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Reviews
A Date with Miss Fortune (2015)
Clever writing, great acting, great ending
This movie gets better and better as it plays. Some very funny lines and a great ensemble cast. Bravissimo!!
The Tattooed Stranger (1950)
Excellent music gives dramatic tension to low budget film noir
A gritty little film noir, the Tattooed Stranger has dramatic tension thanks to the excellent and original music of Alan Shulman.
Shulman, a cellist in Toscanini's NBC Symphony, studied composition with Paul Hindemith. His Cello Concerto was premiered by Leonard Rose with the New York Philharmonic, his clarinet pieces were played and recorded by Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw, he wrote songs for Steve Allen, and he taught Nelson Riddle orchestration techniques used in Riddle's work for Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald. and Nat "King" Cole.
His quality music is unexpected in this context and gives the film depth and nuance.
A Life of Her Own (1950)
Strong acting with some of the greatest music ever composed
This movie is full of incandescent moments. Tom Ewell is funny and gritty at the same time, Ann Dvorak plays the has-been model to the hilt, Louis Calhern is reassuring, but the most amazing performing comes secondary roles--from Margaret Phillips as Milland's invalid wife--her speech about fighting for her marriage is riveting. Barry Sullivan is also strong as a cynical and world weary business executive. Lana Turner gives the impression that she has lived this situation. It is as real as it gets for her--the Postman Always Rings Twice with an empowering ending. There are also a couple of delightfully creepy scenes--Turner's Birthday Party for Milland and the bar scenes with the ventriloquist dummy--that make your skin crawl. The music is what really lifts this movie out of the ordinary. Bronislaw Kaper wrote one of the most hauntingly beautiful songs ever conceived that perfectly fits the tension of the dramatic situation. I like the ending and the music makes it convincing. Stay with it--it's worth it.
Force of Arms (1951)
Curtiz as good as Casablanca but grittier
Directed by Michael Curtiz (Casablanca) with music by the great Max Steiner (King Kong, Gone With The Wind, Casablanca, Treasure of the Sierra Madre) The script crackles with great dialogue, William Holden is the best I've ever seen him, Nancy Olson is able to deliver the most romantic lines with real emotional honesty--not an easy thing to do. The idea here is a kind of bleak existential gallows humor mixed with a deeply felt love story. It also brings up PTSD. All the actors are at their best and believable. The photography mixes real combat footage well.The war attitude is soldiers wanting to do a job because they feel a responsibility to their brothers-in-arms and their loved ones back home. It's a real gem and I'll never forget it.