Shadow on the Wall

A young girl witnesses a murder of her mother.  Her only clue is a shadow on the wall.  Ann Sothern her aunt who was the murderer tries to destroy the girl.  The girl is currently in a hospital and Nancy Davis (later Nancy Reagan) tries to help the girl to get well.  I was surprised by Nancy's performance.  I wrote off her movie career.  Perhaps that wasn't something I should have done. Sothern steals the show though. 

Sins of Rachel Cade

Angie Dickinson plays a religious nurse in the Congo who has two men after her, Peter Finch and a surgeon.  It was sad.  I saw Peter Finch recently in Far from the Madding Crowd and here he is again as a rejected suitor. I liked the ending.  It went a different route than the usual predictable ending.  Angie does a good job here.  The movie also mentions genital mutilation which I thought was courageous for an old movie to mention. 

Other Men's Women

A man cheats on his best friend's wife (Mary Astor.)  Then the husband becomes blind. The movie ends on a tragic note. It was ok.  James Cagney and Joan Blondell have supporting roles.  This was before they made it.  They nearly steal the show. 

Madame Bovary

The movie begins with Flaubert (played by James Mason) at trial for a disgusting book.  The rest of the movie is devoted to Madame Bovary.  She starts out innocent but then she gets herself involved in a few affairs.  As well she gets his family into financial ruin.  Jennifer Jones does a good job in the title role.  Van Heflin also does an impressive job as the husband we're sorry for. I'm going to read the book soon.

Anne of Green Gables

The actress' real name is not Anne Shirley, the character of the movie.  Yet that is her screen name.  It's a good adaptation of the book.  My favorite though is the tv movie starring Megan Follows.  In this version there is chemistry between Gilbert and her.  The actors do a good job.  They also capture Anne's dialogue in the book well.  It was an enjoyable watch.

Hollywood Revue of 1929

This is not that great of a film but it contains a lot of interesting footage so it makes it worth a watch.  Cliff Edwards has a few numbers.  He's mostly known as the voice behind Jimmy the Cricket nowadays.  The Brox Sisters a group from the 20's I found on a flapper collection once have a number and they are great.  Joan Crawford sings.  I don't know why she sang in so many of her movies when she couldn't sing.

Private Lives

Norma Shearer and Robert Montgomery are divorced from each other.  At their honeymoon to other people they run into other people.  Only they find they still like each other so they abandon their new partners.  The ending has a twist and is very cute.  This is actually a good movie of a Noel Coward play.  There's been others like Easy Virtue that haven't been translated into film well.  Norma and Robert do a good job.

Far from the Madding Crowd

I read Thomas Hardy's book recently.  I've watched both the recent version and the old version.  I like them both equally.  Julie Christie plays a farmer who has three men in love with her, a landowner, a shepherd, and a soldier.  Terence Stamp does a good job as the soldier.  Although we can predict the ending it is an interesting watch.

I found Stella Parish

This is one of Kay Francis' best movies.  Kay Francis plays a stage actress with a past.  She was once a convicted murderer and had her daughter in prison.  She's blackmailed and moves to New York.  Only a reporter discovers her.  The reporter regrets telling the world he found her after all he's in love with her.  Kay Francis' daughter is played by Sybil Jason and she does a good job. 

Winter Kill

Andy Griffith plays a police chief in this tv movie from the 70's.   A story about a pregnant girl in trouble is the second story of this piece.  A serial killer is killing a number of people in the town.  By the end of the movie both stories come together and we see the reason behind his motives.  Nick Nolte stars and he looks really young here.

Hitler's Children

Interesting propaganda piece.  Bonita Granville plays a rebellious German American who goes against the Nazis.  The problem is that the boy who has a crush on her is a Nazi and she's in love with him too.  Bonita Granville was more known for her role as Nancy Drew.  It was fun watching her play something different. 

City Girl

In this silent movie Charles Farrell plays a country girl who takes a city girl back to the farm with him.  The guys at the farm flirt with her and give her a hard time.  They go through trials but in the end they stick together.  I thought it was ok.  The movie was charming.   I've never seen a movie with Mary Duncan.  I'll have to check her out.  Charles Farrell did a good movie with Janet Gaynor called Seventh Heaven.  Unfortunately the VHS I got at that video store did not include the ending.  That was over ten years ago but I hope it gets on DVD so I can watch the ending. 

The Unfaithful

Ann Sheridan kills a man.  It's up to the jury to decide if it was self defense or otherwise.  It gets worse when you find out she was having an affair with the man.  This is one of Ann's best performances.  Sometimes you feel sorry for her.  However she has to live with the consequences of her mistakes.  I'm glad Warner Archive is taking the time to make their movies available.  This was a treat.