Bombshell

This was a good documentary about Hedy Lamarr.  She's never been a favorite of mine.  Sometimes her performances were bad, especially in Tortilla Flat.  Yet this movie made me respect her a lot more.  There's no doubt that she was one of the most beautiful actresses that ever graced the silver screen.  Yet that turned out to be a curse.  She actually was a smart woman.  She came up with a frequency invention that is now used in Wi-Fi.  Hedy never got recognition for this or money either.  Basically, she was ripped off.  I like how the documentary doesn't really focus on her failed love life.  That's something that way too many celebrity documentaries do.  She comes across as a dedicated mother as well.  I plan on watching Samson and Delilah soon.  

Crackerjack

I loved Lilli Palmer's performance in Beware of Pity.  She does an ok job here but it's a mediocre movie. (She got better as her career went on and so did her material.)  It's about a Robin Hood-like figure and a gang of criminals who are using his name to hide their identities.  He has to outsmart them.  His friend Lilli starts to suspect that he is the real Crackerjack.  Tom Wallis, the crackerjack, did a good job as well.  It's just not my thing. 

Strange Impersonation

I've heard of the actress Brenda Marshall and was glad to finally see one of her noirs even if it was just ok.  A scientist finds her face burned.  Her assistant in love with the same man had a part in it.  She gets plastic surgery and a new identity. Marshall resolves to get revenge on her enemies.  The whole plastic surgery thing has been done better in movies like Eyes without a Face and Dark Passage.  I recommend those a lot more.

Hide-Out

This is a cute Robert Montgomery movie.  I've seen a Tarzan movie or two with Maureen O'Sullivan but I have to admit that I'm not really familiar with her work.  She was a delight and I will watch more with her. (I also didn't know she was Mia Farrow's mother.)  Robert plays a criminal who hides out with a farming family.  It doesn't take long for the daughter of the family and Robert to fall in love.  

Ikiru

I know this is an Akira Kurosawa movie, who is a popular Japanese director still I was surprised to find that it was in the top 250 on imdb.com.  I didn't know it was that popular.  I think it's just as good as "It's a Wonderful Life" in showing the value of life.  It's about a man who has cancer and has just months to live.  He directs his attention on a playground project.  When the man dies, he leaves a lot of people including his family to wonder about his motives and whether he knew he had cancer.  It isn't suspenseful like many of Kurosawa's movies but it's a nice quiet thinker.

The Cranes are Flying

I recently saw actress Tatyana Samojlova in an ok adaptation of "Anna Karenina."  I watched "The Cranes are Flying" over ten years ago.  When my sister said she was in it I knew it needed a rewatch.  It's a beautiful movie about war.  It begins with two lovers Boris and Veronica, who have an innocent love.  He calls her squirrel. He even gives her a stuffed squirrel which she carries through wartime.  Tatyana gets so desperate during wartime that she even marries her rapist.  By the end of the movie, she's back to believing in Boris' return from the war.  This is not a happy go lucky movie but it's beautifully made and deservedly made its place in The Criterion Collection.  It's too bad that only two of Tatyana's movies are available as she's an excellent actress. 

Another Man's Poison

This was an ok Bette Davis movie.  She's having an affair with her secretary's fiance.  The husband that she hasn't seen for years shows up.  She gets rid of him but getting rid of his criminal partner is even harder.  I liked the ending.  It's a nice ironic twist.  It doesn't rate as one of Davis' best but it's fun.  

The man who cheated death

This is an ok noir where Lee J. Cobb plays a cop who covers up a murder for his girlfriend.  However, his partner sees through his lies.  It didn't change my life but it kept my attention throughout.