Two Nuts in a Rut (1948) Review - Comedy Short - Cinecon 45 Screening

Short comedy starring Schilling and Lane. After mistakenly lighting the end of the thermometer in his mouth instead of his cigar, a movie producer/talent scout gets sent to Palm Springs for a complete rest. At the resort hotel, he tells his assistant to keep it secret that they are Hollywood movie producers so that he doesn't get hounded by wannabee starlets. But - of course - the assistant lets it slip, and the girls are all over our man to get into the movies. So that he can finally get some peace and quiet, the hotel management changes his rooms to make it appear he has vacated the hotel - but everyone forgets to let him know! Meanwhile, a woman and her tough boxer hubby have checked in and occupied his old room. Of course our man arrives at his old room, immediately puts on his oversized nightgown (which actually belongs to the boxer), and gets into bed. Then just as the woman finds a strange man in her bed, boxer husband arrives punch-happy after a winning match, and our boy hides under the bed. Lots of slapstick to follow as she attempts to keep him hidden. This was screened at Cinecon 45 as a replacement for the Harry Langdon short "His Marriage Mix-up, which - in a mix-up - didn't arrive. This short was pretty funny, I must say - I laughed out loud several times. I can't say I've ever seen a Schilling and Lane short before - comedy team Gus Schilling and Richard Lane. Pretty darn good. Rating - 8 to 8.5/10 stars

Cinecon 45 Film Festival Summary - Movies, the Rest

Putting the other films I saw that didn't have a chance for a full writing.

Marker - coming

The Silencers (1966) Film Review - Cinecon 45 Screening

Plot Summary - Swinging 60s spy comedy. Suave secret agent Matt Helm (Dean Martin) is called away from his 60s bachelor pad by his company ICE to get on the job chasing after some sort of crime organization, the gist of what they are up to escapes me at the moment. On his travels on this job, he - well, basically hooks up with curvaceous women - first a tall bombshell, then a kooky redhead (no, not Lucy) he meets poolside - she's a curvy klutz named Gail (Stella Stevens). Then there's also that dancing stripper (Cyd Charisse) who gets shot while performing onstage. While dying, she slips something to Gail - then Matt and Gail end up on a road trip together; she denies she's a secret agent for the other side but Matt and his bureau think she is. Helm is given a couple of cool, spy weapons by his agency to help him out when he comes against the bad guys - a backwards shooting gun and jacket with hand grenade buttons. This all comes in handy in the action-packed finale.

Review - Spy films are one of my least favorite film genres, so wasn't sure how I would like this one - but it turned out to be a lot of full color, widescreen fun! The film spoofs spy films like James Bond and includes action combined with comedy, plus lots of scantily clad, gorgeous women, sixties music, and Dean Martin driving along, his thoughts brought to life via smooth Dean Martin vocals. Cyd Charisse opens the film performing a striptease to the title theme song. I loved all the devices and mod sixties gadgets that fill out his "love nest" - a round, rotating bed that at the push of a button rolls across the floor, tilts up, and sends prone Matt Helm rolling into a giant lather-filled bathtub where dwells his "secretary", Lovey Kravezit - when he asks her to hand him the soap it contains a bottle of liquor. He also has a full bar set up in his car! I think seeing this on the big screen, at Cinecon 45, really helped this seem better, made it more "larger than life" which seemed to work for this film (it also seemed like the males in the audience were really appreciating all the sexy women in this) - don't know how I would feel about this one on a TV screen. Stella Stevens appeared in person at this screening. Review - 7.5 to 8/10 stars

Sunday Notes

Well, nearly two weeks now since I first got this flu/cold - and I'm still sick! The last days I've kind of relapsed and feel worse than I did. Today, slightly better than yesterday. It's such a drag to be sick.
Anyway, I am still finishing up the Cinecon 45 reviews, slow-going still because I've been a bit bedridden last week, up and down sickness, ugh. I have several more films I'm finishing up the reviews for - then hopefully get them posted in the next few days. And then I still have a backlog of reviews for movies I saw in August to get posted.

Lover Come Back (1931) Film Review - Cinecon 45 Screening

Plot Summary - Precode sex romp. Tom (Jack Mulhall) is juggling two women - while dating Connie (Constance Cummings), the nice secretary who works at his office, he is secretly also seeing flirty Vivian (and Viv says to her overbearing mother after he leaves "In a week I'll have a ring on my finger - and another ring in his nose" - whoa!). Connie's boss (Jameson Thomas) is a smooth-talking playboy bachelor with an eye for a shapely ankle; believing that a woman with ankles like hers shouldn't be hiding them under an office desk, he has already made an offer to her to be set up in a Park Avenue Apartment (and we all know what that means!), which Connie has turned down 'cause 1. she's a good girl. and 2. she's in love with Tom. But when Tom dumps her to marry Vivian, Connie decides to accept the offer! Life after marriage to Viv: - - Vivian decides her man isn't providing for her needs well enough - she wants a fancier wardrobe (she's tired of being dressed like a "shop girl") and a limousine. Against Tom's wishes, she goes to the office to ask his boss for a raise for her man - and, well, she's got shapely ankles too, so the boss not only offers a raise, but a promotion for Tom - which will mean Tom taking lots of trips out-of-town and "private" get-togethers with sexy Vivian. Vivian is all for it. But Tom is soon onto what his wife is up to, and old girlfriend Connie (who still loves him and doesn't want him to get hurt) tries to protect him from finding wifey Viv in a tryst with the boss.

Review - This film is a really fun watch - lots of pre-code dialogue and sexual innuendo flying about through the entire film. I really, really liked Betty Bronson, who plays Vivian, in this film. Wow - perfection in this part, just a real well done, memorable performance - she's a super cutie. By the way, lots of cute outfits to look at in this (yeah, I like clothes a lot!). And another by the way - if what you see in films was actually real then Park Avenue must have once been absolutely loaded with ladies being "kept" as it seems like I've seen an awful lot of films lately with women being set up in Park Avenue apartments! Just a real good film all around - a treat to see. Rating - 9 to 9.5/10 stars

Turn to the Right (1922) Silent Film Review - Cinecon 45 Screening

Plot Summary - In a country town, Joe (Jack Mulhall) loves Elsie (Alice Terry) - but Elsie's father, Deacon Tillinger, doesn't approve of him and basically says he will horsewhip the young fellow if he comes around to see her. So Joe heads for the big city to seek his fortune. Soon involved in gambling on the horse races, he's actually been successful in saving up $2,000 in winnings! Joe decides to put all his winnings on a sure bet - "Firefly" at 10 to 1 - and, hey, Firefly wins. Unfortunately, a bad man has stolen 2,000 bucks from his own father's wallet and when the money is found missing, the blame is wrongly put on Joe who had oddly just placed a bet for the same amount. Joe not only loses his winnings, but is sent to the slammer for a year. Soon wearing stripes, he makes two prison buddies - Mugsy and Gilly - and doesn't let his family back home know what has become of him. Meanwhile, back home the greedy Deacon (he believes a "sucker is born every minute and the country is the place to find them") has convinced Joe's kindly old mother that it would be best for her to sell her peach farm to him and move into a shack. Joe and his two pals, all newly released from prison, end up back in town just in time to help get the property out of the clutches of the old cretin, and help make the farm a success - by using the peaches to make a fab jam! Muggsie and Gilly seem charmed by the town, especially when a couple of cute young gals spark an interest in them, and they decide to become "honest Joe's" as they all follow wise Mama's advise "just believe, and it will happen" - and it does!

Review - A rather charming, melodramatic silent film with touches of humor throughout - directed by Rex Ingram; the film is nicely photographed in a pretty rural locale complete with peach groves. I can't say Jack Mulhall is one of my favorite actors from the silent era, but thought he was actually appropriately cast in this particular role and did a nice job with the part (though, gosh darn, he's just lacking in the good looks department in my eyes). - - By the way, that man sure can pick the horses for a country boy! A pleasant, entertaining film. Rating - 8.5/10 stars

Only the Brave (1930) Film Review - Gary Cooper

Plot Summary - Civil War drama starring Gary Cooper as a Union captain who risks getting caught for desertion by leaving camp for 24 hours to visit his beloved, only to find her in the arms of another man. Bummed out on his return (and caught, by the way, though his punishment is not out-there harsh), he offers himself up to take a pal's place as a Union spy, which involves getting caught on purpose carrying fake dispatch papers, which will likely lead to sure execution by the Confederate army. Soon he's arrived at a Southern plantation full of Belles and Confederate soldiers indulging in dancing and the punch bowl. He makes efforts to get caught as a spy, but everything he tries - dropping his Union medal, refusing to participate in a toast, attempting to get caught in an office rifling through papers - fails! And meanwhile, plantation daughter Barbara (Mary Brian) - an ultra-flirtatious Scarlett O'Hara type Southern belle who's never been kissed - has been busy from his arrival trying to seduce him with her wiles. He ends up in her room at one point, where Barbara realizes he's a spy - but she's fallen for the handsome fellow and while he's doing his utmost to get caught by the officers, she's doing her best to keep him from getting caught! Eventually, he is caught and held prisoner despite her efforts, guarded by a grubby Confederate sentry who rambles on about what terrible creatures women are - when his guard leaves him alone to fetch himself some brandy, Barbara arrives and is caught kissing him. Will anyone be able to save the day for our man before he ends up facing the firing squad?

Review - I thought this was a pretty decent film - I normally enjoy Civil War era films, this one has a touch of humor in it to help spice it up. I liked the performance that Mary Brian gives here, with her cute Southern drawl. Gary Cooper is his tall, handsome, softly spoken self - always good. I actually didn't really think this film was as funny as some in the theater screening at Cinecon 45 seemed to think - I was quite amused by the loquacious sentry though. Not completely related to this particular film - - but hmm, I know people say that it's better to see films that are funny with a live audience - and it's true that sometimes I laugh more with an audience than a movie at home alone - but when I see a film and an audience is laughing hysterically at something that I don't find all so funny, it can just be annoying. A case in point, some action film with Eddie Murphy I saw in the early 80s (back when I saw ALL the new movies in a theater) and the audience was howling over car crash scenes and I was just left cold wondering why they thought it was funny. Excuse the ramble. Rating - 7.5 to 8/10 stars

Thanks for Everything (1938) Film Review - Cinecon 45 Screening

Plot Summary - POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD - - Henry Smith (Jack Haley) of Plainville, Missouri is declared the "Most Average Man in America" after winning a radio contest (sponsored by Puff Cigarettes) asking 100 poll questions. He becomes a hometown hero and starts to spend his $25,000 cash prize even before he's gone to NYC to be awarded it on the air. The powers-that-be behind the contest have decided our man would better serve their purposes if they could secretly follow his every move to get the dope on what the Average Man likes. So - they trick him into believing he has been disqualified, then hire him at the station so he can earn money to pay back what he owes back home. Jack Oakie is picked to room with him and take notes for use by research company Guidance, Inc. to make decisions toward what products to market. But Henry is distracted by girl troubles relating to his fiancee back home, and starts doing weird stuff that no average man would actually do (ketchup in his coffee, for one). When an ambassador wants to find out the statistics on whether the average man wants to go to war or not - Guidance, Inc. is on the job, and use poor Henry as the guinea pig. They get him sick via a poison ivy branch massage, then while he's bedridden and recovering they trick him with fake radio broadcasts and trick bombs outside the window to make him believe that War has started! When he finally races off to enlist, he's rounded up into the nut house where straitjackets are the norm.

Review - Okay, this felt like a B-comedy with a few songs - silly fun, nothing great, but mildly pleasant enough. However, the gist of the story revolves around men treating another man (our main character) badly, which just doesn't really make the film that endearing even if things do work out for him in the end - making him think he's lost his prize, infecting him with poison ivy, tricking him to think there's a War, all for the sake of their own profits - um, not so nice. Tony Martin appears singing the title song in this. I'm not sure how I really feel about Jack Haley carrying a whole movie - the actress who plays his girlfriend is out there forgettable. There are lots of thirties character actors to see in this, Charles Lane for one. A nice looking print, screened at Cinecon 45. Rating - 6.5 to 7/10 stars

Sunday Notes

Continuing with writing up and posting my reviews for the films I saw at Cinecon 45 last weekend - posting here. Slow-going on this because I have been down with a really bad cold and even worse cough that has been worse this weekend than it has been all week (I literally coughed ALL night last night - I am worn out). I went to bed early last night (7 pm) to try and get some rest, then got up early (7:30 am) and managed to watch a movie "High School Confidential (1958)" that I happened to just catch at the beginning on TCM (I enjoyed the film - lots of campy fun - though really was too sick to write up any sort of review for it).

Hopefully I will feel well enough soon to get to watching my Netflix rentals (I have two recent films, plus the new Criterion release of "The Last Days of Disco (1998)" waiting to be watched). I am going to try to watch George O'Brien in "Fig Leaves" soon, plus I have stacks of silents on DVDs that I haven't watched yet, including that new Murnau, Borzage and Fox box set - and when am I going to get to watching my Houdini set which I've had for awhile now?!! Hmm - not movie related, but when will I ever get to watching my "That Girl" sets (I have season 1 and 2, so far) - when I was a kid I thought it would be great to be just like Ann Marie (you know - long, dark hair, work as an actress/model, a cool apartment, a devoted boyfriend, and so many groovy mini-dresses you never had to wear the same one twice).

The Dawn of a Tomorrow (1915) Film Review - Mary Pickford

Plot Summary - POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD - - Sir Oliver, the richest and unhappiest man in the world, has been informed by his doctors that he is hopelessly not long for this world. Spunky slum girl "Glad" (Mary Pickford) is the poorest and happiest orphan in London - checkered cap "Dandy" is her beau, who has plans to go on a robbery with a couple of mates. But Glad tells him she won't marry him unless he takes the honest route in life, and at the last minute he drops out of the scheme. The crime is committed and a murder occurs in the process - his two "pals" pin the blame on Dandy, who now must seek proof that he didn't even participate in the crime. Meanwhile, Mr. Oliver is saved by young Glad, who has encountered him as he's just about to end it all in the river.

Review - A melodramatic silent film that is sentimental and quite entertaining - Mary looks lovely and completely lights up the screen the minute she comes skipping on in her first scene. The film, as screened at Cinecon 45, had Swedish intertitles and a live translation was done as the film was going on, which was done very well (though the voice-out-loud does sort of take away the dream-like quality I like about silent films, when I'm not reading the title cards myself). The print as screened was tinted and looked good (though a touch too green in some scenes?!). The mood of the story, and especially the style of the dialogue, is so reminiscent of "A Little Princess" by Frances Hodgson Burnett (a book I am pretty familiar with) that while I was watching the film I kept thinking - this must have been written by the same writer as "A Little Princess", everything Mary's character says (via title cards) is so similar to the main character in that novel. Sure enough - when the film ended I looked it up, and The Dawn of a Tomorrow was, indeed, written by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Mary Pickford, is perhaps, my most favorite silent actress - it was really not possible for me to not enjoy this. A treat to see this rare film. Rating - 8.5/10 stars

South of the Boudoir (1940) Review - Charley Chase Short

Charley Chase comedy short. Charley is offered a promotion, but in order to seal the deal his boss wants a home cooked meal - the same night as Charley's wedding anniversary, and the wife has already been told he's taking her to the Cocoanut Grove! When they are prepping the dinner in the kitchen, a fight breaks out as hubby breaks the dishes given to them by her mother - and wifey breaks the dishes given to them by his mother. She walks out and, while shopping, she runs into the boss and - unaware of who she is and obviously being some kind of a wolf - he invites her to dinner that night. Well, he ends up bringing her to her own home as his "date", and meanwhile Charley, in desperation to show his boss that he's a happily married man, has recruited a high-voiced gal he knows who works at some bar/cafe he frequents, to pose as his wife - and what do you think the wife thinks when she arrives to find a blonde wearing her dress?! Mix-ups and lots of slapstick to follow. Got some laughs out loud from this fun short - liked it lots. Charley Chase is great - by the way, if you like Charley, you might want to sign this online petition to release the Charley Chase Columbia shorts on DVD. (by the way, I signed this in June and haven't received any sort of junk emails or spam as a result, so it's safe.) Rating - 8.5/10 stars

Good Time Charley (1927) Silent Film Review - Cinecon 45 Screening

Plot Summary - POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD - - A ham actor named Charley (Warner Oland) thinks of himself as the next "Booth" but his theatrical troupe know him as "Good Time Charley". Hartwell (Montagu Love), the manager of the troupe, spends his free time hitting on Charley's attractive actress wife. One day, while Charley is on-stage, Hartwell's pursuit of her causes her to fall off a scaffolding and be killed. Poor Charley widowed - all he has now is his acting and his little 3-year old daughter Rosita. Cut to fifteen years later, Rosita (Helene Costello) is a star attraction in the show - a dancing and tumbling beauty. Bad man Hartwell has a grown son, described as a chip "of" the old block, who loves her. Hartwell, now a famous Broadway producer, hires Rosita to star in his show and she's soon a hit on Broadway. He refuses to take Charley into the show too - until he's forced to hire him in order to keep his star Rosita from quitting. After Rosita elopes with the son - Charley, thought of as "an old fossil", is kicked out right before his Opening Night debut. Oh dear! - things just go from bad to worse for him when, while forced to perform in rundown theaters to earn a living, he gets an illness and becomes blind. Out-of-work, but with a pal helping him out and money being saved towards a $1,000 operation that will cure him, he is visited by Rosita who has been pressed to ask her dad for money by her bum husband. Charley keeps his blindness and jobless status a secret from his daughter (he even goes so far as to tell her he is a huge success on Broadway) - and actually gives her his savings of 800 bucks, willing to sacrifice for her sake. And things just go downhill from there - for both Rosita and Charley too, until he ends up in an old actors home where Rosita is performing/helping out and the truth is finally revealed.

Review - An excellent silent melodrama, directed by Michael Curtiz - screened at Cinecon 45 with a very nice-looking print. The film includes some interesting photography and editing - notable in my memory is a tracking shot showing the different faces in the audience in close-ups as they watch Charley perform on stage near the beginning of the film. Also, Rosita's rehearsals for her Broadway debut are shown in an interesting montage of overlapping photography. The stand out, and what really makes this film such a good one, is the performance of Warner Oland as Charley, memorable and moving - he's just terrific, his eyes so expressive. Now, I have to say, I kept wondering why his character keeps insisting on keeping the daughter in the dark about his many problems - can't see why he doesn't just tell her about it from the start. Oh well, I guess that would have sort of nipped the plot in the bud. A quality film, well worth seeing - perhaps my favorite film screened at Cinecon 45. Rating - 9 to 9.5/10 stars

Strange Affair (1944) Film Review - Cinecon 45 Screening

POSSIBLE SPOILER AHEAD - - B comedy/murder-mystery in which an amateur crime solving husband and wife team, played by Allyn Joslyn and Evelyn Keyes, attend a banquet where a man at their table is suddenly found murdered sitting up in his chair. How did it happen? Our duo is on the case and a number of suspects come to light, including a mystery woman who sat at their table and turns out to secretly be the murdered man's wife! A sort of Thin Man film, without the cocktails. The thing that caught my attention more than anything else in this film was the wife's obsession with hats, so there's plenty of neat forties hats to look at - one piece of comedy in this film revolves around one of her hat's with a very long feather that keeps hitting men in the face (one man actually snips the end of it off). I actually have a collection of vintage hats and I have one from the late 40s/early 50s that has a long feather like that! Shemp Howard has a small, but funny part as a man who drives a laundry truck and keeps miscounting the towels while Allyn Joslyn is getting honey-do's from his wife via a Dictaphone. Cute film. Rating - 7/10 stars

Paid to Love (1927) Silent Film Review - Cinecon 45 Screening

Plot Summary - When the king of a small European nation needs a loan for his country, he seeks help from the Americans. A banker arrives from America to approve the loan and immediately bonds with the King over his shirt (King: "Why the hell don't you fix your shirt?" Loan Man: "How the hell can I?"). The banker feels that in order to approve the loan they need to make the royal family more popular - which could be accomplished if the Crown Prince were to get engaged. A problem: the oh so handsome Prince (George O'Brien) is supposedly shy and has a one-track mind - automobiles! Feeling that "two old fools are better than one", the King and the Banker head to Paris to try and find a female to seduce the prince and get his motor going for the ladies. The two end up in this Apache Dance Club in Montmarte, where ultra-bored nightclub Apache dancers put on an act for tour buses that stop and fill the club with Americans seeking a glimpse of the wild side of Paris - fights, knifing's, etc., are all faked for the benefit of the suckers. The two men find a prospect - Dolores (Virginia Valli), one tough chick sporting a bullet hairdo and small, sharp knife tucked in her garter. They offer her 50,000 francs if she succeeds in seducing the unsuspecting Crown Prince, then send her on her way to pull her wiles on him - but on arrival she oddly faints through the door of his house during a rainstorm, then wakes up to find herself in his bed with ALL her clothes removed and drying (hmm, is he really as shy as they say?!). She is unaware of his identity and because he's one of those European royals who likes to go about wearing a uniform, she believes him to be a soldier in the King's Guard. When she heads out to find her mark, Prince Eric (William Powell), playboy cousin of the Crown Prince, gets his cousin out of the way so that he can seduce Dolores - and she mistakenly believes that the man she begins to romance is the Crown Prince. She begins to discover what a creep Prince Eric is, while at the same time the actual Crown Prince IS interested and they start to fall in love - the rub, how can they allow a commoner like her to actually marry a royal?!

Review - Directed by Howard Hawks, I thought this sophisticated silent romantic-comedy was quite good. Entertaining, with a good touch of humor throughout - love a scene where Powell is peeling a banana while secretly watching Valli undress - yeah, priceless. Enjoyed the Apache Club scene too - amusing, fun stuff. George O'Brien is oh so fit and good looking - not completely my usual type, but wooo - he *is* cute. My one complaint would be that I would have liked to have seen him given a lot more to do in this film, his part is sort of bland and - not enough screen time! After watching this film I was thinking that it really deserves a DVD release, it certainly has many worthwhile qualities to it. NOTE: the Imdb and other sources list Virginia Valli's character name as Gaby, but I remember Dolores and that is what my notes say too. To try and confirm this I did find more than one online source that had the name as Dolores, so I'm going with that for this review. Rating - 9/10 stars

Give Out, Sisters (1942) Film Review - The Andrews Sisters - Cinecon 45 Screening

Plot Summary - WWII Andrews Sisters musical romp. A nightclub wants to put on a show starring the Andrews Sisters and the dancing teen troupe The Jivin' Jacks and Jills. Here's the rub - the leading female dancer, Gracie, is secretly an heiress under the guardianship of three middle-aged, spinster aunts who don't believe in someone in their clan showing their legs on a public stage. When a photographer snaps Gracie's photo and it gets plastered all over the papers, the news is out and the producers must get the permission of the aunts for her to dance in the show. One of the men behind the show goes to the aunts' house posing as a doctor and orders them into bed with fake illnesses and head bandages - at the same time The Andrews Sisters arrive at the house disguised as the three aunts to trick the producers into thinking they are giving their permission. Of course, the show does go on - and the aunts end up at a ringside table drinking Old-Fashioned's and soon finally give in as The Sisters and dancing troupers give out on stage.

Review - This fun and funny B musical-comedy kept me entertained. The singing and dance numbers are all enjoyable, especially The Andrews Sisters performing "The Pennsylvania Polka", and I totally got a kick out of the dance numbers performed by The Jivin' Jacks and Jills (including Donald O'Connor and Peggy Ryan) - there is also lots of humor throughout the film. I was particularly amused by the scenes with those three aunts - oddly, they wear what looked to me like 1880s/90s black dresses (were they wearing bustles?), though the trio don't appear to be much more than forty years old. The aunts think of the Old-Fashioned Cocktail as a glass of delicious fruit preserves (says one "I'm going to try the syrup") - hehe!. Okay, yes, I totally love musicals and found this to be an amusing, pleasant watch. For me, this one was the best of the several Andrews Sisters films that have been screened at Cinecon over the last few years. And gotta love the Forties - the youngin's always tried so hard then to be modern, cool and hip, always speaking the latest up-to-the-minute hep slang (well, I guess they still do). Cute movie. Rating - 7.5 to 8/10 stars

Hatter's Castle (1942) Film Review - Cinecon 45 Screening

Plot Summary - POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD - - Dark and brutal, with a likeness to both Scrooge and young David Copperfield's torment, Mr. Murdstone, black top-hatted James Brodie (Robert Newton) lurks about with cruel behavior towards family and co-workers alike - he's the meanest, most selfish man in town! He has built himself a castle on his income as town hatter, causing the townspeople to poke fun. He fires his shop assistant on one day's notice ("we're not married, you know" he growls), he treats his patient, trod-upon and sickly wife like a servant, he gets angry at his pretty and gentle daughter Mary (Deborah Kerr) for allowing an unwanted doctor (James Mason) in the house to treat the wife, and forces his teen son into constant study, chiding him for coming in second to a girl on some exam. Brodie is busy having an affair with a barmaid who has pushed her "brother", Dennis (Emyln Williams), for hire as his new assistant. This Dennis is very full of himself (and has lied about his experience, he's never even "ironed a hat") and when Mary comes into the shop, he comes on to her immediately (of course, dad is not at work when this occurs). When Brodie finds out his daughter picked up drops for her mother's illness from the forbidden doctor, he refuses to allow Mary to attend a ball (where both assistant Dennis and the doctor have plans to dance with her). Slimy Dennis goes to her house during the dance, while the parents are out, sneaks his way in with the lure of champagne, ballroom cakes, and music - and when the parents arrive back early, they hide in her bedroom. Well, this guy is no gentleman, and she ends up pregnant! Meanwhile, Brodie refuses an offer to buy the failing shop next door to him to expand his business - so the owner of said shop sells to a big hat emporium to get even. And thus begins the downfall of James Brodie (and that creepy Dennis gets his comeuppance as well) - with much tragedy to come!

Review - A well done, bleak and atmospheric British film, set in the 1870's. Robert Newton gives a fantastic, very memorable performance in this film - his character and speaking voice (and the piercing eyes under bushy eyebrows/cold-hearted/smirking and at the same time disgusted expression on his face) in this are haunting, just impossible for me to forget. James Mason's part in this as the doctor is not a large part, but has it's importance in the story - he looks very young and handsome, I must say. Deborah Kerr certainly holds her own here. A very well done recreation of a real-life storm and railway bridge collapse that occurred in Scotland in 1879 is featured as part of the movie's climax. The film as a whole is melodramatic and entertaining - really liked this one. (released in 1948 in the USA) Rating - 9/10 stars

Easy Living (1937) Film Review - Jean Arthur

Plot Summary - Screwball comedy starring Jean Arthur as Mary Smith, NYC working girl who ends up with a sable coat on top of her head as she rides the upper section of a double-decker bus as it drives by a penthouse where wealthy banker J.B. Ball - aka "The Bull of Broad Street" - has just tossed the coat out the window 'cause his wife spent 58,000 bucks for new fur (and boy is her closet full of it!). When Mary tries to locate the owner of the coat, she finds Ball and he not only tells her she can keep the coat but takes her to a shop to buy her a fancy new hat to replace the now feather-damaged one she is wearing - lucky girl. Now here's something weird - when she arrives at her job at a boy's magazine (where works a slew of old bitties) sporting the new fur hat and coat, she is fired, seemingly 'cause she took presents from some man! Meanwhile, the hat shopkeeper has come to the wrong conclusion and let's the world know that the famous banker Ball is keeping Mary Smith as a mistress. She is found and offered luxurious rooms (gotta love that tub!) at the floundering Hotel Louis to help bring in new business (and given a real break on the price - $7 a week, plus daily breakfast). With not much more than a nickel to her name though, she heads to a local Automat where the good-looking busboy (Ray Milland) - who, coincidentally happens to be the rich son of Ball, working in an effort to prove to dad he can be a success on his own - sneaks her some free food, gets caught by security, and fired. A fight breaks out in the Automat leading to the food compartments to all fly open with free food for the taking - oddly causing the (hungry?) masses to run wild and food to start flying! While she continues to be be given gifts like gowns as Ball's mistress, romance sparks between her and young Ball.

Review - Smart and stylish, with screenplay by Preston Sturges (yes, I'm a fan) this film is quite funny - with some slapstick, that really great Automat scene, and other humorous stuff that made me laugh out loud. Wonderful Jean Arthur is one of my favorite actresses from the thirties/forties - she is perfect for this role. Okay - Edward Arnold as J.B. Ball is absolutely great in this film - loud, aggressive, straight talking, really funny. Of course, I always enjoy seeing character comic actor Franklin Pangborn, who plays the hat shopkeeper, on screen. Ray Milland doesn't appear in this film perhaps as much as I'd like, but his charm is still showing. Now where can I go to one of those thirties Automat's - I wonder if there is still one in existence - hmm, here's an interesting site about an Automat history book.

Rating - 9/10 stars

He Fell in Love with His Wife (1916) Film Review - Cinecon 45 Screening

Plot Summary - Silent melodrama about married women Alida (Florence Rockwell) who leads a dull life sitting at home reading magazines and playing the harp - until - one fateful day when who should arrive at the front door, but her husband's wife of ten years (a real battle axe, I must say) and little girl. Bigamy! After her husband shoots the first wife's brother who is trying to strong arm him back to her, Alida escapes into the cold, dark night and ends up in the "poor house". The proprietor of this place has a buddy, James Holcroft (Forrest Stanley), who is a widower trying to run his farm on his own and is having trouble with a string of bad housekeepers. One is a slovenly, lazy old woman who can't cook and is caught throwing a dinner party for her relatives while Holcroft is supposed to be out of town. Another is a middle-aged blab who sits there rambling on to him while her tween-age daughter Jane does all the work. Alida is given a break and asked to become Holcroft's new housekeeper - but she worries that the neighbors will gossip when they see an attractive, younger female attending to his needs. So - and remember, this is 1916, so perhaps this isn't as strange a concept as it seems - she agrees to marry him, in name only, to hold back the gossip (the neighbors end up causing some trouble anyway!). Meanwhile Alida proves herself a great cook and housekeeper - and hey, she's kind of pretty and he's lonely and not bad looking either - they seem like they could be a match! And so - he starts to fall in love with his wife, and she with him. But trouble comes in the form of Alida's first hubby, who returns widowed and tries to force Alida to come back to him - with threats to kill her new man if she doesn't.

Review - Directed by William Desmond Taylor - partly known for his still unsolved murder in 1922. This film is a nicely done, entertaining step back into 1916 - a time period I love to see captured on film - the clothes, the furnishings, the past and it's charms. It is extremely melodramatic (especially the hand to the head, painful reaction Alida has when she finds out her man is a bigamist!), typical of films made in the teen era. I had to say something about the odd, memorable young actress who plays Jane - the character comes back later in the film to work in the house with Alida and actually proves a help in making our couple "a couple". The actress is extremely thin and wiry with large, awkward hands, and almost dizzy - like she's going to fall over (don't know if this was real, or meant to be a comic touch to the film). Near the end she gives a knowing look right into the camera - interesting. I really enjoyed this one (some cute cats in this movie, by the way). Rating - 8.5 to 9/10 stars

The Miracle Man (1932) Film Review - Cinecon 45 Screening

Plot Summary - POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD - - Pre-code drama about four con artists who join forces to pull con games on the streets to get people to hand over their money - John Madison (Chester Morris), his girlfriend/bad girl Helen (Sylvia Sidney), wisecracking, deadpan Harry (Ned Sparks), and The Frog (John Wray), who twists his body up Lon Chaney style to pose as a leg-dragging, deformed cripple. John must get out of town after pushing Boris Karloff over a stairwell - soon he's arrived in the small town of Meadville (reminded me of Peyton Place), where dwells "the Patriarch" (Hobart Bosworth), a faith healer with many local followers, especially the owner of the hotel where John has checked in. John makes plans for an elaborate scheme to rook dough out of the believers - and recruits his con gang to come to town to help pull it off. Helen arrives in town posing as the Patriarch's long unseen, innocent "grand-niece" (to pull off the deception she has to wipe off her heavy makeup, and boyfriend John says "now you look like you've never even seen a gin bottle" - hehe). She easily fools the Godly old Patriarch and moves in with him. Ned Sparks arrives sporting a fake cough - and The Frog drags himself to town too, both of them with plans to be "healed" by the Patriarch, then get money out of the suckers for a fake chapel. But when they arrive before the Patriarch to be healed, others arrive too - with real ailments - and a wheelchair-bound woman as well as a crippled little boy are both actually healed. Some of the con quartet begin to gradually become charmed by the town, the people, and the spirit of the Patriarch and change their evil ways.

Review - This is an excellent, moving film - it is set in a nice, small town, peaceful setting and was shown with a very good-looking print. I think Hobart Bosworth had some fun with his hoked-up part - I love him! Sylvia Sidney gives a very well done, memorable performance here - her face is so expressive. Robert Coogan, slightly plumpish younger brother of Jackie Coogan, plays the crippled lad - he's okay, though lacks the real charm that Jackie displayed on-screen. John Wray as The Frog - great job. Ned Sparks - gotta love him! Rating - 9/10 stars

Trial Marriage (1929) Film Review - Cinecon 45 Screening

Plot Summary - POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD - - - Silent romp about Connie (Sally Eilers), a flirtatious young beauty who, though engaged to Oliver (Norman Kerry) - her 13th fiance - is the Scarlett O'Hara of the flapper era as she comes on to all the men at the party, and as they surround her for a dance gushes "I can't dance with all of you - so I'll dance *for* all of you", then proceeds to dance the Black Bottom in wild fashion. Her cousin Grace (Thelma Todd) has meanwhile arrived with a catch draped on her arms - one handsome doctor known as "Thor" (okay, his look is a bit heavy on the lipstick, but hey, it's the silent era). The four go on a country picnic and Connie steals Thor - they then agree to a "trial marriage": if either of them is unhappy in six months, they will divorce and be friends (and Grace then turns to boring Oliver for her romance). Into the marriage and Connie is bored 'cause her man's a success as a doctor and keeps getting called on emergencies leaving her home alone (hmm, perhaps she needs a hobby). While the doctor's out, Connie heads next door to a big charity party where she's recruited to boost up profits by dancing in a tent marked "Men Only" - she becomes the star attraction in front of the drooling male audience until - mad Thor arrives and finds out what she's up to. He gets a divorce - but doesn't know that she's pregnant! Well, the four oddly switch partners - Thor marries Grace, Connie marries Oliver - and Thor is kept in the dark about his young son, who he later meets and wishes were his own - yet believes the boy is the son of rival Oliver. Nothing seems to work out for this bunch romantically and eventually the inevitable happens - guess.

Review - An entertaining, fun late silent romantic comedy. Good-looking tinted print, lots of cute outfits to look at on the females. Thelma Todd looks great in this film, she really sparkles - both the ladies do, actually. Jason Robards Sr., who plays Thor, is a stud (yes, I like men who look like that - slim and pale). SPOILERS AHEAD - - Something that made me wonder - in the end, when Thor is introduced to the child as his dad, wouldn't this have been rather traumatic for a young boy who has for several years (his whole young life) believed a different man to be his father?! Yet the whole thing is played as a happy ending - a happy family reunited at last. Cute film. Rating - 8/10 stars

Cinecon 45 Film Festival Review - Hollywood, California

Cinecon 45 Report - Well, here I am at home, back on the computer, and another Cinecon has come and gone (it all goes by so fast!) - I had a great time, as usual. Now here's the bad, nothing to do with Cinecon, just circumstances - - first, the weather was horribly hot for most of Cinecon (which is typical for Labor Day weekend, but yucky nevertheless). Second, I had to go home at four o'clock on the Saturday afternoon to attend a family obligation, so had to miss two films showing that evening I *really* wanted to see - the pre-code Afraid to Talk (1932) and silent film with Lon Chaney Broadway Love (1918) (I'm sad) - (I also missed The Last Bandit (1949) and Nightmare (1942), but since that was the late film I probably would have missed it anyway). Third, and this is the first time this has happened in the fifteen years I have been to Cinecon, I started getting a cough on Sunday but felt fine (I have had a sore throat for the last week plus, but attributed it to the bad smoky air that has been at my house from the wildfires) - on Monday morning I still felt fine but the cough was getting worse - by Monday afternoon, it seemed I had caught a fast-moving bug as I started to feel sicker and sicker as the afternoon went on until I finally just had to go home and miss the last movie (When I got home I tried a cure for myself - two Martinis and a shot of Slivovitz (white lightning!) - I'm sick, but not horribly bad today - it may have helped!). Here's a couple of good things - 1. the Egyptian Theatre, where all the screenings took place, didn't seem quite as freezing cold this year. 2. I didn't fall asleep during a single movie (and there is usually one each Cinecon).

My favorite silent film of the weekend (and I am very partial to the silents - I wouldn't mind if Cinecon screened nothing but silent movies!!): Good Time Charley (1927) starring Warner Oland - this was really good. Second favorite film: I also quite enjoyed Paid to Love (1926) starring handsome George O'Brien, Virginia Valli, and William Powell. I really did like all the silents screened except for, and now we get to my least favorite silent film shown, which was Spuds (1927), just not funny - too bad. My favorite talkie films were: Lover Come Back (1931), lots of pre-code fun, The Miracle Man (1932), a good watch, and Hatter's Castle (1942), Robert Newton's scary voice from this film is still in my head. Luckily, there was no real dud for me this Cinecon, but my least favorite talkie was: actually, the first feature film shown on the Thursday evening, Flame of Calcutta (1953) - though the Technicolor looked really nice, this just didn't catch me.

Here's this year's amusements or oddities as seen or heard on Hollywood Blvd - - the weird: there was a man who may have been homeless walking along with this bird hat thing on his head and he was sort of right behind me making these weird bird squawk noises (moved along faster to get away from him). The funny (well, not really): walking behind me at one point was a tourist man and his son - the son was reading all the names off the Walk of Fame stars as they walked along - at one point the kid said "Terence Stamp". Loud, Obnoxious Dad: "What did you say the person's last name is?" Kid: "Stamp, dad, Stamp". Dad: "Did you say Stamp?! Stamp? What sort of name is that for a guy to get stuck with, dude?! Stamp! What's his first name, Postage?!". Okey dokey. (Note: it starts to get kind of annoying walking along Hollywood Blvd with all those movie star tour bus guys pushing their leaflets and asking "Wanna take a tour?" every five feet! Musso and Frank's is one of my favorite restaurants, but think I'll be avoiding Hollywood for awhile).

The Cinecon bathroom phenomenon continues. Long lines at the men's room, no wait in the ladies's room. I heard women in the restroom commenting a number of times, quite happily, on this - while grumbles were heard while walking by the men's room line (sometimes snaking almost to the lobby). The only event I have ever been to where this happens.
Things I learned at Cinecon: 1. Some people don't seem to know how to turn off a cell phone. 2. Women seem to lose their memory when something shocking happens - like their husband has another wife, or they get beat up by a couple of con artists. 3. I find myself appreciating the comedy of Shemp Howard more and more as the years go by - I start laughing the moment he comes on screen now. 4. George O'Brien, though not exactly my personal "type", has got *It*. 5. Charley Chase is great (but I already knew that!). 6. Slut means "The End" in Swedish.

Full reviews coming for the films I saw over the weekend. Reviews are being posted on the Cinecon 45 page here.

*******

Convicted (1950) Film Review - Glenn Ford

Plot Summary - Arrested for knocking a man unconscious in a fight over a woman at the "Hawaiian Club" bar, handsome young Joe Hufford (Glenn Ford) is put under arrest after the man dies. That man ends up being the son of a political big-shot, and the District Attorney, Knowland (Broderick Crawford) steps in to give Joe his assistance, even though he is prosecuting the case himself. Unfortunately, Joe has a bad attorney and is sent up the river for five years in state prison for manslaughter. Soon he's marching into his cell with the other convicts, working in the prison laundry, and hanging in the yard with the other prisoners. A planned prison break goes wrong when a known squealer named Ponti causes men to be killed by the guards - luckily Joe, who wanted in on the break in order to see his dying father, was in solitary for hitting a guard. Meanwhile, D.A. Knowland has been assigned as new warden of the prison and tries again to help Joe. He gives Joe a job as his personal chauffeur, which mainly entails Joe driving around the D.A.'s pretty twenty-something daughter Kay (Dorothy Malone). Romance blossoms (of course), but Joe, being really just a good guy, doesn't do anything like try to kiss her or something - he hopes for parole soon and a chance to get a new career and new start. Meanwhile the prisoners are forming a plot to murder Ponti the squealer, currently being protected by the warden with a soft job and bed next to his office.

Review - This is an entertaining prison melodrama, full of your usual prison/convict type scenes - nothing unexpected, really (even down to the warden's pretty daughter - seems to me that sort of plot comes up again and again, wonder how realistic that really is?! - and she's living at the prison, no less - lucky men). Broderick Crawford - well, he's just - Broderick Crawford - aggressive, likable, really good playing a D.A. Glenn Ford is just - hmm, so swoon-worthy with his dreamy eyes - woo. I really could just watch him all day. Liked this one. Rating - 8.5/10 stars

Framed (1947) Film Review - Film Noir - Glenn Ford

Plot Summary - Film noir in which out-of-work mining engineer Mike Lambert (Glenn Ford), arrives in town in a runaway truck with no brakes. Going into a local bar, the La Paloma Cafe (with secret gambling club upstairs), he meets beautiful blonde femme fatale/cocktail waitress Paula (Janis Carter). When he gets hauled into court for reckless driving, driving without a license, etc. as a result of the truck accident, Paula bails him out and, soon drunk at the La Paloma, puts him passed out into a hotel room. But it seems our blonde has a scheme of her own, along with married boyfriend/bad guy Stephen Price (Barry Sullivan), vice president of the local bank. The two have formed a plot to embezzle a quarter of a million dollars from the bank, and Paula has been working at the Cafe in order to find a match for Stephen physically - the big plan is to drive a car with his double over a curvy steep cliff, run off together with the cops believing the dead man in the car is Price, then live happily ever after. With the "same height and build" as evil Stephen, our Mike is their man. And so begins the plan, as Paula befriends Mike, then tries to lures him into their evil web!

Review - This is a very entertaining watch, a crime drama with some twists, lots of fun scenes and a - yes - smouldering hot Glenn Ford to look at - um, love his softly spoken manner and dreamy eyes, oh my goodness. Janis Carter gives a well done performance as your typical film noir femme fatale who manipulates men to get what she wants. Very good film. Rating - 9/10 stars

Mr. Soft Touch (1949) Film Review - Glenn Ford

Plot Summary - Glenn Ford stars as Joe Miracle, first seen heading into San Francisco in a stolen car, a paper bag full of $100,000 cash on the seat. Seems he held-up the River Club, himself the former owner, but the club was taken over by mobsters. Joe meets up with friends, the Christopher's, a husband and wife, who have gotten him a ticket to get out of town day after next on a boat to Japan. Joe gets himself arrested for disturbing the peace so he can hide out in prison for a day, the cops mistake him as the husband Mr. Christopher (a wife beater, by the way) - but a young social worker, Jenny Jones (Evelyn Keyes), steps in and gets his sentence suspended, and Joe put into her custody. Off they go to stay at "Settlement House", a charity house for down and outers. Joe is soon putting up Christmas decorations, sleeping in the men's dorm (his gun tucked under his mattress), and helping with the neighborhood kids and street toughs (sort of like the Dead End Kids) at the house. Trying to keep himself hidden from the mob who are after him for the loot, Joe meanwhile is busy hitting on Miss Jones - but she thinks he's a married man!

Review - Cute film, all set around Christmas time so you could call this a holiday film. The film starts out looking like a film noir and later heads into sort of semi-comedy with just a touch of humor. Of course, I just love Glenn Ford - such a doll - so I pretty much enjoy all of his films. Evelyn Keyes is fine in this, though her part is a touch bland and the romance element minimal here. Rating - 8/10 stars