Tcm

[Johann]

Yes, my favorite of the 1930's.
Those others have much more polish and prestige, but can't compare to the "MOVIE-NESS" of King Kong.
AS Ray Harryhausen said: "Movies are made for Fantasy", and Kong surpasses them in fantasy.

As for Lady Sings The Blues, I recognize that there's no substitute for the real thing.

[Johann]

Outstanding film, and my first introduction to Jules Dassin. I was very impressed.

As far as prison films go, this is just as great as The Great Escape, Papillon, Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile.
Burt Lancaster stars as Joe Collins, a convict at the brutal Westgate Pen.
The prison has serious management problems. The warden is weak, and there's a sadistic Captain of the guards (a deliciously evil Hume Cronyn) angling for his job.
Collins is an unhappy inmate, and he wants OUT.
An escape plan is hatched, and the inmates face Brute Force if it doesn't work out. They already endure it, but if the plan fails they face machine gun deaths.
Snags occur (of course...) yet the plan somehow goes forward, with explosive (and unexpected) results.
The finale makes the whole movie worth it...
Glad I got to see this classic. Great stuff from Jules Dassin.

[Chris Knipp]

You must see RIFIFI (1955). Metascore 97 - that gives you an idea. Dassin got blacklisted, moved to Paris, and made RIFIFI, his masterpiece.

Do you rent movies or antyhing? Only this way now?
In the past, one could access so many classics on tape or DVD. Now there are no more video stores. And I cannot find RIFIFI on the web.

Here is a scene, part of the preparation for the elaborate jewelry store robbery that is the centerpiece of this superb Frencch noir by Jules Dassin, who was French-American, and married Greece's most famous actress of the time, star of NEVER ON SUNDAY, Melina Mercouri.

The ringing of that alarm cuts through you like a knife.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cchdVmuL2fk

CRITERION COLLECTION has RIFIFI on DVD and Blu-ray. Here is their intro: https://www.criterion.com/films/654-rififi

After making such American noir classics as Brute Force and The Naked City, the blacklisted director Jules Dassin went to Paris and embarked on his masterpiece: a twisting, turning tale of four ex-cons who hatch one last glorious robbery in the City of Light. Rififi is the ultimate heist movie, a mélange of suspense, brutality, and dark humor that was an international hit, earned Dassin the best director prize at the Cannes Film Festival, and has proven wildly influential on the decades of heist thrillers that have come in its wake.

[Johann]

Many thanks for the link! That one sure does look fantastic.

I don't rent movies or watch them on the net- TCM is my main source now, and I collect dvd's.

[Johann]

5 films tonite in tribute to Ray Harryhausen, genuis animator.
His work is among the first I ever saw: Clash of the Titans, when I was six years old.
I HAD to have the toys, more than Star Wars!

[Johann]

This a great fantasy film, even though it's melodramatic in extremis.

Ray Harryhausen (born today in 1920!) did the stop-motion effects, and if you can suspend disbelief, you'll have a great time.
Capt. Sinbad (a very handsome and white Kerwin Mathews) must rescue his "shrunken" princess Parisa (a gorgeous Kathryn Grant) from baddies and fantastic creatures.
There's a genie in a lamp, a Cyclops, giant two-headed bird, a Dragon-dino-lizard and a sword fight against a skeleton.
What more do you need?
Just a big bucket of hot-buttered popcorn, Kids!

[Chris Knipp]

DON'T LOOK BACK.


B.D. SAN FRANCISCO PRESS CONFERENCE STILL

YOu forgot to note the filmmaker: D.A. Pennebaker, who made MONTEREY POP and other iconic music films. An important documentary filmmaker, one of the most important American documentary filmmakers.
This is a chance to see Bob Dylan becoming Bob Dylan, his early stardom. A great film I've watched numerous times. And I saw it when it first came out.

Joan Baez was there too, and their romance was going sour.

Bob's mocking interrogation of the Time magazine correspondent is valid. He is channeling a kind of East Coast aggression and intelligence. But, at other times, like the long San Francisco press conference, show him being charming.

The trailer, opening, with the famous tossed down lyrics cards, and Allen Ginsberg in the background looking like a disputative rabbi. It was not the last time Ginsberg would follow Bob around on a tour. He was there in the seventies as you see in Netflix offering ROLLING THUNDER REVIEW: A BOB DYLAN STORY BY MARTIN SCORSESE.

DON'T LOOK BACK TRAILER

We're lucky to have the 1965 hour-long San Francisco press conference. I think we have Ralph Gleason to thank for that. He also made some precious films of Colttrane and other greats performing. Maybe by 1967 the talking to the press had gone sour.