Crawdaddy's "Random Thoughts" about Home Video, Film & TV (4 Viewers)

[Matt Hough]

Thanks for the notification of the December line-up. I went there early this morning, and TCM hadn't put it up yet.

 

[Robert Crawford]

The TCM movies on Thursday night starting at 8:00 p.m. ET:

• Baby Face (1932)
• Employee's Entrance (1932)
• Blessed Event (1932)
• Two Seconds (1932)

Eddie Muller @EddieMuller TONIGHT! I'm hosting Pre-Code classics on TCM with the great Bruce Goldstein. A quartet of extraordinary films, starting at 8 ET, 5 PT. And then check out Bruce's amazing film about the making of NAKED CITY on Criterion Channel. Astounding! @NoirAlley @tcm @noirfoundation ​

 

[bujaki]

The TCM movies on Thursday night starting at 8:00 p.m. ET:

• Baby Face (1932)
• Employee's Entrance (1932)
• Blessed Event (1932)
• Two Seconds (1932)

A fabulous quartet of films. Baby Face is sui generis and Blessed Event is a riot.

 

[Robert Crawford]

My DVR will be recording tonight.

 

[Robert Crawford]

The TCM movies on Thursday night starting at 8:00 p.m. ET:

• Baby Face (1932)
• Employee's Entrance (1932)
• Blessed Event (1932)
• Two Seconds (1932)

Eddie Muller @EddieMuller TONIGHT! I'm hosting Pre-Code classics on TCM with the great Bruce Goldstein. A quartet of extraordinary films, starting at 8 ET, 5 PT. And then check out Bruce's amazing film about the making of NAKED CITY on Criterion Channel. Astounding! @NoirAlley @tcm @noirfoundation ​

I must say that Uncovering "The Naked City" is one of the best short documentaries I have ever seen. I highly recommend this 2020 Criterion Channel documentary that runs 23 minutes to anyone that is a fan of movies. A great piece of work by Bruce Goldstein as the documentary compares the NYC locations shot in 1947, to what is there now. Very informative that many here would find fascinating to say the least. The Naked City was a real tribute from the filmmakers to their hometown from the film producer Mark Hellinger to the director Jules Dassin and the screenwriters Albert Maltz and Malvin Wald. Only the cinematographer William Daniels was not a New Yorker. Hellinger's early death at 44 years old, really robbed us classic movie lovers of one fine movie producer that could've done so much more in his filmmaking career. The guy didn't even live to see "The Naked City" open across the country.

Uncovering THE NAKED CITY - The Criterion Channel

Directed by Bruce Goldstein • 2020 • United States In this original short documentary and personal essay, Bruce Goldstein, founder of Rialto Pictures and repertory director at New York’s FIlm Forum, tracks down many of the 100+ New York City locations—from the Bronx to the Lower East Side—used i...

www.criterionchannel.com

 

[Robert Crawford]

A fabulous quartet of films. Baby Face is sui generis and Blessed Event is a riot.

Yeah, Baby Face has become a personal favorite of mine over the last 20 years or so.

 

[Robert Crawford]

This weekend's "Noir Alley" movie is "Tomorrow is Another Day (1951) starring Ruth Roman, Steve Cochran, Lurene Tuttle and Ray Teal. This is a Noir Alley repeater as it first played in 2018. A believe this movie was initially meant for John Garfield so I wonder if Eddie will touch on that subject matter. Not a bad movie, but with an ending that kind of dilutes the movie's impact.

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)

 

[Matt Hough]

I set it to record a few minutes ago, but I'll probably just watch for Eddie's comments and likely won't watch the film again.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I set it to record a few minutes ago, but I'll probably just watch for Eddie's comments and likely won't watch the film again.

That was my plan, but I ended up watching it again because the video presentation looked real good on my 55" OLED.

 

[Hollywoodaholic]

Tomorrow Is Another Day. Worth watching again, even with that sappy ending. Any film that can build a Hitchcock-level suspense sequence around a car-carrier is okay in my book. Now where's that Steve Cochran mysterious fatal cruise Noir?

 

[Matt Hough]

I watched it again, too. In fact, until they got to the lettuce field, I couldn't remember a lot of it, so I was happy to watch it again. I didn't remember Cochran's character being almost "sweet." I found him tremendously appealing and easy to like in this.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Tomorrow Is Another Day. Worth watching again, even with that sappy ending. Any film that can build a Hitchcock-level suspense sequence around a car-carrier is okay in my book. Now where's that Steve Cochran mysterious fatal cruise Noir?

As I stated earlier, the ending of "Tomorrow is Another Day" kind of ruin the movie from being a "classic" film noir to just an average one. I liked this movie because of Ruth Roman, who I always liked and who's career should have been greater. I'm glad Eddie mentioned John Garfield and this was the second time I heard Eddie tell the Steve Cochran fatal cruise story.

 

[Robert Crawford]

This week I was wearing out TCM and its app. I noticed "Them!" on TCM the other day so I did pull out my Blu-ray and watched one of my favorite 1950's Sci-Fi movies. IMO, it's simply a great movie! A fine cast and film premise with some impressive camera work regarding those mutant ant models. I'm so glad they ditch filming this movie in color as it is much more effective in black and white.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Also, I watched a couple of Edmond O'Brien movies that I've enjoyed since I was a kid. First up is D.O.A. (1950). God, why can't somebody release a decent video presentation of this great movie on home video. Even with its poor video presentation, I must have watched this movie 15-20 times in my lifetime. Neville Brand was one creepy, psychotic killer in this movie.

My second Edmond O'Brien movie was "Fighter Squadron" (1948). An underrated war movie about WWII fighter pilots in the European Theater flying out of the UK. I forgot this movie was released before "Twelve O'Clock High" which of course was about WWII bomber pilots in England. There is no doubt that "Fighter Squadron" is the lesser film, but this movie is still highly entertaining to me with some of the best actual combat footage ever placed in a movie, particularly, a movie in color. This movie used to play quite often on NYC local channels when I was growing up in the 1960's. Another Technicolor movie that I would love to see on Blu-ray.

 

[Walter Kittel]

This week I was wearing out TCM and its app. I noticed "Them!" on TCM the other day so I did pull out my Blu-ray and watched one of my favorite 1950's Sci-Fi movies. IMO, it's simply a great movie! A fine cast and film premise with some impressive camera work regarding those mutant ant models. I'm so glad they ditch filming this movie in color as it is much more effective in black and white.

View attachment 83029

100% in agreement. It is a terrific film and is easily in my top 5 SF films of the '50s. Around the time that Warner's DVD release of Them! streeted a reviewer pointed out some of the influences of the film on James Cameron's Aliens feature. Something I hadn't considered, but I do think the observation has merit. A few of the similarities are the traumatized child and the sequences inside the 'nest'. I really need to watch this again.

- Walter.

 

[Robert Crawford]

The TCM movies on Thursday night starting at 8:00 p.m. ET:

• Baby Face (1932)
• Employee's Entrance (1932)
• Blessed Event (1932)
• Two Seconds (1932)

Eddie Muller @EddieMuller TONIGHT! I'm hosting Pre-Code classics on TCM with the great Bruce Goldstein. A quartet of extraordinary films, starting at 8 ET, 5 PT. And then check out Bruce's amazing film about the making of NAKED CITY on Criterion Channel. Astounding! @NoirAlley @tcm @noirfoundation ​

I just want to circle back and say I watched all four movies this past week that Eddie Muller with guest Bruce Goldstein presented on TCM. I really enjoyed Goldstein's commentary and his back and forth with Eddie. As to the four films. the only one I've never watched beforehand was "Two Seconds" (1932) starring Edward G. Robinson. What a unique movie with a fine acting performance by Edward G. I can see why this movie wasn't well taken when it was released as I think it was a head of its time. For a movie that was only 68 minutes long, it sure left a lasting impression on me. As Goldstein stated, a really sordid movie about a man sentenced to die in the electric chair as they flashback to how he got to Sing Sing prison.

No further comments needed about "Baby Face" as it is easily one of my all-time favorite Stanwyck movies. Obviously, another movie ahead of its time in regard to her character. I'm glad Eddie and Goldstein gave Theresa Harris a shout out. This talented black actress would have been a star if she was born 50 years later. Also, it's always nice watching a young John Wayne early in his career. Man, I would've love to have seen him and Stanwyck star in a movie when both of them were stars.

I might get in trouble for saying this, but I always liked Warren William's character in "Employees' Entrance" (1933). Sure, he's a SOB and a sexual predator, but something about how he dealt with people that despised him always resonated with me. What a horrible person, but he always knew what he wanted and how he was going to get it. Also, I know some people on this forum don't find Loretta Young attractive. However, in this movie, she looked really good to me. Alice White is a hoot in this movie along with the reliable Ruth Donnelly.

Speaking of Ruth Donnelly, "Blessed Event" (1932) starring Lee Tracy, Mary Brian, Allen Jenkins, Dick Powell and Ned Sparks is one entertaining pre-code comedy about an unscrupulous gossip columnist that works for some New York tabloid. I agree with Eddie and Goldstein that Lee Tracy really influenced how newspaper characters were portrayed in those Hollywood movies. His influence on other actors from that time period is also evident as to how to deliver lines of dialogue, especially, in slapstick comedies.

 

[Robert Crawford]

100% in agreement. It is a terrific film and is easily in my top 5 SF films of the '50s. Around the time that Warner's DVD release of Them! streeted a reviewer pointed out some of the influences of the film on James Cameron's Aliens feature. Something I hadn't considered, but I do think the observation has merit. A few of the similarities are the traumatized child and the sequences inside the 'nest'. I really need to watch this again.

- Walter.

There is little question that this movie had some influence on "Aliens".

 

[HawksFord]

I just want to circle back and say I watched all four movies this past week that Eddie Muller with guest Bruce Goldstein presented on TCM.

I want to thank you for the original post alerting me to that airing of four pre-code films. I would have missed it otherwise.

Baby Face is a favorite and I was happy to watch it again. I'd never seen Two Seconds before. That was incredibly powerful. Employee's Entrance and Blessed Event don't quite reach the same heights as the other two, but they are both well worth watching. Lee Tracy, in particular, is a delight.

 

[Robert Crawford]

The latest chapter of "Ask Eddie":




By the way, Eddie said a lot of good things about Imogen Sara Smith as he tries to get her more involved with the Film Noir Foundation. Smith is a favorite of mine.

 

[Angelo Colombus]

Tonight on TCM they will broadcast three documentaries. Going Attractions: The Definitive Story of the Movie Palace, What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael, and For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism. Seen the one on Pauline Kael which was good and will dvr the other two.