Written on the Wind 1956

     Mitch Wayne works for Hadley Oil Company in 1955.  Kyle Hadley is his boss and they have always been  best friends.  Playboy Kyle Hadley is an alcoholic and he marries a woman recently hired by his company.  Kyle doesn't know that his best friend is also in love with Lucy Moore.  Lucy has been good for Kyle and he has stopped drinking plus seeing other women.  Kyle asks the local doctor why Lucy isn't pregnant?  Doctor Cochrane tells Kyle there isn't anything wrong with Lucy.  Doctor Cochrane finds out that it is Kyle that has a problem.  Kyle changes back the boozing person he was before.  Lucy finds out that she is pregnant and Kyle believes the baby is Mitch's baby.  He hits Lucy and she loses the baby and it is really Kyle's baby!! 

    Sometimes being the wealthiest people in town doesn't save you from problems.  Kyle turns himself around but only for a while.  His sister Marylee is in love with Mitch but he can't see anything but the bad in her.  She has a reputation at home and in the town.  She thinks Mitch will become jealous of her other men and love her.  She made too many mistakes for that!!   3 1/2* (I liked this movie)

99 min, Drama directed by Douglas Sirk with Rock Hudson, Lauren Bacall, Robert Stack, Dorothy Malone, Robert Keith, Grant Williams, Robert J. Wilke, Edward Platt, Harry Shannon, John Larch, Joseph Granby, Roy Glenn, Maidie Norman, William Schallert, Joanne Jordan.

 

Note: Roger Ebert 4*, Rotten Tomatoes 81% critic 75% audience, efilmcritic.com 5*, Imdb 7.4 out of 10 with 9250 reviews, Amazon 4.3* out of 5* with 95 reviews, Letterboxd average 3.** out of 5*, Metacritic 66 out of 100 with 14 critics (9 positive 5 mixed) 6.4 out of 10 with 11 user reviews (4 positive 6 mixed 1 negative).

Special Note:  Filmed at Colonial Mansion, Backlot, Universal Studios, 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California.  Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall were married at the time of filming.  Bogart was not impressed by the film and he advised Lauren not to make any other films like this one?  Lauren called this film "a masterpiece of suds?"  She claimed to have only made the film to work with Rock Hudson.  Rock Hudson had a pleasant camaraderie with everyone on the set and he seemed happy in his marriage. He was married to Phyllis Gates for three years before their divorce in April 1958.  She was his agent Henry Wilson's secretary.  Dorothy Malone said he was somewhat of a loner and he hid his feelings of sadness and insecurity.  Robert Stack was on loan to Universal for this picture.  Hudson was the star but he didn't ask for Stack to be cut down in his role.  Stack said he never forgot this. 

Waterloo Bridge 1940

     In the beginning of WWII, a British Officer visits Waterloo Bridge and he thinks about how young he was at the beginning of WWI.  He met a young ballerina just before he left for the front.  They tried to marry before he left but his leaving was changed to an earlier date.  Myra and Roy fell in love immediately and she raced to see Roy off at the train.  Just was just able to wave goodbye.  When she missed the performance, Madam Olga Kirowa fired Myra and also her friend Kitty when she stood up for Myra.  Now they don't have jobs, they can't get jobs and how will they eat plus pay the rent?  Myra goes to a tea shop to meet with Roy's mother.  His mother is late and Myra reads in the paper that Roy is dead.  The meeting with Lady Margaret does not go well and Myra is nearly incapacitated by the news.  She can't possible tell the news to Lady Margaret.  Myra and Kitty meet men in the evenings and that is how they eat and pay the rent.  Suddenly, the war is over and Roy has returned!!  He wasn't dead after all but just wounded.  Myra doesn't know what to tell him or what to say.  She goes with Roy to his family home and she decides she can't tell Roy and she can't marry him either.

     There is another film with the same plot and title from 1931 with Mae Clarke, Douglass Montgomery and Doris Lloyd.  I saw this film first and I was very moved by the story.  I wanted to see which film was better?  I think this version is better because of the acting of Leigh and Taylor?  In February Leigh's marriage to Leigh Holman ended in divorce.  She married Laurence Olivier after he was divorced from Jill Esmond.  In 1945, Vivian's life began to unravel.  She had two miscarriages, contracted tuberculosis and was diagnosed as a manic depressive.  Tuberculosis is caused by bacteria that can spread from person to person through microscopic droplets released into the air.  It takes six months of treatment to be cured of tuberculosis.  The first reliable treatment was used in 1945.  Leigh had a nervous breakdown in January, 1958.  Her final film was a small part in Ship of Fools 1965 and she died at the age of 53 after a severe bout of tuberculosis on July 7, 1967.

     

108 min, Drama directed by Mervyn LeRoy with Vivien Leigh, Robert Taylor, Lucile Watson, Virginia Field, Maria Ouspenskaya, C. Aubrey Smith, Janet Shaw, Janet Waldo, Steffi Duna, Virginia Carroll, Leda Nicova, Florence Baker, Margery Manning, Frances MacInerney, Eleanor Stewart.

Note:  Rotten Tomatoes 80% critic 89, Letterboxd average 3.7* out of 5*, Amazon 4.6* out of 5* with 162 reviews, Imdb 7.8* out of 10* with 8265 reviews, silverpetticoatreview.com 5* and romance 4*, timeout.com 5*, vivandlarry.com A rating.

Special Note:  Filmed in London and Somerset, England, UK; Chico and MGM Studios, Culver City, California; Somerset and Strathclyde, Scotland.  This was Robert Taylor's favorite of his films.  This was also Vivien Leigh's personal favorite.  The title is somewhat obscure in Hollywood but one of the most popular in China.  It is especially popular with college students, there are audio guides for students to practice their English with the dialogue from the film.  The popularity may be because Gone with the Wind 1939 is also very popular and Vivien Leigh also stars in this film.  The premiere was the same day that Rotterdam was bombed by the German Luftwaffe.  The British Royal Air Force began bombing German cities on 11 May 1940.

Enter Nowhere 2011

     Three strangers arrive one by one to a mysterious cabin in the middle of nowhere.  They don't know each other and they have never met before but each has experienced a recent life-altering event.  Jody and her boyfriend Kevin rob a convenience store.  Jody holds a gun to the cashier's head and she demands that he open the safe.  He tells her that he will do so but he doesn't believe she can handle what is inside?  She shoots him and in the next instant she is at the cabin?  She learns that Tom was the first person to arrive and he had a car accident.  Also, at the cabin is Samantha, she was with her husband and the car ran out of gas.  He went to get gas but he hasn't come back?  The three people start to get on each other's nerves!!  Then they learn that Samantha thinks it is 1962, Jody thinks it is 1985 and Tom thinks it is 2011.  They walk for a long distance to get away from the cabin but soon they realize they are right back at the cabin?  As they are trying to figure out what is going on, they see someone outside?  It is Hans and he is a German soldier.  He thinks WWII is still going on and he wants to kill the other three people!!  Samantha can speak some German and they begin to sort out what is really going on.   

     It took me a while to understand the most important point of this film.  It’s probably better if you figure it out as you go along like the characters are doing.  Even though some of the reviews below refer to this as a horror movie, I didn’t find that to be the genre?  I would say it is more of a psychological thriller.  3 ½* (I liked this movie)

 

90 min, mystery directed by Jack Heller with Katherine Waterston, Scott Eastwood, Sara Paxton, Shaun Sipos, Christopher Denham, Jesse Perez, Leigh Lezark, Vic Finalborgo.

Note:  Imdb 6.5 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes 50% audience, Horrornews.net 4* out of 5*, Horrorphilia.com 7* out of 10*, Myfavoritehorror.com 5 ½*, Letterboxd average 3* out of 5*.

Special Note:  Scott Eastwood is the adult son of Clint Eastwood, Katherine Waterston is Sam Waterston’s daughter and Sara Paxton is related to Bill Paxton.  Tom lights the fire in the stove at the cabin and you can see the date on the paper is November 21, 2011.  This film was released October 22, 2011 at Screamfest Film Festival and the premiere of the DVD was 3 April 2012.

The Widow 2019

     Georgia Wells believes her husband Will died in a plane crash three years ago until she sees a news picture of him with another man.  This man is wearing the same orange ball cap?  She flies to the Congo to find out if he is still alive.  Supposedly, there was only one woman survivor but there is also a man who survived.  He had kidney damage and one kidney was removed, four broken ribs plus his eyes were damaged and he’s blind.  There are flashbacks to Georgia’s life with Will.  This is not a very good time to travel to the Congo because of civil unrest.  Is it possible Will faked his own death?

     I thought this series was interesting and good.  There are other themes going along with the main story about Georgia.  I would really need to think about going to any part of the Congo!!  I would probably send a detective or another representative instead of going myself?  Probably 50% of the population is carrying automatic weapons!!  You would need to have a guide and know how to take care of yourself as well.  4* (I really liked this series)

TV Series, each episode 1 hour, 8 episodes, created and written by Harry and Jack Williams with Kate Beckinsale, Charles Dance, Olafur Darri Olafsson, Alex Kingston, Bart Fouiche, Matthew Le Nevez, Shalom Nyandiko, Babs Olusanmokun, Reginal Kudiwu, Luiana Bonfim, Matthew Gravelle, Louise Brealey, Balindile ka Ngcobo, Yoli Fuller.

 

Note:  Imdb 6.9 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes 59% critic, Amazon 3.6* out of 5* with 1581 ratings, Metacritic 66 out of 100 (6 positive, 2 mixed), Letterboxd average 5*.

Special Note:  Filmed in South Africa, Rotterdam, Netherlands, Wales, UK.  Kate Beckinsale and Charles Dance acted together in the Underworld movie series.  Beckinsale was married to the director Len Wiseman but they divorced.

Blue Steel 1934

     Sheriff Jake sees a man at the safe and when Jake goes downstairs, he sees the safe is open and the payroll is gone.  Of course, he believes the man he saw took the money.  Jake trails the man and just as he about to arrest him, the man saves his life?  He's still suspicious but he joins up with the man.  Jake finds out that another man stole the payroll money.  Later, they learn that Melgrove, the towns leading citizen is trying to take over the area's ranches by having his gang stop all incoming supply wagons.  The ranchers are about ready to sell their properties to Melgrove.  Two men new to the town say they will bring in the provisions.  Melgrove can't show how unhappy he is about this turn of events!!


      John Wayne was born Marion Robert Morrison May 26, 1907 and he died June 11, 1979.  Professionally he was known as John Wayne and nicknamed Duke.  He was born in Winterset Iowa but grew up in Southern California.  His first jobs were at local film studios.  He received a football scholarship to the University of Southern California but he didn't receive it.  He was turned down after a body surfing accident.  He began working for the Fox Film Corporation.  In the beginning, he appeared in small parts but his first leading role came in Raoul Walsh's Western The Big Trail 1930.  This was an early widescreen film epic and it was a box-office failure.  He landed leading roles in numerous B movies during the 1930's and most of them were westerns.  John Ford's film Stagecoach 1939 made him an instant mainstream star and he acted in 142 motion pictures.  I thought this film was good and especially since Wayne is 27 years old, young, slim and handsome!!  He has the best horse too!!  3 1/2* (I liked this movie)   
    
52 min, Action directed and written by Robert N. Bradbury with John Wayne, Eleanor Hunt, George 'Gabby' Hayes, Edward Peil SR., Yakima Canutt, Lafe McKee, George Cleveland, Earl Dwire.


Note:  Imdb 5.4* out of 10*, Rotten Tomatoes 36% critic, Letterboxd average 2.6* out of 5*, Amazon 3.9* out of 5* with 45 reviews.


Special Note:  The earliest documented telecasts of this film took place in Cincinnati on Monday the 19th of September 1949.  There is a mistake, five bandits attack Betty Mason and her father and the mule train.  Only three bandits pursue them across the plain?  About 45 minutes after Carruthers and the Sheriff are leaving with the wagon, power lines are visible in the background?  Filmed in Alabama Hills, Lone Pine; Trem Carr Ranch, Placerita Canyon Road, Newhall; Walker Ranch,  Newhall; Santa Clarita; Big Pines; General Service Studios, Las Plamas, Hollywood; Kernville, California.
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A Very English Scandal 2018

     This film is based on a true story known as the 1976-1979 Jeremy Thorpe scandal and also on a novel by John Preston.  During the time period of this film the Government in the UK banned homosexual affairs.  Liberal MP and later Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe meets 21-year-old stable boy Norman Scott and they begin a relationship.  Jeremy tries to keep everything secret but when they break up, Norman writes a letter to Jeremy’s mother and Jeremy still lives with his mother.  Jeremy also wrote many letters to Norman.  Jeremy thought none of this would ever become public even though the police had a copy on file of one of the letters?  What lets the cat out of the bag is Norman keeps asking Jeremy for his National Insurance card?  Without this card, Norman can’t receive public healthcare and financial assistance.

     Jeremy persuades some of his male friends to kill Normal so he won't bother him anymore.  He's going to pay them and they come of with a plan.  Everything goes wrong and the reason for this is that the men don’t have one good brain between all of them?  Norman learns he is in danger and he immediately reports the crime to the police.  He tells the authorities that he is convinced the plan was paid for and initiated by Jeremy Thorpe?  This is a very interesting plot and much of it goes into the “unbelievable” category but it is based on a true story?  3 ½* (I liked this series)     

TV Mini-Series, Bio, three hours in length, each episode one hour, written by Russell T. Davies and directed by Stephen Frears with Hugh Grant, Ben Whishaw, Alex Jennings, Patricia Hodge, Paul Hilton, Naomi Battrick, Andrew French, Morgan Watkins, Monica Dolan,m Jason Watkins, Blake Harrison, Alice Orr-Ewing, Flora Montgomery, Michele Dotrice, Nick Malinowski, Rhys Parry Jones, Dyfan Dwyfor, Caleb Roberts, Marianne Oldham, Arabella Neale.

Note:  Imdb 7.8 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes 97% critic with 68 reviews, The Guardian 5* Lucy Mangan, Amazon 5* with 5 ratings, Letterboxd average 3.8*, Metacritic 84 out of 100 with 17 critics (16 positive, 1 mixed).

Special Note:  Ben Whishaw acts as the character Q in the James Bond Films Skyfall 2012, Spectre 2015 and No Time To Die (in post-production, expected release April 2020.  Filming takes place in London, Manchester, Buckinghamshire, Devon, Hertfordshire and South Wales.  Some scenes were filmed outside the Houses of Parliament.  Scenes of the inner courts, interior hallways and staircase were filmed at Manchester Town Hall since it was built in the same Gothic Revival style as the Palace of Westminster.

The Best of Enemies 2019

     This film is inspired by true events recorded in the novel The Best of Enemies: Race and Redemption in the New South by Osha Gray Davidson.  The time period is 1971, Ann Atwater is a civil rights activist in her town of Durham, North Carolina.  Ann is opposed in her views by C.P. Ellis, he is Exalted Cyclops of the Ku Klux Klan.  The subject is the issue of school integration.  The school where the black children attend catches fire and the town will vote on these children attending the school where the white children go.  Bill Riddick sets up a meeting with Ann and C.P.  Bill wants to oversee charettes.  If Ann and C.P. agree, there will be meetings to discuss segregation and other important issues.  Random people are selected from a group of the town residents to serve on a panel to vote on the issues at the end of the meetings.  C.P.  is sure he already knows how he feels about this issue!!  Ann thinks there isn't any way to change C.P.'s mind!!  Some of the people on the panel are pressured about how they will vote by members of the Klan.

 

     The panel votes on all the of the selected issues and the last vote is the vote for integration.  Both sides are at opposite ends of the spectrum on their votes!!  Things begin to happen in the town other than the pressure from the Klan.  C.P. has a son with Down's Syndrome and he needs help at the home where he is living.  Is there a chance someone in the town will help C.P.  Could be?  Is there any way that Bill can get agreements from the panel to settle these issues?  Racism and segregation cause severe harm to America's black citizens.  Their textbooks were older and less are provided to the students than at the white schools.  As a result, the black students are receiving a less valuable education.  This would usually cause them to receive offers from lower paying jobs and probably changing the course of their lives.  3 1/2* (I liked this movie) 

     

133 min, Bio directed by Robin Bissel, written by Robin Bissel and Osha Gray Davidson with Taraji P. Henson, Sam Rockwell, Babou Ceesay, Anne Heche, Wes Bently, Nick Searcy, Bruce McGill, John Gallagher Jr., Nicholas Logan, Gilbert Glenn Brown, Caitlin Mehner, Dolan Wilson, Morgan Makey, Kendall Ryan Sanders, Chris Cavalier.

Note:  Imdb 7 out of 10, Amazon 4.5* out of 5* with 58 reviews, Rotten Tomatoes 54% critic 76% audience, Roger Ebert 1/2* Odie Henderson (too much emphasis on the Klan), Indie Wire Grade B-, Letterboxd average 3.1*, Metacritic 49 out of 100 with 25 critics (11 positive, 9 mixed, 5 negative) 6.1 out of 10 user score (10 positive, 4 mixed, 4 negative), Common Sense Media Sandie Angulo Chen age 12+ 2* out of 5*, 3* positive, 3* role, 2* violence, 1* sex, 4* language, 2* consumerism, 2* drinking, drugs & smoking.

Special Note:  Filmed in Atlanta, Cartersville, Macon Georgia.  Some bar scenes were shot at the American Legion in Tucker, Georgia.  The restaurant scene was shot at Ross's Diner in Cartersville, Georgia.  Sam Rockwell and Bruce McGill previously worked together in Matchstick Men 2003.  The estimated budget was $10 million and the gross was $10,209,813.  Taraji P. Henson doesn't look anything like the characters she usually plays!!  She has a short haircut, no makeup and she is on the plump side with matronly dresses.