What Was The Last Movie You Watched?

[AmateisGal]

A documentary on Leslie Howard entitled Leslie Howard: The Man Who Gave a Damn.

I didn't know he was such a philanderer (sigh), but I commend him for going home to England to help with the war effort. Alas, it ultimately claimed his life.

 

[Doctor Strange]

I watched that doc a couple of weeks ago, and ended up recording and watching Berkeley Square (1933) afterwards.

Here was a fantasy film from the thirties I'd somehow missed in my youthful passion for that era's classic horror and fantasy in the late sixties. (Apparently it was a lost film until the late seventies!) With a screenplay by John Balderston - who'd written the Dracula play that made Bela Lugosi a star (and which I'd seen revived on Broadway with Frank Langella in the seventies) and gone on to script Dracula and other great Universal horror films - I had to check it out.

I found it a seriously creaky antique: very stagey, sloppily written, badly paced, badly acted, and with no romantic passion between Howard and any of the leading ladies. There were only two points of interest for me: As an early instance of the "willing yourself into the past" concept better used later in things like Somewhere In Time. And the appearance of the same historical character I'd recently seen portrayed by Keira Knightley in The Duchess.

I find it hard to believe that the play and film were important successes for Howard in his rise to stardom. It's simply not good, and his affected performance is one of its main problems.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Just previewed "The Catcher Was A Spy," an interesting WWII espionage story based on the adventures of real-life baseball player/OSS agent Moe Berg.

The real Moe Berg was a legendary figure in the 1930s -- an erudite Princeton graduate turned second-string catcher, mostly for the Senators and the Red Sox, of whom it was said "He can speak nine languages, and can't hit in any of them." He was described by his teammates as a "hard guy to know," a very private, tight-lipped fellow who always gave the impression that there was more going on than he was willing to admit, the sort of man who treated lies and secrecy as a game for his own amusement.

The movie is a pretty straightforward telling of his story -- he was approached in the mid-1930s by government operatives who suggested that, if he happened to tour Japan as a member of an "All American" all-star team, he might take along a movie camera, and perhaps shoot some footage of certain interesting locations. This, in turn, brought him to the attention during the war itself of OSS chief "Wild Bill" Donovan, who recruited him for a mission to investigate a key German physicist and determine how far along he was toward unlocking the secret of atomic fission. If he then determined that the Nazis were on track to build an atomic bomb he was to assassinate the physicist, and if necessary, kill himself to avoid capture.

Pretty heady stuff for a lifetime .243 hitter.

The picture sticks fairly close to what's actually known about Berg, with a few bits of speculation about his mysterious personal life, but I'm not all that convinced Paul Rudd was the guy to play him. Berg was a big, beefy guy, as a catcher has to be, and Rudd lacks the hulking physical presence that in real life set up a contrast with Berg's gentle intellectualism.

The period details are a mixed bag. There's a lot of time compression and switching-around of characters and events to make the story flow, and there are some bits that will annoy any Red Sox fan watching the picture -- Joe Cronin wore number 4, not number 6, as every Sox fan knows, and the wall ads shown at Fenway Park are about ten years ahead of the purported date of the action. More annoying to me is the depiction of "Information Please," the radio panel show on which Berg was an occasional guest -- it was in no way the razz-ma-tazz affair that the film shows, and there were no "points" scored by panelists. The real Berg wouldn't have had anything to do with the kind of program shown in the picture, but he fit right into the casual erudition of the real show, and it's too bad they couldn't have done a bit of research to see what it was really like.

The wartime action scenes were shot in the Czech republic, which makes an agreeable stand-in for 1944 Italy and Switzerland, and I'm sure military buffs will find a few things that aren't quite right. MP's sirring a sergeant struck me as not right, and I'm sure there are other things that will stick out for those who look for them. Rudd as Agent Berg does wear a rather snazzy leather jacket that I'm sure will rivet the attention of certain of our Loungers, who will either laud or ridicule it. I don't know enough about such things to do either.

In general, this isn't a bad picture or a great one. It's an agreeable way to kill an hour and a half, and if it inspires you to learn more about the real Moe Berg, one of the most fascinating characters baseball ever knew, so much the better.

 

[Fading Fast]

"Four's a Crowd" from 1938 staring Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Rosalind Russell, Patric Knowles and Walter Connolly

• Typical '30s code-era screwball comedy about who's really in love with whom driven forward by a silly and not-believable story about a failing newspaper, a big P.R. guy, a wealthy businessman, a smart newspaper woman and society dame

• Watch it for Flynn (who probably should have been an even bigger star than he was - he can act and in many genres not just action adventures), Russell (no one delivers a sarcastic look and line of dialogue better and faster than she) and Connolly (playing the 800th variation on the same rich man / boss he always plays, but, as always, doing it very well)

• Don't watch it for Knowles (Flynn all but uses Knowles as his shoe rag as he, unintentionally, steals every scene they're in together), de Havilland (never gets into the rhythm of her role) or the uninteresting story

• And the best part - this movie might have the greatest model train scenes of any movie, ever (yes, sadly, I love model trains and, living in a small NYC apartment, must live out my model-train passion vicariously in movies like this)

N.B., Lizzie, a month or so ago, I saw the trailer for "The Catcher is a Spy -" and now, with your review, am only looking forward to it more. Sure, it has flaws - they all do - but still seems better than another superhero, mindless romcom or modern-life-is-horrible movie that Hollywood shoves at us all the time now.

 

[Julian Shellhammer]

From opposite ends of the spectrum, A Face in the Crowd (1957) with the Andy Griffith you never knew, Patricia Neal, and Anthony Franciosa, directed by Elia Kazan and story and screenplay by Budd Schulberg; followed by Rebecca (1940) with Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, and a ton of ex-pat British actors, under the direction of Alfred Hitchcock. Best picture Academy Award. Having finished the novel only the day before, we were impressed that the overall story didn't suffer significantly.

 

[LizzieMaine]

"Face" is one of the most searing takedowns of the Boys ever put on film, and what's really astounding about it is that it came along *before* good ole hayseed aw shucks Sheriff Andy. It's like if Brando made "A Streetcar Named Desire" and then spent the rest of his life playing Dopey Dad.

 

[ChiTownScion]

"Face" is one of the most searing takedowns of the Boys ever put on film, and what's really astounding about it is that it came along *before* good ole hayseed aw shucks Sheriff Andy. It's like if Brando made "A Streetcar Named Desire" and then spent the rest of his life playing Dopey Dad.

Love that film. Wasn't it supposed to be a somewhat loose take on Arthur Godfrey? After he fired Julius LaRosa on the air, I always wondered if there were a lot of people who wanted to see Godfrey served up a helping of come uppance, and I wonder if A Face In The Crowd carried part of that.

 

[Formeruser012523]

The Mystery of the Leaping Fish (1916) with Douglas Fairbanks. Have heard of it for years but never saw it. Was curious as to what all the hullaballoo was about.

Yeah, I think I've spent too much time on YouTube lately...

 

[Seb Lucas]

Dunkirk - enjoyed this one a lot. I'm not a fan of Nolan's other work but this film was compelling, perhaps because it didn't try to oversell the material which is extraordinary enough without show business excess. I appreciated the subtle narrative structure and gentle pace employed which gave the enormous scale of the events significantly greater emotional impact than if Nolan had gone for the familiar war film tropes and hyperbole. Nice too not to have a conventional triumphalist orchestral score - the ruin of many a film for me. It was also pleasingly English without feeling put on.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Love that film. Wasn't it supposed to be a somewhat loose take on Arthur Godfrey? After he fired Julius LaRosa on the air, I always wondered if there were a lot of people who wanted to see Godfrey served up a helping of come uppance, and I wonder if A Face In The Crowd carried part of that.

There was a lot of Godfrey in it -- the way Rhodes handles commercials is 100 percent Godfrey -- and that was certainly the main interpretation given the picture at the time -- but the main inspiration, believe it or not , was Will Rogers. Budd Schulberg, who wrote the screenplay, had never bought Rogers' persona, and learned from Rogers' son that it was, indeed, a put-on. Not that Rogers was a vicious, manipulative drunk like Lonesome Rhodes, but neither was he, in real life, a gum-chewing, rope-twirling "never met a man I didn't like" front-porch character. Schulberg was intrigued by how easily the public could be sold a "personality" as if it were a product, and simply took the idea to its logical extreme.

It's quite a picture, even more resonant today than when it was made, and I say that as no fan of Eila Kazan.

 

[Doctor Strange]

King & Country, a 1962 British film directed by Joseph Losey, via TCM. About a simple-minded WWI deserter (Tom Courtney) quickly court-martialed in a makeshift court in the trenches. Dirk Bogarde plays the captain assigned to defend him, who argues that he was shell-shocked and disoriented rather than purposely deserting.

Like Paths of Glory, this is a very ugly story of a very ugly war that ends with a cold-blooded decision from higher-ups that an example must be made (though minus Kubrick's stunning tracking shots in the trenches and battles). It's well done - Bogarde is excellent as a character trying his best at an impossible job - and peopled with great Brit character actors (Leo McKern, James Villiers, etc.)... but it's darn depressing.

 

[Fading Fast]

King & Country, a 1962 British film directed by Joseph Losey, via TCM. About a simple-minded WWI deserter (Tom Courtney) quickly court-martialed in a makeshift court in the trenches. Dirk Bogarde plays the captain assigned to defend him, who argues that he was shell-shocked and disoriented rather than purposely deserting.

Like Paths of Glory, this is a very ugly story of a very ugly war that ends with a cold-blooded decision from higher-ups that an example must be made (though minus Kubrick's stunning tracking shots in the trenches and battles). It's well done - Bogarde is excellent as a character trying his best at an impossible job - and peopled with great Brit character actors (Leo McKern, James Villiers, etc.)... but it's darn depressing.

I recorded it and am now more excited based on your review - although, depressing isn't what I'm looking for today.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Joseph Losey was a fine director. He'd done some very impressive work in radio in the mid-1940s before being forced into political exile after the war. He was also the ex-husband of my favorite literary provocateur Eiizabeth "Fashion Is Spinach" Hawes!

 

[Doctor Strange]

Fading Fast said: I recorded it and am now more excited based on your review - although, depressing isn't what I'm looking for today.

Then my work here is done.

Just kidding!

I've also always been very impressed with A Face in the Crowd. And re Elia Kazan, his politics regarding the blacklist were awful, but there were few better film directors of actors. I mean: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Gentlemen's Agreement, Panic in the Streets, A Streetcar Named Desire, On the Waterfront, East of Eden...

 

[Worf]

Anyone else miss TCM's "Summer Under The Stars"? Another thing gone with Osborne I suppose... Nothing is constant save change.

Worf

 

[NattyLud]

A Face in the Crowd was one of the most profound movie watching experiences for me. I don't like the idea of Hollywood product making more of an impression on me other than as superficial entertainment, but this was one film that had me reeling for days after seeing it as a teenager.

My naive little mind was completely blown by the transformation on display as Andy went from likable down-home yokel to the epicenter of this horrifying power and contempt. Just as interesting were the supporting characters whom were to cope with the cruel realities of loving or needing someone or something even when they know it's toxic. I had never come across such a story before.

Shortly after seeing this I caught "Best Years of Our Lives", which was similarly complex, thought-provoking and well done, and my love affair with older films began.

 

[ChiTownScion]

There was a lot of Godfrey in it -- the way Rhodes handles commercials is 100 percent Godfrey -- and that was certainly the main interpretation given the picture at the time -- but the main inspiration, believe it or not , was Will Rogers. Budd Schulberg, who wrote the screenplay, had never bought Rogers' persona, and learned from Rogers' son that it was, indeed, a put-on. Not that Rogers was a vicious, manipulative drunk like Lonesome Rhodes, but neither was he, in real life, a gum-chewing, rope-twirling "never met a man I didn't like" front-porch character. Schulberg was intrigued by how easily the public could be sold a "personality" as if it were a product, and simply took the idea to its logical extreme.

It's quite a picture, even more resonant today than when it was made, and I say that as no fan of Eila Kazan.

In the mid- 1970's humorist H. Allen Smith wrote a brilliant article for Esquire, "Will Rogers Was No Damned Good." It starts with an episode of an encounter between Smith and Rogers at the Calgary Stampede* during the 30's.


As a cub reporter, Smith was dispatched to invite Rogers up to the press box, share a drink or two, and perhaps, provide some good copy for the reporters. Rogers was evidently quite nasty in his dismissal of Smith, and Smith never got over it. So much so that he dreamed for years of settling the score- even if Rogers had already died and all that was left was the legend of the Sage of Oologah.


Smith finally discovered a chance to really uncover some dirt on Rogers: a former publicity guy for Fox Film who, Smith was warned, was an always accentuate the positive kind of a guy and would always try to paint Rogers in the most positive of light. So, Smith decided that the best tactic was to come up with an accusation that was so outrageous, so scandalous, and so shocking that the publicist would deny it-- but perhaps come up with a tale or two that revealed less admirable aspects of Rogers. Thus, he came up with:

"Is it true that, when Will Rogers and Shirley Temple were both filming at Fox, they had dressing rooms next to one another...and that Rogers drilled a hole through the wall to her bathroom, so that he could watch the sweet little girl while she was taking a pee?"


Reaction of Mr. Publicist: "My GOD, Allen, don't print THAT! That never happened!! EVER !! Your public will TURN on you for even considering such a thing!!"

Then.... a long pause, and the publicist continued, "Besides, that wasn't Will Rogers. That was Lionel Barrymore.."


*Correction: evidently, it was "Frontier Days" in Cheyenne.

 

[MondoFW]

Finished Hitchcock's Rope (1948) just now. A fun little adventure about two guys' struggle to cover up a murder in their apartment during a party, until they blow town. Very thrilling and James Stewart's role made it magnificent.

 

[Seb Lucas]

The Sweet Smell of Success - by God, Burt Lancaster is Satan in this film! And few actors can deliver movie dialogue with as much verbal acuity as Tony Curtis. What a wonderfully black tale.

 

[Fading Fast]

The Sweet Smell of Success - by God, Burt Lancaster is Satan in this film! And few actors can deliver movie dialogue with as much verbal acuity as Tony Curtis. What a wonderfully black tale.

Agree completely, and love the machine-gun dialogue. My comments from when I saw it: https://www.thefedoralounge.com/thr...ovie-you-watched.20830/page-1148#post-2211553