE JERRY'S DELI in STUDIO CITY(?) off VENTURA(...?)

i wanted to see if the GILLIGAN'S ISLAND LAGOON with its PERMACRUST of AIR CRUD FROM THE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY was still there after all these years

NON SEQUITOR: It's been awhile since I've been there, BUT I DO RECALL thinking that if I could only eat at one restaurant for the rest of my life, JERRY'S DELI would be a great option.

[Lorna]

THE MUNSTER MANSION showed up in NUMEROUS episodes of MURDER, SHE WROTE- completely redressed as a quaint suburban home in one of the CABOT COVE WITCH episodes and a sorority house in an episode with DINAH SHORE.

but they weren't fooling anyone.

it will always be THE MUNSTER MANSION.

[Hibi]

THE MUNSTER MANSION showed up in NUMEROUS episodes of MURDER, SHE WROTE- completely redressed as a quaint suburban home in one of the CABOT COVE WITCH episodes and a sorority house in an episode with DINAH SHORE.

but they weren't fooling anyone.

it will always be THE MUNSTER MANSION.

Yes, I wondered about that. Looked very similar!

[txfilmfan]

TEXASFILMFANWROTE:

The Munsters was broadcast on CBS and filmed at Universal Studios.

The MY THREE SONS reference was probably in the second season of The Munsters, when both shows were on CBS. The networks didn't like promoting another network's show. On the Tonight Show, whenever a guest was promoting an ABC or CBS show, it was typically referred to as running on "another network."

The old CBS Studio Center (Republic Studios) is now just known as the Radford Studio Center. CBS sold the property to a real estate investment company, as they did with CBS Television City. Studio Center was home to a variety of shows like Gunsmoke, Gilligan's Island, and nearly all (if not all) the MTM shows in the 70s and 80s.
[ endquote]



Indeed, the MY THREE SONS reference is in a SEASON 2 episode.

It may be in the same episode or it may be another- but GRANDPA references a DAYTIME BIOGRAPHY SHOW whose name I don't recall and did not recognize, he then recaps the show's episode he watched and says something along the lines of "two suicides, a long lost twin, three murders and four busted marriages, that show is getting to be kinda dull."

I lived in LA for a time and always wanted to see THE "CBS"/RADFORD studios because I knew the history was RICH and, at the time (early 2000's) a lot of big shows filmed there, but I could never quite find it. I know it's close to THE JERRY'S DELI in STUDIO CITY(?) off VENTURA(...?)

i wanted to see if the GILLIGAN'S ISLAND LAGOON with its PERMACRUST of AIR CRUD FROM THE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY was still there after all these years

NON SEQUITOR: It's been awhile since I've been there, BUT I DO RECALL thinking that if I could only eat at one restaurant for the rest of my life, JERRY'S DELI would be a great option.

The Republic/CBS Studios/Radford Studios is at Radford and Ventura, where Ventura splits off between Ventura Blvd and Ventura Place, just before you get to Laurel Canyon Blvd going westbound on Ventura. The north side of the property is split by the Los Angeles "River."

The lagoon was paved over long ago. I believe they built a parking garage on top of it. There is a Gilligan's Island Road on the studio lot, though.

Coincidentally, the Brady Bunch house is just a mile to the east, also backing up to the river. That show, however, was filmed at Paramount.

Believe Jerry's Deli has closed for good...

[Lorna]

THE MUNSTER MANSION showed up in NUMEROUS episodes of MURDER, SHE WROTE-

Yes, I wondered about that. Looked very similar!

THE WITCH'S CURSE is the really good episode THE HOUSE features in, where "the ghost" of a witch burned at the stake(?!) in CABOT COVE possibly returns to haunt SETH'S COMMUNITY THEATER PLAY. IT'S the home of ROBERT VAUGHN and his wife- who is played by a woman who looks JUST LIKE JOHN HURT IN DRAG.

EDITED TO ADD: