Tonight's Movie: The Sleeping City (1950) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

Last month I reviewed THE PRICE OF FEAR (1956) from Kino Lorber's recently released The Dark Side of Cinema II collection.

I'll be returning to that set to review the other two films, THUNDER ON THE HILL (1951) and THE FEMALE ANIMAL (1958). First, however, I wanted to call attention to the news that Kino Lorber released The Dark Side of Cinema III this month.

The three titles in the latest set are THE LADY GAMBLES (1949) with Barbara Stanwyck; one of my personal favorites, ABANDONED (1949), with Dennis O'Keefe, Gale Storm, Jeff Chandler, and Raymond Burr; and the film I'm reviewing this evening, THE SLEEPING CITY (1950), starring Richard Conte and Coleen Gray.

I first saw THE SLEEPING CITY back in 2012. The copy I saw had been recorded from American Movie Classics back in its commercial-free days. What a pleasure to return to the film tonight thanks to Kino Lorber's terrific new Blu-ray release! Grungy Bellevue Hospital, where much of the film was shot, gleams as much as it's possible to do here.

I really enjoy this movie, in which Conte plays a Fred Rowan, a detective working under deep cover to solve the murder of a New York City hospital intern.

Rowan had a couple years of pre-med education as well as experience in the medical corps during World War II, which enabled him to assume the identity of Dr. Fred Gilbert, a recent graduate of USC Medical School who has relocated from Los Angeles to New York to serve an internship.

Rowan is told that if he gets into a medical situation he can't handle he'll have to break his cover, but he manages to cope thanks to following the lead of an experienced nurse.

While Rowan works to solve the first killing, another intern dies unexpectedly. Rowan's in increasing danger himself as he's pulled deeper into a dark situation at the hospital.

I like this movie tremendously. Conte is terrific, and the situations his character finds himself in are fascinating. I especially enjoyed a scene early on where he's quizzed about the background of his assumed identity. Not having been briefed on his father's supposed occupation, he invents on the fly that dear old dad is an electrician working for "motion picture companies."

The location shooting in and around New York's Bellevue Hospital is also a huge plus, including the tour that Rowan takes of the facility along with other new interns. Fantastic stuff. I also loved a scene where Conte and Gray eat at the Automat.

As I noted at the time of my previous viewing, the only real issue with this 86-minute film is that the women's roles, nurses played by Gray and Peggy Dow, seem strangely truncated. The development of their relationships with the detective left me feeling that each of them had scenes left on the cutting-room floor. I'm hoping that the commentary track by the always-interesting Imogen Sara Smith might shed some light on that when I listen to it in the next few days.

THE SLEEPING CITY was directed by George Sherman. It was filmed in black and white by William Miller. The original story and screenplay were by Jo Eisinger.

The supporting cast includes John Alexander, Alex Nicol, and Richard Taber.

In addition to the previously mentioned commentary, disc extras include the trailer and a trailer for another New York based film noir available from Kino Lorber, CRY OF THE CITY (1948). Conte starred in CRY OF THE CITY along with Victor Mature, and I recommend the film highly.

Film noir fans will want to note that The Dark Side of Cinema IV collection will be out on July 14th, featuring CALCUTTA (1946), AN ACT OF MURDER (1948), and SIX BRIDGES TO CROSS (1955). I'll be spending a great deal of quality time with the "dark side of cinema" this summer thanks to Kino Lorber!

Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray.

Around the Blogosphere This Week

Miscellaneous bits of news and fun stuff from around the internet...

...Happiest birthday wishes to June Lockhart, who turned 95 on Thursday, June 25th. My tribute from the occasion of her 90th birthday may be found here.

...Christopher Nolan's new film TENET (2020), originally scheduled for theatrical release on July 17th, had recently rescheduled to July 31st. It was just announced it's been pushed back a couple more weeks, to August 12th. That news was quickly followed by Disney announcing the studio is delaying the release of the live-action MULAN (2020) from July 24th to August 21st.

...Musso & Frank Grill reopened yesterday, June 26th. Like many California restaurants, it's been closed since mid-March due to the pandemic. The 101-year-old Hollywood restaurant posted a letter to customers on its website.

...As anticipated, the Star Wars Celebration I was due to attend in Anaheim this August has been postponed. It will take place in 2022.

...Recently published by Bear Manor Media: ADAMANT: THE LIFE AND PURSUITS OF DOROTHY MCGUIRE by Giancarlo Stampalia. McGuire fans should also be aware that it doesn't sound like a typical biography: "ADAMANT is intended not as a definitive biography, but rather as an attempt, which investigates, reveals and examines, with microscopic tenacity, the many facets of McGuire’s personal and professional history... The loose strands of philosophical, literary and spiritual leitmotifs that are woven through the book’s exploration and culminate in its unusual conclusion make it less a biography than a moral, or alchemical, study of Dorothy McGuire. This loving tribute takes the metaphysical route and makes observations not only about its immediate subject but also about the art of acting, personal evolution and virtues, and, most importantly, the act itself of writing a biography."

...Speaking of Dorothy McGuire, here's a nice older post on her classic film CLAUDIA (1943) at Dominique Revue's "Cinema Coffee."

...Thanks to Andy at Journeys in Darkness and Light for the heads up on an interesting upcoming Blu-ray release: Inner Sanctum Mysteries, a six-film set. Blu-ray.com shows it releasing in July, while Amazon has a September release date. All six films star Lon Chaney Jr., and the supporting casts include Patricia Morison, Paul Kelly, Anne Gwynne, Jean Parker, and many more familiar faces. (September Update: Amazon now shows the Blu-ray set releasing October 20, 2020.)

...Back in 2016 I covered the absurd California law which prevented IMDb from publishing actors' ages on IMDb Pro accounts. I was amazed the law was passed as, among other things, it seemed a clear violation of the First Amendment. It's taken a while, but last week the 9th Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals struck down the law as unconstitutional.

...Coming to Blu-ray in September from the Criterion Collection: BRUTE FORCE (1947) and THE NAKED CITY (1948).

...The Bowers Museum in Santa Ana reopened a few days ago. Its current big exhibit, Inside the Walt Disney Archives, originally due to close at the end of August, has been extended through mid-October.

...The Academy Museum in Los Angeles is now scheduled to open in April 2021. My husband and I certainly didn't envision, when we became charter members in March of last year, that we wouldn't be able to visit for over two full years! Some of the delay has been due to the museum's own planning and construction issues, while of course more recently COVID is to blame as well. All membership terms have been adjusted to reflect the new date.

...Did you know that the dress worn by Glinda the Good Witch (Billie Burke) in THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939) was previously worn by Jeanette MacDonald in SAN FRANCISCO (1936)? Fascinating stuff.

...Coming from Kino Lorber's Studio Classics line in September: The Cary Grant Collection, consisting of LADIES SHOULD LISTEN (1934), WEDDING PRESENT (1936), and BIG BROWN EYES (1936). I reviewed DVD editions of the latter two films in 2008 and look forward to revisiting them. WEDDING PRESENT will have a commentary track by Kat Ellinger, while BIG BROWN EYES will have a track by Nick Pinkerton.

...Here's a piece on Hayley Mills by former Los Angeles Times classic film writer Susan King, written for TCM's Tumblr page.

...Notable Passings: Britain's beloved World War II songstress Vera Lynn has passed on at the age of 103. In 2013 I reviewed her in the film WE'LL MEET AGAIN (1943), which takes its title from her most famous song...I've seen reports this morning of the passing of actress Taryn Power at the age of 66. Power, whose best-known film was SINBAD AND THE EYE OF THE TIGER (1977) with Patrick Wayne and Jane Seymour, was the daughter of Tyrone Power and Linda Christian. Survivors include her sister, Romina Power, and her half-brother Tyrone Power Jr.

...There was no Around the Blogosphere roundup last weekend. Additional links of interest to classic film fans were most recently posted here on June 13th.

Have a great week!

Tonight's Movie: Diana Kennedy: Nothing Fancy (2019) - A Kino Lorber DVD Review

DIANA KENNEDY: NOTHING FANCY (2019) is an entertaining and informative documentary on the woman regarded by many as the world's foremost expert on Mexican cuisine. The film was released on DVD this week by Kino Lorber.

The British-born Kennedy, who is now 97, is an adventurous soul whose spontaneous trip to Haiti in the '50s led to meeting her husband, New York Times reporter Paul Kennedy. Before Paul's death in 1967 the couple lived in Mexico for a number of years, and Kennedy returned there after his passing.

Kennedy has spent well over half a century taking solo trips throughout Mexico, traveling by bus and car in search of recipes, visiting the homes of strangers to document the way they cook. She became not simply a cookbook writer but the historian of Mexican cooking, authoring seminal books such as THE CUISINES OF MEXICO and THE ART OF MEXICAN COOKING.

Kennedy has a feisty, edgy personality; she doesn't suffer fools gladly and is unconcerned with tact. Though she deeply loved the husband with whom she had too few years, she's otherwise lived a solo life and wanted it that way, with no interest in having a child and preferring to travel alone; she lives in an isolated, somewhat "off the grid" traditional home in Michoacan. That home is becoming the Diana Kennedy Center for the preservation of Mexican cuisines.

Kennedy's abrupt manner, including freely using curse words, initially took me aback, but as I watched the film it occurred to me that that same tough personality is what enabled her to be a lone woman (with a gun!) traveling the back roads of Mexico in search of recipes.

The more difficult aspects of her personality are balanced with the love and passion she feels for food and cooking -- I especially loved a scene showcasing her labor-intensive preparation of coffee -- and she has clearly made abiding friendships among the Mexican people, as well as earning the deep respect of her peers in the world of cooking.

In short, she's a dichotomy, a woman with a passion for food who lives a vigorous life at nearly a century old -- and who can turn on a dime and discuss the possibility of suicide if she can no longer live life on her terms.

DIANA KENNEDY: NOTHING FANCY is the first film for writer-director Elizabeth Carroll. Carroll described her experiences making the film in a recent interview; she pointed out that many of the families Kennedy learned from in the '50s and '60s are now gone, and only Kennedy is left to tell the story.

The documentary was filmed by Paul Mailman. It runs 75 minutes, which seemed just about right.

I've wanted to see this film since my friend Raquel reviewed it at last year's SXSW festival, and it did not disappoint. I think perhaps this weekend I'll spend some time with Kennedy's THE TORTILLA BOOK.

The DVD also includes the trailer and a trailer gallery for five additional documentaries available from Kino Lorber, some of which have review links below.

Previous reviews of documentaries released by Kino Lorber: OBIT: LIFE ON DEADLINE (2016), HAROLD AND LILLIAN: A HOLLYWOOD LOVE STORY (2015), DAWSON CITY: FROZEN TIME (2016), THE GODDESSES OF FOOD (2016), BOMBSHELL: THE HEDY LAMARR STORY (2017), CHEF FLYNN (2018), and LINDA RONSTADT: THE SOUND OF MY VOICE (2019).

Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this DVD.

The Cariboo Trail (1950) at Classic Movie Hub

My latest Western Roundup column is now posted at Classic Movie Hub!

This month's article is a review of a new-to-me Randolph Scott Western, THE CARIBOO TRAIL (1950).

Please click over to Classic Movie Hub for my "close-up" look at this enjoyable Western.

Thanks, as always, for reading!

Previous Classic Movie Hub Western Roundup Column Links: June 2018; July 2018; August 2018; September 2018; October 2018; November 2018; December 2018; January 2019; February 2019; April 5, 2019; April 30, 2019; May 2019; June 2019; July 2019; August 2019; September 2019; October 2019; November 2019; December 2019; January 2020; February 2020; March 2020; April 2020; May 2020.

Tonight's Movie: Hay Foot (1942) - A ClassicFlix DVD Review

Last month I watched TANKS A MILLION (1941), the first film in The Complete Hal Roach Streamliners Collection, Volume 1: The Tracy & Sawyer Military Comedies from ClassicFlix.

Tonight I returned to the six-film set for the second film in the series, HAY FOOT (1942), and I'm pleased to report I enjoyed it as much as the first movie.

The cast from the first film returns, as we find Sgt. "Dodo" Doubleday (William Tracy) working at a training camp for Col. Barkley (James Gleason).

Dodo is blessed with both a photographic memory and amazing luck, which makes him the nemesis of veteran Sgt. Ames (Joe Sawyer), who is annoyed by the ease with which everything comes to Dodo.

Sgt. Ames and Sgt. Charlie Cobb (Noah Beery Jr.) are also in competition with Dodo for the attention of Col. Barkley's pretty daughter Betty (Elyse Knox).

Knox plays a different character than she played in TANKS A MILLION, while the male actors all reprise their previous roles. Douglas Fowley and Frank Faylen also return from the earlier film.

As is the case with other Streamliners, this 48-minute movie is roughly double the length of a two-reeler short but shorter than a typical "B" film. It's the perfect length for a film of this type, a lightweight but entertaining comedy which ends before stretching itself too thin.

The movie stitches together a number of comedic sequences, starting with a very amusing bit involving a dog Dodo is hiding from Col. Barkley.

A section in which Dodo accidentally has perfect aim on a shooting range is fun, and I especially enjoyed the bit near the end when Dodo, Cobb, and Ames all call on Betty. The other two men are jealous and keep tossing Dodo out of the house behind Betty's back until he finds an ingenious method to keep them in line, once again involving the dog.

Everyone goes through their paces with comedic flair and professionalism, and Knox is charming as the girl in the middle of it all. For those who might be unaware, Knox was the mother of actor Mark Harmon (NCIS).

HAY FOOT was directed by Fred Guiol and filmed in black and white by Robert Pittack.

The print and sound were very good; in fact, I believe this print was an improvement on TANKS A MILLION.

ClassicFlix Silver Series discs are initially pressed, but when those supplies run low they may instead be released MOD (manufactured on demand).

ClassicFlix has just released a new Streamliners set, Volume 2: Westerns, with Volume 3: Taxi Comedies coming next week. Volume 4: Musicals will be out in August, and ClassicFlix just announced Volume 5: Pitts & Summerville Plus Other Rarities coming in October.

Thanks to ClassicFlix for providing a review copy of this DVD.

Tonight's Movie: The Reluctant Debutante (1958) - A Warner Archive Blu-ray Review

The very enjoyable comedy THE RELUCTANT DEBUTANTE (1958) has just been released on Blu-ray by the Warner Archive.

I first saw this film over a decade ago, and I must say I'd forgotten how much fun it is. Directed by Vincente Minnelli, the movie successfully walks the line between being elegant and amusing; it's filled with glamorous visual eye candy and at times is laugh-out-loud funny.

It's the tale of a young American miss, Jane Broadbent (Sandra Dee), who comes to England to visit her father, Lord James "Jimmy" Broadbent (Rex Harrison), and her stepmother Sheila (Kay Kendall, who was Mrs. Harrison offscreen).

Sheila insists that 17-year-old Jane make her debut into high society, which means an endless social whirl, with night after night of dinners and balls. As I noted in my 2009 review, being a debutante was akin to a full-time job!

Sheila is disappointed when Jane falls for a young drummer named David (John Saxon), who like Jane is half-American. Sheila is in the dark that thanks to the Italian side of his family, David has inherited a title and is actually the catch of the Season.

Dee is a charmer, and I find the straightforward innocence of her courtship with Saxon's David quite appealing. There are none of the typical misunderstandings to create problems between the young lovers; they fall in love, they commit, and finally, with Lord Broadbent's help, they put Sheila in her place as part of a funny and romantic fairy tale ending.

Harrison does a nice job, patiently juggling the whims of the women in his life and then conspiring with David to overcome Sheila's reservations about his romance with Jane.

Kendall is a bit over-the-top at times, becoming a bit too manic near movie's end, but she also has some fun moments, particularly when she phones young men to invite them to dinner with Jane. Angela Lansbury is also on hand as a distant cousin who subtly battles Sheila for the best dates for her own daughter (Diane Clare).

It's a bit obvious at times that the movie is a filmed stage play; the screenplay was written by William Douglas-Home, based on his own play. (If the story sounds familiar, it was remade in 2003 as WHAT A GIRL WANTS.) The script is a well-paced 94 minutes, and Minnelli and cinematographer Joseph Ruttenberg do such a classy job that most of the time the viewer is distracted away from the stagy theatrical feel.

The set design is gorgeous, with Jimmy and Sheila's apartment filled with interesting nooks and crannies, not to mention unusually shaped doorways and halls; I especially loved the kitchen. Jane's gorgeous gowns are by the great Helen Rose.

I found this upper-crust comedic fairy tale a delightful evening's entertainment, and I'm very glad I revisited it after so many years. I won't wait so long to enjoy it again!

The widescreen Warner Archive Blu-ray looks terrific, and the disc also features excellent sound. The trailer is included.

Thanks to the Warner Archive for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray. Warner Archive Blu-rays may be ordered from Amazon and other online retailers.

Around the Blogosphere This Week...

...will return next weekend!

My "radio silence" is owing to the busiest workweek I've had since early March, which is a good thing! Combined with a few other time-sensitive projects, there just haven't been enough hours in the day this week.

I hope to have a review of the new Warner Archive Blu-ray release THE RELUCTANT DEBUTANTE (1958) posted in the near future. (Update: Here is the review!)

In the meantime, if you missed last weekend's link roundup, please enjoy it here.

Have a great week!

Tonight's Movie: Three Smart Girls Grow Up (1939) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

Longtime readers know I'm a huge fan of Deanna Durbin -- she's even been my Twitter avatar for the entirety of the past decade.

I watched almost all of Deanna's films on VHS a decade or more ago; I've rewatched several favorites in the years since, but I'm really thrilled to now be revisiting more of her films on Blu-ray thanks to Kino Lorber.

Last week Kino Lorber released the three-film Deanna Durbin Collection I, consisting of ONE HUNDRED MEN AND A GIRL (1937), THREE SMART GIRLS GROW UP (1939), and IT STARTED WITH EVE (1941). My understanding is that two more Durbin sets will follow later in the year.

I first saw THREE SMART GIRLS GROW UP in 2009, and I can't express the great pleasure it gave me to see it again.

The movie is a loose sequel to Deanna's first huge hit THREE SMART GIRLS (1936). The first time I saw THREE SMART GIRLS GROW UP I was a bit baffled by the changes which took place in the second film; Barbara Read was replaced by Helen Parrish as one of Deanna's older sisters, and her sisters' love interests (including handsome Ray Milland) have disappeared.

This time around I knew to expect that, and instead I delighted in the presence of Parrish, an actress I've always liked, and the charming story featuring handsome young William Lundigan and Robert Cummings.

Deanna, as youngest sister Penny, spends most of the movie trying to fix the love lives of sisters Kay (Parrish) and Joan (Nan Grey). Joan has just become engaged to Richard (Lundigan), which breaks Kay's heart, as she's secretly in love with Richard herself; meanwhile Joan is confused by her powerful attraction to Harry (Cummings).

I confess that as the film's 90 minutes came to an end, my eyes filled with tears of joy; I was tremendously moved by the combination of Deanna's lovely singing and the story's happy ending. Perhaps it's the stressful times we're experiencing, but this movie was precisely what I needed right now. I can't wait to watch the other two films in the set!

Deanna continues to impress me as one of the most unique and special screen stars in movie history. She exudes charisma and confidence and could do it all, playing comedy and drama with equal skill; most importantly, when she sings it's simply magic.

It's curious to me that today she's not quite as well known as other stars, and I hope these new Blu-ray releases will win Deanna enthusiastic new audiences. She more than deserves it.

THREE SMART GIRLS GROW UP was directed by Henry Koster. It was shot in black and white by Joseph Valentine. The script was by Bruce Manning, who wrote several of Deanna's films, and Felix Jackson, who was later married to Deanna from 1945 to 1949. The movie was produced by Joe Pasternak.

As a side note, a few years later Deanna would play the adult Penny in a third film, HERS TO HOLD (1943), which has not had a home video or DVD release in the United States.

The top supporting cast of THREE SMART GIRLS GROW UP also includes Charles Winninger, Nella Walker, Ernest Cossart, Felix Bressart, Charles Coleman, Mary Treen, Milton Kibbee, Grady Sutton, Thurston Hall, Mary Forbes, Doris Lloyd, Bess Flowers, and the Reverend Neal Dodd.

The Kino Lorber print has a beautiful picture and sound. The disc includes the trailer along with two additional trailers for films available from Kino Lorber.

It's worth noting here that the other two films in this set both have commentary tracks. I'll be reviewing both those movies here at a future date.

Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray.

Tonight's Movie: The Man Who Dared (1939) - A Warner Archive DVD Review

THE MAN WHO DARED (1939) is a Warner Bros. "B" movie available on DVD from the Warner Archive.

THE MAN WHO DARED is a remake of an earlier Warner Bros. film, THE STAR WITNESS (1931), which starred Walter Huston. Both films were based on a story by Lucien Hubbard (billed Lucian here). The screenplay for this version was by Lee Katz.

Crusading anti-corruption investigator Mac McCrary (Emmett Vogan) and his wife (Grace Stafford) are killed by a car bomb planted by crooked cops (headed by John Gallaudet) who help bad elements control the city.

Members of the Carter family next door notice men with flashlights in their neighbors' garage just before the explosion; afterwards the men threaten the family with harm if they cooperate with the police.

Matthew (Henry O'Neill), the father, makes an identification anyway, which results in him being beaten within an inch of his life; later young Bill (Dickie Jones) is kidnapped to ensure the silence of the rest of the family, including Marge (Jane Bryan) and their grandfather Ulysses (Charley Grapewin).

When Ulysses is kidnapped himself, he manages to set off a fire alarm and escape, ultimately leading the charge to rescue his grandson and then identify the criminals.

The story sounds more exciting than it plays; it's only a so-so film, with the crooks doing one bad thing after another. Good and bad characters alike are all played pretty flatly, except for Grandpa, who spends a lot of time yelling.

The most exciting sequence in the film is the bombing, but after that interest tapers off. It's only an hour long so it doesn't really have time to wear out its welcome, but it could have been quite a bit more interesting than it proved to be.

A plus for those of us who like that sort of thing is that there are lots of good shots of the city streets on the Warner Bros. backlot!

Charley Grapewin was best known for playing Uncle Henry in THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939) that same year. It's rather amazing to think he was born just a handful of years after the end of the Civil War, in 1869.

Other members of the Carter family are played by Elisabeth Risdon, Johnny Russell, and James McCallion.

THE MAN WHO DARED was directed by Crane Wilbur and filmed by Arthur L. Todd.

THE MAN WHO DARED was released by the Warner Archive last fall. Although this particular film wasn't especially exciting, I miss relatively rare "B" titles of this type being released by the Warner Archive on DVD, as they're currently more focused on Blu-rays and DVD reissues. I hope at some point we'll see them resume adding lesser-known movies such as this one to the release schedule.

The DVD print and sound quality are both quite good. There are no extras on the disc.

Thanks to the Warner Archive for providing a review copy of this DVD. Warner Archive releases are MOD (manufactured on demand) and may be ordered from the Warner Archive Collection Store at Amazon or from any online retailers where DVDs and Blu-rays are sold.

Around the Blogosphere This Week

Miscellaneous bits of news and fun stuff from around the internet...

...Sad news this week, the October 2020 Lone Pine Film Festival was cancelled due to the coronavirus. I was hoping that one might remain on the calendar since it's still several months out and much of the festival takes place outdoors, but at the same time I can't say I'm surprised by the decision. Most film fests have decided not to invest in planning in this uncertain environment and instead to focus on next year.

...Capitolfest in Rome, New York, is bucking the trend and planning to go ahead this August. Difficulty obtaining films from closed archives means that the Joan and Constance Bennett tribute planned for this year has been pushed back to 2021, but the festival is going ahead from August 14th-16th showing other silent and early sound rarities.  I'm told that the theater's ample seating should make any "social distancing" necessary doable. Thanks very much to regular reader Jane for the information.

...New double-film Blu-ray set: THE MAN FROM THE ALAMO (1953) paired with THEY CAME TO CORDURA (1959).

...Take a photo tour of a striking Hollywood Hills home once owned by Bobby Darin and Sandra Dee.

...Indiewire has details on the Netflix deal to purchase the Egyptian Theatre from the American Cinematheque. I must say I find it disconcerting that Netflix has the option to sell the theater a dozen years from now, with the new owner able to kick out the American Cinematheque one year after assuming ownership. The media environment changes so rapidly, who knows where Netflix will be at as a company a decade from now?

...I enjoy Western reviews by James Reasoner at his blog Rough Edges. Here's one of the Hopalong Cassidy film TEXAS MASQUERADE (1944).

...Glenn Erickson's latest reviews at CineSavant include the new Kino Lorber set Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema III with ABANDONED (1949), THE LADY GAMBLES (1949), and THE SLEEPING CITY (1950). I love his comment about ABANDONED, which is a personal favorite: "ABANDONED really glows on Blu-ray — the shiny-marble atmosphere of City Hall couldn’t be recreated on a set." I have received a copy of the Vol. III collection and will be reviewing the movies here soon, along with continuing to review films from the Vol. II collection; I have previously reviewed THE PRICE OF FEAR (1956) from Vol. II.

...Thanks to the anonymous reader who shared a link for a 2019 Los Angeles Times article on Tom Tully in the comments for my review of RACHEL AND THE STRANGER (1948). I'm sharing the story here as I think it will be of interest to many of my readers who have enjoyed the work of this fine character actor.

...Fallout from the coronavirus continues, as WONDER WOMAN 1984 (2020) has had its release pushed back from mid August to early October. Christopher Nolan's TENET (2020) was just pushed back two weeks, from mid July to the end of that month. All eyes are now on Disney and its live-action version of MULAN (2020), currently scheduled for release on July 24th.

...Silent film historian and locations expert John Bengtson is working to have a Hollywood alley named for silent comedy icons Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, and Buster Keaton, who all shot films there.

...For those who may not have heard, a few days ago Disneyland announced plans to reopen on July 17th -- the park's 65th anniversary. Sleeping Beauty Castle is seen here, photographed during its 60th Anniversary celebration. (June 24th Update: The reopening has been delayed as the state will not be releasing theme park reopening guidelines until after July 4th.)

...A happy personal note: Our youngest son graduated today from UC San Diego. It seems as though it was just yesterday that he was moving in! No photos, as like everyone else this year he had a "virtual" graduation, but I wanted to note his accomplishment here. Our oldest daughter graduated from the University of Southern California in 2010, our oldest son from Northern Arizona University in 2016, and our younger daughter from the University of Oregon in 2017. We are done!

...For additional recent links of interest to classic film fans, please check out my June 6th roundup.

Have a great week!

Tonight's Movie: Whispering Smith (1948) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

This month Kino Lorber is releasing some terrific boxed Blu-ray sets.

One of the sets, Western Classics I, was just released this week. It consists of three films in individual cases: WHEN THE DALTONS RODE (1940) starring Randolph Scott, Brian Donlevy, and Kay Francis; THE VIRGINIAN (1946) starring Joel McCrea, Donlevy, and Barbara Britton; and WHISPERING SMITH, starring Alan Ladd, Robert Preston, and Brenda Marshall.

I just watched and thoroughly enjoyed WHISPERING SMITH. I first reviewed the film here over a dozen years ago; in the intervening time I've become a huge fan of Alan Ladd, so I loved circling back to this film after so much time and revisiting it in a fresh context, having seen him in roughly 30 additional films since my first viewing.

The movie begins in fine style with beautiful location photography under the opening credits, scored by Adolph Deutsch. Deutsch began a long association with MGM the same year this film was released.

The credits segue into a shootout which then leads to an evocative nighttime train sequence, where highly regarded railroad detective "Whispering" Smith (Ladd) is unexpectedly reunited with his old friend Murray (Preston), who works for the railroad. Smith is on the trail of a gang which has been robbing the railroad.

Murray is married to Marian (Marshall), and when they're reunited it's soon clear she and Smith still have feelings for one another from days gone by, though they're both honorable people who are loyal to Murray. For his part, Murray is acting increasingly erratically, and it's soon apparent that he's up to no good with local rancher Rebstock (Donald Crisp) and Rebstock's hired gun Whitey Du Sang (an unrecognizable, creepy Frank Faylen).

When Murray is caught looting a wrecked train, he's fired by railroad exec McCloud (John Eldredge) and goes off the deep end, staging repeated train wrecks and robberies with Rebstock's gang. Smith, tasked with putting an end to the mayhem and financial losses, has the painful task of chasing after his one-time pal.

WHISPERING SMITH isn't a perfect movie, but it's one I find very entertaining and enjoy a great deal.

I'll lay the flaws out first, beginning with Marshall as Marian. Marshall was never a multidimensional actress, but I nonetheless have quite a fondness for her; she was a beautiful woman, and I've always enjoyed watching her. Unfortunately in this film she doesn't get to do much more than cry and look sad; part of the problem is that the script by Frank Butler and Karl Kamb doesn't actually give Marian a bigger variety of scenes in the first place. The combination of script and actress leave the character of Marian rather one-dimensional.

Another issue is the frequent mixture of locations with soundstage shots. The movie is very attractively filmed in Technicolor by Ray Rennahan, but it's an odd jumble of effective exteriors, including a nice backlot train station, with soundstage interiors. The strangest moment follows a horse-drawn buggy filmed outdoors, then as the camera pans past a tree the action resumes inside a soundstage. It's extremely noticeable and takes one out of the movie a bit when it's so clear the actors are indoors pretending to be outside.

Finally, there are some noticeable continuity problems, such as Smith knocking a glass off a nightstand, which loudly shatters, but when Marian walks into the room and walks over the area where the glass fell, she doesn't react in the slightest. There's also a harmonica box in the movie which jumps from place to place between shots!

Those are my only quibbles, and in the end they're not particularly big compared to how much I enjoyed the movie. It's a solid, well-paced 88 minutes with the always-compelling Ladd onscreen a majority of the time as he tries to solve the crimes against the railroad. Other than the weak writing of Marian, it's a good story, based on a novel by Frank H. Spearman.

Ladd is great playing his unspoken longing for Marian, and perhaps even better communicating his feelings for his friend Murray; the final scenes with Ladd and Preston have real emotional impact.

Ladd also has some nice lighthearted scenes with actors like Fay Holden, William Demarest, Will Wright, and little Gary Gray (seen here earlier this week in RACHEL AND THE STRANGER).

The deep cast also includes familiar faces like Irving Bacon, Milton Kibbee, Hank Worden, Ray Teal, and Don Barclay. Leslie Fenton capably directed.

The Kino Lorber Blu-ray is a visual treat with excellent sound. The disc includes a commentary by Simon Abrams, a trailer, and an additional trailer for Ladd's BOY ON A DOLPHIN (1957), also available from Kino Lorber.

All in all, watching one of my all-time favorite stars in a gorgeous print of a solid Western rates a definite thumbs up.

I'll be reviewing the other films in the set here at a future date.

Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray.

Tonight's Movie: Rachel and the Stranger (1948) - A Warner Archive Blu-ray Review

The excellent film RACHEL AND THE STRANGER (1948) has just been released on Blu-ray by the Warner Archive.

The best news of all is that the film has had 12 minutes restored which probably haven't been seen since the film was first released, and it now runs its original 93 minutes.

A much-shortened rerelease version has been shown on TV for decades; it had been a number of years since I last saw that edit of the film so I'm not completely sure what had been missing. (At some point I plan to pull out a recording from Turner Classic Movies and do a comparison.) That said, I definitely had a sense that the film played much more smoothly than in my past viewings. I've always liked the movie, but this was the most I've ever enjoyed it.

As the film begins, frontier farmer Big Davey (William Holden) is mourning the passing of his wife Susan. After a cold, lonely winter with his little boy Davey (Gary Gray), the overwhelmed Big Davey decides to head for the closest fort in search of a wife. Little Davey needs a mother to school him, and one adult simply isn't enough to do all the work necessary for the survival of a frontier homestead.

He finds a wife in Rachel (Loretta Young), an indentured servant; he pays off her debt, and they are married by the parson (the always-wonderful Tom Tully).

For many months the new family work well together doing the necessary chores, but Rachel is quiet and shy, Big Davey is lost in his memories, and Little Davey resents another woman taking his mother's place. Big Davey and Rachel have a distant relationship in every way, with Big Davey bunking down by the fireplace or with his son.

And then Big Davey's friend Jim (Robert Mitchum) strolls along for a visit and is quite taken with Rachel, who blossoms with someone finally paying attention to her.

A delicately played love triangle develops, as Jim attempts to woo away the married-in-name-only Rachel and Big Davey begins to feel jealousy. A frightening Indian attack near movie's end also serves to clarify relationships once and for all.

RACHEL AND THE STRANGER grabbed my attention from the opening scenes and never let go; I've seen it multiple times over the years but had forgotten how good it was -- or perhaps it was simply better with all its original footage. Either way, the movie was a treat, sensitively directed by Young's brother-in-law, former actor Norman Foster. Foster was long married to Young's older sister Elizabeth Jane, known professionally as Sally Blane.

Longtime readers know that Loretta Young is just about my favorite actress, and this film is a great example of why I so enjoy her work. Her Rachel may be quiet and somewhat beaten down by life at the outset, but she's also got courage and gumption, including secretly teaching herself how to shoot a rifle in the cellar -- a skill which will later come in handy on multiple occasions.

Young communicates a great deal nonverbally, including her uncertainty and aching loneliness; once Jim arrives and she shares her previously hidden musical talent, it's as though Rachel begins to glow. Perhaps studio lighting had something to do with it, but I believe it mostly came from Young's performance. The drawn, worn-down woman of the early scenes is revealed to have lovely looks which are a match for her fine character.

Holden does a good job as the stoic Big Davey, who finally begins to unbend in the later scenes, though he risks having the movie stolen by the dashing Mitchum. This is the second of Mitchum's 1948 Westerns just released on Blu-ray by the Warner Archive, the other being BLOOD ON THE MOON (1948); whereas in BLOOD ON THE MOON Mitchum plays a taciturn, troubled "loose rider," here his drifter is relaxed and clearly enjoying life. Mitchum also has ample opportunities to display his fine singing voice.

Gray, a busy child actor for many years, is fine as the troubled little boy missing his mother. The cast also includes favorite character actors Sara Haden and Frank Ferguson.

RACHEL AND THE STRANGER was filmed in black and white by Maury Gertsman. The strong screenplay was written by Waldo Salt from a story by Howard Fast.

The Blu-ray print and sound quality are excellent. The disc also includes a trailer.

Recommended.

July 2020 Update: The Warner Archive has now also released this film on DVD.

Thanks to the Warner Archive for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray. Warner Archive releases are MOD (manufactured on demand) and may be ordered from Amazon and other online retailers.