2022 Watches
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- DirectorGeorge SidneyJoseph BarberaWilliam HannaStarsFrank SinatraKathryn GraysonGene KellyA pair of sailors on leave try to help a movie extra become a singing star.Jan. 1 - PBS - good way to start off the year.
- DirectorMelville ShyerStarsHenry B. WalthallJohn HarronPhyllis BarringtonWhen a city councilman is murdered while investigating allegations of drug dealing going on a a somewhat disreputable sideshow, the daughter of the chief suspect teams up with a newspaper reporter to find the real killer.January 2
Incredibly bad ... just plain stupid type bad. Watched it to see Henry B. Walthall who seemed to be the only trained actor in the cast. It seemed much older than 1934 as far as movie making technology. Bad bad why am I finishing watching this mess ? bad ! - DirectorAlfred L. WerkerAnthony MannStarsRichard BasehartScott BradyRoy RobertsThis film-noir piece, told in semi-documentary style, follows police on the hunt for a resourceful criminal who shoots and kills a cop.Jan.3 Not too bad bordering on pretty good straight forward police procedural that moves right along with no side shoots into irrelevancy. Small part by Jack Webb and trivia tells us that this film led him to the development of Dragnet,
Good cast including a quiet performance by Richard Basehard. No explanation for the crime spree is ever given (not that it matters), - DirectorGeorge CukorStarsRonald ColmanEdmond O'BrienSigne HassoA celebrated actor struggles to distinguish his own life from that of his most recent stage role, Othello.Jan.6. Pretty good. Watched it based solely on the cast and was pleasantly surprised. Probably being more familiar with Othello would help. Shelley Winters in possibly her first credited role as a character type she was stuck with for a good deal of her career.
- DirectorJohn CromwellStarsCarole LombardJames StewartCharles CoburnWhile on a business trip, an ambitious young lawyer meets and immediately falls in love with a stranger. They wed the following day, and tragedy soon strikes.Jan. 6. Disappointed. With it starring Jimmy Stewart and Carole Lombard was expecting a comedy and instead got Jimmy in a role reminiscent of It's A Wonderful Life plus nagging mother and sick baby. One time watch and almost zoomed to the end but stuck it out.
- DirectorDonato CarrisiStarsDustin HoffmanToni ServilloValentina BellèSamantha, a young girl who was kidnapped, resurfaces in shock after being imprisoned and hospitalized.Jan. 7 Should have watched something - anything - other than this mess of a film.
- DirectorGeorge McCowanStarsRay MillandSam ElliottJoan Van ArkA group of helpless victims celebrate a birthday on an island estate crawling with killer amphibians, birds, insects, and reptiles.Jan. 8. Silly silly movie with so much wrongness going against it ... small positive was a younger but rather lackluster Sam Elliot, Yet another embarrassing role by Ray Milland. To top it off, most of the frogs were played by toads !
- DirectorFred ZinnemannStarsEthel WatersJulie HarrisBrandon De WildeHer older brother's wedding forces preteen tomboy Frankie to face her own immaturity.Jan. 9. Very stagebound but that's not really a problem. Accepting 27 year old Julie Harris as 12 year old Frankie is another matter. Effective moments but too often just want to send Frankie to her room for a year or two. deWilde a favorite but the direction or script was erratic as to how he should behave or project.
Summation: worth watching if only to hear the singing of My Eye is on the Sparrow ! - DirectorJoseph H. LewisStarsGlenn FordNina FochJames WhitmoreTreasury Department agent Frank Warren takes on the case of a mob leader who has evaded paying taxes on his ill-gotten gains.Jan. 9 - Federal agent procedural trying to stop the syndicate lead by THE BIG FELLOW ! Pretty well done even with the preachy patriotic speech translated from Italian by the little girl with the required Hollywood lisp. Debut of James Whitmore.
- DirectorRené ClairStarsFredric MarchVeronica LakeRobert BenchleyA beautiful 17th-century witch returns to life to plague politician Wallace Wooley, descendant of her persecutor.Jan, 10. A disappointment. Veronica Lake was beautiful and fine, Susan Hayward was a beautiful but a cranky, bossy shrew of a fiancee, Fredric March was too old and too stodgey for this so called comedy, Cecil Kellaway was too .... Cecil-y. Dunno ... bottom line, the story was lame and it just did not work ! It's a film I have wanted to see for quite a while ... disappointed that I did not care for it.
- DirectorDan IrelandStarsVincent D'OnofrioRenée ZellwegerAnn WedgeworthIn 1933 Texas, a schoolteacher and aspiring writer meets a pulp fiction writer, and a relationship soon develops between the two, but it is doomed by his slavishly devotion to his ailing mother and insistence on his freedom.Jan. 11 Perhaps knowing that this was a biopic and knowing who Howard was would have helped, but I doubt it. Pretty film but scattered and ultimately disappointing.. Renee as annoying as usual. Watched it to see Vincent but he seemed to be acting rather than being.
- DirectorWilliam NighStarsBoris KarloffMarjorie ReynoldsGrant WithersA pretty Chinese woman, seeking help from San Francisco detective James Lee Wong, is killed by a poisoned dart in his front hall, having time only to scrawl "Captain J" on a sheet of paper. She proves to be Princess Lin Hwa.Jan, 11 Proof that not all movies made in 1939 are memorable great classics. Second viewing because it was so forgettable. Annoying perky girl reporter, patent leather haired Karloff Wong, convoluted and ultimately insipid plot. Other Wong's have been more fun.
- DirectorRichard RushStarsPeter O'TooleSteve RailsbackBarbara HersheyA fugitive stumbles onto a movie set just when they need a new stunt man, takes the job as a way to hide out and falls for the leading lady while facing off with his manipulative director.Jan 12/13. A re-watch better left to memory. Very odd movie.
- DirectorWilliam Cameron MenziesStarsJohn MillsRene RayRobert NewtonA young girl is travelling to London to find work. Arriving at the station, she meets a man who has been stabbed by a member of a gang of crooks involved with greyhound racing.Jan. 14. Who would have thought that John Mills could sing and dance ? He can ! That aside, this film written by Graham Green and directed by William Cameron Menzies is muddled and ultimately pointless. Lackluster performances (including that by Robert Newton), nonsense plot from the get go and a lot of running up and down staircases abd shadows do not a good movie make. Mills reminded me occasionally of James Cagney at that age but without the spark !
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsRex HarrisonConstance CummingsKay HammondA man and his second wife are haunted by the ghost of his first wife.Jan. 14. I was starting to get worried that I no longer liked movies and fortunately this came along. What a delight it is. Margaret Rutherford and Rex Harrison were the only "knowns" and they did not fail to please. Wonderfully technicolored and a beautifully restored Criterion copy available on line. Funny film worth finding !
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsRobert NewtonCelia JohnsonJohn MillsJust after World War I, the Gibbons family moves to a nice house in the suburbs. They live an ordinary life throughout the years, but everything changes when World War II breaks out.Jan. 15. What nice surprise. Watched this based only on Noel Coward, John Mills and Robert Newton, David Lean. What a GOOD movie it is. Well written, acted, photographed ! Glad I found it !
- DirectorHenry CassStarsDavid TomlinsonHelen CherryMargaret RutherfordThe near-bankrupt Earl of Locharne must contend with a government agent trying to requisition his ancestral Scottish castle, as well as a beautiful American woman who wants to buy the place - to say nothing of the resident ghost.Jan. 16. Another accidental lucky find chosen purely on the basis of Margaret Rutherford. Cute and funny in a silly Sunday afternoon way.
- DirectorAnthony KimminsStarsRonald ShinerMargaret RutherfordA.E. MatthewsA wealthy old man dies and leaves his holdings--including a brothel, a gambling den, racing greyhounds, and a sleazy bar--to his eccentric niece Clara Hilton (Dame Margaret Rutherford). Clara vows to "clean up" her new establishments, but complications ensue when she visits the crooked gambling den just when it's being raided by the Police.Jan. 16. Another newly discovered entertaining little film with Margaret Rutherford. Not as dotty as she sometimes is and no ghosts.
- DirectorRobert SiodmakStarsCharles LaughtonElla RainesDean HarensAn unhappily married man begins a flirtation with a younger woman. When his wife threatens to ruin her, he decides to take action.Jan. 16. Another fun new discovery .... Laughton not at all hammy and very gentle. Suspense with a couple of twists.
- DirectorD. Ross LedermanStarsFrieda InescortPaul CavanaghHeather AngelOccupants of a London boarding house become suspects as a string of murders are discovered.1/17 Not too bad ... mystery with murders and suspects galore and a simple minded detective . Terhun Bey already in a turban in his debut film.
- DirectorFrank LaunderStarsBill TraversAlastair SimPaul YoungGeordie is a very small boy who feels that the girl he loves is ignoring him because of his size. He decides to take a correspondence course in body-building. At 21, Geordie becomes one of the tallest and strongest men in Scotland.1/17 Finally found a copy of a favorite film I have been looking for for forever and it did not disappoint even for a second. Beautifully shot in technicolor, terrific acting, a young Bill Travers and a memorable story. who could ask for anything more ?
- DirectorTim WhelanStarsCharles LaughtonVivien LeighRex HarrisonPickpocket Libby gets support from street performer Charles, and her dancing leads to her invitation to theater patron Harley's party which in turn launches Libby's stage career while Charles keeps on struggling in the streets.1/18 A pre GWTW Vivien and a much younger Rex plus Laughton .... took a tad too long to get where it was going but seeing Laughton singing and dancing was worth the wait. Nothing outstanding other than historical interest but good for what it is.
- DirectorHenry KingStarsSpencer TracyKetti GallianNed SparksMarie is kidnapped and taken aboard ship, then thrown off at Yucatan. She winds up singing in a café in the Panama Canal zone. There she gets involved in a plot to destroy the canal and runs into American intelligence officer Crawbett.1/19 Unknown (to me) early Spencer Tracy film with multi cultural detectives and potential sabotage, singing by THE Helen Morgan, a pretty heroine who disappear from the screen as quickly as she came and character actors galore. Worth a "historical watch" if for no other reason.
- DirectorVal GuestStarsMarianne StoneLionel MurtonLisa GastoniAfter heavy fog prevents all aircraft from leaving London airport, a group of passengers take an airline bus to get them to an alternative airport. However, one amongst their number is the mastermind behind a bullion robbery at the airport... and particularly keen to escape the fog.1/19 AWFUL to the point of giving up half way through and fast forwarding to the end awful. Even the presence if Margaret Rutherford and spotting Stringer Davis could not save this boringly stupid mess. Petula Clark unrecognizable but it is on her filmography. Advise to others... skip it !
- DirectorNeil JordanStarsPeter O'TooleDaryl HannahSteve GuttenbergWhen a hotelier attempts to fill the chronic vacancies at his castle by launching an advertising campaign that falsely portrays the property as haunted, two actual ghosts show up and end up falling for two guests.1/19 &20 NOT the Noel Coward story ... this one is a frenetic "comedy" set in Ireland ... too frantic, too busy, too too including O'Toole trying too hard.