Well, I hate to break the news to you, but I did not watch a Tarzan movie tonight. You are probably pretty disappointed. I know I am. It wasn't for lack of trying, I assure you. I had one movie left from the collection of six. I had successfully watched four; another had skipped and frozen so many times that I had to quit before the finish, as reported. But I still had one left, "Tarzan Triumphs", so I began to watch it this evening. By the five minute mark it was freezing and skipping constantly, so I reluctantly ejected it from the player while I still had time to complete a different film.
Once again, The Falcon to the rescue. Thank you Tom Conway.
"The Falcon In San Francisco" (1943) has one of the better plots from this series. Falcon and his sidekick "Goldie" Locke (played by classic mook Edward Brophy) are on a train to San Francisco. As always, they are on vacation. All Falcon movies start with the two heading out on vacation ala "The Thin Man". But like Powell & Loy, they always get drawn into solving a crime instead. A small dog runs down the aisle of their train car and jumps into Goldie's lap, followed shortly after by a cute moppett (played by child star Sharyn Moffett). She reclaims her doggie but doesn't want to leave, taking a shine to Tom Lawrence aka The Falcon and his rather uncouth pal Goldie, who is of course all heart.
The two gentlemen are curious as to why this child is not eager to return to her room on the train. She explains to them that she is in the care of a mean old nurse, and that she doesn't want to go home to San Francisco - where she lives in a Nob Hill manor - because she and her dog are being held prisoner there. Sharyn Moffett is precocious in the style of Margaret O'Brien, and her tale is halfway persuasive to the two detectives. Then - through the train car strides the cruel nursemaid, informing them that "the child has a vivid imagination and is full of made-up stories". She further tells them that it is none of their business. This of course only serves to fuel The Falcon's curiosity. A little while later, the cruel nurse turns up dead in her train car, and the vacation plans are officially over. The Falcon and Goldie decide on the spot to personally escort the little girl back to her palatial home, to deliver her safely and get to the bottom of the mystery if indeed there is one.
Naturally, there is. The cops have the autopsy results on the nurse. She did not die of natural causes but was killed in a clever manner by a stickpin. Now the plot begins as Conway, Goldie and little Miss Moffett arrive at the estate of her.......(her parents?)......no. It isn't clear who owns the home or whom she is in the care of.
A well mannered but exceedingly rude butler gives Falcon the same line about the kid. "She tells a lot of fanciful stories". He then invites The Falcon to leave the premises, and when Conway refuses and tries to take Moffett with him, the butler calls the cops and has him arrested for kidnapping. He spends the night in jail but in the morning is bailed out by a Very Wealthy Woman who seems to be verry attracted to him.
He is used to this type of thing (he is Tom Conway, after all), but he is Way Too Suave to become distracted from his mission as he goes ahead and makes out with the woman anyway.
Boy, is he going to pay for that. ////
I feel that I have given you enough of the 66 minute plot to work with, so that - should you decide to watch the movie for yourself - you will have a sufficient overview to aid you in your involvement in the picture, so that you may play detective for yourself. I have given you a boost, you might say. A leg up.
I only have one Falcon movie left, starring Conway, and I shall hopefully save it for a little while. There are six others, made with Conway's brother George Sanders as the star, and he was in fact the original Falcon, his are the original Falcon movies and Sanders was by far the bigger Hollywood Star. I will probably order those movies from Amazon at some point, but I already know that, for me, the true Falcon will always be Tom Conway. Less famous than George Sanders but far more Suave.
And suaveness counts, does it not? :):)
I had a nice twilight hike at O'Melveny this evening, still off work for a couple more days.
See you in the morning, and guess what? I have the first six MGM Tarzan movies ordered and on the way to Northridge Libe, so I know you are greatly relieved because we will have more Tarzan to come.
Man, you are wiping your brow......you are breathing a sigh of relief, you are saying "whew".....
You are saying "Thanks, Ad".
I say, "No problem", because I know how you feel about Tarzan.
See you in the morn. Love til then, then more. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Tuesday, January 29, 2019
Monday, January 28, 2019
"Tarzan And The Amazons" + "A Lie Too Big To Fail" by Lisa Pease
Tonight's Tarzan was "Tarzan And The Amazons" (1945), and the title tells you, right off the bat, most of what you need to know about the story. Tarzan and Boy are getting ready for a rafting trip to the trading post downriver to buy supplies for the treehouse and also some presents for Jane, who is returning from another one of her trips to England. Before they can depart, they hear a commotion in the jungle. A young woman is running from a panther, hot on her heels. She carries a bow and arrow, and appears to be a warrior (warrioress?), but Tarzan sees she is no match for the charging cat and comes rapidly to her rescue.
As he and Boy tend to her, a bracelet falls from her wrist. Made of pure gold, it bears an embossed, overlapped symbol of a tree, Sun and snake. Boy is inquisitive and wants to know the meaning of the symbol, but the woman is mum. It is clear that Tarzan knows something, but he is silent as well. He changes the subject on Boy, but Boy will soon discover for himself the symbols' meaning, because Tarzan decides to help the stricken woman get back to Palmiyra, the hidden city behind the mountains at the edge of the jungle. This is where she is from, where her people live in secret. She is an Amazon, a tribe of Tall, Strong Women.
I was figuring that the producers must have hired the entire volleyball teams from USC and UCLA, gave 'em jungle skirts and headbands and set them loose.... :)
When Tarzan gets Athena the Amazon back to her tribe at Palmiyra, he is immediately excoriated by the Amazonian Queen, Maria Ouspenskaya (of "Wolfman" fame). She is a tiny person, and elderly, but her word is law. Lucky for Tarzan that she is his pal. The secret city of the Amazons is never to be compromised. Death awaits all intruders, but Tarzan is excepted this time - even though he has brought Boy and Cheeta with him - because he has known about Palmiyra forever, and he has kept it a secret, even from Boy and Jane.
The Amazons let him go and he returns to the jungle just as Jane is arriving by boat, with yet another retinue of scientists, microbiologists and a zoology professor. Tarzan has Had It Up To Here with these types, as seen in other films from the series, because he knows that all they want is to plunder.
Jane is once again the voice of moderation, trying to explain to Tarzan that the men are only there to study the land, not to exploit it. But Tarzan knows differently. He has jungle intuition. He can talk to and command the animals, after all. He is King Of The Jungle. He sees that the scientists have hired a local hunter to lead their anthropological expedition, a blustery, craven man interested not in science but only in profit.
This is when Cheeta gets into the act. She has been content to try her hand at fishing throughout the first half of the movie - with zero success - but by the time the safari gets underway she is back to her old tricks of stealing anything she can get ahold of. This time she swipes the Golden Bracelet. The master hunter who is leading the expedition discovers it, sees it is made of gold, and his own intuition, made of greed and envy, drives him to find out where the bracelet has come from.
Boy has been simmering at Tarzan from the beginning of the movie, because Tarzan won't tell him about Palmiyra, the secret city of the Amazons. Now, Boy has a chance to get back at Tarzan and prove himself to be a man, because he was with Tarzan when they went to Palmiyra to return the wounded woman at the start of the movie.
Boy knows the way there. He knows the route over the jagged mountains, and offers his services to the hunter and his clients, the scientists, who seem benign enough. Jane approves of them and Boy loves and trusts Jane.
But Tarzan knows Hunter No Good. Boy in Bad Fix now. Can Tarzan straighten situation out?
The movie would more accurately have been called "Boy and The Amazons", because this is really Johnny Sheffield's movie more than Weissmuller's. Boy gets himself into a major league jam by leading the hunter and the scientists into the lofty netherworld of Palmiyra, where they find themselves suddenly surrounded and outgunned by the large tribe of fearless Amazonian archers acting at Queen Ouspenskayas' behest.
Boy would surely be Toast here, if not for his relationship to Tarzan.
The hunter doesn't fare as well, and the scientists.......hmmmm. Just watch for yourself.
The script is not quite up to par with last night's "Tarzan And The Huntress", but you still get all of your trademark elements of jungle animals romping, Tarzan & Boy bonding, family time with Jane, and Cheeta stealing the show (literally and figuratively).
Two Thumbs Up for "Tarzan And The Amazons", and hang on, because we still have some Tarzans left! I don't know if the final two movies will play; they are the ones that kept freezing and skipping, but I will try one tomorrow night. Maybe the glitch has worked itself out.
Good singing in church this morning. I am still off work. Went for an Aliso walk this aft, finished Lou Berney's "November Road" (most excellent), and began "A Lie Too Big To Fail" by Lisa Pease, said to be thee Magnum Opus on the Robert F. Kennedy assassination.
Very readable thus far, through 25 pages. She promises to come up with new information on the case. I've read many a book on the subject, so we will see if she can deliver on that promise. ////
The truth is so important in this world. Telling it is the hard part for those in the know. Discerning it is the hard part for researchers and writers.
Eyewitnesses hold the key. :)
See you in the morning. Love always. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
As he and Boy tend to her, a bracelet falls from her wrist. Made of pure gold, it bears an embossed, overlapped symbol of a tree, Sun and snake. Boy is inquisitive and wants to know the meaning of the symbol, but the woman is mum. It is clear that Tarzan knows something, but he is silent as well. He changes the subject on Boy, but Boy will soon discover for himself the symbols' meaning, because Tarzan decides to help the stricken woman get back to Palmiyra, the hidden city behind the mountains at the edge of the jungle. This is where she is from, where her people live in secret. She is an Amazon, a tribe of Tall, Strong Women.
I was figuring that the producers must have hired the entire volleyball teams from USC and UCLA, gave 'em jungle skirts and headbands and set them loose.... :)
When Tarzan gets Athena the Amazon back to her tribe at Palmiyra, he is immediately excoriated by the Amazonian Queen, Maria Ouspenskaya (of "Wolfman" fame). She is a tiny person, and elderly, but her word is law. Lucky for Tarzan that she is his pal. The secret city of the Amazons is never to be compromised. Death awaits all intruders, but Tarzan is excepted this time - even though he has brought Boy and Cheeta with him - because he has known about Palmiyra forever, and he has kept it a secret, even from Boy and Jane.
The Amazons let him go and he returns to the jungle just as Jane is arriving by boat, with yet another retinue of scientists, microbiologists and a zoology professor. Tarzan has Had It Up To Here with these types, as seen in other films from the series, because he knows that all they want is to plunder.
Jane is once again the voice of moderation, trying to explain to Tarzan that the men are only there to study the land, not to exploit it. But Tarzan knows differently. He has jungle intuition. He can talk to and command the animals, after all. He is King Of The Jungle. He sees that the scientists have hired a local hunter to lead their anthropological expedition, a blustery, craven man interested not in science but only in profit.
This is when Cheeta gets into the act. She has been content to try her hand at fishing throughout the first half of the movie - with zero success - but by the time the safari gets underway she is back to her old tricks of stealing anything she can get ahold of. This time she swipes the Golden Bracelet. The master hunter who is leading the expedition discovers it, sees it is made of gold, and his own intuition, made of greed and envy, drives him to find out where the bracelet has come from.
Boy has been simmering at Tarzan from the beginning of the movie, because Tarzan won't tell him about Palmiyra, the secret city of the Amazons. Now, Boy has a chance to get back at Tarzan and prove himself to be a man, because he was with Tarzan when they went to Palmiyra to return the wounded woman at the start of the movie.
Boy knows the way there. He knows the route over the jagged mountains, and offers his services to the hunter and his clients, the scientists, who seem benign enough. Jane approves of them and Boy loves and trusts Jane.
But Tarzan knows Hunter No Good. Boy in Bad Fix now. Can Tarzan straighten situation out?
The movie would more accurately have been called "Boy and The Amazons", because this is really Johnny Sheffield's movie more than Weissmuller's. Boy gets himself into a major league jam by leading the hunter and the scientists into the lofty netherworld of Palmiyra, where they find themselves suddenly surrounded and outgunned by the large tribe of fearless Amazonian archers acting at Queen Ouspenskayas' behest.
Boy would surely be Toast here, if not for his relationship to Tarzan.
The hunter doesn't fare as well, and the scientists.......hmmmm. Just watch for yourself.
The script is not quite up to par with last night's "Tarzan And The Huntress", but you still get all of your trademark elements of jungle animals romping, Tarzan & Boy bonding, family time with Jane, and Cheeta stealing the show (literally and figuratively).
Two Thumbs Up for "Tarzan And The Amazons", and hang on, because we still have some Tarzans left! I don't know if the final two movies will play; they are the ones that kept freezing and skipping, but I will try one tomorrow night. Maybe the glitch has worked itself out.
Good singing in church this morning. I am still off work. Went for an Aliso walk this aft, finished Lou Berney's "November Road" (most excellent), and began "A Lie Too Big To Fail" by Lisa Pease, said to be thee Magnum Opus on the Robert F. Kennedy assassination.
Very readable thus far, through 25 pages. She promises to come up with new information on the case. I've read many a book on the subject, so we will see if she can deliver on that promise. ////
The truth is so important in this world. Telling it is the hard part for those in the know. Discerning it is the hard part for researchers and writers.
Eyewitnesses hold the key. :)
See you in the morning. Love always. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Sunday, January 27, 2019
The Progressive Politics of "Tarzan And The Huntress"
Yeah, we're still doing Tarzan. But hey - we're having a blast! And tonight's Tarzan movie even had some moral clout : "Tarzan And The Huntress" (1947) was the most serious-minded of the three films we've seen so far. Patricia Morison co-stars as a zoologist who flies into the jungle, accompanied by a wealthy investor, to scout the area for animals. She has been extended a contract offer to supply zoos across America with as many exotic creatures as she can bring back. The investor is footing the bill for her safari. He knows a big-game hunter in the region who can be an intermediary with the natives and their King. They land their plane and begin making preparations to do business and extract as many wild beasts as possible.
But not so fast. There is an obstacle. The big-game hunter informs Morison that the King has imposed a limit on how many animals of a given species may be killed or trapped. Two of each, just as on Noah's Ark. She tries to explain that she and her team are not there to kill, but to take the animals to zoos in the United States, where children of another land will be able to see them. The King politely declines her request to exceed the trapping limit. He explains that if he makes an exception for her, he will have to grant the same to other hunters, which will lead to extinction of the species.
This is an early cinematic example of an awareness of, and concern for, the survival of wild animals. I had never seen such a topic ever addressed in a film, not that I can recall anyway.
Tarzan gets wind of Miss Morison and her plans, and takes things a step further :
"Animals belong in jungle, not in cages", he says.
Wow. An anti-Zoo statement, all the way back in 1947. When I was a schoolkid, we were taken to the Los Angeles Zoo in the third grade. Our Zoo was brand new then, and the concept of caring for zoo animals had changed for the better. In the movie, Jane - who has experience outside the jungle and has been to other countries - explains to Tarzan that the zoos are not all bad, that they care for the animals and help to promote breeding and welfare. Tarzan is having none of it.
"Hunters greedy", he says. This sends the script in an anti-hunting direction, astonishing for 1947.
Early in the movie, before the hunters have even arrived, Tarzan catches Boy pointing his bow and arrow at a macaw who is pecking away at a piece of fruit in a tree. Tarzan erupts.
"Boy!.......Never hunt for fun! Only for food"!
I know that in these vegan times, Tarzan's admonishment might seem half-baked. "Never hunt at all", you might hear them say, but meat eating vs. vegetarianism or veganism is a tricky topic and I'll not go there. I am not vegetarian nor vegan, though I might be some day (and Johnny Weissmuller was vegetarian), but what impressed me was Tarzan's emphatic statement against trophy hunting, which is a major topic these days. Here, he is saying it in a popular movie in 1947. "Never hunt for fun"!
There are many other lines of dialogue, too, against hunting. Late in the movie, Tarzan organizes a plan to take away all of the hunters' guns. "Hunters without guns like a bee without sting", he says.
Wow! Gun control in a Tarzan movie. For what is supposed to be a matinee popcorn flick, "Tarzan And The Huntress" is very socially conscious, and way ahead of it's time. I am liking these movies so much because besides being entertaining and well made, the scripts also promote good values, and with Weissmuller, Brenda Joyce ("Jane") and Johnny Sheffield ("Boy"), you have a perfectly wholesome cast. Tarzan movies make you feel good, and I can see why they earned a lot of money at the box office and made Weissmuller a screen icon.
The plot of the 72 minute "Huntress" has it's twists and turns. The kindly King has a sociopathic nephew eager to overthrow him, so he can exploit the African land and it's animal kingdom for his own gain. This nephew is in league with the greedy hunters. Patricia Morison, as the zooligist, is portrayed somewhere in the middle. She wants no trouble, and no killing of either man nor animal, but she won't back down from her stated mission of obtaining as many zoo animals as she can procure.
It's pretty incredible how they put together these films, with so much animal footage that looks like it is taking place in an actual jungle. The scenes with Cheeta the trained chimp are amazing enough. I know that monkeys are very intelligent, but to get one to do exactly what you want, and put it on film, in scenes of intricate action, is very impressive and I would love to know how they did this.
Some scenes - of giraffe herds running across plains, or elephants stampeding - are stock footage, but there are also numerous scenes with lions and other cats that must have taken a lot of effort. How to you get these animals to hit their marks?
At any rate, if you are an animal lover, this is your best Tarzan movie yet. And, you get your anti-hunting stance too, stated strongly by Tarzan himself.
"Tarzan And The Huntress" gets Two Very Big Thumbs Up, and you get all the usual antics from Cheeta throughout the movie, as she fixates on the comely Miss Morison's use of lipstick and makeup, and then steals her purse to try the cosmetics on herself. Cheeta can't keep her hands off of other people's belongings, no matter which movie you are watching, haha. I Googled her and discovered that there has been a campaign to get her a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame. So far it's been denied, but Go Cheeta! Watch these movies and see for yourself how great she is. :) /////
Today was another day off, and I had a nice hike out at Santa Susana. Reading "November Road" by Lou Berney, a recommendation from Stephen King on FB.
Tomorrow morning is church. I will see you there. Constant love. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
But not so fast. There is an obstacle. The big-game hunter informs Morison that the King has imposed a limit on how many animals of a given species may be killed or trapped. Two of each, just as on Noah's Ark. She tries to explain that she and her team are not there to kill, but to take the animals to zoos in the United States, where children of another land will be able to see them. The King politely declines her request to exceed the trapping limit. He explains that if he makes an exception for her, he will have to grant the same to other hunters, which will lead to extinction of the species.
This is an early cinematic example of an awareness of, and concern for, the survival of wild animals. I had never seen such a topic ever addressed in a film, not that I can recall anyway.
Tarzan gets wind of Miss Morison and her plans, and takes things a step further :
"Animals belong in jungle, not in cages", he says.
Wow. An anti-Zoo statement, all the way back in 1947. When I was a schoolkid, we were taken to the Los Angeles Zoo in the third grade. Our Zoo was brand new then, and the concept of caring for zoo animals had changed for the better. In the movie, Jane - who has experience outside the jungle and has been to other countries - explains to Tarzan that the zoos are not all bad, that they care for the animals and help to promote breeding and welfare. Tarzan is having none of it.
"Hunters greedy", he says. This sends the script in an anti-hunting direction, astonishing for 1947.
Early in the movie, before the hunters have even arrived, Tarzan catches Boy pointing his bow and arrow at a macaw who is pecking away at a piece of fruit in a tree. Tarzan erupts.
"Boy!.......Never hunt for fun! Only for food"!
I know that in these vegan times, Tarzan's admonishment might seem half-baked. "Never hunt at all", you might hear them say, but meat eating vs. vegetarianism or veganism is a tricky topic and I'll not go there. I am not vegetarian nor vegan, though I might be some day (and Johnny Weissmuller was vegetarian), but what impressed me was Tarzan's emphatic statement against trophy hunting, which is a major topic these days. Here, he is saying it in a popular movie in 1947. "Never hunt for fun"!
There are many other lines of dialogue, too, against hunting. Late in the movie, Tarzan organizes a plan to take away all of the hunters' guns. "Hunters without guns like a bee without sting", he says.
Wow! Gun control in a Tarzan movie. For what is supposed to be a matinee popcorn flick, "Tarzan And The Huntress" is very socially conscious, and way ahead of it's time. I am liking these movies so much because besides being entertaining and well made, the scripts also promote good values, and with Weissmuller, Brenda Joyce ("Jane") and Johnny Sheffield ("Boy"), you have a perfectly wholesome cast. Tarzan movies make you feel good, and I can see why they earned a lot of money at the box office and made Weissmuller a screen icon.
The plot of the 72 minute "Huntress" has it's twists and turns. The kindly King has a sociopathic nephew eager to overthrow him, so he can exploit the African land and it's animal kingdom for his own gain. This nephew is in league with the greedy hunters. Patricia Morison, as the zooligist, is portrayed somewhere in the middle. She wants no trouble, and no killing of either man nor animal, but she won't back down from her stated mission of obtaining as many zoo animals as she can procure.
It's pretty incredible how they put together these films, with so much animal footage that looks like it is taking place in an actual jungle. The scenes with Cheeta the trained chimp are amazing enough. I know that monkeys are very intelligent, but to get one to do exactly what you want, and put it on film, in scenes of intricate action, is very impressive and I would love to know how they did this.
Some scenes - of giraffe herds running across plains, or elephants stampeding - are stock footage, but there are also numerous scenes with lions and other cats that must have taken a lot of effort. How to you get these animals to hit their marks?
At any rate, if you are an animal lover, this is your best Tarzan movie yet. And, you get your anti-hunting stance too, stated strongly by Tarzan himself.
"Tarzan And The Huntress" gets Two Very Big Thumbs Up, and you get all the usual antics from Cheeta throughout the movie, as she fixates on the comely Miss Morison's use of lipstick and makeup, and then steals her purse to try the cosmetics on herself. Cheeta can't keep her hands off of other people's belongings, no matter which movie you are watching, haha. I Googled her and discovered that there has been a campaign to get her a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame. So far it's been denied, but Go Cheeta! Watch these movies and see for yourself how great she is. :) /////
Today was another day off, and I had a nice hike out at Santa Susana. Reading "November Road" by Lou Berney, a recommendation from Stephen King on FB.
Tomorrow morning is church. I will see you there. Constant love. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Saturday, January 26, 2019
Elizabeth + "Tarzan's Desert Mystery" + "The Polka Dot File" by Fernando Faura
Elizabeth, that was a great photo of your friend Anna, the one on Instagram. You really got the color scheme down, and you mentioned going for a midcentury modern look - you sure got it with the warm tones. And of course, the drapes are classic MCM, the lamp too. Pearl lives in a mid century modern house, in a tract full of homes that were designed by Edward Fickett. We had one too when I was a kid, when my family lived around the corner from Pearl and her family in the early 1960s. I remember things in our house like Eames chairs and lamp "trees", that had several conical chrome lamps spaced vertically on a chrome or steel pole. The lamps pointed in different directions for soft spot lighting. You can probably picture what I am talking about. We had cool drapes, too, and wallpaper. Rotary phones and sofas, coffee tables.... :)
I am always glad to see your photos. I hope you are still shooting every chance you get, and writing and playing music, too. I hope your job is not taking up all of your time. Congrats to Anna for playing at NAMM.
Post more pics if you get the chance. I miss the days when you posted on a regular basis, and as always, I must "egg you on", to keep working toward your true goal, which I know you are certainly doing anyway. But yeah......keep posting if you can. :):)
I was off today, as mentioned, so I went up to Aliso for a full length hike of 3.75 miles. I have long since covered the place pictorially, so I just re-shoot things I have already shot, like water in the creek, which is a rare sight. Because today was a day off, I would have gone out to Santa Clarita to visit a trail like Rice Canyon or Towsley Canyon that I rarely get to see anymore, but the wind was blowing pretty hard so I decided to wait until tomorrow or Monday. Sunday will be church and then I am gonna take my sister shopping. ////
Well, guess what? Tonight, Tarzan worked! I tried another one of the six movies in the collection, and to my surprise it played all the way through without a single skip. Yippee! The movie was "Tarzan's Desert Mystery" (1943). This time, Jane was offscreen in England, working as a nurse in WW2. I think the producers did this because Maureen O'Sullivan, the original Jane, had opted out of her contract and so the series was without a Jane, temporarily. So, because a Tarzan movie needs a female counterpart, the writers created the character of Connie (Nancy Kelly) , a circus performer and sometime Broadway actress, who Tarzan, Boy and Cheeta run into while crossing the desert in search of plant medicine to send to Jane in England, that she can use on wounded troops.
I shall not enter into a lengthy plot description (unless you suddenly declare yourself a Tarzan fanatic, in which case you would likely know the plot already), but to be brief, a former Nazi-turned-businessman is running the village at the edge of the desert, by manipulating the local sheik. Connie the circus woman had been traveling to meet with her Arabic friend Prince Amir, who was to get her a performing contract in Africa, but along the way she is passed a secret message that informs her about "Paul Hendrix", the Nazi, and his plans to make war between the sheikdoms, to divide and conquer them and leave himself in charge.
Who else to save the day but Tarzan?
Weissmuller could give Superman a run for his money, especially with sidekicks like Boy and Cheeta. On a side note, I was previously spelling Cheeta wrong, as Cheetah. Checking the film's IMDB, I discovered there is no "h" at the end of her name, and yes - Cheeta is a girl. I had thought she was a boy.
She steals her scenes once again in "Tarzan's Desert Mystery", where she performs an impressive tightrope act as part of an impromptu circus organized by Connie. Cheeta also has an extended scene where she must sneak into the village bazaar to steal as many turbans as she can get get hands on, in order to bring them back to Tarzan and Boy, who are jailed, so that they can unspool the turbans and make a lengthy rope, from which to escape from the high jail tower where they are imprisoned.
I will have do do some research on Cheeta, because she is an amazing movie performer.
"Tarzan's Desert Mystery" naturally gets Two Thumbs Up, not only because it was thoroughly entertaining but also because the dvd didn't freeze, thank goodness. ////
I have finished Fernando Faura's book "The Polka Dot File", about the Robert F. Kennedy assassination. It is his own day-by-day account of his experience as a newspaper reporter in the aftermath of the shooting, to attempt to track down the Girl In The Polka Dot Dress, who was seen by multiple witnesses with Sirhan prior to the assassination. She was also seen running from the pantry of the Ambassador Hotel and out of the building by several credible witnesses. Faura's book describes the strenuous efforts of the LAPD and the FBI to discredit and intimidate the witnesses who saw the girl in the polka dot dress.
There is no doubt that Sirhan was not a lone shooter, but rather part of a conspiracy, and in fact there is as much proof of it as there is proof of the JFK conspiracy.
I think it was the same bunch of people who killed JFK, MLK and RFK, all in a row, bang bang bang, just because they had the power to do it. LAPD helped cover up RFK because they were corrupt at the time and because it was in their jurisdiction and they were ordered to do so.
All of those assassinations happened in the first 8 years of my life, and then right after that, we got Richard Nixon for president, and he was a crook who would have been impeached has he not resigned.
We have got to fix America, because this is not what my Dad, and so many thousands of young men like him, fought for in World War Two in the effort to stop Hitler, whose rise led to the deaths of 60 million people.
Did 60 million die just so that we could end up with LBJ, Nixon and Donald Trump?
Please God let it not be so. Please help us in America. /////
Much love til the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I am always glad to see your photos. I hope you are still shooting every chance you get, and writing and playing music, too. I hope your job is not taking up all of your time. Congrats to Anna for playing at NAMM.
Post more pics if you get the chance. I miss the days when you posted on a regular basis, and as always, I must "egg you on", to keep working toward your true goal, which I know you are certainly doing anyway. But yeah......keep posting if you can. :):)
I was off today, as mentioned, so I went up to Aliso for a full length hike of 3.75 miles. I have long since covered the place pictorially, so I just re-shoot things I have already shot, like water in the creek, which is a rare sight. Because today was a day off, I would have gone out to Santa Clarita to visit a trail like Rice Canyon or Towsley Canyon that I rarely get to see anymore, but the wind was blowing pretty hard so I decided to wait until tomorrow or Monday. Sunday will be church and then I am gonna take my sister shopping. ////
Well, guess what? Tonight, Tarzan worked! I tried another one of the six movies in the collection, and to my surprise it played all the way through without a single skip. Yippee! The movie was "Tarzan's Desert Mystery" (1943). This time, Jane was offscreen in England, working as a nurse in WW2. I think the producers did this because Maureen O'Sullivan, the original Jane, had opted out of her contract and so the series was without a Jane, temporarily. So, because a Tarzan movie needs a female counterpart, the writers created the character of Connie (Nancy Kelly) , a circus performer and sometime Broadway actress, who Tarzan, Boy and Cheeta run into while crossing the desert in search of plant medicine to send to Jane in England, that she can use on wounded troops.
I shall not enter into a lengthy plot description (unless you suddenly declare yourself a Tarzan fanatic, in which case you would likely know the plot already), but to be brief, a former Nazi-turned-businessman is running the village at the edge of the desert, by manipulating the local sheik. Connie the circus woman had been traveling to meet with her Arabic friend Prince Amir, who was to get her a performing contract in Africa, but along the way she is passed a secret message that informs her about "Paul Hendrix", the Nazi, and his plans to make war between the sheikdoms, to divide and conquer them and leave himself in charge.
Who else to save the day but Tarzan?
Weissmuller could give Superman a run for his money, especially with sidekicks like Boy and Cheeta. On a side note, I was previously spelling Cheeta wrong, as Cheetah. Checking the film's IMDB, I discovered there is no "h" at the end of her name, and yes - Cheeta is a girl. I had thought she was a boy.
She steals her scenes once again in "Tarzan's Desert Mystery", where she performs an impressive tightrope act as part of an impromptu circus organized by Connie. Cheeta also has an extended scene where she must sneak into the village bazaar to steal as many turbans as she can get get hands on, in order to bring them back to Tarzan and Boy, who are jailed, so that they can unspool the turbans and make a lengthy rope, from which to escape from the high jail tower where they are imprisoned.
I will have do do some research on Cheeta, because she is an amazing movie performer.
"Tarzan's Desert Mystery" naturally gets Two Thumbs Up, not only because it was thoroughly entertaining but also because the dvd didn't freeze, thank goodness. ////
I have finished Fernando Faura's book "The Polka Dot File", about the Robert F. Kennedy assassination. It is his own day-by-day account of his experience as a newspaper reporter in the aftermath of the shooting, to attempt to track down the Girl In The Polka Dot Dress, who was seen by multiple witnesses with Sirhan prior to the assassination. She was also seen running from the pantry of the Ambassador Hotel and out of the building by several credible witnesses. Faura's book describes the strenuous efforts of the LAPD and the FBI to discredit and intimidate the witnesses who saw the girl in the polka dot dress.
There is no doubt that Sirhan was not a lone shooter, but rather part of a conspiracy, and in fact there is as much proof of it as there is proof of the JFK conspiracy.
I think it was the same bunch of people who killed JFK, MLK and RFK, all in a row, bang bang bang, just because they had the power to do it. LAPD helped cover up RFK because they were corrupt at the time and because it was in their jurisdiction and they were ordered to do so.
All of those assassinations happened in the first 8 years of my life, and then right after that, we got Richard Nixon for president, and he was a crook who would have been impeached has he not resigned.
We have got to fix America, because this is not what my Dad, and so many thousands of young men like him, fought for in World War Two in the effort to stop Hitler, whose rise led to the deaths of 60 million people.
Did 60 million die just so that we could end up with LBJ, Nixon and Donald Trump?
Please God let it not be so. Please help us in America. /////
Much love til the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Friday, January 25, 2019
"Tarzan" Fizzle Out + "The Falcon" To The Rescue
Tonight's movie started out to be "Tarzan And The Leopard Woman", and it was really good, too. Tarzan was foiling a scheme hatched by The High Priestess of Zambesi, to have her followers kill all travelers on the road to their jungle village, in order to prevent it from being "civilized" by the English Commissioner of the region, who wishes to modernize Africa and turn the villages into shopping bazaars. She sends the members of her cult out on their mission, clothed in leopard skins. This will make it look like leopards are responsible for the kills, and will frighten away the businessmen.
Tarzan, though, isn't buying it. He inspects the bodies of the initial victims.
"Leopards not kill", he declares. He explains, in his Pidgin English, that leopards use their teeth to kill. On these victims there are only claw marks.
Man, I was watchin' the movie and really enjoying it. If you thought we were only gonna watch one Tarzan movie, you were dead wrong, lol. I had so much fun watching last night's "Tarzan And The Mermaids", that I knew I had to see another one. However, there was a slight problem with the viewing of "Mermaids". Every so often, the picture would freeze for a second or two and then resume playing. This happened just under the limit of being annoying, but it was close. But alas, with tonight's Tarzan, the gosh darned thing just kept sticking and sticking. Tonight's movie was on a different disc, too, and neither disc looked to be all scratched up. Sometimes, with library dvds, it looks like somebody either washed their car with the disc or made a peanut butter sandwich on it, but the three dvds in the Tarzan set all look pretty good, maybe a few minor scratches. They are those purple-dye discs that a lot of folks complain about, but I've played a lot of those and have never had a problem. I guess these Tarzan discs are defective though, unfortunately.
Doggonnit! I tried to hang in there because "Tarzan And The Leopard Woman" was jam packed with adventure. Cheetah had even stolen a snake charmer's oboe, or whatever the instrument is that those guys play. But yeah, Cheetah had swiped it and run off, and he was providing the movie's hijinx, trying to charm snakes on his own, with less than successful results. But the disc kept freezing. I ejected it two or three times and wiped it off, but that wasn't the problem. Finally, at the 53 minute mark, I had to throw in the towel. The darned thing was skipping every two seconds by that point. I had almost made it to the finish; the movie was only 72 minutes long, but the disc was not going to cooperate.
So, I saw about 5/7ths of "Tarzan And The Leopard Woman", and I will have to return to it another day. On a positive note - and I hope you are ready for this - we are gonna be watching a lot of Tarzan movies this year. As reported last night, I was skeptical at first, but after watching the first one, I changed my mind. These films are a blast, so get ready for an on again/off again Tarzan fest, sporadically throughout the year. Maybe I will just buy the collections. ////
Thank God, then, for "The Falcon". I had already sat though almost an hour's worth of freeze framing Tarzan, and had the rug pulled out from under me. I needed something to watch, so that the evening's motion picture viewing would not be in vain, and......it had to be short, because the hour was getting late.
"The Falcon's Alibi" was the answer. I am telling you, these 63 minute movies rule. Check some out for yourself (if you like old movies, that is). But if you do, try some of the short ones in the 63 to 72 minute range. Maybe start with Mr. Moto, my favorite of the bunch.
I have already written a ton, so I won't go into great detail about the plot of "The Falcon's Alibi". It involves jewel thievery, and is a bit slow to develop until midway through, when Elisha Cook Jr. and Jane Greer show up. They play a married couple, he a radio dj, she a popular local singer with a nightclub band. If you know Elisha Cook, he always played a Weasel or a Squealer, sometimes even a Psycho, but always a bad guy, so when he shows up you know something is about to go wrong. Ditto with Jane Greer. She was one of the 40s great beauties, and a good actress too, but was always cast as the troubled girl who can't choose good from bad. She could sing, too, and has a nice number in this movie. Jane Greer........wow.
But Elisha Cook........wow, he's a nutjob (and isn't he always?)
You know, I could go on a tirade about certain actors. And hey!, I haven't gone on a tirade in a while, eh? But I have always thought that there are a handful of actors who are probably psychos in real life, and should be locked up if they weren't making movies. Anthony Hopkins comes to mind, haha.
And Elisha Cook.
You can name your own personal psychos, but yeah......watch you some sixty minute films. ////
I am writing from home tonight, off work for several days. I'm beyond mega-tired, but I am having fun drawing and reading my books. Maybe a hike tomorrow if the godforsaken wind stops blowing.
I will take anything over wind. I despise wind. :)
See you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Tarzan, though, isn't buying it. He inspects the bodies of the initial victims.
"Leopards not kill", he declares. He explains, in his Pidgin English, that leopards use their teeth to kill. On these victims there are only claw marks.
Man, I was watchin' the movie and really enjoying it. If you thought we were only gonna watch one Tarzan movie, you were dead wrong, lol. I had so much fun watching last night's "Tarzan And The Mermaids", that I knew I had to see another one. However, there was a slight problem with the viewing of "Mermaids". Every so often, the picture would freeze for a second or two and then resume playing. This happened just under the limit of being annoying, but it was close. But alas, with tonight's Tarzan, the gosh darned thing just kept sticking and sticking. Tonight's movie was on a different disc, too, and neither disc looked to be all scratched up. Sometimes, with library dvds, it looks like somebody either washed their car with the disc or made a peanut butter sandwich on it, but the three dvds in the Tarzan set all look pretty good, maybe a few minor scratches. They are those purple-dye discs that a lot of folks complain about, but I've played a lot of those and have never had a problem. I guess these Tarzan discs are defective though, unfortunately.
Doggonnit! I tried to hang in there because "Tarzan And The Leopard Woman" was jam packed with adventure. Cheetah had even stolen a snake charmer's oboe, or whatever the instrument is that those guys play. But yeah, Cheetah had swiped it and run off, and he was providing the movie's hijinx, trying to charm snakes on his own, with less than successful results. But the disc kept freezing. I ejected it two or three times and wiped it off, but that wasn't the problem. Finally, at the 53 minute mark, I had to throw in the towel. The darned thing was skipping every two seconds by that point. I had almost made it to the finish; the movie was only 72 minutes long, but the disc was not going to cooperate.
So, I saw about 5/7ths of "Tarzan And The Leopard Woman", and I will have to return to it another day. On a positive note - and I hope you are ready for this - we are gonna be watching a lot of Tarzan movies this year. As reported last night, I was skeptical at first, but after watching the first one, I changed my mind. These films are a blast, so get ready for an on again/off again Tarzan fest, sporadically throughout the year. Maybe I will just buy the collections. ////
Thank God, then, for "The Falcon". I had already sat though almost an hour's worth of freeze framing Tarzan, and had the rug pulled out from under me. I needed something to watch, so that the evening's motion picture viewing would not be in vain, and......it had to be short, because the hour was getting late.
"The Falcon's Alibi" was the answer. I am telling you, these 63 minute movies rule. Check some out for yourself (if you like old movies, that is). But if you do, try some of the short ones in the 63 to 72 minute range. Maybe start with Mr. Moto, my favorite of the bunch.
I have already written a ton, so I won't go into great detail about the plot of "The Falcon's Alibi". It involves jewel thievery, and is a bit slow to develop until midway through, when Elisha Cook Jr. and Jane Greer show up. They play a married couple, he a radio dj, she a popular local singer with a nightclub band. If you know Elisha Cook, he always played a Weasel or a Squealer, sometimes even a Psycho, but always a bad guy, so when he shows up you know something is about to go wrong. Ditto with Jane Greer. She was one of the 40s great beauties, and a good actress too, but was always cast as the troubled girl who can't choose good from bad. She could sing, too, and has a nice number in this movie. Jane Greer........wow.
But Elisha Cook........wow, he's a nutjob (and isn't he always?)
You know, I could go on a tirade about certain actors. And hey!, I haven't gone on a tirade in a while, eh? But I have always thought that there are a handful of actors who are probably psychos in real life, and should be locked up if they weren't making movies. Anthony Hopkins comes to mind, haha.
And Elisha Cook.
You can name your own personal psychos, but yeah......watch you some sixty minute films. ////
I am writing from home tonight, off work for several days. I'm beyond mega-tired, but I am having fun drawing and reading my books. Maybe a hike tomorrow if the godforsaken wind stops blowing.
I will take anything over wind. I despise wind. :)
See you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Thursday, January 24, 2019
"Tarzan And The Mermaids" starring Johnny Weissmuller and Brenda Joyce
Okay, take a guess what I watched tonight. You can actually have three guesses and I bet you still won't get it. Take a minute or two to think about it, and I'll even give you a hint : look at the title of this blog.
Aww shucks, now I've probably given it away, so I might as well just tell you (though I'll bet you never would have guessed it) : Tonight's movie was "Tarzan And The Mermaids" (1948), starring Johnny Weissmuller as Tarzan and Brenda Joyce as Jane. How did I come to watch a Tarzan movie, you ask? I can't remember exactly, because I ordered an entire three disc Tarzan collection from the Libe back around Christmastime, and it just arrived yesterday. I think I ordered it because of a library database search for Brenda Joyce, who I may have seen in a recently viewed Noir. At any rate, I am sure that it resulted from a search for either an actor, actress, or director, and among the cast, Brenda Joyce is the one that comes to mind.
Once I got my Tarzan discs from Northridge Library, I wasn't sure I was even gonna watch them. It was one of those "what was I thinkin"? situations. However, I had already used up three of the five flicks from my "Forbidden Hollywood" set, and three of my six "Falcons". I wanted to save the remainders of both collections, so as not to just run through them at warp speed. Therefore, why not give Tarzan a chance? I'd ordered him, after all, and to stretch the point, he does have a town named after him - Tarzana (named because Edgar Rice Burroughs lived there) - that is located just south of the town of Reseda, from where I am writing.....
So.......Tarzan it was. The title is misleading because there is only one Mermaid, not plural, and even so, she is a Mermaid in name only, or maybe in spirit. Lemme tell you why, and please bear with me.
On an island downriver from the jungle home of Tarzan, Jane and Cheetah, there lives a group of natives known as the Aquatanians. They worship a pagan God called Balu, who lives on the island as a gold statue, but can be brought to life through the mediation of the tribe's High Priest (played by the slightly sinister George Zucco of 1940s monster movie fame). The High Priest tells the Aquatainians that Balu wants a wife. He has chosen the most beautiful maiden Mara (Linda Christian). She wants nothing to do with marrying Balu, and seems to know something about him that isn't palatable, so at the last minute, she runs away from the ceremony and dives off a cliff into the ocean. All of the natives are excellent cliff divers, as we shall see later in the picture.
Mara never becomes a Mermaid in the physical sense, because she maintains a 100% human body, with no fish bottom half. But she must have been swimming undersea for all the time after her escape, because she isn't seen again until days later, when Tarzan casts his fishing net and pulls her in.
He brings her back to his hut, where he and Jane feed her and listen to her tale of woe. Meanwhile, a Merry Troubadour (John Laurenz) wanders in and out of the movie. His name is Benji, and you never know when he will show up, lute in hand, to sing an inspirational song or two. This time, while Tarzan and Jane are nursing Mara back to health, Benji has his lute stolen by Cheetah, who subsequently climbs a tree and strums a few chords himself, for comic relief.
Yes, there is a Ton Of Plot happening in this 68 minute motion picture. :)
I'm not kidding, either. Because what happens is that the Pagan God turns out to be a fake. He's just a businessman in a Gold Plated God Suit, and he is there on the island to secure a foothold for his company to recover the massive undersea load of pearls that had been a secret of the natives until he arrived. Now, abetted by the Slightly Sinister George Zucco as "The High Priest", he is pulling a fast one on the natives in order to steal their pearls and take over the island.
But, now that Tarzan has rescued Mara, will he be able to stop this scheme? I would not bet against him, as he swims through Gigantic Sea Caves in order to spy on Zucco and the businessman and uncover their nefarious plans.
I wonder where this movie was filmed? I was thinking Catalina. Could it be Hawaii? I dunno, but wherever it is, it's got some Humongous Sea Caves.
To sum up, "Tarzan And The Mermaids" (misleading title and all), was not only better than I was expecting, but it was very entertaining, well plotted and a lot of fun, in a Saturday Matinee kind of way.
Because of the viewing success of this Tarzan film, which gets Two Thumbs Up for sheer popcorn value, I will most likely be watching another Tarzan movie in the next several days, so prepare yourself.
Tomorrow night I may watch something a bit heavier, since I will be off work and at home for the next several days, but we shall see........because I am loving my One Hour Movies, they leave me time to draw, and I am enjoying my Prismacolor pencils very much.
Once upon a time, back in the late 1970s and early '80s, there was a nearby theater called Thee Movies Of Tarzana. It was located on Ventura Boulevard just west of Reseda Bl, about six miles south of Northridge. Once in a while my friends and I saw a movie there.
It would have been really cool to see Tarzan in Tarzana, though we were way past that era by then. /////
See you in the morning. Hope your day was good. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Aww shucks, now I've probably given it away, so I might as well just tell you (though I'll bet you never would have guessed it) : Tonight's movie was "Tarzan And The Mermaids" (1948), starring Johnny Weissmuller as Tarzan and Brenda Joyce as Jane. How did I come to watch a Tarzan movie, you ask? I can't remember exactly, because I ordered an entire three disc Tarzan collection from the Libe back around Christmastime, and it just arrived yesterday. I think I ordered it because of a library database search for Brenda Joyce, who I may have seen in a recently viewed Noir. At any rate, I am sure that it resulted from a search for either an actor, actress, or director, and among the cast, Brenda Joyce is the one that comes to mind.
Once I got my Tarzan discs from Northridge Library, I wasn't sure I was even gonna watch them. It was one of those "what was I thinkin"? situations. However, I had already used up three of the five flicks from my "Forbidden Hollywood" set, and three of my six "Falcons". I wanted to save the remainders of both collections, so as not to just run through them at warp speed. Therefore, why not give Tarzan a chance? I'd ordered him, after all, and to stretch the point, he does have a town named after him - Tarzana (named because Edgar Rice Burroughs lived there) - that is located just south of the town of Reseda, from where I am writing.....
So.......Tarzan it was. The title is misleading because there is only one Mermaid, not plural, and even so, she is a Mermaid in name only, or maybe in spirit. Lemme tell you why, and please bear with me.
On an island downriver from the jungle home of Tarzan, Jane and Cheetah, there lives a group of natives known as the Aquatanians. They worship a pagan God called Balu, who lives on the island as a gold statue, but can be brought to life through the mediation of the tribe's High Priest (played by the slightly sinister George Zucco of 1940s monster movie fame). The High Priest tells the Aquatainians that Balu wants a wife. He has chosen the most beautiful maiden Mara (Linda Christian). She wants nothing to do with marrying Balu, and seems to know something about him that isn't palatable, so at the last minute, she runs away from the ceremony and dives off a cliff into the ocean. All of the natives are excellent cliff divers, as we shall see later in the picture.
Mara never becomes a Mermaid in the physical sense, because she maintains a 100% human body, with no fish bottom half. But she must have been swimming undersea for all the time after her escape, because she isn't seen again until days later, when Tarzan casts his fishing net and pulls her in.
He brings her back to his hut, where he and Jane feed her and listen to her tale of woe. Meanwhile, a Merry Troubadour (John Laurenz) wanders in and out of the movie. His name is Benji, and you never know when he will show up, lute in hand, to sing an inspirational song or two. This time, while Tarzan and Jane are nursing Mara back to health, Benji has his lute stolen by Cheetah, who subsequently climbs a tree and strums a few chords himself, for comic relief.
Yes, there is a Ton Of Plot happening in this 68 minute motion picture. :)
I'm not kidding, either. Because what happens is that the Pagan God turns out to be a fake. He's just a businessman in a Gold Plated God Suit, and he is there on the island to secure a foothold for his company to recover the massive undersea load of pearls that had been a secret of the natives until he arrived. Now, abetted by the Slightly Sinister George Zucco as "The High Priest", he is pulling a fast one on the natives in order to steal their pearls and take over the island.
But, now that Tarzan has rescued Mara, will he be able to stop this scheme? I would not bet against him, as he swims through Gigantic Sea Caves in order to spy on Zucco and the businessman and uncover their nefarious plans.
I wonder where this movie was filmed? I was thinking Catalina. Could it be Hawaii? I dunno, but wherever it is, it's got some Humongous Sea Caves.
To sum up, "Tarzan And The Mermaids" (misleading title and all), was not only better than I was expecting, but it was very entertaining, well plotted and a lot of fun, in a Saturday Matinee kind of way.
Because of the viewing success of this Tarzan film, which gets Two Thumbs Up for sheer popcorn value, I will most likely be watching another Tarzan movie in the next several days, so prepare yourself.
Tomorrow night I may watch something a bit heavier, since I will be off work and at home for the next several days, but we shall see........because I am loving my One Hour Movies, they leave me time to draw, and I am enjoying my Prismacolor pencils very much.
Once upon a time, back in the late 1970s and early '80s, there was a nearby theater called Thee Movies Of Tarzana. It was located on Ventura Boulevard just west of Reseda Bl, about six miles south of Northridge. Once in a while my friends and I saw a movie there.
It would have been really cool to see Tarzan in Tarzana, though we were way past that era by then. /////
See you in the morning. Hope your day was good. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Wednesday, January 23, 2019
"Three On A Match", Pre-Code 1932 starring Ann Dvorak, Joan Blondell and Bette Davis
Tonight I watched another pre-code selection from my "Forbidden Hollywood" set : "Three On A Match" (1932), starring Ann Dvorak (of "Scarface" fame), Joan Blondell (who seems to be in every one of these movies), and a very young Bette Davis. They are the "Three" referred to in the title. As the movie begins, we see them as schoolmates. The year is 1919. The girls are about 12 years old. Vivian (played later as an adult by Dvorak) is the class valedictorian, also voted most popular by her peers. She looks down upon her rival Mary, also very popular, mostly with the boys. Vivian is the school Good Girl, Mary the Bad, though early on we can see that she has a kind heart. Bette Davis is Ruth, the friend in between the two rivals. Ruth as a schoolgirl sides with Vivian, though she likes Mary as well. But Ruth is basically a Good Girl, too. She and Vivian knowingly predict that Mary will not graduate with them but will end up in Reform School, and their prediction of course comes true.
Next, we fast forward about fifteen years. Vivian has married a wealthy lawyer and seems to Have It All - a mansion with servants, society friends, and a child, a little boy who adores her. Her husband, big shot though he is, really loves her too. But she feels empty inside. Her life is full and luxurious, and stifling.
One night at a party, she runs into her old rival classmate Mary, the girl who wound up in reform school. Mary (now played as an adult by Joan Blondell) has completely transformed her life and is now an actress on her way up the ladder of success. She has remained close all of this time to Ruth (Bette Davis), and so the Three Friends, now adults, are reacquainted after all this time.
Also at the party is a sharply dressed man (Lyle Talbot, who acted for eons, into the 1980s). He hits on Dvorak immediately, knowing she is married and has a child (whom she has brought with her to the party), but he is the type of guy who doesn't care. This is where your Pre-Code kicks in, this time with a Morality Play. "Three On A Match" is more a Crime Story than an exercise in titillation ala last night's "Night Nurse", though there are scenes early on of former figure model Bette Davis changing her clothes. The lingerie scenes must have been written into the contracts of these actresses, because they are de rigeur in pre-code films.
The plot begins when Ann Dvorak, an exceptionally good actress for her time, runs off with suave skunk Lyle Talbot, forsaking her loyal husband and taking her little boy along for the ride. The former Good Girl of the private school has gone totally off the rails and is now drinking and partying to beat the band. In a shocking scene, she leaves her little son neglected and hungry in an adjoining room while she makes drunken love to Talbot on the couch. Again, this is pictorially tame by today's standards, but the impact of the message is just as great if not greater because of the early 1932 time frame.
Wanton behavior and child endangerment, shown on the big screen all the way back in 1932.
But then, as I remind you (and myself), that this movie was released only 28 years before I was born. Not long at all, though cinematically it seems much longer. And, when Hollywood enacted The Hays Code in 1934, this style of film making was curtailed. I mean, it's not fair to say that movies made after 1934 did not confront hardcore moral issues or deal with sexuality. Of course they did, and often in formidable ways. It's just that the frankness wasn't there anymore, the in-your-face confrontations and call-outs of evil and hypocracy, of the type we saw Barbara Stanwyck unleash last night against more child abusers in "Night Nurse".
So again tonight, with "Three On A Match", we have a very moral tale, an ironic one this time, where roles are reversed. The Good Girl becomes the Bad One, and vice versa, with the third friend in the middle remaining loyal to both girls throughout.
Joan Blondell tonight takes on the same role we saw Barbara Stanwyck assume last night, that of Crusader for The Children. Blondell lets it be known that, as a former Bad Girl, she is not a prude. She has no judgement against her former schoolchum Dvorak, who has now thrown her privileged life away. But she draws the line when she sees the extent to which Dvorak has neglected her child.
"Three On A Match" runs 63 minutes, which we love because short movies rule, and every single minute of the film is packed with story development. I have only presented the highlights. The plot as a whole has much more nuance and interaction of the characters.
It's a classic of the Pre-Code era, and so I must give it Two Very Big Thumbs Up, due to the tightly woven script, the performances by all three ladies, and the direction by Mervyn LeRoy. See it if you have the chance and the inclination. /////
I am super tired and will sign off now, but not before sending you many xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo's.
See you in the morning. :):)
Next, we fast forward about fifteen years. Vivian has married a wealthy lawyer and seems to Have It All - a mansion with servants, society friends, and a child, a little boy who adores her. Her husband, big shot though he is, really loves her too. But she feels empty inside. Her life is full and luxurious, and stifling.
One night at a party, she runs into her old rival classmate Mary, the girl who wound up in reform school. Mary (now played as an adult by Joan Blondell) has completely transformed her life and is now an actress on her way up the ladder of success. She has remained close all of this time to Ruth (Bette Davis), and so the Three Friends, now adults, are reacquainted after all this time.
Also at the party is a sharply dressed man (Lyle Talbot, who acted for eons, into the 1980s). He hits on Dvorak immediately, knowing she is married and has a child (whom she has brought with her to the party), but he is the type of guy who doesn't care. This is where your Pre-Code kicks in, this time with a Morality Play. "Three On A Match" is more a Crime Story than an exercise in titillation ala last night's "Night Nurse", though there are scenes early on of former figure model Bette Davis changing her clothes. The lingerie scenes must have been written into the contracts of these actresses, because they are de rigeur in pre-code films.
The plot begins when Ann Dvorak, an exceptionally good actress for her time, runs off with suave skunk Lyle Talbot, forsaking her loyal husband and taking her little boy along for the ride. The former Good Girl of the private school has gone totally off the rails and is now drinking and partying to beat the band. In a shocking scene, she leaves her little son neglected and hungry in an adjoining room while she makes drunken love to Talbot on the couch. Again, this is pictorially tame by today's standards, but the impact of the message is just as great if not greater because of the early 1932 time frame.
Wanton behavior and child endangerment, shown on the big screen all the way back in 1932.
But then, as I remind you (and myself), that this movie was released only 28 years before I was born. Not long at all, though cinematically it seems much longer. And, when Hollywood enacted The Hays Code in 1934, this style of film making was curtailed. I mean, it's not fair to say that movies made after 1934 did not confront hardcore moral issues or deal with sexuality. Of course they did, and often in formidable ways. It's just that the frankness wasn't there anymore, the in-your-face confrontations and call-outs of evil and hypocracy, of the type we saw Barbara Stanwyck unleash last night against more child abusers in "Night Nurse".
So again tonight, with "Three On A Match", we have a very moral tale, an ironic one this time, where roles are reversed. The Good Girl becomes the Bad One, and vice versa, with the third friend in the middle remaining loyal to both girls throughout.
Joan Blondell tonight takes on the same role we saw Barbara Stanwyck assume last night, that of Crusader for The Children. Blondell lets it be known that, as a former Bad Girl, she is not a prude. She has no judgement against her former schoolchum Dvorak, who has now thrown her privileged life away. But she draws the line when she sees the extent to which Dvorak has neglected her child.
"Three On A Match" runs 63 minutes, which we love because short movies rule, and every single minute of the film is packed with story development. I have only presented the highlights. The plot as a whole has much more nuance and interaction of the characters.
It's a classic of the Pre-Code era, and so I must give it Two Very Big Thumbs Up, due to the tightly woven script, the performances by all three ladies, and the direction by Mervyn LeRoy. See it if you have the chance and the inclination. /////
I am super tired and will sign off now, but not before sending you many xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo's.
See you in the morning. :):)
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