Tcm mark 2

[Chris Knipp]

Bravo, welcome back.

You give me nostalgia for things I haven't seen.

This movie is on the Criterion Channel too.

[Johann]

Thanks.
It’s a good one.

[Johann]

THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD (1938)



Great entertainment.
Errol Flynn plays Sir Robin of Locksley, a Saxon noble during the Crusades.
He's oppressed by Sir Guy of Gisbourne and Prince John (Basil Rathbone & Claude Rains).
Rousing swashbuckling ensues.
The love interest/muse is Maid Marion (Olivia de Havilland).
Fairly lavish production here, with colorful costumes and big sets.
Well worth your time. This film was selected for preservation for it's fine qualities.
Directed by Michael Curtiz

[Johann]

BREAKFAST AT TIFFANYS (1961)



Blake Edwards directs George Peppard and Audrey Hepburn in a wonky drama/comedy.
Hepburn plays Holly GoLightly, a free spirit who doesn't know if she's coming or going.
She's hiding her past, and she masks it by being a New York socialite.
Peppard is Paul Varjak, a writer who falls for Holly. She calls him Fred because he looks like her brother. (?)
Mickey Rooney is offensive and utterly ridiculous as their JAPANESE (?!) landlord. I cringed every time he was onscreen.
I suppose you could label this a romance flick, but Holly doesn't realize the love until the very end when Paul gives her a stinging rebuke and leaves her in a cab in the rain.
Not really my kind of movie.
The most interesting thing was her nameless cat!!!
"MOON RIVER" is a memorable oscar-winning song.

[Johann]

I was shocked to learn that Truman Capote (writer of Breakfast at Tiffanys) originally wanted Marilyn Monroe to play Holly but she was talked out of it.
Capote felt swindled.
I couldn't help but think of how different the movie would be with Marilyn.

[Johann]

MRS. MINIVER (1942)



A classic, albeit propaganda, from William Wyler.
Greer Garson is Mrs. Clem Miniver, pretty British housewife. We follow her throughout the harrowing beginnings of WW2, when her whole world is upended. Her hubby Clem (Walter Pidgeon) ends up volunteering for the Dunkirk evacuation and her son enlists as a pilot for the RAF.
She endures the London bombings with her children and she only flinches when the bombs actually hit. She's a stoic Mama, and Garson earned her Oscar.
This film won best picture, deservedly so. Life itself was threatened, and this movie presented a brave perspective in the face of Nazi terror. In one scene a downed German pilot holds Mrs. Miniver at gunpoint, demanding to be taken to her house for food. She eventually takes his gun and slaps him hard, after calling the police.
The ending is powerful, set in a bombed-out church, where a Priest gives a rousing speech about fighting for freedom, as this was "the people's war".

[Johann]

THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (1946)


Another William Wyler classic, even tho I was non-plussed.
We follow three ex-servicemen as they cope after the war.
They have employment woes and relationship woes.
Long movie, clocking in at almost three hours.
This won best picture at the Oscars but I find it unworthy.
Too dull! Too uninteresting!