Crawdaddy's "Random Thoughts" about Home Video, Film & TV (1 Viewer)

[Robert Crawford]

Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow American friends. And, Happy Thursday to all my non-American friends.

 

[Matt Hough]

Same back at you, Crawdaddy. I'm looking forward to an enormous meal later today and maybe even Boomerang!

 

[DavidJ]

One of my ten "desert island" movies. I'm not sure it's underrated; more that it's unrecognised. I think most people who get around to watching it agree it's a really good movie

And I don’t think I’ve ever seen it. Will have to rectify that.

 

[DavidJ]

Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow American friends. And, Happy Thursday to all my non-American friends.

Happy Thanksgiving, Robert!

 

[Robert Crawford]

This weekend's Noir Alley movie is "The Mask of Dimitrios" (1944) starring Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet and Zachary Scott. A favorite film of mine in which this was Scott's movie debut. A fine and underrated actor, who's forte was playing heavies. Scott had a great start to his movie career then it kind of petered out towards the end. He died relatively young in his early 50's.

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)
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)
12-28-19: Repeat Performance (1947)
01-04-20: The Big Sleep (1946)
01-11-20: The Big Night (1951)
01-18-20: The Captive City (1952)
01-25-20: Try and Get Me! (1950)

 

[Matt Hough]

I have the movie on DVD, but I'm looking forward to Eddie's comments and the TCM presentation. Maybe we'll get a remastered transfer.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I have the movie on DVD, but I'm looking forward to Eddie's comments and the TCM presentation. Maybe we'll get a remastered transfer.

Perhaps, I bought the HD digital back in February when iTunes was having a big sale so I'll be watching that some time today.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I bought another 4K disc release that I said I would only have on 4K digital. However, I couldn't pass up that $9.99 discounted pricing for "Apocalypse Now: Final Cut" 4K/UHD that my local Best Buy had in-stock. Also, iTunes has issues with that 4K digital so that factored into my decision. Anyhow, it was only $9.99.

 

[Robert Crawford]

The Criterion Channel's December lineup.

https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/6707-the-criterion-channel-s-december-2019-lineup

 

[Robert Crawford]

This weekend's Noir Alley movie is "The Mask of Dimitrios" (1944) starring Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet and Zachary Scott. A favorite film of mine in which this was Scott's movie debut. A fine and underrated actor, who's forte was playing heavies. Scott had a great start to his movie career then it kind of petered out towards the end. He died relatively young in his early 50's.

Eddie basically made some similar comments about Scott that I did earlier in this thread. I've never seen "Guilty Bystander" and I am now interested in that film. I didn't realize Scott made that many movies with Faye Emerson. The TCM presentation of "The Mask of Dimitrios" looks somewhat similar to the iTunes HD digital, but, I think the digital had slightly more detail. Is Peter Lorre an underrated actor? For a character actor he's well known, but, I think his acting ability has been a little underrated. I previously read somewhere that Lorre, Claude Rains and Bogart were good friends and often played chess together.

 

[Robert Crawford]

TCM's December Schedule:

http://www.tcm.com/schedule/monthly.html?ecid=subnavmonthschedule

 

[Hollywoodaholic]

The Mask of Dimitrios. A somewhat murky and noisy print. Enjoyable, nonetheless. The story was pure Graham Greene (even if it was Eric Ambler) - 99% talk but 100% intrigue. That's also the first time I've seen Peter Lorre play such a normal role, though there is some debate about we writers being considered anything 'normal.'

Greenstreet (Peters) is a testament to having your sizable girth protect you from three close-range bullets.I almost expected this story was setting up a franchise sequel with the two characters, but then again Greenstreet and Lorre made nine pictures together (per Muller) so I guess that was essentially the case.

 

[Matt Hough]

The Mask of Dimitrios is such a fun entertainment. When I first watched it on television probably fifty years ago, I was completely fooled by the body found at the beginning of the film, and the later revelation was a great shock. Of course, many movies, TV shows, and plays have used a similar trick in the intervening years, so that little surprise one can usually see now from a mile away. It still doesn't rob the movie of any of its adventure, surprise, and fun.

As usual, Eddie's comments were welcome and informative.

 

[Cranston37+]

The story was pure Graham Greene (even if it was Eric Ambler

I've always wondered why Eric Ambler never worked with Alfred Hitchcock.

He was married to Joan Harrison after all, Hitch's assistant/producer. Ambler actually published an anthology of his spy novels for which Hitch wrote an introduction. He wrote screenplays, too, earning an Oscar nomination for one.

It just seemed like a perfect match...

 

[Robert Crawford]

This upcoming weekend's Noir Alley is "Berlin Express" (1948) starring Robert Ryan, Merle Oberon and Paul Lukas. Directed by Jacques Tourneur. I'm not sure it's a film noir in the true sense of the film genre, but, it does have some noir elements. The movie's screenplay was based on a story written by Curt Siodmak, Robert's younger brother who wrote some fine novels, stories and screenplays during his career.

 

[Matt Hough]

Berlin Express will be new to me, so naturally I'm really looking forward to it.

 

[Robert Crawford]

To me, "The Big Knife" isn't film noir. A good film though by a director, who's films I enjoy so much.

 

[Robert Crawford]

One of my favorite screen pairings. I wish they made more movies after 1934, as I think they a great screen couple. A missed opportunity by Warner.

https://tcm.tumblr.com/post/1894915...OCveYU6APMDszLjZZCmr6AiUje6_uSLW_jkK2PSSIwYmM

 

[Robert Crawford]

This weekend's "Noir Alley" movie is "Berlin Express" (1948) starring Robert Ryan, Merle Oberon and Paul Lukas. It's a movie I've never watched in its entirety until last year. That doesn't mean I never watched the movie beforehand as I've seen it so many different times in different 20-30 minute film segments over the years that I knew the entire movie plot from beginning to end. Anyhow, I'll sample this TCM broadcast to see if it's an improvement over the DVD presentation and will probably be dragged into watching the entire movie again. I'm sure Eddie will illuminate us with his comments and whether this film is actually a "Film Noir". Below is a link to my comments about the movie from my last viewing.

https://www.hometheaterforum.com/community/posts/4667674/

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)
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)
12-28-19: Repeat Performance (1947)
01-04-20: The Big Sleep (1946)
01-11-20: The Big Night (1951)
01-18-20: The Captive City (1952)
01-25-20: Try and Get Me! (1950)

 

[Robert Crawford]

How about this Tweeter exchange from Eddie:






Eddie Muller
@EddieMuller

It gives Disney a huge catalog from which to pull remakes while burying the original films. Not kidding. I know writers and directors who have been approached to “pick a project from the catalog.” For a new generation, the original will not be available for comparison.
Quote Tweet

MZS

@mattzollerseitz
· 23h
Disney's hoarding of 20th Century Fox films from theaters might be the straw that break's commercial repertory programming's back. Can't tell you how many times I've looked up a great film, seen the Fox tag, and realized, "Oh, I guess that'll never be screened now."