Joel McCrea: May Star of the Month on TCM

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JackFavell
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Re: Joel McCrea: May Star of the Month on TCM

Post by JackFavell »

ditto, Lynn! You said it all.
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Sue Sue Applegate
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Re: Joel McCrea: May Star of the Month on TCM

Post by Sue Sue Applegate »

Lynn, I thoroughly enjoyed Joel McCrea's Star of the Month stint, too. Thanks to TCMProgrammr, Robert Osborne, and the wonderful staff at TCM for such a delightful SOTM series.

You are appreciated!
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mrsl
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Revisit to Foreign Correspondent

Post by mrsl »

.
I know we have discussed this movie before but I cannot find where. It was mentioned in the thread for Joel McCrea's SOTM, but I thought it was more involved than just a line or two.

Anyway, I DVR'd this early in the a.m. and watched it happily early this morning. I haven't yet tired of this movie, after Stars in my Crown, it's one of my favorite Joel McCrea films. His consternation at trying to find something to write about when he first gets to London is amusing and his ultimate involvement in a major spy ring when he takes forever to learn what is going on around him is a page turner.

Accepting my favorite Santa Claus and leprechaun, Edmund Gwenn as a murderer is hard to do, but in his short part, he displays some real menace.

Also, how could anyone ever get bored with seeing that fantastic plane crash made with only camera and stop action as Hitchcock explained in his bio. I feel the water gushing in, and the pilots' fear as the ocean comes closer and closer.

The only thing I find fault with is how Joel and Lorraine Day supposedly fall in love after three meetings where she is cussing him out most of the time. Other than that, if I was trying to interest someone in Hitchcock, this is the movie I would start them with. It's not as deep and involved as something like Marnie, but not as life lasting frightening as Psycho. Some people still hate to take showers.
Anne


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RedRiver
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Re: Joel McCrea: May Star of the Month on TCM

Post by RedRiver »

A deliciously exciting movie. The crashing and smashing is more intense without the technology that would be employed today. It's dramatic.
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mrsl
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Revisit to Foreign Correspondent

Post by mrsl »

.
Just one last word on this movie. I think the reason the crash is so dramatic and unforgettable as opposed to, for instance the crashes in more recent movies such as Airport, Con Air, etc., is that those movies do not show the crash from the pilot's view. Today's movies show the fear on the passengers faces, and the preparation for the crash landing, and it shows the airplane itself with whatever damage has been done. However, none of todays' movies show the actual crash from inside the plane with the water rising up and engulfing the cabin, as Hitch does in Foreign Correspondent. I have to admit I like the storyline, but I never miss the crash - that alone is worth watching the movie if you're not a classic movie fan who enjoys the complexities of decent actors, cameramen, and directors. The problem is that today's movie people rely too much on technical aids and not on their own sense of adventure or imagination.
.
Anne


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RedRiver
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Re: Joel McCrea: May Star of the Month on TCM

Post by RedRiver »

That's an exceptionally good point, Mrs. L. Point of view makes all the difference. And wasn't it just like Hitchcock to see that! I can just see his crafty little mind at work. I rented CON-AIR specifically to see the crash scene. I thought, If the rest of the movie is even tolerable, it will be worth it for the crash. Wrong on both counts! Neither the crash nor the rest was exciting. This was simply an earlier stage of what's so common today. Bigger, louder, less focused.
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Re: Joel McCrea: May Star of the Month on TCM

Post by movieman1957 »

After 18 months sitting in my folder I finally got around to "Shoot First." (It was a bad day so I figured McCrea is the man.)

The last nonwestern film McCrea made is an English espionage picture set in the countryside in the years after WWII. He pays an Army officer renting a place. One day he believes he has accidentally killed a poacher. The man he killed turns out to be something quite different. So, he gets dragged into some undercover activity and for a while isn't sure whether he believes the people who have come to call on him.

The plot is a little confusing, by design I'm sure, just to keep you being not quite sure. It's not great but it will do. It is interesting to see McCrea at this stage in his life in anything other than a cowboy outfit. Evelyn Keyes plays his wife who seems at first to rather enjoy being all caught up in this mess.

If you get a chance you might want to check it out. Lord, knows if they ever show it again that may well be the last time.
Chris

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JackFavell
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Re: Joel McCrea: May Star of the Month on TCM

Post by JackFavell »

I like Shoot First, it's certainly not bad, but it's no great shakes either. Can drag a little if you aren't in the mood.
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Re: Joel McCrea: May Star of the Month on TCM

Post by movieman1957 »

"The Richest Girl In The World" stars Joel along with Miriam Hopkins and Fay Wray. It is a now cliche story of young very rich woman posing as secretary to Fay Wray's posing as the rich girl. This is all to see if Hopkins can find anyone to love her for who she is rather than her money.

It is a pleasant film but it is not going to tire you out making you laugh. The stars really are the best part of it. McCrea and Hopkins are fine together.

The ending comes a little abruptly after McCrea finds out what is really going on. Of course, it works out. They always do.

If you look up the film on imdb you will find an old review written by our own Fernando. (He liked the film.) I do too but don't come in looking for a lot though.
Chris

"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana."
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Re: Joel McCrea: May Star of the Month on TCM

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The Princess and the Pauper?
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JackFavell
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Re: Joel McCrea: May Star of the Month on TCM

Post by JackFavell »

I saw part of that one before and thought it was fun. I don't think it's Shakespeare or anything, but if you like thirties comedies, this one is pretty good, as you say, because of the actors. I enjoyed it.
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Re: Joel McCrea: May Star of the Month on TCM

Post by movieman1957 »

Red, that is about it.

Wendy, I'm still working almost two years behind on my SOTM recordings for Joel. If I live long enough.....
Chris

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JackFavell
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Re: Joel McCrea: May Star of the Month on TCM

Post by JackFavell »

Don't feel bad, at least you are watching yours. Mine are in the cupboard gathering dust... haven't even gotten to them. By the time I do, TCM will have shown them all over again.
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movieman1957
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Re: Joel McCrea: May Star of the Month on TCM

Post by movieman1957 »

During a night of insomnia I found Joel McCrea's "Mustang Country."

What do you get when you cross Marty Stouffer's "Wild America" with "Wonderful World of Disney"? Yep, "Mustang Country."

McCrea is out trying to catch this beautiful mustang that has a bounty on it. Along the way he meets up with a young Indian who has run away from home. Tender relationship ensues. (For some reason the film says it is set in 1925 but you'd never know it from anything in the film. You'd think it was 1976 if they had not mentioned it.) Apart from an early and short appearance from Patrick Wayne and Robert Fuller it is nearly all McCrea and his young friend.

Not much goes on here. The boy can't stand life at school and McCrea feels odd living with his married daughter and family. Being a couple of misfits they naturally take to each other. And of course looking for the horse. I had the impression that McCrea was bored and took the movie for something to do. Get outside and work for a while. It certainly wasn't taxing or in any way deep.

Unless you really need to see another McCrea film or have insomnia you might just let this one go.
Chris

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Re: Joel McCrea: May Star of the Month on TCM

Post by movieman1957 »

"Bird of Paradise" is, I'd like to think, a pun on Delores Del Rio and her star turn in this South Sea Island drama. Co starring a frequently shirtless Joel McCrea the film follows their escapades when McCrea drops off of his boat in hot pursuit of Del Rio.

Lavishly produced with an enormous cast of extras and manages to be provocative while ending up as little more than "Blue Lagoon" for adults. Lots of tribal dancing and ritual take up too much time for my taste, even with Del RIo dancing around with only a well tied down lai between her and the censors. (There is a nude swimming scene and I'm not sure whether she or Maureen O'Sullivan was first.)

Basically the story comes down to Del Rio's is the chief's daughter and he does not approve of McCrea. The steal away together only to be captured by rivals on a different island. They manage to escape that and set up house near her home island. Later Dad's troops come to get her and bring her home for sacrifice to the local volcano that has been acting up and scaring the locals.

It sounds flip but is done with a great deal of seriousness. Del Rio and McCrea do well and are both easy to like. The production values are first rate and good use of scenery and location is made.

Not one I'll probably revisit but I'm always happy to find a McCrea film I haven't seen.
Chris

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