Crawdaddy's "Random Thoughts" about Home Video, Film & TV (6 Viewers)

[Robert Crawford]

Did your mom take you to see it? Mine did. I guess she thought it was "literary". And unlike the story, it had a happy ending. Amazing Technicolor. Also a fabulous Bernard Hermann score. And Ava is always worth watching. Oh, and for jazz fans, Benny Carter gets to solo in the Parisian cafe scene. The movie itself? Well, I loved it when I was five. Now, not so much. It's certainly watchable, but I also love the short story, which it trashes so throughly, it's hard to really like this movie. Ava Gardner apparently felt the same way. Hemingway called it "The Snows of Zanuck".

I never read the story which is probably why I liked the movie more than you did.

 

[bujaki]

Did your mom take you to see it? Mine did. I guess she thought it was "literary". And unlike the story, it had a happy ending. Amazing Technicolor. Also a fabulous Bernard Hermann score. And Ava is always worth watching. Oh, and for jazz fans, Benny Carter gets to solo in the Parisian cafe scene. The movie itself? Well, I loved it when I was five. Now, not so much. It's certainly watchable, but I also love the short story, which it trashes so throughly, it's hard to really like this movie. Ava Gardner apparently felt the same way. Hemingway called it "The Snows of Zanuck".

No, I used to go by myself to the movies. I walked about 5 minutes after school to a 3:30 show and paid a nickel. My mother took me to the evening show at 8. I think that may have cost a dime. We had a different show every day so many days we had old movies play, hence The Wizard of Oz, The Razor's Edge, White Witch Doctor, etc., which played alongside newer fare. This was in my home town.
Now where I went to school, about 5 miles away, and a bus ride, I might also stay for the show at 3:30 and catch the last bus at 6. If I missed that bus I was in deep crap. I either had to walk home or call for someone to pick me up (not that easy as not everyone had cars and it was an imposition), and I was younger than 10. And dinner was at 6 sharp.
Decisions, decisions, not knowing the film's running time, then you had to add the trailers, the newsreel and what not...it could be harrowing as you looked at your wristwatch thinking...will I make the last bus?

 

[bujaki]

Movies have always been my passion, but I don't have the recollection of details you have regarding movies. My memory is more focused on movie details like the actors and movie plot. As to the film color scheme, I'm always fascinated that people can remember how a certain movie looked like 50-60 years ago.

My mother was actor oriented and she was the one who introduced me to movies. Of course, plot was also paramount, but then I started to look at light and shadows, and color; eventually directors, editors and composers.

 

[Robert Crawford]

My mother was actor oriented and she was the one who introduced me to movies. Of course, plot was also paramount, but then I started to look at light and shadows, and color; eventually directors, editors and composers.

I never paid much attention to those details until I got in my 20's. I was more into the film plot, actors and where I watched a particular movie including who I was with.

 

[lark144]

I never read the story which is probably why I liked the movie more than you did.

It's arguably the greatest piece of short fiction ever written in this country. You should try it. It's really overwhelming and still very contemporary because it's about those basic impulses and episodes that concern us all. It's also an adventure story, but a very dark and real one. I never read the story myself until 20 years ago, when I saw a copy sittiing on the street. It really bowled me over. There's enough material for 2 or 3 novels, but it's all compressed, and spare, yet so alive. Most Hemingway I can live without, but that story...it lives on.

 

[lark144]

No, I used to go by myself to the movies. I walked about 5 minutes after school to a 3:30 show and paid a nickel. My mother took me to the evening show at 8. I think that may have cost a dime. We had a different show every day so many days we had old movies play, hence The Wizard of Oz, The Razor's Edge, White Witch Doctor, etc., which played alongside newer fare. This was in my home town.
Now where I went to school, about 5 miles away, and a bus ride, I might also stay for the show at 3:30 and catch the last bus at 6. If I missed that bus I was in deep crap. I either had to walk home or call for someone to pick me up (not that easy as not everyone had cars and it was an imposition), and I was younger than 10. And dinner was at 6 sharp.
Decisions, decisions, not knowing the film's running time, then you had to add the trailers, the newsreel and what not...it could be harrowing as you looked at your wristwatch thinking...will I make the last bus?

There was a neighborhood theater near me when I was little that did that. They had kiddie matinees every Saturday, with a 3 stooges short, an hour of cartoons, and a double feature, one old and one fairly recent; for instance, "Earth Vs the Flying Saucers" paired with "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" or "Notorious" paired with "War of the Colossal Beast." I discovered both Hitchcock & John Ford at those kiddie matinees. Also "Captian Blood", "The Searchers", "Vertigo" , "The Hound of the Baskervilles", "Fixed Helmets", "The Tall T, "Singin' in the Rain"; & much more. It was paradise for a budding auterist. But the weirdest pairing was "The Mark Of Zorro" with "Peeping Tom". I have no idea why the owners thought "Peeping Tom" was appropriate for a kiddie matinee.

 

[Robert Crawford]

It's arguably the greatest piece of short fiction ever written in this country. You should try it. It's really overwhelming and still very contemporary because it's about those basic impulses and episodes that concern us all. It's also an adventure story, but a very dark and real one. I never read the story myself until 20 years ago, when I saw a copy sittiing on the street. It really bowled me over. There's enough material for 2 or 3 novels, but it's all compressed, and spare, yet so alive. Most Hemingway I can live without, but that story...it lives on.

No thanks, I prefer to read about history and not fiction.

 

[bujaki]

No thanks, I prefer to read about history and not fiction.

My grad work was in Medieval Comparative Literature; my wife's was in USA History and she's not even a citizen. She carries a green card.

 

[Matt Hough]

I reviewed the DVD of Snows here.

 

[TravisR]

There was a neighborhood theater near me when I was little that did that. They had kiddie matinees every Saturday, with a 3 stooges short, an hour of cartoons, and a double feature, one old and one fairly recent; for instance, "Earth Vs the Flying Saucers" paired with "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" or "Notorious" paired with "War of the Colossal Beast." I discovered both Hitchcock & John Ford at those kiddie matinees. Also "Captian Blood", "The Searchers", "Vertigo" , "The Hound of the Baskervilles", "Fixed Helmets", "The Tall T, "Singin' in the Rain"; & much more. It was paradise for a budding auterist. But the weirdest pairing was "The Mark Of Zorro" with "Peeping Tom". I have no idea why the owners thought "Peeping Tom" was appropriate for a kiddie matinee.

Sounds like the coolest movie theater manager in history ran that joint.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Upcoming Warner Archive Blu-ray releases in December:

December 15th:

• The Curse of Frankenstein
• The Harvey Girls
• Holiday Affair
• Mister Roberts
• Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 2
• Young Man With a Horn

December 22nd:

• The Best Years of Our Lives (Reissue)
• It Happened on 5th Avenue
• The Shop Around the Corner

 

[Astairefan]

Upcoming Warner Archive Blu-ray releases in December:

December 15th:

• The Curse of Frankenstein
• The Harvey Girls
• Holiday Affair
• Mister Roberts
• Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 2
• Young Man With a Horn

December 22nd:

• The Best Years of Our Lives (Reissue)
• It Happened on 5th Avenue
• The Shop Around the Corner

According to the wbshop page, your list may need further revising, as that lists some titles as coming December 1 and 8.

 

[Robert Crawford]

According to the wbshop page, your list may need further revising, as that lists some titles as coming December 1 and 8.

I wouldn't be surprised if that happens.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I was finally able to find the TV series "Elementary" on sale at iTunes. I purchased the 163 episodes in HD for $36.99 which has been the lowest price for the entire series with the next lowest at $49.99 over a year ago. I thought about waiting to see if it would discount down to $29.99, but decided to bite on this current pricing now.

 

[Matt Hough]

That's a little over $5 per season: a glorious bargain, I think!

 

[Robert Crawford]

Another interview with Eddie Muller.

Listen: TCM's Eddie Muller On Being 'The Czar Of Noir'

Wisconsin Public Radio features in-depth news from WPR’s seven bureaus and NPR, entertainment programs, classical music and discussions on the Ideas Network.

www.wpr.org

 

[Robert Crawford]

Jeremy Arnold on "Kiss Me Deadly" and "The Night of the Hunter".

 

[Robert Crawford]

This weekend's "Noir Alley" movie is "Kiss Me Deadly" (1955) starring Ralph Meeker, Albert Dekker, Paul Stewart, Gaby Rodgers and a host of great character actors. It's been a good, long time since I last watched "Kiss Me Deadly" so I'll be revisiting my Criterion BD along with listening to Eddie's before and after comments.

Updated TCM's Noir Alley 2020 schedule:

03-07-20: Ride the Pink Horse (1947)
03-14-20: I Wake Up Screaming (1941)
03-21-20: Elevator to the Gallows (1958)
03-28-20: Crime Wave (1954)
04-04-20: Address Unknown (1944)
04-11-20: Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956)
04-25-20: Wicked Woman (1954)
05-02-20: Fallen Angel (1945)
05-09-20: Mildred Pierce (1945)
05-16-20: The Crimson Kimono (1959)
05-23-20: Cornered (1945)
05-30-20: A Kiss Before Dying (1956)
06-06-20: The Underworld Story (1950)
06-13-20: Murder by Contract (1958)
06-20-20: Underworld U.S.A. (1961)
06-27-20: The Lady from Shanghai (1947)
07-04-20: The Sign of the Ram (1948)
07-11-20: Bodyguard (1948)
07-18-20: Three Strangers (1946)
07-25-20: The Breaking Point (1950)
09-06-20: Night Editor (1946) "Sunday at 10:00 a.m. Only"
09-12-20: Danger Signal (1945)
09-19-20: Gilda (1946)
09-26-20: They Won't Believe Me (1947)
10-03-20: Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950)
10-10-20: The Racket (1951)
10-17-20: Destination Murder (1950)
10-24-20: Macao (1952)
10-31-20: The Seventh Victim (1943)
11-07-20: Nightfall (1957)
11-14-20: Fear (1946)
11-21-20: Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
11-28-20: Suspense (1946)
12-05-20: Tomorrow is Another Day (1951)
12-12-20: The Burglar (1957)
12-19-20: The Unsuspected (1947)
12-26-20: Detour (1945)

 

[bujaki]

I posted this elsewhere but it merits posting here as well for members who visit here:

HOLLYWOOD HOME MOVIES: TREASURES FROM THE ACADEMY FILM ARCHIVE

HOLLYWOOD HOME MOVIES: TREASURES FROM THE ACADEMY FILM ARCHIVE

www.oscars.org

This is about an hour's worth of home movies from the '30s-'40s. Of particular interest to HTF members will be the segment introduced by Kevin Koster's father showcasing Henry Koster's home movies. Recommended.

 

[Matt Hough]

I reviewed the Criterion Blu-ray of Kiss Me Deadly here.

I haven't made up my mind about rewatching it tomorrow. I probably will since I don't have any other pressing viewing engagements, but I'll certainly record the show for Eddie's comments.