I Just Watched...

[laffite]

Speaking of what one may be watching, I have been paying Netflix DVD $57 a month for 8-at-time for over the last couple of pay periods in order to take advantage what they have to offer, which is considerable, and the availability of which will end on Sep 29. Mostly foreign films, a real gold mine. They have much much more than the usual classics we hear about over and over. I have posted about a couple already. I am making a list but do not plan full postings on them, but I may by and by list some of them with perhaps a short paragraph about each looking for any reactions from the group who have seen them. It's a great inventory that will be lost forever (at this level of availability and convenience) and many of the movies may be hard to get. The streaming services are woefully inadequate in comparison (esp foreign), at least as I have seen, though I do not subscribe to all of them and do not therefore know the full extent of their inventories. I am taking full advantage of Netflix DVD as I can.

Note: Netflix DVD has announced that they will send at least 10 extra DVD (from the queue) on the last day of shipping (Sep29) and that it may be possible to keep some of them. Otherwise, all DVDs must be returned by Oct 27. How this will actually work is not clear (says Netflix) but they are working on it. It was revealed also that Netllix has not yet decided what to do wih the remains of their considerable inventory of films. All this according my best knowledge to date.

[Swithin]

Speaking of what one may be watching, I have been paying Netflix DVD $57 a month for 8-at-time for over the last couple of pay periods in order to take advantage what they have to offer, which is considerable, and the availability of which will end on Sep 29. Mostly foreign films, a real gold mine. They have much much more than the usual classics we hear about over and over. I have posted about a couple already. I am making a list but do not plan full postings on them, but I may by and by list some of them with perhaps a short paragraph about each looking for any reactions from the group who have seen them. It's a great inventory that will be lost forever (at this level of availability and convenience) and many of the movies may be hard to get. The streaming services are woefully inadequate in comparison (esp foreign), at least as I have seen, though I do not subscribe to all of them and do not therefore know the full extent of their inventories. I am taking full advantage of Netflix DVD as I can.

Note: Netflix DVD has announced that they will send at least 10 extra DVD (from the queue) on the last day of shipping (Sep29) and that it may be possible to keep some of them. Otherwise, all DVDs must be returned by Oct 27. How this will actually work is not clear (says Netflix) but they are working on it. It was revealed also that Netllix has not yet decided what to do wih the remains of their considerable inventory of films. All this according my best knowledge to date.

I wish they would make some of the films you mention available on their streaming service. Netflix came free with T-Mobile when I switched to that service. I enjoyed many of the films/series -- particularly Babylon Berlin, Peaky Blinders, and The Crown -- but now I can't find anything to watch. The Crown will be back soon, but where is the new season of Babylon Berlin? There have been a few interesting films, but not many.

[Grumpytoad]

The Safecracker(1958) is one worth watching. Is it a great film? Nope. A pretty good one. Yep.

The structure of the movie is a bit different. It's basically two very different and separate stories linked by a single character.

The first story is about a safecracker(surprise surprise). It's a pretty typical plot, nothing exceptional. I won't describe the second story because it would take away from the novelty of the whole thing if you have not heard of or seen it before. Suffice it to say that it's the better of the two plots in my opinion.

Ray Milland is the safecracker and link driving the movie. Thought he was really good, save for one small scene where he couldn't quite pull off a certain attitude called for. It's a minor fault.

Jeanette Sterke plays what I would call a humble heroine in the second story. She comes across as a warm yet weary woman. Well done.

The rest of the male cast members were all known British character actors from what I can determine. Need to mention two of them in particular.

Barry Jones appears in the first story as a man willing to break the law, but not suffer the consequences.
He also played the part of Mr. Lundie in the movie Brigadoon, one of my all time favourite movie characters.

Bernard Fox as one of Milland's compatriots in the second story. It's not a big role, but he does a decent job with it. I mention Fox in particular because he featured in a couple of 60's tv comedies in America when I was a child. I really didn't enjoy those characters, actually found them irritating. Too silly, even for a little boy.
Even so, I just found out he was in Titanic (1997). Having never seen that film, I hope it was a good role for him.

To wrap things up here, I should mention The Safecracker has some unexpected light humour at times, and it's well placed.

[Grumpytoad]

THE THREE MUSKETEERS (1973) on TCM this afternoon. one of RICHARD LESTER's best.

Huge favourite of mine. It has always seemed to me that the cast was having a real blast performing in it.

[Allhallowsday]

TILL (2022) I finally got to see all of it. Tears ran down my face. The script was superior, particularly dramatizing the candy store incident. They made it what it must have been. An expected charmer flattering a pretty lady, quite innocently. That story alone has been practically turned into smut by history and word of mouth. Powerful performances.

[kingrat]

I've watched a handful of films since it, but I found 1939's King of the Underworld to be a surprising B-movie since Bogart, billed solely above the title is actually the main support, and its actually a Kay Francis film! It must have irked her to be billed under the title, and this was soon after the notorious "box office pois on" article.

Otherwise recently, I've been watching a lot of old Columbia B-movies from the 30s and 40s. I think 1934's The Defense Rests was one of the best of them.

WB actually made a point in their publicity that Kay Francis wasn't getting top billing. She was difficult to deal with, and when her films stopped making money, the studios were glad to ease her out. Francis liked the fact that she was given lesser male co-stars at WB, as opposed to Paramount, so that the film could be hers. This is short-sighted, of course.

[Allhallowsday]

...THE THREE MUSKETEERS (1973)...
... Huge favourite of mine. It has always seemed to me that the cast was having a real blast performing in it.

And then they sued the Producer, having been paid for one movie, not two... and changed the rules.

[BagelOnAPlate]

...THE THREE MUSKETEERS (1973)...
... Huge favourite of mine. It has always seemed to me that the cast was having a real blast performing in it.

And then they sued the Producer, having been paid for one movie, not two... and changed the rules.

Yes, and this led to the Screen Actors Guild including what came to be known as a "Salkind clause" in actors' contracts.
Named after Alexander, Ilya, and Michael Salkin (the producers of The Three Musketeers and The Four Musketeers), the clause requires producers to state how many movies are being produced during a shoot and requires that actors be paid for each movie even if the decision to release multiple movies is made after the shoot is completed.

[Cinemaspeak59]

Dames (1934) Oh, those WB depression-era musicals. Hugh Herbert plays Ezra Ounce, a prude, super rich, who uses his wealth to create a movement called The Elevation of American Morals. Since he’s in New York City, heavy lifting is required. Standing in the way are Joan Blondell, Dick Powell, and Ruby Keeler, who plan a Broadway show, the kind of thing Mr. Ounce hates. A lot of fun, and very funny.

[jamesjazzguitar]

Dames (1934) Oh, those WB depression-era musicals. Hugh Herbert plays Ezra Ounce, a prude, super rich, who uses his wealth to create a movement called The Elevation of American Morals. Since he’s in New York City, heavy lifting is required. Standing in the way are Joan Blondell, Dick Powell, and Ruby Keeler, who plan a Broadway show, the kind of thing Mr. Ounce hates. A lot of fun, and very funny.

Dames was the last of 3 films featuring Blondell, Powell and Keeler, with Gold Diggers of 1933, followed by Footlight Parade. All 3 films were released within 15 months. All 3 films are highly entertaining.

PS: Dames doesn't have a high-profile male lead unlike the other two; Gold Diggers of 1933 with Waren William, and Footlight Parade with James Cagney.

[kingrat]

Dames (1934) Oh, those WB depression-era musicals. Hugh Herbert plays Ezra Ounce, a prude, super rich, who uses his wealth to create a movement called The Elevation of American Morals. Since he’s in New York City, heavy lifting is required. Standing in the way are Joan Blondell, Dick Powell, and Ruby Keeler, who plan a Broadway show, the kind of thing Mr. Ounce hates. A lot of fun, and very funny.

DAMES is my favorite Busby Berkeley musical. I believe you're right about its having a plot, but the surreal dance numbers are so mind-boggling that I never notice.

[Bronxgirl48]

The Safecracker(1958) is one worth watching. Is it a great film? Nope. A pretty good one. Yep.

The structure of the movie is a bit different. It's basically two very different and separate stories linked by a single character.

The first story is about a safecracker(surprise surprise). It's a pretty typical plot, nothing exceptional. I won't describe the second story because it would take away from the novelty of the whole thing if you have not heard of or seen it before. Suffice it to say that it's the better of the two plots in my opinion.

Ray Milland is the safecracker and link driving the movie. Thought he was really good, save for one small scene where he couldn't quite pull off a certain attitude called for. It's a minor fault.

Jeanette Sterke plays what I would call a humble heroine in the second story. She comes across as a warm yet weary woman. Well done.

The rest of the male cast members were all known British character actors from what I can determine. Need to mention two of them in particular.

Barry Jones appears in the first story as a man willing to break the law, but not suffer the consequences.
He also played the part of Mr. Lundie in the movie Brigadoon, one of my all time favourite movie characters.

Bernard Fox as one of Milland's compatriots in the second story. It's not a big role, but he does a decent job with it. I mention Fox in particular because he featured in a couple of 60's tv comedies in America when I was a child. I really didn't enjoy those characters, actually found them irritating. Too silly, even for a little boy.
Even so, I just found out he was in Titanic (1997). Having never seen that film, I hope it was a good role for him.

To wrap things up here, I should mention The Safecracker has some unexpected light humour at times, and it's well placed.

"Calling Dr. Bombay, come right away!" (I'm still a Bewitched fan, lol)

Seriously though, I also love Barry Jones as Mr. Lundie in BRIGADOON -- he represents and beautifully articulates the heart of its timeless story.

[Detective Jim McLeod]

Paper Lion (1968) TCM- 6/10

Writer George Plimpton (Alan Alda) wants to write about football by trying out as quarterback in the Detroit Lions training camp.

I had seen this before, but not in many years. It was a fairly entertaining film though it helps if you are a football fan (which I am, Go Giants!) Alda gives a good performance and his interactions with the real life players are some of the best moments. The final scene where Plimpton gets to run a few plays in a pre season game goes on a bit long but when Plimpton joins in, it is amusing and pretty realistic.

Some interesting trivia on this- In an interview many years later, Alda said he learned to throw the ball 50 yards and connect with a receiver, however he could only do it once and would spend all night with his arm being iced. Alda become friends with Alex Karras, one of the real life Detroit Lions in the film. Karras would later reunite with Alda with a guest role on M*A*S*H.
As for the real life Plimpton, he would later do a TV special where he played quarterback for the Baltimore Colts in a pre season game for a couple of plays. The opponent was the Detroit Lions and Alex Karras was playing defense. In one play Karras smacked Plimpton on the side of his helmet. He was penalized 15 yards so Plimpton was actually able to gain yardage for the only time.
EDIT- I just watched that Plimpton special on Youtube again and my memory was off (52 years since I have seen it!) it was another player who committed the foul, not Karras.

[Allhallowsday]

SINCE YOU WENT AWAY (1944) I love this movie and have seen it numerous times. Nonetheless, it's sexist, predictable with lots of tropes and corny, corny, corny. HATTIE McDANIEL as wise but unschooled Fidelia is the most entertaining, pegged in her part as always.

[Allhallowsday]

THE ANGEL WORE RED (1960) Interesting, but not great, I love both AVA GARDENER and DIRK BOGARDE, I had to watch. I was surprised to see VITTORIO DE SICA who I hadn't realized acted as well; He seems all wrong for the part. Implausible and with spotty acting, I think if I get the chance to look at this again, I will.