The Silver Screen Oasis

Today I watched "The Man in Grey" (1943) directed by Leslie Arliss.

I've really enjoyed the "Gainsborough ghastlies" that I've managed to see. While this one wasn't as outrageously fun as "The Wicked Lady," it was still very enjoyable. All four of the leads were very good. Phyllis Calvert was nice without every being annoying, and Margaret Lockwood was darkly charismatic. I'm not the world's biggest Stewart Granger fan, but I have to say that he was fine here. And while James Mason didn't have a lot of screen time, he made the most of what he had. He was utterly terrifying in his last scene with Lockwood.

I'll have to hunt down more of these Gainsborough films. They're quite enjoyable.

How intrigued am I? What, pray tell, is a Gainsborough Ghastly? Whatever it is, I like it!

I bet one of my fave Gainsboroughs "Madonna of the Seven Moons" (1944) with Phyllis Calvert, Granger and Pat Roc belongs into that category.

I have a collection of Gainsboroughs and I have enjoyed each one of them much more than many other films, contemporary or older. They have a certain appeal and quality that make them irresistible to me.

I also saw Captain America and really enjoyed it over the weekend. Tonight I'm going for something completely different and watching Judgement at Nuremberg.

A "Gainsborough ghastly" is a film from the British Gainsborough studios in the Forties that was set in the past and involved aristocratic people behaving badly. While nobody actually rips a bodice in one of these movies, they are close in spirit to those kinds of romance novels. "The Man in Grey" takes place during the Regency period. "The Wicked Lady" is about a dashing romantic highwayman. "Madonna of the Seven Moons" takes place in the 20th Century, but in Italy, so passionate people abound.

James Mason and Stewart Granger became stars out of these movies.

I'm not sure where the term "Gainsborough ghastly" comes from. It makes them sound like horror movies, which they are not, although I sort of sense a kind of emotional/passionate link between them and the Hammer horror films a decade or so later. (And Terence Fisher directed one of the last Gainsborough films, "So Long at the Fair.")

Late NIght TCM - I re-watched the "THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD" ... starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland again and was charmed again by the costumes, the script, and most of all the romance of Robin Hood and Maid Marian in this great movie back in 1938. Olivia never looked so lovelier in this enchanting movie ... I just loved her costumes - so lavish and romantic too.

Robin Hood is one of those movies that retains the appeal for all time. I watched with my kids a couple of years ago and they enjoyed it as much as I did. Not every classic can pull that off, especially for a young generation used to mindless action and spectacular CGI effects. But Robin Hood did.

I watched Tom Cruise in "Jack Reacher." (My father is a big fan of the author but I don't know him.) Over the top and complicated there was one point that really made me smile. Cruise enters a house looking for someone and on the TV the movie playing is "The Big Country." I thought how many people seeing this movie would know what that one was called. (Of course, that is outside of this group.)

They seem to make less of a point of the Reacher character and his way of life than the book but that is hardly the point. It is at its base a police investigation drama but involves some pretty nasty people. It was okay if action movies are what you enjoy.

I sort of sense a kind of emotional/passionate link between them and the Hammer horror films a decade or so later

Even from your description, I can see that. Gothic!

Robin Hood is one of those movies that retains the appeal for all time

I've never met anyone who didn't like it. Some people wouldn't watch a John Ford western. Find no appeal in Film Noir. But they all like Robin Hood!

My father is a big fan of the author but I don't know him

I haven't read the Reacher books either. They seem to be quite popular.

Daddy likes the Jack Reacher books. I believe their author was a guest programmer on TCM last year but... no, I couldn't tell you his name either.

Google knows everything: Lee Child

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Had this on the DVR for months. Finally watched. Good Hammer(not great IMO). Not up to Horror of Dracula by a longshot but a good time kill

PBS ran EASTER PARADE last night. Musicals are not my usual choice, but this Irving Berlin extravaganza pulls out all the stops. Practically every song has retained notoriety for 65 years. The dance numbers are glorious. The personalities so charming you want to take them home with you! Miss Garland is so full of energy and enthusiasm she makes it hard to pay attention to the great Fred Astaire. How often does that happen?

The plot? You can't be serious! In the long run, musicals written expressly for film make better movies than those adapted from plays. Maybe it's easier to work in the intended medium. If you're looking for something fun and seasonal next weekend, EASTER PARADE is a fine choice. You can always watch BEN-HUR next year!

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Not really a trailer for the flick, more of a Nat King Col clip, but I found this on TCM's OnDemand yesterday and checked it out. The Blue Gardenia with Anne Baxter and Richard Conte.

This afternoon I watched Judgement at Nuremberg, which I've been meaning to get to for a while now. Knowing how difficult it was for Spencer Tracy to function, to remember his lines, and get through this filming adds a lot to an already very dramatic film. A dedicated master of his craft to the end.