The Devil's Bait (1917) Film Review - Cinecon 44 Screening

Plot Summary - Silent melodrama in which Satan himself produces gems which he loads up the earth with to bait humans into murder, thievery, treachery, and other sins. The meat of the story then begins where we see two men find a "great ruby", then fight over it until the one holding the gem is left hanging over the edge of a high cliff. The other guy makes a bargain with him - he'll save his life in exchange for the ruby. Done. Well, these two soon end up rivals for the same girl - guess which one she marries? Yeah, the one with the ruby, which he gives to her set in a ring. The married man is a doctor, and soon he has a daughter - unfortunately, his rival tempts away his wife, a sucker for things that gleam, by giving her a bunch of gem-studded jewelry. Years go by and the daughter, Doris (Ruth Roland), is now a twentyish beauty who has been kept isolated from temptation by dad, who never lets her see gems. But the bad guy who stole the wife makes yet another appearance as he shows up to blackmail the Doc, saying he will tell the daughter the "truth" about her mother. Meanwhile, in league with a vampish woman who takes cash in exchange for doing his dirty work, this same bad guy gets pretty Doris elected "Queen of the Carnival", some sort of upcoming flower event in their California town of Golden City. His reasons for doing this has escaped my memory, it's all part of his blackmail scheme though - - he shows Doris her first glimpse of gemstones, and soon she's draping jewelry all over herself.

Review - Okay, this is sort of an odd film, but it was kind of a hoot - I liked it. The image of Satan superimposed over that ruby ring several times during the film is interesting - it would have been neat to see tinted in red, as apparently it was in the original release of this. And how about that scene in Hell of mostly young, long-haired women dressed in, my memory anyway, sort of togas while writhing around in a pit. Okay, I always notice the clothing in films - I've got to say, this movie features some very attractive 1917 outfits on the women. In particular, Ruth Roland sports several really cute dresses and hats - including probably the cutest dress I've ever seen from that period: light colored fabric overlayed with a floral pattern, tiers of ruffles all the way down the skirt, and a lace-up front bodice with short little white puffed sleeves - this was just adorable (okay, so I like clothes - a lot!). I confess - I have a thing for vintage hats and can't stop looking at them in movies either. Rating - 7/10 stars

The Poor Nut (1927) Film Review - Cinecon 44 Screening

Plot Summary - Silent romantic comedy about a shy, geeky and bookwormish college student (Jack Mulhall) who, when he's not busy studying botany or pulling a cactus out of the ground for examination, has been writing love letters to the "college queen" of a rival school who he has admired via her picture in the paper. She writes back, under the mistaken impression he's a star athlete and in the best fraternity in college - not! Well, even though dating her own school's "college hero", she still seeks to meet her secret Adonis - and gets the opportunity when the two rival colleges hold a big track meet. Realizing this fickle gal is not going to like what she sees when she meets him, our man plots to really try and become an athlete - and goes out for the track team. Meanwhile, there's a pretty female botany student (Jean Arthur - hurrah!) who actually thinks our boy is the bee's knees. And guess what, when the college queen actually does see him in person for the first time - she, in fact, does think he's a wimp (ssssss and a big Bronx cheer on her).

Review - This is a cute film which I thought was pretty entertaining - and hey, I usually get pretty drowsy for films screened in the evening but, even though quite tired by the Saturday night of Cinecon when this was shown, this one did hold my interest (even when I'm home I almost never watch a silent film at night, but stick to watching earlier in the day when I can concentrate better). Okay, I probably would have preferred a more attractive leading man in this (it's just really hard to imagine Jean Arthur liking this guy so much). Shy, geeky and bookwormish is fine by me, but this guy just didn't make my heart go pitter patter - - perhaps Richard Barthelmess with glasses (just a dream). Rating - 8/10 stars

Modern Love (1929) Film Review - Cinecon 44 Screening

Plot Summary - Silent/part talkie romantic comedy starring Charley Chase as a man who wants to marry his girl Patricia (Kathryn Crawford), but she doesn't want to give up her career as a fashion designer (and he's the sort of guy who simply won't tolerate his wife working - "any career in my home will be held by me" says he). A weird plan - they make a deal to get married in secret and keep separate apartments so she can continue working (yeah, in those wacky and wild days when a gal had to quit her job immediately upon marriage). Okay - so he "sleeps over", then sneaks out before daybreak so none of the neighbors think that this "unmarried" woman slept with her man (I wonder, what they would have done if a "precious little bundle" was soon going to be part of the mix?). Well, Patricia impresses a famous Paris fashion designer (Jean Hersholt) with her evening gown designs, and he asks her to come and work with him in Paris for six months. He's also somewhat of a wolf, with other kinds of designs on her - thank goodness she's single (he thinks!). She throws a dinner party for this guy and some of his friends (including Anita Garvin) - and, um, makes her hubby pose as the butler, Higginbottom (?), and serve them dinner. Yikes, hubby creates an odd dining situation for them all, by giving signals to the Parisian mimicking fake table etiquette and demonstrating weird ways to eat his food - the poor man follows suit, and so does everyone else so as not to offend their guest-of-honor. When the "overall" company hubby works for is going bankrupt, he's let go - luckily his wife happens to have laying about the house some cool new designs for overalls for women, such as the "Garden Gad-Abouts".

Review - I quite liked this film, I found it to be an amusing, fun watch - and I am a fan of Charley Chase, so enjoyed seeing him in this. Okay, yeah it's a bit weird that this couple has to resort to all these shenanigans just so this gal can continue the job she loves - but hey, it's a sign of the times back then, and does make for a cute plot. When it came to the part with the live dialogue instead of title cards, I was so into the story I didn't even notice for awhile - so I'm not actually completely sure when the talkie part of this started! The silent part of the film has a synchronized soundtrack of catchy vintage tunes - nice. Pretty good. Rating - 8/10 stars

Triumph (1917) Film Review - Cinecon 44 Screening

Plot Summary - Melodramatic silent film telling the tale of young Nellie (Dorothy Phillips), wannabee actress from the sticks who encounters a theatrical troupe on her way to NYC to seek her "triumph" on the stage. She meets a producer who is looking for a replacement for an actress who "got married" (so being 1917, of course, she can no longer work). Nell joins the troupe and soon meets a dramatic critic (Lon Chaney) who hopes to get the play he wrote ("Triumph - A Story of the 16th Century in 4 Acts", or something like that) produced - he becomes somewhat of her new Svengali, convincing her that she was given beauty for a reason, to use to get what she wants in life. She immediately sets out to find out exactly what her beauty can do - and uses her feminine wiles to get the producer to stage Chaney's play. Seeing that pretty Nell is pretty much clinging to Chaney all the time, the producer comes to realize he's been used and cans the idea of putting on his rival's play. High melodrama, murder, and pill popping to follow.

Review - This was a decent film, not a great one, but I'm partial to silent films from the teens actually (I love the clothes - and also that feeling of being back in time I get, especially for the really old films) - unfortunately the film is incomplete (the end part lost and summarized on screen via titles), and there was some nitrate decomposition in this. But I did enjoy seeing this film - especially to see one my all-time favorite silent film actors, Lon Chaney, in one of his earlier roles. His immense star quality really shines through, I must say - I love that guy! Rating - 7.5/10 stars

The Home Maker (1925) Film Review - Cinecon 44 Screening

Plot Summary - Eva Knapp (Alice Joyce), great at efficiency - her hubby Lester (Clive Brook), not so great. She spends her time running her house, sewing, helming various ladies social groups, and taking care of her three kids including the youngest, a real little brat named Stevie (he likes to do naughty pranks like throw mud all over the porch steps of a next-door house, where lives a busybody spinster who the kid pronounces he "hates"). Meanwhile Lester's up for a promotion at his office, but his manager decides to promote based on efficiency rather than the usual "seniority" method - so - our man doesn't get his expected promotion (and raise), and unfortunately he is actually sacked a short time later. Disappointed, his wife must continue to scrimp and save to get the family by - and, with no job, hubby has strange thoughts of committing suicide and getting the insurance to help his struggling family. When a neighbor's chimney catches fire, he is on the roof helping to put it out when the idea strikes - fall off the roof on purpose to kill himself, and make it look like an accident (the insurance has a clause not allowing payouts when the policy holder's death was via suicide). A failure yet again - he ends up paralyzed rather than dead, and is now out-of-work and wheelchair bound. For some reason, that wheelchair has bound him to the house, so wifey goes to the Emporium where he used to work and asks for a job for herself as a salesgirl. A huge success and loving her job (she increases sales in her department by 40 percent) - she gets a big promotion and big new salary (3,000 bucks a year). And meanwhile, Lester turns out to be great as a "house husband" - his kids are happy as clams, dad turns his children into "pals", he reads to them, cooks dinner and entertains them at the same time - even little Stevie has a sort of turnaround, wipes that bratty pout expression off his face, and becomes a better kid under dad's kindly care. When dad starts to feel movement coming back to his legs, he must stop anyone from knowing for, being 1925, that would mean going back to their old lifestyle (dad works, mom stays home) - and he just can't let that happen!

Review - Nicely directed by King Baggot, I found this silent melodrama to be an enjoyable watch - very entertaining. I must say, times have certainly changed for the better, since now it's perfectly acceptable for the wife to work if she wants, while the husband stays home (there's more than one "Mr. Mom" just on my street). The acting in this is solid and well done (even little Stevie is well played), the story quite an interesting one. I liked this film a lot. Rating - 9/10 stars

The Blood Ship (1927) Film Review - Cinecon 44 Screening

Plot Summary - Silent film set at sea aboard the "Golden Bough", helmed by a blackhearted and brutal sea captain. When the ship docks in San Francisco, the crew hightails it out of there - but the Captain don't mind, it saves him on paychecks! A new crew has soon been shanghaied from a local tavern with the help of the "Knitting Swede" who runs it (he of the weird hand-knit cap perched atop his head and smirking expression). The new "crew" includes a handsome young man (Richard Arlen) who actually volunteered for this ship - after running into the beautiful runaway daughter (Jacqueline Logan) of the Captain (who quickly gets her and brings her back on board). More shanghaied crew includes a reverend, a blond mop-top Swedish lad, a black man, and another "volunteer" - Newman, a bitter man (Hobart Bosworth) pardoned after 15 years in prison for a murder that was actually committed by the Captain, who was once a friend. He's out for revenge toward the Captain, especially when he realizes that while away in prison the Captain stole his wife and daughter for himself - and that the Captain's daughter is actually his own daughter! And meanwhile, the Captain angrily beats the blond youth after he bumps into the Captain and spills a tray of dishes - and he hogties Newman by the arms via handcuffs and chains, hangs him up, and beats him too. Whoa - what a creepy cretin. All the while, the Captain's "daughter" is disgusted by her pop's behavior as she constantly seems to be standing around ship watching what he's up to (when she's not busy flirting with extremely hunky Richard Arlen).

Review - This is a fine film - the story very entertaining, the acting well done, the setting atmospheric, and the cinematography stylish and interesting - I liked the shot where the camera moves along the row of the newly shanghaied (and miffed looking - surprise) crew showing each of their faces in close-up. The black sailor, played by Blue Washington, seems to be there for comic relief (mainly via politically incorrect title cards). Funny scene - he calls one man "brother" after the guy gets dunked in tar (or something). I thought Hobart Bosworth really stole this film - he's great. Okay, I thought Bosworth was actually, though I believe around sixty years old, kind of sexy (okay, maybe sometimes I have odd taste) - - hey, at least as I get older the men I am attracted to get older (okay, okay - I won't say a word about my crushes on lovely twenty-something James McAvoy or my beautiful Heath Ledger - so sad, still a tear in my eye for my poor, lost love). Screened at Cinecon 44, this was my favorite silent film (along with "Speedy", of course) of the weekend - I would love to see this one out on DVD. I do always enjoy films set aboard ships (especially when there's a "mean" captain - like "The Sea Wolf" and "Mutiny on the Bounty", to name a few) - this is an excellent silent film and was a treat to see. Rating - 9 to 10/10 stars

Acquitted (1929) Film Review - Cinecon 44 Screening

Plot Summary - An early melodrama that opens in the hospital ward at Sing Sing, where prisoner Marian (Margaret Livingston) is drooling over her crush - the young and handsome doctor (Lloyd Hughes) who is treating her. On the day of her release from prison, he comes to say his goodbyes - turns out Doc is a convict himself (she seems a bit disappointed - surprise!). In prison as a "lifer" for murder - he claims he's innocent and asks her to give up her old life and go straight. But - - now sporting a bugle-beaded satin dress, she does go straight - straight back to her old gang, headed by a crime boss who runs a fancy hotel to cover up his thief racket. Turns out she's back with them only to try and find out the truth behind the murder her poor doctor was accused of, which she suspects the old gang had something to do with. The boss is quickly on to her though, so blackmails another gang member to take the rap for the murder and get the doctor out of prison for Marian. Then the boss sets it up for the young Doc to be kidnapped and tries to blackmail Marian (guess what he wants from her?!) into saving her man's life - and she loves him enough to take a big risk! And all the while there's a smart detective constantly lurking around corners trying to bust up the hotel crime ring.

Review - This intriguing early talkie turned out to be quite entertaining and well done - it is stagy, I must say, the dialogue delivered in a quite slow, deliberate speaking style - but it works for the film. There is no background music at all - the only music in this is played on a phonograph or by a nightclub band. An interesting film, well worth seeing. Rating - 8/10 stars

Man of the West (1958) Film Review - Cinecon 44 Screening

Plot Summary - In which rawhide-vested, black cowboy-hatted Link Jones (Gary Cooper) - the strong, silent type - gets mixed up with a gang of seriously rotten men out in the Old West. Riding a train to Fort Worth, his long legs barely fitting into his seat, with plans to use his bag of gold (donated by his small western town) to hire a schoolmarm to bring back to the town. But when bad men try to rob the train while all the "able-bodied" men are off board and loading up lumber (hey, shouldn't these guys have gotten a comped ticket since they had to work?!), three of them - Link, a friendly gambler, and a pretty singer (Julie London) - get left behind when the train breaks away. A hundred miles to the next town, looks like they'll have to walk - but wait, Link knows of a secret farmhouse hidden nearby. They go there only to find the train robbers and Link's aging, crazed in the head, uncle (Lee J. Cobb) there - a very bad man who steals, murders, and the like with his band of three desperadoes. In his younger years, under the tutelage of Uncle, Link was once part of that no-law world of bandits - but he set off on his own to seek a new life, and now lives in happiness with home, wife and kids. Uncle corrals him back into the gang, and let's put it this way - these guys are a real bunch of slimy, dirty cretins. Link fakes cooperation to protect his new pals from the train - but there's little he can do other than uncomfortably sit and watch as one of the men (Jack Lord) forces the girl to undress in stripper style (first the shoes, then the stockings, then the jacket, etc.) as he prompts the poor, distressed woman on brusquely shouting "take off your clothes!" while the bunch of men all sit and stare. Meanwhile, this lonely gal begins to fall for Link - but he's a strong-willed man with family values now. Lots of fights, gun battles, killings, and grave-digging at gunpoint to follow.

Review - Screened on the opening night of Cinecon 44, this entertaining western, directed by Anthony Mann, was a treat to see in very widescreen, CinemaScope splendor. The cinematography is visually interesting and included nice looking color, many of the scenes are actually quite dark, night scenes. The plot is compelling - Lee J. Cobb does a good job playing the grizzled and whacked older uncle to Cooper (Cobb was in reality ten years younger than Cooper!). Of course, Gary Cooper is weathered, yet still very handsome in this; Jack Lord, of Hawaii Five-O, is real good as perhaps the baddest of the bad men - - of course, it did seem like one of the main reasons they put in the stripping scene was to show off Julie London's body - I'm sure the men watching appreciated this (don't get too excited, she's still wearing lots of 1800's undergarments). Quite a good film. Rating - 8/10 stars

Cinecon 44 Film Festival / Convention Review - held in Hollywood, California

Well, another Cinecon has come and gone - I had a good time, as usual, and while this wasn't one of my most favorite Cinecon's, I still saw many interesting films (and no super duds) which I will write up reviews for over the next few days. As usual, I skipped the late night films in order to get home and get some sleep (sad - I had to miss "Tillie's Punctured Romance" which I love, because it was just starting too late and I was worried about getting the last train of the night and then getting only about four or five hours sleep, thus being exhausted the whole Friday). Ah well. The weather (unlike last year's blazing inferno) was much cooler which was a wonderful relief (I was actually able to go outside with by hair down this year instead of a ponytail!) - - I would say one of the two coolest "weather-wise" Cinecon's I have attended. I think this helped me not get quite so exhausted this year - though I was pretty tuckered by the Saturday evening, after very little sleep since Thursday. Here's a few themes I noticed for this year's films: Diamond Smugglers ("Murder in Trinidad", "The Mollycoddle"), married women living in the 1920s who want to work outside the home and the tricks the family has to come up with to allow this to happen ("The Home Maker", "Modern Love"), One Cinecon - Two Films for each (Shemp Howard (as usual), Gary Cooper, Charley Chase, Hobart Bosworth, Eva Novak), Satan and the Jewel ("The Devil's Bait", "The Menace"), Weakling Comes Out of His Shell ("The Mollycoddle", "The Poor Nut"), Man in Prison - Wrongfully Accused of Murder ("Acquitted", "The Menace").

About Hollywood - I have never seen Hollywood Blvd so crowded before - the usual street kids, prostitutes, and bums mixed with a massive amount of tourists (mostly from Europe, it seemed like - strong Euro!) this year. Trying to get down the crowded sidewalk while tourists are taking photos of each other next to some current day star's Walk of Fame "star" (I saw people getting photos with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bugs Bunny's star, to name a few - yeah, I know - strange, Bugs Bunny - and I saw Snow White too - actually has a star), tourists standing on the sidewalk while taking photos of buildings across the street like the Kodak Theatre (what's up with that - "American Idol" fame?!), while I'm dodging the guys trying to push leaflets for tours of the movie stars homes every ten feet - ugh. Yes - the Egyptian Theatre was just as cold as ever and the lunch breaks were on the short side, but I was prepared - sweater in tow, and I even have a nice little sandwich/burger cafe I like to go to that has fast, order at the counter, service - and good food. Oh, the usual bathroom oddity - the line coming out of the men's restroom between movies was sometimes snaking all the way down the hallway and approaching the lobby, while I never had to wait once at the ladies room - just walked right on in! One time this weekend - there was already a line forming at the men's room when I walked by and went into the ladies room, which was completely empty!! Cinecon is the only event I have ever attended where there is a line for the men's bathroom instead of the women's. I guess there's just way more males at Cinecon then females - odd.

And this year's winner for the strangest occurrence on Hollywood Blvd - drum roll - - the walk on the wild side: about eleven at night at the intersection of Hollywood and Highland - hundreds and hundreds of horn-blasting, yelling bicyclists riding down the street and almost not stopping at the stoplight as people were crossing (including me, one bicycle almost hit me), then as I got across the street and was heading towards the metro station, they rode in a huge circle in the intersection by the hundreds, shouting and blocking all cars from moving. I wonder if anyone else at Cinecon saw this oddity? Well, all in all, I really had a great time! Reviews to come.

Go to label "Cinecon 44" where you will find all the reviews I have done for the films shown (adding these as I write them over the next few days) - http://moviereviewstop.blogspot.com/search/label/Cinecon%2044

Rage in Heaven (1941) Film Review

Plot Summary - Psychological melodrama opening in a Paris "clinic for the insane" where the doctor discusses a patient going by the name of "Ward Andrews" who suffers from extreme paranoia and is proclaimed "dangerous", capable of anything - even murder. Okay - that patient escapes before we see him, cut to the English estate of Philip Monrell (Robert Montgomery) who arrives after months abroad to see his aging mother - he brings with him his best friend, one Ward Andrews (George Sanders), who he has just run across in London. The two men meet mother's beautiful new secretary/companion Stella Bergen (Ingrid Bergman) and are soon both courting her. Philip quickly begins to show himself as a bit of a head case - he likes to sit in trees, is afraid of moonlight, and develops a huge, strange jealousy over Stella's attentions to his friend Ward. TWIST / SPOILER - well, I think you may see where this is leading, revealed fairly early in the film, actually - see, it turns out that Philip Monrell likes to pose as his friend sometimes, live as him, feel Ward's success for himself (yeah, sort of a la "Talented Mr. Ripley") - Philip was posing as "Ward Andrews" while in Paris and is actually the insane one. But Ward leaves and Philip takes over the romance and much sooner than you would think is married to Stella and taking over, rather poorly, as manager of the family steel works. Philip is really, very deeply disturbed as he feels everyone is against him and constantly talks about "Ward", questions Stella's love as he accuses her of secretly being in love with Ward, he evens invites Ward to stay with them and "test her". His obsession with Ward is very strange indeed - could the idea of murder being very far off?

Review - This is an okay film - - though it certainly starts a bit slow (I was getting somewhat bored by the middle), the end part definitely becomes quite interesting. Of course, having three top-notch actors play out this weird love triangle certainly helps things along - I actually found it a little hard to not think of George Sanders as the "bad guy", I'm so used to seeing him in more dangerous roles. Okay, a few things about the plot I wonder about - first, why do they make the mother disappear for the majority of the film - first appearances made it seem like she would be more in the story, as Monrell definitely seems like a real "mama's boy" gone nutters. Second, I seriously question why Stella ever married this guy in the first place - he shows signs of jealousy and craziness right from the get-go - at the very least, he seems like a sulking bore and a drag (well, he is Robert Montgomery, one of my favorites I must say - so maybe that helps - spark!). And then there's the cat - sad; this is one extremely twisted fellow. A decent film, worth a watch. Rating - 7/10 stars

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (2008) Film Review

Plot Summary - Period farce set in 1930s London at the brink of WWII. In which frumpy Guinevere Pettigrew (Frances McDormand), currently on the streets and eating in soup kitchens after several lost jobs as a governess, gets herself hired on as new "social secretary" to dizzy starlet/singer/wannabee actress Delysia LaFosse (Amy Adams), who thinks Miss Pettigrew previously worked for Carole Lombard. Miss Pettigrew proceeds to help Delysia juggle three men - one a successful nightclub owner, the second a young producer who is putting on a new West End show and promises to put Delysia in the lead (after she spent the night with him, of course), and the third a piano player who is Delysia's best friend and only love. With a natural knack for helping the people in this new and glamorous world, one day is all it takes for wise Miss Pettigrew to help change Delysia LaFosse's life and Delysia to help change hers, with the help of a makeover and a trip to a fashion show where Miss Pettigrew meets a handsome lingerie designer.

Review - As this film first started I wasn't too into it, but it grew on me and ended up being reasonably good, helped along by some interesting photography and well done period settings including fancy art deco styling, attractive 30s costuming, and nicely lit nightclub scene, swinging with big band music. The film is also helped along by good performances by Frances McDormand and Amy Adams, as well as a camaraderie between the two. Okay film - though a few complaints: though the story held my interest, this seemed like it was supposed to be sort of a comedy/farce but I didn't find the film particularly funny or even that amusing, second: well, it wasn't too bad, but this was yet another film with British accents where I had to play the English subtitles to help follow the dialogue (otherwise I find I have to keep backing up the film to understand what was said). I don't know if it's the way they mix sound on films now, but I have found more and more (including American accented current day films) where it's hard to understand what people are saying. Rating - 6 to 7/10 stars

The Outlaw and His Wife (1918) Film Review

Plot Summary - Swedish silent film - - a romantic melodrama set in Iceland in the mid-18th century and based on historical events, according to the title cards. The film is directed by and stars Victor Sjostrom who plays Kari, a stranger in search of work who arrives at the farm of Halla, a wealthy widow, where he is hired on as a laborer. Halla's brother-in-law, the Bailiff, wants to marry her so they can join together their two successful farms into one property (I would guess there is another reason he wants the marriage as well!). But the Bailiff is a big jerk who Halla dislikes and - more importantly - she has become totally smitten with Kari, who she suddenly declares farm foreman. One day Kari is recognized as actually being Ejvind, a thief from the south who escaped after being thrown in prison (a dirty hole under a floor, by the looks of it) for ten years for stealing a sheep to feed his poverty-stricken family. Halla asks Kari to marry her and he, at first, refuses - but he admits the truth of his past to her and she helps hide him when the Bailiff and his men arrive to take him into custody. After Kari declares his love for her, she decides to give up her home and escape with Kari into the mountains to hide and live in happiness together as outlaws (and have a baby together). Problems to come, including a fellow outlaw who joins up with the happy trio and looks at Halla with a very lustful eye indeed.

Review - This is a fine film, the time come to life with period costumes and scenic outdoor location photography full of rugged mountains, rushing waterfalls, fjords, and raging blizzard. I thought the film got much better as it progressed and really got into the story - the end part is a kicker. I thought before watching this that I had never seen this film before - but so many scenes were familiar, that I must have seen this at one time. SPOILER SPOILER - okay, the "wrestling match" between Kari and the Bailiff was a bit weird, but much weirder - why does Halla have to throw her child over a cliff rather than risk capture by the Bailiff and men - does she know something about that Bailiff guy (the scoundrel) that we don't know?! END SPOILER. The Kino DVD of this features an okay (not great) looking, mainly sepia tinted, print and stereo orchestral score that suits the story and is pretty good for the most part (a few scenes the score got on my nerves slightly). The intertitles were a bit quick several times (had to pause the DVD on some of the longer passages). Rating - 9 to 10/10 stars

Nim's Island (2008) Film Review

Plot Summary - Abigail Breslin stars as Nim, an eleven-year old who lives on an isolated South Pacific island with just her dad, a successful marine biologist who wants no one in the world to know where their secret island is located. Despite their isolation, Nim runs about the island as happy as a clam and spends loads of time keeping up with her favorite writer's latest Alex Rover adventure story. One day dad takes off on his small boat for a solo two-day "expedition", leaving the extremely self-reliant Nim to fend alone. Well - not exactly alone, see, Nim has a number of island "pals" to play with, including a rather smart sea lion, lizard that rides on her shoulder, sea turtle, and pelican. A huge monsoon hits that night leaving dad alive, but his boat in very poor shape (luckily he has Nim's pelican friend to help out). Meanwhile Nim's dad gets an email from, of all things, Alex Rover (Jodie Foster), who needs help with her newest adventure story. Nim thinks Alex Rover is a real adventurer - and a man. After a few emails Alex realizes that Nim is a child - and alone on the island, her dad has not returned. So - Alex sets out to reach the island herself, a pretty harrowing trip it turns out, and here's the rub - Alex is hardly the adventurer sort, since she's a recluse with a bad case of agoraphobia who never leaves her house (she also seems to have a germ phobia). And meanwhile Nim is forced to single-handedly protect the island from an invading tour company that has brought a bunch of tourists there for a sort of "island adventure".

Review - This is an entertaining family adventure that went by fast - the island scenery looked pretty, the orchestral score is nice, the house they live in is interesting. I really like Abigail Breslin - she's certainly a child star with a lot of star quality. Jodie Foster is good, though her character is so hyper and nervous, it got on my nerves a bit. Part of the story involves her having conversations with the character from her books - a real Indiana Jones sort of fellow with a Scottish accent. One small complaint - the animals in this were just a bit too Disney cute (yeah, they sort of "talk" sometimes) and smart (that's got to be the smartest pelican in the world!) to be completely realistic - but that part of the story would be good for kids, so I really can't complain since this is a family film. One thing I wonder about - one of the reason's Nim asks Alex to come to the island to help her is this extremely bad gash she has just gotten on her leg, but when Alex gets there, it's never mentioned. Hmmm. Rating - 7 stars

The Gang's All Here (1943) Film Review

Plot Summary - Fun and brightly colored WWII Technicolor musical extravaganza, directed by Busby Berkeley and starring Alice Faye as a showgirl who works at "The Club New Yorker" and also dances several nights a week with the servicemen at the nearby (she can get there between performances) Broadway Canteen. A good-looking young sergeant sees her at the nightclub, then follows her to the Canteen where he makes his moves until she agrees to go out with him later that night - after a goodnight kiss, she falls for him. Off he goes to fight in the Pacific where he comes back a hero and his well-to-do dad (Eugene Pallette) invites all the performers from the Club New Yorker to stay at his estate and perform at a big welcome-home party where they sell war bonds for admission. But really - the plot in this is pretty much the side stuff in which to pull together a bevy of musical numbers - as the trailer for this film says with "8 Great Hit Parade Songs".

Review - This film is light-hearted and fun to watch, mainly for the many musical performances which feature vocal numbers by Alice Faye, including several renditions of "A Journey to a Star", the great Benny Goodman and his Orchestra performing numbers like "Minnie's in the Money" while several young couples jitterbug, more dance numbers and Busby Berkeley showstoppers starring the "Brazilian Bombshell" Carmen Miranda who sings and dances her way through several numbers while wearing a variety of bare midriff dresses with pom poms and sequins, arms halfway covered in bangles, very high gold platform shoes, and her famous big and wild hats, plus a big finale - which is all about the "polka dot", Busby Berkeley style. The Club New Yorker looks like such a fun place to go! This film includes the famous number "The Lady in the Tutti Frutti Hat" where bathing beauties make Busby Berkeley style formations with giant bananas and strawberries and Carmen Miranda appears with this huge backdrop of bananas that looks like a gigantic banana hat on her head - pretty neat stuff!

- - - Miranda is a scene-stealer as she plays the character Dorita, who has many amusing lines based around her very thick Brazilian accent. Eugene Pallette and Edward Everett Horton steal some scenes themselves as two Wall Street businessmen who at the beginning of the film are seen in the Club New Yorker but Horton is "strictly business" and never seen in places like that - Pallette says "Don't be a square from Delaware - get hep to yourself" as he "heard on a jukebox" - ah, I love that 40s slang (Horton ends up dancing with Miranda and gets his picture in the paper!). I love Alice Faye - she's so glamorous and lovely, I love the deep tones of her singing voice. A noticeable goof in this film - Alice Faye calls her sergeant friend "Andy" several times in the scene where she is saying goodbye to him in the train station - but at that point of the film she thinks his name is "Casey" (and that's a whole subplot involving his childhood sweetheart who unknowingly "shares" the same boyfriend as Faye's character). The DVD of this, a Netflix rental (the first one they sent me arrived cracked, had to send for a replacement - I hate when that happens), has a really nice looking print - the Technicolor absolutely pops, wow! Good fun, 40s style. Rating - 8 stars

Upcoming - Cinecon 44 Classic Film Festival in Hollywood, California

Well, my how time flies - less than three weeks to go until I'm off to attend another Cinecon - I've been going every year for years now. Five days in the dark, watching silent, precode, and classic films all day and evening in the (ice cold) Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood - I love it! This year's festival starts Thursday, August 28th and runs into the late afternoon of September 1st, 2008. Some of the films have been announced on their website and I'm pretty excited. Two silent films that I love - Harold Lloyd in The Freshman (1925) and Charlie Chaplin in Tillie's Punctured Romance (1914) - though I've seen both of these films a number of times already (especially "The Freshman"), it will be nice to see them on the big screen. Other interesting silents I haven't seen yet including Larry Semon in Spuds (1927), Triumph (1917) with Lon Chaney, The Blood Ship (1927), Douglas Fairbanks in The Mollycoddle (1920), and oh so many more goodies. Talkies include the musical Sing, Baby, Sing (1936) starring Alice Faye, and Hollywood Speaks (1932). Lots of comedies this year. Many more films will be shown, plus a selection of classic shorts. I am looking forward to Cinecon, as usual - I always have a great time. Cinecon 44 website - http://www.cinecon.org/

Update, Aug. 27, 2008 - Cinecon starts tomorrow! Here is the schedule -http://www.cinecon.org/cinecon_schedule.html
A few of the films I mentioned above as originally announced did not make it to this year's schedule - The Freshman has been replaced by Harold Lloyd's Speedy (1928), which I also like (and have seen a whole bunch of times already). No Spuds or Hollywood Speaks - there is The Home Maker (1925) and Rain or Shine (193o).

Update, September 2, 2008 - go to label "Cinecon 44" for my full Cinecon 44 review - http://moviereviewstop.blogspot.com/search/label/Cinecon%2044

Mata Hari (1931) - Film Review

Plot Summary - Romance and intrigue in war-ridden France, 1917, where spies and traitors are shot by firing squad and Mata Hari (Greta Garbo), exotic dancer, spy, and clotheshorse, uses her seductive charms to bewitch men and steal important dispatches. Slinking around in a bevy of tight-fitting silk, satin, and metallic lame sequined gowns, dangle earrings, and bejeweled skull caps, she is pursued by a Russian general (Lionel Barrymore) who seduces her with iced caviar and chilled champagne - but - a Russian flyboy/spy arrives in Paris who interests her even more: youthful Alexis (Ramon Novarro) who starts chasing her around like a lovestruck schoolboy, and it works out for him 'cause he's mighty handsome indeed. Mata Hari has been warned by the leader of her network of spies that "a spy should never fall in love", so she stays the night with Alexis a couple of times, only to hurt his feelings the next day by giving him the brush-off. Troubles in the big wide world of espionage to follow.

Review - This is an entertaining pre-code film that went by fast - the story features a lot of "spy business" that's a little hard to follow, but the film is quite appealing for it's visual style and mostly for Garbo, who looks gorgeous and dominates the screen in every scene she's in. I love seeing the variety of fantastic outfits she appears in, the costumes (done by Adrian) are definitely one of the more interesting aspects of this film - - though I do have to say, in the way often done in films made at this time, her clothes are more thirties style than WWI. The cinematography and atmospheric lighting in the film is well done, enhancing Garbo's beauty as she lights up the screen in some extreme facial close-ups. Silent era heartthrob Ramon Novarro is still looking pretty hunky here too, I must say, and - okay, he's meant to be a Russian, but speaks with a cute Spanish accent. A slightly campy, fun to watch film. Rating - 8 stars

Ingeborg Holm (1913) - Film Review

Plot Summary - This Swedish silent film opens as we meet an idyllic, happy family working in their allotment garden - mom, dad, and three cute kids, all clothed in charming 1910-era attire. The dad has been given a loan to open a grocery store, but just as he's busy preparing his shop for opening he has an attack and is down in his sick bed suffering from a hemorrhage. But it gets worse, much worse - an "uninvited guest" arrives, death. With dad gone, the mother - Ingeborg Holm - must run the store herself and soon can't pay her bills in spite of her hard work. Bankruptcy comes next - and it gets worse! When she gets ill she is forced to seek public assistance and ends up a pauper living in a workhouse. And it gets worse - her family is broken apart, each child sent to live with a different foster family. Soon her daughter is sick and in need of an operation the public agency won't pay for - and mama runs away from the workhouse to see the child. And it gets worse !!!

Review - Okay - the story in this film is as big a tragedy as you can get, it's just one thing after another for this poor woman. The story is gripping, though pretty depressing. But - I love that ride back in time to nearly a hundred years ago - the clothing, the hats, the furniture, the vintage cash register in the shop - all neat to look at. This film is quite advanced for it's early year - very well directed by Victor Sjostrom, with nice cinematography. Okay, so the kids (and an adult once or twice) do glance at the camera a few times - but I must say, the youngest child in this is a really adorable little red-headed tyke - at only about two-years old he pretty much steals every scene he's in. A few questions I have about this story though - first, how come the doctor writes a note to the "poverty relief" board that Ingeborg is sick with a stomach ulcer and can't earn a living, but she goes to live at the workhouse and is seen, well, working. If she can work there - why can't she seek a real job? Second, why does she have a hired workman in the grocery store after dad has died - if she is struggling that much, couldn't she handle the work load on her own (after all, it didn't look very busy in the store, and the worker is seen flirting with a woman, giving free treats, and driving away another customer - so he's no great shakes!). Third, how come the constable chases down Ingeborg when she runs away from the workhouse - she decided to go there, why is she being treated like a prisoner? The Kino DVD of this movie (on the same disc as "A Man There Was") features a pretty decent looking print, with just a bit of fading and nitrate decomposition here and there. The music that accompanies this film is a well done, mostly piano score by David Drazin. Rating - 8 to 9/10 stars

Reducing (1931) - Film Review

Plot Summary - Comedy/melodrama starring Marie Dressler and Polly Moran as two sisters, Marie and Polly, who haven't seen each other in years - now hard-up for cash, Marie and her family travel from South Bend to New York to stay with sis Polly, who runs a successful beauty parlor business. Marie's family including husband Elmer, beautiful twentyish daughter Vivian (Anita Page), and two rambunctious young boys are plenty loud and cause lots of havoc and typical filmland trouble in the upper berths they are sharing on the train. On arrival, Polly's stuck-up daughter Joyce (Sally Eilers) thinks her relations are "awful people" and soon Marie and Polly are living together, working together, bickering and quarreling to the breaking point. The film takes a turn for the more melodramatic when real trouble comes between the two daughters in the form of Joyce's rich playboy boyfriend who meets Vivian one evening and is soon in hot pursuit of her.

Review - This film is light entertainment, a fun watch featuring quite a bit of slapstick in the earlier scenes followed by some more serious melodrama later in the film. The "reducing parlor" that Polly runs includes a bevy of quack treatments and contraptions not limited to a reducing track, mud bath, electric belt, steam cabinet, plaster treatments, salt baths, cold showers - and of course, an opening shot of the parlor featuring a blonde exercising in a "reducing belt" - oh what fun! Marie Dressler has a face so full of expression in this, she's really entertaining to watch - she and Polly Moran have a chemistry together that makes them seem like real (yes quarrelsome) sisters. Actress Anita Page, who goes back to the silent era, is a lovely and appealing star who is still living, and today just happened to be her 98th birthday! Rating - 7 stars

Let Us Be Gay (1930) Film Review

Plot Summary - Precode drawing room melodrama starring Norma Shearer as Kitty Brown, dowdy and devoted mother and wife to cad Bob Brown (Rod LaRocque), currently having an affair with a fur-clad glamour girl. Devastated Kitty finds out about the affair and divorces Bob. Cut to three years later - Kitty returns from Paris having undergone a complete makeover and new personality. Now stylish, glamorous, man-hopping, and jaded - she arrives for a weekend stay with a wealthy, eccentric dowager (Marie Dressler) whose parlour is always full with an assortment of characters of the tennis set variety. Dressler's character asks Kitty, a great man trapper these days, to work her wiles to take away an undesirable suitor from her soon-to-be-married-to-a-more-desirable-man granddaughter. The twist - the suitor, also a weekend guest, is Kitty's ex. They keep the secret from the other guests though, as popular Kitty spends the weekend constantly surrounded by most of the males as Bob glares jealously nearby.

Review - This film is quite entertaining fare - it's completely "owned" by Shearer who is in most scenes and gives a captivating performance (though I must say, Marie Dressler does steal some scenes here and there). Shearer even allows herself to appear with unflattering hairstyle, no makeup, frumpy attire, and nearly unrecognizable in the earlier scenes of this film (she makes up for it later wearing a bevy of glamorous gowns and a moon lit, biased-cut satin negligee). Silent star Rod La Rocque is still handsome, though his acting is just tolerable here. Watch for a very young Dickie Moore as Shearer's little son in the beginning of the film. Good movie. Rating - 8 to 9 stars

The Girl Said No (1930) Film Review

Watched three films today starring comic actress Marie Dressler, a day of her films being featured on TCM. First up, "The Girl Said No".
Plot Summary - "The Town Cut-Up". William Haines appears as Tom Ward, recent college graduate - a flamboyant, wild, cocky jokester who is immature, loud and *plenty* obnoxious. He hangs with a lively young crowd who like to go out drinking and partying - one evening a former fellow student, disliked for his straight A's, arrives at the nightclub his gang are at, accompanied by a beautiful blonde named Mary (Leila Hyams). Tom is immediately all over this poor gal, grabbing her, forcing kisses on her, he even brings her to tears. He tells her "she's passing up a good bet" (ha!). The next day he arrives at the office where she works as a secretary and continues to badger her - she hates him, but - of course - in the way often seen in filmland, she starts to secretly sort of like him. Amazing. Tom actually gets hired at her office as a bond salesman, his career throughout the film seems to be on very shaky ground (it's sort of hard to follow what job or lack of job he currently has at any particular point) - and she continues to push him away, though he continually proclaims his "love" for her. When trouble comes to his family and money is hard to come by, Tom tries to grow-up - but he seems nearly the same as always to me (angrily throwing a phone through a glass door because of jealousy - not exactly mature).

Review - I thought this film was reasonably entertaining. William Haines, who started his career in the silent era, is quite good in this - his character is very unlikable I thought - and Haines, usually playing a more appealing (though often cocky) personality, does a really good job in bringing that to life. Marie Dressler practically steals the show in a short but memorable scene where she plays a wealthy woman being treated by Haines, who, posing as a doctor, doses her with alcohol to get her to buy one of his bonds. Rating - 7 stars