Classic movie site with rare images, original ads, and behind-the-scenes photos, with informative and insightful commentary. We like to have fun with movies!
Archive and Links
grbrpix@aol.com
Search Index Here




Wednesday, August 29, 2012


The Watch List For 8/29/12

THE HANGMAN (1959) --- Bounty-motivated lawdog Robert Taylor in merciless quest of may-be innocent Jack Lord, as Tina Louise, in and out of clothes, seems to assist, mostly interferes. Fess Parker is ineffectual both at sheriffing and holding his own in scenes with Bob. Watch them and know why Fess never made a meaningful jump from TV to features. Here's a studio western when the species was getting tired. I kept expecting the Cartwrights to ride up on Paramount's western street. Still, it's Taylor's show and he's excellent. Mike Curtiz directs as if he has nothing left to prove. Indeed, with all his great ones playing TV by then, he didn't. Tina Louise flirts with nudity in tub and pond scenes. Wonder if they shot alternate footage of her for Euro prints. A good story I didn't get bored with. Nice Olive Blu-Ray.

HOEDOWN (1950) --- Country-swinging Eddy Arnold "stars," but it's more about timid cowboy Jock Mahoney who fakes his way into series western stardom with assist of Gene Autry's singing voice. Didn't enjoy this because Jocko is abused throughout by unappealing support players. Songs are good if limited. I may want an Eddy Arnold CD to rinse sour aftertaste of Hoedown. Jock's cowboy character personal-appears at a small-town theatre and nobody shows up. Did that ever happen to real-life B west stars? Too much cruelty in what's supposed to be a comedy. I kept wanting Mahoney's worm to turn and it only fitfully does. Another fine quality Columbia DVD, but I'd have left this one to nitrate's tender mercies.


PYGMY ISLAND (1950) --- Jungle Jim thwarts evildoing 'ginst white pygmy tribe led by Billy Curtis, who's as wilderness-bred as a Dead End Kid, likely as not to take out a cigar and light it. Jim's safari duds are drenched every time he dives after rubber gators, yet he's bone-dry moments later, as though Africa air itself held dry-cleaning properties. I love that sort of effrontery to logic. The Jims used near-studio lakes and glades to pleasing effect. Johnny recites dialogue while pondering business ventures he'd put salary toward (an eventual swimming pool line). TCM shows these on Saturday mornings, and I'm there with popcorn to watch. Never bothered with Jim as a kid --- too sophisticated --- not now!

RETURN OF PETER GRIMM (1935) --- Slow and set-bound RKO wherein Lionel Barrymore comes back from beyond to correct family matters he bungled. Long and frustrating scenes where LB tries to communicate with the living, but can't. I got bored and sped up the final third. Things worked out and Barrymore stays dead. Nineteenth-century's David Belasco wrote the based-upon play, so even old Lionel might have called it antique. Among supernatural forays not played for chills. Maybe that was reason for the drag this was. Some nice moments though, and Edward (Thin Man) Ellis has probably his best role.

THIS SIDE OF HEAVEN (1934) --- Lionel Barrymore again with family troubles, these more engaging thanks to director William K. Howard swish-panning like he did in The Trial Of Vivienne Ware two years before. I enjoyed this better than Peter Grimm, being it's MGM with variety in settings and cast. Lionel is snookered by embezzling partner Edwin Maxwell, so obviously a crook and always type-cast as such that you wonder how they business-teamed in the first place. Mae Clarke and still-with-us Mary Carlisle (turned 100 this year!) are Barrymore daughters, Fay Bainter the wife. 30's casts are a comfort, even when the movie's nothing special. I'm beginning to notice how doggedly Lionel Barrymore played selfless fathers (but not always --- check out his harsh Dad in Sweepings). On TCM.

THE COCKEYED FAMILY (1928) --- Did it damage Ben Turpin's eyes to keep them crossed so much? That always bothered me, worrying that the poor man would go blind in service to his art. This was for the Weiss Brothers, budget practitioners of silent comedy during late-20's twilight. In this one, Ben's wife is "cockeyed" too, the effect less funny than frightful. There's chaos on a camping trip when baby Billy Barty brings home a skunk by the tail. I'd have refused scenes with polecats no matter assurance of de-odorizing same. The things always look ready enough to let go with spray, like Harold Lloyd's bomb that didn't turn out to be a harmless prop. You wonder how many silent comics got business ends of skunks not altogether fumigated. Turpin's eyes made his face seem inexpressive to me, like a store dummy thrown constantly in mud. Print quality on these Weiss shorts are amazing, all from camera negs and available on DVD from VCI. Fine audio commentary by Richard M. Roberts.


13 RUE MADELEINE (1947) --- Jim Cagney leads espionage agents into occupied France just ahead of the invasion. March Of Time's Louis De Rochemont produced, so Rue's authentic till it hurts. Must have been refreshing in 1947 to have Cagney back in action for a big studio. He's slimmed down, does judo falls, some good hand-to-hand with enemy combatants. I can watch something like this every few years, having forgot story details, and it all seems fresh again. Rue had then-benefit of Now It Can Be Told, being among first screen distilling of spy work done by our side vs. Axis baddies. It works for being less tired war movie stuff and more Trust No One intriguing that would dominate once Iron Curtains descended. This played as a "free" On-Demand movie in HD via Dish Network, but didn't look so hot.


THE NICKEL-HOPPER (1926) --- Mabel Normand on the downgrade for Hal Roach. He was for getting what value was left in her celebrated name. Mabel had been luckless since a decade's beginning, from addiction issues to peripheral link with William Desmond Taylor's offing. A comedienne still much beloved, she looked sickly now, and Roach cameras, let alone dupey prints we're left with, were/are cruel. The Nickel-Hopper was a "special," another word for too long, but Mabel troupes nobly, plays a meltdown straight (drama she could flat do when needed). We don't wish much slapstick on her for condition she's clearly in. One of those comedies where you spend the whole time feeling sorry for the comedian. Care was taken on The Nickel-Hopper, Normand a major get for Roach. Babe Hardy beats a frenzied drum in club scenes, and glory be, it's Boris Karloff cadging a dance from Mabel. A pity she'd not live to see him triumph as the Frankenstein monster. Got this on DVD from Reel Classics on a disc with Raggedy Rose, also with Mabel Normand. Both have excellent scores by Ben Model.

5 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I thought Fess Parker held his own in "The Jayhawkers," another Paramount western and Olive release.

2:46 PM  
Blogger John McElwee said...

Reader Griff comments on "The Return Of Peter Grimm" and actor Edward Ellis ...


Edward Ellis is quite good in Kanin's A MAN TO REMEMBER (1938), once so difficult to see before its fairly recent resurrection via TCM. [Ellis' REMEMBER role had originally been essayed by Lionel Barrymore in 1933's ONE MAN'S JOURNEY.]

7:06 PM  
Anonymous DBenson said...

Worthwhile interview with Fess Parker by Michael Barrier:

http://www.michaelbarrier.com/Interviews/Parker/interview_fess_parker.htm

3:37 AM  
Anonymous Kevin K. said...

I'm a huge fan of "Peter Grimm" -- I found it quite moving. My wife, more spiritual than me, thought it astonishing. Lionel Barrymore always delivers for me.

10:43 AM  
Blogger Dave K said...

Remember working at a UHF station that ran Jungle Jim features every Saturday afternoon. In the film editing room was a permanent note; 'Always remove crocodile fight before running JJ films'. Almost all the Weissmuller films had the exact same crocodile under water footage... snipping this sequence went a long way to sizing up any of the features into an hour slot (yeah, we ran these things with only two or three commercials).

2:02 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home

grbrpix@aol.com
  • December 2005
  • January 2006
  • February 2006
  • March 2006
  • April 2006
  • May 2006
  • June 2006
  • July 2006
  • August 2006
  • September 2006
  • October 2006
  • November 2006
  • December 2006
  • January 2007
  • February 2007
  • March 2007
  • April 2007
  • May 2007
  • June 2007
  • July 2007
  • August 2007
  • September 2007
  • October 2007
  • November 2007
  • December 2007
  • January 2008
  • February 2008
  • March 2008
  • April 2008
  • May 2008
  • June 2008
  • July 2008
  • August 2008
  • September 2008
  • October 2008
  • November 2008
  • December 2008
  • January 2009
  • February 2009
  • March 2009
  • April 2009
  • May 2009
  • June 2009
  • July 2009
  • August 2009
  • September 2009
  • October 2009
  • November 2009
  • December 2009
  • January 2010
  • February 2010
  • March 2010
  • April 2010
  • May 2010
  • June 2010
  • July 2010
  • August 2010
  • September 2010
  • October 2010
  • November 2010
  • December 2010
  • January 2011
  • February 2011
  • March 2011
  • April 2011
  • May 2011
  • June 2011
  • July 2011
  • August 2011
  • September 2011
  • October 2011
  • November 2011
  • December 2011
  • January 2012
  • February 2012
  • March 2012
  • April 2012
  • May 2012
  • June 2012
  • July 2012
  • August 2012
  • September 2012
  • October 2012
  • November 2012
  • December 2012
  • January 2013
  • February 2013
  • March 2013
  • April 2013
  • May 2013
  • June 2013
  • July 2013
  • August 2013
  • September 2013
  • October 2013
  • November 2013
  • December 2013
  • January 2014
  • February 2014
  • March 2014
  • April 2014
  • May 2014
  • June 2014
  • July 2014
  • August 2014
  • September 2014
  • October 2014
  • November 2014
  • December 2014
  • January 2015
  • February 2015
  • March 2015
  • April 2015
  • May 2015
  • June 2015
  • July 2015
  • August 2015
  • September 2015
  • October 2015
  • November 2015
  • December 2015
  • January 2016
  • February 2016
  • March 2016
  • April 2016
  • May 2016
  • June 2016
  • July 2016
  • August 2016
  • September 2016
  • October 2016
  • November 2016
  • December 2016
  • January 2017
  • February 2017
  • March 2017
  • April 2017
  • May 2017
  • June 2017
  • July 2017
  • August 2017
  • September 2017
  • October 2017
  • November 2017
  • December 2017
  • January 2018
  • February 2018
  • March 2018
  • April 2018
  • May 2018
  • June 2018
  • July 2018
  • August 2018
  • September 2018
  • October 2018
  • November 2018
  • December 2018
  • January 2019
  • February 2019
  • March 2019
  • April 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
  • June 2020
  • July 2020
  • August 2020
  • September 2020
  • October 2020
  • November 2020
  • December 2020
  • January 2021
  • February 2021
  • March 2021
  • April 2021
  • May 2021
  • June 2021
  • July 2021
  • August 2021
  • September 2021
  • October 2021
  • November 2021
  • December 2021
  • January 2022
  • February 2022
  • March 2022
  • April 2022
  • May 2022
  • June 2022
  • July 2022
  • August 2022
  • September 2022
  • October 2022
  • November 2022
  • December 2022
  • January 2023
  • February 2023
  • March 2023
  • April 2023
  • May 2023
  • June 2023
  • July 2023
  • August 2023
  • September 2023
  • October 2023
  • November 2023
  • December 2023
  • January 2024
  • February 2024
  • March 2024