I set up a challenge for myself Ro and hoping you won’t mind. I wanted to see if I could cite examples for all the categories given for your thread in one fell swoop. ( Ack! I failed miserably ) but I gave it the good ol’ college try. And considering how long it took me to get my Bachelor’s...I finished this in a reasonable amount of time. So, divided, sub-divided, sub-headed and beheadings...this is what I came up with:
( #1. ) TOO GOOD FOR THIS WORLD: YOUNG INNOCENTS
THE BABY in “PENNY SERENADE”
Cary Grant and
Irene Dunne
After Dunne suffers a miscarriage during a Japanese earthquake, she and Grant adopt a baby. They’re in danger of losing the baby and go to court where Grant pleads their case. Then as a little girl, she dies. Sad.
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( #2. ) TOO ROTTEN FOR THIS WORLD / JUST DESSERTS
ERNEST BORGNINE in “FROM HERE TO ETERNITY”
He certainly gets
his but not before he hides behind his rank and size to brutalize fellow soldiers. Two years later, Ernie wins an Oscar for playing mild-mannered “Marty.” Acting...go figure.
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( #3. ) ULTIMATE SACRIFICE - ( High Price for the Greater Good )
GARY COOPER in “FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS”
Ingrid Bergman and
Gary Cooper
Gary helps some rebels in Spain, and he’s got to blow up a bridge. Only thing is he’s got to stay on the bridge in order to blow it up. And he’s got to say goodbye to Ingrid Bergman.
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( #4. ) TRAGIC HERO - ( Not Long For This World )
LON CHANEY JR. in “THE WOLFMAN”
Lon Chaney and
Maria Ouspenskaya
A great cast in this film. But poor Lon. He hasn’t asked for this thing. His blood is infected due to a bite by a werewolf, when the Autumn moon is bright. His father will eventually will kill him. It’s bad news all around for the Talbots. I feel badly for all of them. He doesn't revel in his new-found power. He's haunted by it.
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( #6. ) DOOMED BY FATE OR CIRCUMSTANCES
TOM NEAL in “DETOUR”
If Vera ( Ann Savage ) was too rotten to live, then Neal here didn’t stand a chance. Fate not only put its finger on him, it balled its hand into a fist and beat the living crap out of him. Talk about a dark cloud over his head....
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( #7. ) RIPE OLD AGE
HELEN GAHAGAN in “SHE”
Helen Gahagan and
Randolph Scott
Oh it’s ripe alright. But she does not age gently into that good night. For the love of a man, SHE goes through fire. Oooh, it doesn’t end well for her when age catches up to her. And not even Helena Rubenstein can fix it:
“Your eyes will lose their brightness.
Your cheeks will wrinkle.
Your limbs will wither.
While I defy the years and laugh at time.”
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( #8. ) CRAZED LOONIES - ( Messed Up In the Head )
CHARLES LAUGHTON in “ISLAND OF LOST SOULS”
As mad scientists go, you’d think he’d maybe find a cure for AIDS...for cancer. Should he really be trying to turn beasts into human beings? ( And I'm not letting Dr. Frankenstein off the hook for bringing the dead back to life either. ) There’s already a tried and true method for producing life. Well the worm turns and these lost souls turn on Laughton. As he faces them, trying to still rule over them, and they overpower him...why do I get the feeling he’s perversely enjoying it?
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( #9. ) DEATH AS THE ULTIMATE COMIC RELIEF - ( Black Comedy )
VINCENT PRICE in “THEATRE OF BLOOD”
Diana Rigg, Coral Browne and
Vincent Price
Price plays a hammy actor passed over for a coveted theatre award. So he does what all losing nominees do, he kills his critics one by one. But he does it with flair. He uses Shakespearean methods of dispatch. Black comedy, the way mostly the British can do.
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( #12. ) WAR CASUALTIES
LEW AYRES in “ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT”
Lew Ayres and
Louis Wollheim
Following this young recruit’s experience in World War I is a poignant journey.
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( #13. ) WRONGFUL PROSECUTION and/or MOB VIOLENCE
RICHARD WIDMARK in “NIGHT AND THE CITY”
Gene Tierney and
Richard Widmark
Widmark is a small-time hood with delusions of grandeur. He’s got a big idea for a wrestling match but messes with the wrong mob King Pin. The forces of the underworld close in on Widmark when that KingPin’s father is killed in the ring. And Widmark has no...place...to...run.
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( #14. ) GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
CARY GRANT & CONSTANCE BENNETT in “TOPPER”
Cary Grant, Roland Young and
Constance Bennett
Have you ever seen a more erudite, sophisticated and good-looking pair of ghosts? I keep forgetting they are dead. They’re dead! So, M. Night Shymalan did
not have the idea originally. Roland Young sees dead people...in 1937.
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( #15. ) THE UNSEEN DEAD
‘MRS. THORWALD’ in “REAR WINDOW”
Raymond Burr, Irene Winston
With nothing to do while recuperating from a broken leg, James Stewart spies on his neighbors. Stewart realizes one of his neighbors has killed and dismembered his wife. Her death informs the rest of the movie and puts Grace Kelly and Jimmy Stewart in danger.
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( #17. ) DIVINE RETRIBUTION
I do feel a little bad for the Mummy. What he did he did for love of a girl. But when it’s over it’s over. You can’t revive a love affair that’s over 3000 years old. People change. That girl seeks help from a higher power, the goddess Isis:
Boris Karloff, Zita Johann and
Isis
She entreats the statue of Isis to help her defeat Ardeth Bey:
“Don’t kill me. I’m a Priestess of Isis. Save me from that mummy. It’s dead. Save me. Oh Isis, Holy Maiden. I was thy consecrated vestal. I broke my vows. Save me now. Teach me the ancient summons, the Holy spells I’ve forgotten. I call upon days of old.”
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( #19. ) MURDER MOST FOUL - ( Murder as the Main Plot in the Story )
DICK HOGAN in “ROPE”
Farley Granger, Dick Hogan and
John Dall
I just love the audaciousness of Alfred Hitchcock, don't you? IN...YOUR...FACE! The movie starts off with the murder, and throughout the movie we are well aware of the body in the trunk at the dinner party where the food rests on, attended by his parents, friends and girlfriend. In your face in your face in your face. It's taken me a few years to warm up to this movie. ( Talk talk talk boring boring boring. ) But not anymore. I love the cat and mouse game. The narcissism. The sexual subtext. The plain "in-your-face" of it.
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( #20. ) THE TALKING DEAD ( Dead Narrators )
JOAN FONTAINE IN “LETTER FROM AN UNKNOWN WOMAN”
Louis Jourdan and
Joan Fontaine
I’ve seen some devastating endings ( “Scarlet Street” comes to mind ) in my movie-watching lifetime, but I was absolutely and positively stunned by this movie and the circular way justice weaves through this tale. Whew!! I am
still shaking my head.
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( #22. ) SOME ANIMALS WERE HARMED IN MAKING THIS MOVIE
‘THE DOG’ in “REAR WINDOW”
Curiosity killed the cat. And it doesn’t help this poor little puppy who sniffs around Raymond Burr. Awww!
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( #24. ) JUST KIDDING - ( Folks Who Faked Their Own Death )
KENT SMITH in “NORA PRENTISS”
Kent Smith and
Ann Sheridan
I love this movie. I love Ann Sheridan. Kent Smith gets downright gobsmacked by the Oomph. Instead of divorcing his wife ( Rosemary deCamp ) he stumbles into the opportunity of his life in order to be with Sheridan. He switches his identity with a dead man. Uhhhmmmm...how’d that work out for you Kent? ( And what about Irina? )