The Servant (1963) Film Review - Dirk Bogarde

Plot Summary - Unusual UK drama about a well-to-do young bachelor, Tony (James Fox), just returned from Africa, who hires a live-in manservant named Barrett (Dirk Bogarde) to work for him in his newly acquired London apartment. Barrett, seemingly the perfect gentleman's gentleman, takes pride in his cooking (especially his souffles), is knowledgeable on decorating (so advises on the decoration process for the new digs), is well groomed and well dressed. But as the film progresses, you oh so subtly see a sort of dark side to Barrett. Soon a conflict arises between Barrett and Tony's rather bitchy fiancee (Wendy Craig) who is really pretty rude to Barrett and wishes he could "live out". Barrett brings his "sister" Vera (Sarah Miles) in as the new maid, but it's pretty obvious that she's not exactly sisterly towards him - meanwhile, sexy Vera seduces vulnerable Tony and he's completely smitten, but when Vera and Barrett get caught in the act together, in Tony's bedroom no less, they are sacked. Barrett is not one to give up easily and soon has begged and lied his way back to work as Tony's manservant - and soon a very odd relationship has developed between the two men as the roles of master and servant have seemingly flipped.

Review - Filmed in black and white, with interesting, stylish photography (a number of shots taken into mirrors, stuff like that). Dirk Bogarde gives a great performance in this film - well, he's always good! One of my favorite actors - and very handsome to look at, I must say. The print of this, as screened on TCM, looked very good. Rating - 9/10 stars

Doctor in the House (1954) Film Review - Dirk Bogarde

Plot Summary - British comedy following the adventures of handsome, young Simon Sparrow (Dirk Bogarde) and his five years as a medical student at St. Swithins Hospital, London. From his arrival for his first term at medical school, lost, late to his first lecture, but soon shown the ropes by three students who keep returning year after year from failing their exams. These return students are more interested in girls, football, and the local pub than actually becoming doctors, it seems. Simon acquires living quarters at a boarding house where he is chased by the landlady's daughter, an aggressive and beautiful blonde - our Simon wants none of that so moves in with the three fellows into their messy rooms, complete with female fiancee of one of the guys who seems to share the bathroom. As our men progress through the school years we see them deal with practicing on patients, exams, women, stern doctors, and an even sterner nurse in the form of Sister Virtue. His friends try to find Simon a girl, he's more interested in his studies but does go out on a few failed dates, finally actually ending up liking a pretty nurse named Joy.

Review - Slapstick-ish comedy includes a skeleton on the bus and rescue of the school mascot (hideous stuffed gorilla) through the streets of London. Amusing, entertaining film boosted up by wonderful Dirk Bogarde, one of my personal favorites. Amusing comedienne Joan Sims appears in the tiny cameo role of nurse "Rigor Mortis", hehe. Filmed in Technicolor, with lots of location scenes in London - the print, as screened on TCM, looked nice. An enjoyable watch, I haven't actually seen this one in many years. A fun romp. Rating - 8.5 to 9/10 stars

The Soloist (2009) Film Review - Jamie Foxx

Plot Summary - Los Angeles Times reporter Steve Lopez (Robert Downey Jr.), hanging in Pershing Square, meets a homeless man named Nathaniel (Jamie Foxx) who talks to himself in nonsense streaming sentences and plays the violin on the streets of L.A., and it turns out he was once a music student at Julliard, several decades before. Lopez decides to devote his weekly column to this man, tries to find out what lead him to this down and out state, and tries to help him. After the first column, a reader sends Nathaniel her cello, Lopez finds him a shelter where the instrument will be safe, and eventually finds him a small apartment. But what he really wants to do is help cure Nathaniel of his mental illness/schizophrenia, though an unwilling Nathaniel makes that a hard nut to crack.

Review - Nicely photographed in the L.A. streets, including some interesting and colorful overhead tracking shots. Interesting story and very well acted by all - Jamie Foxx is particular good in this film. The scenes of Skid Row are odd, kind of scary, colorful, dirty and realistic looking. Rating - 8.5/10 stars

Fragments (2008) aka Winged Creatures - Film Review

Plot Summary - In a Southern California town, a gunman enters a diner/coffee shop and shoots victims at random; those left living through the ordeal are left living fragmented lives - stress and shock seemingly leading this small bunch to odd behavior patterns. First there's tween-age Annie (Dakota Fanning), struggling with the death of her dad in the incident, as she and her friend Jimmy (Josh Hutcherson) hid under the table they were eating at - - after the shooting, Annie becomes a religious fanatic, Jimmy won't talk. Then there's Charlie (Forest Whitaker), gunshot to the neck, wanders out of the hospital and straight to the Indian casinos where he begins a lucky gambling streak shooting craps. Waitress Carla (Kate Beckinsale) wasn't hurt physically in the incident, but begins to chase after the doctor who tended to the victims afterwards, who by coincidence was in the diner 20 minutes before the shooting. Meanwhile, Doc is busy sneaking drugs into his girlfriend's food to give her migraine headaches (huh?!).

Review - This film is well done and was fairly interesting, though the tale ended up being confusing with segments of the story that just never made sense or were explained. The film benefits from having a fine cast of actors and the style and on-location scenes look good. The plotline switches between the different characters and their reactions to this tragedy. The film also features Jackie Earle Haley as Jimmy's dad (pretty small role) and Jennifer Hudson as Charlie's daughter. Reasonably good, though flawed. Rating - 7.5/10 stars

De Luxe Annie (1918) Silent Film Review - Cinecon 45 Screening

Plot Summary - Silent crime melodrama. Julie and Walter Kendal (Norma Talmadge and Frank Mills) - she a sweetheart, wife and mother - he, a man interested in theories on crime, the causes and effects. Walter believes that a sudden shock can lead a person to a life of crime - his theory is about to be tested. One night he sets out to track a couple of baddies known as De Luxe Annie and Jimmy (Eugene O'Brien), who like to pull con games such as the "Old Badger" game and "De Luxe Book" game, on innocent victims. Walter undercover, arrives pretending he's interested in purchasing a deluxe edition of a classic book from Annie - the con underway, as Jimmy shows up pretending to be an angry husband wondering why a man is alone in the apartment with his wife; Jimmy asks for hush money to keep it out of the papers. Meanwhile, Julie at home has a nightmare her man is in trouble - so she heads over to help him, ends up knocked out from a fight with the bad people, then out into the night with amnesia - no memory of her past! Next thing you know she's cleaning rooms at a lodging house and happens to be cleaning up Jimmy's room, where she tries to steal a pile of dough and a watch - but he arrives to catch her holding his goods, and deciding she'd make a good little partner for his schemes, he recruits her to join forces with him to pull the De Luxe book game. So Julie heads into a life of crime, but still has vague notions in her head of a different past - she pinches a brooch she feels should be hers (and it was!), and in an action-packed finale Jimmie and Julie escape via ice skates to keep the hounds from tracking their scent, ending up at her own, forgotten house. Meanwhile hubby Walter has become aware that his wife has no clue who she is, and is pulling crimes - and he seeks to help her get the operation she needs to restore her memory.

Review - This is a worthwhile watch, a very melodramatic plot-line typical of the time period this film was made. There was some interesting photography and editing I noticed - one interesting shot I'm remembering is the superimposed image of Talmadge as Julie in one corner while she is having her nightmare. The print had some nitrate decomposition during one reel. Norma Talmadge, in this film, kept reminding me of current day actress Natalie Portman - very similar look. She does a very good job in her part in this film, I thought. AFTER NOTE: Okay - I recently saw the British film "Easy Virtue (2008)" and one of the actresses in this, Charlotte Riley, really did look exactly like Norma Talmadge - and now that I think of it, she was in the recent Brit version of Wuthering Heights, which I saw about a month before Cinecon 45 - it was her that I was reminded of while watching "De Luxe Annie". Rating - 8/10 stars

The Bride Comes Home (1936) Film Review - Cinecon 45 Screening

Plot Summary - POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD - - Screwball comedy love triangle. Grown-up wealthy girl Jeannette (Claudette Colbert) has to go to work 'cause her daddy's out of money. Her friend Jack (Robert Young) has just inherited three and a half million dollars and decides to start up a magazine - "The Man" ("for the working man") - with his brooding bodyguard Cyrus (Fred MacMurray) - hired for the last two years to finish all the fights that Jack starts. With a major crush on attractive Jeannette, Jack hires her to be Cyrus' assistant on the magazine. Cyrus thinks of her as just a rich society girl taking a job on a lark - so he treats her rough by giving her time-waster idiot tasks to complete, like counting names in the phone book. When he finds out she actually needs the job to eat - he feels bad, but the damage is done - she hates him. Well, in the way of all filmland - since she hates him, you just know they'll end up a couple. And so it is - despite all their bickering, they soon declare their love for each other. With plans to be married the next afternoon, she arrives at his bachelor apartment in the morning to find it a big, cluttered up, dirty mess. While she's cleaning up, Cyrus arrives early with the Minister (who is on a very tight time schedule) - but she's all dirtied up in housecleaning attire, won't marry him until she gets cleaned up, and a huge fight breaks out cancelling the marriage plans. Friend Jack steps in to lay claim to his longtime love - and, catching her on the rebound, she is convinced into marrying him. Now follows a wild race, screwball finale - with Cyril and Jeannette's dad racing on motorcycle to get out-of-town and to the home of the Justice of the Peace before Jeannette ends up married to the wrong fellow. Luckily Jeannette and Jack are in the process of being married by the slowest, most long-winded Justice of the Peace on record.

Review - With Claudette Colbert in the lead, it would be hard for this to not be a pretty good film - especially when you add on Robert Young and Fred MacMurray as her co-stars. The film is a nicely done romantic comedy with a bit of the screwball to it - - it is, oddly, a rarely seen film. One thing I must say though, I grew up on Fred MacMurray and Robert Young as father figure types being a young sitcom fan who spent lots of time watching old shows like "Father Knows Best" and "My Three Sons" - so it's still kinda hard for me to see these guys as romantic lead figures! The Justice of the Peace is amusingly played by Edgar Kennedy - and yes, he does his famous slow-burn in this. Rating - 8/10 stars

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