Calling all Classic Film Lovers!

RKO's biggest disaster until Howard Hughes bought it, anyway.

I like Mrs. Miniver. It's one of those big shiny 1940s Hollywood movies of course, but I like it anyway. I love the big surprise at the end with the Teresa Wright character.

Hey, want to read some interesting stuff, now that we have a Nicholas Ray page? Go find out why Ray and Gloria Grahame got divorced!

I put that on the Trivia page for Rebel Without a Cause since Ray made that film after that particular domestic disaster and it was Reality Subtext for it. I actually think Bigger Than Life is more relevant since that movie is about well, a father driven to hate his son and attempts to murder him.

Ray's personal life was the stuff of legend. Bisexual self-destructive drug-addict and a great poet.

Made a work page for Magnificent Obsession.

Man, I do not get this latter-day critical lauding of Douglas Sirk at all. Hokey, melodramatic, cheesy dialogue, cheesy music, Large Ham acting, ridiculous stories, and goddamn if there is a stealth parody in that movie somewhere I can't see it.

Magnificent Obsession is not my favorite. I prefer All That Heaven Allows, Written on the Wind and especially Imitation of Life. I also love the films he made with Barbara Stanwyck, All I Desire (which has maybe the finest moment of acting in her career, that scene with her son where she admits her past as a hooker and stripper), and There's Always Tomorrow (which has the most ironic and Black Comedy dark line in film history).

And of course his art films The Tarnished Angels and A Time to Love and A Time to Die and the films with George Sanders, Summer Storm and A Scandal in Paris,

Written on the Wind is kind of obvious about its symbolism. The oil rigs and everything but the decor is very trashy and glaring. For me no movie is as emblematically fifties and consumerist American as that one. It's everywhere...Dorothy Malone is blonder than blonde, the cars and period get up are moving advertisements and it's full of sexual neurosis and obvious symbolism.

Written on the Wind' and Imitation of Life'' have a similar strategy, its advertised as films about one group of leads (Rock Hudson, Lauren Bacall in the former, Lana Turner and Sandra Dee in the latter) but its actually movies about the supporting characters.

I liked his Nazi movie better than I liked Magnificent Obsession.

Well, hey, look what I found on You Tube:

It's The Oscar, one of my favorite so-bad-it's-good films! Anyone who wants to watch this instead of the real thing, here you go.

EDIT: At the moment I am watching General Spanky, Hal Roach's attempt to get the Little Rascals into feature films... The film tries to emulate Shirley Temple in The Littlest Rebel, and it doesn't help it any. Still, Alfalfa manages to sing "Just Before the Battle, Mother" in his own inimitable fashion.

edited 18th Feb '17 5:25:45 PM by Aldo930

I remember reading somewhere that AMPAS virtually never licenses the trademark "Oscar" to be used in a movie precisely because The Oscar was such a disaster.

I think so. Take the also very, very awful The Lonely Lady, released about 15 years later; the opening scenes take place at an award ceremony only named as "The Awards."

EDIT: Relevant article making a case for this being the best terrible film of all time.

edited 18th Feb '17 6:24:28 PM by Aldo930

February 19

A lot of good stuff here:

• North By Northwest (1959) — Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint in Alfred Hitchcock's thriller. Three Oscar nominations.
• Now, Voyager (1942) — Great Bette Davis melodrama. Won Best Music for Max Steiner’s music.
• The Nun's Story (1959) — Audrey Hepburn gets serious in this drama. Eight Oscar nominations.
• Of Mice and Men (1939) — Hal Roach Presents John Steinbeck’s classic novella. Nominated for Best Picture, Score, Music, and Editing.
• On the Town (1949) — It’s a helluva town! Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, and Ann Miller star in this Comden and Green musical. It won the Oscar for Best Music.
• Pat and Mike (1952) — Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn vehicle directed by George Cukor. Nominated for Best Writing/Screenplay.
• A Patch of Blue (1965) – Shelly Winters is a blind girl who falls in love with Sidney Poitier. Winters won Best Actress in a Supporting Role.

edited 18th Feb '17 6:16:52 PM by LongTallShorty64

Didn't science fiction writer Harlan Ellison (who proudly accepts the title of "Most Contentious Man Alive") write the screenplay for ''The Oscar?"

February 20

A lot of dramas in here:

• Penny Serenade (1941) — Drama with Cary Grant and Irene Dunne. George Stevens directs. Grant was nominated for Best Actor.
• The Perils of Pauline (1947) — Story of Pearl White with Betty Hutton and John Lund. Nominated for Best Original Song.
• Period of Adjustment (1962) — A Korean War vet falls in love with his nurse. Has Jane Fonda and was nominated for Best Art Direction.
• The Philadelphia Story (1940) — With Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, and Jimmy Stewart. Stewart one the Oscar; his consolation Oscar, some say, for not getting it the year before for his performance in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.
• The Pink Panther (1963) — David Niven and Peter Sellers in this classic comedy. Nominated for Best Music. Da duh da duh.... . Damn, it's catchy.
• The Pirate (1948) — Judy Garland and Gene Kelly star in this Vincente Minnelli musical. Nominated for Best Score.
• A Place in the Sun (1951) — George Stevens' Film Noir with Elizabeth Taylor, Robert Montgomery, and Shelley Winters. It won 6 Oscars!
• Pocketful of Miracles (1961) — Frank Capra’s remake of his 1933 film, Lady for a Day. It has late career Bette Davis and Glen Ford. Nominated for 3 Oscars.
• Possessed (1947) — Joan Crawford and Van Heflin are possessed! Crawford was nominated for Best Actress.
• Pride and Prejudice (1940) — Four-hour adaptation of the Austen classic with Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier. This won Best Art Direction.

edited 19th Feb '17 10:21:39 AM by LongTallShorty64

He did, indeed; and he also alleged that the studio tampered with his screenplay - he wrote lines like "I need you like an extra set of elbows" and it came out "I need you like a hole in the head."

So, I guess we can put him down for writing such lines as "I'm up to here with all this bringdown!" and "It's not gonna help if you get a thrombo!"

February 21

A lot of interesting stuff:

• Pride of the Marines (1945) — John Garfield is the pride of the marines. Nominated for Best Screenplay.
• Primrose Path (1940) — Drama with Ginger Rogers and Joel McCrea and directed by Gregory La Cava. Majourie Rambeau was nominated for Best Supporting Actress.
• Princess O'Rourke (1943) — Romantic Comedy with Olivia de Havilland and Robert Cummings. Won Best Original Screenplay for Norman Krasna.
• The Prisoner of Zenda (1937) — Ronald Colman stars! Nominated for Best Art Direction and Best Score.
• The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933) — Charles Laughton as Henry VIII eats a person (at least that's how the DVD cover makes it look like)! Robert Donat also stars. Laughton won Best Actor.
• The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939) — More English "history". Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, and Olivia de Havilland star in this Warner Bros. period drama. Watch out for Davis' super high hairline!
• The Prizefighter and the Lady (1933) — One-take Woody directs and Myrna Loy doesn't do yellowface in this pre-code. Nominated for Best Original Story.
• The Quiet Man (1952) — John Wayne is a quiet man with Maureen O'Hara. Directed by John Ford and won 4 Oscars.
• The Razor's Edge (1946) — Gene Tierney and Tyrone Power star in this Film Noir. Won 3 Oscars.
• Rear Window (1954) — Classic Alfred Hitchcock thriller. With Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly. Raymond Burr plays quite the scary villain. Nominated for 4 Oscars.
• Rebel Without a Cause (1955) — Nicholas Ray's most famous film with James Dean and Natalie Wood. Nominated for 3 Oscars.
• The Red Danube (1955) — A lot of stars in this one (Ethel Barrymore, Janet Leigh, Peter Lawford, Walter Pigeon, and Angela Lansbury). Nominated for Best Art Direction.

Pride of the Marines is a masterpiece, one of the best films of the 40s. As great as the best years of our lives in my view.

February 22

More Rs and the first of the Ss!:

• Rhapsody in Blue (1945) — Life and times of George Gerswhin. Nominated for Best Sound Recording and Score.
• Rich, Young and Pretty (1951) — Jane Powell stars. This film was Nominated for Best Song.
• The Richest Girl in the World (1934) — Norman Krasna write this tale about a rich girl who just wants to take the place of her secretary. Stars Miriam Hopkins, Joel McCrea, and Fay Wray. Nominated for Best Writing/Original Story
• The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond (1960) — 1960s film does 1930s Prohibition era New York. Since this was a period piece, it was nominated for Best Costume Design.
• Road to Morocco (1942) — One of several Bing Crosby and Bob Hope comedies. Has Dorothy Lamour and was nominated for Best Recording and Best Original Screenplay.
• Roberta (1935) — Irene Dunne vehicle, but has Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in the background. Nominated for Best Original Song.
• Robin and the 7 Hoods (1964) — Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Bing Crosby and Peter Falk star in another 60s tale about Prohibition except in Chicago this time. Nominated for Best Original Song and Best Adaptation/Treatment of Score.
• Roman Holiday (1953) — Audrey Hepburn is a princess on the run with Gregory Peck in this William Wyler classic. Hepburn won Best Actress, Trumbo (secretly) won Best Original Screenplay, and Edith Head won Best Costume Design.
• Sadie Thompson (1928) — Lionel Barrymore, Gloria Swanson, and Raoul Walsh star in this great drama. Swanson was nominated for Best Actress but didn't win.

edited 21st Feb '17 11:53:39 AM by LongTallShorty64

So I watched Crossfire and it did feel very Anvilicious; however, given that this was post-WWII with the terrors of the Holocaust and turning away Jewish refugees, I think some anvils needed to be dropped. You always read about Film Noirs being about post-WWII malaise and this film reeks of it.

I guessed it from the second scene that Robert Ryan was the evil one.

edited 21st Feb '17 10:23:54 AM by LongTallShorty64

Can't recommend Sadie Thompson highly enough. Gloria Swanson's best non-Sunset Boulevard role.

Don't miss Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond...genuinely stylish B-Movie gangster fun.

Made page for Swing High, Swing Low. Pretty good drama, and if that's Lombard's voice (which it does sound like it), she had a nice singing voice.

Mitchell Leisen definitely needs a creator page now.

edited 21st Feb '17 1:16:50 PM by LongTallShorty64

February 23

The Ss continue:

• San Antonio (1945) — This Western had three directors and stars Errol Flynn. Nominated for Best Original Song and Best Art Direction.
• San Francisco (1936) — 1906 Frisco movie! There's going to be an earthquake. Stars Clark Gable and Jeanette MacDonald. Douglas Shearer (Norma Shearer's brother) won Best Sound Recording. Nominated for five other Oscars.
• The Sandpiper (1965) — Vincente Minnelli directs Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Oh, boy. Won Best Original Song.
• The Sea Wolf (1941) — Michael Curtiz directs Edward G. Robinson, Ida Lupino, and John Garfield in this sea drama. Nominated for Best Special Effects.
• Second Chorus (1940) — A Fred Astaire and Paulette Goddard film! Nominated for Best Score and Best Original Song.
• Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954) — Stanley Donen directs Howard Keel and Jane Powell in this classic musical. Won Best Music/Scoring of Picture.
• Shall We Dance? (1937) — Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers star in this musical. Nominated for Best Original Song by George Gerswhin/Ira Gerswhin ("They Can't Take That Away from Me").
• She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) — John Ford directs John Wayne once again. Won Best Cinematography.

edited 22nd Feb '17 8:32:22 AM by LongTallShorty64

February 24

A lot of 50s here:

• The Sheepman (1958) — A Comedy/Western (pastiche?) with Glenn Ford, Shirley MacLaine, and Leslie Nielsen. Nominated for Best Writing.
• Shenandoah (1965) — Jimmy Stewart Western. Nominated for Best Sound.
• Show Boat (1951) — Another musical with Howard Keel, Kathryn Grayson, and Ava Gardner. Nominated for Best Cinematography and Best Musical Score.
• The Silver Chalice (1954) — Riding the wave of the Christian epic, starring Virginia Mayo and Pier Angeli. It has a baby-faced Paul Newman! Nominated for Best Cinematography and Best Score.
• Singin' in the Rain (1952) — Classic film with Gene Kelly, the late Debbie Reynolds, Donald O'Connor, and Jean Hagen. Nominated for Best Score and Hagen got a nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Most famous musical of The Golden Age Of Hollywood.
• Small Town Girl (1953) — Remake of 1936 version. With Jane Powell and Farley Granger. Nominated for Best Original Song.
• Some Like It Hot (1959) — AFI's funniest American film. Hard to say no to that. Starring Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, and Marilyn Monroe. Directed and written by Billy Wilder (alongside I. A. Diamond who came up with the famous last line). Out of all 6 nominations it won Best Costume Design.
• Spartacus (1960) — I am Spartacus! McCarthyism but in Rome! Stanley Kubrick directs Laurence Olivier and Kirk Douglas. This won 4 Oscars.
• Speedy (1928) — Harold Lloyd is Speedy! This movie is like a time capsule to 1920s New York. Won Ted Wilde a Best Director Oscar. Lloyds' last silent comedy.
• The Spirit of St. Louis (1957) — Jimmy Stewart plays the famous pilot Charles Lindberg. Directed by Billy Wilder. Nominated for Best Effects

edited 23rd Feb '17 9:06:04 AM by LongTallShorty64

Watched Sadie Thompson which I liked a lot. It's a shame about the state of the film. It's really bad. Hopefully a better copy can be found one day. I guess we're lucky to have what we have of the film

edited 23rd Feb '17 9:20:01 AM by LongTallShorty64

Well, 5/6 of the film is in pretty decent shape. My Kino DVD has the ending of "Rain" as an extra.

San Francisco is an odd little movie. I never could figure out what Spencer Tracy's deal was, hanging around Clark Gable and Jeanette Macdonald, butting into their relationship because, uh, Gable isn't a Christian or something.

But it does have the earthquake sequence with what were cutting-edge 1936 effects, and it does have Macdonald delivering the best-ever rendition of "San Francisco".

"Ooooopen your golden gate...."

February 25

A bit of everything here:

• Splendor in the Grass (1961) — Elia Kazan directs this romantic drama with Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty. Won Best Screenplay.
• Stage Door (1937) — A lot of great actresses in here, looking startling young. Katharine Hepburn and Ginger Rogers star. Nominated for 4 Oscars.
• Stagecoach (1939) — Great Western directed by John Ford (Ford was nominated a lot!). Won 2 Oscars: Thomas Mitchell won for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (well deserved) and Best Music (Scoring).
• A Star Is Born (1937) — The best version with Fredric March, Janet Gaynor, and Adolphe Menjou. Directed by William A. Wellman and won Best Original Story. It also won an Honorary Award for its use of colour (Technicolor was used).
• The Story of G.I. Joe (1945) — Another WWII movie. WWII movies haven’t lost their popularity with the Academy since they first began. William A. Wellman directs Robert Mitchum and Burgess Meredith. Nominated for 4 Oscars.
• Strangers on a Train (1951) — Another Alfred Hitchcock thriller. Careful what you say to people on the train. Nominated for Best Cinematography.
• A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) — Directed by Elia Kazan and starring Vivien Leigh and Marlon Brando. Watch their different styles of acting clash in a good way. Won 4 Oscars.
• The Sundowners (1960) — Deborah Kerr and Robert Mitchum star in this period drama set in Australia. Nominated for 5 Oscars.
• Swing Time (1936) — Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire vehicle directed by the great George Stevens. Won Best Song with "The Way You Look Tonight." Watch it here.
• A Tale of Two Cities (1935) — Ronald Colman stars sans moustache! Nominated for Best Picture and Best Film Editing.
• The Tender Trap (1955) — Romantic Comedy with Frank Sinatra and Debbie Reynolds. Nominated for Best Original Song.

edited 24th Feb '17 7:41:18 AM by LongTallShorty64

Stagecoach. Goodness, John Carradine sure did explore the spectrum of cinematic quality.

I'm going to be adding to the wiki's Short Film content. I just read, then watched, then made a page for An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge. Whether you've read the story or not, the 1962 French short film adaptation is well worth 25 minutes of your time. Pretty awesome.