Tonight, Grimsley came over with a movie called "Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye"(1950), starring James Cagney as a sociopath who, after breaking out of prison, uses sheer hutzpah to strongarm a crooked detective (Ward Bond) into joining his ambitious crime racket. At first, the movie seems to be a straightforward cops & robbers yarn, but Cagney has higher aims. While searching for a shady lawyer who will help him blackmail the Inspector, he is introduced to the daughter of a multimillionaire, known as "the most powerful man in California". They meet at a lecture given by the head of a Theosophical Society, of all things, an existentialist group given to pondering the meaning of life. Cagney couldn't care less about the metaphysics, but he sees in the young lady a kindred spirit. She is loaded with money, drives a 12 cylinder motorcar (British, but don't know make or model), and is reckless with it, taking Jimmy for a ride in which she tops 100 mph on a curving canyon road.
Now he's found a woman who's as edgy as he is. She's in love with him and he's got his eye on her money.
But.......he's got his other eye on Barbara Peyton, because he's already attached to her. She's the sister of a prisoner who was killed during the jailbreak; the guy was Cagney's partner. Jimmy used phony sympathy afterward to gain Payton's trust, but she's at rock bottom emotionally and Cagney has to continually pep talk her into sticking with the program. She's an "honest girl" who has never committed a crime, so he plays her like a pawn, only she knows about the rich chick and has told him, "I'll do anything for you, but I won't tolerate another woman".
"Yeah, yeah".......thinks Cagney. He's so sure of himself, and so sure he's got the world by the tail, that he overlooks Barbara Peyton's warning.
It's a good flick, but feels too long at 102 minutes because this is one of the rare scripts that is overdeveloped. Usually I complain about thin writing, as you know, but this time the writers tried to cram in too many layers, without exploring any of them to sufficient depth, and the result is a soap opera Noir where the plot becomes forced. It would've worked better as a straight crime story involving the blackmail of the detective character, taking that plotline to wherever it might've lead. But the screenplay was adapted from a novel, always a tricky proposition, and while the end result still James Garners two thumbs up (or Jennifer Garners, if you want to be gender equivalent in this day and age), you may find yourself flagging in the final twenty minutes.
Still and all, it was a damn sight better than the movie Grim brought over the last time. That would be "The Dictator", by Sasha Baron Cohen. I don't know why I agreed to watch it, but needless to say it was garbage.
Much more my style, and in line with things we normally watch, was a Veddy Brrrittish airplane movie, a documentary called "Coastal Command"(1943), which follows the real life crew of an English coast guard plane as they search for German U-Boats and the infamous Bismarck, which they encounter and help to sink. The amazing thing about this movie, which runs just 62 minutes, is that it is directed and edited as if it were a regular motion picture with actors and a plot, but in fact it was created entirely from footage of actual flight missions of the RAF Coastal Command, with the pilot and crew members playing themselves. The pilot especially comes off as a movie star in his own right, with his unflappability and his Dashing Moustache, and though the film is sparing in technical excellence (it has the look of a professional home movie), if you stick with it, by the end you will find yourself cheering, and appreciating the value of the Stiff Upper Lip. ////
That's all I've got for this evening. It's Super Chilly tonight, the L.A. Cold has finally arrived and my space heater is running full tilt as I write. Tomorrow I will be back at Pearl's until mid-February. I've been listening to my Archiv set of Mozart Symphonies, purchased about ten years ago. They are great to read books to.
I wish I had a social life, but don't we all. (or is it just me?) :):)
Eyes on the prize. See you in the morning. Stay safe and well. Tons and tons of love.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
No comments:
Post a Comment