What Was The Last Movie You Watched?

[Wally_Hood]

Not the last movie we watched, but we did see Auntie Mame and Bad Day at Black Rock, both enjoyable in their own ways

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) Set in 1948 Trailer http://www.imdb.com/rg/s/1/title/tt0055031/#lb-vi296224025

American judge Daniel Haywood presides over the trial of four German jurists accused of "legalizing" Nazi atrocities. But as graphic accounts of sterilization and murder unfold in the courtroom, mounting political pressure for leniency forces Haywood into making the most harrowing and difficult decision of his career.

 

[DesertDan]

Yojimbo

 

[HudsonHawk]

Hilarious review!

Don't feel ashamed of your forbidden movie preferences. I really like "Hudson Hawk" and I'm not supposed to, lol

Hey now...that was completely uncalled for!

 

[jamespowers]

 

[Fading Fast]

Last night I watched "The Rake's Progress" (aka "Notorious Gentleman," as the English producer didn't think Americans would know that a rake wasn't only a gardening tool) with Rex Harrison. I had never seen this one and thoroughly enjoyed it. It is a Rex Harrison vehicle - if you don't like him, pass; if you do, you'll probably enjoy it. He plays a playboy who, while charming and not completely immoral, is selfish but engaging, but becomes both more selfish and more aware of its impact on others as the movie progresses (which is what drives the conflict and plot tension in the second part of the film).

I don't want to give the story away, but I was impressed with the dialogue - there is a lot of snappy comebacks and asides and the quality of the acting is strong (the several female leads all hold their own with Rex as does the actor playing Rex's father) - and most importantly, the story and characters are, for the most part, three dimensional. Most things in life are grey, not black and white, so it always seems more real to me when stories and characters reflect that (and many movies in this era - -the 1940s - have too much simple good versus evil features with lines clearly drawn). Also, the time travel aspect was great: the clothes are very traditional English, the houses and apartments are very representative (of how the well-to-do lived) and the background just put you in England in the 1930s and 1940s.

All that said, about half way through, my girlfriend says to me, "I think Rex Harrison is wearing a toupee." Then, we spent the rest of the movie watching the movie and watching his head (it was very distracting, but I couldn't stop thinking about it). We never came to a final conclusion - does anyone know if he wore a toupee back in the 40s?

 

[Maltese]

Iron man 3

Horrible

 

[HudsonHawk]

Last night I watched "The Rake's Progress" (aka "Notorious Gentleman," as the English producer didn't think Americans would know that a rake wasn't only a gardening tool) with Rex Harrison. I had never seen this one and thoroughly enjoyed it. It is a Rex Harrison vehicle - if you don't like him, pass; if you do, you'll probably enjoy it. He plays a playboy who, while charming and not completely immoral, is selfish but engaging, but becomes both more selfish and more aware of its impact on others as the movie progresses (which is what drives the conflict and plot tension in the second part of the film).

I don't want to give the story away, but I was impressed with the dialogue - there is a lot of snappy comebacks and asides and the quality of the acting is strong (the several female leads all hold their own with Rex as does the actor playing Rex's father) - and most importantly, the story and characters are, for the most part, three dimensional. Most things in life are grey, not black and white, so it always seems more real to me when stories and characters reflect that (and many movies in this era - -the 1940s - have too much simple good versus evil features with lines clearly drawn). Also, the time travel aspect was great: the clothes are very traditional English, the houses and apartments are very representative (of how the well-to-do lived) and the background just put you in England in the 1930s and 1940s.

All that said, about half way through, my girlfriend says to me, "I think Rex Harrison is wearing a toupee." Then, we spent the rest of the movie watching the movie and watching his head (it was very distracting, but I couldn't stop thinking about it). We never came to a final conclusion - does anyone know if he wore a toupee back in the 40s?

He wore one, but I'm not sure when he started. And by all accounts, "The Rake" was a kind version of Harrison's real life. He was reported to be the most despised man on the stage and in film. At the time of his death, when asked about where to hold his funeral, one of his contemporaries said "in a phone booth, that would plenty big enough to hold all his friends".

 

[Fading Fast]

He wore one, but I'm not sure when he started. And by all accounts, "The Rake" was a kind version of Harrison's real life. He was reported to be the most despised man on the stage and in film. At the time of his death, when asked about where to hold his funeral, one of his contemporaries said "in a phone booth, that would plenty big enough to hold all his friends".

Thank you for the color. After your post, I looked and - to your point - he was married five times. Even "back in the day" Hollywood stars lived by their own rules.

 

[vintageTink]

Trumpy...can't leave him alone without some kind of trouble.
"Looks like a cross between a pig and a bear. A pear?"

Sack of monkeys in my pocket, my sister's ready to go!

 

[Widebrim]

Walk Softly, Stranger (released 1950, RKO), with Joseph Cotton (Alida) Valli, Spring Byington, and Paul Stewart. Had never heard of this film, which was actually produced before Cotton's and Valli's teaming in The Third Man, but kept on the shelves for two years, and was pleasantly surprised by it. Cotton arrives in a small town he claims to have grown up in, takes a room in the house he says he grew up in, and then begins to ingratiate himself with the wheelchair-bound heiress of the Corelli shoe empire, Valli. You know from the beginning that Cotton is not who he seems to be, but then wonder why he would court Valli and yet refuse a high position in her father's company. It is only when Cotton takes a short trip to see Stewart that you learn of his past, his future plans, and what he is attempting to achieve back in that small town. (Interesting note: Alida Valli was born in 1921 in multi-ethnic Istria, an Adriatic peninsula which Italy acquired in 1919 from Austria-Hungary, and which was divided between Italy and Yugoslavia in 1954. Her real last name was German, although her first language was Italian.) Cotton is smooth as usual; Valli was no slouch of an actress, either, and the camera virtually makes love to her blue eyes. Unexpected (for me, at least) and satisfying ending. 7 out of 10*s

 

[Gregg Axley]

Sack of monkeys in my pocket, my sister's ready to go!

That is a great one.
I haven't seen it for awhile, I might need to break it out tomorrow night.

see, all the pieces go together Ah if only this film were so lucky

 

[wsc]

Harvey, on right now
Did any one make it look as effortless as Jimmy Stewart?

 

[osok1]

"Atlas Shrugged" Part II. Not a big budget film, but it stays pretty close to the original story, with most changes being made only to make it appear more current in terms of technology such as cell phones, etc..

 

[Fading Fast]

"Atlas Shrugged" Part II. Not a big budget film, but it stays pretty close to the original story, with most changes being made only to make it appear more current in terms of technology such as cell phones, etc..

I saw it awhile back and, once I adjusted to new actors being in the lead roles versus Part I, I thought for, as you said, a low-budget film, they did a decent job. I thought the actor who played Dagny in Part I did a better job. It's a shame that Atlas Shrugged has never been given a big-budget, respectful-to-the-story production. Also, if they ever do it, it would be great if they set in back in the 1940s / 50s when it was written.

 

[Wally_Hood]

A film from 1944 Japan, The Army, directed by Keisuke Kinoshita (I have followed the Western style of names, putting his family name second). Made at the request of the Department of War, it is part chilling propaganda film and at the same time an intensely human story of a family living through the nationalism and militarism of late 19th and early 20th century Japan. The director was tasked with telling a story that would reinforce the widespread message that the leadership of Japan was to be unquestioned, that dying for the emperor and for the country was the supreme goal of every Japanese, and that a history of Chinese and European "interventions" was justification for Japan's aggression throughout Asia.

Kinoshita frequently used a static camera, letting a scene unfold with a single shot, letting the characters talk, move around, without any camera movement that would distract from the impact of the story.

The scenes towards the end, when the family's son marches off to war, transcend cultural barriers. After an hour and a half of dialogue that espouses submission to the emperor and his teachings, and militaristic nationalism, to watch the mother force her way through crowd-lined streets to keep pace with her son, as her emotions, so long sublimated to notions of glory and duty, finally overwhelm her, really hit me.

(edit: watched on Hulu's selection of Criterion Collection films)

 

[Gregg Axley]

The Turning Point with William Holden.
Well he's in the movie, not in the room with me.
The feature film appearance of Carolyn Jones, and she's not even credited.
Gomez would be furious.

 

[jamespowers]

 

[Gregg Axley]

That's a good movie to watch late at night.
An altered Mark III was the star of the film btw.

 

[Formeruser012523]

Vivacious Lady with Jimmy Stewart & Ginger Rogers.

Love the cat fight. lol