Destry Rides Again 1939

     The Western town of Bottleneck has two kinds of residents.  The ones that hang out in the saloon and the ones doing farming and ranching.  Kent is the boss of the saloon and of Bottleneck.  There is a crooked card game and Kent has been ‘winning’ the deeds to farms and ranches.  Sheriff Keogh investigates the latest crooked game and he is killed for asking questions.  The town drunk is made the next Sheriff because the town expects him to always be drunk!!  The new Sheriff Washington Dimsdale sends for his nephew Tom Destry Jr.  Tom’s father was a famous lawman and Tom Jr. has also gone into upholding the law.  Washington is surprised when Tom Jr. arrives on the stagecoach and he seems nothing like a lawman!!

     Tom Jr. surprises everyone in the town.  He sets out to use guns as a last resort but he will use them if they are needed.  He demonstrates his gun skills to some men shooting up the town.  He can shoot each one of the knobs off a wagon wheel on top of the saloon.  There is never a dull moment in this film.  Destry is outsmarting the townspeople at every turn.  They are used guns to solving everything and not their wits.  3 ½* (I liked this movie)

94 min, Western directed by George Marshall with Marlene Dietrich, James Stewart, Mischa Auer, Charles Winninger, Brian Donlevy, Allen Jenkins, Warren Hymer, Irene Hervey, Una Merkel, Billy Gilbert, Samuel S. Hinds.

Note:  Imdb 7.7 out of 10, 100% critic 81% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, TCM Leonard Maltin 4* out of 4* average user review 3.4* out of 5*, Amazon 4.6* out of 5* with 154 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Kernville and Universal City, California.  There is a fight scene with two women in the saloon.  Marlene Dietrich and Una Merkel agreed to fight.  The rules were no closed fists but they used feet and pulled hair.  Marlene had bruises for weeks afterwards.  Una Merkel said she was bruised from head to foot.  In real life James Stewart and Marlene Dietrich had an affair lasting for the duration of filming.  Marlene had many affairs with some short-lived and some lasting decades.  Some of the affairs overlapped each other and her husband knew almost all about them?  This is James Stewart’s first western film.  Originally, Gary Cooper was to take the role of Tom Destry.  He wanted more money than the producers were willing to pay.  This film was adapted for a Broadway musical starring Andy Griffith.  It opened April 23, 1959 at the Imperial Theatre and ran for 472 performances.  Included in the American Film Institute’s 1998 list of the 400 movies nominated for the Top 100 Greatest American Movies.  There is also another film with the same title from 1932 with Tom Mix.

The Dawn Patrol 1938

     The setting of this film is in France of 1915 during WWI.  The 39^th Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps is under the command of Major Brand.  The airmen go up to face the enemy in bullet-riddled “crates.”  The casualty rate is very high.  Major Brand can’t seem to make the officers at headquarters understand what is happening?  There is air ace Captain Courtney and he is a thorn in Brand’s side.  Everyone is doing all they can but they can’t see things getting any better?  New pilots with very few hours of experience are arriving to replace the veterans lost in the air.

      The aerial footage is very interesting and also the mindset on the ground.  It's very tough for the pilots to see or learn that their comrades were shot down.  The planes are so flimsy that they can't withstand very much destruction.  If the plane nosedives and hits the ground, there isn't much chance for the pilot to walk away.  3* (This movie is OK)

103 min, War directed by Edmund Goulding with Errol Flynn, Basil Rathbone, David Niven, Donald Crisp, Melville Cooper, Barry Fitzgerald, Carl Esmond, Peter Willes, Morton Lowry, Michael Brooke, James Burke, Stuart Hall.

Note:  Imdb 7.6 out of 10, 83% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, TCM Leonard Maltin 3.5* out of 4* averages user rating 4.85* out of 5*, Amazon 4.6* out of 5* with 122 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Calabasas, California.  I didn’t realize this was filmed in California when I was watching?  The planes were mostly Nieuports and the production had 17 vintage WWI aircraft!!  The flying was just as hazardous as in WWI.  Stunt flyers crashed 15 out of 17 planes!!  One of the Nieuports is on display at the Army Aviation Museum at Fort Rucker, Alabama.  The name Von Ricter on one of the planes is a reference to Manfred von Rictofen, the iconic WWI German ace flyer.  He was nicknamed The Red Baron by his friends and enemies.  A lot of the aerial footage came from Warner Bros. 1930 film version of The Dawn Patrol.  There was a real No. 509 Squadron in the Royal Flying Corps during the Great War.  It was formed in 1916 and deployed to France in 1917.  They flew R.E.8s and it was a two-seater bombing reconnaissance aircraft.

The Eagle 1925

     The time setting of this film is between 1762 and 1796 during the reign of Catherine the Great.  Vladimir Dubrouvsky is a lieutenant in the Russian Army.  He catches the eye of Czarina Catherine II.  She asks him if he would like be promoted to a General?  Of course, he wants to be a General!!  The only problem is the Czarina is making advances and that could turn out with him loosing his head??  He spurns her advances and flees.  She puts out a warrant for his arrest, dead or alive.  Vladimir finds out that the land his father owns has been taken over by Kyrilla Troekouroff.  His father has died and Kyrilla is doing the same thing to other landowners.  Vladimir starts wearing a black mask and he becomes an outlaw.  He is called The Black Eagle.  He intercepts a French tutor headed to the home of Kyrilla to instruct his daughter.  He takes the place of the tutor and he intends to kill Kyrilla.

     This film is a black and white silent film.  It is a little difficult to understand because there are many twists and turns and no dialog?  I think this makes the movie seem longer?  I checked once to see how much longer the run time would be?  There is organ music playing in the background of the scenes.  Over time, it becomes tiresome.  3* (This movie is OK)

73 min, Action directed by Clarence Brown with Rudolph Valentino, Vilma Banky, Louise Dresser, Albert Conti, James A. Marcus, George Nicholas, Carrie Clark Ward.

Note:  Imdb 7.3 out 10, 77% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, TCM Leonard Maltin 3* out of 4* average user rating 3.5* out of 5*, Amazon 3.9* out of 5* with 36 reviews.

Special Note:  Included in the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die edited by Steven Schneider.  There is a scene with the camera moving forward toward the audience while filming a banquet table.  The table needed to be specially designed to move apart so the camera could travel backward.  Rudolph Valentino wanted to project a tougher guy image in this film.  He did the opening stunt with a horse catching up to a runaway carriage himself.  Normally, he would have his stunt double do this scene.  Valentino wears lipstick and it’s noticeable but I have seen recent movies with the men wearing lipstick?   There is another film titled The Black Eagle of 1926 produced by Douglas Fairbanks.  This caused the title of this film to be changed to The Eagle.

The Legend of Lyla Clare 1968

     This film is based on a DuPont Show of the Week in 1962.  It was a television drama production with the same material.  Lylah Clare was a flamboyant movie star of the 1930’s.  She died mysteriously and tragically on her wedding night.  She had a fear of heights and couldn’t look down.  Lewis Zarken meets a woman through Agent Bart Langner who resembles Lylah.  He wants to direct a biographical film about Lylah starring Elsa (Brinkmann) Campbell. 

     This film is too long, there is repetition and a slowness about it.  It’s difficult to figure out and not explained how Elsa (Brinkmann) Campbell would know so much about Lylah?  How does she speak another language that she doesn’t know?  Why does she fall for the same things that bring her down if she knows so much about Lylah.  Lylah was caught up in the same traps?  2 ½* (This movie is so-so)

130 min, Drama directed by Robert Aldrich with Kim Novak, Peter Finch, Ernest Borgnine, Milton Selzer, Rossella Falk, Gabriele Tinti, Valentina Cortese, Jean Carroll, Michael Murphy, Coral Browne, Lee Meriwether.

Note:  Imdb 6.0 out of 10, 41% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, TCM average user rating 2.8* out of 5*, Amazon 4.1* out of 5* with 26 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Culver City.  Novak was in a riding accident and she didn’t want to return to films.  This is her first film in three years.  Director Aldrich felt it was difficult to get Novak interested in her character.  He initially blamed her for the film’s poor performance but later decided that it wasn’t her fault.  He failed to communicate her character properly to the audience.  Ursula Andress turned down the role of Lyla.  Aldrich wanted Jeanne Moreau or Diana Dors for the lead.  Performed badly at the box office with generally poor reviews.  Listed among the 100 Most Enjoyably Bad Movies Ever Made in Golden Raspberry Award founder John Wilson’s book The Official Razzie.

The Crimson Pirate 1952

     The setting of this film is in the Caribbean in the late 1700s.  Captain Vallo is also known as The Crimson Pirate.  Vallo and his crew are on their ship and they pretend to have all died from survey.  A ship from the King's navy comes alongside and boards them.  Their plan is to throw the dead men overboard and take over their ship.  The crew is not really dead, they attack the boarding party and they attack all the crew members on the King's naval ship. 

     I must say that I was glad to see this movie end!!  This is really a spoof of adventure films and more like a musical without the songs or music?  The costumes, the swashbuckling, sword fights and a lot of the plot points seem ridiculous!!  3* (This movie is OK)

105 min, Adventure directed by Robert Siodmak with Burt Lancaster, Nick Cravat, Eva Bartok, Torin Thatcher, James Hayter, Leslie Bradley, Margot Grahame, Noel Purcell, Frederick Leister, Eliot Makeham, Frank Pettingell.

Note:  Imdb 7.3 out of 10, 100% critic 85% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, TCM Leonard Maltin 3.5* out of 5* average user rating 3.8* out of 5*, Amazon 4.5* out of 5* with 159 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Campania, Italy and Middlesex, England, UK.  The character Ojo is mute because he has a thick East Coast accent.  Warner Brothers insisted that future films from Burt Lancaster be limited to $900,000.  This was because of cost overruns on this film and also His Majesty O’Keefe of 1954.  Lancaster’s response was to obtain a new deal with United Artists.  The budget on this film started out at $1.1 million and rose to $1.85 million.  Lancaster was a circus performer before he became an actor.  He and a partner had a high wire act and his partner is also in this film.  Originally this film was a serious film but the director Robert Siodmak had just finished two tense movies.  The Killers of 1946 and The Spiral Staircase of 1946.  He changed the script to a comedy.   Co-producers Lancaster and Harold Hecht were not fans of the witch-hunts conducted by the House Un-American Activities Committee.  The film title and the plot line of a government denying the rights of the people reflected their feelings. 

Dial M for Murder 1954

     This film is adapted from a Broadway play opening at the Plymouth Theater in New York on October 29, 1952 and ran for 552 performances.  Mark Halliday had a brief affair with Margot Mary Wendice.  Mark is an American writer and Margot is wealthy and she lives in London with her husband Tony Wendice.  He was formerly a professional tennis player.  He quit the circuit to spend more time with Margot and he found a regular job with less travel.  Mark wrote Margot many letters and she burned all of them except the last letter she received.  Her purse was stolen at Victoria Station and she was able to get the purse back to weeks later at lost and found.  This letter was the only item missing from the purse?  She receives a blackmail note asking for 50 pounds for the letter to be returned to her.  She mails the money but she doesn’t receive the letter?  Mark flies from America to visit the couple.  Margot tells Mark about the letter and also that Tony has become a better husband since he quit tennis.

     This is a very complex film and you don’t know how it’s going to turn out??  After Mark arrives, Tony asks him to attend a stag party with him.  Margot originally planned to attend a movie alone but Tony talks her into staying home and organizing his press clippings from tennis.  While she’s at home, a man attacks her from behind and he attempts to strangle her?  This incident sets the movie in a different direction.  4* (I really liked this movie) 

    

105 min, Crime directed by Alfred Hitchcock with Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, Robert Cummings, John Williams, Anthony Dawson, Leo Britt, Patrick Allen, George Leigh, George Alderson, Robin Hughes, Sanders Clark, Jack Cunningham, Robert Dobson.

Note:  Imdb 8.2 out of 10, 88% critic 92% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 4.6* out of 5* with 638 reviews, Slant Magazine 3* out of 4*, TCM Leonard Maltin 3* out of 4* average user review 4.34* out of 5*.

Special Note:  Filmed at Warner Brother Burbank Studios, California.  The budget was estimated at $1.4 million with a worldwide gross of $6 million.  Hitchcock wanted Cary Grant to star but Warner Bros felt he would be miscast in the role of Tony.  Grace Kelly is dressed in bright colors at the beginning of the film and they become progressively darker.  Hitchcock wanted to film to have the feeling of claustrophobia so most scenes were shot indoors.  Ranked #9 on the American Film Institute’s list of the 10 greatest films in the Mystery genre in June of 2008.  Filming was finished in 36 days.  Hitchcock was forced to make this movie to fulfill his contract.  He said he could have phoned in his direction and this caused him intense disinterest in the film.  There is another film with the same title from 1981.

The Post 2017

     The setting of this film is the early 1970’s when Daniel Ellsberg copied the Pentagon Papers.  The Papers were thousands of pages of classified documents with information about the involvement of the United States government in the Vietnam War.  Ellsberg was a State department military analyst in Vietnam during 1966.  He accompanied US troops in combat and documented the progress of the US military activities in the area for Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara.  Ellsberg copies the Papers and leaks them to the New York Times and they begin to publish the Pentagon Papers.  The Post is desperate to get their hands on the Papers.  The Times receives a court injunction to stop further publication.  Reporter Ben Bagdikian tracks down Ellsberg and he gets copies of the papers for their paper to print.  Newspaper heiress Katharine Graham weighs the consequences of the Post publishing the papers.  Ben Bradlee is the current editor of the Post and he never questions publishing.  Both the Times and the Post go before the Supreme Court for the right to publish the papers.  Soon after, there is a break-in at the Watergate complex.

     It’s important to already know who the characters are in this film or it becomes confusing.  Especially important are the names of the top players and some of the reporters.  Otherwise, it’s difficult to know what’s going on and who the people are.  Ellsberg became disillusioned when he heard McNamara lying to reporters about the war as he exited a plane.  If he’s lying now, he must have lied before?  The papers Ellsberg copied told the truth and countered what had been reported.  McNamara knew the US couldn’t win the war in 1965 and men were still being sent over there to possibly die.  The war began in 1 November, 1955 and ended April 30, 1975.

116 min, Bio directed by Steven Spielberg with Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Sarah Paulson, Bob Odenkirk, Tracy Letts, Bradley Whitford, Bruce Greenwood, Matthew Rhys, Alison Brie, Carrie Coon, Jess Plemons, David Cross.

Note:  Imdb 7.2 out of 10, 87% critic 73% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 3*,  Amazon 3.7* out of 5* with 228 reviews, Metacritic 83 out of 100 with 51 critics 7* out of 10* with 313 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in White Plains, New York City, Mamaroneck, Brooklyn, New Rochelle, New York.  Named one of the top 10 films of the year by Time and the American Film Institute.  All scenes with Richard Nixon in the Oval Office are from the White House tapes.  The original copies of the papers from Daniel Ellsberg were used in the film scenes and scattered over the floor.  The words “Top Secret” had already been cut from the bottom of the pages and that also cut off the page numbers.  Spielberg wanted the film released quickly because of all the real news of ‘fake news.’  The time from script to final cut lasted 9 months.  This film is dedicated to Nora Ephron, she was once married to reporter Carl Bernstein and he uncovered the Watergate scandal in 1972 along with Bob Woodward.  Streep was surprised to learn that Spielberg never rehearses with his actors.  Hanks knew this and he took delight in Streep’s surprise!!

Spellbound 1945

     Renowned doctor Anthony Edwardes has been hired to be the head of Green Manors Psychiatric Hospital.  Soon after the arrival of Dr. Edwardes, he begins to act strangely and Dr. Constance Petersen determines that he must be ill.  He is demonstrating odd aversions and personality traits.  Dr. Petersen learns that this is not the real doctor but an imposter.  The real Dr. Petersen has been found dead and it is probably murder.  Dr. Petersen doesn’t believe this man is guilty of the murder and she determines to help him recover his memory.  Since Dr. Peterson and this man have quickly fallen in love, it’s possible that Dr. Peterson’s judgment is skewed?

      This is an Alfred Hitchcock film so there are many twists and turns.  John Ballantyne is the man posing as Dr. Edwardes.  Dr. Peterson and John Ballantyne are on the verge of being caught by the police many times.  There are a LOT of on the edge of your seat moments!!  Some of the psychoanalysis gets a little tedious?  3 1/2* (I liked this movie)    

111 min, Film-Noir directed by Alfred Hitchcock with Ingrid Bergman, Gregory Peck, Michael Chekhov, Leo G. Carroll, Rhonda Fleming, John Emery, Norman Lloyd, Bill Goodwin, Steven Geray, Donald Curtis, Wallace Ford.

Note:  Imdb 7.6 out of 10, 83% critic 82% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 4.4* out of 5* with 203 reviews, TCM Leonard Maltin 3.5* out of 4*, average user review 4.2* out of 5*, Eye For Film 4* out of 5*.

Special Note:  Surrealist painter Salvador Dali designed one of the dream sequences experienced by John Ballantyne.  Director Alfred Hitchcock was an admirer of Dali’s work and he realized that no one understood dream imagery better than Dali.  Originally, Producer David O. Selznick was opposed to hiring Dali because of the expense.  Selznick and Hitchcock often had friction between each other.  Selznick was in the habit of hiring out Hitchcock because he was under contract.  Selznick charged other studios more for Hitchcock's work than he was paying him.  In a scene with snow falling on John Ballantyne and Dr. Peterson it was really cornflakes.  This is one of the first Hollywood films to deal with psychoanalysis.  There is another movie with the same title from 2002.

Maudie 2016

     This film is based on a true story.  Maud is also the subject of the book The Illuminated Life of Maud Lewis and the stage play A Happy Heart: The Maud Lewis Story.  The setting of this film is rural Nova Scotia of the 1930’s.  Maud Dowley has rheumatoid arthritis and she lives with her Aunt Ida.  Maud is very thin, she has a different walk because of her legs and most people think she is stupid and incapable?  Her Aunt Ida believes this and her brother Charlie thinks the same thing.  Charlie comes to see Aunt Ida and Maud.  He brings some of Maud’s belongings from the house of their parents.  He has sold the house because it was left to him in their will.  Of course, Maud’s parents also thought she was incapable?  Maud is very disappointed about the sale of the family home and she decides to take a job.  Everett Lewis comes into the store and he posts a job notice for a housekeeper.  He’s a poor fisherman living outside of town.  Maud walks to his home and talks to him about the job.  She agrees to room and board plus 25 cents a week.  Aunt Ida is appalled and there is a LOT of gossip in the town!!

     I thought this film was very interesting and moving.  Maud had a rough life growing up, living with her aunt and living with Everett.  As an adult, the children in the area would throw rocks at her?  She was very talented and prolific as a painter.   No one she encountered could see beyond her physical disabilities until her paintings started be seen and to earn money.  The paintings were a way to express herself and an outlet instead of interaction with people.  She was invisible except to suffer ridicule and shaming.   5* (I really loved this movie)

115 min, Bio directed by Aisling Walsh with Sally Hawkins, Ethan Hawke, Zachary Bennett, Gabrielle Rose, Lawrence Barry, Ethan Hawke, Greg Malone, Billy MacLellan, Kari Matchett, Marthe Bernard, David Feehan, Nik Sexton.

Note:  Imdb 7.7 out of 10, 89% critic 89% audience on Rotten Tomatoes,
Amazon 4.8* out of 5* with 226 reviews, Roger Ebert 3 ½*, Metacritic 65 out of 100 with 35 critics 7.4 out of 10 with 34 reviews.

Special Note:  This film project was in development for thirteen years.  The entire replica of Everett’s house was built for production.  The fully restored house of Maud and Everett Lewis is on permanent display in Halifax at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia.  It was saved from deterioration by a group of concerned local citizens and they struggled for 25 years to maintain the house.  Sally Hawkins became so immersed in the character of Maud that she did stretching and yoga to physically and mentally set aside the character of Maud Lewis.  Filmed in six weeks in autumn of 2015 and then January 2016 for the winter scenes.  Presented at the opening gala of the 2016 Vancouver International Film Festival and won the Super Channel People’s Choice Award, the top audience award at the festival for feature films.

Some Came Running 1958

     This film is based on a novel by James Jones.  From Here to Eternity was also written by James Jones and made into a film by MGM in 1953.  The setting of this film is after WWII in Parkman, Indiana.  Dave Hirsch was a writer until he enlisted in the Army.  He returns to his Midwestern hometown 16 years later and along with him on the bus is Ginnie Moorehead.  She was in Chicago with Dave and she has fallen in love with him in a short time.  Dave gives her money to return on the bus to Chicago but she doesn’t leave.  Dave’s older brother Frank owns a local jewelry store and he’s a prominent citizen of the town.  Dave deposits the check he has with him in a different bank than the one owned by his brother just to spite him.  Frank introduces Dave to schoolteacher Gwen French.  She is the daughter of Dave’s former Professor Robert Haven French.  Dave falls in love with Gwen.  Dave meets professional gambler Bama Dillert and Chicago mobster Raymond Lanchak, Ginnie’s former boyfriend. 

     Parkman is a small town and the gossip mill works overtime after Dave arrives back home!!  Added into the gossip are Frank, his wife Agnes, his office employee, Ginnie, Bama and Raymond.  It’s easy to see that Dave would not be happy with his older brother since Dave was placed in a charity boarding school after Dave married Anges.  He had family but they didn’t want him?  This film is more about the characters than the story and this is weak.  3* (This movie is OK)

137 min, Drama directed by Vincente Minnelli with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Shirley MacLaine, Martha Hyer, Arthur Kennedy, Nancy Gates, Leora Dana, Betty Lou Keim, Larry Gates, Steve Peck, Connie Gilchrist, Ned Wever.

Note:  Imdb 7.5 out of 10, 82% critic 76% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, TCM Leonard Maltin 3* out of 4*, 3.44* out of 5* average user review.

Special Note:  Filmed in Madison, Jefferson County, Indiana and Milton, and Trible County, Kentucky.  Shirley MacLaine received her first Academy Award for Best Actress in the role of Ginnie.  MacLaine credited her award to Sinatra because he insisted on changing the ending of the film.  Arthur Kennedy won Best Actor in a Supporting Role as Frank Hirsh.  Martha Hyer won Best Actress in a Supporting Role as Gwen.  Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn won Best Original Song for To Love and Be Loved.  Walter Plunkett won Best Costume Design.  Frank and his wife Agnes are social climbers.  Frank placed Dave in the charity boarding school rather than take Dave to live in his home with Agnes.  It was probably because Agnes didn't like Dave and didn't want to raise or put up with him?  This film was the 10th highest earning film of 1958.  The gross was $4,245,000 in the US and Canada with $2,050,000 elsewhere for a total of $6,295,000.  The high cost of production resulted in a loss of $207,000. 

The Great Lie 1941

     This is a soap opera drama.  Sandra Kovak and Peter Van Allen elope to get married.  They throw a large party in Sandra’s apartment after their marriage.  The next day Pete finds out their marriage isn’t valid because Sandra’s divorce comes through the next week.  Pete isn’t sure what he’s going to do.  He travels to see Maggie Patterson.  Pete and Maggie have been engaged off and on several times.  Pete returns to Sandra but he tells her their marriage isn’t legal and he doesn’t want to get married again.  He flies back again to see Sandra and they get married.  Pete talks to Sandra about his plan to fly for the government.  She is all for his plan if this is what he wants.  Pete leaves for a trip to South America and his plane crashes.

     In the period this movie was filmed a lot of occurrences were scandals but they wouldn’t be today!!  I don’t want to give too much of the story away!!  Astor is very sure of herself but Davis wavers in her courage.   3 ½* (I liked this movie)

108 min, Drama directed by Edmund Goulding with Bette Davis, George Brent, Mary Astor, Lucile Watson, Hattie McDaniel, Grant Mitchell, Jerome Cowan, Charles Trowbridge, Thurston Hall, Russell Hicks, Virginia Brissac.

Note:  Imdb 7.3 out of 10, 71% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, TCM Leonard Maltin 3* out of 4*, average user rating 4.5* out of 5*, Amazon 4.5* out of 5* with 60 reviews, Three Movie Buffs 3* out of 4*.

Special Note:  Filmed in Victorville, Mojave Desert, Calabasas and Burbank, California.  Mary Astor won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.  Davis and Astor originally thought the script was not very good.  They worked together to rewrite everything.  Astor suggested her hair be cut short because rolling and styling was taking too long.  George Brent was a licensed pilot and he did his own landings.  The plane is a Stinson Model 10 Voyager and over 1,000 variations of this plane were built starting in 1931.   Astor is an accomplished pianist but she mimed playing the piano.  In close-ups, Norma Drury’s hands are seen on the piano.

This is Our Life 1942

     Stanley Timberlake is engaged to Craig Fleming.  She decides she doesn’t want to marry him and she leaves home with her sister Roy’s husband Peter Kingsmill.  Peter gets a divorce from Roy and he marries Stanley.  They settle in Baltimore, Maryland.  Things don’t work out and Peter begins to drink.  Stanley returns to Richmond, Virginia.  She discovers her sister Roy is now dating her former fiancé Craig and they plan to marry.  Stanley is jealous and selfish plus she feels she may be able to win Craig back?  Circumstances take a different turn and Stanley tries to pin something she did on Parry Clay.  He’s a struggling young clerk working in Craig’s law office.

     It’s interesting that both the sisters have names usually given to men?  A reason isn't given in the film.  Stanley is a piece of work and she only cares about herself.  She drives too fast and she doesn’t care about the speeding tickets.  She also doesn’t care about the person she’s with as long it’s someone her sister wants!!  Her sister Roy is nothing like Stanley!!  She is a decent and kind person that doesn’t deserve an evil scheming sister!!  3 ½* (I liked this movie)  

97 min, Drama directed by John Huston with Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, George Brent, Dennis Morgan, Charles Coburn, Frank Craven, Billie Burke, Hattie McDaniel, Lee Patrick, Mary Servoss, Ernest Anderson.

Note:  Imdb 7.5 out of 10, 73% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, TCM Leonard Maltin 3* out of 4*, average user review 4.8* out of 5*, Leterboxd 3.4* out of 5*, Amazon Video 4.1* out of 5* with 86 review.

Special Note:  Filmed at Warner Brothers Burbank Studios, California.  Director John Huston was having an affair with Olivia de Havilland during production.  There was a comment made by studio head Jack L. Warner that Bette has the lines but Olivia was getting the best camera shots!!  In David Maraniss’ 2012 biography of former President Barack Obama it is reported that Stanley Ann Dunham Obama Soetoro, the mother of Barack was named Stanley after Bette Davis in this film.  Davis said she regretted making this film and she called it “a most disgraceful film.”  She felt she wasn’t right for the role because the character was supposed to be a very young southern woman.  Davis was older at 34 years old?  Davis drives a 1941 Buick Roadmaster convertible, the Police Inspector drives a 1941 Buick four-door sedan and the Policeman in the pursuit car has a 1939 Buick.

Stormy Weather 1943

     Selina Rogers is an aspiring singer during the period after WWI.  She meets dancer Bill Williamson and they start doing shows together with other performers.  This film is multilayered with music and dance.  There are 14 musical numbers with Lena Horne singing the title song near the ending.

     This film is considered to be one of the best Hollywood musicals with an all black cast.  The plot line is very thin and really there is almost no plot.   I wonder if many of the scenes would be shown in a new film of today?  A lot of scenes contain items that are things complained about in the time period of today?   3* (This movie is OK)    

78 min, Musical directed by Andrew L. Stone with Lena Horne, Bill Robinson, Cab Calloway and His Cotton Club Orchestra, Katherine Dunham and Her Troupe, Fats Waller, The Nicholas Brothers, Ada Brown, Dooley Wilson.

Note:  Imdb 7.3 out of 10, 81% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 4.6* out of 5* with 216 reviews, TCM Leonard Maltin 2.5* out of 4*, 4.35* out of 5* average user review.

Special Note:  Filmed in Stage 2 and Stage 14, 29^th Century Fox Studios, Los Angeles, California.  At the time of filming Bill Robinson was 39 years older than Lena Horne.  In the film, he's hoping she will marry him.  This is the final film of Fats Waller.  Less than five months after the July 21 opening in Manhattan, Waller died at the age of 39 from pneumonia while traveling by train.  Also the final film of Bill Robinson, he died of heart failure at age 71 in New York City.  There is another film with the same title from 2003.

Splendor in the Grass 1961

      The setting of this film is 1928 in southeast Kansas.  This is an oil rich area and some of the townspeople have stock that is rising in price every day.  The Stamper family is more involved with the oil business and Ace Stamper is an oil baron.  They are also becoming wealthier everyday as the price of oil rises.  Bud Stamper and Deanie Loomis are in high school together and they are both seniors.  They are in love and they want to get married at a later date.  Bud’s father Ace wants him to go to Yale and he won’t take no for an answer.  Deanie’s parents also want her to go to college and they will use their oil stock money to pay for her to go.  Bud’s sister Ginny has come home and the gossip about her has preceded her arrival.  Ace feels he has failed his daughter Ginny but he’s not going to fail Bud. 

     I really liked this movie!!  The story has a lot of depth plus you can relate to the characters and their struggles.  From the beginning to the end, you don’t know where this is going.  You can feel the elation the people have with the oil money is up and they will feel deep depths of despair if the oil price deflates.  There is intense feeling and chemistry between Wood and Beatty.  All parents want their children to succeed but often too much pressure doesn’t help them.  4* (I really liked this movie)

124 min, Drama directed by Elia Kazan with Natalie Wood, Warren Beatty, Pat Hingle, Audrey Christie, Barbara Loden, Zohra Lampert, Fred Stewart, Joanna Roos, John McGovern, Jan Norris, Martine Bartlett, Gary Lockwood.

Note:  Imdb 7.8 out of 10, 84% critic 90% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, TCM average user review 3.95* out of 5*, Amazon 4.6* out of 5* with 363 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in High Falls, New York City, Long Island, Bronx and Manhattan, New York.  The title of this film comes from the poem, Ode: Intimations of Immortality by William Wordsworth.  Natalie Wood was supposed to be a teenager and she was 22.  Warren Beatty was in the same class but he was 23.  All of the other teenagers were in their early to mid-twenties to correspond with the ages of Wood and Beatty.  Pat Hingle is acting as the character Ace Stamper.  Just before shooting began, he accidentally fell 54 feet down an elevator shaft in his apartment building.  It took over a year for him to recover but he incorporated his lurching walk as part of his character.  Jane Fonda tested for the role of Deanie and she didn’t get the role.  She told Kazan she wasn’t ambitious but that is what he was looking for.  This is the film debut for Warren Beatty, Sandy Dennis, Phyllis Diller, Marla Adams and Eugene Roche.  There is another film about the same subject from 1981.

Birth of the Dragon 2016

     The setting of this film is San Francisco of 1960 and the title is also known as A Origem do Dragao.  It features the epic and still talked about showdown between Bruce Lee and Kung Fu master Wong Jack Man.  Bruce Lee has been working hard to build up his roster of clients and to make his mark in San Francisco.  He’s thrown for a loop when he learns that Wong Jack Man is coming to San Francisco.  He wants to know why Wong Jack Man is here and what are his plans?  Is he going to disrupt Lee’s business and try to create his own business here?  Steve McKee meets Wong Jack Man at the pier when he arrives on a boat.  Steve learns that Wong Jack Man has come to remove his own pride by washing dishes.  This isn’t anything that Lee or McKee expected!!

      This main idea of the story is that a man can change through the study of Kung Fu.  Steve McKee wanted to learn Kung Fu to gain respect but that changed to being willing to love others without conditions.  Wong Jack Man nearly killed someone and he needed to learn self-control in order to overcome his thoughts of his past.  Bruce Lee was full of pride and he wanted to be better than everyone else.  He learned maturity and humility and this allowed him to work with other masters.  The ultimate winners of these changes in the men were the women brought to San Francisco from China.  They were forced to work for an undermined amount of time to receive their freedom.  3* (This movie is OK)

95 min, Action directed by George Nolfi with Billy Magnussen, Yu Xia, Philip Ng, Hai Yu, Yue Wu, Billy Magnussen, Steven Roberts, Riley Wood, Philip Ng, Simon Yin, Terry Chen, Ron Yuan, Lillian Lim, Tee Jee Tso, Jingjing Qu.

Note:  Imdb 5.3 out of 10, 25% critic 70% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon Video 3.5* out of 5* with 105 reviews, Roger Ebert thumb down, Metacritic 35 out of 100 with 13 critics 4.7 of 10 with 21 reviews.

Special Note:  Extensive re-editing was required because the reaction of audiences was very negative to original film.  Many scenes with Billy Magnussen as Steve McKee were cut to focus more on Philip Ng as Bruce Lee.  Steve McQueen was the model for the character Steve McKee and McQueen studied with Bruce Lee in the late 1960’s.  Philip Ng was also in the Kung Fu TVB drama A Fist Within Four Walls as Lung Sing Fu.  

The St. Louis Bank Robbery 1959

     This film is based on a true incident in St. Louis.  A tough gang is planning to rob a bank in St. Louis on a Friday morning.  The bank is expected to have $100,000 to cash payroll checks from the local workers.  George Fowler is supposed to be the driver but that changes later.  Gino draws him into the plan and he is the older brother of George’s former girlfriend, Ann.  George and Gino will need to come up with the money to live on for two weeks before they rob the bank.  Ann gives George the money they need.  George wants to go back to college and the robbery money will go a long way to help him with this plan.  The gang leader is John Egan and he’s ruthless!!  He doesn’t trust George to keep his nerve because he doesn’t know him.

      How can this gang hope to pull off this robbery when they are frustrated and jealous of each other every day?  There is no trust because they lack any integrity in order to have trust.  Their common denominator is that they don’t want to go back to prison but the odds are high with this job that they will??  I don’t know anything and I’m not interested in planning a bank robbery but I could do a better job!!  In this time period there wasn’t any sophisticated electronic equipment to protect the bank from a robbery!!  The fear exhibited by the people in the bank is very real.  The robbers are heartless and they do not mind killing people or taking hostages.  Steve McQueen started his film career in 1952 so this was not his first film.  He must have improved greatly over time because he is not very good in this film??  3* (This movie is OK)

99 min, Crime directed by Charles Guggenheim and John Stix with Steve McQueen, Crahan Denton, David Clarke, James Dukas, Molly McCarthy, Martha Gable, Larry Gerst, Boyd Williams, Frank Novotny, Nell Roberts, Bob Holt.

Note:  Imdb 5.9 out of 10, 46% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, TCM Leonard Maltin 1 1/2* out of 4*, Amazon 3.3* out of 5* with 61 reviews,

Special Note:  Filmed in St. Louis, Missouri.  This is the first film to show a toilet in a scene?  Psycho of 1960 was the first film to show a toilet flushing?  Many of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police officers, bank employees and residents play themselves. Policeman Mel stein was a hero for shooting one of the bank robbers and saving a woman hostage.  He just recently died in 2016 at the age of 102.  The movie American Heist of 2014 was based on this robbery.

It 1927

     Betty Lou is working as a sales woman in a department store.  She is interested in the handsome owner of the store but he has never paid any attention to her.  She decides to accept a date with his best friend Monty.  They go to dinner at the Ritz and Betty Lou sees that her boss Cyrus Waltham is also there for dinner with a date.  Her plan begins to work and Cyrus notices her and then he learns she works at the store.  A snag crops up and her plans may be spoiled?

     This is a black and white film with some words shown between the scenes.  You can sometimes read their lips when they are talking too.  I liked the social mores, the cars, the clothing, hairstyles and makeup of this time period.  I thought it was interesting that the women wore sheer stockings and they were made from silk, wool, cotton or synthetic rayon, a new material.  The rayon versions were so shiny that many women wearing them powdered their legs over the stockings to make them look matte.  They were rolled down at the top and came above the knee.  The short flapper dresses exposed ranged from mid-calf to just below the knee.  This was a style obsessed decade and formerly hidden legs were now the rage.  3 1/2* (I liked this movie) 

72 min, Comedy directed by Clarence G. Badger and Josef von Sternberg with Clara Bow, Antonio Moreno, William Austin, Pricilla Bonner, Jacqueline Gadsdon, Julia Swayne Gordon, Elinor Glyn.

Note:  7.4 out of 10, 100% critic 82% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Silent Movie Crazy 4* out of 4*, Amazon 4.6* out of 5* with 117 reviews.

Special Note:  Elinor Glyn was an author and she wrote a book with an explanation for what “It” means.  It’s someone found to be very attractive by the opposite sex.  It can be looks or personality or both.  Glyn visited the set a couple of times.  Actress Priscilla Bonner didn’t like Glyn and found her to be pretentious and artificial but she loved working with Clara Bow.  One of the best publicity campaigns in Hollywood history was released to promote this film. 

Stronger 2017

     This film is based on the true story and memoir of Jeff Bauman.  He was waiting on the sidelines at the Boston Marathon of 2013.  His girlfriend Erin Hurley and her two roommates were running in the Marathon.  One of the pressure cooker bombs set off at the Marathon exploded right beside him.  His legs were terribly injured below the knees and they were both amputated above the knee.  Jeff is in total shock and he’s in a lot of pain when the bandages are removed at the hospital.  He goes to live with his mother Patty while he recovers and tries to return to this new normal.   

     Many of the people involved with Jeff play themselves in this film.  The medical professionals are from the hospital where he was treated and five members of the Martino family are from United Prosthetics.  The First responder was Jerry Kissel and the real nurses at Spalding Rehab are shown.  Jeff didn’t have an easy time during his recovery.   He began to self-medicate with alcohol for depression.  His behavior took a toll on his relationship with Erin.  He began to push her away and her relationship with his mother went downhill too.  When Erin learned they were going to have a child, Jeff was terrified in the beginning.  The idea of being a father started to turn him around.  3* (This movie is OK)

119 min, Bio directed by David Gordon Green with Jake Gyllenhaal, Tatiana Maslany, Miranda Richardson, Richard Lane Jr., Nate Richman, Lenny Clarke, Patty O’Neil, Clancy Brown, Kate Fitzgerald, Danny McCarthy, Frankie Shaw.

Note:  Imdb 7 out of 10, 91% critic 82% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 3*, Amazon 4.1* out of 5* with 41 reviews, Metacritic 76 out of 100 with 41 critics 7.5* out of 10* with 78 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Chelmsford, Boston, South Weymouth, Roxbury, Braintree, Easton, Massachusetts.  Both Jeff Bauman and Jake Gyllenhaal threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Fenway Park for the Marathon Monday game of April 18, 2016.  Jeff’s former supervisor at Costco, Kevin, is an extra in more than one scene.  Gyllenhaal wore brown contact lenses to have the same eye color as Jeff.  His new prosthetic legs were donated and they were $100,000 each with microprocessors installed to follow his gait.  Canadian actress Tatiana Maslany in the role of Erin Hurley also acted as all the clones in the TV series Orphan Black.

Detroit 2017

     The Detroit Police Department raids an illegal after hours dance hall and bar in 1967.  They fill three paddy wagons with the customers.  Afterwards, the largest race riot in the US history begins.  This story centers around the Algiers Motel incident.  This occurred on July 25, 1967 on 12^th Street.  Three black men were killed and nine other people received brutal beatings.  There were seven black men and two white women detained.  One black man used a starting pistol to shoot out of the window.   Down below were police officers, members of the National Guard and other armed men.  They thought there was a sniper shooting out this window.  Some of the police officers came into the building and rounded up anyone inside.  They shot one of the black men right away and he was the one who shot the pistol.  They yelled at, beat and interrogated the others about the gun.  None of them knew where the gun was but that didn’t satisfy the officers.

     I think this film needed tighter editing to shorten the length.  Not very much time is given to the causes that brought on the riot in Detroit.  The violence from law enforcement shows their bias against all the black people.  If you were black, you were guilty.  If you were white, you were innocent.  Except for the two white women because they were with black men.  Even at the trial the all white jury members found the accused to be innocent.  Maybe it’s fortunate that later none of the officers worked in law enforcement again?  There was a lot of focus on the criminal background, large or small of those that had been victimized.  There was a lot of criticism that black women were not shown to be important in this story.  3* (This movie is OK)

143 min, Crime directed by Kathryn Bigelow with John Boyega, Anthony Mackie, Algee Smith, Chris Chalk, Mason Alban, Bennett Deady, Andrea Eversley, Michael Jibrin, Khris Davis, Tokunbo Joshua Olumide, Daniel Washington.

Note:  Imdb 7.4 out of 10, 84% critic 79% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 2*, Amazon 4* out of 5* with 162 reviews, Metacritic 77 out of 100 with 49 critics 6.4 out of 10 with 158 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Detroit, Michigan; Brocton, Mason, Lawrence, Boston, Lynn, Malden and Dorchester, Massachusetts.  Kathryn Bigelow also directed The Hurt Locker of 2008.  On both films she used three or four cameras at a time.  They were kept in constant motion around the actors.  She had lighting on the entire set so the performers had more flexibility to move around.  She told the actors she wanted their emotions to be as raw as possible and after two or three takes, she said she had what she wanted.  Julie Hysell was one of the white women survivors and she was on set throughout most of the shooting.  During July of 1967 there were also riots in Newark and Plainfield, New Jersey; Cambridge, Maryland; Milwaukee, Wisconsin and the Watts Neighborhood of Los Angeles, California.

Brad's Status 2017

     Brad Sloan takes his teen son Troy to the East Coast to check out colleges.  Brad doesn’t know that Troy would like to go to Harvard?  Brad also doesn’t know if he can afford Harvard and he didn’t know the school guidance counselor said Troy had a good chance for admittance?  Brad is having a midlife crisis and he’s regretting that he went into charity work instead of going for the big money like his friends.  He’s not even sure they are still his friends since they are far apart in lifestyles.  Brad, his wife Melanie and Troy live in Sacramento.  Brad feels this location doesn’t indicate he successful or high powered?  The family moved there for Melanie’s job and Brad can work anywhere.

     Usually Ben Stiller plays a slacker and he does somewhat in this film but he just thinks he is a slacker.  He’s having trouble sleeping because of his worries.  He talks to his wife but she’s not worried.  Brad tends to get mad at Troy when he makes mistakes.  But it’s because he wants the best for Troy.  Just because a person is wealthy, makes speeches, gets the primo restaurant table and appears on television doesn’t make them a somebody!!  What about the personal traits that really matter in a person??  3* (This movie is OK)

102 min, Comedy directed by Mike White with Ben Stiller, Austin Abrams, Jenna Fischer, Michael Sheen, Jemaine Clement, Luck Wilson, Shazi Raja, Luisa Lee, Mike White, Xavier Grobet, Adam Capriolo, Felicia Shulman.

Note:  Imdb 6.5 out of 10, 82% critic 56% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon Video 3.2* out of 5* with 333 reviews, Metacritic 71 out of 100 with 40 critics 7.1 out of 10 with 41 reviews, Roger Ebert 3 ½*.

Special Note:  Filmed in Boston, Massachusetts; Montreal, Quebec, Canada.  The Writer/Director Mike White thought of his own life when he wrote the script.  His father worked as a minister and questioned his success.  White partially made the film to thank his dad and to show that he considered his father to be a success.  Ben Stiller is 47 in the film but he is actually 51 years old.