Tcm

[Johann]

Has he withdrawn support?

I wasn't aware of a political subtext in Leone, but it doesn't surprise me.
Clint's "hard-right" politics are disappointing.
It taints his movie work, which is quite outstanding.

[Chris Knipp]

Clint distanced himself from Trump. Said 'Just get Mike Bloomberg in there." That didn't happen, of course.

Can you give me some specific instances where Eastwood's politics have tainted his later work?

[Johann]

Only one: the entire film of American Sniper.
Chris Kyle's story was a fraud, and Clint maintained it-even omitted Bush's ordering him to shoot looters after Hurricane Katrina.

[Chris Knipp]

I thought of American Sniper too.
Richard Jewell is a story designed to say you can't trust the FBI or the press, a libertarian view. But it is an interesting movie. Unexpected trajectory, great actor.

[Johann]

FURY (1936)



Fritz Lang's first Hollywood film.
Spencer Tracy is Joseph "Joe" Wilson, a man in love with Katherine Grant (Sylvia Sidney).
They don't have enough money to get married, so they work apart from each other in different cities to build their capital.
Joe has the misfortune of being picked up on suspicion of a kidnapping & murder rap.
Gossip of his guilt hits town, and he's burned alive in the jail by the lynch-minded townsfolk.
But he escaped at the last minute, and the "fury" is now all his...

You feel the injustice here, feel for Joe, and his dead dog Rainbow.
Joe plots revenge, and he's bitter.
His whole good life was knocked off track, by a murderous lynch mob.
Joe monitors his murder trial by radio, which has State exhibit "A" being a newsreel film that identifies perps.
Joe to Katherine: "I'm hangin' 22 rats for what they DID do!! They'll see what it's like being lynched!!"
Did he lose his morality for seeking revenge?

Excellent first American film from Fritz Lang.

[Johann]

YOU AND ME (1938)

This was a first time ever screening for TCM, and myself as well.


Fritz Lang directs this "Christmas noir"- a story of how crime doesn't pay.
Sylvia Sidney is Helen, a parolee working at Morris department store as a clerk. There she meets another ex-con clerk Joe (George Raft), whom she marries.
The owner of the store makes a practice out of hiring ex-cons, and they are not to date each other or marry.
Helen kept the truth about her past from Joe, and when he finds out, he becomes disillusioned.
He's so disillusioned he plots to rob the store.
Great little "morality" movie that I'd never seen before.
The ending has a double surprise twist. (Triple if you include the "Hour for Ecstasy"...)

[Johann]

The Rounders (1914)



Primitive Charlie Chaplin film co-starring Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle.
A "Keystone" silent running only 10 minutes, it has what you'd expect from Chaplin:
pratfalls, pranks and a running gag of him & Fatty "rounding" corners to avoid their wives and others.
Ends with the two of them in a sinking rowboat, "Asleep in the Deep".



The Knock-Out (1914)


Another Keystone silent film directed by & starring Arbuckle as "Pug", it's more sight gags and pratfalls.
The theme this time is "knockout"- rocks to the head and a boxing contest, in which a young guy boxes Fatty
to impress his girlfriend. Chaplin "referees" the bout, which is a farce. Fatty loses it in the ring, pulling a gun and firing.
Enter the keystone cops and the chase is on! Mayhem ensues.
Interesting early silent.