Around the Blogosphere This Week
The May Noir Alley titles will be THE FILE ON THELMA JORDON (1949), FLAMINGO ROAD (1949), DIAL 1119 (1950), and THE FALLEN SPARROW (1943).
Cinematographer James Wong Howe will be the subject of a special theme series on Mondays.
Also of note in May: A tribute to the late Gina Lollobrigida; the premiere of MADONNA OF THE SEVEN MOONS (1945) starring Stewart Granger, Phyllis Calvert, and Patricia Roc; and the annual Memorial Day Weekend war films marathon.
The Musical Matinee series will be venturing beyond American-made musicals and showing Jessie Matthews and Robert Young in IT'S LOVE AGAIN (1936).Filmmakers receiving multifilm tributes in May include Glenn Ford, Howard Hawks, Laurence Olivier, George Pal, Ernest Lehman, Cary Grant, Audrey Totter, and Fred Astaire.
May themes will include Mother's Day, housewives, newlyweds, Kansas, '50s comedies, nuns, shipwrecks, marital troubles, and classical music.
The schedule is still a work in progress; I'll be sharing many more details about the final May 2023 schedule around the end of April.
In the meantime, stay tuned for details on TCM's April Warner Bros. celebration, along with details on the TCM Classic Film Festival schedule which was announced today!
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Some of my favorite releases of the last couple of years are the Dark Side of Cinema collections from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.
So far 11 sets have been released, with at least four more coming in 2023. The next volume will be released in April.
I've reviewed the vast majority of the titles in the available sets, but a few are still on my "watch list" simply due to the volume of interesting releases. This week I've circled back to the Dark Side of Cinema VII set to watch Jacques Tourneur's THE FEARMAKERS (1958).
THE FEARMAKERS stars an all-time favorite, Dana Andrews, as Alan Eaton, who as the movie begins is recovering from the physical and mental trauma of a long stint as a prisoner in the Korean War.
Alan returns to Washington, D.C., intending to slowly resume work at the public relations and research firm his partner has been managing in his absence.Alan is knocked for a loop when he discovers that not only was his partner killed in a hit-and-run car accident but that he sold the company to Jim McGinnis (Dick Foran). The partner only had power of attorney to manage the company, not sell it, but McGinnis brusquely claims otherwise.
McGinnis offers Alan a job, saying his former business connections can be of help to the firm, as some clients have gone elsewhere. Alan isn't enthused but is encouraged to accept by his old friend Senator Walder (Roy Gordon), who is suspicious of how McGinnis is running the business. The senator believes McGinnis is manipulating polls to help favored politicians willing to pay for it.
Alan begins looking into both the business and his partner's death with the help of young secretary Lorraine Dennis (Marilee Earle), but things become very dangerous very quickly.This film was brand-new to me, and I liked it quite well. Some of the subject matter discussed by Alan is both incredibly prescient and undated; he dissects things such as push polling and using polling data to mold opinions rather than reflect what the public is thinking. The power of a few people to end TV programs via ratings polling is also discussed. I found those aspects fascinating. Not much has changed in 65 years.The film isn't perfect; for instance, two of the villains (Foran and Kelly Thordsen) are cartoonish loudmouths, played without subtlety. Oliver Blake as Dr. Gregory Jessop, who "conveniently" meets Alan on the plane home and directs him to a place to stay in D.C., is a different type of character but also obvious in a smarmy kind of way.
The most creative depiction among the bad guys falls to Mel Torme as a beleaguered young employee with Coke bottle glasses. I got a kick out of seeing Torme in this, especially as when I was young I would occasionally see him in the audience at classic film screenings. A fond memory.
Earle is pleasant enough but I think the role would have been better served by a more mature, savvy actress. There's a 25-year age gap between Andrews and Earle, although their characters developing a relationship makes some sense in the context of the story; Alan has been traumatized and probably sees in Lorraine not only someone helping his cause but someone fresh and young, to help erase a horrible couple of years.Still and all, even with its flaws this is a good film with messages which remain relevant today. The combination of Andrews and Tourneur is potent, and they make the most they can of the material, with Andrews onscreen in most of the scenes.
The script for this 85-minute movie was by Elliot West and Chris Apley was based on a novel by Darwin Teilhet. The supporting cast includes Veda Ann Borg, Dennis Moore, and Joel Marston.
The Blu-ray print of THE FEARMAKERS is from a new 2K master. Other than a handful of faint wobbly vertical lines in the early going, this is a fine-looking print showing off the stark black and white photography of Sam Leavitt.Disc extras consist of a commentary track by Jason A. Ney and a gallery of three trailers for other films available from Kino Lorber.
I've previously enjoyed CHICAGO CONFIDENTIAL (1957) from this set, and I'll be reviewing John Payne in THE BOSS (1956) at a future date.
Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray collection.
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I class SORROWFUL JONES as a solid film but not a great one, running a tad overlong at 88 minutes. That said, Hope is nicely subdued in this, about as likeable as he ever is on screen, and he's well matched by Ball. The always-reliable Demarest and Gomez offer good support. I hadn't seen this since I was in my teens, and it was a pleasant revisit.
Saunders is pretty cute and does well as Hope's "straight man," although her high-pitched voice becomes slightly wearing by movie's end. As I've shared here before, a fun bit of trivia is that she was long married to former Los Angeles Dodger Jay Johnstone, who sadly passed away in 2020.
SORROWFUL JONES was directed by Sidney Lanfield and shot in black and white by Daniel L. Fapp.
Ball's singing was dubbed by Annette Warren, who also dubbed her in a later film Ball made with Hope, FANCY PANTS (1950). Warren also dubbed Ava Gardner in SHOW BOAT (1951).The Blu-ray print is from a new 2K master. For the most part it looks very good; I did note a scene about halfway through which briefly had the "vibrating" look of a VHS tape, but otherwise this is a nice disc. The soundtrack is crisp and clear.
Disc extras consist of the movie trailer; a gallery of 14 additional trailers for Bob Hope films; and Kino Lorber Bob Hope promo trailer.
Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray.
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One of my favorite Esther Williams films, NEPTUNE'S DAUGHTER (1949), has just been released on Blu-ray by the Warner Archive Collection.
The movie costars Ricardo Montalban, Betty Garrett, Red Skelton, and Xavier Cugat in a lovely piece of fluff about a gorgeous swimsuit designer (Williams) romantically pursued by a handsome South American polo player (Montalban).
Meanwhile, the swimsuit designer's extremely giddy sister (Garrett) mistakes a masseuse (Skelton) for the polo player, with predictably silly results.
I previously reviewed the movie here over a decade ago, in 2012, and refer readers to that review for more on why I love the movie so much. A pair of classy, attractive leads plus the music, sets, color, wardrobes, and Xavier Cugat create a delightful and diverting 95 minutes.
Highlights include a dance number with the Cugat Orchestra, the swimming finale, and of course, "Baby It's Cold Outside," which originated in this film and won Frank Loesser an Oscar.The one drawback to the movie is that Skelton can be wearing; over the many times I've seen it I find that how annoying he is seems to depend on my mood. In my previous review I was quite positive about his performance, while I found him more tiresome on this viewing. Garrett, on the other hand, will always be a favorite, no matter how goofy her character.
NEPTUNE'S DAUGHTER was directed by Edward Buzzell and filmed in Technicolor by Charles Rosher. The lovely costumes were created by Irene.
The supporting cast includes Keenan Wynn, Theresa Harris, Mel Blanc, Mike Mazurki, and Ted de Corsia.
Regular readers know I typically rave about the quality of Warner Archive Blu-rays, but there were a couple odd things about this disc compared to the norm. First, the sound levels were unusually low, requiring me to turn the volume on my set up much higher than normal.Second, because of the low sound levels I checked out the closed captions and was surprised to find they were substantially out of sync, appearing ahead of the actual spoken dialogue through the entirety of the disc. Just a heads up for anyone who relies on captioning.
The picture for the most part was bright and colorful, particularly in the swim finale; I did feel the color in a couple dramatic scenes was somewhat less vivid than I was expecting. As far as I noticed, the print was otherwise good, free of lines and other types of glitches.
It's a solid release, if not the absolute top tier of the Warner Archive's MGM musical Blu-ray discs such as GOOD NEWS (1947) or BRIGADOON (1954), to name two fine examples. The overall quality of the film plus the nice batch of extras make this a recommended disc, with the noted reservations.Disc extras consist of the trailer; a song selection menu, which I always appreciate; the Pete Smith Specialty short WATER TRIX (1949); the Tom and Jerry cartoon HATCH UP YOUR TROUBLES (1949); an outtake song; Esther Williams' cameo from CALLAWAY WENT THATAWAY (1951); and a radio promo interview.
Thanks to the Warner Archive for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray. Warner Archive Blu-rays may be ordered from the Amazon Warner Archive Collection Store, Movie Zyng, or from any online retailers were Blu-rays are sold.
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I've been catching up with the series over the last few years and have really enjoyed all of them. GHOST PROTOCOL might have been my favorite; it had a lighter tone and some nice humor along with the expected impressive action set pieces.
This time around Agents Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) and Jane Carter (Paula Patton) start off the film breaking Ethan Hunt out of a Russian jail. (It's a long story...)
The team's mission is then to stop Hendricks (Michael Nyqvist), who has Russian nuclear launch codes and plans to attack the United States.The agents' plan to deal with the issue at the Kremlin fails, and they're framed for a devastating explosion, after which the President invokes the "Ghost Protocol": The team is disavowed and will have no help whatsoever.
That said, Ethan's boss, the Secretary (Tom Wilkinson), privately urges Ethan to press forward on the mission. The team also ends up acquiring an additional member in the form of the Secretary's case analyst, Brandt (Jeremy Renner). Brandt is a good man harboring secret guilt related to Ethan and his wife (Michelle Monaghan).
I'll leave off with the plot there. Suffice it to say that the film's 132 minutes are packed with terrific action sequences in varied international locations. Apparently Cruise was actually clinging to a wall 130 stories in the air during the movie's most nerve-wracking section.I appreciated the film's tight quartet of agents who have excellent chemistry and are a lot of fun to watch. Cruise is always someone I think of as an ultimate movie star; they don't come any better.
Unfortunately this was Paula Patton's only entry in the series; Jeremy Renner would return in the next film but then was apparently too busy appearing in Marvel films as my favorite Avenger, Hawkeye, to continue as Agent Brandt.
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - GHOST PROTOCOL was directed by Brad Bird and filmed by Robert Elswit. It was written by Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec. The musical score was composed by Michael Giacchino.Parental Advisory: This film is rated PG-13. The language is not too bad as these films go. Many people die but it's generally non-graphic.
I watched this film on DVD as part of the MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 5-Movie Collection. It's also available in other formats.
I have one additional film to catch up with, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - ROGUE NATION (2015).The next film in the series, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 7 - DEAD RECKONING - PART 1 (2023) is due to hit theaters this summer.
Previously: MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE (1996), MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE II (2000), MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE III (2006), MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - FALLOUT (2018).
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Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Today the TCM Classic Film Festival announced the festival's opening night film will be Howard Hawks' RIO BRAVO (1959). The film's leading lady, Angie Dickinson, will be in attendance.
Although I've seen a number of Westerns at the festival over the years, percentagewise there are relatively few shown at the festival, so having one of the all-time best Westerns as the "red carpet movie" is wonderful. I'm also glad to see a film starring one of the all-time greats, John Wayne, accorded this honor.
That said, on a personal level I'm also disappointed, simply because I was really looking forward to seeing RIO BRAVO on a big screen for the first time in decades, and my pass does not cover the opening night screening! I wrote about how much I love this film for my Classic Movie Hub Western RoundUp column a couple of years ago.
However, I'm guessing there's a reasonably good chance that the restored print will be shown in Los Angeles again after the festival, perhaps somewhere like the Hollywood Legion Theater, so I'll hope for that!The film at the top of my list to see at the festival is probably now SHADOW OF A DOUBT (1943), a Hitchcock favorite I have never seen on a big screen.
The TCM Classic Film Festival will take place in Hollywood from April 13th to 16th, 2023.
The complete list of announced films to date has a page on the festival website. Club TCM events may be found listed here.
Previously: TCM Announces 2023 Festival Dates and Theme (October 18, 2022); 2023 TCM Classic Film Festival Announcements (November 11, 2022); Latest 2023 TCM Classic Film Festival Announcements (January 25, 2023); New TCM Classic Film Festival Announcements (February 16, 2023); Latest TCM Classic Film Festival Announcements (March 4, 2023).