The Silver Screen Oasis

I watched one more last night but finished too late to post about it:

There's Something Wrong with the Children (2023) - Two couples, one of which has two small children, vacation together at secluded cabins. After visiting a strange abandoned ruin hidden deep in the nearby forest, the children begin showing peculiar behavior. A promising premise is ultimately undone by uneven pacing and a weak final act. However, fans of the supernatural horror/suspense genre could do worse.

Swithin wrote: ↑March 26th, 2023, 8:08 am Early in the pandemic, I read (actually listened to) The Last Lion, William Manchester's monumental three-volume biography of Winston Churchill. Although I knew something of the great man, and had even visited his house at Chartwell, Manchester's books gave me a deeper understanding of his long life and times.

I just watched Young Winston (1972), a fine movie with a great cast that offers, for a biographical film, a surprisingly accurate depiction of its subject. The movie runs from Churchill's early childhood through his young adulthood; from school days to India, the Sudan, and, most significantly, through his heroic exploits in the Boer War. It covers his first unsuccessful election through his ultimate election to Parliament and concludes with a brief mention of his marriage to Clementine Hozier, at the age of 34. The film focuses closely on his relationship with his distant parents: Lady Randolph Churchill (the social butterfly American Jennie Jerome, played by Anne Bancroft), and the strict Lord Randolph Churchill, played by Robert Shaw, whose illness is a major part of the film, syphilis finally being named as his disease, after a lot of beating around the bush. (Jerome Avenue, a major street in the Bronx neighborhood where I grew up, is named for Leonard Jerome, Jennie Jerome's father).

Young Winston has been on my unofficial "to watch" list for a while.
Thanks for reminding me of this movie.

Jerome is also the surname of the Neil Simon stand-in character in his semi-autobiographical trilogy of plays beginning with Brighton Beach Memoirs.

BagelOnAPlate wrote: ↑March 26th, 2023, 2:37 pm

Swithin wrote: ↑March 26th, 2023, 8:08 am Early in the pandemic, I read (actually listened to) The Last Lion, William Manchester's monumental three-volume biography of Winston Churchill. Although I knew something of the great man, and had even visited his house at Chartwell, Manchester's books gave me a deeper understanding of his long life and times.

I just watched Young Winston (1972), a fine movie with a great cast that offers, for a biographical film, a surprisingly accurate depiction of its subject. The movie runs from Churchill's early childhood through his young adulthood; from school days to India, the Sudan, and, most significantly, through his heroic exploits in the Boer War. It covers his first unsuccessful election through his ultimate election to Parliament and concludes with a brief mention of his marriage to Clementine Hozier, at the age of 34. The film focuses closely on his relationship with his distant parents: Lady Randolph Churchill (the social butterfly American Jennie Jerome, played by Anne Bancroft), and the strict Lord Randolph Churchill, played by Robert Shaw, whose illness is a major part of the film, syphilis finally being named as his disease, after a lot of beating around the bush. (Jerome Avenue, a major street in the Bronx neighborhood where I grew up, is named for Leonard Jerome, Jennie Jerome's father).

Young Winston has been on my unofficial "to watch" list for a while.
Thanks for reminding me of this movie.

Jerome is also the surname of the Neil Simon stand-in character in his semi-autobiographical trilogy of plays beginning with Brighton Beach Memoirs.

Neil Simon was born in the Bronx and grew up in Washington Heights (upper Manhattan). He went to DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx, which is near Jerome Avenue. I wonder if that inspired Eugene Jerome's name. I've seen a production of the play at the National Theatre in London, with Steven Mackintosh as Eugene and Frances de la Tour as his mother. Another possible naming homage: Eugene's aunt is named Blanche Morton, which is the name of George and Gracie's neighbor on The Burns and Allen Show, played by Bea Benaderet.

A Cry In The Wilderness (1974) Youtube 7/10

A farmer (George Kennedy) is bitten by a rabid skunk and chains himself up to protect his wife and son before the disease takes over his mind.

This was a tension filled TV movie that I haven't seen since first broadcast. Oscar winner Kennedy (Cool Hand Luke) was in between Airport movies is very good in the lead. Joanna Pettet plays his much younger wife who has to go for help since they are in an isolated area and no telephone. Pettet was one of the prettiest actresses of this era, she was in another very good TV movie called The Weekend Nun two years before this. The suspense is heightened when we find out about a flash flood warning and she is stuck on the road when her truck breaks down. Lee H. Montgomery plays the son who has to tend with a chained Kennedy, who may go violent and delusional at any moment. There are many 1970s TV movies on Youtube but some are too dark or have out of sync sound. The copy of this one on there is excellent.

'More extraordinary nonsense from everyone's favorite silver-masked Mexican wrestler, Santo. Besides being a wrestler and crime fighter, it's also revealed that he's a brilliant scientist, and in his free time he's invented a time machine! 'Larry you cracked me up !!! lol

Today:

The Enchanting Shadow (1960) - Film version of the popular Chinese folktale involving a young scholar who spends the night in a strange secluded house where he meets and falls in love with a beautiful young woman that turns out to be a ghost. This was later remade as the global hit A Chinese Ghost Story (1987), but this earlier Shaw Brothers release is worth watching for fans of Hong Kong fantasy cinema.

The Picture of Dorian Gray (1961) - An episode of a TV anthology series that briefly adapts the Oscar Wilde tale. George C. Scott gets top billing as the aristocrat who leads young Dorian Gray (John Fraser) into a life of debauchery. Also featuring Louis Hayward and Susan Oliver. The copy I saw had atrocious picture quality, but it's pure luck that it exists at all, as so many TV programs from the period that were shot on tape were lost. I appreciated that I got to see another Scott performance, and he was excellent.

The Cursed Palace (1962) - Egyptian film about a lawyer who travels to a reputedly-haunted mansion only to discover squabbling family members fighting over an impending inheritance. This is an uneasy mix of suspense and very broad comedy, but the milieu made it a little more interesting than it deserves.

The Living Head (1963) - Mexican supernatural horror with the decapitated head of an Aztec priest coming to life in modern times, along with an undead servant. This is entertaining, and Mexican horror regulars Abel Salazar and German Robles appear. Like so many Mexican genre films of the time, there's a bad American edit/dub from K. Gordon Murray.

Honeymoon of Horror (1964) - Dreadful cheapie about a woman, married to a sculptor after a very brief romance, who moves into his strange Florida mansion. Soon after she becomes the target of a mysterious harasser, but which one of her new husband's oddball friends and family could it be? I was hoping the Miami-area filming locations would add some appeal for me, but alas, this one is a complete dud.

Next Exit (2022) - After the existence of ghosts is seemingly scientifically confirmed, depressed people sign up to become "Participants" in a new medical study wherein they commit medically-assisted suicide and are then monitored for afterlife activity. Two people (Katie Parker and Rahul Kohli) sign up, but first have to a make a cross-country trip by car together. You can probably guess where this is going, but the lead performances are worth watching. Directed by the daughter of Danny Elfman.

Boston Strangler (2023) - This takes an alternate view from the 1968 film, this time focusing on two reporters (Keira Knightley and Carrie Coon) who help spearhead the investigation in a series of brutal rape/murders in early 60s Boston. Although the filmmaking apes that of Zodiac (2007) a little too closely, I still liked this more any of the other films of 2023 that I've seen thus far.

The Nest of the Cuckoo Birds (1965) - I wasn't prepared for this insanely inept piece of low budget Florida trash. Bert Williams wrote, produced, directed and stars in the tale of an undercover federal agent in the Florida swamps whose cover is blown. He hides out in a dilapidated hotel whose only other residents are the weird owners and their chained-up daughter. I later saw this described as "what if the people who made Manos: The Hands of Fate tried to make a Tennessee Williams melodrama." It's truly astonishing, from the incredible bad performances, the near-incoherent script, and the bongo-laden soundtrack that doubles as a torture device. One of the great bad movies.

kingrat wrote: ↑March 27th, 2023, 2:08 am

LiamCasey wrote: ↑March 26th, 2023, 12:31 pm [quote=Swithi

However, the only movie that I've seen that focuses on Winston Churchill is The Gathering Storm (2002) with Albert Finney as Mr. Churchill and Vanessa Redgrave as his wife Clementine, and which is set during the 1930s when he was basically out of power but fighting against the rise of Nazism and his fellow politicians' appeasement of the same.

I do have both Into the Storm (2009) and Darkest Hour (2017) with Brendan Gleeson and Gary Oldman, respectively, as Winston Churchill on my watchlist. It appears that I should add this one to that list also.

Darkest Hour, though not bad overall, with some good period settings and an adequate but hardly Oscar-worthy performance by Gary Oldman as Churchill, has its own darkest hour in a made-up scene where Churchill descends to a ride in the London Underground where he is appropriately schooled by blacks and women. According to this rewrite of history, they were the ones who prevented Churchill from agreeing to appease Hitler. If you like your Churchill "woke," this is the one. Again, according to this fantasy, no one turns an eyebrow at an interracial couple. If you have ever know Brits from this era or quite a bit later, you'll know how exceedingly unlikely that is.

I agree that Oldman's performance, which was adequate, was not Oscar-worthy. There were other nominees that year, who were much more worthy.

One of the best performances as Churchill the older adult that I can recall is Malcolm Terris, in the miniseries Mountbatten: The Last Viceroy. It was a supporting role, but Terris played it beautifully. A more recent portrayal of Churchill by John Lithgow in The Crown was ok, but limited, since it was largely the portrayal of Churchill as seen through the eyes of HM and her circumstances.

kingrat wrote: ↑March 27th, 2023, 2:08 am

Darkest Hour, though not bad overall, with some good period settings and an adequate but hardly Oscar-worthy performance by Gary Oldman as Churchill, has its own darkest hour in a made-up scene where Churchill descends to a ride in the London Underground where he is appropriately schooled by blacks and women. According to this rewrite of history, they were the ones who prevented Churchill from agreeing to appease Hitler. If you like your Churchill "woke," this is the one. Again, according to this fantasy, no one turns an eyebrow at an interracial couple. If you have ever know Brits from this era or quite a bit later, you'll know how exceedingly unlikely that is.

Yeah, just watch Sapphire to see the taboo on interracial relations.

My bigger problem with Darkest Hour, however, is that the camera was extremely intrusive. It felt as though more of the time I was noticing what the camera was doing than paying full attention to the actors on screen.

Detective Jim McLeod wrote: ↑December 9th, 2022, 8:56 am Who Killed Teddy Bear? (1965) Tubi-8/10

A discotheque hostess (Juliet Prowse) is terrorized by obscene phone calls.

This is a sometimes sleazy, exploitative film but I love it. Sal Mineo plays the caller who is also a busboy in Prowse's disco, he is excellent. Elaine Stritch is Prowse's lesbian boss. Comedian Jan Murray plays a vice cop who plays tapes of sex assault victims while his ten year daughter is listening in the next room. There are several songs played in the club, co written by Bob Gaudio, who was one of the Four Seasons, the songs are all catchy and could have been actual hits in the 1960s. The hypnotic title song is memorable too. There are also some great on location NYC scenes of Broadway and Times Square, then just starting to descend into sleaze.

I love the film, and I miss that version of Times Square! My favorite line from the film: "I dig fur," spoken by Elaine Stritch. You need the context to appreciate that.

LawrenceA wrote: ↑March 27th, 2023, 12:58 am . . . The Picture of Dorian Gray (1961) - An episode of a TV anthology series that briefly adapts the Oscar Wilde tale. George C. Scott gets top billing as the aristocrat who leads young Dorian Gray (John Fraser) into a life of debauchery. Also featuring Louis Hayward and Susan Oliver. The copy I saw had atrocious picture quality, but it's pure luck that it exists at all, as so many TV programs from the period that were shot on tape were lost. I appreciated that I got to see another Scott performance, and he was excellent.

Here is a significantly better -- though not pristine -- YouTube clip of that December 6, 1961 The Breck Golden Showcase broadcast, co-produced by David Susskind. Unfortunately, it is marred by an analysis and commentary by "Rambling Director." Missing is a scene offering an extremely brief glimpse of Jonathan Frid as a stage actor.


Readers of Famous Monsters of Filmland who never saw the 1961 TV rendition were tantalized with a photo of Dick Smith's horrific creation of Dorian Gray transformed.

LawrenceA wrote: ↑March 27th, 2023, 12:58 am . . . The Nest of the Cuckoo Birds (1965) - I wasn't prepared for this insanely inept piece of low budget Florida trash. Bert Williams wrote, produced, directed and stars in the tale of an undercover federal agent in the Florida swamps whose cover is blown. He hides out in a dilapidated hotel whose only other residents are the weird owners and their chained-up daughter. I later saw this described as "what if the people who made Manos: The Hands of Fate tried to make a Tennessee Williams melodrama." It's truly astonishing, from the incredible bad performances, the near-incoherent script, and the bongo-laden soundtrack that doubles as a torture device. One of the great bad movies.

I watched The Nest of the Cuckoo Birds on MUBI. A thoroughly outré but illogically fascinating "psycho-thriller," restored (!) by Nicholas Winding Refn. I did not find it boring or a waste of my time -- consider that admission a public service warning to all about my questionable mental state and dubious respectability.

I never heard of The Nest of the Cuckoo Birds but now I can't wait to see it!

I watched Congo (1995) last night.

Pretty fun watch. Amazing gorilla effects! Best actors in the movie.

Today:

Thunderbirds are GO (1966) - Film version of the TV series filmed in "Supermarionation". A team square-jawed heroes use their high-tech flying machines to enact daring rescues. I don't know if it's dead, shifty eyes, or the weird moths, but I've always found these puppets creepy, and never watched the show. The high point here is a musical performance by puppet versions of Cliff Richard and the Shadows.

The Public Cemetery Under the Moon (1967) - South Korean ghost story about a much-maligned young woman who strikes back from beyond the grave to exact revenge. I found it kind of silly but charming in a cheap sort of way.

The Queen (1968) - Documentary look at drag culture in NYC circa 1967. I'm no expert on it then or now, but found many of the anecdotes and characters entertaining. This was one of the TCM Underground features that I missed. My pic of the day.

Krakatoa: East of Java (1968) - I've been aware of this movie take on the historical natural disaster mainly for the joke about how Krakatoa is actually west of Java, but the producers were too cheap to change the title credits or marketing materials. The movie itself proved to be a pretty dull slog, with some miniature volcano effects in final act. The cast includes Maximilian Scheel, Diane Baker, Brian Keith, Rossano Brazzi, and Sal Mineo. Shot in "Cinerama".

Swarmed (2005) - Another dumb Syfy Channel movie, this time about a swarm of genetically-modified killer yellowjackets attacking Indiana. With Michael Shanks from the Stargate TV series, Carol Alt, and Tim Thomerson.

Thunderbird 6 (1968) - Another go round with the Supermarionation puppets and their flying machines. The title alludes to a new, sixth aircraft. Yawn.

Strike Me Deadly (1963) Tubi-4/10

A forest ranger witnesses a hunter commit a murder and is pursued by the killer.

I have been reading Lawrence A's reviews of trashy 1960s films and decided to find some things in The Psychotronic Video Guide book to watch. I had made of list of ones that intrigued me and had found a few years ago, mostly on VHS rentals. This title was one on my list that I never saw and found it on Tubi. It has some B&W photography that is better then you'd expect but appears to have sound dubbed in later. The killer holds the ranger and his wife hostage in their cabin in the woods. The wife is played by beautiful and curvy Jeannine Riley, who later played the first Billie Jo on Petticoat Junction . She was the only member of the cast I recognized. Most of the running time is consumed by a flashback sequence of the hunter and wife as newlyweds. This film is not suspenseful enough to be a good thriller and not sleazy enough to be good trash.