I Just Watched...

[CinemaInternational]

I feel like I'm running out of films to see, but I was pleasantly surprised today by the 1997 mob movie Donnie Brasco, which might have a very profane script (the language level is off the charts), but it is a remarkably intelligent offering in a genre that was getting pretty hackneyed by this point in the 1990s. Al Pacino is quite good in it, as is Johnny Depp and the late Anne Heche. There is also a very interesting musical score that is nicely understated.

[kingrat]

Jennifer Warren had her moment and then sort of vanished. She had a major role in NIGHT MOVES. She played the mother of a teenage model in BARE ESSENCE, which was briefly a TV series.

[Detective Jim McLeod]

The Great Lie (1941) TCM On Demand-6/10

A concert pianist (Mary Astor) marries a man (George Brent) but it is annulled when it is revealed that she was still legally married to another, she becomes pregnant and he marries his true love (Bette Davis).

First time viewing for me, it was pretty good, worth seeing for the cast and the unusual story. It starts off seeming like a light hearted comedy, but soon descends into soap opera territory. Astor won a supporting actress Oscar for this, it was a showy performance but at first she seemed to be doing a Bette Davis imitation. It was talky and slow at the beginning, not getting into the plot until about 40 minutes in, further complicated by the subplot of Brent being missing in South America. Hattie McDaniel shows up to steal a few scenes as Davis's loyal maid.

[jamesjazzguitar]

I just watched Thirteen Women. Running at 59 minutes, this film was of interest to myself, being an Asian\White half-breed.

Myrna Loy was often a bad girl in pre-code films. She looked very sexy with that make-her-look-somewhat-Asian make-up. Note that there were only 11 gals featured in the film since editing cut out two of them. At least they Irene Dunne remained. The scenes with Loy and Dunne being my favorite.

[Allhallowsday]

I just watched Thirteen Women... The scenes with Loy and Dunne being my favorite.

They'd be my reason to watch... but I missed it.

[Lorna]

Reminds me of Irene Ryan's hairdo...


[/quote]

Damn Granny, serving NANCY AT THE FIRST INAUGURATION VIBES, but BACKLESS!

[Lorna]

I just watched Thirteen Women... The scenes with Loy and Dunne being my favorite.

They'd be my reason to watch... but I missed it.

THIRTEEN WOMEN is sooooooooooooooo disappointing- but, like FREAKS and MARK OF THE VAMPIRE, it was pretty heavily edited (like 20 minutes of footage was cut in all three cases (i think) resulting in each being barely over an hour. even by PRECODE stadards (or lack thereof) one IMAGINES what they cut HAD TO HAVE BEEN pretty SPICY. but who knows?




A LOT OF FOOTAGE from THIRTEEN WOMEN hit the cutting room floor, whether it was any better than what got left in I DEARLY HOPE SO, but in all likelihood, it's gonna remain one of those enticing CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD HORROR MIGHT-HAVE-BEEN stories.

also, of course, there is the whole PEG ENTWHISTLE angle.

as i recall it, the book on which the film was based has a LESBIAN COUPLE included among the titular TITULAR THIRTEEN WOMEN.

[Hibi]

I just watched Thirteen Women... The scenes with Loy and Dunne being my favorite.

They'd be my reason to watch... but I missed it.

THIRTEEN WOMEN is sooooooooooooooo disappointing- but, like FREAKS and MARK OF THE VAMPIRE, it was pretty heavily edited (like 20 minutes of footage was cut in all three cases (i think) resulting in each being barely over an hour. even by PRECODE stadards (or lack thereof) one IMAGINES what they cut HAD TO HAVE BEEN pretty SPICY. but who knows?




A LOT OF FOOTAGE from THIRTEEN WOMEN hit the cutting room floor, whether it was any better than what got left in I DEARLY HOPE SO, but in all likelihood, it's gonna remain one of those enticing CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD HORROR MIGHT-HAVE-BEEN stories.

also, of course, there is the whole PEG ENTWHISTLE angle.

as i recall it, the book on which the film was based has a LESBIAN COUPLE included among the titular TITULAR THIRTEEN WOMEN.

The film wasn't that long to begin with. I don't understand WHY the need to cut it further. They should've changed the title to SIX (or SEVEN) WOMEN.

[kingrat]

To follow up: Holden mentioned that Jennifer Warren had the same finishing school accent as Jane Fonda. Some critics have noted that although Jane Fonda's performance in They Shoot Horses, Don't They? is very good, her finishing school accent is wrong for the part. Later in her career, it's interesting to hear Fonda working to get a standard New York accent in California Suite. In that film and in Julia, where a very attractive Jane Fonda plays a not so attractive Lillian Hellman, you can see the actress at work trying to create a character very different from herself. Neither performance is completely successful, but you can see the wheels turning in a way you can't where Fonda is more exactly cast.

[Allhallowsday]

Paneling madness!!!

[Lorna]

The film wasn't that long to begin with. I don't understand WHY the need to cut it further. They should've changed the title to SIX (or SEVEN) WOMEN.

MGM'S THRILLING NEW SUSPENSE THRILLER: "SIX (OR SEVEN) WOMEN (EIGHT AT THE ABSOLUTE MOST)"
Would have made for a more accurate title, but more work for the marquee and promotional dept.

[Lorna]

Jennifer Warren had her moment and then sort of vanished. She had a major role in NIGHT MOVES. She played the mother of a teenage model in BARE ESSENCE, which was briefly a TV series.

she also showed up on a couple of episodes of...you guessed it MURDER, SHE WROTE. , there's one- a season 10 or 11 CABOT COVE EPISODE called something like MURDER IN PAIRS (it's one of the DARKEST CABOT COVE EPS) and JENNIFER WARREN plays a NUTTY RELIGIOUS PARANOIC who is spying on her neighbors and it's surprising to see an actor investing so much in a later season of MsW when most everyone is on autopilot.

edit- MURDER BY TWOS is the episode.
ps- I really wish the later seasons of MSW were available somewhere at the moment. amazon just has 1-6
PSS- SERIOUSLY. WHERE THE **** IS KATE MIDDLETON YOU GUYS????????????? IM SORRY I KNOW IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ANYTHING, BUT WHAT THE HELL YOU GUYS? IF SHE'S OKAY ENOUGH TO BE OUT SKIPPING LIKE A GAZELLE THROUGH A WINDSOR WHOLE FOODS, SHE CAN DO A 20 SECOND VIDEO!!!!!

[kingrat]

Since we've been posting lists of 1981 films in CinemaInternational's thread, I've had occasion to recall, from the deepest repressed memories, Tarzan the Ape Man (1981), starring Miles O'Keeffe. If you've seen the movie, and God bless you if you have, you may recall that he doesn't speak. According to acquaintances who said they had seen and heard him in the bars in New York, he had a high-pitched voice that seemed to contradict his manly physique.

If you check out his list of acting credits on imdb, the average ratings are hilariously low, with the exception of--wait for it, you know what it has to be--an episode of--what else????--MURDER SHE WROTE.

[Lorna]

Since we've been posting lists of 1981 films in CinemaInternational's thread, I've had occasion to recall, from the deepest repressed memories, Tarzan the Ape Man (1981), starring Miles O'Keeffe. If you've seen the movie, and God bless you if you have, you may recall that he doesn't speak. According to acquaintances who said they had seen and heard him in the bars in New York, he had a high-pitched voice that seemed to contradict his manly physique.

If you check out his list of acting credits on imdb, the average ratings are hilariously low, with the exception of--wait for it, you know what it has to be--an episode of--what else????--MURDER SHE WROTE.

aH YES, MURDER SHE WROTE- the BRIGHT SHINING ORB at the CENTRE OF OUR LITTLE UNIVERSE!!!!!

Just some notes on MILES O'KEEFE:



1. He actually plays a REALLY EFFECTIVE and DEADLY HANDSOME COUNT DRACULA in the 1988 film WAXWORK. That sequence is the arguable highlight of the film- won't post any clips here though because it's pretty graphic

2. one of the ATOR movies in which he appeared was spoofed on MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 and- as I recall it- he wrote the gang a letter to tell them how much he LOVED their treatment of the film and his performance and I think something of a friendship evolved- they were effusive in their praise of him as a person in THE AMAZING COLLOSSAL EPISODE GUIDE published in 1996. . ATOR: THE FLYING EAGLE has since been done by RIFFTRAX and it's pretty funny...and a remarkably bad film as well.

[Lorna]

i tried rewatching THIRTEEN WOMEN last night and couldn't make it much more than 30 minutes in, DAMN if it ain't a LOooooooNG 56 MINUTES.



It's so bad, and MYRNA LOY is SOOO BAD in it (although she LOOKS FABULOUS), and I will say, she seems to absolutely come alive when her character trash-talks IRENE DUNNE (who is apparently her least favorite of the "13" women, guess she borrowed her eyeliner and didn't give it back one time...?)

it just seems PERSONAL, I half expected MYRNA to start in with "she's really 38, you know; and did you see SHOWBOAT? What the HELL is the deal with her SINGING????"

MYRNA LOY'S character just doesn't scream "sorority girl" at any point in the film, nor does her blackballing from DELTA KAPPA EPSILON seem like enough of a motive for multiple, highly staged elaborate murders- almost all of which seem to hinge on incredible luck and coincidence.

(I know SHOWBOAT came out after THIRTEEN WOMEN, allow me the liberty for the joke.)

MYRNA LOY- to her credit- actually does a great job playing an even more awful ASIAN STEREOTYPE in THE MASK OF FU MANCHU- can't recall if that came before or after THIRTEEN WOMEN.

FROM IMDB:
There were only eleven actresses in the movie, not thirteen. Scenes involving the remaining two, Phyllis Fraser and Betty Furness, ended up on the cutting room floor. Several other roles also were telescoped in the editing process when the film was shortened from its original 73 minutes to 59 minutes for theatrical release.-

HOW GREAT WOULD IT HAVE BEEN TO SEE A SEQUENCE WHERE BETTY FURNESS IS KILLED BY HER NEW WESTINGHOUSE WASHER AND DRYER SET??????