John Cassavetes in "The Night Holds Terror" and "Voice of the Whistler" with Richard Dix

How 'bout a Home Invasion movie? No, not the kind with Gangstas in the 'Hood. I'm talking about the old school type of Home In-vayzsh, where a group of White Guys Wearing Suits terrorize a middle class family. Think Bogie and his bunch in "The Desperate Hours" or Sinatra and gang in "Suddenly". We're talking hostage situations in the 1950s, when Caucasian males were on the run and lawless, but always wore white shirts with knotted ties.   

In "The Night Holds Terror"(1955), "Gene Courtier" (Jack Kelly) finds out the hard way why you should never pick up hitchhikers. On the way home from his job at Edwards Air Force Base, he stops for Vince Edwards in the desert. Vince pulls a gun on Gene and orders him into the back seat. Then two of Vince's pals pull up : David Cross and John Cassavetes. Cassavetes is the ringleader, the three are escaped convicts. He gets behind the wheel. They drive Gene out to Rosamond Dry Lake, where it's a wonder they don't get buzzed by an F-100 Super Sabre. 

There on the cracked, primordial flat, Cassavetes threatens to shoot Mr. Courtier. He's doing his trademark New York tough guy schtick. He was better at acting, in my humble opinion, than he was at directing, and was always good at playing The Reckless Hoodlum. Gene talks him out of it by offering him the pink slip to his car. "It's worth two grand, you can sell it"! This was '55, when two gees was a lot o' dough, enough to set the gang up in Mexico, or even Tahiti. The catch, though, is that they've gotta sell the car through the dealer cause Gene doesn't yet own it outright. So they drive to the dealership, back in downtown Lancaster, but the dealer doesn't have two grand on hand. He can't get the cash until morning, so...(drum roll please cause here's the setup)...the hoods force Gene to take them to his house, where they spend the night to ensure he doesn't split or call the cops. 

During their sleepover, Vince Edwards put the moves on Gene's wife. This pisses Cassavetes off. "Quit messin' around. I told ya to keep an eye on our boy here". In the wee hours of the night, a schism develops. Cassavetes and Edwards fall asleep. The third thug (David Cross) has earlier made it clear that he wants no part of any killing. "I didn't sign up for that", he complained to Cassavetes. "You said  we was just gonna rob them". But Cass had decided that they can't leave any witnesses. He's planning to rub out the entire family the next day, after getting paid for the car. But still awake in the living room, Cross hits upon an idea with Gene Courtier. "Say, are you by any chance related to the Courtier of Courtier Supermarkets"?

"Yes. That's my father".

"Then you's rich. Now listen to me : the only chance you have of gettin' you and youse family outta this thing alive, is by lettin' them guys (Cassavetes and Edwards) know about your Pa. You've gotta lead 'em on, let 'em think there's even more money in it for them. You could let 'em stage a kidnapping, with you as the hostage. Tell 'em your Dad'll pay a huge ransom. It'll at least get your wife and kids off the hook, and it might just buy you some time to get free".

"But why are you helping me? What's in it for you"?

"The first thing is I don't wanna go to The Chair. Secondly, if the kidnap plan works, I could be in for a cut of the dough myself. I may not be a killer but I ain't no saint. So whattaya think? I say it's your only chance".

In the morning, Gene takes the advice of David Cross. He does tell Cassavetes about his father, and a kidnap scenario is worked out. "But first we sell the car, as planned". Gene demands that his family be let go. "Take the kids to your mother's house", he tells his wife. Cassavetes allows it, and the film's grand finale is about to be set in motion. I won't tell you how the kidnap plays out, but it does include a very interesting segment that depicts the actual method of tracing phone calls. It appears to have been filmed inside the relay center of ATT, or whatever company was local to Lancaster, California at the time. But with all the circuitry involved, it's amazing that the employees can trace any call. They literally have to "run it down" through a series of switching boxes. That's why you've gotta keep crooks on the line for as long as you can - "Keep stalling him"! (said in whisper or body language).     

Overall, the film's a bit drawn out at 86 minutes, and would've worked better at 70 to 75, but it gets huge points for mentioning Edwards Air Force Base, and for having some awesome Lancaster locations including a vintage 1950's Thrifty Drug Store. And you get John Cassavetes and Vince Edwards mugging it up as the tough guys. It's good stuff.

Two Solid Thumbs Up for "The Night Holds Terror". The print is razor sharp. I recommend it. ///

We also watched what may be the best Whistler so far : "Voice of the Whistler"(1945). This time, Richard Dix plays a wealthy entrepreneur with a Midas touch; his every venture is a success, from auto manufacturing to banking. He even makes it though the 1929 stock market crash unscathed. but as is true of many tycoons, his devotion to business has left him a lonely man. He has no family or friends. The stress of a solitary life is beginning to cost him his health. On his way to a meeting he suffers an angina attack, and nearly passes out at the train station.

Fortunately, a Good Samaritan is standing nearby in the form of a cab driver (Rhys Willams). He takes Dix to a clinic. The doctor there runs a blood test and unfortunately the results aren't good. Dix is told he's got just a few months to live. Being a nuts and bolts realist, he accepts the diagnosis with resigned stoicism, but on his way out of the office, he meets the doctor's nurse (Lynne Merrick, who we saw in "Crime Doctor's Strangest Case").

After a date, he offers her a deal : "I'll leave you my fortune if you'll marry me. I know I'm much older and not very exciting, but think of it as a business deal. You'll inherit everything I own. I only want to experience what it feels like to have a wife, and I'm only going to live a few more months anyway". Though Merrick already has a boyfriend - a young intern from the clinic - she blows him off to marry Richard Dix. He's going by an alias now, so no one will know him. He and Merrick live in a lighthouse that's been converted into a home.

But things aren't working out to Merrick's satisfaction. For starters, several months have passed and Dix ain't dead yet. In fact, being married has revivified him. He seems to be getting better rather than worse, and it looks like Merrick might be in for the long haul. She finally breaks down and tells Dix she's had enough. "I can't take the isolation anymore! I've fulfilled my part of the bargain. I want out of our deal". Dix says no, but tries to placate her by saying he's in love with her. "And you're still gonna get all my money".

Cue the freakin' Whistler : "Ahh yes, Lynne.......you'll get all his money.........but when? One year from now? Five years, maybe ten? Or could it be longer? One thing's for certain, you aren't getting anything as long as your husband's alive. Just his love and this old lighthouse. But you didn't marry him for either of those things, did you"?

Man, that Whistler is brutal in his assessment of the situation.

What happens next is that the boyfriend shows up. It's clear that Merrick is still in love with him and vice versa. Dix sees this and engages the younger man in a game of chess, where - while they're playing - he proceeds to tell the guy how he's going to murder him and get away with it. The boyfriend tries to use this info to turn the tables on Dix and kill him first. By now, Lynne Merrick only cares about the fortune she stands to inherit. It's a case of "be careful what you wish for", as The Whistler reminds us at the end of the film, with his usual sneering glee.

'The Voice of the Whistler" gets Two Big Thumbs Up. It was directed once again by William Castle and has the feel of a suspense film in the tradition of "Inner Sanctum". ////

That's all I know for tonight. I hope you're enjoying Summer as we head toward the Fourth of July, and I send you tons of love as always.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

Another Triple Play in Synopsis : Hathaway, Streep, Sparks and Uncle Joe

In order to fully catch up, we've got another triple-decker for your pleasure, presented once again in summary:

Our first movie is "The Devil Wears Prada"(2006), which Grimsley brought over last week. I've seen it before and I imagine you have too. I'm sure you love Anne Hathway; I do, she's such a girly-girl, so pretty, nice and unassuming. On the other hand, we've got Meryl Streep's character "Miranda Priestly", the so-called Devil of the title. Wait a minute : forget the "so-called". Miranda's as evil as they come, an arrogant B-Word who could (and would!) give Ol' Scratch a run for his money. Can't you just picture her, lording it over poor Satan, then dispatching him with a "that's all", her patented haughty dismissal? She's an icon of the fashion world whose sense of self-importance is exponentially greater than her value as a human being. She thinks she's All That, but her power vanishes outside her little fiefdom. If she were to walk down the street, no one would know her. Miranda as a character is so unpleasant that it's difficult to relate to her one way or the other. Streep plays her so aloof that she's generates just bored contempt, at least from me. Thank God for Stanley Tucci, providing backbone and comic relief, as "Nigel" her gay style consultant.

At any rate, Hathaway is a recent college grad from the Midwest who's seeking a job in journalism. She comes to New York and applies at "Runway" magazine, run by the much-feared Miranda. She interviews Anne, takes note of her old-fashioned clothes, and asks why she wants a job in high fashion. That's a legit question, but right away Miranda's demeanor is a red flag. She toys with Hathaway before hiring her, probably because she's smart but pliable. One her first day at work, Anne meets "Emily" (Emily Blunt), Miranda's Assistant Number One. Blunt is great in her role as the all-knowing flunky, emotionally wired to Miranda's nerve center. She blurts out specific instructions for Anne to follow if she's to survive more than a day in Miranda World. We know Emily Blunt these days mostly as an action hero, but she's got a flair for deadpan comedy.

The heart of the story is the old romantic triangle arc, played bittersweet but easygoing. Anne has a longtime boyfriend from Chicago, their hometown. He's not overjoyed by her move to New York but accepts it because it's her chance to become a writer : "I know it's what you want", he tells her. But he wonders how she's gonna jump from executive assistant to journalist, especially when she starts to settle into her job. "I can meet a lot of publishers and other writers this way", she explains, and for a while he accepts that also. But soon, one of those other writers is hitting on her every time they meet. He's "Christian Thompson" (Simon Baker), a well-known free lance reporter. Thompson is quite handsome. Hathaway tells him "sorry but I can't, I've got a boyfriend", but he keeps on pushing, until finally It Happens. It's not their tryst, however, that causes the breakup between Anne and her boyfriend. It's her complete transformation into Miranda's high styled puppet. Gone is everything lovable about the old Hathaway. She looks amazing in her new designer duds and Jimmy Choo heels, but the high-gloss persona that goes with her new look is a turn off. She's become a Miranda Mini-Me, hard charging and ambitious, but in all the ways that don't matter, at least not to her boyfriend and other pals back in Chi-town. The real Anne is hidden in there somewhere, but they can't get through to her; she answers only to Miranda.

It's a fun movie in a darkly comic way, but there really isn't much to the story, and as I said, for me Streep's performance - while brilliant - gives you nothing to hold onto with the character. She's obviously not likeable, but you can't hate her either because she doesn't seem genuine. I had to look up Miranda to see if she was based on a real person, and she was : Anna Wintour, the editor of Vogue. If the portrayal is accurate, Wintour must be one of the worst people who ever lived, not because of her actions so much as her obnoxious personality. But really she's just pathetic. The good news for the story is that true love wins in the end, after Hathaway realises what a sellout she's become and gives up her dream of the high life. 

Two Solid Thumbs Up for "The Devil Wears Prada". I'd give it Two Bigs if it weren't for Meryl's disinterested characterization.

Next we've got "The Sparks Brothers", which I saw in Woodland Hills last Friday. Twice to the theater in one week, imagine that! But I love Ron and Russell Mael; I became a Sparks fan in 1974, after seeing the band on the cover of Melody Maker, a British music weekly (long defunct). I ran out and bought "Kimono My House" and the rest is history, except for a twenty six year interlude that I'll get to in a minute.  The movie is a comprehensive overview of their career. It doesn't delve much into the brothers' personal history save a brief segment about their childhood. But it runs 140 minutes, long for a documentary, and covers the making of each of their twenty five studio albums. It features commentary from a myriad of talking heads (no not David Byrne), including Todd Rundgren, who was responsible for Sparks getting signed to their first recording contract. Also speaking about his time with the band is their first manager, John Hewlett, who before meeting the Mael Bros was in a group called John's Children. "OMG"!, I said to myself, seeing his face up on the screen. "That's the guy.......the one who asked me and Grim if we could "please fuck off' "! 

If you've not heard that story (and you probably have), a brief explanation is in order. Following their December 1975 concert at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, we waited at the Hyatt House on Sunset for Ron and Russ to show up. I'd discovered they were staying there earlier in the day, and when we got to the hotel after the show, we sat by the elevator on their floor and waited. Finally, at least an hour later, the boys emerged from the lift. With them was their manager, whom I now recognize as John Hewlett. He saw us sitting there, and without missing a beat, without even a "hello" or "excuse me", he simply said "could you please fuck off"? Ron and Russ were silent as the three of them walked past us (Ron carrying an Adam-12 lunch pail). We were so taken aback by Hewlett's statement that we didn't even respond. It was well past midnight and we were exhausted. Instead, we just went home, but we never forgot the way in which Mr. Hewlett politely told us to leave. "Please" and "Fuck Off" in the same sentence! He's much friendlier in the movie, though, as he recounts his time with Sparks during their initial period of success, which took place mostly in England. They couldn't get arrested in the States back then, and the situation's only slightly better now. But they can sell out all their shows in major cities like New York and L.A.

Have you ever noticed that we've got several great "brother bands" that hail from Los Angeles? Besides Ron, Russ and Sparks, there's Van Halen and The Beach Boys. Way to go, Bros! But back to the movie, I loved it. Only in the middle did I feel uninvested, and here's where my above disclaimer comes in. You see, I was an enormous Sparks fan when they started, and I'm an enormous fan now, but between 1977 and 2003, I wasn't a fan at all. This is because in '76, they made a terrible album called "Big Beat", and after that they changed their sound completely and went disco. A long string of albums followed in that style, and I just wasn't interested. Then astonishingly, in 2002 they made a comeback, with a genius album called "Lil' Beethoven". Every record since has been exceptional. It's been a reunion for all us estranged Sparks fans.

Again, the movie is very good. Edgar Wright did a yeoman's job of amassing and assembling a truckload of material, from old photographs of the Maels to clips and interviews of Sparks throughout their history. The first 45 minutes is the best part, where Todd and others who were there talk about the early days and their struggles. Once it settles into the long "album after album" format, it's still good but becomes a little rote. All in all though, Two Huge Thumbs Up for "The Sparks Brothers". I don't think it's gonna be of general interest, however. You've probably gotta be a Sparks fan to enjoy it.  ///// 

Our final feature for this evening is "The Wreck of the Hesperus"(1948). Willard Parker plays "John McCready", a captain who steers his ship into the rocks during a storm. He loses his commission and takes a job with a salvaging company owned by Edgar Buchanan. Now, Buchanan - though a fine actor - will always be "Uncle Joe" no matter what role he happens to be playing. Therefore, as always, he's "movin' kinda slow" at the junction between honesty and deceit. He tells McCready that shipwreck salvage is a legitimate business. Bitter at being landlocked, the former captain agrees, and in a legal sense it's true. It's not against the law to recover goods from a sunken merchant ship. It is, however, quite illegal to cause the wreck yourself, which is exactly what Uncle Joe is doing.

He's got cronies who set up lanterns on the most dangerous part of the shoreline. Sea captains assume these are beacons of safe harbor when indeed they're the opposite. Ships are lured toward the rocks and crash against them. Uncle Joe then extricates the goods, be it gold or furniture or clothing (hopefully gold). He gets rich this way, rich enough to lobby against the construction of a lighthouse that would protect against future shipwrecks. At the present time, nobody knows about his lanterns, and doggonnit, a lighthouse would render them obsolete! Then he wouldn't be able to crash ships anymore, and of all the injustice in the world......"well I never"!

With his gravelly twanged voice and deliberate, earnest manner, Joe is able to fool the townsfolk for a time, and John McCready also. But then he sinks a ship captained by McCready's brother, the "Hesperus" of the movie's title. At first, John chalks the wreck up to the usual conditions - the rocky coast and his brother's inexperience. But then he finds a lantern hidden within the rocks. The demise of Uncle Joe is in the offing.

Is there a genre for Shipwreck movies? If not, then there should be, if the spellbinding "Hesperus" is any indication. It plays like one of those "waves crashing on the beach" mysteries, be it "Portrait of Jenny" or "The Monster of Piedras Blancas". The night sea gives a haunted quality to any film, and Buchanan's salvage scheme in this movie adds a ghoulish tinge to the proceedings. It's set in 1830, an obscure time in American history, half a century past our Independence and three decades before the Civil War. 

I give it Two Big Thumbs Up and highly "wreck"-ommend it. I was waiting to use that line as I'm sure you can tell. ///

That's all for now, and I hope you had a nice day. I send you tons of love, as always.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

A Trio of Titles to Help Clear the Table

What happened was that suddenly, to paraphrase the old Schnozzola : "Everybody wanted in on the act". They wanted to watch movies with Yours Truly. Now of course, I don't know a whole heck of a lot of people, so in this case "everybody" just means my sister and Grimsley. But Vick wanted me to accompany her to the theater, and Grim kept bringing over dvds, so in addition to the old movies I like to watch (think of me as your personal TCM), I at once had a growing backlog of motion pictures to review. They piled up faster than you can say Jack Robinson. As of tomorrow we'll have six unreviewed flicks on the table, so in an effort to break the logjam we're gonna do two blogs of three each. Because several of them are modern, which isn't my specialty (and one is brand new), we're just gonna give synopses. I'll try to make them substantial, however. I hope you won't feel shortchanged.

A quick note : when I say modern films aren't my specialty I don't mean that I can't write about them effectively, it's just that I don't prefer to. For one thing, what we do here is older movies, ones folks may not have seen. The other thing is that I love the Golden Age of Cinema - the classic stars and directors - and feel at home with reviewing in that style. So when I mention a modern flick, it's usually one Grim wanted to watch. For me, since about 2002, I've been enamored with older movies. They're the ones that, to me, tell the best stories.

At any rate, let's get going.

The first film on the docket is "Cimarron", and.......wait a sec........"didn't we just watch that"?, you're asking. Well, yes we did, but this is the remake, released in 1960 and starring Glenn Ford as "Yancey Cravat", the role Richard Dix brought to life in the Oscar winning original. The newer "Cimarron" was directed by Anthony "The" Mann, who specialized in Westerns and made several classics in that genre with James Stewart in the lead, playing tough sons-of-bitches, guys that could "kick your goddamn ass" (said in Jimmay Schtooart-speak).

The framework in both Cimarrons is similar, but they're working from two different adaptations. Dix played Yancey as larger than life, like a character from a Mark Twain story. Glenn Ford brings a 1950s realism to the role and plays him down to earth, and while he's quite good he's more taciturn than Richard Dix; his Yancey loses the heroic flamboyance of the character, the freewheeling spirit Dix brought to the first film. 

The conflicts in the remake are more clearly drawn. In the first film, the root causes of dispute were only alluded to, for the most part. Prejudice was depicted, but not the brutal violence that can accompany it. In the remake, it's there on vicious display. Yancey's wife Sabra was presented as a stoic survivor in the 1931 film. in the 1960 version, she's played by Maria Schell as an emotional wreck, far more fragile and nervous.

The character of Dixie Lee, who figures strongly in the plot of both films, is played this time around by the great Anne Baxter and is given a substantial increase in screen time and story. In the first film we got just a sketch of her relationship to Yancey. In the 1960 remake we find out she's his former girlfriend, whom he left - as he always does - due to his restless nature. In the first film, Dixie's profession was only hinted at. Here, she's shown straight-up as the madame of a cathouse. Also, the court trial of the first film is entirely omitted.

So as you can see, the remake is a far different picture. The context of Yancey's ultimate fate is also changed. Please see my review of the original film (about a month ago) for details on the bulk of the story. It must be noted that the production design of the remake is absolutely gorgeous. Mann was noted for his ability to, as I call it, "put pictures on the screen", and his vision of the Old West in Oklahoma Territory is vast and beautiful (though dusty of course). The movie was filmed in widescreen Cinemascope, with color by Metrocolor (hooray!) While it's not as energetic as the 1931 original (which won the Best Picture Oscar), the 1960 "Cimarron" presents perhaps a more authentic feel. I give it Two Big Thumbs Up, accordingly. ////  

Our next fractured flicker is "A Quiet Place 2"(2021), seen in West Los Angeles with my sister (my first trip to a theater since before covid). I won't give you much with this one, because you've either just seen it yourself or are planning to. My biggest take away from "QP2" (and really both QP films) is how well constructed it was. It feels like Krasinski brainstormed his plot to come up with an original concept : blind creatures vs. deaf girl. The use of feedback (i.e.high frequency sound) as a weapon was also ingenious. The simultaneous attack scenarios were very effective, I've never seen that used before. I was also pleased by the spare use of CGI, and for a "quiet" movie, the use of soundtrack as central accompaniment was integral to the premise. Krasinski pushed his scary music to the forefront, almost as a tour guide to the horror. He cued you very loudly when a jump scare was coming, but that is in the old school tradition. I loved everything about the movie. It never spreads itself too thin. Instead, it focuses on only the most important details : the need for shelter, the search for supplies and help, the quest to find the source of the song. The pairing of the deaf girl with the coward (Cillian Murphy) is a strong dramatic coupling, and again it feels like he worked his script out to a tee. Man I wish more filmmakers would take such care. Work your screenplays, people! John Krasinsky did and he's made two Creature Classics. Two Big Thumbs Up for "A Quiet Place 2". Loved it, loved it, loved it. ////

And closing out today's trio, we have "End of Watch"(2012), which Grimsley brought over several nights ago. I've seen it before. It has a solid premise about two young LAPD officers (Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena) who patrol the toughest section of south central Los Angeles (Newton Division apparently). They get in over their heads when they uncover the storehouses of a Mexican drug cartel, and become marked for death by the Homies. An OG tips them that the cartel has put a hit on them. The officers are both reckless and heroic, goofing off much of the time but also running into burning buildings to rescue babies. As I said, the premise is quite good, and the story is well developed.

How......ever (and please refer to past blogs for instructions on the drawn out pronunciation of "however").

Howwwww..........evver,  having said all of the above, the movie is a trial to sit through. When I came to the end of "End of Watch", I let out a sigh of relief. My fear of an epileptic attack was over.

I don't know when they started seating attention deficit disorder students at the head of film school classes, but the phenomenon has taken root, and in "End of Watch" it's reached an apex. The entire movie was created by hyperkinetic head cases, including the cameraman and editor and screenwriter. Might as well include the director, too, and maybe it's all the same guy. Remember when the shaky camera in "Blair Witch" was thought excessive? Or when "Cloverfield" made it worse a decade later? Those cameramen are steady at the wheel compared to the basket case in this movie, and I know it's not his fault; the director wanted it that way. He also wanted the editor to hold no shot any longer than three seconds (no kidding, and many shots are quicker), hence my epilepsy worries, and he must've asked his screenwriter to have at least three people talking at once, whenever possible, and with at least a dozen four letter words per line of dialogue. 

The director is a guy named David Ayer. I'd have guessed he was a USC film student trying to create something new, i.e. the genre of Highly Irritating Filmmaking. But instead he's a screenwriter and former South Central resident (he's a white guy), who also wrote "Training Day", which was also over the top but at least had traditional camerawork. "End of Watch" is destroyed by it's crummy conveyance, not to mention it's use of the F word, for which you'd be a wealthy man or woman if you had a dime for every time it was uttered.

Compared to the care taken by a director/screenwriter like John Krasinski, Ayer takes the cheap and easy way out. But not only that, it's physically uncomfortable and distracting to watch his movie, so it doesn't matter if he has a good story, which he does. His execution of it is terrible, and it's a distressing trend in modern filmmaking. 

And you wonder why I don't go see many of today's movies.......holy smokes. In the end, never choose style over substance, which is what "End of Watch" amounts to. It's "Colors" on crack, and it's style is only annoying. Fuggeddabouddit. Thumbs Down. /////

So there you have it, three pictures with varying results. I'll have the other three that remain stockpiled in another synopsis blog coming soon. Have a tremendous day. I send you Tons of Love as always!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

Sam Fuller's "Scandal Sheet" and Scorsese's "The King of Comedy"

Stop the presses! Sam Fuller's at it again! I can just picture him, sitting there at his typewriter, white hair sticking out in every direction, chomping on a cigar and churning out another hardboiled script about a crooked newspaper publisher. Didn't we just go through this with "Power of the Press"? Well, Fuller must've really had it in for yellow journalists, because this time around he's crucifying Broderick Crawford in "Scandal Sheet"(1952), the story of a newsman who becomes the lead story.

Crawford has taken a once reputable paper and turned it into a scandal-spouting tabloid. Some board members are upset about the change in content. Crawford points to his circulation chart, which shows a steady climb toward 750,000 subscribers. "What do you think brought you that dividend check"?, he asks in retort. "This is what the average person wants to read. No one cares about bond issues or abstract political analysis. They want excitement, they want thrills. The numbers bear that out". This shuts up the stockholders, who remain disgusted but earn big returns.

"Steve McCleary" (John Derek) is the hotshot reporter who gets Crawford most of his stories. He's got a nose for news, so sharp that he arrives at crime scenes ahead of the cops. He twists witness testimony to produce startling headlines. His photographer (Harry Morgan) gets the gory pictures, and it's not above the two of them to fake one when necessary : "Pour some chocolate syrup on that axe, I'll shoot it close up".

In short, these guys are lower than snakes in the grass. Only Donna Reed, a veteran reporter from the old days, holds fast to the previous standards, when the paper was a highly regarded journal.

To paint himself sympathetic (and pump up circulation even more), Crawford stages a Lonely Hearts Ball. This makes him a champion of his average reader, poorly educated folks all alone in the world. Door prizes are offered, including a Grand Prize of instant marriage, in which two lonely souls will dance, fall in love and be wed on the very same night. A minister is on hand to perform the service. It's just another sales gimmick, but it backfires on Crawford. One Lonely Heart who attends is his ex-wife (Rosemary DeCamp), whom he ran out on twenty years earlier. She recognises him on the stage and approaches, trembling with anger.

"Hello George", she sneers. "Bet you thought you'd never see me again. Look at you now, head of your own empire. When I met you, you didn't have a nickel. How'd you make that climb to the top, huh? How many people did you step on? I'm gonna tell the truth about you George, and when I do you'll be back in the gutter".

He tries to ignore her. "Excuse me, ma'am, but you must have me mixed up with someone else. My name is Mark Chapman. I don't believe we've ever met".

"Nice try, George, but you'll be seeing more of me later. Then you'll wish we never met"!    

It turns out Crawford's real name is George Grant. He changed it to Mark Chapman (unfortunate choice, I know) to dodge his past. Fearing what his wife might do (they're still legally married, despite his twenty year absence), he follows her home after the dance. After barging into her apartment, he confronts her. She threatens him once again and he strikes her. Her head hits a water pipe and she falls down and dies. Crawford stages it to look like an accident and leaves the scene. But here's where things get tricky, and if you'll visualize along with me, we can picture Sam Fuller's glee as he sits in his smoke-filled writing room, setting an ironic trap for his villain. You see, Crawford has trained John Derek well, to go after stories like a bulldog. And it's Derek who gets the first tip, from a police scanner, about a female dead body in a bathtub. He's on it in an instant and brings the scoop back to Crawford, his publisher.

"Boss! I've got our next headline! 'Miss Lonely Heart Murdered' ! That woman was at the dance last night"!

Crawford is now in the hot seat, but at the moment only he knows it, so after mopping his sweaty brow, he tries to disinterest reporter Derek. "What do you mean 'murdered' ? I think the cops are calling it an accident. No one's gonna care about some woman who fell down in her tub. Can it and find me something juicier".

"But Boss, the police are wrong on this one! I've been inside the lady's  apartment. There's blood on a pipe in the bathroom. But more than that, I checked her closet. On her dress was a tag from the Lonely Hearts Ball, only someone tore it off. Here, I brought what was left of it with me. You can still see her ticket number at the bottom! Why would she rip her own dress, instead of unpinning it? No sir, there's no doubt she was murdered. This'll sell like hotcakes! Don't worry, Boss, I'm all over it"! 

At this point, Broderick has no choice but to agree, lest he seem unenthusiastic about a scandal.

"Okay, okay.......go back there and dig up what you can. It was probably some geezer she met at the dance, or one of the stewbums in the Bowery. Don't worry right now about I.D.ing the killer, just get me more on the woman, you know......the Miss Lonely Heart angle".

"Don't worry, Boss, I'll get you both"! Derek runs off to do the job he's so good at, digging up dirt on a murder. This time, however, though he's not yet aware, he's also digging Crawford's grave. Things get worse for ol' Broderick in a moment, as Sam Fuller twists the noose even tighter. 

"Charlie Barnes" (Henry O'Neill) is a former Pulitzer Prize winning reporter, now an alcoholic, who loiters in the bars of the Bowery. Longing for past glories, he hopes to get his old job back. One day Crawford passes him on the street. They know each other. "Hey Mark, it's great to see ya! Hey, whattaya think about giving me another shot? I know I don't look so good at the moment, but I've still got the old eagle eye for a story. If you give me a chance I can sober up and be ready to work in a day". Crawford feels uneasy seeing his old pal in this condition and brushes him off with money. "Yeah, Charlie. Here's five bucks. Get yourself a room and get cleaned up. Gimme a call when you're ready". Then he walks away. But when Crawford pulled out the bill, a pawn ticket fell out of his wallet. Charlie finds it on the ground and redeems it.

The ticket belonged to Crawford's estranged wife. He took it from her purse when he cleared it of identifying material. Now it's inadvertently come into Charlie's possession. At the pawn shop, he says he's redeeming it "for a friend". The pawnbroker gives him a battered old suitcase. Back at his flophouse, Charlie opens it. The suitcase contains a lifetime of romantic treasures, including a marriage certificate for "George and Charlotte Grant", and a photograph of the two on their wedding day. Charlotte (the dead woman) is pictured facing forward, but her new husband is seen only in shadow. 

Charlie is excited and immediately calls Crawford. "Hey Mark I've gotta show you something. I've found the identity of the Miss Lonely Heart killer! I found a pawn ticket today after we met. When I turned it in I got a suitcase. There's a picture in it of the woman that was murdered! Her name was Charlotte Grant, but I know her husband's name too. That's what I'm calling to tell you. He's George Grant - gotta be the guy who killed her, right"?

Crawford : "Uh.....Charlie......where are you calling from? I'd like to come right over and take a look at what you've got". And that of course is the end of poor old Charlie.

I'll leave the plot right there, but I love Fuller's set-up, where he hoists Broderick Crawford by his own petard. Irony drives the story. John Derek, a smirking but talented scribe, is hot on the trail of the Lonely Hearts Killer, and is presenting all his evidence to Crawford! Crawford has to think of excuses to deep six the story, but Derek keeps pushing : "C'mon, Boss! This is what sells papers! Isn't that what you want"?

Before Crawford became known as "Dan Matthews" on "Highway Patrol", he was in many Noirs and even comedies, and was good at playing heavies with fast-talking panache. John Derek is interesting also. Ultra handsome, he was also an above average actor, but in the long run he became known for his marriages to beautiful women, including Ursula Andress, Linda Evans and Bo Derek. The real star of this movie, though, is Sam Fuller's screenplay, which builds to an inexorable conclusion. Let's picture him one last time, as he types out "The End", then taps his cigar in the ashtray with a satisfied grin.

Two Big Thumbs Up for "Scandal Sheet", one of the best Noirs we've seen in a while. /////   

We've got something of a bottleneck to get through, a Motion Picture Traffic Jam if you will. Over the past couple days I've seen four other films and my screen time-to-writing time is out of proportion (hence another late blog). In an effort to clear the deck, I'll just summarise our next movie. Grimsley brought over "The King of Comedy" a few nights ago. Have you seen it? It's one of Martin Scorsese's lesser known works. Robert Deniro stars as "Rupert Pupkin", an aspiring stand-up comedian. What sets him apart from a thousand other would-be comics is that Rupert has never performed in front of an audience. In fact, he's a delusional man who lives in his mother's basement, where he sits fixated on "Jerry Langford" (Jerry Lewis), America's #1 late night talk show host whom Rupert worships as a god. He dreams of the day when he will appear on Jerry's show, and has even constructed a replica of the show's set, where he sits in the celebrity lounge chair practicing one-liners at which Jerry will laugh and slap his knee. All he ever thinks about is appearing on Jerry's show, and he practices day and night, playing the parts of both Langford and himself. His mother shouts down from the living room : "Rupert, lower your voice"!

By day, Rupert tries to promote himself, and as the movie opens we see him squirm into a taxi that Jerry Langford has hailed. Suddenly he's got Jerry isolated and he throws his spiel at him, talking a mile a minute. Right away, Scorsese shows us an aspect of the price of fame - constant attention from fans and hopeful newcomers. Pupkin is a little bit of both, but he's also nuts. He definitely knows what he wants, however - a slot on Jerry's show - and he'll do whatever it takes to get it. So when Jerry gives him the standard show-business brush off ("Give my secretary a call"), Rupert takes him at his word and goes him one better. He starts showing up at Langford's office. When he's repeatedly intercepted there by Langford's assistant Shelly Hack, he takes the next deluded step forward and goes to Langford's house. He even brings along a date (Diahnne Abbott), a local barmaid for whom Rupert is posing as Jerry's friend. "Oh yeah, I know him. He invited me out there for a luncheon. You could call it part-business, part-pleasure cause he wants to hear my new material, but there will be other guests too. You're gonna meet a lot of famous people! Of course, you'll also meet Jerry. We're real close, y'know".  

As you can imagine, Langford isn't happy to find Rupert in his living room. There's no lunch party, it was all in Rupert's mind. Or was it? Scorsese walks a fine line with Rupert's psyche and his grasp on reality. Is he crazy or merely cunning, or a mixture of both? Langford will find out. After he throws Rupert and Abbott off his property, Rupert hatches a plan with an unhinged gal-pal of his (Sandra Bernhard). She idolises Jerry too, and rivals Rupert in her obsession. I won't tell you what they end up doing (and you may already know if you've seen the film), but it's every celebrity's nightmare. Scorsese presents the duo's caper as black comedy, but it's easy to imagine the terrifying real thing, or to simply watch "Joker" which in my opinion is a rip-off of "The King of Comedy". That disgusting movie was the gory flip-side to Scorsese's picture, which leaves us with a cheery sympathy for Rupert Pupkin, who has a happy ending after all. Grimsley and I discussed the possibility that "Rupert" might be DeNiro's greatest performance. Watch it for yourself and decide. Two Big Thumbs Up for "The King of Comedy". ////

Now to keep writing, to clear the cinematic gridlock and get the blog flowing freely once again.

Back a.s.a.p. Have a great afternoon. I send you Tons of Love as always!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

"Vicki" starring Richard Boone and "Arrowsmith" w/ Ronald Colman & Helen Hayes (plus Top Ten Stephen King)

Last night's film was a murder mystery produced in the style of "Laura", right down to the first named female of it's title : "Vicki"(1953). Jean Peters stars as a coffee shop waitress who hits the big time after being discovered by a publicity agent. One night, while she is waiting tables, "Steve Christopher" (Elliott Reid) happens by on a stroll. He peers through the window and sees the pretty Vicki. "Could be my next big find", he muses to his friend "Larry Evans" (Max Showalter), a New York showbiz columnist. In a wink, they're sitting down in the diner. Steve gives Vicki his card and the rest is history. It's a version of the Lana Turner fable, turned deadly. Because as the movie opens, Vicki is found murdered in her high rise apartment. Her story is told in flashback. I've just given you the introduction.

Her agent Steve is the first likely suspect. He's the one who found Vicki's body. Her sister Jill (Jeanne Crain) witnessed him in her apartment. But the cops don't have enough to hold him. For the moment they have to let him go. Over in Noo Joyzee, a detective is going on vacation. He's "Lt. Ed Cornell" (Richard Boone), a Type A inspector who's never off the job. He sees the headline as he's checking into a resort : "Top Model Killed"! Immediately he grabs a phone : "Yeah yeah, I know......I know I've got two weeks off! But I don't need it anymore. I'm coming back, Cap. I want this case! It's mine, you've got to hold it for me"!

The homicide dicks are questioning Jill when he gets in. "No, no.......you've got it all wrong", she tells them. "Steve adored my sister, in a professional way of course. He doted on her every whim. Yes he was hunched over her body when I found him, but that doesn't mean he killed her. She was his prize client, for goodness sake"!

Boone takes charge : "Get that broad outta here, and get that agent back in"! He's intense, and scary. He's got a bug up his rear about this case. But why? Soon we find out that he knew Vicki too, in a manner of speaking. Jill calls Steve to tell him she recognized Boone : "He's the man who used to hang around the shop after hours. He'd come by right when they were closing, and stare at Vicki from a table. She told me he gave her the creeps. I don't think she knew he was a cop". 

Boone starts hounding Steve and Jill, who can feel a frame job in the works. In an effort to solve the case themselves, they question other potential suspects, such as "Robin Ray" (Alexander D'Arcy), a puffed-up Broadway star who was "paired" with Vicki for publicity. They also check on her apartment manager, a quirky young man who has the habit of disappearing whenever they need to see him. A quick note on the actor playing this role : he's Aaron Spelling! I was saying to myself......is that a young Robert Evans? No, he's too geeky. And it turned out to be Spelling. Who would've thought, from this movie, that he'd one day own the biggest pad in Hollywood? Appearances can be deceiving, it is true.

But this is Richard Boone's movie, and he's downright terrifying as Lt. Cornell. Boone's gonna pin the murder on Steve if he has to plant the evidence to do it. After cuffing Steve at his apartment, and beating him to a bloody pulp, he hides a pair of brass knuckles in a dresser drawer, "Oh, is this what you used to kill her", Boone says, pulling them out again. Boone's got something personal against Steve, but we won't find out what it is til the end. Before I go any further, I've gotta ask : what's the deal with Richard Boone? He was a very good actor, so I don't mean that. I'm talking about his aging. He was born in 1917, so he's 36 in this movie, and he more or less looks it, accounting for the heavy cigarette and alcohol habits that many actors had at the time. But then in 1978 he was in a remake of "The Big Sleep", and he looked like he was run over by a truck. His face had turned to hamburger and he'd aged 50 years in half that time. Guess it was the booze, and it happened to other actors, but not to this extent (except for maybe Neville Brand). Anyway, he's great as the psychotic detective, and we find out why he's dogging Steve. And Jeanne Crain is luminous as always, projecting the reserved quality that made her more appealing than some beauties, like Peters, who was a good actress but comes on a bit strong as "Vicki", too brassy and overconfident for a poor girl from the tenements. Peters was married to Howard Hughes for many years, so maybe that toughness was borne of instinct, who knows.

"Vicki" gets Two Big Thumbs Up for style more than plot. It's apparently a remake of a film called "I Wake Up Screaming", which I believe we saw many years ago, but to me it's a take on "Laura", the classic Noir with Gene Tierny, right down to it's theme music and framed portrait of the protagonist, hanging on the culprit's wall. I didn't tell you who that is, but you might be able to guess. Still, the print is razor sharp and the acting is mostly good. Give it a watch for Richard Boone. ///// 

For our second picture, I'd like to go back a couple weeks, to a film that was omitted due to work schedule. "Arrowsmith" (1931) stars Ronald Colman as "Martin Arrowsmith" a promising medical student who aspires to cure disease. As the movie opens, he's offered a job as the assistant to a top researcher, "Professor Gottlieb" (A.E. Anson). Arrowsmith turns him down, however, not wanting to be chained to the disciplines of scientific method. He wants results now. Also, he's just  met "Leora" (Helen Hayes) a nurse who shares his independent spirit. They marry and move to her small town in South Dakota. From there, Martin sets up his practice. In addition to treating the townsfolk, he's called on for veterinary advice.

Local farmers are losing their cows to smallpox. A state regulator orders a certain percentage to be destroyed. Arrowsmith sees no need for this, and develops a serum for the bovines. Many of them are saved and he becomes a local hero. This serves to piss the regulator off, however. He threatens to report Martin to the authorities for not going through proper channels.

Deciding to move on, Martin and Leora head back to New York. He asks Professor Gottlieb is his offer is still good; it is, and Arrowsmith joins the professor's research team. He now has a multi-million dollar budget to work with, and wants to tackle bubonic plague, a strain of which is wiping out thousands in the West Indies. Still feeling hampered by the strictures of Gottlieb's methods, Martin aligns himself with a Swedish virologist who's just been in town for a lecture. Dr. Gottlieb is understanding, because the matter is very serious. Time is of the essence with the plague. He gives Martin his blessing, with unlimited finances to develop a serum under the Swedish doctor's direction.

In the West Indies, Martin experiments with different antidotes until a viable serum is developed. But now it must be tested, and here is where the movie's main conflict arises. The Swedish doctor informs him that, to prove it's effectiveness, it must be administered in conjunction with a placebo. "50% of the diseased will be given the serum, the other half an inactive solution. If the death rate is substantially reduced, your vaccine will be verified".

Arrowsmith protests : "But Doctor, the other fifty percent.......they are certain to die. We can't in good conscience do this to them".

"Ah.....but again, it's the importance of the scientific method. If we do not include a control factor, who's to say the serum alone is responsible for fewer deaths? We don't yet have the statistics for analysis. The outbreak is too recent. I'm sorry, Martin......this is the only way".

"Arrowsmith" was directed by John Ford from a book by Sinclair Lewis, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1925. Though some fans at IMDB (with more background on the book than I) claim that Ford watered the story down, he still made clear that the medical establishment - personified by the Swedish researcher - was willing to experiment on "indigenous people", where a death rate of fifty percent was certain. I don't know if author Lewis made a stronger condemnation of this in his book, but in the movie it's presented as being the only choice; Arrowsmith has an experimental serum for plague. There isn't time for a long, drawn out testing process. Martin wants to administer it to all of the diseased victims. The Swedish expert tells him "only half", for control reasons.

I won't reveal the outcome, but there's another crisis that presents itself. Martin's wife Leora has accompanied him to the West Indies against his wishes (he feels it's too dangerous). While there, an incident occurs that will affect both their lives. Once again I can't tell you what it is, but this is the one detail where I feel Ford made a misstep. Of course we are supposed to suspend disbelief in motion pictures, at times, but in the scene in question, what occurs would never happen under any circumstances in a medical setting. It has to do with the serum, that's all I can say.

"Arrowsmith" was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture. It has the plot structure of a biopic - a life history - and I had to look up "Martin Arrowsmith" to see if he was a real person (he wasn't). That gives an indication, however, of the quality of Ronald Colman's performance. The real find, though, is Helen Hayes as his supportive wife Leora. In all the hundreds of movies we've watched, we haven't seen much of her, which must be remedied. Most of us only know Hayes from her "old lady" roles on television ("The Snoop Sisters" and various guest star appearances), but she had a long career dating back to Silent pictures, and was also known as The First Lady of the American Theater. So yeah, we've been slacking on the Hayes front, but we'll definitely catch up. Two Big Thumbs Up for the movie. ////

Well, that's all for the moment, except let's do a tentative Stephen King Top Ten. Remember we said we were gonna make a book list? Let's do it, with a couple of disclaimers. 1) The list is in no particular order, except the first book. 2) It's not necessarily his scariest books, though most of them are, in my opinion. The list is not finalized yet, but pretty close.

1) It

2) The Shining

3) The Stand

4) Christine

5) The Tommyknockers (SK hates this one, but what does he know?)

6) Pet Sematary

7) The Green Mile

8) Black House

9) 11/22/63

10) The Outsider

We'll have to keep refining it. It was hard to leave out "Cujo" and "Lisey's Story", which is also King's favorite, but for now that's my list. Which ten would you choose?

Happy Summer! Have a great afternoon. I send you Tons and Tons of Love, as always.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

"Power of the Press" starring Guy Kibbee and "Shockproof", directed by Douglas Sirk

Wow! Whattaya know? Fake News is nothing new! Who knew? I found this out last night, while watching "Power of the Press"(1943), the story of a corrupt New York City publisher who uses his newspaper to spread lies and accusations against the government during World War Two. The publisher, "Mr. Rankin" (Otto Kruger), has no actual background in reporting and doesn't care about the truth, but he's the majority stockholder at the paper and calls the shots behind the owner's back. He uses shock headlines to increase readership and profit. His aim is to bring Washington to it's knees.

As the movie opens, the paper's owner (Minor Watson) calls a press conference to announce he's stepping down. He's been accused of yellow journalism by a fellow newsman, and in front of reporters he admits it. Just as he's about to name the crook behind this policy (i.e. Rankin), he's shot from the audience. There aren't any witnesses, so the shooting is blamed on a disgruntled former employee, who's detained by an in-house detective (Victor Jory). Rankin uses the investigator as his personal Gestapo agent to supersede the police. Before the owner dies, he wills his paper to the man who called him out, "Ulysses Bradford" (Guy Kibbee), who publishes in a small town in Iowa.

Kibbee doesn't think he can make it in the big city. He's old, his own paper has only 1000 readers. But his secretary (Gloria Dickson) talks him into accepting the inheritance and goes along to support him. Now he's at the helm of the Big Show.....or so he thinks. The cunning Mr. Rankin undermines him at every turn, with the help of the circulation editor (Lee Tracy), who knows what it takes to sell papers. Kibbee, though, is honest to a fault. He won't publish any article unless both sides of the story are told. The first thing he orders is an investigation into the previous owner's murder. Several employees have vouched for the suspect, who swears he didn't do it. Kibbee feels he owes the deceased owner that much, as he willed Kibbee the paper for altruistic reasons.

It's when he begins to seek the truth about the murder that the trouble begins. A witness shows up with an airtight alibi for the suspect, and that's all I can tell you about the murder plot. But what makes this film so good is that it exposes the kind of trickery we've just recently seen so much of, and it might as well have been titled "Donald Trump". He actually reversed the process of yellow journalism, yelling "fake news" at anyone who tried to expose him. In this movie, that phrase is actually used, several times : "fake news"! Only in this case, it's used against the Trump character "Mr Rankin". In real life, Trump turned it around backwards, so that we were living in an Alice in Wonderland reality.

Ar any rate, Kibbee continues to push for an answer in the former owner's murder. He knows he's outmatched by the more powerful Mr. Rankin, but he uses his own "power of the press" to get out what truth he can. As for Rankin, he seems like he's supporting Germany in the war, though it's never specified. But he rails against the Brits, calls us slaves to the English war machine. Doesn't that sound like Trump again, supporting Putin while denigrating NATO and our allies? Rankin's an isolationist because it pits his readers against Washington, thus making him more powerful. In the movie they actually say "he's trying to destroy democracy". Total Trump! Trump must've seen this movie, it's straight out of his playbook.

Guy Kibbee is fantastic as "Ulysses Bradford", the small town newsman who aims for truth in the big city. Kibbee was in a million movies (Mom was a fan of his), and had a naturalistic style of acting, like he was speaking his own words instead of dialogue. Gloria Dickson is heartwarming as his loyal secretary. Screwball stalwart Lee Tracy (known for his mile-a-minute speaking style) provides contrast as the conflicted circulation editor, and Victor Jory is menacing as the in-house private eye. As for Mr. Rankin himself, he's played with style and sinister panache by Otto Kruger. One reviewer at IMDB claims this role ruined Kruger's career, but I can't see how. The movie does seem controversial, however, noting the number of folks who judge it purely in political terms. It's a shorty, running just 64 minutes, but boy does it say a lot in that time. Two Big Thumbs Up for "Power of the Press", a patriotic picture that is just as fitting today as it was 80 years ago. Highly recommended! ////

The previous night we watched a Noir from Douglas Sirk, presented in the form of a Melodrama, his forte. "Shockproof"(1949) stars Cornel Wilde as "Griff Marat", a parole officer in Los Angeles. His latest client is "Jenny Marsh" (Patricia Knight), a blonde beauty who's just been released from prison after serving five years for murder. Griff lays down the rules for her, the most important being "no weapons" and "no marriage". If she violates either, her parole will be revoked. She has to report twice a week.

Griff arranges a job for Jenny and gets her an apartment, but when he drops by to visit there's a man at the door. His name is "Harry Wesson" (John Baragrey), a tall, debonair chap who's part of Jenny's past. In fact, he's the reason she was put away; she shot a man at his behest. Wesson is a professional gambler, wealthy and sophisticated. Griff is aware of him. Wesson's who he meant when he told Jenny "no marriage". Griff orders Harry from her doorstep. "She's trying to go straight. Don't ever come back here again". 

But Jenny's attached to Wesson, out of loyalty and an inferiority complex. "He waited five years for me", she tells Griff, never considering that Harry's to blame for her predicament. "I'll never meet another man like him. He taught me how to dress and to talk, introduced me to people in society. I was in the gutter when he met me. I owe him my life".

"Yes, but do you love him"? asks Griff.

"I.....I think so. What does it matter"?, she replies. "He loves me! He proved that by waiting so long".

"That may be so, Jenny, but he's still no good for you. I hope you see that. And anyway, you can't get married. Remember, it's a violation of your parole. You'd be sent right back to prison".

But Jenny stays in contact with Harry, phoning him to meet at the library. (I have to step in to say, "The Library! How Sirkian is that"? Only Douglas Sirk, with his penchant for emotional complexity, would have a paroled murderess and her man meet in a quiet library. And in the stacks, no less! It's really cool, however, because the Libe in question is real and very old. I'm trying to track down it's location).

Back to the plot, Jenny tells Harry she can't deal with straight life. "I'm going crazy with this job and all the meetings. He's trying so hard to be nice to me and I just can't stand it, like I'm his pet project or something". She means Griff, who besides being her parole officer is a genuinely good guy. He does want to help Jenny but she can't deal with his kindness. It's another emotional alley for director Sirk to explore.

Harry comes up with a solution. He knows a shady lawyer. "I can have him get you a transfer. We'll move you to San Francisco, say you have relatives up there. Then you'll be away from Mr. Nice Guy". 

They try this but Griff finds out. "That transfer scheme was a scam. What were you thinking, Jenny? Do you want to go back to prison"? She breaks down, confused and conflicted over Griff's caring attitude versus Harry's manipulation. "Oh Griff, I'm so sorry. I know you want to help me but I'm just no good and never have been. I don't think I can make it in the real world".

Griff takes the next step by inviting Jenny to live at his house. "It's not what you think. I'm single, but I live with my family - my mother and two younger siblings". They're nice Italian Catholic folks. Griff's mom is blind; he's remained at home to help her. He isn't extending the offer to put the make on Jenny. He's really as straight-arrow as he seems. But it happens anyway. Griff does start falling for her. The family welcomes Jenny too, and she starts to feel at ease, helping out around the house and making friends with Mama and the children. She continues with her job as well, but can't break free from Harry Wesson. One day he calls, for another clandestine meet-up at the library.

"Listen baby, I've got a whole new plan. This time it's certain to work. You say he's in love with you? Well encourage him! Pretend you love him too. Pretty soon he'll propose, and when he does, we've got him! Once you say "I do", he's on our hook for blackmail. Remember, you're forbidden to marry, so by marrying your parole officer, he'll do whatever we say once you're hitched"!

So Jenny does say yes when Griff proposes. They get married and Griff swears to keep it secret. "Only me and you and Mama know. We can't tell anyone about it. Then, when your parole is up in two more years, we can live right out in the open. Oh Jenny, this is the happiest day of my life". By now, she feels the same way. She's truly come to love Griff and their normal, straight life.

But Harry Wesson knows their secret, and won't leave Jenny alone. "What about our plan, my dear? I thought we were gonna put the screws to Mr. Clean".  

At this point, Jenny wants no part of any blackmail scheme. She rebuffs Harry, who decides to go it alone. "Nobody walks away from Harry Wesson, baby"! He now plans to blackmail them both, which will ruin Griff's career and send Jenny back to prison. But then something happens that I cannot reveal, which turns the whole situation on it's head. Griff and Jenny are forced to flee in distress, choosing love over practical considerations.  

Turn on the Sirkian String Section.

Griff's rapid departure from conventional life, as he chooses Jenny over career and family, is representative of Sirk's ongoing theme of repressed emotion. He explores this in each of his films. Here, Griff's a good guy who expresses himself through his deeds, by helping ex-convicts. But he's never experienced romantic love, and when he does, the sheer power of it causes him to lose all concern for the values he'd previously believed in. He becomes irrational and breaks the law himself. The telling of this in the movie borders on the mythological, i.e. "desperate lovers on the run", but that is what Sirk's trying to get at, the notion that Love Conquers All. It's interesting that in his movies, even the bad guys are never unredeemable. He always tries to reconcile good and bad. I shant give away the ending, 'cept to say it's quintessential Sirk, and this time it has a twist you'll never see coming, all wrapped up in a virtuous bow. 

There are a number of great L.A. locations, including the Bradbury Building and old Bunker Hill, before it became a center for high rise office buildings. Here, we get to see the old wooden house that Griff and his family live in, an actual dwelling of the type still standing at the time. There's also an oil field, likely in the Wilmington area, that appears toward the movie's conclusion. All these things are long since gone in Los Angeles - it's a miracle of motion pictures that they are preserved this way on film.

"Shockproof" gets Two Big Thumbs Up. Watch it to restore your faith in humanity. /////   

One final note : Cinematic hard guy Samuel Fuller wrote both flicks in this blog, and had a "Griff" in each one. Besides Cornel Wilde's character in "Shockproof", Lee Tracy's circulation editor in "Power of the Press" is named "Griff Thompson". Just a small curiosity worth mentioning.

.

Well, I've had a three day Earworm of "No Rain" by Blind Melon, a song that used to crack me up back in the early 90s because of Shannon Hoon's voice. God Bless the poor guy (he died), but he was amusing in a Grunge-era Hippy Way, and even though the song was "funny-cute", I liked it. It had a great hook. However, I've always thought the lyrics went, "Y'know I like to keep my teenage tragedy". So because of the earworm, I looked up the chords for guitar (figured I might as well play along), and lo and behold, I've had the words wrong all these years. He actually sings "You know I'd like to keep my cheeks dry today". So I played the video on Youtube (love the Bee Girl), but I'm still hearing "teenage tragedy".

So I Googled my version, and apparently I'm not the only one who heard it that way! Check it yourself and see, lol. Anyhow, Hoon is great in the video, too, with his super long hair and hippy hand gestures. He was a real character, too bad he died.

That's all I know for the moment. Gonna head out for a Super Hot Hike. Have a great afternoon, I send you tons of love as always.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

DD and The Doctor : "First Love" & "Crime Doctor's Man Hunt"

 This blog was begun on the night of June 15, 2021 :

For tonight's film we turned again to our Deanna Durbin Collection, with "First Love"(1939), a rendition of the Cinderella story starring DD as an orphaned music student. When she loses her parents just before graduation, Deanna is taken in by her rich Uncle Jim Clinton, who lives in New York City with his family. She'd rather spend the Summer with her classmates, but old Miss Wiggins (Kathleen Howard), her vocal coach, persuades her to make the trip. "Who knows, you might become a Broadway star....or meet a handsome fella. Or you could stay here and end up an old maid, like me". Miss Wiggins uses humor to get her point across, but when DD gets to her Uncle's mansion, things aren't quite as expected.

First of all, there's no sign of Uncle Jim. In his stead as the defacto head-of-household is his bitchy daughter "Barbara" (Helen Parrish), a fashion model and debutante. DD knows of her cousin but wasn't aware she was such a shrew. Barbara bosses everyone, from the butler to the cook to her astrology-minded mother. The only one who answers back is her brother Walter, a lackadaisical lout whose life ambition is to recline.

"Now you know why Master Jim is never home", explains the butler to a chastened DD, meaning "if you had such a troop, you'd hide as well".

Upon seeing Deanna for the first time, Barbara orders her on an errand. "I'm late for my riding club! They'll leave without me and I'll miss Ted Drake! You.....Cousin! Get over there and stop him. Steal his horse, pretend to faint.......I don't care what you do, just hold him up til I arrive"!

Barbara has a crush on Ted (Robert Stack), as do all the society girls, but because Barb is famous she thinks she has the inside track. And......Barb always gets what she wants. Deanna is flummoxed at first, and begs off, saying "but I don't know anything about country clubs or horses. How do I even get there? How will I get inside"?

"Don't bore me with your questions! Just get over there and do as I say. Our driver will take you, now get going"!

Deanna does as she's told, and goes to the riding club, still unsure how to proceed. Seeing the handsome young Stack, though, provides an impetus. He's talking to some friends, so DD grabs a bowl of sugar cubes from a tea table and starts feeding them to his horse, leading it away from the stable. Her plan is to hide the equine until cousin Barbara shows up, but Stack catches her and she's embarrassed. Now we've got a classic rom-com set-up, where Shy Girl meets Dashing Young Man in a zany set of circumstances. Durbin tries explaining but stumbles, not only over her words but a steeplechase hedge too. Riders are approaching; horse hooves miss her head by inches. Stack sees this and comes to her rescue. Now she's in his arms, their eyes meet, but DD's quite the mess, with dirt on her face and clothes, and Stack's in a hurry to begin riding. So, after making sure she's okay he bids her farewell. Just then, cousin Barbara arrives and rides off with her beloved beau.

Back at the Clinton manse, Deanna has made friends with the servants, who commiserate with her over Barbara's tyranny. Uncle Jim comes home late that night. "Is she asleep"?, he inquires. "Oh good, peace and quiet". The next day, Barbara is bragging about attending the Drake family ball. "Everyone who's anyone is going to be there. Mother! I'm going to need a new dress. Order that Vionette I've been wanting"!

Barb's wish is Mom's command but she's preoccupied with the Zodiac and makes a faux pas. "Didn't you say your birthday was in December"?, she asks DD. 

"Why yes, December 4th".

"I've done your chart. The ball is on an auspicious day for you, my dear. You should go too. You could sing for the guests. Who knows what it might lead to"? This is a Deanna Durbin movie, so of course she's gonna sing, but the last thing cousin Barbara wants is for DD to tag along. Of all the embarrassments! Mom's already suggested it, however, and it would be impolite to withdraw the invitation. "One must never be rude. It simply isn't done". Barbara isn't happy : "I'll not be her chaperone"! But it's too late. In this instance, Mom has the final say. DD's going to the ball, and we have some Cinderella matters to take care of.  (A quick note on astrology, I'm an aficionado myself, so my comments shouldn't be taken as criticism).  

First off, Deanna is going to need a dress for the ball. The servants act as her Fairy Godmothers in this regard, magically transforming her graduation skirt into a sparkling evening gown. Her carriage will be the family limousine and she's instructed to return before midnight : "to be here when Uncle Jim gets home, we wouldn't want him to think he's been forgotten". Everything is set, but at the last minute Barbara invents a lie, that DD can't attend after all. "They haven't made preparations for an extra guest". Deanna is heartbroken as the others leave without her. Lazy brother Walter gets in the last snide word : "I could've told you this would happen", he smirks.

Once again, though, the servants come to Deanna's rescue! The cook has a friend, a motorcycle cop. He just happens to be there that night, so he jumps on his bike and chases down the Clinton limo. Soon, the driver is being asked for it's registration, which he can't produce, so he and Barbara and her mom are all hauled off to jail on suspicion of auto theft! (I shouldn't have told you that but it's too good to withhold). 

Back at the house, the Butler urges Deanna to go to the ball. "The problem's been taken care of", he tells her. She gets there looking radiant, and is mistaken for a well-known soprano. Once asked to sing, she mesmerizes the gathering, including Robert Stack. "I've seen that girl somewhere before", he says.

And there you have it. A Cinderella Story with DD in the title role, cousin Barbara as the Wicked Stepsister, Robert Stack as the Handsome Prince, and the servants as the helpful Godmothers.    

I absolutely loved it, cause I'm a sucker for a True Love story, and if you believe in Fairy Tales you will love it too. Though I've given some spoilers, there's a lot I've left out, including other clever transfers from the Cinderella plot to match it with 1930s high society. As with all the Durbin movies we've seen, it's tailored to her charms as a sweetheart and amazing singer. Her roles are designed to draw sympathy, and again, you can see why see was the biggest female box-office star of her era.

Two Huge Thumbs Up, then, for DD and "First Love". Highly recommended, it's a classic of it's kind.  //// 

I also watched another Crime Doctor, this time in "Crime Doctor's Man Hunt"(1946). As the movie opens, Dr. Ordway is visited by a war vet suffering from amnesia. This causes a "fugue state" in which he wanders the streets in a trance, and always ends up at the midway of a city carnival. The Doc thinks the cross streets are important; the man keeps repeating their names. So he goes there to investigate, and spots an old house nearby. It's vacant and boarded up. As he approaches, two men emerge from the shadows. They're carrying a third, the soldier who was Orway's patient. He's dead now. Crime Doc fakes being drunk to avoid being pegged as a witness.

He goes back to the carnival and interviews the shooting gallery owner, noticing she uses air guns for her customers. Doc knows they're untraceable. "Did two men come here last night, tough looking gents? Is it possible you're missing a rifle"? 

The next day, the late soldier's girlfriend (Ellen Drew) comes to Ordway's office. She's worried about her sister, "whom I haven't seen in three years. She's unbalanced and possibly dangerous. She may have hired those men to kill my fiancee". Ordway goes back in search of the two men, and finds them dead inside the rundown old house. Someone turned on the gas as they slept. Might it be the sister Ellen Drew just now talked about?

Ordway's gonna need help with this one, so he contacts William Frawley, the homicide detective for the city police. Fred Mertz as Top Cop! But he's not listening to the Crime Doc's fancy theories : "Whatta ya call that stuff? Psycho-ology? Sounds like a lotta malarkey to me". Mertz, I mean Frawley, thus hinders the investigation, as he steers it in a more "logical" direction. "I think it's that gal down at the shooting gallery", he proposes. "She's in cahoots with that kook with the crystal ball". He's referring to a fortune teller on the midway, who he believes is robbing customers. This goose chase will leave the real killer running wild, until Crime Doc - using his profiling techniques - pins him or her down at the end.

As always, Warner Baxter is excellent as the Holmesian Crime Doctor. The difference is that his clues all derive from the observed behavior of his suspects. From there he winnows them down until a single person fits the profile, very much in the same way the FBI later came to identify serial killers. It's an interesting approach to the crime thriller genre, which is why we love the Doc and his movies.

In this case, I thought I saw the culprit coming (and you may, too), but that doesn't spoil the fun of tracking him down (or is it her?). William Castle directs again, so you get lots of creepy lighting and spooky interiors. His "look" always rides just on the edges of horror. You can't go wrong with any Crime Doctor (or Whistler), so we're gonna give it Two Solid Thumbs Up. A well written 60 minute mystery.  /////

Well, that's all for the moment. I've also been pounding episodes of "The Outsider". Man, it's some grim, gruesome stuff, binge-as-well-as cringeworthy! Have you heard of actor Ben Mendelsohn? You probably have, and I'm sure you've seen him as well. He stars, as Detective Ralph Anderson, and boy does he ever create a mood of low key dread as he tries to explain the inexplicable. For me, "The Outsider" is one of King's scariest books, and they're doing a number on it with this production. The acting is uniformly great, but it's Mendelsohn who leads the way as the troubled investigator. It's an absolute must-see for King fans.

Maybe in our next blog we should do some Top Ten SK books and movies. We haven't done a list in a while. I know it's hard to pare them down, but what would your's be? I'll try to finalize mine, and post 'em up next time. Have a great day. I send you Tons of Love as always!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

"Mary, Queen of Scots" starring Vanessa Redgrave and Glenda Jackson, and "Mark of the Whistler" w/Richard Dix

Last night we watched another epic from producer Hal Wallis, the legendary impresario who brought us "Becket" (recently reviewed). We raved about that film, and have more to applaud with "Mary, Queen of Scots" (1971), a historical account of Mary Stuart, who ruled Scotland in the 16th century. The story details her adversarial relationship with Elizabeth, Queen of England. Talk about a potboiler. The treachery! Rival queens, scheming lords, Catholics versus Protestants. There's also a jealous king, a lusty minstrel and a vengeful brother. "Mary" has it all. It sometimes feels a bit soapy in comparison to an all time classic like "A Man for All Seasons", but in the qualities that matter most, plot and acting, it nearly equals that film and "Becket" too.

Vanessa Redgrave stars as Mary, who as the story begins is married to Francois II, King of France. Due to lack of blood lineage, she is only Queen Consort (i.e. the King's wife). When he dies, she loses her aristocracy and is urged by her bishop to return to Scotland (pronounced Skaertlnd), where she remains the reigning Queen. He further says she has a claim to England, too. "Elizabeth is a bastard Queen, my lady. She consorts with her horse master. Her throne is rightfully yours". Mary is also a Catholic. The bishop wants Britain returned to Papal rule. Elizabeth and her lords are Protestant. Man these religious schisms were brutal. The conflict begins as soon as Elizabeth hears of Mary's return.

It's not that Elizabeth is afraid of Mary (yeah, sure), she just believes there isn't room for two Queens on one island, especially when one of them is an amateur. "Mary is a charlatan, a slave to her heart. She hasn't the brains to be Queen, but her Catholic masters will use her for their own agenda. We must prevent that, and I know just the way". Elizabeth then sends two suitors to court Mary, knowing she's on the rebound from Francois. The first is her own boyfriend, the horse master Robert Dudley. He's a gentleman, but this is obviously a trick. Elizabeth figures that Mary will know of Robert's relationship with her and will thus turn him down, but she wins either way : if Mary accepts Robert's advances, Elizabeth will have blackmail ("She's an adultress"!), and if she rebuffs him as expected, Elizabeth can send in a clown, a boy toy named Henry Lord Darnley. This is Plan B. Mary won't know Darnley and will think him genuinely interested in her. He's young, handsome and passionate, and most importantly he's Protestant. If he and Mary wed, he'll be King Consort of Scotland, not sovereign perhaps, but strong enough to rule behind the scenes.

But is Darnley strong? Temperamental, yes. But strong of character? Hardly. He's really a fop, parading as a proud young lion. He's also bisexual, so when he does start up with Mary, he's just as interested in her court minstrel, a little Italian man named Davie (Ian Holm). Davie is bi also, and may be having an affair with Mary. This will lead to a Triangle of Turpitude, in which all three are in the sack, though not at the same time. Mary ends up pregnant. It's unclear who's the father. Mary does marry Henry, for love and the child's sake. He soon throws a tantrum and demands to be treated like a king. Elizabeth appears to be the winner, her plan having worked to a tee. 

Mary is no pushover, however. After Henry's hissy fit, she has him locked away and then exiled. Her brother steps in - Patrick F. McGoohan - demanding to be named Regent (the guy who runs things for the Royal). "You can't cover your own affairs"!, he tells his sister. Oh yeah? You wanna bet? Mary locks him up, too. Now a plan is hatched, with some Scottish Lords loyal to the English Queen. Like Elizabeth, they are Protestant. They don't want a Catholic pushing the Pope down their throats. The lords approach Henry with a contract, to dethrone his wife Mary Stuart. Their plan is to kill her. Henry is skittish (pronounced Skeaertish), but agrees. Anything to become King. But down in England, Elizabeth says no. "I'll not have her blood on my hands. Take her down if you will, but keep her alive. It'll be fun watching her struggle". 

But once again Mary answers the bell. By now, she has an ally in Lord Bothwell, a Scottish loyalist. His allegiance is to the throne, pure and simple. Right now the Queen is Mary so he'll fight for her. He also falls in love in the process. 

Do you see what I mean about intrigue? There's enough here for two Henry the 8ths. Elizabeth and Mary plot back and forth, with the lords forming their own devious plan and switching sides at will. Who will emerge on top? You can Google it but please don't. This is one pot you've gotta watch boil, and in spite of the old proverb, it does reach that point. Any frogs left inside will not know what hit them.

The great Glenda Jackson plays Elizabeth as an iron-willed vixen. Redgrave's Mary is flightier, but ends up showing fortitude she didn't know she had. Stealing the show, however, may be Timothy Dalton as the tempestuous Henry, at turns belligerent and simpering. He's young here, mid-20s, and because I didn't pay attention to the opening credits I wasn't sure it was him. I kept saying, "Is that Timothy Dalton? It can't be.......he was James Bond, and a stiff one at that. No way would he have the chops for this role". But then I remembered that Patrick F. McGoohan is the real James Bond - or should've been! - and that freed Dalton up to be talented. I kid, but the truth is that I didn't know much about him, other than his Bond gig. Turns out he's RADA trained and a world class Shakespearean. He knocks the role of Henry Lord Darnley right out of the ol' ballpark, going toe-to-toe with Jackson and Redgrave, two legends.

As for Vanessa Redgrave, it's a shame her politics overshadowed her career. She was (and probably still is) a truly great actress, but like Jane Fonda, she couldn't keep her opinions to herself. This is all fine and dandy, imo, if you wanna be known as an activist, but I believe that artists of all stripes should generally stick to what they do best. Fortunately for us film fans, in Redgrave's case that's on full display here. She's incredible as Mary Stuart, who in the end chooses a fate not unlike that of.......of......well, I can't tell ya, but it was the fate of two other protagonists in recent Royalty Epics we've seen. (Better call Rick Wakeman. He can straighten these things out).

Two Huge Thumbs Up for "Mary, Queen of Scots". It doesn't quite have the gravitas to merit our highest rating, but that's not for lack of trying, and it falls just short of the goal in any case. An excellent film, another must-see.  /////

I also watched the second Whistler, of which I'll give a synopsis. Richard Dix stars, as always, this time as a man down on his luck and sleeping on a park bench. Then he sees an ad in the paper, listing names for unclaimed funds. One of the names matches his name. He decides to try a ruse. At the bank he impersonates the man due the money. His identity is questioned, but they eventually release the dough : 29 Gees and change, not a bad haul for a chap who was penniless. Now he's living high on the hog.

At a fancy hotel, he's watched by a Man of Polish (that's polish, not Polish as in a man from Poland). Perhaps I should say a Slick Suited Man. Who is H is he? Is he fish, is he Mercural, is he hoodlum or a cop? That's not for me to say, but he's got a fix on Richard Dix, who should not have claimed the moolah. The true claimant is a murderer, or so the Slick Man says.

So, to recap : Dix has gone from park bench to Park Avenue and now to the attention of The Man, and all because - according to The Whistler - he went against his conscience, by claiming cash that wasn't his.

This entry, entitled "Mark of the Whistler"(1944), isn't as complex as the other two films we've seen, but it has one hell of a twist ending, I must say, which makes up for the simplistic story. For that reason it James Garner's Two Big Thumbs Up. Dix is great as always and William Castle directs. /////

Well, that's all I know for tonight. I pounded this blog out in an effort to get back on track, so please excuse any errors or general crumminess. One last note : today I picked up a dvd set from the Libe, Stephen King's "The Outsider", which aired on HBO last year. I didn't see it then (don't have that channel) but I've read the book, and tonight I watched the first two episodes........

Holy holy smokes, folks.........man is it scary and grim. Jason Bateman directs, and stars as one of the main characters. He's very talented, and has created one of the best SK adaptations I've seen. Granted, I'm only two episodes in, but my goodness this is some frightening stuff, with a palpable sense of dread. The subject matter is not for the squeamish, so you might want to Google before you watch, but again - holy moly. This is big league horror. 

And that is truly all I know, at least for tonight. See you in the morning, tons of love as always.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

Two English Spy Flicks : "Highly Dangerous" and "Candlelight in Algeria"

I'm writing from home, off work for a while, and I've got a couple of Brrittish spy flicks for you, of a type they seem to favor - half-serious, half-comic and jolly well entertaining. Both feature female heroines, civilian gals who stumble into the spy trade by accident. In our first film, "Highly Dangerous"(1950), watched last night, I didn't see the comedy coming. You don't expect humor when the subject is germ warfare. Margaret Lockwood stars as an entomologist working for a government lab in England. When her boss asks her to make a surreptitious visit to a small communist country, to gather information on a biolab, she at first declines. After all, she's not a secret agent. "Maybe you can find someone more suitable", she tells him. But as she's giving him a lift home, she tunes her car radio to a spy serial broadcast. She's listening on behalf of her nephew, who loves the show but hasn't got a radio at home. "I update him on the story", she tells her boss. We then see her sitting down with the young lad, telling him all about it. The topic of the radio show - intelligence agents saving the world from disaster - gets her to thinking. Her boss mentioned the importance of halting the work at the biolab. "If they successfully develop germ weaponry, millions of lives could be lost".

She calls him up to ask if the job is still open. "Of course it is. We didn't have anyone else in mind".

So, after being provided with the ubiquitous fake identity, she flies to the foreign country in question. Her contact sets her up at a hotel and arranges to take her past the checkpoints that border the laboratory. Her mission is to gain access to the lab, with the help of her contact, and remove some of the insects that are being bred there, so that scientists in England can study them and develop an antidote. In an aside, I should mention that I wasn't aware that bugs were used in germ warfare, but I guess it makes sense since they carry germs. In this case, the bugs are Mediterranean fruit flies, remembered here in California for the Medfly fiasco of the mid-1980s. 

Back to the plot, before her contact can drive her to the laboratory, he's shot dead. Not only that, but his body is dumped in Lockwood's hotel room, along with the gun that killed him. Someone is trying to frame her. Has her cover been blown? On her way to the city from the airport, she shared a train compartment with the local police chief. He made small talk but seemed to accept her claim of being a travel agent. Now though, he's hauling her in on a murder charge. She protests : "I'm a British subject! I demand to speak with the Embassy". The chief, a sly character in a spiffy Panama hat, lets her know that he rifled her handbag while she was using the restroom. "And I found a microscope! Might you tell me why a travel agent would need one"?

She is taken into a back room and given the third degree. It looks like something out of "The Manchurian Candidate" : hypnotic drugs, bright lights and one repeated question : "Tell me what you're doing here"! Lockwood eventually passes out and is placed back in her cell. The next day, she's able to get hold of the ambassador and a deal is struck. The chief will drop all charges if she'll leave the country. She agrees, but the chief, certain she's a spy, assigns a security goon to accompany her at all times until her plane leaves.

At the hotel bar, she meets an American reporter (Dane Clark). Grateful for a friendly face, she accepts his offer of a drink. But it's a ruse. He knows her true identity, having seen her photo in a science magazine. "A science magazine"?, she exclaims. "Nobody reads those things except scientists"! "Well I did", he answers. "Hey, it's my job to know things". It's at this point, about a half-hour in, that the movie changes from serious espionage into popcorn action/adventure. Clark talks her into completing her mission. "I can get you past those checkpoints too, and it'll give me something to write about, the scoop of a lifetime"! Lockwood and Clark ascend to the roles of Citizen Superheroes as they dodge sentries and cut barbed wire in order to break into the biolab. The shot of the interior, which is "sci-fi awesome", shows the lab in all it's glory : rows and rows of shiny tanks and tubes, glowing from within like in a Hangar 18 scenario. The banter by now has turned fast on the verge of Screwball. We're meant to know that Lockwood and Clark are in way over their heads but are intrepid enough to foil the foolish Commies.

Margaret Lockwood, who we've seen in "Night Train to Munich", is a lovely actress, demurely beautiful and appealing in a non-showy way. And we've seen Dane Clark in many films, playing roles that vary from hoodlums to heroes with all shades between. His characters had an Everyman quality regardless of temperament, making him likeable, the Guy You Always Root For. 

An actor named Marius Goring gives the Communist police chief a nice bit of style, friendly yet sinister in his vacationer's clothing and what looks like a false moustache. The radio show Lockwood listens to early on will be used as a clever device, when she turns from scientist into savior of humanity. "Highly Dangerous" would've been the English equivalent of a Saturday Night at the Movies, and it still works 70 years later, in fact it was ahead of it's time in one respect : some fans at IMDB say it was the first film to mention germ warfare. It's also topical in the pandemic era for obvious reasons.

Two Big Thumbs Up then. I loved it, you will too. ////// 

The previous night's picture was "Candlelight in Algeria"(1944) starring Carla Lehmann as an American sculptress living in Algiers in 1942. As a citizen of the U.S., which is neutral to Algeria, she lives in relative peace, until one day Chames Mason appears and turns her life on it's head.

He's a British agent just escaped from jail who is wanted by the German Armistice Office in Algiers. Algeria at the time was a French colony under the control of the Vichy government, a right-wing regime that capitulated to the Nazis with the understanding that it would be treated as an ally. The French were not willing to give up their colonial holdings, however, and a truce was negotiated, whereas Germany would be given military control of North Africa (under nominal French rule), and the French would continue to police it. But in reality they were working for the Germans. For the Vichy, it was a way to maintain what power they could, even if it was in name only.

One day, Lehmann is working on a bust of Franklin Roosevelt, when Mason bursts into her home, on the run from enemy agents. He talks her into hiding him, in dialogue fast and furious. Once again, we're verging on Screwball of the dry, British variety, only this time (as opposed to "Highly Dangerous") we're into it from the get-go. Whereas "Dangerous" began as a serious film that morphed into light comedy, "Candlelight" alternates between the two styles. When Mason runs into her living room, his banter with Lehmann is expository, advising us of the plot while setting a charming tone.     

He needs to recover a camera that has film of a Top Secret nature. Will Lehmann help him? Yes, because he's Chames Freaking Mason, whose Impeccable London Accent can never be resisted. The camera is stashed at the mansion of the regional Nazi commandant. Lehmann's job is to bump into him, accidentally/on purpose, at the nearby Officer's Club, and charm him into posing for a bust. While inside his house, she's to look for and recover the camera. The only problem is that the commandant has a wife who already suspects him of cheating. She's a vase-throwing Virago who won't hesitate to deck her hubby if she catches him in Lehmann's clutches. This is where the comedy comes in again, as both husband and wife Nazi are played for caricature effect. He is flattered, though, by being a subject for sculpture, and takes Lehmann up on her offer. She finds the camera and brings it back to Mason. But he still hasn't told her what pictures it contains.

They end up at The Casbah, "the home of every criminal in Algiers", where Mason has a girl (Pamela Stirling) who will do anything for him. She's jealous of Lehmann, too, but in a fatalistic French way ("Ces't la guerre"!), and agrees to help the two secure transport up the coast, where Mason will deliver enlargements from the camera film to unnamed persons. By now, of course, there's a German agent on their tail, the Nazis being "not as sty-oopid as you've assumed we were" (said in that "a-HA"! way of theirs).

This time, I've revealed much less of the plot than I usually do, because it's complex but also because it'll be fun for you to see it unfold for yourself. I will tell you that the story is based on a real life conference that took place in October 1942, that lead to the implementation of Operation Torch, the Allied plan to invade North Africa. I mentioned in an earlier blog that I became interested in Torch, and ordered a book about it, when I saw it depicted in a War Department movie. Prior to that, I'd never heard of it. My interest derives from my Dad's war experience, which began in North Africa in November 1943, and was made possible by the success of Operation Torch.

As for "Candlelight in Algeria", it also gets Two Big Thumbs Up, and would make a great double-bill with "Highly Dangerous". So there you have it, two rousing selections from the spy trade, fun but in serious contexts. ////

That's all for the moment. I know I'm late again but promise to get caught up during my time off. Last night I listened to my new Beach Boys cd, "Sunflower", a work from their mellow early 70s period. I'm really getting into the Boys and appreciating their musical genius, which was more than just surfin' USA. Also still in Canterbury mode (when am I not?) and tonight will be playing "The Polite Force" by Egg, a band I am new to and flabbergasted by. Have a tremendous day and I'll see ya soon. Gotta get the blog schedule back on track!

Tons of love as always.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

Two Tremendous Titles : "The Sun Shines Bright" and "Mr. Klein"

Last night I found a beautiful slice of Americana from John Ford. "The Sun Shines Bright"(1953) takes a look at life in a small town in Kentucky at the turn of the century. The Honorable "Judge Priest" (Charles Winninger) presides not only over his courtroom but serves as the town's conscience as well. Every man is equal in his eyes, regardless of race, creed or color. He stands with the downtrodden and the unjustly persecuted, which means he's tilting at the windmill of prejudice that remains strong in post-Reconstruction Kentucky. The script for this film was compiled from three short stories featuring the Judge Priest character, who was created by a writer named Irvin S. Cobb. I hadn't heard of him, but he wrote about the South and was incredibly prolific, and famous enough to host the Academy Awards in 1935.

An ensemble cast portrays the townsfolk, who interact amidst the three tales that are unfolding. The first involves a young woman named "Lucy Lee Lake" (Arleen Whelan), the adopted daughter of the local doctor. She's a White schoolteacher whose students are all Black. The town is modern enough (i.e. tolerant enough) to accept this, but when it's discovered that her birth mother was a prostitute, well....that's a step too far. Of course, there's no law against such a thing. She can't be run out of town, so instead she is quietly shunned. A handsome young man (John Russell) has been courting her. Now he faces scorn, too, and starts drinking. Judge Priest stands by the both of them, with his trusty aide Jeff (Stepin Fetchit) alongside for advice and comic relief.

Meanwhile, old "Uncle Plez" (Ernest Whitman) comes to visit, with his nephew (Elzie Emanuel) in tow. Plez needs help in dealing with the boy, who he says is shiftless and needs to learn a trade. "All he does is play that banjo all day long. I'd be awful gratified if you could set him straight, Judge". Judge Priest asks the boy to play for him. He's fantastic and the Judge is impressed. "Well now, son, seems to me you're a natural, but you're still gonna need to earn some money to help Uncle Plez. But whatever you do, don't take no manual labor! You gotta protect those hands! Music's your true calling, that's plain to see. So keep on playin', but for now I'll get you a job". He gives the nephew a contact to help him on his way. That Uncle Plez and the nephew are Black doesn't matter a whit. "Thanks, Judge", says Plez.

Later that night, though, the nephew returns, sweating, breathing hard and terrified. "Judge! Judge! You gotta protect me. Them men over in Tornado District, they're tryin' to kill me. All I did was try to see that man about the job, but they sez I hurt a lady. I didn't Judge. I didn't even see no lady. Please.....ya gotta help me"!

A lynch mob soon arrives. It's leader accuses the nephew of raping a white woman (though it's stated in deliberately vague terms). Judge Priest has already locked the boy in jail for his own protection, but the mob is threatening to storm it so they can hang him from the nearest tree. They're about twenty strong. Only Judge Priest and Jeff stand between them and the young Black boy. "I'm tellin' you men to go home. You've got the wrong person. I know that boy, he's as gentle as a lamb. No way in heaven he'd hurt anyone, much less a woman".

But the mob is insistent. "Move outta the way, Judge, or we'll have to take you down with him". Judge Priest then draws a line in the dirt. "The first one of you to cross that line is a dead man", he says as he draws his gun. Jeff mumbles something nonsensical in agreement. Judge Priest is no John Wayne, no Wyatt Earp stone cold lawman. He's just a pudgy, middle-aged Jurist, but his integrity carries a ton of weight. The men of the mob back away, one by one, and leave. Judge Priest has righted the ship of justice once again. Eventually the real culprit is found for the rape assault (an old redneck), and the banjo playing nephew goes free. "Thanks again, Judge", says Uncle Plez.

The final segment depicts the funeral procession and church service for Lucy Lee's birth mother. It's exceptionally well developed, a masterpiece of filmmaking, from the pacing to the camerawork to the tension. If you ever needed an Exhibit A for why John Ford was a genius director, this is it. I don't wanna tell you what transpires, and I've probably given you too much the plot already (sorry about the spoilers), but I can't say enough good things about this film. if you're familiar with Ford's work, you know that he always leavened his stories with humour, usually of the Irish kind, and there's plenty of it on tap here. This is no maudlin drama, despite the subject matter. Ford was a master of portraying what I'll call "fictional Americana", the larger-than-life version of our country and culture as it was written about 100+ years ago, by authors like Mark Twain and Irvin Cobb. It's heartwarming stuff, with a strong social message enclosed.

Nowdays, a film such as this might be denounced if it were to draw the attention of the Wokesters. But the truth is that this is the real Woke. It shows people caring about one another instead of making demands and calling each other out. Today's Woke is angry and vindictive. The original Woke was faith-based and forgiving. And I'm not talking about Black Lives Matter, or Black and White folks in general, and when I say "faith-based" I'm not referring to right-wing fundamentalists. I'm simply talking about love, respect and caring for one another versus raising our voices in opposition to every perceived insult, and causing division with one another. The real Woke happened long ago, and then again in the 1960s. Today's Woke? You can have it. Well, end of tirade. Hope I didn't offend anyone. But "The Sun Shines Bright" is a lovely film, a Christian film in the best sense of the word, and in my book it gets Two Huge Thumbs Up.

The Youtube print is excellent, don't miss it.  ///// 

The previous night's movie was a riveting thriller entitled "Mr. Klein"(1976). Alain Delon stars as an amoral art dealer in Occupied France. He takes advantage of Jews trying to leave the country, paying them a fraction of the worth for their valuable paintings. The year is 1942. In Paris, the Nazis have yet to fully crack down, but that day is fast approaching. As the movie opens, Mr. Klein has just bought a painting from a Jewish man who is disgusted by his offer, but accepts it anyway through gritted teeth. As the man is leaving, he notices a newspaper lying in front of Klein's door : "The Jewish News". He hands it to Klein, who looks embarrassed and shocked. "This isn't mine", he says. "They must have me mixed up with some other Robert Klein".

The man he's just ripped off nods in agreement, as if to say "Oh yes. Sure they do".

Klein is well aware of what is beginning to happen to Jews in the Occupied territory. They're being arrested and sent to Germany. The roundup is not wholesale as yet, that's why many Jews who have the means are trying to leave while they still can.

Klein mulls over the problem of the newspaper and becomes paranoid. Though he isn't Jewish, he has a name that could go either way. He believes someone sent him the paper deliberately, perhaps another "Robert Klein" who is Jewish and is trying to switch identities with him. He goes to the police to report it, but that only makes him more suspect. They think he's trying to deflect attention away from himself.

His lawyer suggests he submit to an anatomical examination, which are being given on behalf of the Nazis by the Paris veterinary service. For those whose lineage has been deemed "questionable", the option is available to line up and have one's body assessed, like a dog at a prize show. Lips are pulled back to observe teeth; the jaw is examined for shape. Measurements are taken of eye spacing and the length between nose and upper lip. Hips and hair are studied. The subject is ordered to walk, first as normal then on tip-toes. All of this is done to "determine" genetic heritage, i.e. whether the person is a Jew or not. It's a gamble to undergo this exam because you're at the whim of the veterinarian. Klein turns it down. "I don't have to prove anything", he says. But his lawyer thinks differently. "You should at least obtain the birth certificates of your parents, and your grandparents too, if possible".   

Then they discover the other Robert Klein, who lives in a run-down apartment. He's not home when they get there, however, and his landlady says she hasn't seen him. "I don't even know what he looks like. He pays his rent by mail and is never here". The police have been following our Klein, and this trip to the apartment only makes his situation worse. Now they think he's using the apartment as a hide out, and trying to invent a doppleganger.

Klein continues to obsess over his namesake, going so far as to force his way into the apartment to search for evidence. He finds a photo negative inside a book and has it printed, then tracks down a woman in the picture; Klein's girlfriend? No one will give her correct name, and when he does locate her, she insists he's got the wrong person.

Synopses of this film mention it's Kafkaesque quality, and that is present, perhaps on purpose.The bureaucracy of Vichy France is circular and ant-like. Questions only bring more questions. No one says much but their eyes say it all : J'accuse! The plot at times becomes mysterious to the point of being obtuse, and I thought director Joseph Losey was gonna drop the ball at one point, and simply cut bait and give us one of those half-baked ambiguous endings that we often see in art films. But God Bless him, he didn't do that. This is a Holocaust movie after all, even if not a conventional one, and it would be a grievous mistake, not to mention an insult, to make it vague in the name of being arty. But Losey knows that and brings truth home with a vengeance. If you just hang in there, he ties it all together.

When it was over I was speechless. The word reverberating in my head was "TRA - MENN - DUSS"!

Mr. Klein even has a chance to escape at one point, and be free of his predicament, but his need to find the other man is too powerful. I can't tell you what happens, but the ending will leave you floored. It's one of the greatest Holocaust films ever rmade, on par with Schindler's (though in style it's entirely different).

It's visually striking as well, especially through Losey's exceptional use of color. In that sense, it is an art film, as if he is commenting on the stolen art by making every frame resemble a painting. Losey by the way is an interesting director. His work was kind of a hodge-podge of different types of films. The only one we've seen that I can recall is "The Boy with Green Hair". He was quite talented, as you can tell by "Mr. Klein", but his time in Hollywood was cut short by the Blacklist. Losey was suspected as a commie and when he was called to testify before HUAC, he left the country instead, and spent the remainder of his career working in Europe.

But for "Mr. Klein" he will always be remembered. Also interesting is that Alain Delon produced the film and gives a first-rate performance. He was a big international star in the 60s and early 70s, then fell into disfavor himself when it came out that he's a far right-winger who is friends with Jean-Marie Le Pen. Again, though, it's not fair to categorize people without hearing their side of the story, and it's worth Googling to read some of Delon's opinions, after you see the movie, which gets my highest rating.

Two Gigantic Thumbs Up for "Mr. Klein". I watched it on a dvd from the library. It's also been recently released on Criterion. Absolutely not to be missed, watch it on two consecutive nights with "The Sun Shines Bright" for a unique cinematic experience. //////

And that's all I know, for tonight at least. Have a great evening. Tons of love as always!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)