BLACK TUESDAY ON TCM

[CineMaven]

<< Moriafinnie writes: >>

"Besides, that poster alone makes this one worth a look. Hope it's not a case of the art work in the poster being more engaging than the flick.” -

I watched this film Moira. The poster was better. I was shocked to see Michael Shayne and Lyle Talbot in it. And when one of the bad guys gets gunned down inside his car, the actor looked dead into the camera b'4 he drops. Oh brother!! But I love "B" movies.

"...Except for that whacky hallucination about killing her stepdaughter (the gloriously beautiful, under-utilized Geraldine Brooks), most of the rest of the movie is not my cup of warmed over tea. But heck, give Ms. Crawford a hand--she was great in those beginning moments.”

Funny, when I see Geraldine Brooks, I always remember her as the person who paralyzed Raymond Burr in his tv show, “Ironsides.” Now me, I liked the hallucination scene. And Joan’s wandering (those early morning L.A. shots) made me think of Bogie in “In A Lonely Place” for some reason. But I enjoyed Joan through out. She was unbalanced and the love affair ending didn’t help her case. I liked that she seemed like she just...couldn’t...help...herself. Poor lady. And since I've gained a very new and recent appreciation for Van Heflin, I have to say I liked the film from beginning to sad end. (My luck...three Van Heflin films that day and he's different in each one).

”I was busy when The Big Sleep was on, but to tell you the truth, following the plot has never helped me understand that movie.”

I’ve given up on following the plot fifteen viewings ago. Now, I just go along for the ride on the Bogie/Bacall Express.

”The only reason to watch it might be seeing Louis Jean Heydt and John Ridgely get a break and a few more lines than usual in their appearances.”

Ha! You got a chuckle out of me with that. They were ubiquitous and always when I spot them in films I notice. It’s like a “Where’s Waldo” moment for me. I love the music for when Canino gets shot and his backward stagger into eternity. And say, where'd the lovely Peggy Knudsen disappear to???????

"My favorite moment is when she's singing and he is led into the room by a short skirted cutie and there is such a look exchanged between Lauren Bacall and Bogart. It's funny and real.”

No doubt they had chemistry, didn’t they. I know that scene you speak of. For me, Bogie leaning against the door with that dark suit, and hand in his pocket. Handsome. Throughout the whole movie, it looks like they took great pains to show that women were attracted to him. He has mini-encounters with cab drivers, hat check girls, cigarette girls and (whew!) Dorothy Malone. Funny...she went the opposite of Joan Bennett in hair color. Being a blonde I think gained her a couple more showbiz years.

As for Bogie and Bacall (again) I absolutely wait the entire movie for the last look they give each other that ends the film.

For me, Tuesday was a grand line-up. It was one of the highlights of my TCM year along with Karloff's Day and Gloria Grahame Day. I’ve never seen “Johnny Eager” in its entirety until Tuesday. I was shocked at how cold Robert Taylor was and how it fit him so. (Could this be the same dewy love sick Armand Duvall???) His hard handsome look and steely voice was done very well. I can’t quite describe it, but Taylor has a very distinctive voice. He played a rotten trick on Lana (who utterly looked like beautiful cotton candy) and then she couldn’t quite recover from it. I hadn’t expected that plot twist. Loved Edward Arnold ("Thief!") What I also hadn’t expected was Van Heflin’s performance. He was never my cup o’ tea...but now I can see why he won an Academy Award. He was touching, he was the conscience. I loved his performance as the alcoholic friend who really loved his cold-hearted pal.

”DARK PASSAGE” has a strange wonderful affect and effect for me. Not a noir, nor a detective story...character-driven. Bogie’s hairdo gives me pause, but that’s another story...For me, the whole movie belongs to Agnes Moorhead anyway. Ooooh, she's hatefully wonderful: ("You need evidence. You need me!!!")

One more comment on Tuesday’s line-up...I wasn’t crazy about watching “Cast A Dark Shadow.” I annoyedly thought: "what's this doin' here?!!" In fact, I put it on a separate tape just in case I wouldn’t like it. All I could hope for was that it wasn’t a costume drama. I was a tad disappointed when I saw Margaret Lockwood not quite looking her Brunette Joan Bennett-ish (but this film was made in 1955). Dirk Bogarde’s a bit too effete for my taste but he did a great job as a purveyor of older women. Well...I’m here to tell ya I was SO wrong about this movie and my dumb ol’ pre-conceived notions. Lockwood was great. She was loud and raucous and lively and knew exactly what she wanted of and from Dirk and she didn't fear him. Dirk did well: a little nervous, always wringing his hands, a touch of the Mama’s Boy. Oily, slimy. Handsome though. The plot unfolded nicely engaging me all the way (especially when I saw it was not a costume drama).

But I’ve got to tell you...through it all, there was one DIAMOND I found in “Cast A Dark Shadow.” It’s been a long time since someone made me sit up and take notice. KAY WALSH!! Okay okay so I may be late to her party...some of you out there are already saying: "Oh...her! You're no maven if you don't know her.” (Hey, what can I say, I can't know EVERYbody). She was mature, intelligent, beautiful. Her character looked evil straight in the face and (though afraid) wouldn’t leave. On second thought maybe she wasn’t so afraid when she found out Evil’s weakness. I thought Kay Walsh was the best thing about this movie.

I’m so glad I watched and recorded it. Whew! That was a close call. That’ll learn me not to keep an open-mind. I’ll re-post this over at TCM City after the holidays. No sense depriving them of my Maven-thoughts.

[MissGoddess]

Wow, I enjoyed reading your thoughts on "Black Tuesday" more than the movies, T-Mave!

I will add that I like BOTH of Joanie's Possessed movies. The first one with that gorgeous Clark Gable---not a
very good movie but WHO CARES if Clark is around? The one that aired Tuesday is a much better film and I
find it rather interesting that Van Heflin's character---to me, at least---is played as rather a heel. He has
such a genial aura most of the time that I was rather taken aback at his harshness toward Joan (after all
they were involved and he shrugged her off quite nastily, I thought---even if she was being pathetic.) It
gave me the feeling he was after "bigger game" and Geraldine Brooks was what his doctor ordered: young,
blind about him and rich. Didn't he even admit as much?

I wonder, are we to believe Joan was crazy from the start or that heartbreak sends her round the bend?

Still, she had an awfully nice husband...yet she craved the one who treated her like ice.

The early scenes when she's wandering the streets are very affecting and chilling.

[srowley75]

DARK PASSAGE, though awfully stagy at times, isn't quite like any other noir I've seen. Quick plastic surgery for $200--of course, Bogey ended up looking older, but then he also looked like Bogey. Loved Houseley Stevenson as the doctor. I wish we'd seen a bit more of Agnes as seductress--a welcome change of role. In fact, more of Agnes generally would have been a plus.

Enjoyed the location photography in San Francisco, and wasn't that the same area near the Golden Gate Bridge where James Stewart rescues Kim Novak in VERTIGO?

I consider Dark Passage one of those films that truly fits the definition of "guilty pleasure." I don't think the story could be any more ludicrous, yet I find myself being drawn in by the performers.

But then the films of Delmer Daves always entertain even if they're not artistic triumphs.

[CineMaven]

Artistic Triumphs vs Entertainment. As a budding filmmaker, I'll go with entertainment any time. I hope to have something to say as a director, but I really do hope audiences enjoy my work.

Hi MissGoddess...I forgot about the previous time Crawford was "Possessed." Young Gable?? <sigh!> In Heflin's "Possessed" I thought he tried to break it off with Joan kind of easy in the beginning. When she kept after him, or tried to act like she didn't care...badly, Heflin's actions seemed to turn taunting and ugly. The daughter also went after Heflin...but he didn't seem to mind.

I felt sorry for Joan throughout. 'The Girl Can't Help It' I guess. I think she was unhinged from the start and this break-up exacerbated a "pre-existing condition." (ha!)

---

Here is Daves' filmography. The films in BOLD are ones I enjoyed either as artistic, entertaining or guilty pleasured. Ummmm, that'd be "Susan Slade" and "Youngblood Hawke."

P.S. Thank you for the compliment MissG.

DELMER DAVES:

The Battle of the Villa Fiorita (1965)
... aka Affair at the Villa Fiorita
Youngblood Hawke (1964)
Spencer's Mountain (1963)
Rome Adventure (1962)
... aka Lovers Must Learn
Susan Slade (1961)
Parrish (1961)

A Summer Place (1959)
The Hanging Tree (1959)
The Badlanders (1958)
Kings Go Forth (1958)
Cowboy (1958)
3:10 to Yuma (1957)
The Last Wagon (1956)
Jubal (1956)
Drum Beat (1954/I)
... aka Delmer Daves' Drum Beat (USA: complete title)
Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954)
Never Let Me Go (1953)
Treasure of the Golden Condor (1953)
Return of the Texan (1952)
Bird of Paradise (1951)
Broken Arrow (1950)

Task Force (1949)
A Kiss in the Dark (1949)
To the Victor (1948)
Dark Passage (1947)
The Red House (1947)
... aka No Trespassing
Pride of the Marines (1945)
... aka Forever in Love (UK)
Hollywood Canteen (1944)
The Very Thought of You (1944)
Destination Tokyo (1943)

[moira finnie]

Our sometimes quirky search engine on this site doesn't seem to be able to find it readily, but we do have an extensive thread devoted to the talented Delmer Daves here.

[srowley75]

Here is Daves' filmography. The films in BOLD are ones I enjoyed either as artistic, entertaining or guilty pleasured. Ummmm, that'd be "Susan Slade" and "Youngblood Hawke."

Just watched Parrish last night and enjoyed it immensely, though the ending...hmph. I won't spoil anything, but if you get to see it, you'll have to let me know what you think.

I'm in the middle of Susan Slade right now and I'll probably view Youngblood Hawke later this evening.

I will add that I like BOTH of Joanie's Possessed movies.

I used to feel the same way, then I viewed Possessed '31 for a review I wrote recently and I wasn't all that impressed with it. Crawford gives a good performance, but I think since my first viewing of this film, I've seen one too many subsequent precoders that trod this same worn path - and did it better, IMO.

Regarding the second Possessed, I've always thought it a very realistic movie, speaking purely in terms of the torture Joan's character endures because of her obsession with a man (and that man's rejection and subsequent scorn and disrespect for her). I don't believe I've ever hated Heflin more than in this film. He doesn't just spurn her, he enjoys making a fool of this woman. I'm not surprised Bette Davis turned this role down - I could easily see her having difficulty identifying with a character like this. Alternately, I think the role fit well with Joan's on and off-screen personas - she had only two years earlier played a woman who seemed like a doormat for every loser who came her way.


-Stephen

[CineMaven]

”I'm in the middle of Susan Slade right now and I'll probably view Youngblood Hawke later this evening.” - << srowley75 >>

Ooooh, lucky you. I haven’t seen ”Youngblood Hawke” in ages. It's one of my favorite sixties movies mainly b'cuz of Suzanne Pleshette. I’d love to see it again.

---

”Our sometimes quirky search engine on this site doesn't seem to be able to find it readily, but we do have an extensive thread devoted to the talented Delmer Daves here.” - << moirafinnie >>

Thank you for citing that Moira. I skimmed a little of it. I must save that for a nice leisurely read. Thank you.

---

”Kay Walsh, by the way, is the wife David Lean dumped for Ann Todd.” - << kingrat >>

Yes, I read up on her and knew that. In fact, she has said she is very lucky to have survived being in love with Mr. Lean.

---

”Not to mention the abject picture of unrequited love presented by Van Heflin. Mervyn LeRoy directs some of Heflin's big moments as love scenes--the scene where Robert Taylor hits him; the scene where Heflin gazes us through the open car window; and the final scene.” - << kingrat >>

You phrased that very nicely. I sensed an undercurrent.

[jdb1]

THE BIG CLOCK seemed pretty remote from the Kevin Costner film NO WAY OUT, supposedly based on it. An enjoyable film. However, though Charles Laughton, well cast as the publisher, always has screen presence, to me his performance was way, way, way over the top. His line reading of "Steve, I just killed someone" actually made me laugh out loud, probably not what the writers intended.

One of my favorite movies. And I don't know about that -- that Laughton was not supposed to be seen as ridiculous. The studied disingenuousness of his attitude toward his righthand man when he asks for help seems played for its irony. It wouldn't have been out of place for Steve to laugh at him. We are given the implication, as the story progresses, that either one of them would betray the other if cornered, and that their loyalties are based entirely on self-interest. The loyal Steve has many undercurrents, and is portrayed as not all that trustworthy. The same is true of Milland's character, who is hardly a Boy Scout. In the novel, betrayal is the pervasive theme, and Milland's character is even more of a perfidious snake.

[RedRiver]

I dug up this thread from 2009, not in reference to the program of that day, but because of something I've just learned. There was a movie called BLACK TUESDAY? Edward G. as a death row inmate who escapes just before the witching hour? Holy Hangman! Why haven't I seen this movie? Somebody call Dewey. Stat!

Eddie and another guest of the state bust out together and go after some hidden loot. Something like that. What amazes me is that I've never heard of this one. It sounds right up my dark alley! I discovered it while searching for a silly movie about giant grasshoppers attacking Chicago. I remembered Peter Graves was in it. He was also in BLACK TUESDAY. Hence, my new-found awareness.

The Chicago Grasshoppers? BEGINNING OF THE END! A Bert I. Gordon project. I have a feeling the Robinson film is better!

[MissGoddess]

"Guest of the state", ha! I like that.