Track the Films You Watch (2009) - Page 25

Re: Track the Films You Watch (2009)

I prefer my reviews in the "longer" format (5-10 paragraphs) but it's just downright crazy to do that if you're not getting paid or reviewing for a site. That's why if I'm not doing one of those two then I just go with the short notes that will at least kick start my brain to remembering how I felt about a movie when I'm never going to watch it again and it might come up in a debate at some point.

When you cut down your reviews this past year I was hoping you'd jump into the conversational mode a tad bit more and perhaps that will happen now.

You're a fan of Maltin so perhaps you can break them down that way. That's what "inspired" my current format, although I do go too short and too long at some points.

You also bring up the word backlog and I use to say that but I've thrown that word out. I was unemployed for 4+ months, which meant sitting on my ass that whole time and you can trust me that you'll never get caught up. No matter how much you watch you'll always find five new titles to replace that one title you just watched so the word backlog isn't in my vocabulary any more. I tried going through all six volumes of the Looney Tune sets this month but only made it through volume 1 and two discs of vol 2. Well short of my goal, which was to get my "caught up" but then it hit me that I still watched damn near 100 of them in one month alone.

Re: Track the Films You Watch (2009)

Glimpses of Old England (1949) No Director Credited

Another entry in the never ending James FitzPatrick series from MGM. This time out we travel to England and start off in the Cotswold Hills era, which contains various stone architects. Next up we see such sites as the Tintern Abbey, Laycock Abbey and the Wye River. If you've seen one film in this TravelTalks series then you certainly know what to expect. This one here delivers the same amount of goods that we've come to expect, although looking at these today there's no doubt that they're quite old-fashioned and have been updated by countless documents. With that said, there's still something nice to seeing how Americans back in the day got to see other parts of the world.

Beautiful Bali (1940) No Director Credited

James A. FitzPatrick's TravelTalks series was a long running one and while most entries stayed at the same so-so level, there were those that stepped up and delivered more. This episode is one of those as we take a trip to Bali, India, which has become quite popular over the past year thanks in large part to SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE. What makes this film so interesting is that we get to see some slums and how things operate there. We see these large shops with all sorts of things being sold and then we're told that it would only take a couple American dollars to buy all of it. We see several children who are clearly looking at a camera for the first time in their young lives and this here is another unique thing. The entire short has a good feel to it and that makes it one of the better episodes.

Glimpses of Morocco and Algiers (1951) No Director Credited

James A. FitzPatrick's TravelTalks series continues with this nice entry that visits Morocco and Algiers. It also visits Casablanca and a few other cities so I'm not sure why the title wasn't longer or a tad bit broader. This is another interesting entry in the series as we get to look at the three cities I already mentioned as well as other sites like the LaMona Hotel in Antwerpen. FitzPatrick, through his narration, also talks about how poor some of these cities are and it really struck me, after seeing dozens of these shorts, at how open, honest and respect he is. Not once do I recall FitzPatrick making fun of the people who live in these cities instead he just tells stories and tries to give viewers some nice information no matter the religion or political views a said city or country has. There's one scene in the movie where I believe it's FitzPatrick who talks a man into talking to him as it's clear the man has never seen a movie camera before. Another interesting aspect, especially in today's times, is all the talk about pirates and how the U.S. government use to pay them to leave us alone.

In the Valley of the Rhine (1953) No Director Credited

Cologne, Germany is the stop in this entry of James A. FitzPatrick's TravelTalks series from MGM. The series hit Germany several times throughout the years but this one here takes a stronger look at Cologne (as well as smaller views of Bonn and Koblenz). The various sites we get to visit include the birthplace of the legend Beethoven, the Cathedral and of course the Rhine River. If you've seen anything from this series then you know what to expect here. Overall this is another good entry in the long-running series, which of course benefits from the use of Technicolor. This added bonus isn't thought of as much today and I'm sure it wasn't too hot in 1953 but these shorts still served a nice purpose for people.

Paris on Parade (1938) No Director Credited

One of the better entries in James A. FitzPatrick's TravelTalks series visits Paris during the 1937 Paris International Exposition. According to this short there were forty-four different nations displaying various forms of their country here and being able to see just a few are a real treat. I'd be lying if I said I had previously heard about this event but that's what makes some of these shorts so much fun. The entire short didn't really show off the city, like so many in the series, but instead just looked at this event, which had some great displays including works from Africa, Sudan, France and many others. Just seeing how different these places were, side by side, is what makes this short such a winner.


Summer of '63 (1972) No Director Credited

Forgotten VD film has a group of male friends going into a bar where they pick up a few hookers and one of the friends, Jim, ends up with syphilis. Soon Jim ends up sleeping with his best friend's girl and then learns he has the disease but is too ashamed to tell them what he has done. This is pretty bland and gets pretty boring even though it only runs 21-minutes. There were countless shorts that dealt with sexually transmitted diseases and most of them are as boring as this one so the main reason to watch is the camp factor. There's a little bit of that here but not enough to keep this thing moving. There aren't any laughs either, which is another thing that keeps this film from really working as good as it should. It also doesn't teach you any lessons so there goes that reason.

No News is Good News (1943) Will Jason

Weak Robert Benchley short has him "addressing" a movie audience and answering various questions that are asked of him. A couple of these questions deal with the evils of inflation and why elephants aren't used in war. As you'd expect, we have Benchley delivering his own style of comedy, which to me has always been hit and miss and this here is certainly a miss. In some ways it appears the comic was trying to be somewhat straight here because the comedy, while a miss, at times also seems like he wasn't even going for laughs. The movie remains mildly entertaining because you can tell there is an effort going on but the laughs just aren't here.

Camera Caught It, The (1954) No Director Credited

Fun Pete Smith short that shows what all a movie camera can pick up in the real world. We see footage of natural disasters, car wrecks, buildings coming down and even a bridge collapsing. I had a lot of fun with this short because some of the footage is rather amazing. We get some typical stuff like a flooded town and a large wall coming down but what really stood out were two separate scenes. One happens early on when we see a sea storm where a boat, with people on it, crashes into some rocks by the shore. Another great sequence is at the end when the bridge "Galloping Gertie" begins to shake before falling into the water.

Envy (1930) Arthur Hurley

A rather forgettable pre-code short has a bored couple growing tired of one another. Both member seems to think they'd have a better time with the friends coming over so they decide to switch and see if it's true or not. The theme of switching spouses is something we didn't see too much of during the early days of cinema but that's the subject here and the history behind that is a lot more entertaining than the actual film. The movie suffers from poor sound quality and rather awful acting, which was something stalking the movies during this early sound era. All four overact something horrid as they are constantly moving their arms and acting out everything they say. This might have been important in the silent era but it just doesn't work in a sound movie. The term "making love" is said quite a few times and the adult subject makes this unique but the end result isn't nearly as good as it should have been. For film buffs only.


Private Screenings: Lauren Bacall (2005) Tony Barbon

Lauren Bacall sat down with host Robert Osborne for this installment of Turner Classic Movie's Private Screenings series. The first twenty-minutes of the movie deals with Bacall, her relationship with Humphrey Bogart and their films TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT, THE BIG SLEEP, KEY LARGO and DARK PASSAGE. Fans of Bogart will certainly love this section as Bacall talks about how they met, the rules he laid down before marrying her and the final section of his life. Being a fan of Bogart you can help but love all of this stuff. Also talked about is her relationship with Frank Sinatra plus working with Kirk Douglas, Monroe and Gregory Peck among others. This is a really nice interview as Bacall shows some sides of her many might not have seen and that's vulnerability. Hearing how she isn't so sure of herself was rather amusing considering all the strong roles she played throughout her career.

Private Screenings: Angela Lansbury (2006) Sean Cameron

Angela Lansbury is the guest for Robert Osborne in this TCM interview from the series Private Screenings. Lansbury discusses her early career all the way up to her work in BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. She discusses such films as GASLIGHT, THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY, TILL THE CLOUDS ROLL BY, THE THREE MUSKETEERS, SAMSON AND DELILAH, THE COURT JESTER, BLUE HAWAII and THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE. Also included is discussion of her tv work, Broadway and her famous TV show MURDER SHE WROTE. Some of the best stories came about working with Orson Welles in THE LONG HOT SUMMER and Tracy and Hepburn in STATE OF THE UNION. Throughout the interview Lansbury is very talkative and that's especially true with her thoughts on Louis B. Mayer and the MGM Factory. Osborne is also at the top of his game as it's always nice hearing him talk about movies.

Private Screenings: Mickey Rooney (1997) Tony Barbon

Another excellent interview for this now long running series hosted by Robert Osborne with special guest Mickey Rooney. It's rather hard to believe but if you visit IMDB's entry on Rooney you'll see that he has appeared in over three-hundred acting jobs and in 1940 and 1941 was voted the most popular actor working and that means he was even more popular than other MGM legends like Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy. In this interview Rooney is extremely animated and full of energy as he tells one great story after another. We get to hear stories about Ava Gardner, Jean Harlow, Tracy, Lionel Barrymore and many other legends who Rooney worked with over the years. We get some talk about Elizabeth Taylor and NATIONAL VELVET. We also get to see him do an impersonation of Barrymore, which was fun to see. There's some discussion about his early, silent work as Mickey McGuire and how he finally got his break. If you're a fan of Rooney then you'll certainly enjoy this. If you're a fan of cinema this is a real treat because of all the people Rooney can say he worked with.

Private Screenings: Jane Fonda (2007) Sean Cameron

In the opening segments of this entry in Turner Classic Movies' interview series, host Robert Osborne talks about how nervous he was approaching someone like Jane Fonda because, quite often, she never discussed her movies but instead just her personal or political life. It's a great thing that Fonda agreed to discuss her acting career because it turned into a great hour of entertainment. With Fonda's political career you almost forget how many great movies she made with so many great actors. CAT BALLOU, THE CHASE, BAREFOOT IN THE PARK, KLUTE, BARBARELLA, COMING HOME, ON GOLDEN POND and THE CHINA SYNDROME are just some of the titles Fonda talks about. Many great stories are told throughout the interview but the highlight is certainly her talking about ON GOLDEN POND with her father Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn. She tells many great stories here and you can help but feel sorry for her due to a couple of the stories she tells about her father. Her emotions certainly shine through while talking about this film and it reminds me why I love the film so much.

Re: Track the Films You Watch (2009)

My Tomato (1943) Will Jason

Flat Robert Benchley short has him playing Joe Doakes, an every man who decides he wants to grow his own tomato to eat. The plan starts off simple but soon Joe starts to realize everyone has a plan for him to follow. This is a pretty lifeless short from start to finish. The concept of Joe having to work harder than expected to grow a tomato is an interesting idea but absolutely nothing is done with it. There's no laughs to be found, which is the main reason this film fails. I was really surprised that I didn't laugh once since Benchley is usually good for at least one chuckle. The gag at the end should have worked but it too failed.

Out of Darkness (1941) Sammy Lee

John Nesbitt's Passing Parade features the story of Nazi's efforts in Belgium to bring their people down. Set during the years of WW1, the film tells the story of a Belgium newspaper, which had to work underground to spread the word to people that they should remain strong even though Germany is trying to tear them down. In a short amount of time, twenty-two different editors of the paper were tracked down and killed. Just knowing that nearly two dozen editors died to keep this newspaper going is quite remarkable and makes for a very interesting story. Just when you think you've heard everything about the war then comes this short, which tells a rather amazing story. I'm sure there are hundreds of others out there like this one and you can't help but wish there were shorts today just to tell them.

Two Barks Brothers, The (1931) Zion Myers, Jules White

Another entry in MGM's rather strange "Dogville" series, which had dogs "acting" out the roles of humans. More times than not films in this series would spoof popular, full length features but this one here pretty much hits at any "good brother versus bad brother" film. This time out, two dog brothers are the main characters and one is stolen as a puppy and raised by gypsies. Thirty years later he is a criminal but his brother is the D.A.. It takes a lot of patience to sit through this series no matter how bad or good the films are. Nothing here is actually funny but there is a surreal and strange nature to watching dogs "act" out various things. Included this time out is a rather amusing sequence on a farm where we see a dog milk a cow and another sequence where a chicken lays an egg right into a pan. Other tricks include dogs spitting, carrying a pale of milk plus various other site gags.

Ask Me, Don't Tell Me (1961) David Myers

Educational short documenting the San Francisco "Youth for Service" program, which was meant to show young gang members that there is a better life out there off the streets. There's no question that the program itself was a well-meaning thing but that doesn't translate to an entertaining movie. I was somewhat shocked at how bland and mute this short actually was but I blame a lot of this on director Myers who really doesn't have a good way of telling a story. It should be noted that Myers did some photography work on such titles as WOODSTOCK, JOHNNY CASH IN SAN QUENTIN and THX 1138. That being said, there's really not too much life in this thing and one can't help but be bored throughout the 21-minute running time. There's some nice music on the soundtrack and it was mildly entertaining seeing these real gang members but a better film could have been made.

Vaudeville Days (1942) LeRoy Prinz

Warner Bros. short takes a look back at the Vaudeville days in a decade when many new movie goers might have forgotten or not known there was such a thing. This short, running just under twenty-minutes, takes a look at some of the forgotten acts such as Eddie Garr, The Fuddins, Rio Brothers and The Whirling Camerons. I'm not positive but some of the footage appears like it could have been lifted from previous films as the quality looks a lot different that other parts of the short. The narration is pretty good from start to finish and some nice information is told. The first half of the film is pretty much all recreated acts but they're still fun. The Jimmy Durante impersonator is pretty embarrassing though.

Neptune Mysteries (1935) No Director Credited

Nice short from RKO is part of their "The Struggle to Live" series and this is the first I've seen from it. In this episode we get to see underwater life that includes snails and an octopus. Yes, this film is incredibly dated in both cinematography and storytelling because of what we can watch on channels like Discovery but it's important to keep in mind when the movie was made. On that level I really enjoyed what was offered up here because you can't help but think of the fun folks in 1935 had watching this. The underwater photography is actually pretty good as we get great looks at both creatures and this includes some great close ups of the octopus eggs. I'm really not sure how many films were in this series but hopefully Turner Classic Movies begin to show more.

Stars on Horseback (1943) Myron J. Swartz

Interesting documentary short takes a look at blacksmith George Garfield who is best known for helping Hollywood stars with their horses. Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, John Garfield, Tim Hold, Pricilla Lane, George Tobias and Joel McCrea are just a few of the stars on display here. I'm not sure if horse buffs will find too much to enjoy here but film buffs outta get a kick out of the large cast on display. A lot of the footage comes from movies or promotional stuff but there's some nice footage of McCrae clowning around with Garfield. We also get some nice footage of Garfield working on McCrae's horse and fitting him with the proper shoes.

Races to Remember (1956) No Director Credited

Nice entry in the Sportscope series takes a look at several famous horse races from 1948 through 1955. The big highlight here are clips from the 1948 Kentucky Derby, which was the first footage from this that I had seen and this is coming from someone who has lived their entire life in KY. I'm sure horse buffs will get a real kick out of this short, which contains some great footage of these classic races but even better to know is that the picture quality is top-notch for such a lower-budget short like this. It's also worth noting that the cinematography is top-notch during all the races as we get some great visuals as well as some nice slow motion work.


Green Porno (2008) Isabella Rossellini, Jody Shapiro

In 2008 Isabella Rossellini got to display her fascination with insects by creating eight short films that show us how they have sex. You might be asking who wants to know about insects and their sex lives as I certainly didn't want to learn about it but as it would turn out, these eight films are quite funny, weird, surreal and at times downright smart in their imagination. Rossellini wrote all eight shorts, co-directed them and also plays the insect in each. There's some vivid colors here, strange cinematography and just an overall nice feel to each of them. Running anywhere from a minute to two, this series is certain unique in not only the visual style but in the way the stories are told. The actress dresses in the bug outfits and narrates her action, which usually shows the way the creatures have sex and reproduce. Doesn't sound like your cup of tea? Just watch one of the films and you'll be hooked.

Green Porno: Bee (2008)

This entry explains how brother bees must fight each other to determine the strongest one. That strong one then goes to the Queen bee where, after sex, his penis breaks off in the female part, which sets forth a new colony.

Green Porno: Dragonfly (2008)

Quietly, the male dragonfly grabs the neck of the female, twists her body, cleans her parts and the drags her to where he wants the eggs to be laid. Runs just over a minute and is one of the weaker entries in the series but it's still good.

Green Porno: Fly (2008)

If you're a fan of David Cronenberg's THE FLY then you've seen some of the stuff on display here including our beloved fly puking on its food. Also on hand is information including how flies have great, slowed down vision yet they have a hard time picking up on a newspaper coming at them. As far as their sex lives go, several times a day are needed.

Green Porno: Mantis (2008)

The good ol' praying mantis takes the spotlight here as he can nearly turn his head completely around, change color and have a high sexuality. Of course this leads to the female eating him afterwards.

Green Porno: Snail (2008)

With his/her butt on his/her head, you really wouldn't want to be a snail but if you were you'd learn that you have both sex organs and like painful sex. This pain includes sticking darts in one another.

Green Porno: Spider (2008)

Six eyes, eight legs and no penis. That's the life of a spider who has one of the more interesting sex lives but I'm not sure how to explain it without getting too graphic and banned from the site.

Green Porno: Worm (2008)

The worm has a mouth but no teeth. The worm has to suck up its food. The worm is both male and female, which leads to an interesting way of mating. After the sex new worms come between two and three weeks.

Green Porno: Firefly (2008)

Who hasn't chased fireflies as a kid? Did you know that you might have been interrupting their sex life? I'll certainly never look at these the same way again but be careful because that blinking might look neat but it's used for something else.

Re: Track the Films You Watch (2009)

My favorite HILLS movie is still the original, which I think is one of the greatest horror film of the decade. The sequel to that HILLS 2 is just downright crazy and it really looks like Craven tried to ruin that movie. I enjoyed the remake as well as the sequel but they hit that "torture/porn" too strongly for me. I was hoping for a third but apparently that was canceled but perhaps a Direct to DVD will follow at some point.


Dungeon Girl (2008) Ulli Lommel

My never ending parade of German director Ulli Lommel's "real life" movies continues with this one, which steps away from the horror genre and enters the drama category. This one tells a story that happened in Austria as a young girl was kidnapped and held hostage by a man for nearly six years. The entire running time centers on voiceovers as the girl tells her feelings for her parents, her life before the abduction and for her kidnapper known only as The Stranger. Again, I've seen all of Lommel's "real life" movies that have been released so far and this one here took me by a pleasant surprise. Not that I'd ever sit through the thing again but at least Lommel tried something different and didn't just deliver the same old garbage. I think what really helps this film is Wendi Jean Linn as the girl and Gunther Ziegler as The Stranger. We really don't get to see them "act" since most of the film is structured around voiceovers but this is beneficial since the majority of Lommel's recent films have been even worse due to the bad acting. Here, they at least look the parts well and the narration by Gwen Trevathan is really good. The film is way too slow and too much stuff is repeated for it to be considered a marginally good film. I'm really not sure what Lommel's obsession is with having a character look into the camera, ask questions and then constantly reuse this footage. Also, the running time of 81 minutes is the norm for his recent films but he might want to consider cutting them down to a hour or less. This is how "B" and "Z" movies were back in the day so he might want to revisit that. With that said, this is still a weak film but it's a lot better than anything the director's have given us over the past decade but then again, that's not saying too much.

Invaders from Mars (1953) William Cameron Menzies

Sci-Fi classic about a young boy (Jimmy Hunt) who witnesses a UFO crash in his backyard and then goes through the horrific events of seeing the aliens take over the minds of people in the town including his parents. This is one of the most famous Sci-Fi films from the decade, which is saying quite a lot considering how many of these movies were released then. There's always going to be controversy and debate when discussing this movie and I'm sure that's one of the reasons it has survived so long while many others are forgotten. For my money this is a very impressive film that has a few flaws but none of them major enough to kill the film. What impressed me the most with this recent viewing is how incredibly well-made the opening twenty-minutes are. The opening contains some wonderful suspense as the young boy begins to realize that his parents have been transformed into some sort of monsters. The fear of the kid is what makes this opening so effective and I love the way the director keeps everything moving at a very fast pace so we really don't have a second to breathe. I think when the science aspect is brought it, the film drops a few notches and the military stuff is silly at times but these are just small issues. I enjoyed the look of the aliens even though I doubt too much money was spent on their outfits. The sand pits was a nice twist as was the main leader who looks quite well. Then we have the controversy of the ending, which I won't spoil for you but I don't mind it too much. Some might call it a cop-out or see it as a nice twist but I think it works just fine. In a decade that was full of great, good and bad Sci-Fi films this one here is certainly remembered for a reason.

Lost Missile, The (1958) William Berke

Rarely talked about "scare" film has Robert Loggia playing a scientist who has an hour to try and create something that will stop a runaway missile that is reaching temperatures of one-million. The missile is destroying everything in its path and it's heading towards New York City. I was pleasantly surprised to see how great the actual story of this film was but sadly the budget is just so low that they can't do as much with it as I'm sure they had hoped. The movie contains a great story and one can't help but think this film would have certainly scared people back in the day who feared something like this would happen. The movie, due to its low budget, features a lot of stock footage, which gets old after a while but the movies central story is still top-notch. Loggia does a very good job in his role and it's always great to see this underrated character actor. Ellen Parker is also pretty good in her role of Loggia's fiance. What really separates this film from plenty of others is that it's not scared to kill people. I won't ruin anything but there are several downbeat moments that you really don't expect to see but this here helps keep the suspense going because you know the film isn't scared to bump someone off. Again, it's a real shame that a major studio didn't pick up this story because with a few more on the budget it could have been something really great. As it is, this remains an underrated "B" movie.

Re: Track the Films You Watch (2009)

Glimpses of Mexico (1940) No Director Credited

Another entry in MGM's TravelTalks series with James A. FitzPatrick. This time out we visit Mexico, which was a popular destination for this series since it traveled there many times. This time we get to see the Bandero Monument, which was built to highlight the countries flag. Also see are Lake Chapala, Rio Grande art, music and romance. Also on hand is some pole dancing from Ancient Indians. If you've seen one entry then you know what to expect but this is another winner that manages to show off some great sites and make one want to travel there. A strange bit of news considering Turner Classic Movies just happened to schedule this just as the Swine Flu news struck fears of Mexico.

Picturesque Massachusetts (1942) No Director Credited

The spotlight is on Massachusetts this time out as this TravelTalks series takes a look at the state where the Pilgrims landed back in 1620. We also see various small towns where they would eventually migrate as well as some descendents of theirs who still live there. We see the home of Clara Barton who founded the American Red Cross and also a look at the windmill in Eastham. This is another pleasant entry in the series that manages to pack quite a bit into the short 9-minute running time. We get all sorts of good sites but the Technicolor print is still in good shape so many images just jump off the screen. This isn't one of the better entries in the series but it does manage to be entertaining like most.

You're Telling Me (1932) Lloyd French, Robert A. McGowan

Short film in Hal Roach's "Boyfriends" series has Mickey (Mickey Daniels) and Alabama (Grady Sutton) imposing on their best friend. They're only suppose to stay with him for a day but this then turns into weeks, which drives his parents crazy. I'll be honest and admit that I had never heard of this series before this film showed up on Turner Classic Movies but after watching it I certainly hope they air more. I wasn't sure what to expect and of course I didn't have anything to compare it to but this movie certainly made me interesting in seeing the others, which I guess is the best thing I could say. I found the humor to be quite entertaining and the constantly jokes about trying to be Southern were pretty funny. We get some typical Roach comedy like a cake fight but other than that most of the comedy comes from the actors. Comic veteran Billy Gilbert steals the film as the friend's father who slowly goes crazy.

There'll Always Be an England (1945) No Director Credited

British short takes a look at various famous sites in England including the cottage where poet John Milton finished "Paradise Lost", St. Giles, the place Benjamin Disraeli broke into politics and Aylesbury. I guess you could call this a British version of TravelTalks, the popular MGM series but this movie here is just pure boredom from start to finish. This thing runs twice the length of a normal TravelTalks entry and yet I really didn't learn much. We see various places yet the boring narration just makes the locations seem dull, which isn't a good thing since this type of documentary is basically just a travelogue. Some of the scenery is quite nice but there's very little else here I got worked up over.

Island Windjammers (1956) Howard Winner

This is the third film I've seen from the RKO/Pathe series "Sportscope" series, which was basically meant to show various sporting events. This time out we look at windjammer sailing, which mainly takes place, or at least is popular, in the Bahamas. We get a lot of information on the people who race, how the races are done and we also get a look at the music from that era, which was becoming quite popular in the United States at the time of the film's release. Out of the three films I've seen to date, there's no doubt this is the best of them and perhaps that's because this one came towards the end of the series. The previous two I watched were rather dull and lifeless but this one here actually features some great footage, nice narration and an even better atmosphere to make you interested in what it's saying.

Vincent Lopez and His Orchestra (1939)

Warner Bros. short, if you think about it, is just an early "music video", which features the popular Lopez doing various numbers with his band. Also on hand,a nd most interesting to films buffs, is the 18-year-old Betty Hutton who gets to do some jitterbug singing. I've seen three or four shorts to feature Lopez and he's certainly becoming one of my favorite musicians from this period. Or, at least his band are as they are constantly moving, swinging and just having a good time. The music is very speedy and sounds terrific and will have your shaking your foot in entertainment. Hutton, in one of her first roles, is also excellent here as she sits in on three songs and really delivers the goods. That husky voice packs a great punch when mixed with Lopez's music.

Sunday Night at the Trocadero (1937) George Sidney

MGM short has Reginald Denny hosting three musical acts including Louis & Celeste, The Three Brian Sisters and Medina & Mimosa. The acts are singing inside the Trocadero, which has many famous faces including George Hamilton, Groucho Marx, Frank Morgan, Frank McHugh, Robert Benchley and Dick Foran. If you're a fan of any of these actors then you might want to check this out if you must see everything they've done but there are a lot of weaknesses here. For starters, the sound quality is very poor and I don't think this is an issue with the print shown on TCM. It really appears that the sound was recorded poorly and this leads to the issues. Another problem is that the comedy is just downright bad. The musical numbers are certainly worth listening to as are seeing the famous faces.

Nostradamus and the Queen (1942) No Director Credited

Another entry in Carey Wilson's Nostradamus series with this one looking at his relationship with Catherine de Medici. The film focuses on the Queen, who had hoped to take over all of Europe, and how Nostradamus ended up predicting the fate of her husband and well as her three sons. This series is certainly hit and miss but I feel this one here works because of how nice some of the predictions were (even though I'm not sure how truthful they're told here). Maria Palmer didn't have a big career but she's pretty good here playing the Queen. Wilson's narration is good as usual and there's some nice scenery, which makes this one worth watching.

Microscopic Mysteries (1932) Hugo Lund

Early Pete Smith short takes a look at various insects under a microscope. Included are various forms of spiders, worms, scorpions and various other insects. This type of short would be made through the decade as well as future decades as technology would get better and there's no question that the film is somewhat dated but it's important to keep in mind when this was being made. With that said, this 9-minute short is fairly entertaining with some nice visuals of the insects. It's also worth noting that Smith is quite good even though he isn't in that same mode as what we'd see in future shorts. He certainly keeps the film moving with the fun natured narration.

Pool Shark (1915) Edward Middleton

W.C. Fields made his screen debut in this silent comedy, which not too many think very highly of. In the film Fields is doing battle with a rival over a woman they both have the hots for. To settle the fight, the two agree to play a game of pool, which goes rather strangely to say the least. Those expecting the classic Fields might be disappointed here because the film has more to do with some of the work Chaplin was doing at the time rather than what we think of when we think of Fields. Not too many people are very high on this short but I've always enjoyed it for the slapstick. Slapstick was the most popular thing in silent comedy and I think the work here is pretty well done, especially early on in the film. The pool game is where the comedy goes flat as we get some good looking stop-motion animated sequence, which, while pretty, are dull in terms of laughs.

Four Minute Fever (1956) William Deeke

Sportscope short takes a look at a running a mile in under four minutes. We get to see three different races where the feet became possible and ends in 1956 with Joe Bailey finally broke the mark and came in under four-minutes within the U.S.. This is a pretty good short that contains some nice information as well as some nice cinematography, which is helped by the good quality print shown on Turner Classic Movies. There's really nothing overly special about the film but it does manage to keep you entertained throughout the 9-minute running time.

Hollywood Goes to Town (1938) Herman Hoffman

Highly entertaining short is part documentary and part promo piece for MGM's big-budgeted MARIE ANTOINETTE. The film starts off showing us how Hollywood puts on a premiere, which includes them cutting the bushes, building grand stands and of course getting the red carpet laid down. We see how all of this goes down in one day and then we see the Hollywood stars show up. Norma Shearer, Tyrone Power, Spencer Tracy, Clark Gable, Judy Garland, Freddie Bartholomew, Una Merkel, John Barrymore, Robert Young, Pete Smith, Jimmy Stewart, Jeanette MacDonald, Helen Hayes, Louis B. Mayer, Hedy Lamarr, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Paul Muni, Charles Boyer, Jack Benny, Claudette Colbert, Simone Simon, Robert Montgomery, Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Taylor and Carole Lombard are the stars who show up in this one 9-minute film. As you can see, this is a film buffs dream as we get to see a lot of major stars within one small film. If you're a fan of classic film then this here is a must see just for nostalgia sake.

Strange Glory (1938) Jacques Tourneur

Carey Wilson short from his "An Historical Mystery" series takes a look at the debate of who should get credit for the "Tennessee Plan", which pretty much helped the North win the Civil War. Eight years after President Lincoln was killed, Northerner Anna Ella Carroll (Fay Helm) came to say that she was the brain behind the plan and that she discussed it with Lincoln yet no one knows of their meeting or the reasons why the President thought they should keep it a secret until after the war. I really love this series from MGM as they offer up fascinating stories even though they are mainly thrown at the conspiracy theorist inside me. This episode is yet another interesting case that I had never heard about but it does make for a good mystery, which is the entire point of the series. Frank McGlynn, Sr. plays Lincoln here, a role that he would play over ten times in his career including the 1924 film ABRAHAM LINCOLN, John Ford's THE PRISONER OF SHARK ISLAND and THE LITTLE REBEL. He is quite good here as is Helm as the woman behind the mystery. Director Tourneur does a very good job with the material and this is easy to see early on during the Civil War footage.

Three Smart Guys (1942) Edward L. Cahn

Extremely poor Our Gang short from MGM has Froggy, Mickey and Buckwheat skipping school so that they can go fishing but they meet an older man who convinces them that school isn't too bad. I'm really not sure how many, if any, of these MGM/Our Gang shorts I've seen but I really hope this is the worst of the bunch. The biggest issue is that there isn't a single laugh to be found but the strange thing is that it appears no laughs were even attempted to be gained. There's really nothing here that was meant to be funny and just turned out dull. Everything is pretty much straight-forward and I personally can't see any attempt at being funny. Another problem is that the message of not skipping school is so overdramatic that you can't help but just role your eyes.