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jmurf1111
I have been a movie buff since childhood. As my parents amassed the 10 children in our family, they made the affordable double feature on Sunday afternoon our welcome babysitter so that they had a few hours of somewhat peace from 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. ..our drop-off and pick-up time.
Now in my 60's and retired, I am enjoying the heck out of familiarizing myself with the actors/actresses of the 20's, 30's, 40's by watching black and white movies restored and available because of Movie Industry efforts in saving them for posterity. An added pleasure is seeing the Stars I am familiar with from my youth in their earliest movies forward. It is remarkable to see them so young and healthy, sometimes not even recognizable without seeing movie credits or the cast list here in an IMDb movie review first.
In fact, before I watch a movie, I will, many times, look up the movie and various cast members for the information posted. I want to know the year of the movie, the age of the performers then, and how they compared to their castmate/s' ages. I also like learning when and how they died compared to the date of the movie. That information feels a bit god-like...knowing how many years performers have left to live based on year of movie. However, with that knowledge comes a sadness that, even though it can be viewed now and again, their body of work is finite, and these actors/actresses are not around anymore to be thanked for the hours and hours of enjoyment we can feel individually and/or with company.
Also remarkable to me is the bit of melancholy I feel regularly for youngsters and adults born in the 21st Century (and, actually, 1990 on) who will never feel the pleasure of the Golden Age of Hollywood and the enchanting Classic Stars, male and female, who dominated the screens and viewers' fantasies as we watched them perform in movie after movie, having careers that spanned up to 60 years. Worse for me, is the sad acceptance that so many don't believe they could feel enjoyment in watching any film in black and white (or close captioned) and, therefore, with that apathy, miss out on fantastic scripts and visuals in movies of every genre from the GOLDEN YEARS OF HOLLYWOOD.
Grabbing popcorn and a blanket....movie watching has never gotten old to me, although I'm getting old by the second.
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Back Street (1961)
Life Lessons Abound in this Film.
I've read Reviews that express flaws in this film and think viewing it a waste of time. Oh, brother, as the old expression goes. I cannot disagree more. It wasn't often for me (and still isn't) that I'd see a movie once
.then, years later, happen upon it toward the ending
.and get all emotional because I remembered what all had happened up to the point I walked in on. I've always loved this 'love story' (and, no, I didn't love the actual movie 'Love Story' by the way
.that stupid remark 'love means never having to say you're sorry
.yeah, right
not).
First this === Watch this film just to enjoy the heck out of the brief performance of Reginald Gardiner (you've seen him in a zillion movies), as well as Virginia Grey, who was the scene- stealer as the cosmetic counter clerk (opposite Joan Crawford) in the fabulous movie THE WOMEN. Virginia plays Susan's sister in Backstreet.
This flick: As a young teen, I was absolutely fascinated by Susan's portrayal of femininity with strength, self-motivation and passion for career...as well as passion for her 'Love', as it turns out. I was impressed to see a single woman not depressed by lack of a 'mate' in her life as she pursued her dreams; and, really, that was strange to me considering Susan's character looked 'older' and I knew of the term "old maid" as being a slam on unmarried women beyond about 24 at that time. No gal I knew or met for years thereafter wanted the stigma of Old Maid thrown at them. So, believe me, Susan's fortitude example in the film was a fine first lesson to recall when the mid-twenties approached any of us female 'singles'. It opened doors to pursuits of careers as a good thing to young gals, whether workforce or college-bound out of high school. College for women was more than just obtaining an 'MRS.' degree.
The happenstance meetings of Paul Saxon (John Gavin) and Rae Smith (Susan Hayward) occur early in the film and the initial innocence of same moves quickly into the actual storyline. A love-at-first-sight formula is immediate, I suppose for movie time constraints, even though the main stars aren't that young and clearly have life experience that could have immediately put the brakes on such attraction.
As all the factors that come into play between the two are revealed and inter-played with their love relationship, viewers make their own calls on selfish / unselfish
smart / stupid behaviors, with direct consideration to individual definitions of that ... and whether extenuating circumstances eventually cause a gray area to form from black & white first judgment calls.
SAME TIME, NEXT YEAR with Alan Alda and Ellen Burstyn is another fantastic film that reflects on a relationship of two .. married, but not to each other .. characters. The remarkable script includes very funny dialogue and visuals as the years progress-- completely relating to these two alone. Don't miss seeing it.
The Alphabet Murders (1965)
Comedic Facial Looks & Gestures ala Tony Randall & Cool Creative Camera Work
I offer an odd review because I don't care much about the plot while awarding 8-Stars to this movie. I enjoyed Tony Randall and Robert Morley's interactions, as well as what I detected as ad libs each threw in that appeared to spontaneously amuse each other. I like to rewind and slo-mo through funny exchanges, not only watching the speaker but, more so, the recipient of the remark to see the surprised reaction that must be controlled as the camera continues to 'roll'. --I rewind and slo-mo through many, many TCM movies to critique scenes & players.
Aside: (Rosalind Russell and Cary Grant often made each other lose control and laugh in scenes
sometimes using one's hand/hat to hide the face and sometimes backing out of camera frame to hide the spontaneous laughter from ad-libs. His Girl Friday movie has hilarious examples throughout. -- Also, watch background actors react to their ad-libs repeatedly.)
Back to "ABC" -- Tony's comedic facial expressions and gestures throughout this film are FREE LESSONS on HOW TO for any young actor/actress who likely pays for such classes and improv. How clever he many times uses his eyes without moving his head
.as well as using his eyes by closing them or looking up as he thinks etc
.all kinds of smart, funny looks as he detects and deduces
.sometimes w/o words and sometimes talking through. The thrown-in hand gestures and body language besides --- I'm telling you up and comers or just us folks who like to entertain when we're out goofing around, tips for 'acting' funny are right there to see.
CAMERA DIRECTION AND ANGLES: Pay attention to how clever the Director used objects to make cool visuals
1) camera looks through jail cell window & other creative views to show characters .. 2) camera catches creative lighting shots of the character and his shadow on a wall or in a mirror, etc. .. 3) in the fancy club scene, the cameras are all over the place catching close-ups and characters from all sorts of directions and angles
even upside down.
RECAP: I was amused throughout and the plot itself really had little to do with it. (Aside: Tony Randall was fabulously funny as sidekick in the DorisDay/RockHudson flick "Lover Come Back".
Walk Don't Run (1966)
'Fair' rating falls to 'Poor' when remake can't hold candle to original
Bottom Line on top: I give the film a 3 out of 10 for those viewers who watch this remake film without ever having seen the original. While you are not aware of what you are missing, I am. Therefore, I want you folks reading my review to really get this: If you end up liking "Walk, Don't Run", well then, RUN, DON'T WALK to the TCM site to purchase "The More the Merrier" to have an absolutely fabulous comedy in your film collection to watch repeatedly and share with other TCM fans.
I didn't know Walk, Don't Run was a remake when I decided to DVR it. I was 20 minutes in when I recognized positively it was a remake of "The More The Merrier". I watched the entire film; but, I have to tell you, it wasn't easy to stay with it. Why? Because saying this film lacked the Charm, Warmth and Wit of the original is an understatement .. well, if I could think of a word under understatement, I'd be using it.
All I kept thinking was how much weaker the script was. How Samantha Eggar was NO JEAN ARTHUR by ANY comparison. How Samantha and Jim had zero chemistry compared to Jean Arthur and Joel McCrea. How Jim Hutton held no presence in the apartment-sharing scenes whether between him and Cary Grant or between him and Samantha compared to Joel with Jean and Charles Coburn. How Jim held none of the animal attraction I felt for Joel as Joel acted his way through this film in and out of the apartment. How I missed seeing Charles Coburn's performance in scenes with Jean or Joel and with Jean and Joel===as well as his typical acting nuances with other characters throughout the entire movie. Heck, I got to a point in the original where I waited for Charles Coburn and his antics to get back on screen, not caring if it would be with Jean and/or Joel
.and I'm feeling that impatience while I'm enjoying the heck out of seeing Jean and Joel's interplay.
I did like some of the exchanges between Cary and Jim; and I do believe they did some ad-libs between them that amused each other. I enjoyed rewinding those scenes to watch each man's facial reactions as they played off each other.
Here's a huge rub I couldn't overcome. Charles Coburn could never be mistaken by the audience for the man that Jean Arthur would fall in love with from their first encounter on, even when he turned out to be rich. Joel enters that movie and there is clearly Jean's love interest. Cary, however, is 'Cary'. I mean look at and listen to him compared to Jim Hutton. Even if a later reveal gave Jim a 'Sir' title or money
..I still go with Cary, hoping he'll somehow get himself 'single' for me, if he is married.
By the way, I watched and waited the entire movie for something about Samantha Eggar to make me give a rip about her and how her role plays out. Never cared. Her mannerisms, speech cadence, sex appeal
sorry
nothing there compared to Jean Arthur's performance.
Love Crazy (1941)
Top this Contrivance and See who's really Crazy
Sometimes I look up TCM User Reviews on a movie before I watch it... glad I didn't this time. Immediately upon seeing who the stars were, I set my DVR because I DVR anything Powell/Loy. I definitely had more fun watching it in complete ignorance of content, although I must say I almost 'paused' a bit into it to see where the heck the plot was going per the 'teaser'.
After the fun 'loving' first 15 minutes, the writers played a game of 'top this contrivance' amongst each other in penning the script. I was having so much fun chuckling at the 'seeing is believing' stuff and recognizing that anyone being told of such occurrences would, of course, respond with a 'yeah, right' that I paused to see how much time was left in the movie...happy to see 40-50 more minutes of Powell/Loy was yet to come.
The 1.40 hour movie took me about 2 1/2 hours to watch, as I replayed sections to hear what each was saying in some of the talk-over scenes, cause I knew it had to be funny, and to watch the reactions of the actors alongside the speaking actor, who we viewers usually keep our eyes on as a movie goes along instead of the background actors. I also like rewinding to watch for what I think are 'ad-libs' because unexpected reactions of individual characters playing off each other are extra FUNNY'S to catch.
You'll really enjoy the point in this movie where you're hearing Myrna testify to William's sanity as she reasonably sees it, yet it defies 'common' logic; and YET, we viewers know everything she's saying is absolutely true. Moreso, it's fabulous to always know that it is those very behaviors of William that make her, outside of anyone else alive, love him so. We watch and love her reflecting her character off of him, so often surprising us with her ability to change her chic, straight-laced behavior to goofy corny with him. It is Powell's behaviors and how Myrna reacts to them in all their movies that is really the Key to the Endearment we feel for them as a couple. NO WAY would we, their audience, have ever allowed the movie writers to take this couple away from us with a truly 'final' divorce ending.
Knowing Powell/Loy films are finite and I had seen almost all of them, I couldn't help but feel a bit of bittersweetness, wishing a young William and Myrna were still around to bring life to more well-written scripts. It's only in the last 8 months (my retirement) that I've even become familiar with the 20's, 30's and 40's comedies and all those soooooo funny actors and actresses, only of few of whom I had heard the names of, although I had not seen any of their hilarious movies. I now feel really sad for anyone who hasn't seen these old comedies where the FUNNY is driven by intelligently funny scripts, superb facial expressions, superb 'machine- gun' talking delivery, and superb physical movements (and not all pratfalls) that elicit extended laughter, constant chuckling and consistent smiling.
You'll like this movie
although you'll wish you could reach into it and grab Myrna's Mother and throw her off the porch now and then.
Design for Living (1933)
Amusing.....a bit. Comedy? Not by my definition.
The other Reviews gave more than enough technical, background, and actors/actress information regarding this movie. I will just address the classification Comedy.
I found the script and the performers amusing here and there. My patience was tried throughout the entire film, though, as I watched and listened in anxious anticipation for the "FUNNY" to kick in. Let me tally the count:
Belly laughs= ZERO... Out loud laughter=ZERO... Out loud chuckles=ZERO... Snickers and hmm hmmps=UNDER FIVE... Smiles - Yeah, I smiled (cheeks sure did Not get sore maintaining one, though)
AND, the movie ended.
If the Pre-Code factor of this film and other info as furnished in other Reviews is enough for you, then watch it.
I CANNOT recommend seeing this film if you, like me, have the prerequisite requirement that a movie classified Comedy MUST have at least ONE (1) laugh-out-loud moment in it. Barring that, I can't even say I felt the enjoyment of having spent the time it took to watch the movie, as I felt too much disappointment for what it lacked.
By the way -- Of Course I appreciate Gary Cooper, Fredric March, Edward Everett Horton, and (lesser known to me, yet enjoyable enough) Miriam Hopkins. I've seen films they're in that were ---my definition --- Funny. Just not here.
Cinderella Jones (1946)
Smart Alecky Remarks (spoilers) I'm Stealing
The number of laughs, chuckles, and smiles a movie classified Comedy affords me as I'm watching it and the overall feeling I have when it's ended is what determines the stars I award in my effort to encourage viewership.
I'm shocked to read these old-posted reviews that say in so many words that this movie is not only not funny but also dumb, even to the point of getting 0 stars from someone. I TOTALLY DISAGREE.
I had never heard of Cinderella Jones and the little information shown in the guide actually had me skipping it. However, since I'm on a comedy kick and desirous of seeing movies pre-1950 now that they're available on TCM (and I'm retired), I happened to switch channels to it 20 minutes into the film and started watching. After 10 minutes, I knew when it ended that I was going online to see if it's available for purchase. I want to see it again and I want to loan it out to others I know who enjoy a good 'old' comedy.
While it goes into song a few times, you can fast-forward if that bores you. And, there's a bit of dancing...so ditto that....although I now enjoy watching dance moves, spins and taps or intended funny moves (esp. since acquainting myself with Astaire/Rogers routines.)
What really makes this movie worth 8 STARS, however, is the fact that I had to press the Pause button over ten times to make a note of some clever remarks and behavior by a number of the actors/actresses that I intend to use sometime first chance I get. (SPOILER, but you'll forget) 1) A military parade is going by holding them up in traffic when they have an arrival deadline and the fabulous character actor, SZ Sakall, says "Fine time to invade California". 2) Robert Alda (Alan's father in real life) is going to the bar to set a guy straight; and, as soon as he gets there, he picks up a mixed drink, chugs it down, puts it back on bar, turns to the guy and says "Anybody drinking that?" and the guy says "Not Now!". 3) Joan Leslie gets hired on the spot as a waitress w/ absolutely no experience and no knowledge of the joint's 'lingo' in taking orders. (I barely knew what the order was w/o re- listening): "I'll have a couple of sinkers, a cup of java, save the cow (donuts, coffee, no cream) ... other guy says,"same, but shoot some chalk juice into my caffeine" (cream in coffee). Joan, of course, has no idea what they just said and guy adds "you know, bovine juice". 4) The other waitress tells her to change an order to: "take a cannibal for a walk" (hamburger to go) And, there's constant plays on words and sound-alike wrong words used by Joan (whose character had very little formal schooling) and by SZ Sakall (with his foreign accent and English translation) that I find amusing ala comedian Norm Crosby and Raising Hope's TV show Mom, Virginia in more recent times): 5) Joan: "What do you think I am, an immigrant?" (ignorant)..."Ignorance shouldn't be so bliss" (Ignorance is bliss) -----and a lot more goofy remarks that I thought were clever just to think of using them for plays on words. Sakall: "You take the words right out of my mouth...that's very unsanitary". ---and he has a ton more of sound and sight gags, as well as a minute's amusing dance for a man his age and size.
While this is not an A-List of actors starring, it's all the more fun watching goofy behavior from most of the other characters who may only have a line or three in the entire movie; but, enough of those lines are clever and/or funny...which equals viewing enjoyment.
Hey, watch for the airing of this movie. It's fun, funny, clever in parts, kudos to the character actors, and a pleasant viewing that I could've enjoyed seeing back to back ...had I recorded it. Yes, Joan and a few had some obvious facial overplays....so what. By the way, Joan is alive at 89 yrs.old.