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494,226 | 342,623 | 22,317 | 1 |
So old you can smell the mothballs
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Not to be disrespectful of the early days of talkies , but if you see this one listed on TCM , skip it . It absolutely creaks with age . Set in Quebec , " The Right of Way " is a melodrama about a rather mean attorney nicknamed " Beauty " ( don't ask me why ) who gets involved in a bar fight when he goes to see his thieving brother-in-law in a bad part of town . As a result of the beating he takes , he develops amnesia and is brought to a rural area by a man he defended . When he regains consciousness , he remembers nothing , and takes the name Charles Mallard . He falls in love with the lovely daughter of the postmaster , played by Loretta Young . Young , radiant and beautiful , was about 18 when she did this film . Except for a naturalistic Young , the acting is outrageously bad , intensely melodramatic , with many lines said with tremulous voices . As is often the case in the early days of sound , the actors weren't used to the medium yet so their timing is off . And the French Canadian accents - horrific . I can't agree with one of the posters about Conrad Nagel - yes , he was over the top , but so was his atrocious dialogue . He at least didn't drag the pace . Not good .
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494,029 | 342,623 | 113,627 | 1 |
beyond bad
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A big disappointment for what was touted as an incredible film . Incredibly bad . Very pretentious . It would be nice if just once someone would create a high profile role for a young woman that was not a prostitute . We don't really learn anything about this character , except that he seems to be a hopeless alcoholic . We don't know why . Nicholas Cage turns in an excellent performance as usual , but I feel that this role and this script let him down . And how , after not being able to perform for the whole film , can he have an erection on his deathbed ? Really terrible and I felt like I needed a bath .
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493,532 | 342,623 | 160,127 | 2 |
an atrocity played out before my eyes
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Thinking I would be entertained , I mistakenly watched this film - and I use the term " film " loosely . It's not a film . It's a bad music video filled with obvious and cheap process shots , lots of blue screen stuff , slow motion signifying nothing , no plot , no background as to the characters or their relationship or who any of them are , no characterizations , no acting , not even a discernible era . Cameron Diaz wakes up after dreaming about doing a disco number - and that's as close to getting a time period on this film as it gets . All , of course , set to music ! I can't believe this cost $92 million to make because it looks incredibly cheap . Lucy Liu needs to stop having plastic surgery - her face is nearly paralyzed . The only people who showed personality ( though neither had any character definition in the script ) were Bill Murray and Drew Barrymore . I'm still in shock . This is not even good camp like " Valley of the Dolls " . After this and that disaster TV show " Titans , " I think Aaron Spelling needs to hang it up .
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494,762 | 342,623 | 233,142 | 3 |
a complete rip off
|
This movie was falsely advertised as being about Elvis impersonators ripping off a Vegas casino . That is what it was about - for the first ten minutes . The rest of the time it was about gratuitous violence and vicious characters . I really resent the use of Kurt Russell , one of the great Elvis impersonators , doing Elvis in all the ads , when in reality that whole section was a throwaway part of this revolting film .
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493,629 | 342,623 | 57,227 | 3 |
awful Elvis movie
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Poor Elvis . This is one rotten movie . By 1964 , Colonel Parker had figured out that , if he and Elvis were getting a percent of the movie , the lower the budget , the better . I wonder how Elvis was able to get up in the morning and put on that blond wig . And we ask ourselves why this man was a substance abuser . Elvis plays twins . One of his characters is in the army and sent on a mission to secure a lease for a missile base on a mountain top owned by his relatives - one of whom is the blond cousin . It may sound strange , but neither character seems to have much to do , and the result is a strange lack of an Elvis presence . Hard to explain . You'd have to see the movie , which I don't recommend you do . One of the last scenes is an outdoor party , and it is only there that the film picks up and the lamentable soundtrack improves . There is some terrific dancing and good energy . Pity we have to wait till the end , by which time , most people are no longer watching . Sarcasm aside , this film tears at the heart - Elvis so wanted to be in good films and have an opportunity as a serious actor . But the Colonel was all about money . I blame both of them - Elvis for not standing up to the Colonel and the Colonel for being the greedy guts that he was . He didn't do Elvis any favors .
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494,903 | 342,623 | 25,499 | 3 |
Dated , very early Bogart
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This film was originally called " Midnight . " In a noir set that I have , it's titled " Call it Murder " and Humphrey Bogart is top-billed . Originally he was listed as 8th in the cast , as he really doesn't have that much to do . It's of interest because of his presence - he plays a criminal , but he's a young leading man here - but otherwise , there isn't much to recommend it . Why this is in a film noir set is beyond me . It's a melodrama ( based on a play ) that moves like an iceberg . The acting is stilted , as is the dialogue . The plot centers around a jury foreman ( O . P . Heggie ) whose jury has sent a young woman to the electric chair , and she is due to die that evening . People are begging him to stop the execution . This is my first problem . What can he do other than say there was a miscount ? Anyway , he stands by his decision . When his own daughter ( Sidney Fox ) lands in the same predicament , claiming she killed her lover , Gar Boni ( Bogart ) , one wonders how resolute he will be then . Pretty resolute . Ready to send her up the river , which I think is totally unrealistic behavior . All this doesn't add up to much , but it's always a treat to see Bogart , and especially interesting at such an early point in his magnificent career . He's quite good . In fact , he's the only one who doesn't have huge pauses between his sentences and speaks in a decent rhythm . The director really didn't pace this movie too well . It's early days for talkies , and many actors were still adjusting their technique from stage to film . An oldie , but unfortunately , not a goodie .
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494,766 | 342,623 | 166,013 | 3 |
a true mystery
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The name Joan Allen , so often associated with high quality , is used to attract innocent video renters to this film . They will be disappointed . What is alleged to be the story of a brave Irish journalist is instead a two-part mystery : a ) why did Joan Allen agree to do this film ? and b ) what were all those people with thick brogues saying ? Not only was a good deal of the dialogue unintelligible , but the film seemed like it began in the middle of the story , which was disconcerting - among so much that was disconcerting . A very dissipated Patrick Bergin , a long way from Sleeping with the Enemy , plays a frustrated cop . There's enough graphic violence , swearing with Irish brogues and skeevy looking characters to make three more films . No , thanks , one was MORE than enough .
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493,534 | 342,623 | 244,970 | 4 |
were they kidding ?
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If Hugh Jackman wants a film career , he's going to have to do better than this . While Colin Firth and Hugh Grant were making the superior " Bridget Jones ' Diary , " Jackman was toiling in this discarded USA Network TV movie . For me the acid test is always , " If this film hadn't starred ( insert names ) , could this have been a TV movie ? " If the answer is yes , it's a flop . This is a flop . Without going into spoilers , one of my biggest problems with the film is its failure to explain one of the relationships which , on its face , seemed somewhat implausible . If I pay $10 for a movie , I don't like to have to sit there and fill in script holes with my imagination . It would be nice instead if the writers did it for me . This should have gone straight to video . Hollywood has no business questioning a failing box office while putting out dreck like this .
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494,474 | 342,623 | 373,450 | 4 |
A journalist tries to find out the truth behind an old murder
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Alison Lohman is a young journalist trying to find out " Where the Truth Lies " in this 2005 film starring Kevin Bacon , Colin Firth and Maury Chaykin . Bacon and Firth are a kind of Dean Martin-Jerry Lewis team , and a dead girl is found in one of their hotel suites . Karen ( Lohman ) is to assist part of the act , Vince ( Firth ) in writing his memoirs years later . She has a hidden agenda , which is to learn how Maureen Flaherty , a maid in a Las Vegas hotel , was found dead in a New Jersey hotel suite all those years ago . As a film , this left me pretty cold ; indeed , everything about it is cold , including some very good performances from Bacon and Firth . Nothing warmed up the camera , though . Alison Lohman was so bad she was laughable . I had very little interest in whodunit or why because I didn't care about anyone . There's lots of sex , nudity and drug-taking , and I frankly didn't realize this was a controversial part of the film . I agree that an R rating would have been fine . I'm sure the guys loved it . I'm always amazed that when a film is this bad , how people go out of their way to declare it a master of film-making . Where the Truth Lies reminded me of Leaving Las Vegas - terrible .
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494,631 | 342,623 | 427,575 | 4 |
on the dull side
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This entry into Hallmark's rotating mystery series is fairly dull . One wonders where that extremely high rating - and no comments - comes from . Mystery Woman lacks the colorfulness of the McBride series . Kellie Martin is darling , but this show dragged . It's always great to see old-timer Clarence Williams III . However , he is so laid back in this , he makes the late Perry Como seem manic . The lack of energy is probably due to the poor direction . One more establishing shot of the " Mystery Woman Bookstore " and I was ready to do an Elvis and shoot the television . The whole thing was done in a very pedantic style .
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494,796 | 342,623 | 35,980 | 4 |
astrology vs . astronomy
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Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for this trite comedy , but it seemed to me to be all over the place . Hedy Lamarr plays a silly woman , who , neglected by her astronomer husband , William Powell , believes an astrologer who tells her that she will meet another man at a certain time . She does , and it turns out to be the neighborhood air raid warden , James Craig . She then announces she's leaving her husband , to his consternation . The heavenly body refers to Lamarr , of course , who is absolutely gorgeous in this movie as usual , if not much of an actress , also as usual . She did have one of the most exquisite faces of all time , though . The heavenly body also refers to Whitley's comet , a comet to be named after her husband . Powell handles the comedy well . It's a good cast , mildly enjoyable , but in the end , there's not much to it .
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495,053 | 342,623 | 232,062 | 4 |
dumb and dumber
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This movie is a pathetic attempt , apparently , to justify the actions of Mary Ann Letourneau . In order to do this , they cast a 19-year-old - well , probably not " in order to do this . " There was no way they could have cast a 12 or 13 year old as the boy because the love scenes would have grossed everyone out ( if they had even been allowed to do them ) - as they should . Mary Ann's boyfriend was my nephew's age , making her a pedophile . Sixth grade , people . The definition of pedophile doesn't have to include many children - all you need is one . I really don't care about her upbringing or her unhappy marriage . She had a responsibility to her students that she did not live up to . The reason given is that she is bipolar , rejected the diagnosis , and refused to take her medication . It's understandable , then , that she was not thinking rationally . One hopes that she now understands her actions . Now that she and Vili are married and have two children together , I pray that she is on her medication and thinking clearly . All that aside , Penelope Ann Miller was totally convincing and perfect casting for the role .
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493,699 | 342,623 | 36,810 | 4 |
just okay entry into The Falcon series
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This is the tenth of the Falcon series , starring Tom Conway who took the role over from his brother , George Sanders . Both men are debonair and have similar speaking voices , but I've always found Sanders the smoother of the two and enjoyed his Falcon more . In this one , the Falcon goes on vacation in Hollywood and gets embroiled in a murder in a movie studio . Veda Ann Borg is the Falcon's self-assigned partner and is one of those stereotypical , wise-cracking ' 40s dames . She livens things up , though . Barbara Hale , who later became the Della Street of my youth , plays an actress . It's all pretty routine , with a mini-von Sternberg type director , a producer who keeps quoting Shakespeare and is superstitious , and a mysterious " Indian " character who may or may not be involved with a ruby ring found on the dead man . A pleasant enough way to pass the time .
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494,010 | 342,623 | 319,507 | 4 |
Inaccurate , boring , done on the cheap documentary
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Hollywood Sex Symbols is a thrown together mess featuring some - certainly not all - of Hollywood sex symbols from the 1920s through the 1970s - in about 42 minutes . The footage is of poor quality and of little interest . In the beginning , as the commentator talks about Hollywood glamor and the beautiful people , there is a clip of three men standing outside of the Oscars - all unrecognizable , and one of them looks like Dwight D . Eisenhower . The commentator then announces the name of the program as " Hollywood'S Sex Symbols " while the chiron says " Hollywood Sex Symbols . " Right away you know you're in trouble . Most stars get between 30 seconds and 1 minute , with the majority of time spent on Sophia Loren and Marilyn Monroe , although there is one long , dull segment of Bridget Bardot posing for photographers . There are no clips from movies . Everything shown is from press conferences or premiers , or events where the press was present , and the film quality is uniformly bad . The rest of the material is photographs . Jayne Mansfield is included ; Jean Harlow is not . Rita Hayworth is included ; Ava Gardner is not . Clark Gable is included ( along with some interesting news - he won an Oscar for Gone With the Wind ) ; Gary Cooper is not . The commentator talks about Rita Cansino and how different she looked before becoming Rita Hayworth , but we only get to see photos of Rita Hayworth in her prime . The cast list on the IMDb page lists Charlie Chaplin - must have missed him , but doesn't list Tyrone Power and Errol Flynn , both of whom were included . Since the program was done in 1988 , Rock Hudson is omitted . Very poor and easily skipped .
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495,218 | 342,623 | 28,346 | 4 |
unintentionally hilarious
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Why no one changed their name after appearing in " Tell Your Children , " aka " Reefer Madness , " I'll never know . Perhaps some of them did - I only checked a few names . This is possibly the worst acted , campiest , most absurd movie ever made , a laugh riot from beginning to end . A cautionary tale is told to parents of high-schoolers ( who must have all married late - they looked really past it ) about the dangers of marijuana use among the young . Marijuana here is spelled marihuana and is described as worse than heroin or cocaine - one puff and you're hooked . The description of the symptoms is that first you break into uncontrollable laughter , then you become frenetic , and then , your mind altered , you do insane things . In this story , there was a hit and run where this kid just mowed down somebody in the street as if he wasn't there , a near-rape , and an accidental shooting blamed on an innocent young man who is brought to trial . Well , I'm from the ' 60s , so right away , you know I'm howling at this thing . This marihuana must have been laced with amphetamine , because one thing you never see in stoned people is frenetic behavior unless it's toward food . It's mind-altering , all right - you totally zone out . These kids were dancing like maniacs . Also , there were no deep intakes of the weed which is then held a bit before expelling the smoke - no , these people were smoking this stuff like cigarettes except they weren't inhaling . At all . You never saw so much smoke . Now to the performances . Let's start with handsome Dave O'Brien as Ralph , one of the older procurers of the young , who then introduced kids to this powerful substance . O'Brien is one who DID change his name when he turned to comedy writing . I would have done it right after this film . He had the uncontrollable laughter down pat - he did it constantly . And the film was made so cheaply , every time he took a puff , the exact same clip of him laughing was shown again . It was a totally unbelievable laugh , too . By the end of the movie his eye makeup was smeared so he looked like a raccoon . I'm not sure what that look was supposed to represent . I was actually going to write more about the performances . I'll just leave it that they were horrible and amateurish . I gave this a 4 for camp value ONLY . It is a ridiculous movie . I am not a believer in smoking marijuana , I am not a believer in substance abuse , and our kids have enough trouble living their lives without getting into problems with marijuana , drugs , or alcohol . However , did people really believe this to be the truth in 1936 ? Or was this movie deliberately done as a gross exaggeration ? If so , it is unconscionable , not to mention misleading , particularly to tell people that marihuana is worse than cocaine and heroin . Give me a break . I can only hope that when this film was released , people laughed as hard as I did .
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493,930 | 342,623 | 59,255 | 4 |
abysmal
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This is a nearly unwatchable Elvis Presley movie . . . and I thought I could watch Elvis in just about anything . I met my match with this one . Elvis sings a lot in this movie , using very little energy . He puts even less into the acting . The whole cast sounds like they're reading from the script . " Hey Little Girl " was cute , and Elvis looks great , if somewhat expressionless . Movie stardom had started going real stale for him by this time . I understand that Colonel Parker negotiated a share of the film's profits , etc . , but couldn't he have done that with better movies ? Why was this magnificently talented man put through these films ? At the tail end of Elvis ' film career , there was an attempt to appeal to his maturing audience , and the scripts were better . But Harum Scarum , as if you can't figure out from the title , was in the middle . I like Viva Las Vegas , Girls , Girls , Girls , Change of Habit , Live a Little , Love A Little , Blue Hawaii , GI Blues , and of course King Creole and Jailhouse Rock . As the years went on , it seems like everyone cared less and less . You can't blame them with dreck like this . I'll leave you with this - Mary Ann Mobley as a Mideast princess .
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493,620 | 342,623 | 266,452 | 4 |
a fun plot gone wrong
|
This is a disaster of a movie with a plot that could have been hilarious . I'm not sure what went wrong , other than the fact that it seemed unevenly cast and the script was just downright bad . It's a shame because it's a great premise . It should have been much , much funnier . Instead , it was slow , somewhat mean-spirited , and boring .
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493,738 | 342,623 | 1,109,616 | 5 |
A deeply disturbed mother tries to stop her daughter from having a life
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The leggy eldest daughter on " The Nanny , " Nicholle Tom , is all grown up now and " Her Only Child " in this 2008 film also starring Cameron Daddo and Gwynyth Walsh . Tom plays Lily Stanler , unlucky in love , who lives with her suffocating wreck of a mother ( Walsh ) who is terrified of bugs and of her daughter leaving her . She's the type of mom who makes cookies when her daughter is on a diet and wants to see a movie on Saturday night when she knows her daughter has a date that evening . When Lily meets the handsome Larry ( Daddo ) , mom has a knife injury requiring stitches in the middle of one date , and during Lily's romantic weekend with Larry , her dog gets into the garbage back home and is possibly poisoned ( I was nervous about Binky all during the movie ) . Add to that the fact that Lily's past relationships have ended somewhat suddenly , Mom always being there to pick up the pieces takes on new meaning - mom's the one creating the breakage to begin with . Does Lily need a sledgehammer over her head before she figures this out ? Or does Binky or her new beau have to die before she gets a clue ? Tune in and find out ! Walsh is so obviously a whacko that it's impossible to believe her daughter would think she was even semi-normal . Still you can't help but feel sorry for the manipulated Lily character - the beautiful Tom has a sweet presence , and you just want to throttle her to get a life . Daddo , of " F / X " fame is hunky as ever . Very ordinary , very typical Lifetime movie . Lifetime rotates the same three or four plots and changes the cast - and we keep watching . Now who's crazy ?
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493,499 | 342,623 | 35,309 | 5 |
odd little film
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Seven Sweethearts is about a journalist who travels to Holland , Michigan to do a story about tulip time there and falls in love . The owner of the hotel has seven young , lovely daughters , all with men's names , who live in an isolated little world of clogs and tulips . One of them is pretty Billie ( Kathryn Grayson ) with whom the jaded reporter falls in love . All the girls , with the exception of the ambitious , cold Reggie ( Marsha Hunt ) have boyfriends and are aching to get married . But tradition states that the oldest girl must marry first . This movie seemed very long to me , strange , and somewhat boring . It's filled with B actors , with the exception of Heflin , Grayson , and character actor S . K . Sakall , who hands in one of the best acting scenes toward the end of the film when he has a confrontation with Billie . Grayson had a thin , fluttery coloratura soprano that nevertheless possessed some beautiful high notes and pianissimos , and she entertains throughout with songs and arias such as " Je suis Titania . " She's good in her role . Heflin seems out of place but is quite likable . For those who don't know , the oldest girl marrying first was and perhaps still is a tradition in many cultures . The ending is cute , but this is still a cloying film , and it's hard to believe that this family had no relatives in Holland that they were concerned about during wartime . I suppose the idea was to take everyone out of the war for a while .
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494,737 | 342,623 | 73,774 | 5 |
Looks like something you'd see on European TV
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David Janssen is an ex-U . S . treasury agent who finds himself involved in " The Swiss Conspiracy , " a 1976 film that boasts a large array of old stars and actors : John Ireland , Ray Milland , Elke Sommer , John Saxon and Curt Lowens , plus the beautiful Senta Berger and a European cast . Janssen is David Christopher , who is asked to help a Swiss bank whose clients are being blackmailed with exposure of their numbered accounts . The stakes get higher when two of the victims are killed . Words fail me but I'll go on anyway . First of all , this movie looks like it was transferred to DVD illegally - it even skips at one point with Janssen mouthing non-existent dialogue . The quality of the film is very grainy , and it looks like the movie was cut , too . The film was made 5 years before David Janssen died , and he looks like he's going to succumb either during the film or the day after it wraps . If there was ever a tired , worn out actor , he's it . Ray Milland also looks to be at death's door . Did Bela Lugosi's makeup man do the makeup for this , or did they just go straight to a mortician ? John Saxon turns in one of the worst performances I've ever seen , and that's saying something - I've seen Sonny Tufts in movies . An embarrassment of a New York accent to go with an awful performance . The story isn't bad but by the time the movie is over , you're past caring . The scenery is gorgeous , however . There is one hilarious moment . One of the characters falls off of a huge cliff . Well , obviously , they used a dummy . When it hit the ground it bounced into the air - WAY into the air before landing someplace else . What I like best is that they left it in the movie . It made it almost worth watching . Possibly this was made for television though for what country , I don't know . Maybe they dubbed it and it was shown in Europe . It really looks made on the cheap and like these actors worked for lunch and a cot .
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494,522 | 342,623 | 30,485 | 5 |
Mignon Eberhardt mystery on the screen
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Mystery House is a short B film based on a story by mystery writer Mignon Eberhardt . The only recognizable person for me was Ann Sheridan as a nurse caring for an elderly woman , and since I knew William Hopper was in it , I looked for him . I never would have realized it was Paul Drake of " Perry Mason " fame , he looked so young and had no gray hair ! The plot concerns a board of directors on retreat at the house of the president of the company . He announces to them that one of the board members is an embezzler . Later he is found murdered , but it is judged a suicide . His daughter hires a detective ( Dick Purcell ) , recommended by the nurse , to investigate . Another murder assumed a suicide takes place . It's getting to be an epidemic . Can the detective solve the case before everybody is dead ? There's not a tremendous amount of action in this film , which seemed a little rushed . Also , not knowing most of the actors , it was hard to differentiate the men - they seemed to be all tall with dark hair . This is obviously a very early role for Ann Sheridan , who would move into A films .
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495,016 | 342,623 | 35,170 | 5 |
not great
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Ann Sothern is " Panama Hattie " in this 1942 film based on the Broadway musical starring Ethel Merman . Also starring are Dan Dailey , Red Skelton , Rags Ragland , Ben Blue , Virginia O'Brien ( as Flo , originated on Broadway by Betty Hutton ) , Marsha Hunt , Lena Horne and the Berry Brothers . The story concerns a vivacious nightclub singer ( Sothern ) who falls in love with a man ( Dailey ) who has a young daughter , but she has competition from a socially prominent woman who warns Hattie that she's not of his class and won't make a good wife . There is a subplot concerning spies who are uncovered by three sailors ( Skelton , Ragland and Blue ) . This a very old-fashioned musical comedy plot with pleasant music , the highlight being " Just One of Those Things " as sung by the beautiful Lena Horne . The singing from Sothern and O'Brien is very good , and Sothern does well as the insecure , vulnerable and sometimes overdressed singer . The problem for me are the Three Stooges-like sailors - a little bit of that goes a long way . Watch it for the singing and the patriotic " Good Neighbors " finale - it was wartime .
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494,878 | 342,623 | 48,077 | 5 |
B heist film directed by Phil Karlson
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Phil Karlson directed a lot of B movies and this one , " Five Against the House " is another one , released in 1955 . It's notable for having Kim Novak in it just before she hit real stardom , and she's gorgeous . The other stars are Guy Madison , Brian Keith , Kerwin Mathews , and Alvy Moore . The story concerns Korea War vets in college on the GI bill who become involved in the heist of a Reno casino . It's supposed to be a lark by one of the men , Ronnie ( Mathews ) . just to see if it could be done ; he plans on returning the money . Lark or not , Al ( Madison ) opts out , but travels to Reno with his girlfriend Kay ( Novak ) and the rest of the guys as he and Kay are planning to be married there . However , the psychologically unstable Brick ( Keith ) decides to do the heist for real and forces his buddy Al to go along with it . Brick saved Al's life in Korea , and Al doesn't feel he can refuse him , even though the plan now involves Kay . Though the end of the film had some excitement , the rest of it drags . The acting is adequate . Though the guys had served in Korea and entered college late , as far as I know , the Korean war lasted three years and not ten . With the exception of 29-year-old Mathews , the rest of the actors are in the 33-35 year-old range . Madison's career started out promisingly , but he became best known as Wild Bill Hickok on television and eventually made many Italian westerns ; physical ailments kept him from working often past 1975 - his last credit is 8 years before his death in 1996 . The other actors worked mainly in television except for the handsome Kerwin Mathews , who found career success in another type of film genre before his retirement circa 1978 . What the film has going for it is a really neat atmosphere . It was filmed on location in Lake Tahoe and Reno , and that part of it really pays off . Of mild interest .
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494,650 | 342,623 | 52,325 | 5 |
Unusual casting in a strange comedy
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1958 was before Ross Hunter embarked Doris Day on the fabulous career she had in the ' 60s , in which she would become a top box office draw - in fact , THE box office drawer for years . In " The Tunnel of Love , " she plays a sweet , vivacious woman who is desperate to have a baby and can't , so she and her husband , played by Richard Widmark , plan to adopt one . When the adopted baby bears a strong resemblance to Widmark , he becomes sure that the child is the result of an evening he can't remember with the investigative social worker ( Gia Scala ) . Based on a play , this kind of light , subtly sexual comedy became very popular on the dinner theater circuit in the ' 60s and ' 70s , joining the ranks of " Mary , Mary " , " The Marriage Go Round , " " Boeing Boeing , " etc . It is not particularly well directed by Gene Kelly and sports the very strange casting of Richard Widmark as Day's confused husband . I can't agree with the comments here . Though an actor known for playing tough roles and cruel men , he does a credible job here mainly because he knows enough not to play for laughs . He creates a full character , that of a caring if foolish man who adores his wife but screws up occasionally . Gig Young plays the philandering husband next door . He's fine , but the character is very unlikable . There's not really much to recommend here . I suppose at the time it was considered somewhat suggestive , but it doesn't play well today .
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494,178 | 342,623 | 26,508 | 5 |
hard to take
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This is a badly dated melodrama about an actress whose dark past is revealed by a conniving reporter . Kay Francis is luminous , but she can't play trash . When Stella gets tough and starts on her downward trend , Kay , with her patrician beauty and educated accent , can't do it . A very talky movie , supposedly set in England , but the atmosphere and language aren't very British . Apparently the play she appears in has something to do with Caligula - trust me , it's no starmaking play or performance . It was fun to see that the play actually had an orchestra , a reminder of the old days when " straight plays " were really huge events .
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493,502 | 342,623 | 409,182 | 5 |
Tragic use of big bucks to make a big ripoff
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98 minutes of fake-looking special effects and sheer dreck comprise " Poseidon , " a 2006 movie hoping for people trying to get in out of the heat and into an air-conditioned theater . It was commented by an observant viewer on the board for " San Francisco " that Hollywood has lost the art of the buildup , the point being that the big earthquake in " San Francisco " didn't occur until the last portion of the film . The film spent its time building up the characters and situations , all heading toward that fateful day . Ditto " In Old Chicago . " Nowadays , when writers attempt to build a story , it's usually written in too slow a fashion . A great example of a film where this WASN'T the case was " Match Point , " written by the brilliant Woody Allen - but you'll have to really look to find another film like that . Producers won't even consider a script that doesn't get to the point in the first 10 minutes . In " Poseidon , " Hollywood has reached a new low - and who knew it could sink any lower ? We have stock characters given one or two lines to explain their characters . I'm not sure why any of them bothered . There was absolutely no way to care about them . Why not just start with the ship sinking ? This was a movie about special effects , nothing more . Why pretend otherwise . Some of the special effects were quite exciting on the big screen , so I gave it a 5 . I can't comment on the performances . There weren't any . P . S . I was told - and I don't know if this is true - that if a ship the size of the Poseidon sinks , and you're anywhere near it on a lifeboat , the undertow drags you down with it . Not that anyone was going for accuracy here .
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494,798 | 342,623 | 74,209 | 5 |
pretty sad
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Though an interesting premise , Bittersweet Love is kind of a mess . Lana Turner was a very beautiful woman , and certainly in her younger years had an undeniable charm and lightness , as in " Strictly Dangerous . " By 1976 , that girl is gone . Lana's name is used strictly as a gimmick to get people to watch - she doesn't do much except overact and wear that babushka she often wore with a fur coat . I can't remember if she wore sunglasses , but she usually did in that getup . The story is intriguing if the stuff that soaps are made of . Without realizing it , a half-brother and sister fall in love , get married , and the woman ( Meredith Baxter-Birney ) becomes pregnant . It turns out that Birney was the product of a fling that Turner had with Scott Hylands ' father . Once this is revealed , some tough choices need to be made . Incest is very repulsive to females , so sayeth one of the pundits in the story ; Hylands , however , wants to have the baby and continue the relationship . Celeste Holm and Robert Lansing are also in the cast , playing husband and wife . Bad mismatch . And , alas , not the only thing bad about " Bittersweet Love . "
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493,954 | 342,623 | 420,793 | 5 |
Nice to see everyone , but disappointing
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Fran Drescher wants to move on from " The Nanny , " so she made a deal with Lifetime that , in exchange for doing this reunion show , she could direct an episode of " Strong Medicine . " The reunion took place at Drescher's Malibu home , which is amazing . Seeing the cast again was great . But no Daniel Davis , who was doing a show in New York City at the time . This was not mentioned , leaving the impression that Davis didn't want to do the special . My question is , why not wait until he was available ? Instead , Fran said , " Danny's late " and when she announced " Danny's here , " it was Danny Bonnaduce . Not a great addition or a good idea . The clips were fun but there was a scripted quality to the special that made it less spontaneous . Bottom line : I wanted more . So far , the best of these Lifetime reunion shows has been the one for " Designing Women . " I would put this second , and " The Golden Girls " reunion , which should have been the best , third .
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493,530 | 342,623 | 65,537 | 5 |
thanks for nothing , Colonel Parker
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Poor Elvis . He was advised to do Midnight Cowboy , Barbra wanted him for A Star is Born - but thanks to the Colonel , his last screen appearance was Change of Habit , so he could complete his contract with the studio . Elvis , it seems , lost a bet with the devil . Actually , the film is quite pleasant with a familiar and competent cast . Mary Tyler Moore comes off the worst - - we know she's an excellent actress but this role is impossible - eyes heavenward , she resists Elvis ' advances as she has her Crisis of Faith . Great to see a young Jane Elliot before her soap opera days . Elvis does fine , he always does . He looks good and sounds great . And as much as this film has been made fun of , it has more dignity than Harem Scarum or some of the others . What a shame - Elvis had more acting talent than was ever mined , and , had he been challenged , would have lived up to it .
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494,668 | 342,623 | 35,764 | 5 |
Bizarre B musical
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I just saw this film in NYC at the Film Forum , where it was introduced by a nephew of Billy Gilbert , who has a small part in the film . It was one wild ride . The audience enjoyed the film thoroughly for what it is , a B movie musical starring Olsen & Johnson that is insane . The comedy duo has to break into Universal in order to make a film there , since no one wants them - in fact , a secretary , on learning who they are , jumps into her desk - we got to see that bit twice because the film broke . If you want to call the plot a plot , O & J run into difficulties getting financing for their film and , faced with huge debts , decide to auction it to the highest bidder . The film they make is awfully short . Some of O & J's bits are quite funny and others are of the groan variety . There are many familiar faces in the film - Patric Knowles , Percy Kilbride , Hans Conried , Thomas Gomez , Franklin Pangborn , Shemp Howard , and some funny cameos by Universal stars in the beginning of the movie when they realize Olsen & Johnson are in the building - Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes , Nigel Bruce , Alan Curtis , Leo Carrillo . Allan Jones sings " The Donkey Serenade , " the De Marcos dance , and the end of the film within a film is a huge musical number done by The Glenn Miller Singers , Count Basie's Orchestra , the Delta Rhythm Boys , Leighton Noble's orchestra , and Chandra Kaly's Dancers . " Crazy House " has a great deal of energy and is a real oddity . It was fun to watch , but I don't think I'd want to watch it again .
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495,066 | 342,623 | 56,908 | 5 |
Kind of lame
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Robert Stack , Joan Crawford , Susan Oliver , Herbert Marshall , Constance Ford , Van Williams and Diane McBain are " The Caretakers , " a 1963 film also starring Polly Bergen , Janis Paige , Barbara Barrie , Ellen Corby and Sharon Hugueny who are the cared for . Robert Vaughn plays Bergen's husband . The setting is a mental institution where Polly Bergen is brought after she goes insane at a theater showing West Side Story . She wasn't the first . The focus is on her case as the director of nurses ( Crawford ) and the doctor in charge of an experimental program ( Stack ) duke it out - naturally Crawford favors things like discipline and confinement ( she would ) and Stack wants to treat the patients as people and give them therapy . I don't know where the drugs were , unless they didn't have them in 1963 . I'm pretty sure they had Librium , though Polly didn't seem to be on it . This film has TV written all over it , including in its choice of the actors , most of whom did major work on television . It's not strong enough for a feature film , though it looks for all intents and purposes like a B movie which it perhaps was . Robert Stack is pretty one-note . Crawford in 1963 still looked good in a leotard but the rest of her is plenty scary . I'm not sure the portrayal of the conflict was correct in its dynamics - nurses have a certain amount of power but riding roughshod over a doctor's orders . . . I suppose with Crawford heading up the staff , it's more than possible but not realistic . Janis Paige gives a lively performance as a man-hater , and there is the ubiquitous non-speaker ( Barrie ) , the nice one ( Corby ) , the delusional one ( Hugueny ) , and the one who will probably recover ( Bergen ) . Herbert Marshall plays the head of the institute - by 1963 , he was 73 and had enjoyed 50 years on stage and in films . After a distinguished career , " The Caretakers " is thankfully not his last credit . Constance Ford played a nurse from hell who is not a credit to her profession . There were two hunks with the last name of Williams back in the day - Van and Grant - this one's Van . Nice eye candy but he didn't have much to do . All in all , pretty badly directed and executed .
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494,942 | 342,623 | 22,501 | 5 |
Precode Kay in Paris
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Young Kay Francis commits a " Transgression " in this 1931 film also starring Paul Cavanagh and Ricardo Cortez . Kay is Elsie , the wife of a wealthy British businessman . The two share a huge , beautiful home in England . A business trip calls the husband , Robert , away to India for nearly a year , and wives are not allowed . So she will be less isolated , Elsie heads for Paris . There she becomes glamorous , sophisticated and worldly . She meets a rich , handsome Spainiard , Arturo ( Cortez ) who escorts her around and wants a lot more . He finagles a way to get her alone in his mansion ; tragedy occurs . This is an old-fashioned melodrama ; few people could suffer like Kay Francis , even early on . Everything about her was so distinctive - her look , her voice , her clothes - it's hard to take your eyes off of her . Cortez is smooth and caddish as her pursuer ; Paul Cavanagh as Elsie's husband is difficult to read . He never lets you know how he's going to react until the situation is upon him - then he might surprise you . Mildly entertaining , of interest for the early Francis .
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493,569 | 342,623 | 22,430 | 5 |
Early Warners talkie starring Walter Huston
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When a family witnesses a murder , and some of them can identify the killer , their lives become terrifying in " Star Witness , " a 1931 Warner Brothers film starring the great Walter Huston , Sally Blane , Dickie Hugent and Chic Sale . It will be hard for a 21st century audience to believe this movie was nominated for an Oscar for original story , since we've seen it dozens of times since . Also , with a film like this , it's hard to envision it the way a 1931 audience did . Unfortunately for " Star Witness , " it's just not one of those movies that has stood the test of time . Nevertheless , this 76-year-old film is interesting in that it tells us a lot about America , families , movie-making , and writing in the early ' 30s . Huston plays the DA in charge of the case . This role bears no resemblance to Dodsworth , but the way the part is written is worth noting . Even in books in the 1930s , including the original Perry Mason books , characters were given to big , declamatory speeches , as Huston's character is in this film . Apparently this was part of the writing style in fashion - and that style dates any movie faster than the sight of an old car in one of the scenes . The family unit consists of two little boys , plus an adult , working daughter who still lives at home , and an adult son ( Frank Nugent ) who is , for all intents and purposes , a bum . Of interest - the beautiful , marriage-age daughter ( Sally Blane , Loretta Young's sister ) doesn't have her own place . It wasn't done back then - what would that say about her ; also , she needed to contribute to the family income . And the gap in the children's ages ? Not unusual . As in my own family , women back then often had many pregnancies and either miscarried or the babies died . Chic Sale , all of 57 at the time of filming , plays what has to be the world's oldest man , Grandpa , a very annoying character who talks about his love of America , standing up to foreigners and not letting them take over the country . Sounds kind of familiar , doesn't it ? Seventy-six years later , there are still people saying that . A big shootout scene toward the end of the film was reminiscent of many other film shootouts in the early days - people shot guns without taking any particular aim . The effect they went for back then seems to be just making as much smoke as possible . Shooters keep the guns close to their waists and just shoot like blind men . So despite what seems like a routine crime drama with some over the top characters and bratty kids , " Star Witness " still has a few things to offer , if only to show us that while lots has changed , a few things haven't , and that what was original in 1931 seems like it's by the numbers in 2007 . To paraphrase Addison DeWitt : " Watch it . The minutes will fly like hours . "
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495,180 | 342,623 | 35,826 | 5 |
Dr . G , miracle man
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Lionel Barrymore is the omniscient Dr . Gillespie in this episodic entry into the popular Dr . Kildare / Dr . Gillespie series . The overworked doc has two ambitious men working under him , cute Van Johnson and charming Keye Luke , and they both want to be his top man . Donna Reed is a beautiful young woman who comes to Gillespie for advice as the film begins - she wants to get married , but she's worried about a crazy man , crazy about her , who is now in jail for murder . Gillespie endeavors to get the man institutionalized . He helps give a young man who lost his legs during the war have the will to continue ; he saves four little girls in the children's ' ward ; wrecks Van Johnson's love life - it's all just business as usual for Dr . Gillespie of Blair General . The cast is charming but this film is just too sweet for words , and Dr . Gillespie is a real fantasy character even for 1943 . I suppose with the war on , this is what America wanted to see . It's interesting that like our President at the time , Gillespie is also in a wheelchair , in a position of power , and larger than life .
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494,941 | 342,623 | 30,007 | 5 |
More Warner Bros substandard garbage for Kay Francis
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Kay Francis is a " Comet Over Broadway " in this 1938 sudser also starring Ian Hunter , Minna Gombell , John Litel , Donald Crisp , Sybil Jason . These melodramas Warners threw at Kay to try to force her and her $200 , 000 + salary out of there always seem like they were made 7 or 8 years earlier . In this one , Kay is Eve Appleton , an aspiring actress in a small town , looked on disapprovingly by her mother-in-law but loved by her bumpkin husband Bill ( Litel ) . When a Barrymore-like ( read washed up drunk ) actor from New York hits town , he takes an interest in Kay's " talent . " When he's through auditioning her , he's dead , Bill has life imprisonment for murder and she and her baby are on their way to New York so she can make money to free him . Yeah , it gets better . Eve does the burlesque and vaudeville route , along the way meeting Tim ( Gombell ) who offers to take daughter Jackie until Eve gets established . Once in New York , she meets and falls in love with a producer , Bert Balin ( Keith ) , and he with her . He casts her in a play , but his girlfriend , the star , orders her fired . So Eve goes to London in order to get away from the temptation of Bert . There she becomes a huge star and reunites with Jackie , who calls Tim ' Mommy . ' She also reconnects with Bert , who offers her a play in New York . Since Bill's attorney needs money to free Bill ( apparently by bribing public officials , it's not clear ) , Eve takes an advance on her salary . WIth Bill soon to be free , what does she do about her career and Balin ? This absolutely preposterous dreck was directed by Busy Berkeley until he was hospitalized , and then John Farrow took over . All it needed was a big dance number . Eve doesn't want her husband ever to learn about this enormous career - how is that supposed to be accomplished ? Didn't the town know ? This film was made in 1938 , not 2008 , and stage stars like Katherine Cornell and Eve LaGalliene were well known to people even in small towns because they toured with their plays . And how did this guy end up in jail for murder 1 to begin with ? There was a fight and the actor landed in a pond with a fatal head injury . No manslaughter ? But the judge gave him a break and didn't impose the death penalty . He thought this guy was coming onto his wife ! I won't even go into Tim never bothering to mention that Eve was her mother . The acting by Kay Francis and one of my favorites , Ian Keith , is excellent , and they do the best they can to raise up the level of this film . Unfortunately they're fighting a losing battle . Minna Gombell is pretty good , if stagy , as Tim , and John Litel is appropriately simpleton . As for how this film truly ends , I wouldn't DREAM of giving it away , but if you listen carefully , there's a line that promises us that the end we see is not the true end . Not that it matters . Oh , of mild interest for one line spoken by future star Susan Hayward during the amateur theatrics scene .
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494,194 | 342,623 | 60,801 | 5 |
A true , true camp classic , right up there with Valley of the Dolls
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Stephen Boyd is a ruthless actor vying for " The Oscar " in this 1966 film also starring Tony Bennett , Elke Sommer , Eleanor Parker , Milton Berle , Jill St . John , Ernest Borgnine , Edie Adams and a cast of thousands . This is the kind of film one watches with friends and just howls at . Here's the complete tipoff that this movie is going to be awful : Tony Bennett , who has the map of Italy on his face , plays a character named Hymie Kelly . Now I ask you - the fact that he's even acting in a film is scary enough - no singing required - but this name on top of it , and you know it's over before it begins . The story is about a man , Frankie Fane , who rises from the ranks of introducing a strip show to becoming a big star in Hollywood . On his way to the top , he uses and abuses everyone he meets . And they take it . And they love taking it . The film begins at the Oscar ceremonies . He's been nominated , and his friend , Hymie Kelly , reminisces about Frankie's rise to the top in a voice-over . " You finally made it , Frankie ! Oscar night ! And here you sit , on top of a glass mountain called " success . " You're one of the chosen five , and the whole town's holding its breath to see who won it . It's been quite a climb , hasn't it , Frankie ? Down at the bottom , scuffling for dimes in those smokers , all the way to the top . Magic Hollywood ! Ever think about it ? I do , friend Frankie , I do . . . " Fade to a strip joint . Now , the most recent review of " The Oscar " on IMDb said it best when he or she referenced Tyrone Power and wrote : " He could be a full blooded hero or he was a hero / heel , a likable sort of guy , but one who was ruthless in getting what he wanted . You need someone of Power's ability and charm to play such a part . " I'm not sure it was Stephen Boyd's fault that he was hateful . I sort of blame the script . I have to blame something . Why anyone would have hung around this guy for 5 minutes is beyond me . No charm . Bad manners . Terrible to women . Violent . Stephen Boyd badly overacts , or is it just that the actors around him the most went to an acting school advertised on the back of a matchbook . Jill St . John was more horrific than I could ever have imagined . Beautiful , sexy , but I've heard better line readings from high schoolers . The woman the studio has Frankie escort around town so that he can be seen - when he dumps her Green Goddess salad in her lap , it was a high point . Then there's Tony Bennett's Hymie , a weasel who follows Frankie around like a lap dog and takes orders from him . The big reveal at the end is one of the funniest scenes on record . How Elke Sommer kept a straight face is beyond me . Well , she looked thunderstruck - certainly an appropriate emotion . Milton Berle plays Frankie's agent , Kappy Kapstetter , who takes Frankie on at the request of the delusional Sophie Cantaro ( Eleanor Parker - where are they getting these character names ) . I loved how each sex scene ended with a woman lying on her stomach wrapped in a sheet and sobbing as Frankie walked out the door . The good actors are all wasted , but kudos to the lovely Elke Sommer for quietly holding her own . The ones who did this movie like Merle Oberon and Bob Hope probably did it as a favor to someone - they cheapened themselves . I am sure that the Oscar scene in " In and Out " parodied that scene of Oberon reading those ridiculous movie titles for the nominated actors . Too good to pass up . Naturally with Joseph E . Levine as producer , the production values are top-notch and the gowns are beautiful . Unfortunately there aren't enough big parties so that one can look at the gowns . I can't blame Hollywood for not inviting Frankie Fane to many events .
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493,704 | 342,623 | 408,854 | 5 |
a very quick look at the history of Hollywood
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This documentary covers the history of Hollywood in something like 51 minutes , focusing mainly on the achievements of MGM , beginning with the forming of the company . Lots of classic scenes which have been seen countless times are intertwined with an auction of the " Showboat " boat , Judy's red shoes , and the Bounty ship , all at lowball prices since it's 1972 . The problem with watching " Hollywood : The Dream Factory " today is that everything covered is very familiar now , and movie buffs have seen the footage dozens of times . However , if you want a quick and dirty look at the problems with the way over budget Ben Hur , the discovery of Greta Garbo , how no one but Gable could do Gone With the Wind , and a look at that big MGM luncheon , this is for you .
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493,558 | 342,623 | 197,917 | 5 |
A little stolen Valentino
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Restored at UCLA , " Stolen Moments " is an 85-year-old film featuring Rudolph Valentino in one of the villainous roles he played before stardom hit . Here , he has a mustache and looks a bit fuller in the face as he plays a smooth , oily , amoral writer who wants to trade sex for some passionate letters he received from a now married woman ( Marguerite Namara ) . Not much of this movie remains . When Valentino became a star , the film was recut to enhance his role , as it originally was a showcase for Namara , an opera singer . All that remained after that was the re-cut version , and it has not survived in its entirety . What does remain is in remarkable shape . Valentino is very good , and although some of the old silent film acting like the widening of the eyes is disconcerting , it's certainly forgivable . We're fortunate to be able to see him this early in his career . I will reiterate something I said about other films of this era : I don't know how much Lasik surgery one has to have before being able to read all the notes that were received by characters in these silent films . It's obvious that ' 20s eyes were a lot sharper .
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493,952 | 342,623 | 386,676 | 5 |
I have a feeling the British version is better . . . much better
|
I probably should give this show more of a chance , but I was so incredibly uncomfortable during it , I probably won't watch it again . Most of the time , British comedies , when taken over by Americans , don't seem to make it . " Fawlty Towers , " which lasted all of five minutes , comes to mind . This appears to be one of them . There were some very funny moments , and I suspect they were taken right out of the British version . The boss , plain and simple , is a complete moron . Totally out of it , he thinks he's a role model and hilariously funny , when all the while he's a sexual harasser who makes racist remarks , does Three Stooges impressions , and is emotionally abusive ( firing his secretary for stealing as a practical joke and bringing her to tears ) . It's a great setup for a fabulous character , but I found him only annoying . I'm afraid my attitude is closest to that of the temp's : embarrassed , appalled , and not finding much funny .
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494,819 | 342,623 | 117,995 | 5 |
more amoral teens
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There have been many , many TV movies about amoral , angry teenagers who lash out and kill their boyfriend's girlfriend , their parents , whatever . Unfortunately , these films are usually based on true stories . Twisted Desire is one of them . I'm not sure of the actual facts of the case , but in the way this story is told , the Melissa Joan Hart character is being totally suffocated by a too-strict father . She's interested in one guy but makes another guy ( an ex-con ) think she's interested in him and then gets him to kill her parents . Melissa Joan Hart is a very good actress , and she portrays the manipulative teen very well . The sad part about this is , the boy who committed the crime , 17 years old at the time of the murders , was executed for this . The Hart character spent some time in prison and was released when she was 21 , though she instigated the murders . There's something really wrong there , including having a 17-year-old boy on death row . Pathetic .
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494,045 | 342,623 | 43,027 | 5 |
Real life is a bore
|
Two big kicks to be had out of " The Tattooed Stranger " for this viewer - spotting Patricia Barry , even though back then , she had another name and different colored hair ; and seeing Jack Lord in an uncredited role . When those are the big whoops , you've got a problem . This is a B movie that concentrates on routine police work to uncover the identity of a woman's dead body found in Central Park and later , her killer . Bette Davis once said , " Real drama is larger than life . " How right she was . This film is life in all of its step-by-step boredom . By the time there's anything to get excited about , it's too late . The cast is pretty blah , but the police detectives manage to show the camaraderie that people working together have , so the director had some idea of what he was doing . The script mentions and shows some New York locations and even shows two officers going into the 8th Avenue subway . Having lived in New York , that was fun . Today we have reality TV where the " real people " are a lot looser than these actors who were trying to be real . Very so-so .
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494,302 | 342,623 | 39,748 | 5 |
The Beave's father in a B crime drama
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Hugh Beaumont , known to millions as Mr . Cleaver , stars with John Ireland in " Railroaded , " a second feature that also features Sheila Ryan , Jane Randolph , and Ed Kelly . This is a fairly routine story of a young man framed for a murder / robbery he had nothing to do with . The robbery was an inside job , and the insider ( Randolph ) deliberately leads the police astray with her I . D . Poor Ed Kelly , who plays the wrongly accused man , is interrogated harshly with no lawyer present . Meanwhile , the police can't find the gun that killed the policeman on the scene or the stolen money . The accused's sister ( Ryan ) gets involved in trying to find out who did it . And of course , that would be the sinister John Ireland , a mean , violent man who's easy with his gun and fists . The thing that's unusual about this movie ( for me anyway ) is seeing women shot . Not only that , but Ryan and Randolph have an amazing catfight . The violence shown against the character played by Randolph is disturbing - but we've seen that before . I know some of the other comments mentioned that this is film noir and a real treasure - well , the print was pretty dark , but calling this a film noir is a stretch . Although well directed by Anthony Mann , this is a run of the mill B . As they say in the antiques world , " Just because it's old doesn't mean it's valuable " - well , just because this is old doesn't make it a classic .
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493,681 | 342,623 | 439,719 | 5 |
a somewhat more sprightly entry into the series
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Kellie Martin directed this " Mystery Woman " episode , in which she and her friend Cassie go to a spa , the Martin character to take photos for a brochure and Cassie to be the customer photographed . While there , they encounter a psychic , who leads them to a dead body . And we're off , with Mystery Woman in the middle of murder once again . Charles Shaughnessy , best known from " The Nanny , " was one of the guest stars , but he didn't have a tremendous amount to do . The show had a little more energy than usual under Martin's direction , though Clarence Williams III as Philby is as introverted as ever . I just wish the Mystery Woman Bookshop had some customers . In this episode , they had none .
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494,171 | 342,623 | 102,343 | 5 |
silly but fun fantasy
|
Sandra Bullock has the type of looks that can go either way , i . e . , plain Jane or knockout . She does this very successfully in Love Potion No . 9 , a cute film based on the song of the same name . The film sports a cameo by Anne Bancroft . Bullock and Tate Donovan play scientists who fool around with a love potion ( number 8 ) which Bancroft gives Donovan to try . He doesn't try it ; his cat does . After being overrun by horny cats , Donovan and Bullock move on to Bullock's chimps and then themselves . This all eventually leads to a return visit to Bancroft , this time for love potion number 9 and a very madcap finale . Entertaining . Bullock is always a delight .
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494,792 | 342,623 | 304,896 | 5 |
Not a very nice neighbor
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This is a TV movie based on a true story . Angie Harmon and Dale Midkiff star as parents of two children who move into a new neighborhood and find that one of the neighbors is on the strange side . At first , he's a little annoying . Then he becomes really annoying . Then he becomes inappropriate , like when he lets himself into their house when his power allegedly goes out . At no time does anyone tell him to get lost or that he's crossed a few boundaries . After that , he starts dropping hints that make him seem like he's either a mind-reader or has some inside knowledge of their home . That's when they find out that he's run a wire into their house and is videotaping them . I think I saw this woman on Oprah , and the story is indeed shocking . It's because of this family's experience that there are now laws against this type of thing - - originally , there were none , if you can believe it . This was an okay movie , very average , with Sheridan being friendly but slimy underneath . Angie Harmon is an attractive and sympathetic as the mother . There's just nothing really special about any of it .
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493,870 | 342,623 | 44,852 | 5 |
The dance teacher and the agent
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Larry Parks is a fast-talking , streetwise agent who falls for a Connecticut dance teacher against his will in " Love is Better Than Ever , " directed by Stanley Donen . Parks and Taylor have a whirlwind romance in New York while she's there attending a dance teacher convention . She falls in love , only to learn at the end of their week together that he's only interested in a good time . Heartbroken , she returns to Connecticut , where her father helps her hatch a plot that will bring him running to New Haven and into her arms . This is a very slight comedy , but Taylor is exquisitely beautiful and in excellent shape . It's no wonder that cynical Larry Parks can't forget her , though he claims that he wants to . In one scene , they stand and talk in profile for several minutes , and all one can think about is how perfect Taylor's profile is . Larry Parks is another story - a very strange choice for a leading man . Had he not been blacklisted , it's likely he would have gone on to character roles fairly quickly . For a studio that boasted the likes of Clark Gable and Robert Taylor , it's curious that he was cast in leads . He is , however , a very good actor , though it's hard to see why Taylor would have been attracted to him . Sadly , he only made two films after this one . There are some nice dance sequences with the children , including some dancing fruits . " Love is Better Than Ever " has some nice moments and a dazzling 20-year-old Taylor , and that's about it .
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494,740 | 342,623 | 824,326 | 5 |
Derivative drama
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A single woman and her two children become a " Family in Hiding " in this 2006 film , done in Canada . Brenda Strong of " Desperate Housewives " fame plays the mother , Carol Peterson . After witnessing a murder , the entire family is put into the Witness Protection Program until Carol can testify . All I've got to say is , if you ever witness a high profile murder , run the other way . The Witness Protection Program is run by the Marx Brothers and is strictly from hunger , at least in this film . The family relocates and gets to live in a dump with no security and is given barely enough money to live on . The people in charge haven't created a job history for Carol , so she can't supplement the money they've given her . The best part is that one of the thugs after the family infiltrates the Protection office and , after hitting a few buttons on the boss ' computer , finds out where the Petersons are living . Now , don't you think they'd be a little more careful than that ? Anyone ever heard of your computer being frozen when you're away from your desk ? Or getting into your computer via a password ? Or how about putting fake info on the computer and putting the real location , using a code , in a wall safe ? MORONS . To protect and serve - forget about it . Carol figures out there's a leak immediately , and when she tells the man in charge of her relocation about it , he continues to give the new person in his office all kinds of information so he can call it in to the defendant . Only a good cast can save this movie , and it does , even if the film isn't terribly exciting . Strong , a likable actress , and the rest of the cast are very good , and you really can believe they're a family . The end of the movie has a chiron that tells how many people the Witness Protection Program has relocated and that they have an 89 % conviction rate as a result . With the way they are depicted in " Family in Hiding , " this is bound to bring gasps of disbelief from the audience .
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494,820 | 342,623 | 113,680 | 5 |
more high camp than good
|
Originally , Emma Samms was to play Elizabeth Taylor in a biography based on the tell-all by Kitty Kelly . This fell through for some reason . This particular version , done some years later starring Sherilynn Fenn , uses public domain information . Therefore , it's like watching a series of headlines . All well and good , but in this day and age , there really isn't a reason for inaccuracies . Just to mention one , the highly publicized accident of Montgomery Clift . This has been recounted many times by eminent biographers such as Patricia Bosworth , who wrote " Montgomery Clift , " and the story of that night has been told by the various people who attended a gathering at Ms . Taylor's house that night . It was not - - as shown in this film - - a huge outdoor barbecue . It was instead a small group of friends who sat through a very quiet , almost melancholy evening , with Elizabeth Taylor playing the same song over and over again on the record player ( for those who remember them ) and her husband lying on the couch with intractable back pain . The party broke up , Monty drove down the hill , and the rest is history . While this may not be the rousing good drama of a barbecue , the accuracy of this story would have at least told the viewer that the writers and producers ATTEMPTED to be somewhat accurate where they could be . Evidently that was too difficult . The only other thing I'll mention is the calling of Elizabeth Taylor Liz which any even remote fan knows , she is never called in real life . She is Elizabeth . Just like Lucille Ball was Lucille and not Lucy . Sherilynn Fenn is a beautiful woman , but she deserved better . William McNamara , as Clift , took the time to go to friends of Clift to research his role . Clift's friends looked at the script and told him that basically , he had to follow the script he had . So we know where to place the blame .
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494,283 | 342,623 | 496,275 | 5 |
Behind the scenes of a tabloid
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It's too early to really judge " Dirt " yet . Based on the pilot , it's sleazy as hell and has no likable characters . Of course , F / X is an expert at this kind of thing and just might make it a go . The star is Courtney Cox as Lucy , the editor of " Dirt " and " Now " magazines . She's a cold bitch who wants whatever slime she can get on celebrities - all of whom are painted as young , on drugs , having sex in restaurants , and cheating on their spouses and significant others . Frankly , when Don the schizophrenic ( the only character I actually liked and felt sorry for ) gets their revealing photos , it's kind of hard to have pity on any of them . At the end of the show , the writers tried to flesh out the Lucy character a bit , showing her as a lonely woman who seems to care about Don the schizophrenic . Not sure I bought it , since I'd just seen her use a stun gun on someone she slept with , as she suspects he only went to bed with her because he knows who she is and wanted his CD promoted . Cox looks gorgeous . The acting ranges from okay to lousy . There are lots of new young faces , and one suspects that the budget went for other things . " Dirt " gives the audience a very dim view of Hollywood , celebrities , and the tabloids that basically is what the mainstream media has been telling us for years . Everyone is Paris , Britney , Nicole , Justin ; no one practices safe sex ; and everyone uses drugs . It's all kind of sick . Is there an audience for it ? Most likely .
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493,456 | 342,623 | 48,767 | 5 |
Too much and yet too little
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I have no idea what anyone was thinking when this film was done . I am a huge fan of Tyrone Power but I can't say he was very good in this . I honestly don't think it was his fault . The script was rotten . First of all , the beginning scenes , showing the romance between Katie and Paul , seemed totally like they were from another film and just slapped on at the beginning . Incredibly disjointed . I could never figure Katie out , nor did I want to . People compare the role to Scarlett O'Hara , and I guess there were similarities . I think one of the problems is that we didn't see enough of their characters before they hit South Africa so the love story could really develop for the audience . He kissed her on the staircase . Okay , so what then ? " Was I just some girl you kiss and leave ? " she asks . Is that all he did ? Or did he have sex with her and leave ? Hello , it makes a big difference . It seemed to me that all she did was throw herself at him , and I never got the impression that he loved her . Good case in point was the scene where her neck and shoulders were sore and she was stretching , etc . It took him about an hour to take the hint . Her abuse of the Richard Egan character was ridiculous . One ends up losing respect for both of them . Henry King usually does a great job , and of course , the action scenes are very stirring , but the characters all seemed remote . It's possible Fox did this movie to use blocked funds in Africa . I can't think of any other reason . I read on this board that Victor Mature was supposed to play Kurt . Well , Robert Mitchum was supposed to play Paul , but he wisely never showed up and the studio got Power , who was in a hurry to finish up his contract with that place . Filming had already started . Mitchum would have seemed even less interested in Katie , and Victor Mature would have come off as even more of a fool , so it probably worked out for the best . Well , it did for those actors , anyway .
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494,666 | 342,623 | 25,117 | 5 |
not terribly enjoyable
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A great cast can't help this dated look at " Finishing School , " from 1934 . I decided to watch it based on the presence of Frances Dee and Ginger Rogers , both of whom are always delightful . They are here , too . Francis Dee plays a young woman , Virginia , who is sent to finishing school at the behest of her shallow mother ( Billie Burke ) . She is turned over to the head of the school ( Beulah Bondi ) and given a set of rules . When she meets her roommate ( Rogers ) and her roommate's wild crowd , she discovers that the only one paying attention to rules is her . She agrees to go away for a weekend with Rogers , friends , and Rogers ' aunt ( an actress playing a role ) . Then it's a wild time in the city , especially when Virginia meets Dr . Ralph McFarland , who works as a waiter ( read : unacceptable job ) while doing his internship . They fall in love , but the upper crust at the school , only interested in appearances , attempt to break them up . Alas , it's a little too late for that . And you really have to be sharp to figure out why ! I'd like to think this sort of thing has gone out of style , but I have a nagging feeling that it hasn't . Can there really still be places that teach one the difference between a tea and a reception , and how many calling cards to leave when people are not at home ? Well , they still do have débutante balls , so maybe there are - but let's face it , " coming out " parties have a new meaning today . We do know that there is still a lot of shallowness in the world , so perhaps " Finishing School " isn't so dated after all . Bruce Cabot is enjoyable and good-looking as Virginia's suitor , and there is a nice performance from Anne Shirley , who wants to fit in with the older set . Rogers stands out as usual in her supporting role and keeps the pace going . Dee was so pretty and natural , it's a shame she left movies , but hey , I would have done that - and more - for Joel McCrea . Interesting for the cast and as a look at an upper class woman's responsibilities back in the ' 30s .
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493,874 | 342,623 | 40,427 | 5 |
Alas , I'm in the minority here
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After reading some of the comments , I understand the importance of " He Walked by Night , " but I'm afraid I was bored by it . It was done documentary-style and certainly has some interesting aspects to it : it has a noir feel to it , it shows 1948 routine police work , it's based on a true story , it shows what's under Los Angeles , there are glass milk bottles , and before he started playing bald and paunchy policemen , Scott Brady was a hunk . The film's star is a very young Richard Basehart as a diabolical burglar who thinks nothing of murdering one cop and paralyzing another . The fascinating thing is that one of his escape routes is underneath the L . A . streets , where there are a system of tunnels to keep the city from flooding during the rains . These are captured beautifully in the movie . Jack Webb has a small role in this , and according to one of the other posters , this film gave him the idea for Dragnet . I'm afraid I wasn't a big fan of Dragnet's either . I have to go along with Bette Davis on this one . Realism is fine , but good drama is larger than life . This was too real and too dull for me , but if you're a fan of crime drama , this is for you .
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494,918 | 342,623 | 49,105 | 5 |
I wasn't impressed
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John Bromfield is Joe in " Crime Aganst Joe " a 1956 B film also featuring Julie London , Patricia Blair , Joyce Jameson , Alika Louis , Rhodes Reason and Henry Calvin . Bromfield plays an artist who lives off of his mother ( Frances Morris ) and laments not being able to find the perfect woman . When a bar singer ( Louis ) winds up dead , his high school pin next to her body after he's left the place dead drunk , he becomes a person of interest to the police . Joe has an alibi - he actually ran into a sleepwalker ( Blair ) and returned her to her home , but her father lies to the police . Joe is then arrested . Joe's waitress friend Slacks ( London ) lies to the police about seeing the singer with someone else , and Joe is released . He's determined to find out the identity of the killer - someone from his high school class . Supposedly the story was by Decla Dunning and the script was by Robert C . Dennis . I'd love to know which one was responsible for the sleepwalker bit and that whole subplot of the overly possessive father who discourages his daughter's dates - it's a riot . That plot line just sort of died out and wasn't fully resolved . And that business of the high school pin . . . well , this is a pretty flimsy film , and I figured it out fairly quickly . It's made very cheaply , too - the sound in all the interiors has an echo . Julie London is slightly miscast as the waitress friend - if the singer hadn't gotten killed after just one song and a few lines , London would have been perfect for that role , and it would have given her a chance to be her usual glamorous self . The murdered singer , Alika Louis , is very attractive and a great type , and Blair as the poor repressed sleepwalker is very pretty , walking the street wearing a nightgown and with perfectly coiffed hair and full makeup . Bromfield's acting is loud and not very good or believable , but I liked Frances Morris , who played his mother . Nice of her to support him , but from the looks of those canvasses , he wasn't going to be making much of a living painting . Not very good .
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495,017 | 342,623 | 44,744 | 5 |
One of my favorite plays
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The Importance of Being Earnest , one of my favorite plays , receives the heavy hand of Anthony Asquith in this film adaptation which stars Michael Redgrave , Michael Denison , Edith Evans , Joan Greenwood , Dorothy Tutin and Margaret Rutherford . Based on the Oscar Wilde play , it's the story of a man , Jack Cardew ( Redgrave ) , who leads a double life of sorts - he leaves his country house for the city to take care of his sick cousin Ernest , who doesn't exist . Intrigued , his friend Algernon ( Denison ) pops down to the country house as Ernest and meets Jack's ward Cecily ( Tutin ) . The two declare their love for one another and become engaged . When Jack's fiancée Gwendolen ( Greenwood ) who only knows him as Ernest arrives , Cecily cheerfully announces that she is engaged to Ernest . Chaos ensues . Anyone who has seen " The Importance of Being Earnest " on stage knows that it is fast-moving and contains one big laugh after another . Despite the wonderful cast , this film manages to squeeze every bit of life out of the play so that it becomes very ponderous and nowhere near as funny as it should be . I was extremely disappointed , as this play even reads better than it is performed here . The only part that should really get a big laugh in this film is Jack / Ernest's statement that he was found in a handbag as a baby 28 years ago . Since Redgrave was in his forties when he made this film and looks every bit of it and more , this statement is absurd . Alas , what should have been a lightning-paced , charming movie is beautiful to look at and little else .
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495,124 | 342,623 | 35,856 | 5 |
Somewhat annoying entry into the series
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I like Tom Conway as The Falcon , and this was a very good mystery . What was annoying was the presence of The Falcon's southern fiancée , who never shut up through the whole picture , even during crucial moments . Hard to believe that such a sophisticated character as the Falcon would have put up with her for more than five minutes . The rest of the movie is actually quite good and a neat mystery about money and people disappearing out of a flying plane . There's a very funny roller-skating scene , funny because of the way it was filmed . The Falcon on roller skates ? Who would have believed it ? Despite its shortcomings , it's an entertaining movie if you can ignore that fiancé .
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494,398 | 342,623 | 25,346 | 5 |
familiar story with the Irish struggle as background
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William Powell is Bill , a British officer who finds an old love in Ireland in " The Key , " a 1934 film also starring Edna Best ( Norah ) and Colin Clive ( Andy ) . A very young Donald Crisp , though his voice identifies him immediately , plays a Sein Fein leader whom the British army seeks to capture . When Bill arrives on the scene , he finds himself living below Andy , a fellow officer and friend , but he doesn't know that the woman he once loved is married to him - and Andy never knew that Bill and Norah were involved . Realizing that their breakup was a mistake , Bill seeks to rekindle the relationship . Norah has continued to love him , and it's stood between her and her husband throughout their marriage . Full of dry ice and night scenes , this old movie was hard to see at times . The story is very familiar , the film is short ; it doesn't have a lot to recommend it . It's atmospheric , although this viewer was not drawn into the story . Powell brings it lots of energy - he's the best thing in it ; Best and Clive don't project much and look unhappy throughout .
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494,526 | 342,623 | 24,675 | 5 |
World War I melodrama - - Joan involved with two men
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And hubba hubba , one of those men is tall , gorgeous Gary Cooper . End of discussion ! This is a very melodramatic film with a lot of World War I action scenes . Apparently the role that Joan plays , Diana , Ronnie's sister , was added to the script and does not appear in the Faulkner novel . Ronnie is Franchot Tone , and he and Crawford met and fell in love during this film . Diana is engaged to Claude ( Robert Young ) and in fact , one of the major moments of the film is when they decide to sleep together though they're not yet married . Diana , however , soon falls in love with the man who took over her family home , Richard ( Cooper ) who is also a soldier and winds up in the same division as Ronnie and Claude . For a time , he is presumed dead , but when he reappears , problems arise for Diana , especially when Claude is badly injured and Richard realizes that she is living with him . The film is very dated . The acting is pretty good except that all these people are supposed to be British . Apparently in order to give a clipped British sound to the dialogue , it goes something like this throughout the film : " Bad thing . Told him . Going away . " Cooper is handsome and likable , Young is fine , Crawford is pretty good , and Tone is excellent . There are many rainy action scenes and a very dark atmosphere throughout . All right . Franchot and Crawford . In love .
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493,820 | 342,623 | 59,403 | 5 |
One face is plenty , thanks
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This unintentionally hilarious 1965 sudser stars Lana Turner as Kit , a wealthy woman trying to hold onto her purchased husband Pete ( Cliff Robertson ) when one of her ex-beaus is found dead on the beach , a probable suicide . His girlfriend ( Stefanie Powers ) arrives to find out what went on , and she and Pete fall for one another , to the dismay of Kit , who spends a lot of time drinking , changing clothes and throwing parties . Watching the situation unfold and hoping to get in once Pete is out is a gigolo ( Hugh O'Brian ) who is currently romancing a tourist of a certain age ( Ruth Roman ) while his partner romances her friend ( Virginia Grey ) . At 45 or thereabouts , Lana Turner is deeply tanned , expensively wardrobed and beautiful , though a bit hard-looking . It's sad to remember her in films like " These Glamor Girls " and " Slightly Dangerous " where she was so fresh , energetic and lovely . It's more than age - it's drink , it's cigarettes , it's bad men and it's the Stompanato scandal . The story starts out one way - the dead man on the beach and an investigation into his death , and then keeps changing , first to a volatile marriage , then to adultery and finally bullfighting , which is used as an allegory for what goes on between a man and a woman . Another fifteen more minutes of film , who knows where we would have ended up . However many faces love has , this film doesn't move through them very quickly . It doesn't have the pizazz to be the campy film " Portrait in Black " is . As over the top as the story is , the acting isn't over the top enough . See it once for Lana's wardrobe , how unbelievably young Stefanie Powers is and Hugh O'Brian in swimming trunks , and then forget it . You'll be able to .
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494,676 | 342,623 | 40,870 | 5 |
Disappointing reteaming of a glamorous film couple
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Tyrone Power made light comedies in the mid to late 1930s when he was first establishing himself at Twentieth Century Fox . In fact , he made this exact light comedy in 1937 , then called " Love is News . " The story concerns an heiress who , to get back at a reporter and show him what it's like to be the subject of headlines , claims they're married . This tired romp was fresher back then and much , much more entertaining in the hands of Power , Loretta Young , and Don Ameche . What a blow this must have been for Power , to make " The Razor's Edge , " his personal favorite , " Nightmare Alley , " and " Captain from Castile , " and then be forced into this by the studio . It's no wonder he turned to the stage and then formed his own film production company . Power is paired with his leading lady from happier productions , the luminous Gene Tierney ( " Son of Fury " and " The Razor's Edge " ) . Unfortunately , she plays the role of the heiress in such a coy and put-on manner that it's hard to tell when the character is being sincere , as she delivers her lines in the same way on both occasions , and always with an icy smile . Power does his best - he plays the role realistically , with no mugging or attempts at forced humor , but alas , the material isn't very good . These two wonderful stars can be seen to better advantage in earlier and later films .
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494,571 | 342,623 | 59,563 | 5 |
It's no wonder poor Elvis went over to the dark side
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If you were Elvis and had to make this sort of film time and time again , you'd have been on drugs too . " Paradise , Hawaiian Style " can easily be confused with " Blue Hawaii " - both take place in Hawaii , both are about the travel business , both have women in them . But there are differences . Elvis was drop-dead gorgeous in " Blue Hawaii , " there were some great songs , and it had Angela Lansbury in the cast . By the time this movie was made , Elvis looked out of it and he was stuffed into a tapered shirt . Back in the old days , they used to teach actors to pull their stomachs in when standing in profile . No one told Elvis . In some scenes , he looks as if he doesn't know where he is . There is no plot , just dazzling scenery . The songs are rotten . Donna Butterworth as the daughter of James Shigeta is excellent - what a voice . James Shigeta is good as well . There are a few good scenes - the one in the helicopter with the dogs is one . I'm sure I can think of more . . . The excuses for Elvis to burst into song are tragic . It's amazing how such an important career was peppered with so many unimportant films , thanks to his management , i . e . , Colonel Parker . Elvis could have dumped him and gone to anyone in the world , but he was a hillbilly with enormous gifts , belief in his own power not being one of them . He was confident with his music , but he was superstitious and felt he couldn't make without Colonel Parker . It's a shame - as brilliant a career as Elvis had , it could have been so much more . He could have toured Europe and Japan , for instance - if only Colonel Tom wasn't in the country illegally . And he could have made better movies . The offers were there , but Colonel Tom was afraid of losing control . So Colonel Tom held a tight rein on Elvis . " Paradise , Hawaiian Style " is one example of his brilliant management of one of the greatest talents that ever existed . Proceed at the risk of being hulaed to death .
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494,989 | 342,623 | 33,117 | 5 |
odd Crawford vehicle
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Watching this film , the lead role of Susan seemed to call out " Norma Shearer " to me , and sure enough , reading up on it , the rights to the play were purchased by MGM with Shearer in mind . Norma Shearer and Joan Crawford were both fabulous movie stars but with different gifts . You could not call either one of them great , visceral actresses so it was always best to lead with their strengths . Crawford's was drama . Shearer's was comedy . This is just my opinion . " Susan and God " is the story of a ditsy woman , unhappily married to drunken Frederic March , who takes a trip and comes back with religious fervor gained from a new group that emphasizes God , his guidance , and telling the truth . She then proceeds to wreak havoc on her entire social set and manages to break up one marriage and one near-marriage . March agrees to stay sober if she'll give their relationship a chance , and with their somewhat neglected daughter , Blossom , they spend the summer together . Ruth Hussey is a friend who is in love with March . Crawford is an absolute disaster in this role , speaking very fast in a high-pitched voice that is supposed to represent her dizziness . She mugs , she poses , she wears absurd outfits ( with the exception of the gorgeous one she wears to go to the train ) . It's a completely mannered , external performance . Shearer would have been much more natural in the role . Crawford is annoying . When it comes down to doing the more dramatic scenes in the film , she does much better . The rest of the cast is very good , including March , Hussey , Rita Quigley , and a young , lovely Rita Hayworth . Due to Crawford , this comes off as rather strange , and it took me a while to realize it was supposed to be a comedy .
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493,937 | 342,623 | 63,231 | 5 |
A little less conversation , a little more singing would have been nice
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Live a Little , Love a Little was a departure from the normal Elvis Presley travelogues , and this off-the-beaten-track trend continued for the rest of his film career ( four films ) . It's sexy with a more adult theme than usual . Even more unusual , it only has a few songs , including " A Little Less Conversation . " I say , if you're going to sing four , sing a few more . It's a movie , it's Elvis , it's not a drama . Elvis plays a photographer who meets a strange young woman of uncertain name on the beach . His life then takes a series of bizarre turns . Michele Carey is the woman , and she's not only beautiful but very funny as well . The film is mildly entertaining . Elvis ' real life pooch Brutus has a supporting role . He was a superb actor !
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493,679 | 342,623 | 106,808 | 5 |
portrait of a flaming lunatic
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Kate Jackson plays a nurse from hell who , determined to hold onto her detestable boyfriend Frank , and after months faking pregnancy with a pillow , steals another woman's baby . Since Frank ( who's married , by the way , and lives with his wife ) wanted a boy , and the stolen baby is a girl , she sets her sights on another mother . This leads to a gruesome murder . That part of the story foreshadows a real-life incident that took place just recently , when a woman was murdered and her fetus torn from her body . The main focus of the story , though , is on the bereft mother of the girl baby , played by Lori Loughlin , who knows darn well her baby wasn't stillborn and also knows that the assertion of the hospital ( thanks to a little computer touch-up by Jackson ) that she was on drugs isn't true either . Loughlin risks her marriage and takes a lot of criticism in an attempt to find out what happened to her baby . This isn't an unusual story - in TV movies , women have been stealing other women's babies for years . This is still an interesting film where one truly empathizes with Loughlin , wants to see her vindicated , and can't get over how completely nuts Jackson is . Kate Jackson has always been a good actress , and she won't disappoint you in this . Loughlin is poignant as the determined mother . Look for Eriq LaSalle before ER as a police detective .
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494,477 | 342,623 | 50,439 | 5 |
Interesting for the cast
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The Girl in the Black Stockings is a B movie , and I don't give it the tremendous historical significance one of the other reviewers did . It's obviously made cheaply , and the story is awkward . Directed by Howard Koch , it has a surprising lack of pace . The stars are Lex Barker , Anne Bancroft , John Dehner , Ron Randell , Marie Windsor and Mamie Van Doren . The plot concerns murders at a resort - in fact , the film begins with the discovery of a dead body , and several more follow . Dehner plays the sheriff . The resort is owned by a man with hysterical paralysis ( Randell ) and his sister ( Windsor ) , who takes care of him . There's a Barrymore-type actor preparing for a comeback with the help of a va-va-va-voom blonde ( Van Doren ) , and several guests , including Barker and Bancroft , who apparently have some sort of history together . The acting is okay with the exception of a very young Bancroft , who smartly underplays what could have been an extremely over the top character . Barker was very handsome and fit , but after reading that Lana Turner threw him out when she learned he was abusing her daughter Cheryl , it's hard to watch him . Most of the characters really aren't fleshed out enough to give the actors something to work with . Stuart Whitman has a small part , as does Dan Blocker , who plays a bartender . Not great .
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494,632 | 342,623 | 422,733 | 5 |
pleasant with an interesting cast
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This Hallmark movie , although it got quite a bit of structure from the " Perry Mason " TV movies , was slow but pleasant , with several plot turns that could be seen coming from a foot away . What it had going for it was its cast , including John LaRoquette , William McNamara , and a totally unrecognizable Daryl Anderson , aka " The Animal " from the old Lou Grant Show . Newcomer singer / actress Jamie Ray Newman ( formerly of General Hospital ) had a nice role , and long-time character actor Rod McCarron made an appearance . Nicest of all , two women of a certain age , Marta Dubois and Diane Robin , get to flirt shamelessly with LaRoquette . Dubois is a regular in this series and a love interest of McBride's - good to see an age-matched couple . There was some heart , too , as evidenced when McBride inherits Jessie , a client's dog . All in all , it's refreshing to see that these old-fashioned , purely entertaining types of mysteries with recognizable casts have a home on Hallmark . I look forward to another installment .
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494,640 | 342,623 | 375,210 | 5 |
an inauspicious comeback
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One would have thought that a talent such as Michael Keaton could have chosen something a little better for his re-entry into film . This film has an interesting premise , some scary scenes , and more holes in the plot than a swiss cheese . Keaton's choice of films in the past few years has been bad bordering on pathetic , the ridiculous " Jack Frost " being an example . It seems a shame that an attractive man who can do comedy and drama with equal facility can't find a role worthy of his ability . This film was long on driving scenes and staring at the computer and short on action . Also , I was disappointed in the ending on a number of levels . Still , a fascinating premise which could have been done tons better . Don't spend a lot of money on it . Rent it .
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495,054 | 342,623 | 433,604 | 5 |
Slow moving entry in the Mystery Woman series
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Hallmark Channel is targeting the baby boomers and older crowd with its Mystery Movie series . Mystery Woman , one of the shows included in the series , is about a bookstore owner ( Kellie Martin ) who is constantly being embroiled in real-life murders . Sing Me a Murder concerned a ' 60s and ' 70s folk song trio on the comeback trail . You can't get more baby boomer than that . Mystery Woman is mildly entertaining but doesn't have much pep to it . The pace is slow and the directing pedantic . Clarence Williams III's character comes off as dull . Kellie Martin , who is a very good actress , really doesn't have much to do . We hear about all the exciting events that Mystery Woman has at her store , but in this episode , we didn't get to see any of them . We don't see many customers either . David Naughton , one of the guest stars in Sing Me a Murder , is a long way from " I'm a Pepper " - can it really be that many years since I've seen him ? I didn't recognize him at first . It is certainly fun to see Williams , Martin , and various old-timers . I just wish they had a little more energy .
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494,830 | 342,623 | 23,594 | 5 |
Too much fishing
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Edward G . Robinson is Mike , a Portugese immigrant who makes his living as a fisherman in " Tiger Shark , " a 1932 movie also starring Richard Arlen and Zita Johann . Mike loses his hand while trying to save Quita's ( Johann's ) father from a shark , but he does manage to save his buddy Pipes . He falls in love with Quita when they meet , and , seeing that she is alone , he eventually proposes . She accepts but says that she does not love him . He apparently doesn't notice that one of his mates , Pipes , ( Richard Arlen ) has a crush on Quita , so Pipes is around a lot . This is a very dated and movie with stiff performances from everyone but Robinson . The character of Mike is very stereotypical now , but probably wasn't back then - the paunchy immigrant , kind of dumb , with false bravado , and don't forget about the hook for a hand . Very similar to " They Knew What They Wanted . " There are endless scenes of fishing , which these men did with poles and harpoons , not nets . It looked dangerous , and I guess if Quita's father died and Mike lost his hand , it was . The pretty Roumanian actress Zita Johann , who was married to John Houseman , is effective as Mike's shy , young and grateful bride - but after she spots handsome Pipes , she realizes gratitude can only take one so far . Here she's dressed plainly with little makeup - but one can see that with the Dorothy Lamour treatment , she probably looked very exotic . Arlen , of " Wings " fame , is pretty hunky . He died in 1978 and worked practically until his last breath , giving him a career span of 57 years . His heyday , however , was in the silent era . Edward G . Robinson is excellent as always , but the film just doesn't hold up today . Robinson proved early on that he could do just about anything , though in the ' 30s , he was most often cast as a thug . When you see Mike in action toward the end of the movie , you'll realize this role isn't that far from what he did as Little Caesar . I can't really recommend this unless you're interested in fishing circa 1932 .
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493,691 | 342,623 | 23,556 | 5 |
' 30s-themed Warners programmer
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Taxi ! is a 1932 film starring James Cagney and Loretta Young , made after Cagney's big success in " Public Enemy . " The ' 30s were a time when much of what was seen in theater and film reflected the plight of the blue-collar worker . Sophisticated drawing room comedies and rich folk were replaced by " Waiting for Lefty , " " Golden Boy , " " Awake and Sing " and the like . The theme of taxi companies fighting the independent cabbies was used other films , " Born Reckless " in 1937 and " Big City " in 1937 being two . In " Taxi ! " Sue ( Loretta Young ) sees her father ( Guy Kibbee ) go to prison for killing a driver sent by a thug named Gerard who deliberately smashes his taxi . He dies in prison ; later on , Gerard stabs the younger brother of Matt ( Cagney ) and kills him . Matt and Sue fall in love , despite being on opposite sides of the fence - she's against violence , he's all for it - and get married . Matt can't let go of wanting revenge against Gerard . The film is dated not only because of its theme but also the depiction of acceptable spousal abuse . However , it's notable for evoking a New York atmosphere and for the fact that Cagney speaks Yiddish at the beginning of the film . This was added to the movie when it was found out that Cagney knew Yiddish . Young is incredibly beautiful but maybe a little too classy , and Cagney does what will be a familiar role for him well . One poster here thought that Leila Bennett as Ruby was hilarious ; to me she was totally annoying . Four years later , she made her last film . " Taxi ! " is interesting for the cast , but you'll be turned off when Matt let's Sue have it . Look for George Raft as a competitor in a dance contest .
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494,769 | 342,623 | 120,753 | 5 |
too weird
|
A nearly crippled FBI agent , played by none other than Mel Gibson , arrives at a flop house for uninsured alcoholics , drug users and the mentally challenged to investigate the murder ( or was it suicide ) of a rich man's son . He meets , among others , an Indian named Geronimo , a man who claims to have been an uncredited member of The Beatles , an alcoholic whose toupee is on askew , a strange young woman and the even stranger young man who loves her . This film has some great things in it but overall , was too long , slow and bizarre for my taste . Part of the problem for me was that some of the dialogue was totally unintelligible . There were some good acting , lines , situations and moments but ultimately it was too left of strange for me - kind of like a Twin Peaks episode that veered off the charts .
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493,962 | 342,623 | 28,579 | 5 |
these people were lucky they got to make another movie
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Well , I didn't have as violent a response as the first post I read , but " Another Dawn " is from another era and didn't survive it , trust me . It's all pip-pip , jolly good , and honor is all in this dated film starring the handsome Errol Flynn and the lovely Kay Francis . She's a widow who marries Flynn's commander , though she still mourns her late husband . When she meets Flynn , guess what , she finds she can love again . Yeah , like who couldn't . They're both too honorable to do much about it , though . Most of the film takes place post-World War I in a Sahara outpost so there is lots of sand and some battles . Flynn is subdued in this , and Francis is radiant . Some of the dialogue is actually quite poetic - probably because they're quoting poems - and if it were in , say , The Rains Came , it would have worked very well - but it only adds to the melodrama in this film . Films such as " Another Dawn " are interesting as artifacts of a lost time when , I suppose , people had stronger values and lived for the greater good . When it's a stronger script and production , of course , these marvelous qualities are worth revisiting , admiring , and feeling guilty about . Alas , however , nobility is not well served by " Another Dawn . "
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494,214 | 342,623 | 32,415 | 5 |
Disappointing entry into the series
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Dr . K , Dr . Gillespie , and nurse Mary are all involved in " Dr . Kildare's Crisis , " a 1940 " Dr . Kildare " film which stars regulars Lew Ayres as Kildare , Laraine Day as Mary , Lionel Barrymore as Dr . Gillepsie , Alma Kruger as the nursing supervisor . Robert Young appears as Mary's brother Doug . Kildare and Mary are planning their wedding when Douglas comes to visit . He has a plan to help unskilled labor become skilled , and needs the support of one of Kildare's grateful ex-patients . Unfortunately it's downhill from there , due to a very weak script . Kildare , without examining Mary's brother , decides he has epilepsy on the basis that Douglas sometimes seems to hear noises no one else hears . This makes Mary afraid to marry him for fear of having him end up with a sick wife or epileptic children . She becomes hysterical and wants to return home with her brother . Well , this plot line is so pathetic that the New York Medical Society wrote a letter in protest about the way epilepsy is treated in the film - that it's curable , that it can be inherited , and that it can lead to insanity . Also , how could Mary , a trained nurse , go so crazy and insist on dumping Kildare , whom she's been chasing for years ? Really preposterous behavior on the part of the characters . The audience knows them by now and it's pretty bewildering . The series would be over in 1942 and become the " Dr . Gillespie " series , which retained Barrymore and Alma Kruger . Lew Ayres was persona non grata for being a conscientious objector in World War II , though he did work on the front lines as a medic . MGM didn't care , they just wanted to be rid of him . When he returned from the war , the handsome Ayres did some of his best work , receiving an Oscar nomination for " Johnny Belinda , " and continuing his career until 1994 . Laraine Day , though MGM never seemed to know what to do with her , ( happily , she was loaned out a lot ) is lovely as Mary , and of course , due to her involvement with Kildare , Mary becomes a casualty in this series . Dr . Gillespie , starring in his own movie series , would mellow . Both the Kildare and Gillespie series were very popular . It's a shame that this film seems so out of place .
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495,164 | 342,623 | 37,373 | 5 |
Barrymore , Johnson , and Luke still at Blair General
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This is a rather annoying entry into the series . With Dr . Kildare persona non grata at MGM after Lew Ayres became a conscientious objector , the franchise now belongs to irascible Dr . Gillespie ( Lionel Barrymore ) . Barrymore was a wonderful actor , but these were B movies slapped together probably in days , and it shows . This particular film had Barrymore overplaying to the balcony at the top of his lungs . Van Johnson and Keye Luke are cute as the energetic interns vying to be his assistant ( again ) and each taking on a difficult case . Johnson , of course , also has to deal with a woman . This time , it's pretty Marilyn Maxwell . The chief interest in seeing this film is for an early appearance by Ava Gardner as Jean Brown . She is flawlessly beautiful as a young woman caring for her arthritis-stricken mother . I liked the Dr . Kildare series with Lew Ayres and Laraine Day much more , I have to confess .
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494,671 | 342,623 | 27,677 | 5 |
Sudser in a girls ' school
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A young Simone Simon falls for her teacher ( Herbert Marshall ) in " Girls ' Dormitory , " a 1936 film set in a European girls ' school where the teachers are Herr and Fraulein . When Herbert Marshall is the object of a girl's affections , you know this is an old one . Like the previous poster , this film made me feel old , too , but for a different reason - I didn't like seeing Ruth Chatterton thrown over for this babe ! Simon plays a 19-year-old , but like " Ladies in Love " from the same time period , she looks like she's about 15 . She's a total dazzler with those pouty lips , exotic eyes , sexy voice , and kittenish presence . She was a natural for " Cat People , " that's for sure . And in real life , she was no less of a man magnet - even at an advanced age , she had plenty of male attention . Herbert Marshall plays the world's most absent-minded professor , failing to see that his colleague , Ruth Chatterton , has been in love with him for years and waiting for a marriage proposal . Similarly , he never catches on that Simon is in love with him either . In the story , Chatterton comes to Simon's defense when a love letter is found by one of the sterner teachers , and a move is afoot to expel her . Chatterton is a lovely actress , in her forties in this film . She only made a few other movies after this one , returning to her theatrical roots for the most of the rest of her career . Tyrone Power , then billed as Tyrone Power , Jr . , as his son is today , has a small role toward the end of the movie . He's gorgeous . Girls ' Dormitory is dated as all get-out , but worth seeing for Chatterton , Simon , and Power when he was beginning to find his place at 20th Century Fox .
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493,769 | 342,623 | 192,731 | 5 |
a little slice , a little dice , a little Basic Instinct , a little Terror Train
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I'm no expert - - nor fan - - of this genre but rented it because the plot intrigued me . I found it uneven in performances and plot and confusing in parts . In fact , there was one scene in the film that seemed totally unrelated to it so I must have missed something somewhere . I'm still not sure if it was a scene from a student movie or if it actually happened to someone - if so , I didn't recognize the character . And so it went . Jennifer Morrison , a very likable actress , did a credible job as did the always divine Loretta Divine and it is always great to see Hart Bochner . Matthew Davis came off as comatose . There was one wonderful bit using prop guns and some good scenes of student film set-ups and effects done on the cheap . But overall , it was a not very long film that seemed longer than it should have ; also , part of the plot resolution was more or less given away because of the casting ( a common problem , but one more often observed on primetime TV ) .
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493,835 | 342,623 | 41,430 | 5 |
a great cast in a film about the gambling bug
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Gregory Peck , Ava Gardner , Walter Huston , Melvyn Douglas , Ethel Barrymore , and Frank Morgan star in " The Great Sinner " about a writer who gets the gambling bug big-time . Set in the 1860s , the story concerns a writer ( Peck ) who falls for a woman ( Gardner ) whose life , and that of her father's ( Huston ) , is dedicated to gambling . They're waiting for the matriarch of the family ( Barrymore ) to die so that they will no longer be beholden to the owner of a casino ( Douglas ) . He has 200 , 000 ( francs , I think ) of the father's notes , and in return , he wants Gardner . One can hardly blame him - she's so gorgeous in this movie , and her costumes so stunning , she nearly burns up the celluloid . The writer tries his hand at gambling and soon becomes a complete addict . The gambling scenes in this film are quite exciting , as anyone who has tasted the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat a slot machine will attest . Unfortunately , other than that , it's a rather talk-heavy movie without much action and seems to go on too long . Nevertheless , there are some good performances . Was Walter Huston ever anything but great ? Peck is handsome and convincing as the fallen man . Agnes Moorhead has a small part , but she's excellent , as the nasty owner of a pawnshop . Frank Morgan also makes an appearance as an unlucky gambler . Worth seeing for Gardner's looks and gowns alone .
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494,724 | 342,623 | 315,297 | 5 |
not quite twisted enough
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I'm not sure why this movie was made . I found it slow moving , derivative , and without great acting roles for a very good cast , which included Ashley Judd , Samuel L . Jackson , and Andy Garcia . Ashley Judd was hard-bodied and policewoman-like ; Samuel L . Jackson was wasted . For me , this was a TV movie with movie stars . The plot was contrived and somewhat obvious . It probably could have been a lot better , but as it was , it just dragged along without really capturing my interest . There wasn't a lot of insight into any of the characters , most especially Judd and Jackson's . Why , for instance , in this day and age , was she so promiscuous ? The whole thing could have been fleshed out a little more . Anyway , I was disappointed .
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493,851 | 342,623 | 39,073 | 6 |
Post-war Maisie
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This is Maisie's second to last film in the series starring Ann Sothern that ran from 1939 to 1947 . Some of them were better than others . This one is in the category of okay . During the war , Maisie was a riveter ( Swing Shift Maisie and Maisie Goes to Reno , when she was burnt out and needed a vacation ) . Now post-war , she needs a new job , something steady . After graduating from business school , she eventually gets a job with an inventor ( George Murphy ) who is building a helicopter using his own secret invention . Little does he know , someone on his team ( who is so obvious it's ridiculous ) is trying to steal the drawings from him . Stephen McNally , Ray Collins and Hillary Brooke are featured . The Maisie movies are , of course , very dated today , but the premise is good - Maisie is a performer who occasionally gets work - usually she's stranded on the way to a job and ends up somewhere else , like in the Congo or on a farm . Ann Sothern is delightful as the street-smart , flashily dressed man magnet . These were B movies churned out probably in days , and the scripts vary from good to lousy along with Sothern's costars , which included James Craig , John Hodiak , Lee Bowman , John Carroll , Lew Ayres and Red Skelton - how's that for variety of up and comings and down and goings ? Mildly entertaining .
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495,159 | 342,623 | 21,992 | 6 |
Precode film with good performances
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The plot of " Illicit " is similar to the plot of an early Bette Davis film called " Ex-Lady " made two years after this one . They should be similar - Edith Fitzgerald wrote both of them . " Ex-Lady " was based on an unproduced play , and " Illicit " actually was a play . Both concern women who don't want to get married and men who do . Anne ( Stanwyck ) ( like Davis ) is an unconventional free spirit afraid that marriage will destroy the romance she has with Dick ( James Rennie ) . However , word gets around that the two have been weekending in Connecticut , and Dick's father ( Claude Gillingwater ) convinces her to agree to marry Dick . Thanks to an old girlfriend of Dick's and an old beau of Anne's , trouble brews in paradise once the rings are exchanged . This is an early sound film , so the rhythm is off , and some of the sound has an echo . However , a few pauses that are a little too long don't really impede the fine acting . Stanwyck is wonderful and gives indication of the wonderful star she will become . She's funny , vivacious , and likable . Charles Butterworth plays a drunken friend very convincingly , and Claude Gillingwater is dignified yet warm as Dick's father . Rennie makes an attractive lover turned husband for Stanwyck . Joan Blondell has a small role as a friend . The film is interesting because it's early Stanwyck , but also because of the independent woman angle which soon will fade from view with the ushering in of the code . Once the ' 40s hit , the independent woman became an uptight career woman wearing a tailored suit , her hair up , and sporting a stern attitude . Young , carefree non-virgins became a thing of the past . But these precode films are what helped mold the strong images of Katharine Hepburn , Bette Davis , and Barbara Stanwyck and are worth watching .
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493,800 | 342,623 | 78,167 | 6 |
okay
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Ring of Passion is a 1978 TV-movie about the Joe Louis / Max Schmeling fights . It stars Bernie Casey as Joe Louis , Stephen Macht as Schemling , Britt Ekland as Mrs . Schmeling , and Allen Garfield as Damon Runyon . The Louis / Schmeling fights , which took place during the time of Hitler , had political implications as well as implications in the international fight arena . Though Schmeling was used by the Third Reich as a symbol of Nazi power , he was not a Nazi . He was , however , a proud German . Louis was an ambitious young man who wasn't very practical with his money . Both were very good men . Both were dynamos in the ring . Their 1938 rematch was considered America vs . Germany . Though not covered in the film , the two became very good friends , with Schmeling helping Louis financially throughout the years . Schmeling died at the age of 99 in 2005 ; Louis died in 1981 . The Brown Bomber , as he was known , held the world heavyweight title longer than anyone . " Ring of Passion " has the stamp of a ' 70s TV movie . The performances are good , but the dialogue is uninspired and the pace is slow . Also , it was strange to see Germans in Germany speaking English with a German accent , which of course , they don't do . However , Stephen Macht , whose last name is German , sports an excellent German accent . One historically incorrect thing : Schmeling and a tennis friend , Rodney , visit together . Rodney is about to play Don Budge , the American tennis champion . When he loses , Rodney and his family disappear . " Rodney " is undoubtedly Roderick Menzel , who indeed lost to Don Budge in 1938 ; however , he died in 1987 . Apparently , in this movie , with the exception of Louis and Schmeling , if the real-life people were still alive , their names were changed ( including Mrs . Schmeling , Anny , called Amy in the film ) .
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493,697 | 342,623 | 39,160 | 6 |
predictable B film
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Frances Gifford gets mixed up in " The Arnelo Affair , " a 1947 film also starring George Murphy , John Hodiak , Eve Arden and Dean Stockwell . In fact , the film was on TCM as part of Dean Stockwell's birthday . He certainly was an adorable little boy . Gifford plays Anne Parkson , the neglected wife of a successful attorney , Ted Parkson ( Murphy ) . One night , Ted brings home a shady client , Tony Arnelo ( Hodiak ) , who owns a nightclub . Arnelo has an immediate attraction to Anne and , upon learning that she has dabbled in room design , he invites her to decorate his club . Of course , he couldn't care less if his club ever gets decorated or not . Though Anne hasn't yet said " yes , " he gives her a key to his place after their first meeting and invites her back the next day at 2 . She arrives the next day and is confronted by an actress-girlfriend of Tony's . Tony slaps the woman and the frightened Anne runs away , the compact that her husband gave her falling out of her purse . The next day , she sees in the paper that the woman has been killed . In exchange for the compact and a letter he later steals , Tony wants Anne . This is a good-looking film , with beautifully tailored mens suits on Hodiak and Murphy and smashing clothes for Gifford and Eve Arden , who owns her own dress shop . And that's about it . The dialogue is totally predictable - when Anne asks her husband to go away with her , the words were out of my mouth 30 seconds before she said the line . The attractive Gifford is a bore and gives no shading to her role at all . MGM never could figure out what to do with Laraine Day - why didn't she make this ? Murphy has a pleasant way about him and Hodiak is okay , but frankly , Dean Stockwell as Anne's son steals that show . That's not saying much . Eve Arden is good but wasted . The music is overpowering , and the pacing is slow . " The Arnelo Affair " needed a strong actress in the lead , better dialogue and faster pacing . Without those elements , it's pretty dull .
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494,323 | 342,623 | 286,077 | 6 |
sexual addiction explored in a good TV movie
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This is actually a pretty good TV movie , based on a true story , starring real life husband and wife , Harry Hamlin and Lisa Rinna . Hamlin plays a sex addict who gets caught cheating by his wife . It turns out to be a little more than cheating , and Hamlin's chronic problem is ultimately exposed . He basically destroys his marriage , as well as his relationship with his children . The indication that this film is realistic and based on a true story is the fact that Hamlin's wife keeps taking him back despite his many transgressions . The movie doesn't pull any punches - it explores treatment options , 12 step programs , problems that Hamlin's own father had , and the difficulty that husband , wife , and family have coming to terms with their difficulties . It also shows the gritty situations that the man gets into , making one realize that only a compulsive personality would put himself through such horror . Hamlin and Rinna do a very good job .
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494,870 | 342,623 | 1,243,939 | 6 |
Uneven dramatization of a true story
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Lifetime Television's " The Two Mr . Kissels , " based on the true story of two murdered brothers , stars John Stamos as Andrew Kissel , Anson Mount as Robert Kissel , and Robin Tunney as Robert's wife , Nancy . Somehow , a fascinating story was rendered fairly uninteresting by the script . With better writing , this might have been a compelling , old-fashioned two-parter , as there is certainly enough material out there . The Kissel brothers were wealthy and seemingly successful young men - Robert was a brilliant businessman whose career had an upward trajectory . Unfortunately , he married a narcissistic money-grubber ( Tunney ) who falls for a cable guy ( in real life a stereo repairman ) and decides she's better off with all of the cash and no husband . Andrew could have been a successful entrepreneur , but he needed to come up to par with his brother and make a big splash . He becomes a cocaine-addicted , womanizing con artist , married to a successful woman who truly loves him and turns a blind eye to his shady deals and late nights . The murders of both men are handled well , but one never gets a strong sense of the relationship between the two brothers or any handle on the character of Robert . John Stamos does a good job with the material , but the best role in the film belongs to Robin Tunney as Nancy . She's excellent . It's really the only fleshed out part in the film . There was a good deal more that went on in this real-life saga , including in court . In the end , I felt that the script let down what should have been a fascinating story .
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494,182 | 342,623 | 823,477 | 6 |
Nature versus nurture
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In " Jane Doe : The Ties That Bind , " Cathy's son is doing a piece for school on " nature versus nurture . " In Jane Doe's case ( that's Cathy's alias when she works for the government ) the question of nature versus nurture is an underlying theme . She embarks on a case with Frank Darnell ( Joe Penny ) involving a man being in two places at the same time . We know what's coming . When that comes , and there's still 45 minutes to go , we know what's coming next . Lea Thompson stars as Jane Doe . This particular story is preposterous , though I've spent my time doing worse . Thompson is likable . The best thing in the series is Joe Penny by a mile . The worst thing about this series , by a mile , are scenes depicting Cathy's home life , which are great if you're trying to go to sleep . The family part is the major problem with this series and drags the rest of it down to an even lower level . The episode this week dealt with the older daughter getting permission to stay out all night . The script for these scenes was a total mess . Cathy ( Jane Doe ) tells her husband ( Billy Moses ) to have the daughter text every half hour . This is never mentioned again , but before the daughter leaves , she begs her father not to call her every half hour . He doesn't tell her to text . Later on we learn he's calling her every half hour . Then Jane Doe is concerned back in her office because her daughter hasn't called . No mention was ever made of her daughter calling her . Nobody in the show can get their cell phone to work - they're always conveniently out of range whenever the plot needs them to be . At the end of the show , the son gives his speech on nature versus nurture - which is not the speech he was practicing in his room . The " Jane Doe " series has some action to it - and it has Penny - and a pleasant , if not fiery actress in Thompson . With some attention to the scripts , this show could be much better . The family is too perfect , the scenes are too ordinary , and they move too slowly . The music is horrific . The rest of the show is always more interesting , and some of the mysteries have been pretty good . Mildly entertaining .
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493,777 | 342,623 | 118,548 | 6 |
totally ridiculous
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This movie is fun and has some exciting moments but is basically absurd . Leaving the plot out , which would involve a spoiler , almost as absurd as the plot is the sight of this elderly man bungie jumping out of windows and running through the woods at Olympic-qualifying speed . I'm sorry but Clint Eastwood looks like Father Time in this one . A 45 year old woman can't do a clinch with a man her own age in most films because she's considered too old but this guy's allowed to act like a 20 year old and get away with it . I love Clint Eastwood , he has a wonderful quality but he needs a reality check .
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494,252 | 342,623 | 21,885 | 6 |
If it doesn't fit , you must acquit
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Norma Shearer is " A Free Soul " in this 1931 film also starring Lionel Barrymore , Clark Gable , Leslie Howard , and James Gleason . Though this is an early talkie , the actors handle the dialogue well , and there are not the awkward rhythms , pauses , or echoes one often hears during these first years . Shearer plays Jan Ashe , the daughter of an alcoholic attorney , Stephen Ashe . Ashe successfully defends a mobster named Ace Wilfong against murder charges by showing that the hat bearing his initials , found next to the body , doesn't fit him . Shades of O . J . Wonder if Johnny Cochran saw this film . The minute Jan meets Ace , there is an instant attraction , although she's engaged to Dwight ( Howard ) . Soon she is sleeping with Ace . Her father finds this unacceptable . Desperate to get him to stop drinking , Jan agrees to stop seeing Ace if he will lay off the booze . They leave the city with Stephen's friend ( Gleason ) and rough it for three months . Just before they're due to return to the city , Jan catches Stephen drunk . He disappears on a passing train , and she returns to Ace . This time , however , she realizes he's a cruel brute and no longer wants him . It is then that the film takes an unexpected turn . The themes in " A Free Soul " are dated today , having to do with the class system and a woman being a tramp if she sleeps with someone outside of marriage . Norma Shearer gives a very good performance as the flapper Jan , conveying a daughter's devotion and a determination to remain independent and not follow the norm . Not a great beauty , Shearer was a hard-working actress who had glamor , sophistication , and was ultra-feminine . The latter is especially evident in newsreels where she's only playing Norma Shearer . Lionel Barrymore is not yet in a wheelchair due to arthritis here . He does a great job as a man who is a shadow of what he was but still retains elements of greatness . It's certainly interesting to see Rhett and Ashley with a woman between them 8 years before " Gone With the Wind . " This was one of Gable's breakthrough performances . Unmustached and looking very young , his persona is fitting into place - when he slaps Jan , he packs a wallop , and he kisses a woman like he means it . Leslie Howard is an elegant , gentle , and romantic Dwight . I happen to like his Ashley - his idealism , impracticality and mixed signals are what make him attractive to Scarlett . Here , he's as honorable as Ashley , with his protection of Jan being the only thing that matters to him . " A Free Soul " is a turgid melodrama , and some of the acting may seem a little over the top today , but it's still recommended for the performances and especially for the young Gable , who would be packing a wallop and kissing like he meant for another 30 years .
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494,151 | 342,623 | 21,873 | 6 |
Pre-code melodrama about the tabloids
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The exploitativeness of tabloids is always a good subject , even back in 1931 . " Five Star Final " is about a ruthless editor ( Edward G . Robinson ) who hounds a woman involved in a 20-year-old murder with tragic results . The film sports a good cast , including Boris Karloff , Mae Marsh , Ona Munson , Aline McMahon , and H . B . Warner . Robinson , as the editor , decides to do a series on an old murder and track down one of the people involved , Nancy Vorhees . She is now married with a daughter about to get married . The film looks at the effect it has on the lives of everyone in the family . I am not as enthusiastic about this film as some of the posters here , though I imagine it was very hard-hitting for 1931 . The acting is very melodramatic , and while I appreciated the devastating effects of the story , I really thought a bad situation was made much worse by the behavior of the girl's parents . It wasn't until the mid-thirties that the class system in America began to disintegrate , so it's still quite evident here , with the way the young woman's future in-laws react to the scandal and Robinson's analysis of black readers . At the time the film was made , any publicity was looked down upon - today it's considered a great thing , though I don't suppose involvement in a murder would be . You might get a book deal out of it , though , and a TV movie . Nancy Voorhees today could have given the paper an exclusive interview and become a sympathetic character . But it was such a disgrace , and people seemed to have no understanding or compassion . It's hard to judge the performances because the acting style and the dialogue are so different from even a few years later . Of all of them , Aline McMahon , as the cynical secretary , comes off the best . Definitely worth seeing .
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494,173 | 342,623 | 43,879 | 6 |
North by Dangerous Ground
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The most vivid thing about this film is its score by Bernard Hermann , which sounds very much like his sweeping , exciting music in " North by Northwest . " It's fitting , too , because in one of the scenes , Robert Ryan and Ward Bond are climbing a rocky , difficult hill , the music comes in - and brings to mind the Mount Rushmore scene . This is a strange , moody movie that , thanks to Nicholas Ray's research , captures the grittiness of police work . Robert Ryan plays an out of control cop who is the poster child for police brutality . Ryan is always good , but the glint in his eyes as he goes after a suspect is really something , as is the loneliness and separateness that seem to permeate his portrayal . To keep any more civil suits being brought , his boss , Ed Begley , sends him into a rural area to help capture the killer of a young girl . It is there that he meets the blind Lupino , whose brother is a suspect in the murder . It's a short film , so certain elements happen a bit too quickly , i . e , Ryan seems to find empathy as soon as he leaves the city . But you can't help feeling for both him and Lupino . Both these actors are always worth seeing .
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494,836 | 342,623 | 21,825 | 6 |
Early talkie with some up and coming stars
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Constance Bennett is a woman who gets a sugar daddy in " The Easiest Way , " also starring Adolphe Menjou , Robert Montgomery , Anita Page , and Clark Gable . Made in 1931 , it's directed by Jack Conway , and it's very well done . Bennett plays Laura , who lives in a crowded tenement with her large family , which includes her father who manages not to work . She gets an opportunity to model for an advertising agency . While there , she catches the eye of the boss ( Menjou ) who offers her a life of luxury . She takes it . Her mother shuns her , and her brother-in-law , Clark Gable , has no use for her . While she and Menjou are in Colorado , she meets a reporter , Robert Montgomery , and they fall in love . She promises to be faithful to him while he's in South America for three months . But it's pretty hard to make it on her own . This is an interesting film . Because the actors were getting used to sound , the rhythm is occasionally off , i . e . , there are sometimes awkward pauses between lines . Everyone's acting is good , with the exception of Marjorie Rambeau , who has a very melodramatic role and does the tremulous voice thing in her big monologue . Rambeau , however , had been a Broadway star , where her theatrics were more appropriate , and it took actors time to learn the art of film acting . She was a fantastic actress , and I particularly remember her as Joan Crawford's mother in " Torch Song . " Constance Bennett , as usual , was very beautiful . She is excellent in the part of a torn , vulnerable woman . Gable is a tough guy sans mustache . He hadn't yet developed his screen persona , but the gorgeous smile was there . Robert Montgomery is wonderful as a young reporter . There was a neat shot where the camera travels up a building , zeroes in on a window , and then zooms in . It was dizzying and exciting , and it's the kind of detail that makes " The Easiest Way " a good watch . There are real outdoor scenes , too , no painted backdrops , and opulent sets . If they weren't opulent , they were realistic , for instance , the crummy apartment where Laura's family lives . There was another ending to this film that the Hays office vetoed . Apparently it was shown in some theaters but is no longer available . I'm a sap , so I liked the ending that's in the movie .
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494,801 | 342,623 | 35,151 | 6 |
Uneasy mix of comedy and drama
|
Once Upon a Honeymoon is a 1942 film directed by Leo McCarey with a script by Sheridan Gibney and McCarey . Despite its stars , Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers and McCarey as director , the uneven script ultimately topples this film . Part of the problem is that as an audience member , you're not sure what to do - is it serious or funny ? In a way , the audience is set up for comedy - they see it's a McCarey film with Rogers and Grant - and then they don't really get it when parts of it aren't funny . When it's Europe in World War II and you're mistaken for Jews , it's no joke . Nevertheless , this is a film with some very good scenes , particularly at the beginning when Rogers feigns a fake British / upper class accent and then takes a call from her mother ; she then sounds like a fishwife as she announces her marriage to one Baron von Luber ( Walter Slezak ) . Grant plays an American war correspondent investigating the Baron , who is suspected of being a top - but secret - ally of Hitler's . It does seem that wherever he goes , that country falls soon after . When Grant takes Rogers to lunch , he tells her vodka is Polish water - she takes hers with some brandy . She eventually escapes from von Luber but is forced to re-connect with him to get information . " Once Upon a Honeymoon " has its moments , including its serious ones , but it seems like two films , neither belonging with the other . A real McCarey comedy with Grant and Rogers tripping up the Nazis would have been great ; and of course , both actors could have pulled over a serious war film as well . In trying to make them do both , the movie's statement is confused .
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495,137 | 342,623 | 87,827 | 6 |
Some interesting elements
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If you can buy petite , beautiful Yvette Mimieux as a loser , this is the film for you . It's also a fun watch if you're a fan of makeovers and soap operas . The story concerns a whack job , Mimieux , who is obsessed with a soap star , portrayed by Simon McCorkindale . In fact , she lives her life as if they're together . By this I mean , she talks to him even though he's not there . You get the idea . Finally , she leaves her dreary job and existence and sets out to make her fantasy a reality . In true TV movie style , she has herself completely made over , even dumping her glasses , and insinuates herself into his life by posing as a reporter . The fun starts there . A good watch .
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493,694 | 342,623 | 35,183 | 6 |
pleasant enough
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The Peterville Diamond from 1942 is a pretty good British film with people not terribly well known on this side of the pond but nevertheless quite good . I would have liked to have seen this with spiffier production values and stars a la MGM . It's the kind of story that needs some gloss . The plot concerns a bored , wealthy woman who feels ignored by her husband . To spice things up , she has a woman friend call her , and in the presence of her butler , she arranges a tryst at a jewelry store . The butler dutifully tells the husband . While everyone is at the store , it's robbed by one of those gentleman robbers they used to have in the ' 30s , a Raffles type . He later shows up at a dinner party hosted by the woman and her husband , and now he's a baron . It takes off from there , with confusion over a case containing either jewels or papers and car chases . I'm sure it's not a long film but due to the thinness of the plot , it felt like it went on too long . Nevertheless , parts of it are fun .
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494,004 | 342,623 | 26,187 | 6 |
Paul Lukas as Philo
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Philo Vance has been played by a number of actors over the years , everyone from Wilfred Hyde-White to William Powell , who portrayed the detective the most . In " The Casino Murder Case , " it's Paul Lukas ' turn to have a go at it . This is a light mystery concerning some murders within a family . Rosalind Russell is the young woman here , and she does a fine job . I'm not familiar with Philo Vance in the books so I can't comment on Lukas ' portrayal in comparison . However , I suspect that normally , the role is approached with a lighter touch . Lukas is a wonderful and very likable actor , but I think that in the hands of someone like William Powell , the humor would have been mined a little bit more . Lukas isn't heavy-handed in any way , it's just that this type of role isn't a perfect fit for him . All in all , entertaining .
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494,476 | 342,623 | 34,961 | 6 |
Marlene Dietrich in a comedy
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Marlene Dietrich is the lady in " The Lady is Willing , " a 1942 film also starring Fred MacMurray and Arline Judge . The beautiful Dietrich plays a musical star , Liza Madden , who walks off with an abandoned baby and takes him home . Though Liza lives well , she owes a fortune to the IRS and gives all of her money away , and she won't be able to adopt the child unless she's either married or solvent . She convinces a pediatrician ( MacMurray ) to marry her . He does , and they adopt the baby , now called Corey . The marriage is supposed to be in name only , but you know how those things go . " The Lady is Willing " is not much of a story or a movie , but Dietrich is just stunning , and her acting is charming . She creates a very lovable character . MacMurray , as the doctor who falls in love with her , turns in a good performance . He's part of a dumb subplot involving rabbits that is dropped along the way . Dietrich's assistant is played by Arline Judge and her maid by Marietta Canty and they are both excellent in their roles . It's just too bad all of these good people had to be in this particular story . Obviously , the baby in question ( David James ) is unaware that the story is weak ; he laughs and plays with telephone cords , Dietrich's hats and smiles at everyone . Just adorable . Definitely worth it for Dietrich and her fashions , and if you like kids , little Corey . Interestingly , one of Dietrich's famous legs was in a cast for part of the film , though it's not noticeable .
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494,034 | 342,623 | 21,732 | 6 |
another WWI love triangle
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Douglas Fairbanks Jr . and Anthony Bushell are the Prescott brothers in 1931's " Chances , " and both are in love with the same woman ( Rose Hobart ) who plays Molly . The two brothers go off to war while Molly does her part in the effort , Tom ( Bushell ) believing that Rose is waiting for him , while in fact , she loves Jack ( Fairbanks Jr . ) and only turned to Tom on the rebound . Jack and Molly meet while he is on leave , and when he returns to battle , he doesn't know how to handle the situation with his brother . This is a very dated film done in that weird time that was the transition between silent and sound . This makes the dialogue pacing off and the film seem mannered and stagy . It's by no means a heavy look at war as some of the films made around the same time were , but rather focuses on the brothers ' relationship and their mutual love for one woman . Fairbanks Jr . emerges as the best actor , giving a solid performance . Hobart is very serious and kind of boring , and Bushell is good-looking but callow . It's all very stiff upper lip and pip-pip . " Chances " is a dark-looking film with some well-done battle scenes . One interesting bit of trivia about the cast is that all three leads lived to be 90 and above . One wonders if in later years , they even remembered this early effort .
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495,048 | 342,623 | 21,756 | 6 |
pre-code youths in Paris
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It was said , possibly by David Niven , that Constance Bennett would walk into a room at night to play cards and emerge the next morning looking exactly the same as when she went in . I can believe it . Her beauty , glamor , and freshness are beautifully showcased in " The Common Law " about living and loving ( freely ) in Paris . It seems strange that a movie made in 1931 should seem more modern than later films , but we can thank the Hayes code for that . In The Common Law , Bennett , when she's not shacking up with some guy , is a model for an artist , played by boyish Joel McCrea . The two fall in love , go through a breakup and reconcile . She is reticent about getting married . Then McCrea's conniving sister , having heard all the rumors , lures both she and McCrea back to America . McCrea and Bennett made several films together , and they are a beautiful couple . He's big and wholesome ; she's delicate and sophisticated . And of course , they're both incredibly beautiful . It's always interesting to catch a pre-code movie , and The Common Law is a good one .
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494,865 | 342,623 | 39,325 | 6 |
Noir based on the radio show
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Mr . District Attorney is a 1947 film starring Dennis O'Keefe , Michael O'Shea , Marguerite Chapman and Adolphe Menjou . It has a solid B cast that includes Jeff Donnell and George Coulouris . O'Keefe plays Steve Bennett , a defense attorney who is offered a job in the DA's office by Craig Warren ( Menjou ) and accepts . Unfortunately he's being played by the Chapman character , Marcia Manning , who's trying to get information from him that will help the case of her boyfriend , James Randolph ( Coulouris ) . By listening in on a phone conversation , she finds out about a witness , who suddenly disappears . Warren suspects Manning , who has a police record , so he sends Steve to Italy to find a witness and convinces Marcia to get out of his life . She does so , by marrying Randolph . When Steve returns and finds his girlfriend married , he blames Warren and quits the DA's office , making him ripe for exploitation by Randolph yet again . This is an okay film , brightened by the performance of Michael O'Shea as an investigator who works in the DA's office . Menjou is very good as the DA . O'Keefe is a likable and attractive actor who doesn't register much here . Chapman is effective . I mainly know who she is from the ' 80s , where she was selling her own memorabilia and always had an ad in " Hollywood Studio Magazine . " The movie felt a little dragged out .
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494,898 | 342,623 | 35,034 | 6 |
A woman comes between two best friends
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Manpower is a 1941 Warner Brothers film directed by Raoul Walsh . Walsh said that Jack Warner used to call him to his office and say , " You have to direct this film for me . " Walsh would ask , " Who's in it ? " " Oh , I don't know , " Warner would moan . One wonders if " Manpower " was one of those films , though it would be pretty hard to forget that you had a film with Marlene Dietrich scheduled . The story is that of a typical love triangle . Hank ( Robinson ) and Johnny ( Raft ) are linemen ; Hank falls hard for Dietrich , who works at a clip joint . He proposes and though she tells him up front that she doesn't love him , she accepts . Then she finds herself in love with Johnny . Dietrich is stunningly beautiful though I was distracted by a wig that seemed to overpower her face . And when was the last time you heard her described , as Raft does , as " just a dame ? " Hardly . She is very good as Fay , who , while she gives it a go with Hank , wants her chance at real happiness . Robinson , who could play pathetic like nobody's business , gives us a pretty pathetic Hank here - injured so that instead of working on the power lines , he's now a manager , unlucky in love and dumpy looking . For a guy who could play mean as dirt , he portrayed these blustery , insecure men very well . Raft is a very dapper Johnny , a nice contrast to Robinson . With the exception of an exciting ending , there really isn't anything exceptional about " Manpower " except the cast and the fact that it rains a lot . Definitely worth seeing for the unique casting .
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495,022 | 342,623 | 21,684 | 6 |
engrossing but heavy going pre-code melodrama
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Constant Bennett is a beautiful Red Cross nurse and Joel McCrea her lover in " Born to Love . " The story held my interest but it is truly a turgid melodrama with some very old-fashioned , over the top acting from Bennett . Bennett and McCrea meet during World War I in London , fall in love , have sex ; he leaves for battle and is later presumed dead . Pregnant , she marries Paul Cavanagh , Sir Wilfred Drake , who comes off like a nice guy at first . When McCrea turns up again , Bennett is determined to be loyal to her husband . But when he realizes she's seen McCrea and is still in love with him , the jig is up . In the divorce , Sir Wilfred gets full custody of the child . And here's where the going gets rough for the viewer , not to mention the characters ! McCrea is adorable ; Cavanagh is the type of leading man one doesn't see anymore . He comes off as very unattractive in this , though in his 32-year career , this often wasn't the case . As for Bennett , one has seen her to much better advantage . This is one of those creaky movies that's interesting from a precode and artifact point of view , but you can see these two stars in better films .
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493,832 | 342,623 | 56,625 | 6 |
Love that title !
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You gotta love the title " Two Weeks in Another Town . " It's fabulous . As for the movie . . . it's a big budget , sprawling color extravaganza that's either a sequel or a prequel to " The Bad and the Beautiful " depending upon whom you speak to . Kirk Douglas stars as Jack , a has-been , alcoholic actor who , fresh from the asylum , is summoned to Rome by his guru , the director Maurice Kruger ( Edward G . Robinson ) . Also in Rome is the wife that drove Jack into an alcoholic stupor , the seductive Carlotta ( Cyd Charisse ) . Initially all Jack is to do is direct the dubbing of Kruger's film so he can finish on time and satisfy the Italian producer - but things become more involved . I can't agree with one comment that this is the veiled story of Tyrone Power , Linda Christian , and Darryl F . Zanuck , with circumstances changed to protect the guilty . Certainly the promiscuity aspects are similar ; Ty took up with Anita Ekberg , magazine editor Mary Roblee , etc . , and Linda , well-known for her exploits like the Cyd Charisse character , had an affair with Edmund Purdom . And Power was certainly tied to Zanuck . However , the story is pretty Hollywood generic ; one could probably make the case for other actors ' marriages and connection to directors and / or producers . " Two Weeks " is also way over the top , which is what Minnelli intended : old Roman gluttony . It's a feast of scenery , big acting , and a wild , dramatic story , which peaks with Douglas and Charisse in a fast car careening through Rome . Kirk Douglas is great as an actor returning to his past , only to find there's nothing there of use . Robinson turns in a excellent performance as a tough yet insecure director who cheats on his emotionally abusive and abused wife yet depends on her like a child its mother . Trevor as the wife is appropriately hurt , angry , and downright vicious . George Hamilton plays an up and coming actor - as one comment noted , this is a stretch ; he doesn't really register . Charisse gets costar billing but doesn't have much to do but laugh evilly , wear glamorous clothes , and look seductive . She succeeds . " Two Weeks in Another Town " is certainly worth a look , though it was hard for this viewer to connect with any of the characters . I think it stands alone as neither a prequel or sequel to " The Bad and the Beautiful " as a story of what it's like to make films in another time - and in another town .
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