What Was The Last Movie You Watched?

I watched The Lemon Drop Kid (1951) with Bob Hope for the second time a couple days ago. It's sort of a Christmas movie, but it's so good I couldn't wait until December to see it again. It's so funny and such a great movie. I love all of Bob Hope's movies, but this is said to be one his best, and I agree with that.

On a side note, I picked up on a joke this time I didn't get before. A bunch of people are collecting furniture for a house, and someone brings the statue of Ulysses S. Grant saying he "needed a change of scenery." Thanks to LizzieMaine's thread "The Era -- Day By Day," I've been following a debate in the 1941 paper about whether Grant's statue should stay in Brooklyn or be moved next to his tomb. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that's what this is about. It makes me wonder how many jokes I'm missing when I watch these movies.

Swing Girl said:

I watched The Lemon Drop Kid (1951) with Bob Hope for the second time a couple days ago. It's sort of a Christmas movie, but it's so good I couldn't wait until December to see it again. It's so funny and such a great movie. I love all of Bob Hope's movies, but this is said to be one his best, and I agree with that.

On a side note, I picked up on a joke this time I didn't get before. A bunch of people are collecting furniture for a house, and someone brings the statue of Ulysses S. Grant saying he "needed a change of scenery." Thanks to LizzieMaine's thread "The Era -- Day By Day," I've been following a debate in the 1941 paper about whether Grant's statue should stay in Brooklyn or be moved next to his tomb. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that's what this is about. It makes me wonder how many jokes I'm missing when I watch these movies.

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It's fun to watch a Christmas movie now and then "off season." You get a bit of a different perspective and find out which ones really, truly hold up as outstanding movies (for example, "The Bishop's Wife" can be watched in the dog days of August and it is still a great movie).

Cool pick-up on Grant's statue. No examples immediately come to mind, but I've seen that, too, where a very timely joke in a movie would only makes sense to us today if one is really familiar with a particular news or cultural item/event going on at that time. Kudos to Lizzie for all the work she does as those Day by Day posts expose us to / show us the era in a way no history book can. I look forward to them every day.

I Accuse! from 1958 with Jose Ferrer, Leo Genn and Donald Wolfit


A long time ago, I read an account of the Dreyfus Affair. Based on that faulty memory (and a quick Google refresh), the story in I Accuse! seems consistent with the broad outlines of the facts, although Hollywood added its flourishes and twists to "improve" the story. The good news is, today, this miserable event is widely seen as a mark of shame on France and a cautionary tale about prejudice, such as, in this case, antisemitism.

In 1894, the French Jewish military officer, Henry Dreyfus, is knowingly unfairly court martialed for espionage because of antisemitism. Many in the military command wanted to get "the Jew." Also, it was a convenient "solution" to an embarrassing spy scandal for the military, which needed a fall guy.

Once the ball got rolling against Dreyfus, there was no turning back, so even as the evidence mounted over the years that he was innocent, the military dug in its heels through a few more court-martials over the next decade.

After spending five years in the hell that was Devil's Island prison and being found guilty at a second rigged court martial, Dreyfus accepted a pardon - an unpleasant compromise that kept him from going back to prison, but could have been construed as an admission of guilt. Fortunately, five years later, he was exonerated and reinstated in the military.

All along, his case was kept alive by his family, friends, several French intellectuals and members of the Press, which, eventually, turned public opinion mainly in Dreyfus' favor. The famous 1898 open letter I Accuse! to the President of France, published in a newspaper (and the title of the movie), is widely seen as an act of personal courage by its author Emile Zola and a turning point in the case.

Although dated by its wooden style, even by 1958 movie standards, I Accuse! still does a respectable job capturing the venality of the French military command and the ugliness of its antisemitism, while highlighting the heroism of Dreyfus, his family and his supporters.

Jose Ferrer plays Dreyfus as a wound-tight and pretty-aloof character, which seems consistent with historical accounts. But the real acting gem in this one is Leo Genn as Major Georges Picquart who risks his career to defend Dreyfus.

Also giving a strong performance is Donald Wolfit as General Auguste Mercier. Mercier never wavers in his known-to-him-from-the-start dishonest defense of the military's mendacious slandering of Dreyfus. That you hate him so much is a testament to his acting ability to humanize his evil.

Despite those strong performances, I Accuse! is not an actors' movie, but a historical-event effort whose lesson is, especially with antisemitism reportedly on the rise again in several countries, sadly still relevant today.

Fading Fast said:

I'm a huge fan as she was independent and smart, plus quite good looking. To be fair, in The Sea Wolf, her role is limited - it's Robinson and Knox's movie first, Garfield and Sullivan's second and, then, Lupino's, but she shines in her scenes (as she almost always does.).

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I am so smitten by Ida Lupino that I only now finished reading your-as-usual expertly analysed review
of The Sea Wolf. Robinson is another favorite whom I absolutely admire for his thespian grasp,
my fav role is his portrayal of Lancy Howard in The Cincinnati Kid opposite Steve McQueen and gorgeous
Joan Blondell (why the two of them EGR and JB never won an Oscar is beyond understanding).
I need to read London's book (with Halbers' baseball), see the flick, and fall in love all over again with Ida.

Harp said:

I am so smitten by Ida Lupino that I only now finished reading your-as-usual expertly analysed review
of The Sea Wolf. Robinson is another favorite whom I absolutely admire for his thespian grasp,
my fav role is his portrayal of Lancy Howard in The Cincinnati Kid opposite Steve McQueen and gorgeous
Joan Blondell (why the two of them EGR and JB never won an Oscar is beyond understanding).
I need to read London's book (with Halbers' baseball), see the flick, and fall in love all over again with Ida.

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I, too, am a card-carrying member of the Ida Lupino fan club.

^^^Ferrer certainly selected some excellent scripts and while his portrayal of the accused Dreyfus
is a notable gemstone in his career, I have always found his portrayal of the defense counsel in
the film adaptation of Herman Wouk's The Caine Mutiny quite remarkable. His candid introduction
to his client played by Van Johnson floors me no end. A lawyer's lawyer, no nonsense and playing cards
dealt to him by fated circumstance but honest down to bone dry no bluff blunt.

And I need to mention HW, a writer who understood his craft, and, more importantly the world.
Wouk was a teacher in my youth from whom I learned much.

Netflix's I don't feel at home in this world anymore, a 2017 dark comedy about a young lady who, with the help of her eccentric neighbour, tracks down those who stole her laptop and her late grandmother's silverware when the police aren't bothered to do anything about it. Think if Taxi Driver had taken place in 21st century suburbia, and was written by the Coen Brothers. A much gentler tread over some of the same big level themes.

Harp said:

^^^Ferrer certainly selected some excellent scripts and while his portrayal of the accused Dreyfus
is a notable gemstone in his career, I have always found his portrayal of the defense counsel in
the film adaptation of Herman Wouk's The Caine Mutiny quite remarkable. His candid introduction
to his client played by Van Johnson floors me no end. A lawyer's lawyer, no nonsense and playing cards
dealt to him by fated circumstance but honest down to bone dry no bluff blunt.

And I need to mention HW, a writer who understood his craft, and, more importantly the world.
Wouk was a teacher in my youth from whom I learned much.

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I love Wouk and have read most of what he's written. "The Caine Mutiny" and "Winds of War" are still favorites. As you note - and could not agree more - the movie version of "Caine" is incredible. I can still see Ferrer dressing them down at the closing "celebratory" dinner.

I seem to recall (took a few days off to get away from everything except the Lounge) that Ferrer
wore naval Class A Greens for the opening introductory scene with Van Johnson, however the salient
issue also was Queeg himself-flawed though he was, eccentric he may have been, though respected by
the Ferrer character whom I also recall as being Jewish; which at the later reprimand (excellent) he
cited, thus closure given to his fealty toward the naval service and its officer corps.

I could lose myself for days reading Wouk.

Bushman said:

Gonna try to get in Cujo, Children of the Corn, and maybe Pet Sematary if I can find the time.

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Never got around the Pet Sematary, but I might save that one for a later date anyway. Still got to Cujo and Children of the Corn, however.

Cujo I have a love hate relationship with. I love the villainy of the movie, but don't much care for the characters. The mother isn't at all sympathetic (and I love Dee Wallace as an actor), Tad lays there and screams the majority of the action, which gets very old, very fast, and most of the dog's victims are either random people, or people you wouldn't mind dying all that much anyway. The only person I feel sorry for is the poor father who's being cheated on by his wife. In fact, the dog ends up being the most sympathetic character in the movie. The poor thing ends up with rabies through no fault of its own, and ends up a frothing, horrid mess. Speaking of horrid messes, WTF happened to the farmer's family. They're planning a trip to see the sister-in-law, and when the guy gets attacked by Cujo, we never see how his family reacts.

In a vicious turn of irony, I think Children of the Corn is actually the better King movie of these two. Strong visuals, characters you either love, hate, or love to hate (Malachi is so vicious and ugly, yet you can't help but to love to hate him). The movie has a very creepy vibe about it that I just can't keep my eyes away from. Cheesy '80s special effects not withstanding, I think the director, who allegedly disowned the movie, was a bit harsh towards it. It's really not a bad horror movie.

After work last night, I popped on The Ghost and the Darkness. Lack of historical accuracy be damned, I love this movie. I've always had a mild infatuation with African safari movies, and this is among my favorite of them. Great classic safari clothes, some impeccable acting from Kilmer and Douglas, and it doesn't hurt that the movie has a local connection for me, either: the infamous maneless maneaters themselves are two stars of my favorite Chicago museum. As they say, never let the truth get in the way of a good story, and it definitely rings true. The actual lions were maneless Tsavo males, who apparently had some bad teeth. Some more recent studies have found that maneless male lions have a tendency to be more aggressive than normally maned lions. Plus the poor teeth of these pair, and the plague striking at Tsavo at the time, created a perfect storm for disaster. The movie doesn't present it all that way, but like I said, when the legend becomes fact, print the legend, and this is one of the best of them all.

I was also able to find time to squeeze in the original Poltergeist. Like Spielberg's Jaws, this is clearly an R-rated movie edited down to a very barely PG. If made today, it would have easily earned a PG-13 rating. The haunting is pretty much your typical haunted house movie: little oddities quickly spiral into a terrifying finale. I think what makes this one stand out, though, is just how BIG the climax is. The Beast is still one of the No. 1 scariest movie ghosts I've ever seen on film. Its form as a grotesque, rotting skull, and then a demonic skeletal entity makes it stand out from the typical hauntings of today, which focus too much on the quick cut, and not letting the terror just reverberate across the screen. Poltergeist is one of the most terrifying "family" films I've ever seen. I'm certain Spielberg thought it was brilliant watching people squirm to a family ghost movie directed by the sadistic mind that created The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Bushman said:

I was also able to find time to squeeze in the original Poltergeist. Like Spielberg's Jaws, this is clearly an R-rated movie edited down to a very barely PG. If made today, it would have easily earned a PG-13 rating. The haunting is pretty much your typical haunted house movie: little oddities quickly spiral into a terrifying finale. I think what makes this one stand out, though, is just how BIG the climax is. The Beast is still one of the No. 1 scariest movie ghosts I've ever seen on film. Its form as a grotesque, rotting skull, and then a demonic skeletal entity makes it stand out from the typical hauntings of today, which focus too much on the quick cut, and not letting the terror just reverberate across the screen. Poltergeist is one of the most terrifying "family" films I've ever seen. I'm certain Spielberg thought it was brilliant watching people squirm to a family ghost movie directed by the sadistic mind that created The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

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Poltergeist is one of my all time favorites. I was 15 years old when I saw it at the theater on release in 1982. it went way over any of my expectations and surprised me endlessly. I went back to see it a couple of more times. it was a haunting ghost story on an entirely different level than anything prior and a real roller coaster ride!

Touchofevil said:

We did not finish it either although I plan on doing so one day.

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I beg of you - do not. Don't do it, for the kids...

MisterCairo said:

I beg of you - do not. Don't do it, for the kids...

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The good news is that the kid moved out a number of years back so she will not be harmed if we or I do finish it at some point.

I watched Here Come the WAVES (1944) with Bing Crosby. I loved it so much! It's a drama with some comedy, and some songs, and it was probably meant to encourage women to join the WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service), but that just makes it better.

Bing Crosby plays a star named Johnny Cabot who is tired of all the attention he gets from his fans, and really wants to join the Navy, but when he finally gets accepted despite his color blindness, he is assigned to work with the WAVES to put on shows to get more people to join. Then, he meets two twin sisters in the WAVES- one who is nuts about him and has a teenage-girl-type crush on him, and one who doesn't like him at all. Of course, he falls in love with the one doesn't like him at all, but his best friend already liked her, and that starts conflicts between the characters, and there are lots of pranks and secrets that are very entertaining. This is one of my new favorite movies!

^^^
I know this sounds facetious, but have you ever considered the tension between Bing and Ingrid Bergman,
priest and nun in The Bells of St Mary's? Hardly a Casablanca flare but a quiet chaste chemistry?

...just thinking out loud.

Lord of Illusions last night. I probably find it more entertaining than most, but I stumbled upon it and had to watch it one more time. I am not really a Clive Barker fan, but this one I like. B-movie quality for sure, but a nice combination of horror and noir/neo-noir.

Harp said:

^^^
I know this sounds facetious, but have you ever considered the tension between Bing and Ingrid Bergman,
priest and nun in The Bells of St Mary's? Hardly a Casablanca flare but a quiet chaste chemistry?

...just thinking out loud.

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Agreed, it's there very quietly, but it is there.

Libel from 1959 with Dirk Bogarde, Olivia de Havilland, Wilfrid Hyde-White and Robert Morley


Libel is a good movie, with a good story and it's well acted, but it feels forced. After a decent start, you begin to sense yourself being manipulated by the writer and director. It's as if they thought they were so shrewd, they could craft a "smart" story, believable or not, and you'd just go along. They almost got away with it.

In post-war England, WWII-veteran Lord Mark Loddon played by Dirk Bogart, and his American wife, Olivia de Havilland, live in a five-hundred-year-old estate chockablock with family portraits and history. They seem to have the perfect life until Loddon is accused of being an imposter by a former POW buddy.

Since coming back from the war, Lord Loddon has suffered from headaches, large gaps in his memory and a recurring nightmare all compassionately attended to by wife de Havilland. But those symptoms would also be a great cover were Loddon an imposter.

Loddon's accuser believes that a third POW bunkmate and lookalike to Loddon - an actor who studied Loddon's mannerisms and family history when they were POWs - is presently masquerading as Lord Loddon.

When the story breaks in the press, the British tabloids have a field day, which forces Lord Loddon to bring a libel suit to clear his name. After all the usual pre-trial legal and public-relations machinations, the movie's long climatic trial begins.

Up until now, you're going along with the somewhat complicated, but entertaining story. Then, so many crazy twists happen and hard-to-believe details come out at the trial, it becomes just a bit too much hooey to hold together.

The acting is engaging as old pros Robert Morley as Lord Loddon's attorney and Wilfrid Hyde-White as the tabloid's lawyer match wits in that wonderfully understated way the British have, especially in court, of body slamming their opponents with equanimity and surface politeness.

That's the fun part - think The Paradine Case - but you're also asked to look past too many plot flaws, coincidences, reverse-engineered explanations for Lord Loddon's potential doppelganger and "surprise evidence" at trial. By the end, you've become cynical.

There are worse ways to spend an hour and forty minutes; several scenes in it are very good. Plus, suspending belief is pretty much part of almost every filmmaker-audience contract. Yet in Libel, the plot flimflam overwhelms by the end.


N.B. The location shots of London and its surrounds provide wonderful time travel to England in the 1950s.

^
I saw Libel on CBS when I was a kid and although well constructed its plot conjecture lacked
credibility and looking back now with your take clears away cobweb memory. I recall the final court
scene when he rips his uniform waist jacket for a charm or trinket that seals veracity with verdict,
dramatic but too flaccid for this accusatory twisted tale.

2011 "Margin Call" I surprised myself by really liking this movie. It had very much a stage play feel to you....static and dialogue driven.....which I found appealing. KevinSpacey was very good back in the days when you were allowed to like him as a performer. Jeremy Irons was very close to over the top. A solid cast of supporting actors and even Demi Moore was OK