Tcm mark 2

THE SEA WOLF (1941)




Dynamic drama directed by Michael Curtiz.
A great acting showcase for Edward G. Robinson, Captain of the seal-pelt ship "GHOST".
He's a megalomaniac, a sadist and a fascist. He rules his ship with an iron fist.
His ship picks up two survivors of a shipping collision: a writer and a female criminal who escaped prison. (Ida Lupino)
From then on it's the dramatic tension onboard, leading to a mutiny and ultimately the sinking of the Ghost. Based on the Jack London novel. Well worth your time.

THEY WON'T FORGET (1937)



Strong courtroom drama from Mervyn Leroy, 2 years prior to his work on The Wizard of Oz.
It's Memorial day for the Civil war, and a teenager is killed at her school when no one was there- except for a janitor and witness accounts of seeing a teacher and a boyfriend of the girl.
Claude Rains is the district attorney who wants to make his career with this case.
The girl, Mary, is played by Lana Turner in her screen debut.
The teacher is innocent, the janitor is innocent and her boyfriend (Young Kubrick alum Elisha Cook, Jr.|) is also innocent. But they need a scapegoat, and the teacher is it.
Claude Rains is a real thespian...this movie shows him in full flight, and I must say he's commanding. You can really notice how much better he is than all the other actors.
The teacher is convicted of murder, and it's an outrage. The governor ultimately commutes his sentence to life in jail, only to have a mob seize him and lynch him. (They won't forget, see?)
Good movie that highlights prejudice and corruption and the media's role, not to mention how justice is elusive.

THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE (1948)



John Huston's adaptation of the novel about mining for gold in Mexico.
Starring Humphrey Bogart as Fred Dobbs, a down on his luck drifter.
After finding work and then getting stiffed on payment he and a friend go to a flophouse, where he overhears an old man talk about finding gold in them thar hills...
He and his friend take the old man up on the offer, and soon they are prospecting for gold and doing pretty good. They run into trouble when their operation is discovered.
This film is dusty, grimy, dirty. You can smell the dirt and sweat!
Stanley Kubrick listed it in his ten favorite films.

WHITE HEAT (1949)




Universally recognized as one of the best gangster movies ever made.
Directed by Raoul Walsh and starring a crazy James Cagney, this was a treat.
Cagney is Arthur "CODY" Jarrett, a homicidal psychotic. He leads a gang that robs a mail train, has the authorities in hot pursuit, and when it looks like he's going to jail, he concocts a plan to get a lesser sentence. His mother is in on his crimes too, and while he's in jail she gets shot dead in the back. He manages to escape prison with some help, and he plans more crime.
He's basically cornered by police by the film's end, but they won't take him alive..."I made it, Ma....TOP OF THE WORLD!!!"

Sounds great, and I should definitely see it. I do rather prefer the Éric Rohmer type of film, though, these days. As one grows older, one's taste for violence may diminish.

It's a must-see.
A lot more happens than what I said. But it all moves at a very brisk pace.
It may be Cagney's best role. His gangster pictures at Warner brothers are legendary.
He goes for broke in WHITE HEAT, and he's electric, the dynamic focal point.

Just got a Patreon review from Mike D'Angelo saying Double Indemnity (1944, Billy Wilder) is the greatest film noir ever made. Any views on that?

Yes, I thumbnailed Double Indemnity in my first TCM thread.
It probably is the best noir ever. The dialogue is fantastic.
There are tons of noirs I've never seen, tho.

THE SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS (1957)



Billy Wilder's interesting film of Charles A. Lindbergh and his history-making trans-Atlantic flight from New York to France in 1927.
James Stewart plays Lindy or "Slim" as he's nicknamed.
The film takes us thru getting financing for the flight and aircraft, all the preparations involved and how other fliers who want to make history suffer setbacks.
Then we get to the momentous takeoff on a wet and muddy runway.
He was off, flying with no navigator, only using dead reckoning.
He flies past the East coast, then Nova Scotia and Newfoundland Canada, then making it to Ireland and Europe.
He was going on very little sleep, and he falls asleep a few times, almost crashing. He also did not account for ice on the wings, which also almost ends in disaster.
When he finally lands in France 200,000 people are waiting to greet him.
In America he had 4 million at his ticker tape parade.
No frills movie- we don't really learn all that much about him.

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Originally Posted by Johann

Yes, I thumbnailed Double Indemnity in my first TCM thread.
It probably is the best noir ever. The dialogue is fantastic.
There are tons of noirs I've never seen, tho.

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Me too. Theoretically I am a great fan of noir, but it's more "neo-noir" that I'm familiar with.

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Originally Posted by Johann

THE SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS (1957)



Billy Wilder's interesting film of Charles A. Lindbergh and his history-making trans-Atlantic flight from New York to France in 1927.
James Stewart plays Lindy or "Slim" as he's nicknamed.
The film takes us thru getting financing for the flight and aircraft, all the preparations involved and how other fliers who want to make history suffer setbacks.
Then we get to the momentous takeoff on a wet and muddy runway.
He was off, flying with no navigator, only using dead reckoning.
He flies past the East coast, then Nova Scotia and Newfoundland Canada, then making it to Ireland and Europe.
He was going on very little sleep, and he falls asleep a few times, almost crashing. He also did not account for ice on the wings, which also almost ends in disaster.
When he finally lands in France 200,000 people are waiting to greet him.
In America he had 4 million at his ticker tape parade.
No frills movie- we don't really learn all that much about him.

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It may have been expedient not to reveal too much about him, since he was one of America's most prominent Nazi sympathizers.

Was not aware of that.
It hurts to say Stanley Kubrick was also a Nazi sympathizer- he married German aristocracy, was fascinated with Goebbels and famously said "Hitler was right about almost everything".

Lindy's politics came earlier of course. And for that reason and others were more significant than Kubrick's admiration for the Nazis.
Philip Roth's novel The plot Against America (which however I have not read - yet) deals with Lindburgh

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The Plot Against America is a novel by Philip Roth published in 2004. It is an alternative history in which Franklin D. Roosevelt is defeated in the presidential election of 1940 by Charles Lindbergh.
Wikipedia, The Plot Against America

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It's a nightmare alternate reality image of a new right-wing, anti-Semitic nation.

LAND OF THE PHARAOHS (1955)



This was a special treat.
Brand newly restored and introduced by Martin Scorsese, I had never heard of this film. Who knew Howard Hawks did a lavish historical epic? This was shot in special cinemascope- very wide and very thin letterboxing. We get to see a *probable* look at how the pyramids were built- with vast manpower.
The film opens with a lulling victory march back to Egypt from battle. There are so many extras in this movie it's staggering, and apparently a few died due to heat exhaustion!
Jack Hawkins is Pharaoh Khufu, and he's good, albeit with a distracting british accent.
He commissions the construction of a pyramid, in exchange for the freedom of the slaves who build it once it's complete. Joan Collins is the scheming Princess who's after his gold once he dies.
They don't make 'em like this anymore, no Sir...

I can see how you would enjoy it; the spectacle is awesome. I could never stand these Fifties "epics". The pyramid-building crowd scenes and the grandiose sets are remarkable, I'll grant. Silly script, though, and I can't stand intrusive movie music like this has. I wonder how they got all those Egyptian extras to go around nearly naked, since Egyptian Muslim culture forbids nakedness, even in men's locker rooms. This, lacking big names, was a commercial and critical failure. CLEOPATRA in the early Sixties did much better both ways, with Liz Taylor and Richard Burton, despite lots of production problems and delays.
I see William Faulkner worked on LAND OF THE PHARAOHS during his ill-starred period in Hollywood.
"They don't make 'em like this anymore, no Sir..." No, and a good thing, too!
"The film was banned in Egypt on the grounds of "distortion of historical facts.'" -Wikipedia. The last part was made up, I guess.
The Wikipedia article tells how much Scorsese loves this film. He loved film epics. This one stands out for the richness of its detail.

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Originally Posted by Chris Knipp

I can see how youu would enjoy it; the spectacle is awesome. The pyramid-building crowd scenes and the grandiose sets are remarkable, I'll grant. Silly script, though This one stands out for the richness of its detail.

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All true.
While watching it all I could think of was THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, DeMille's epic and better film. The colors dazzle and the sets are indeed memorable. LAND OF THE PHARAOHS could bore people; I was interested because it was new and Scorsese was praising it. He saw it when it came out in Times square.

Scorsese's enthusiasm for all sorts of cinema is legendary.

WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? (1966)




Slightly bizarre film about a married couple who get drunk and invite another couple over for company. Revelations spill out and arguments ensue. Real-life married couple Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor are George and Martha, academically connected.
This was a renowned stage play by Edward Albee and I'm not sure how it translates to the screen.
It was a rather tense and uncomfortable watch for me- a couple at each other and another haplessly watching/listening.
Taylor won an Oscar for best actress and Sandy Dennis won for best supporting actress.
Burton lost out to Paul Scofield.

I reported here recently how thrilling and innovative Edward Albee's play was on Broadway when I saw it in the fall shortly after its premiere at the Billy Rose Theater, October 13, 1962. The original cast featured Uta Hagen as Martha, Arthur Hill as George, Melinda Dillon as Honey and George Grizzard as Nick. It was directed by Alan Schneider. I can assure you it worked stunningly on the stage. The film cast was more star-studded but it doesn't work as well - just a shadow of its brilliant original. This was the same season of Robert Bolt's A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS with a superb actor, Paul Scofield, in the lead. A great time for theater, long gone. Another play originated then I didn't see but had a cool title: STOP THE WORLD, I WANT TO GET OFF.

You witnessed some theatrical history! Excellent.
I thought Burton and Taylor's acting was top notch, but the film was a little strange to me.

Burton and Liz Taylor were good, and the movie got a raft of Oscars and noms, including Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress (Sandy Dennis). But it's much better on the stage. Not quite right as a movie. I watched it disappointed: nothing could match the amazing play experience. I remember standing around at intermission time dazed, awestruck, looking at other people and thinking, Isn't this amazing? You can't imagine. It was revolutionary to hear dialogue like this on the stage back then.

Jack Warner clashed with the censors. He insisted on keeping the "adult" content adult.
No one was allowed admission unless you were 18 accompanied by an adult.

A transitional period, no doubt. Then, words and gestures still meant something and had the power to shock (or enlighten).

BLACK LEGION (1937)



Warner Brothers had a record of making movies that stood up to fascism and racism.
Black Legion is one of those movies. The KKK even sued Warners, and lost.
Humphrey Bogart got a chance to shine here, 4 years prior to his superstardom.
He plays Frank Taylor, a factory worker looking to move up to foreman.
He doesn't get the promotion, a hard working Polish immigrant does.
Frank, kinda lost, joins the Black Legion, a mysterious hooded and robed group who put the squeeze on immigrants.
They raid the Polish man's farm, and Frank eventually gets the foreman post.
Long story short, he is suspected of oppressing immigrants. Ultimately he kills a man he knows under orders from the Legion. Frank goes on trial, and he tells all, getting life sentences for all Legion members.
Short movie at 83 minutes.

ROMANCE ON THE HIGH SEAS (1948)




Doris Day's film debut. She stayed at Warner brothers for 9 years, making the studio a fair amount of money. This was a musical/comedy directed by Michael Curtiz, whose filmography impresses me more everyday.
A lightweight comedy, its about a couple who suspect each other of cheating. One hires a private investigator, the other goes on a cruise to Rio only with Day in her place. Both think they will catch each other in the act.
The songs are sugary, with "It's Magic" becoming a hit for Day.
I enjoyed this, despite being dated and hokey at times.
It's one of those "take you away from your troubles" films that the 40's were good at.

EAST OF EDEN (1955)



This was a special screening of the restored 4K version of Elia Kazan's classic.
Introduced by two directors (Joanna Hogg & Wes Anderson), this was a biblical story of a family in turmoil.
James Dean plays Cal Trask, in competition with his brother for his father's approval/affection in 1917.
The whole film is building up to an explosive series of events, and it is well acted.
Kazan resisted Cinemascope, but when he finally used it for this film, he maximized each shot. You can study this film just on composition and framing alone. The colors are really bright too.
Loosely based on the John Steinbeck novel.

COME SEPTEMBER (1961)



Robert Mulligan directs Rock Hudson and Gina Lollabrigida in this tame rom-com.
I found it worth watching for Bobby Darin’s film debut- he even sings.
Rock plays Talbot, a rich mogul who vacays in Italy once a year.
He owns a villa, but the caretakers have sneakily turned it into a hotel for when he’s not there.
He finds out, fires all the staff, and ends up chaperoning some young kids (Darin, Sandra Dee & 8 others). The humour stems from the generation gap and how Talbot is a hypocrite.
Gina Lollabrigida is gorgeous, a real beauty…
Bobby Darin and Sandra Dee fell in love while making this movie.
Gina’s accent reminded me of Melania Trump.
Fairly light and fluffy movie-harmless all the way.

Sounds fun - except for the Melania Trump memory.

JEWEL ROBBERY (1932)



The star of the month for May at TCM is William Powell.
This heist/romance by William Dieterle shows us Powell's charm as a leading man.
He robs a jewelry store in Vienna and a bunch of screwball antics play out, including scenes of smoking marijuana.
This film is rather blah, but thankfully short at 70 minutes. Hopelessly dated.