Kiss the Blood off my Hands

Burt Lancaster kills a man in a bar fight.  He breaks into Joan Fontaine's home only she's sympathetic to him and falls in love with him.  But soon Burt's back into crime because of a blackmailer.  This was a good noir, not among the best like Gilda though.  Joan and Burt are both excellent in their roles. 

Lady of the Night

Norma Shearer plays two roles in this, a bad girl from a reform school and a good girl.  It was fun watching her play them both.  A number of people pointed out at imdb.com that they could have hired another actress to play the bad girl as there isn't a need for the two of them like The Parent Trap.  Frankly I had fun watching Norma play the both of them.  The girls both want the same guy but he's a scum bucket.  They could do better.  This was a good silent picture.  I'm not really familiar with Norma's silent work so this was different.

The Yearling

I've been reading Majorie Kinnan Rawlings book and there are major differences.  Most of the book is about the son and father hunting.  The fawn doesn't take up much of the book.  In this movie they feature the friendship between the fawn and the boy more.  I like it this way.  Gregory Peck and Jane Wyman play the parents.  They were both nominated and do a good job.  If you like Old Yeller you might like this movie.

Sentimental Journey

John Payne and Maureen O'Hara  adopt a girl but then O'Hara dies.  John Payne neglects the kid in his distress.  O'Hara's ghost helps the two to recover after the death.  This was ok, not great.  I kept waiting for the Doris Day song but it's an instrumental.

Getting Mary Married

This release from Grapevine shows off Marion's dramatic side.  I'm a fan of her comic side but she did ok in this.  She's lovely in this and I like her hair.  In this her stepfather dies and there's a catch.  She can only get his money if she stays unmarried for a year.  But then Norman Kerry has his eye on her. 

Lucky Partners

Richard Colman and Ginger Rogers split a lottery ticket with each other.  Then they go on a platonic trip together.  However Ginger Rogers is engaged to Jack Carson.  It was nice seeing Jack Carson in something other than a Doris Day movie.  The actors were good here but I just felt the movie was ok.  This is not among Ginger Rogers' best.

The Penalty

As a child Lon Chaney's character's legs were amputated by an insufficient doctor.  Years later he learns that his daughter is a sculptor and doing a piece on the devil.  He comes for the job planning for revenge.  Lon Chaney's character is creepy.  He does a good job as always.  There's also a neat twist at the end.  Lon Chaney was one of the best actors in the silent era.   This got my attention the whole way through. 

Widow from Chicago

Alice White's brother gets killed.  Edward G. Robinson plays a nightclub owner mob boss.  She claims to be the wife of a gangster.  She's out to figure out who killed her brother.  Edward G. Robinson of course turned out to be the major star of this movie.  However Alice White is cute.  She didn't make too many films but she had a presence.  She's kind of like a blonde Clara Bow.

Libeled Lady

Myrna Loy is suing Spencer Tracey's newspaper.  So he lets his gal Jean Harlow and William Powell get married for his story.  William Powell gets to know Myrna Loy and her father.  He falls for her.  But what is she going to say about him being married?  The scene where William Powell fishes is hilarious.  This was a cute screwball comedy. 

The Man and the Moment

This is a half talkie/half silent film. Billie Dove and Rod La Rocque both have people they want to get away from.  Billie wants to get away from her legal guardian and Rod wants to get rid of his girlfriend.  However Rod discovers that he loves Billie.  Only she's reluctant.  He chases after her for the rest of the movie.  It was interesting watching Billie Dove.  Billie Holiday named herself after Billie Dove.  I've been curious to see a Billie Dove movie since.  She was pretty good in this.

Girls' School

I really liked Anne Shirley in Anne of Green Gables.  When I saw that another of her movies was available I instantly rented it.  Anne Shirley is on scholarship at a girls' school.  She is the hall monitor which means she has to turn in all of the bad deeds the girls have done.  She reluctantly tells on Nan Grey a girl she admires. Nan stayed up all night.  Soon all the girls hate Anne Shirley.  Anne and Nan become enemies but eventually wind up as friends.  Anne Shirley steals the show. 

West Side Story

I watched a Bell Telephone Hour special with the original Maria Carol Lawrence recently.  (I own two of her albums.  She's fabulous.)  I realized I needed to watch this movie again.  The last time I watched it I was in high school.  My acquaintance next to me mentioned how bad this movie was and I lied and said it was bad.  No.  This is one of the best musicals of all time.  There's only one song I don't care for and that's One Hand, One Heart. This musical is based on Romeo and Juliet. Two gangs fight against each other while two people Tony and Maria fall in love.  The supporting cast steal the show though.  George Chakris and Rita Moreno both won supporting actor awards.  Rita Moreno has won a Grammy, an Emmy, a Tony, and an Oscar.  What a career!  It's two hours and a half but worth every minute.

Polly of the Circus

A movie about a minister and a girl from the circus falling in love.  She is injured and he has to take care of her in his home. Only the church has problems with their romance.  Someone in imdb.com mentioned that aren't enough close ups of Mae Marsh and that's true.  She's a lovely actress.  This is ok.  I liked the Marion Davies remake as well. 

Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell

This was a 70's tv horror movie.  It's about an evil dog.  The father is the only one who doesn't come under its spell.  It destroys the neighbor and takes over the family.  The father seeks for a cure.  This is cheesy and not to be taken seriously.  It's not necessarily good but it was fun.

Scudda-Hoo Scudda-Hay

Not that good of a movie.  I was hoping that this would be a musical, something of a Summer Stock thing.  It is about farming though.  There are two half brothers and one tries to sabotage the other.  June Haver plays the love interest.  Natalie Wood plays a young tomboy.  Natalie and June are the best thing about this movie. 

Five Miles to Midnight

Anthony Perkins survives a plane crash.  The marriage to Anthony Perkins and Sophia Loren was already been destroyed before this.  Yet he wants them to collect the life insurance since it is believed he is dead.  Sophia loses it as Anthony annoys her trapped in their apartment.  They both descend into madness.  Anthony does his psycho character well.  It's too bad that he was typecast in this role as he was a good actor.  For a different range of his acting try to watch the tv special Evening Primose.

Rage in Heaven

In this psychological thriller Montgomery is a psychopath.  Ingrid marries him but finds she should have married George Sanders who she still has feelings for.  This was co written by Christopher Isherwood who wrote The Berlin Stories which Cabaret is based on.  This movie is just ok.  Ingrid Bergman looks gorgeous as usual.  For a better film with Montgomery as a psychopath watch Night must Fall. 

The Victim

Elizabeth Montgomery stars in this 70's tv movie about a murder.  Elizabeth goes to her sister's house but she's not there.  Elizabeth starts to think something happened to her sister.  She suspects Eileen Heckart, the maid and the husband her sister was about to divorce.  The ending is kind of unclear.  Montgomery gives a good performance. 

Sissi: The Fateful Years of the Empress

In this last installment of the Sissi movies, Sissi finds herself sick but she miraculously recovers.  There's not much plot in this one.  It's ok but the first movie was by far the best.  Romy Schneider is by far the best thing in this movie.  She's lovely and charming.  I'm going to look into her non-Sissy movies soon.

The Big Parade

I am so glad this got on DVD.  This is a beautiful love story around World War I.  John Gilbert has a girl back home but he falls in love with a girl from France Renee Adoree.  They have a fun scene with bubble gum.  There's more than thirty minutes of him in battle.  It was a pretty good movie. 

Hollywood Story

A producer decides to make a film about how a silent film director was killed.  He begins to research into the case and it becomes apparent that someone doesn't want him to.  Julie Adams from The Creature from the Black Lagoon stars.  She's definitely one of my favorite actresses from the 50's.  It's a neat movie. 

Phantom Lady

This is an awesome noir movie.  I was so glad to see that it got on dvd.  Ella Raines was an excellent actress of the 40's.  She was good in noir and in Tall in the Saddle she almost stole the show from John Wayne.  Ella's boss gets accused of murder.  He keeps mentioning that he was with a woman the whole night as his alibi.  People think he's lying but Ella goes undercover herself to prove her boss innocent.  This is a nice moody atmosphere.  I really need to read the book. 

The Girl he left Behind

Tab Hunter flunks college and enrolls into the army.  He doesn't have the stuff the army needs until the end. Natalie Wood plays the girl he left behind to go the army.  James Garner has a bit part and I was hoping for more.  This movie was boring.  There were better army movies in the 50's like The D.I. and The Strange One (which hasn't been put on dvd yet).  Natalie Wood was cute in it.  That was the main reason why I got it. 

The Courtship of Eddie's Father

 I didn't really care for this movie.  Glenn Ford is a widower and his son Ron Howard tries to set him up with a woman.  You know from the start that it's going to be Shirley Jones.  The problem is that I felt she was too good for him.  He comes across as a jerk, so does the woman he dates for a while Dina Merrill.  Stella Stevens is cute though as a redhead.  It's good acting but it didn't work for me.

In Name Only

Cary Grant and Carole Lombard are in love.  However his wife Kay Francis refuses to give him a divorce.  Kay Francis is a villain in this movie and is really the reason to watch this movie.  She's unlikable and cold, but gives a great performance. 

The House of Mystery La Maison du Mystere

This is a silent French serial that took me three nights to watch.  It's 6 hours and a half.  It is about a man (Ivan Mozzhukhin) wrongly accused of murder.  His friend Charles Vanel did it and he is also in love with Ivan's wife.  Ivan's daughter though has always known her father was innocent.  Eventually there is justice.  My favorite serial is Les Vampires but this is a pretty good one.  Charles and Ivan both put on a good show. 
 

Youngblood Hawke

I got this movie because I'm a fan of Suzanne Pleshette.  She's good in it but underused.  Youngblood gets his first book published.  Pleshette's his editor.  At first things all good but this country boy soon finds himself in an affair, a suicide, and his career and being dwindles.  The actor who is the best in this movie is Genevieve Page, the woman he is having an affair.  She crumbles as well. 

Ever in my Heart

Barbara Stanwyck is married to a German who abandons her to join in his country for war.  This hurts her as the Germans are the enemy in the war.  She's also torn between a love for Ralph Bellamy.  This was an ok precode.

Kiss me Kate

This Cole Porter musical is fun.  Kathryn Grayson and Howard Keel star in The Taming of the Shrew, the audience doesn't know that the characters are experiencing the Shakespeare musical itself.  Ann Miller sings as many songs as Kathryn Grayson does.  I know that Kathryn was a great singer but it's nice that Ann's voice is acknowledged. 

Our Dancing Daughters

Joan Crawford made her career with this movie.  She plays a party girl who is actually sincere at heart.  Anita Page steals the man she loves.  Anita Page almost takes the screen from Crawford in this movie as a drunken bad girl.  She pretends to be good in the beginning and I fell for it.  Anita is also very lovely here.  So far it's my favorite role of hers.  Pretty good silent film.

The Bamboo Blonde

Frances Langford is the reason to watch this wartime musical.  She's beautiful and has a lovely voice.  The plot's pretty thing.  She sings more than three numbers.  Anthony Mann directed it and he would go on to greater things.

Stranded

Kay Francis plays an independent role, a woman who works for Traveller's Aid.  George Brent works on the Golden Gate bridge with construction.  There is a tense scene when one of the workers fall.  He wants Kay to quit her job but she won't have that.  I'm a fan of Kay.  It's worth watching but I don't think it's one of her best movies.

Nora Prentiss

A doctor abandons his family for a beautiful singer played by Ann Sheridan.  He stages his own death.  There are consequences to this though as he is always paranoid that he'll meet some one from his past.  I have mixed feelings about the ending.  It fit what the character would do but it was downbeat.  I remember I used to feel that Ann Sheridan was just a want to be Rita Hayworth.  Over the past two years I've discovered how wrong I was.  She was an excellent actress and I want to see even more of her movies.

Blondie of the Follies

Marion Davies' friend Billie Dove is in the Follies.  Billie Dove lets Marion in if she will only ignore her boyfriend Robert Montgomery.  But Marion finds love hard to resist.  I've been watching Marion Davies movies lately and I think that I've watched most of them.  She was an underrated actress.

Try and get me

An unemployed man agrees to become the getaway driver to support his family. His conscience can't handle a killing and he confesses.  A mob tries to get at him in the end.  A newspaper reporter finds that a criminal is not all black and white.  It was a pretty good noir.  I liked how the guy wasn't just a snake that he was just a guy trying to provide for his family.  It's a different twist. 

When Ladies Meet/ I sell anything

Myrna Loy makes an author writing about an extramarital affair.  She ends up meeting the wife of the man who she is cheating on. Frank Morgan plays the man and I've always just seen him as The Wizard so he was a really versatile actor.  Ann Harding plays the wife who's cheated on and she does a good job.  I sell anything stars Pat O'Brien as a dishonest auctioneer con man.  He gets played in the end and it's a sweet twist.   

The Red Mill

Two of my favorite comediennes star here Louise Fazenda and Marion Davies.  I feel that Louise Fazenda isn't given her due.  Louise Fazenda is forced to marry the governor but she has a beau of her own.  Marion gets a man as well.  This is a silent comedy and was directed by Fatty Arbuckle.  It's tragic what happened to him.  You can tell he was just full of talent. 

It happened in Flatbush

Carole Landis was a talented, beautiful actress from the 40's who took her own life.  This movie shows what promise she had.  She plays the owner of a baseball team.  Only she has no interest in it until Lloyd Nolan comes to manage the team.  They also fall in love.  This movie was cute.

Show Girl in Hollywood

Alice White was a cute silent/early talkie film star.  Here she plays a girl trying to get a break in Hollywood.  She realizes that Hollywood is not all that it's portrayed to be.  She's a real brat in a scene.  I almost went against her but was happy when everything was resolved.  Blanche Sweet plays a washed up actress and she is excellent as well.  I hope that more Alice White films get on DVD. 

The Florodora Girl

I'm a fan of Marion Davies.  I've been watching all the latest movies that Warner Archive has released of her.  This one's just ok.  Marion Davies plays a showgirl from the 1900's.  A rich man just wants to have fun with her.  He's not serious.  He tells his mother she's just a showgirl.  Eventually he changes his mind.  The problem with this movie is that I didn't like the guy.  I found him to be a jerk.  I wasn't routing for them to be together. 

The Two Worlds of Jennie Logan

This tv movie was based on the excellent science fiction book "Second Sight."  I actually watched this two years ago and then read the book.  I viewed this again.  It's definitely a good adaptation of the book.  Also I've been watching Lindsay Wagner tv movies lately.  She was a beautiful talented actress.  This is about a woman whose husband recently cheated on her.  She finds herself back in time in love with an artist.  Only he's supposed to die and she has to find the cause of his death before it happens.  Her husband naturally think she's losing it.  If you enjoy this there's a similar book that was written around the same time that I also recommend The Mirror by Marlys Millhiser.  That's also a good time traveling story.

Straight from the Heart (Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam)

Aishwarya Rai falls for Salman Kahn but her family disagrees with the relationship.  (For some reason in every movie that I've seen of Salman he has to take his shirt off.  It's annoying.).  Anyway, she is married to another man who really loves her and so they go on a journey to find Salman Kahn.  However, the heart isn't always predictable.  Aishwarya is stunning here.  I watched a lot of Bollywood when I was 23 years old.  I'm starting to revisit some of the movies I had watched while watching some new ones as well.  I really like the ending.  This ending would never make it into an American movie.  It was different.

The Iron Curtain

Dana Andrews finds Soviet secrets in Canada while working as a code clerk.  This is an ok movie about communism.  Gene Tierney was a delight as his wife.  She was such a beautiful woman.  It is also based on a true story. 

Les Bonnes Femmes

This is a Claude Chabrol film about a few girls who work at an electronic/appliance store during the day and then party at night.  There's even a murder.  My favorite scene is when you discover a secret that one of the girls have.  She makes it out to be a bigger deal than it is.  It's a charming scene. Stephane Audran, a regular of Chabrol movies, stars in this.  She would even be in my favorite Chabrol movie Le Boucher. 

The Night Walker/Dark Intruder

This is a 2 for 1 special of two horror movies that TCM put out.  The best of the two is The Night Walker where Barbara Stanwyck is haunted by dreams that may or may not be real.  Robert Taylor plays her lawyer.  There's some neat twists towards the end.  William Castle directed this and he always had fun with his pictures. The second movie is only 60 minutes.  It is just all right.  It stars a young Leslie Nielsen who is an occult expert looking after recent murders.  It's nice to see him in a different role.

The Merry Widow

I watched the silent movie based on the operetta but these two movies are completely different.  Maurice Chevalier's country is in debt so he tries to bewitch the wealthy Merry Widow (Jeanette Macdonald).  I like Maurice and Jeanette as a team.  I don't care much for Nelson and Jeanette as a couple.  I guess that's why I prefer Jeanette's earlier pictures.

Day of Wrath

I watched this Dreyer movie seven years ago.  It was better the second time around.  It's a pretty good movie.  A woman falls for her husband's son.  She wishes her husband dead and when that happens she is accused of witchcraft.  The acting was pretty good.  You get foreshadowing in the beginning when an old woman is accused of witchcraft.  I need to watch more Dreyer movies.  I watched The Passion of Joan of Arc over ten years ago.  It's due for a rewatch and his other movies need a viewing.

Incredible Journey of Doctor Meg Laurel

This is more or less Doctor Quinn Medicine Woman.  It was a tv movie made in the 70's starring The Bionic Woman star Lindsay Wagner.  She begins practice in a small forest town where the locals treat her medical expertise as evil.  They trust the simple ways of their other doctor Jane Wyman.  Eventually Jane and her become friends and help sick people in the town together.  Tracey Gold is a kid actor here and she does a good job.

Fanny

Fanny discovers that she's pregnant.  She marries an older man out of convenience and to avoid scandal.  Later a few years later her lover Marius returns.  This was written and directed by Marcel Pagnol, more known as the author of Jean de Florette and Manon of the Springs.  This was a pretty good movie.  I look forward to seeing the others in the set.

Blue Denim

This is based on a play.  It's about two teenagers, one of whom is played by Carol Lynley.  They fall in love but then they have to worry about an unwanted pregnancy.  She almost has an abortion.  The guy's friend is more or less the boy's conscience.  I thought Carol Lynley was good in this movie.  You can tell that she's a star.  She would go on to better movies like Bunny Lake is Missing.  For a 50's movie this is pretty scandalous, bringing up topics like abortions. 

King of Kings

I'm a religious person.  I try to make it to church on Sundays.  I go to church activities throughout the week.  I try to read my scriptures every day.  I love biblical movies.  I think The Ten Commandments is the best one.  I was not impressed with the recent Son of God.  But King of Kings was ok.  I felt like it made Jesus out to be a spiritual person. It goes through his birth and then his crucifixion.  It's around three hours.  I was disappointed though that Mary Magdalene was barely in it. 

The Merry Widow

Mae Murray plays a showgirl who falls for John Gilbert.  Only he turns her down and she marries someone scary for money.  Luckily the man dies soon leaving her rich.  This was based on an operetta.  Yet it's a silent.  It's almost two hours and a half but I enjoyed myself.  I thought it was a classy piece and it had good direction by Erich von Stroheim.  I need to watch the Jeanette Macdonald version now.