DSL's Movie/TV Reviews and Discussion

[Dr. Strangelove]

Wilmette's a great place. The last few times I've gone to Northwestern I've parked at the end of the Purple line and just walked straight south to the Stadium.

Glad you appreciate the old, old Hitchcock stuff. Will add more to this current batch soon. My familiarity with Alfred Hitchcock Presents is from watching Nick At Nite in the early 90's or maybe late 80's. It's how I became familiar with a bunch of shows way before my time...Dobie Gillis, Mr. Ed, Car 54, etc.

[WingsFan]

Last year after football season I watched every episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. A lot like the Twilight Zone, not as good and the episodes ending were very predictable. But very cool seeing young actors who made it big and even character actors early in their career.

[Dr. Strangelove]

dabd6e7e857e4ab0368dbc201df6c5b1.jpg

Secret Agent (1936)
d. Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Madeleine Carroll, Peter Lorre, John Gielgud, Robert Young

Edgar Brodie returns to England on leave during WWI only to find himself recruited into spy business, eh wot? All very queer, eh wot? It seems there's this agent fellow who's intent on mucking things up a bit in the Middle East and Brodie needs to put a stop to it. He's got the help of Peter Lorre, an experienced killer, and Madeleine Carroll, who will pose as his wife.

Boy.

This isn't a bad movie, per se, but compared with the two movies that came before it, it is. There's zero romantic chemistry between leads Carroll and Gielgud -- indeed, Hitchcock had wanted Robert Donat to come back for this role but a bout with his recurrent asthma problem prevented it. But I'm not sure he could've been much better -- there's simply not a lot of good dialogue here. What there is belongs to Peter Lorre, who is one of the "good guys" this time, but also an unrepentant murderer. Madeleine Carroll is capable of much better as demonstrated in The 39 Steps.

I would have to say pass on this one unless, again, you are eager to see as much of Hitchcock's filmography as possible. It IS available for free on Amazon Prime so if you've got some time to waste and feel like an oldie, you may want to check it out.

[iam416]

[Dr. Strangelove]

sabotage1.jpg

Sabotage (1936)
d. Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Sylvia Sidney, Oscar Homolka, John Loder, Desmond Tester, William Dewhurst

This is an adaption of Joseph Conrad's "The Secret Agent", not to be confused with Hitchock's movied called "The Secret Agent". Go figure.

The Verlocs own and operate a movie theater in a blue collar part of a London, along with Stevie, Mrs. Verloc's kid brother (their parents are assumed dead). One night there is a blackout that affects all London -- the next day it's reported to have been sabotage. What Mrs Verloc doesn't know is that her significantly older husband is part of a terrorist ring who have been committing acts of sabotage but are now looking to escalate things with a bomb.

What country the terrorists are working for or what their goal even is is never really stated. And knowing that isn't really essential to the plot. Because this is almost a family drama at times, especially tense after after one of Hitchock's most "controversial" scenes

SPOILERHitchcock blows up a kid. Verloc starts to be watched by the police and can't deliver the time bomb himself, so he sends young Stevie out with it instead. Hitch treats us to minutes and minutes of Stevie trying to deliver his "package" by 1:45, keeps getting delayed, until he finally boards a bus...and gets blowed up along with a couple dozen other people. Oh and Stevie is petting a cute little dog right before he dies, lol

John Loder plays a police detective who's investigating Verloc but ends up also trying to protect his wife. He's probably the weakest of the main roles. After a very tense dinner scene the ending of the film is a bit anti-climactic when the bomb-maker shows up at the movie theater to try and destroy evidence that might connect him to the crime

All in all this is a solid entry, though not one of my favorites. This is another one you can watch for free if you have Amazon Prime.

[Dr. Strangelove]

young-and-innocent-poster-nova-pilbeam-derrick-de-marney-1937-picture-id1137136515.jpg

Young and Innocent AKA The Girl Was Young (1937)
d. Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Nova Pilbeam, Derrick De Marney, Edward Rigby, George Curzon, Percy Marmont

After 4 straight films about spy rings and international intrigue, Hitchcock decided to dial it back on this one and adapt a simple crime story instead. It also is one of his "man on the run" tales, aided by a beautiful woman. Very briefly: a man, Robert Tisdall (Derrick De Marney), is accused of murdering a wealthy actress and he has to elude the police and clear his name. Nova Pilbeam plays the police chief's daughter who at first is coerced into helping Tisdall but comes to believe him. They eventually track down a tramp, Old Will, who was given a coat by the murderer (trying to frame Tisdall) and tells them that the killer has a bad twitch.

So let's talk problems.

The first is that there's no real mystery or much suspense here. There's basically two suspects and the film never really gives us any reason to doubt Tisdall's innocence. If you've been paying any kind of attention you'll know for sure who the killer is when Will mentions his twitch. And that's no more than midway through the film. So whatever suspense there is lies in Tisdall dodging the police.

So I was wondering, why have I never heard anything about this movie or seen any part of it? Well, that's part two of the problems: so-called modern sensibilities. For one, there's a jazz band in blackface. And it's not something you can edit out when showing on tv. It's crucial to the movie's climax. And then secondly, "the girl was young" is right. Nova Pilbeam was only 17 when making this and her romantic lead is a man in his early 30's. Heck, she was playing the Lawrences' 13-year-old daughter in The Man Who Knew Too Much just a few years earlier. So there's a little bit of an off-putting undertone running throughout.

Otherwise I think Pilbeam is great. She's definitely the best thing about the film. The story's just sorta "meh" and De Marney is mostly forgettable.

One last thing, the film's best scene involves a very impressive crane shot. Erica and the tramp, Will, have come to a hotel ballroom in hopes of Will recognizing the real murderer (I forget why they know he's there). They can't spot him -- but the wonderful shot Hitch pulls off lets the audience know where he is.

[hack]

STFU

[hack]

(where is Wiz?)

[drok]

Thanks for these DSL. I was really into watching Hitchcock films about 15 years ago. I could have sworn 39 Steps was remade too, but looks like I'm wrong. I was given a dvd box set of like 20 of his movies but unfortunately haven't ever really got back into them. I will say that Rear Window is probably still my favourite movie of all time. It's always such a joy to spend time with that courtyard.

[Dr. Strangelove]

screenshot_3_6685.jpg

The Lady Vanishes (1938)
d. Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Margaret Lockwood, Michael Redgrave, Dame May Whitty, Paul Lukas, Naunton Wayne, Basil Radford

Hitchcock's penultimate British film and I would choose it as the best.

The movies sets itself up really well. Initially we meet a group of British people who are trapped in a small Alpine inn, set in the fictional country of Bandrika, after an avalanche blocks the railway. This first 20 minutes or so is mostly comical and serves to introduce the various characters. There's Iris (Maragret Lockwood) returning from a skiing holiday with friends. Gilbert Redman (Michael Redgrave), a musicologist who is studying the region's folk music. Miss Froy (May Whitty), a nanny & tutor returning to England. The "Todhunters", actually the alias of a wealthy lawyer and his mistress. And Charters & Caldicott, who seem like a couple of well-to-do businessmen but are really overgrown schoolboys obsessed with cricket.

After 20 minutes of watching this group interact and annoy each other, you might start wondering in this movie has a plot. But then a balladeer outside the inn gets strangled. The next day, a flower pot at the train station (seemingly aimed for Miss Froy) gets pushed off a window sill, hitting Iris on the head. And we're reminded that, ah, this is a suspense movie after all. Almost the entire rest of the movie is spent on the train.

Iris, still woozy from the flower pot, passes out aboard the train. When she awakes she is with Miss Froy and a group of unfamiliar people in a compartment. They go to have lunch, interact with a few fellow passengers, then return to their compartment. Iris falls asleep as Miss Froy does a crossword. When she wakes up, Miss Froy is gone, and no one she asks remembers seeing her or know who she is talking about.

This was the last 'contemporary' film Hitchcock made before WWII (1939's Jamaica Inn was a Hitch oddity: a period piece) and it contained probably his bluntest commentary on the state of Europe to date. British manners and 'stiff upper lip' were not going to matter in the coming conflicts. Appeals to humanity and appeasement wouldn't work.

Lockwood and Redgrave are terrific together. Best chemistry of any of Hitchcock's leads during this timeframe (Donat & Carroll from 39 Steps a close second). The rest of the cast is really quite good as well. But the standout secondary characters are Charters and Caldicott, the film's comic relief. Through one modern lens, you might suspect they were intended to be gay. But really they were very much meant to be the stereotype (even then) of the prissy, overly formal, terrified-of-sex-but-is-a-crack-shot-with-a-pistol British male of the time.

Great film, all-in-all. If anyone still buys blurays, the Criterion Collection version looks great. Otherwise there is a version for free on Prime (I can't vouch for the quality of the print).

[froot loops]

I just watched season three of Bosch on Amazon Prime, I've never really heard anyone talk about the shows but they are getting up to season six this year. People must be watching. Season three was a big improvement over the first two. One thing that seems like it is markedly different than the books is the Chief is more of a protagonist than he is in the books. Of all the shows in this prestige era TV, this one is the most beautifully shot.

[iam416]

Still waiting for, say, a nice review of Stroker Ace and Mr. Ned Beatty's stellar supporting performance therein.

[THE_WIZARD_]

Still waiting for all of you to STFU

[Dr. Strangelove]

rolling-vengeance-lg.jpg

Rolling Vengeance (1987)
d. Steven Hilliard Stern
Starring: NED FUCKIN BEATTY

Ogallala, Nebraska has become a fucking nightmare shithole of a town. Even by Nebraska standards. The local populace is terrorized by local entrepreneur Tiny Doyle (NED FUCKIN BEATTY) and his 5 drunken, bastard, redneck sons. Tiny, it would seem, has become wealthy and influential by running the region's only combination strip club/scrapyard .

Joey Rosso (Don Michael Paul) is about to have his life ruined. As they are wont to do, Tiny's sons are drunk as hell at 9AM, and it's time for some drivin' and tossing beer bottles at passing cars. Whoops, looks like we just killed your mom and both your kid sisters, Joey. Tiny bribes the only judge in town to get his boys off with a $300 fine. Then, for having the temerity to bring charges, they kill Joey's dad. Then they rape his girlfriend. Joey's having a bad week.

But now's the time for vengeance...ROLLING VENGEANCE

Ned Fuckin Beatty's performance as the inappropriately-named "Tiny" is nothing short of award winning. For a performance this big he should've really been "Jumbo" or "Big Boy". It is goddamn brilliant. If only Tiny could've met an equally flat-headed man with 5 daughters, he might've paired his boys off and the town could've settled down.

A Martin Scorsese film

[iam416]

Top shelf, DSL.