Crawdaddy's "Random Thoughts" about Home Video, Film & TV (7 Viewers)

[Robert Crawford]

By the way, I watched the 2013 DVD of "Framed" in the past year or so. Eddie's right about Janis Carter's character.

 

[Robert Crawford]

What did I tell you guys:

NEW 2019 1080p HD MASTER FROM 4K SCAN OF ORIGINAL CAMERA NEGATIVE!

THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL (1952)
Run Time 118:00
Subtitles English SDH
Sound Quality DTS HD-Master Audio 2.0 - English
Aspect Ratio 1.37:1, 4 X 3 FULL FRAME
Product Color B&W
Disc Configuration BD 50
Special Features: Feature Length Documentary "Lana Turner...A Daughter's Memoir"; Scoring Session Music Cues; Theatrical Trailer (HD)

Appearances are everything in Hollywood. So, when conniving moviemaker Jonathan Shields realizes few mourners will show up for the funeral of his equally conniving father, he knows what to do: hire extras. Kirk Douglas gives a magnetic, Oscar®-nominated performance as Shields, who turns talent, charisma and ruthlessness into film success, stomping on careers and creating enemies along the way. Vincente Minnelli directs this winner of five Academy Awards® that’s more than a compelling insider’s look at Tinseltown: It’s an opportunity for buffs to guess which real-life stars and moguls inspired the roles played by Douglas, Lana Turner, Walter Pidgeon, Dick Powell, Best Supporting Actress Gloria Grahame and more.

I finally watched the iTunes HD digital of "The Bad and the Beautiful". The video presentation was pretty good so I expect the new HD transfer for the Blu-ray disc will look outstanding. A great film! Those of you that have seen this movie, the ending was ambiguous to some degree due to the following:

Spoiler

Do you guys think Georgia, Fred and James Lee changes their minds about working with Jonathan again for this one movie? They seem to be more interested as Jonathan talks about his film idea with Harry as the other three listen on the phone extension.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I watched my DVD of "Black Angel" (1946) starring Dan Duryea, June Vincent, Peter Lorre and Broderick Crawford. A fine film noir that I haven't watched in a very long time. Duryea's role is quite different than his normal film noir roles. He's excellent in this film. Arrow is releasing this on Blu-ray in January so I wanted to watch my DVD again. I'll be buying that upcoming BD.

 

[Matt Hough]

I do think the three hold-outs will come to Jonathan's aid at the end of The Bad and the Beautiful. The entire movie is a sales pitch to each of them, and Walter Pidgeon does an excellent job making his case for each of them to help him.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Eddie thinks 1950, is the greatest film year. From a film noir standpoint, he has a really good case. No doubt about it that 1950, was an excellent year for movies across the different film genres.


Eddie Muller
@EddieMuller

1950: I’ll carry that torch.
Quote Tweet

916_Phaded

@rorytaylor707
· 14h
Replying to @NitrateDiva
Well 1939 was the best year ever for movies and it isn't even really that close.
1:06 AM · Oct 17, 2019·Twitter for iPad

Here is a link to movies that came out in 1950. Pretty damn good if not an excellent year.

https://www.google.com/search?sourc...hUKEwi98ZW0v6PlAhVBA6wKHbRbBPIQ4dUDCAg&uact=5

 

[Robert Crawford]

I watched my DVD of "Black Angel" (1946) starring Dan Duryea, June Vincent, Peter Lorre and Broderick Crawford. A fine film noir that I haven't watched in a very long time. Duryea's role is quite different than his normal film noir roles. He's excellent in this film. Arrow is releasing this on Blu-ray in January so I wanted to watch my DVD again. I'll be buying that upcoming BD.

I added the Amazon Pre-Order Link to the HTF Pre-Order Listing. I'm really excited about this upcoming Arrow Blu-ray. This fine film noir isn't as well known as some other film noirs, but it's a really good film derived from another Cornell Woolrich novel.

Black Angel (Arrow)

Elegantly directed by Hollywood veteran Roy William Neill (best known for his 11 Sherlock Holmes films starring Basil Rathbone), Black Angel is an underappreciated film noir treasure, adapted from a novel by the acclaimed crime writer Cornell Woolrich (Phantom Lady).

When the beautiful singer Mavis Marlowe (Constance Dowling) is slain in her chic apartment, the men in her life become suspects. There is Martin Blair (Dan Duryea, Scarlet Street), her alcoholic musician ex-husband, nursing a broken heart; there is the shady nightclub owner Marko (Peter Lorre, Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon) who has been sneaking around her place, and there is Kirk Bennett (John Phillips), the adulterer who found his mistress s dead body and fled the scene. When Bennett is convicted and sentenced to death, his long-suffering wife Catherine (June Vincent) joins forces with the heartbroken pianist Martin Blair to uncover the truth...

Black Angel is a consummate 1940s crime thriller which boats a suspenseful narrative, strong performances and atmospheric, meticulously lit cinematography. Roy William Neill s film is presented here in a sumptuous restoration, with several illuminating new extras.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS

• Brand new restoration from original film elements by Arrow Films

• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation

• Uncompressed Mono 1.0 PCM audio soundtrack

• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing

• New audio commentary by the writer and film scholar Alan K. Rode

• A Fitting End, a new video appreciation by the film historian Neil Sinyard

• Original trailer

• Gallery of original stills and promotional materials

• Reversible sleeve featuring two artwork options

FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by author Philip Kemp

 

[Robert Crawford]

Talk about another film that isn't well known and is hardly shown anywhere. To my knowledge this movie has never had any type of home video release here in the States. "Rogue Cop" (1954) starring Robert Taylor, George Raft, Janet Leigh, Steve Forrest and Anne Francis. Also, in the cast is a young Vince Edwards playing a contract killer. This is a film noir/crime movie about a detective sergeant/Taylor that's been on the take for years to the gangster syndicate headed up by Raft. Taylor has a younger brother/Forrest that's a beat cop that happens to be the only witness to a murder that the syndicate wants him to cover up. Of course, the younger brother is an honest cop so problems come to fruition as the older brother tries to keep his kid brother alive. Some excellent sequences between Taylor and Raft. A good ending sequence too. My DVD-R recording from a prior TCM showing sucks, but there isn't much I can do to remedy that video presentation that should be shown in 1.85 or 1.77 ratio.

 

[Robert Crawford]

An underrated western directed by Anthony Mann with John Alton as cinematographer. That's right, Alton doing cinematography on a "Western" film and you sure can tell it's an Alton film by how certain scenes are shot with only natural lighting. Yeah, Robert Taylor playing an Indian is not PC, but it's a movie filmed in 1949, and released in 1950, that still highlights the injustice done to the Indian Nations back in the day and to a certain extent even today. An Indian that fought for the Union and won the Congressional Medal of Honor during the Civil War still wasn't an American citizen that could his own land in Wyoming that his people settled on many years beforehand. A good supporting cast with Louis Calhern standing out as the baddie that hates Indians.

Next up is "Ambush" another "Western" starring Robert Taylor that was filmed in 1949, but wasn't released until January, 1950.

 

[Robert Crawford]

An underrated western directed by Anthony Mann with John Alton as cinematographer. That's right, Alton doing cinematography on a "Western" film and you sure can tell it's an Alton film by how certain scenes are shot with only natural lighting. Yeah, Robert Taylor playing an Indian is not PC, but it's a movie filmed in 1949, and released in 1950, that still highlights the injustice done to the Indian Nations back in the day and to a certain extent even today. An Indian that fought for the Union and won the Congressional Medal of Honor during the Civil War still wasn't an American citizen that could his own land in Wyoming that his people settled on many years beforehand. A good supporting cast with Louis Calhern standing out as the baddie that hates Indians.

Next up is "Ambush" another "Western" starring Robert Taylor that was filmed in 1949, but wasn't released until January, 1950.

I never made it to "Ambush" today as I visited the nearest Dolby Cinema theater to me about 65 miles from me and watched the following two movies. However, I didn't get to watch the final 20-25 minutes of "Zombieland: Double Tap" due to a local power outage. I thought
"Maleficent: Mistress of Evil" was pretty good as I expected a bomb after reading some earlier comments about the film. As to "Zombieland: Double Tap", I thought it was funnier than the "Zombieland" as I laughed out loud several times and so did my audience. I was bummed that I couldn't see the ending at that Dolby Cinema theater. It's really great to see movies at such a movie venue and I highly recommend all of you to see at least one movie at such a theater. One more thing, it was strange that the Dolby Cinema theater was showing two different movies.

 

[Robert Crawford]

This week's Noir Alley showing is "This Gun for Hire" (1942) starring Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, Robert Preston and Laird Cregar. The first movie pairing of Ladd and Lake. IMO, Ladd gave one of his best acting performances in this movie as Raven. I plan on not watching the movie again as I watched the outstanding Shout! Factory Blu-ray of it, twice about 5 months ago. I do love this film so after listening to Eddie's opening comments, I might get hooked and watch the movie again as it is a film that I always enjoy watching.

TCM's Noir Alley 2019 schedule.

03-09-19: D.O.A. (1950)
03-16-19: High Sierra (1941)
03-23-19: Lady in the Lake (1946)
03-30-19: Border Incident (1949)
04-06-19: 99 River Street (1953)
04-13-19: Nobody Lives Forever (1946)
04-20-19: M (1951)
04-27-19: Woman on the Run (1950)
05-04-19: Nightmare Alley (1947)
05-11-19: White Heat (1949)
05-18-19: Key Largo (1948)
05-25-19: Dead Reckoning (1947)
06-01-19: The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
06-08-19: Nora Prentiss (1947)
06-15-19: Pickup on South Street (1953)
06-22-19: Shadow on the Wall (1950)
06-29-19: On Dangerous Ground (1951)
07-06-19: The Tattooed Stranger (1950)
07-13-19: The People Against O'Hara (1951)
07-20-19: While the City Sleeps (1956)
07-27-19: Thieves' Highway (1949)
09-07-19: The Big Clock (1948)
09-14-19: Nocturne (1946)
09-21-19: The Woman on the Beach (1947)
09-28-19: The Harder They Fall (1956)
10-05-19: Trapped (1949)
10-12-19: Clash By Night (1952)
10-19-19: This Gun For Hire (1942)
10-26-19: Force of Evil (1948) replaces A Woman's Secret (1949)
11-02-19: Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
11-09-19: Johnny Eager (1941)
11-16-19: The Hitch-Hiker (1953)
11-23-19: Kansas City Confidential (1952)
11-30-19: The Mask of Dimitrios (1944)
12-07-19: Berlin Express (1948)
12-14-19: Criss Cross (1949)
12-21-19: Cash on Demand (1961) replaces I Died a Thousand Times (1955)
12-28-19: Repeat Performance (1947)
01-04-20: The Big Sleep (1946)
01-11-20: The Captive City (1952)
01-18-20: The Big Night (1951)

 

[Matt Hough]

Knowing This Gun for Hire was coming up, I deliberately didn't watch it on disc preparing for Eddie's presentation. Looking forward to it tomorrow.

 

[Keith Cobby]

Rogue Cop used to come up on want lists, but as you say, it's not a widely known film. Would be a rare pre-order for me if it came out, great film.

Looking forward to Black Angel, fine film.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Yes, "Ambush" is another underrated western that MGM released in 1950. Every time I see this movie with Chief Thundercloud in the cast, it reminds me that "Geronimo!" (1939) is another western that has never been released in the States on home video on any format. At least a legitimate home video release. It's ironic and sad at the same time that on the poster art below, it has a picture of Chief Thundercloud as Geronimo, but no mentioned of his name listed with the other credited actors on the poster. I haven't seen this movie for probably 40 years or so, but I will always remember this western and how terrifying Thundercloud was as the title character.

 

[Robert Crawford]

On 4K/UHD disc "Hellboy" (2004). A reference 4K disc for both audio and video. I watched the Director's Cut this time as I always liked this film.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

On 4K/UHD disc "Hellboy" (2004). A reference 4K disc for both audio and video. I watched the Director's Cut this time as I always liked this film.

Just waiting for a price drop on this one. I only have seen the film once (borrowed the BD from a friend), but really enjoyed it. Glad to read that it's an excellent UHD disc.

 

[DavidJ]

My September-December, 2019 "3-D" Challenge in which I watch at least one 3-D movie a week has the following movies viewed as of October 14th:

• Beowulf (2007)
• Hansel & Gretel (2013)
• Jivaro (1954)
• September Storm (1960)
• The Maze (1953)
• Skyscraper (2018)
• Gemini Man (2019)

What did you think of Gemini Man?

 

[Robert Crawford]

What did you think of Gemini Man?

It was exactly what I thought it would be, a good popcorn action flick.

 

[Robert Crawford]

This week's Noir Alley showing is "This Gun for Hire" (1942) starring Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, Robert Preston and Laird Cregar. The first movie pairing of Ladd and Lake. IMO, Ladd gave one of his best acting performances in this movie as Raven. I plan on not watching the movie again as I watched the outstanding Shout! Factory Blu-ray of it, twice about 5 months ago. I do love this film so after listening to Eddie's opening comments, I might get hooked and watch the movie again as it is a film that I always enjoy watching.

TCM's Noir Alley 2019 schedule.

03-09-19: D.O.A. (1950)
03-16-19: High Sierra (1941)
03-23-19: Lady in the Lake (1946)
03-30-19: Border Incident (1949)
04-06-19: 99 River Street (1953)
04-13-19: Nobody Lives Forever (1946)
04-20-19: M (1951)
04-27-19: Woman on the Run (1950)
05-04-19: Nightmare Alley (1947)
05-11-19: White Heat (1949)
05-18-19: Key Largo (1948)
05-25-19: Dead Reckoning (1947)
06-01-19: The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
06-08-19: Nora Prentiss (1947)
06-15-19: Pickup on South Street (1953)
06-22-19: Shadow on the Wall (1950)
06-29-19: On Dangerous Ground (1951)
07-06-19: The Tattooed Stranger (1950)
07-13-19: The People Against O'Hara (1951)
07-20-19: While the City Sleeps (1956)
07-27-19: Thieves' Highway (1949)
09-07-19: The Big Clock (1948)
09-14-19: Nocturne (1946)
09-21-19: The Woman on the Beach (1947)
09-28-19: The Harder They Fall (1956)
10-05-19: Trapped (1949)
10-12-19: Clash By Night (1952)
10-19-19: This Gun For Hire (1942)
10-26-19: Force of Evil (1948) replaces A Woman's Secret (1949)
11-02-19: Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
11-09-19: Johnny Eager (1941)
11-16-19: The Hitch-Hiker (1953)
11-23-19: Kansas City Confidential (1952)
11-30-19: The Mask of Dimitrios (1944)
12-07-19: Berlin Express (1948)
12-14-19: Criss Cross (1949)
12-21-19: Cash on Demand (1961) replaces I Died a Thousand Times (1955)
12-28-19: Repeat Performance (1947)
01-04-20: The Big Sleep (1946)
01-11-20: The Captive City (1952)
01-18-20: The Big Night (1951)

Well, that TCM presentation didn't look to be in HD to me. Frankly, it didn't look like the BD presentation either. Eddie made some great comments as usual, but he did make an error about Robert Preston's character occupation.

 

[Robert Crawford]

This film that was shot in 1942, and released in 1943, has always been a mess of a movie. Though, entertaining, the Cotton character in this movie has always been rather dumb to me. Thank God, it's only 69 minutes long as my head would still be spinning. However, I wish I could see the slighting longer European version with a slight chance those added minutes improves the flow of this movie. Again, the movie is a mess with editing cuts that confuses you, but it's a movie that I've watched a number of times over the years because of the cast involved in it. An entertaining, but confusing movie.

 

[Hollywoodaholic]

This Gun for Hire. Nifty little action film. Loved the location sequences. Let's see, Veronica Lake was 4'11", so Ladd must have been about 5'1" based on his stature next to her. No wonder they paired them together in so many pictures. What actress was shorter than him? And he was soon too 'big' to resort to standing on an apple crate. Ditches for future female co-stars. But he acquitted himself well in this first role, and he obviously didn't mind repeating the performance forever.

I don't remember seeing Robert Preston in roles this early before. And when did his persona get so big that we have those spectacular (and wonderfully hammy) performances in The Music Man, Victor Victoria and S.O.B.?

Please fill me in on Laird Cregar's story that Muller deliberately left out. He was the best thing here, playing the heavy like a wimpy Vincent Price. I'll look for him in the future.

Raven wouldn't have come away so fond to audiences if they showed him killing that innocent cop on camera. Everybody else probably deserved it.