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

[Robert Crawford]

This week's Noir Alley movie is 'Witness to Murder' (1954) starring Barbara Stanwyck, George Sanders, Gary Merrill and Jesse White. This movie was released in 1954 before 'Rear Window', but got overlooked once that movie opened due to similar storylines. It's a fine movie with some great John Alton camerawork along with outstanding acting performances from Stanwyck and Sanders. I'll be watching my 2014 Kino BD for the first time as my last few viewings of this movie over the last several years has been on TCM. I think those TCM viewings were spur of the moment decisions due to channel surfing late at night and too lazy to go fetch the BD from one of my 12 bookcases of discs.

Updated TCM's Noir Alley 2021 schedule:

01-02-21: The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry
01-09-21: The Glass Key
01-16-21: Witness to Murder
01-23-21: Born to Kill
01-30-21: The Killers
02-06-21: The Killer that Stalked New York
02-20-21: Native Son
02-27-21: Odds Against Tomorrow
03-06-21: Killer's Kiss
03-13-21: The Night Holds Terror
03-20-21: The Third Man
03-27-21: Pepe Le Moko

 

[Matt Hough]

Yes, I have the Kino disc, too, but I'll watch Eddie's presentation tomorrow at lunchtime. I love Stanwyck in just about anything.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Yes, I have the Kino disc, too, but I'll watch Eddie's presentation tomorrow at lunchtime. I love Stanwyck in just about anything.

You and me, both.

 

[Robert Crawford]

The latest edition of "Ask Eddie".

 

[Robert Crawford]

By the way, I like to listening to these 'Ask Eddie" videos because it gives me ideas on films to watch in the future.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Yes, I have the Kino disc, too, but I'll watch Eddie's presentation tomorrow at lunchtime. I love Stanwyck in just about anything.

I have to agree with Eddie on one thing about 'Witness to Murder' and that is John Alton is the real star of this movie's production with its many plot holes and such.

Spoiler

I hate how they show the main character being marginalized and abused by the legal system because she's a woman. Also, the movie credit listing of Juanita Moore as the Negress is as uncomfortable to see today as it was many years ago when I first watched this movie.

Seeing the lonely Maytag repairman playing a police detective cracks me up.

 

[Matt Hough]

I could not BELIEVE that credit for the great Juanita Moore!

Yes, there are many plot holes here, and they're glaring and frustrating. I don't remember Barbara telling the police that the woman was strangled, but how would she know that once the body was found if she hadn't actually seen it? Didn't seem like the police even investigated those "drag marks" that she mentioned to them. And you just know near the end from the moment they show that high shaft with planks on various floors that someone is going to go hurtling through that space soon!

 

[Robert Crawford]

This Friday starting at 6:00 a.m. on TCM is their salute to Femme Fatales.

You guys know I have a thing for Audrey Totter.

 

[Robert Crawford]

This weekend's Noir Alley movie is 'Born to Kill' (1947) starring Claire Trevor, Lawrence Tierney and Walter Slezak. The last time I watched this movie was in July, 2017. That was the first time it played on Noir Alley. I'm not sure if Matt is going to watch it again, but, I will because I always liked the movie, I'm a big fan of Claire Trevor and it will be good to watch good buddies Tierney and Elisha Cook Jr. play against each other. I'm sure Eddie will talk about this real life 'Mutt and Jeff' friendship.

Updated TCM's Noir Alley 2021 schedule:

01-02-21: The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry
01-09-21: The Glass Key
01-16-21: Witness to Murder
01-23-21: Born to Kill
01-30-21: The Killers
02-06-21: The Killer that Stalked New York
02-20-21: Native Son
02-27-21: Odds Against Tomorrow
03-06-21: Killer's Kiss
03-13-21: The Night Holds Terror
03-20-21: The Third Man
03-27-21: Pepe Le Moko

 

[Matt Hough]

Yes, I did see it when it was first broadcast, but I'll likely watch it again, too, since I don't remember much about it.

 

[Robert Crawford]

This weekend's Noir Alley movie is 'Born to Kill' (1947) starring Claire Trevor, Lawrence Tierney and Walter Slezak. The last time I watched this movie was in July, 2017. That was the first time it played on Noir Alley. I'm not sure if Matt is going to watch it again, but, I will because I always liked the movie, I'm a big fan of Claire Trevor and it will be good to watch good buddies Tierney and Elisha Cook Jr. play against each other. I'm sure Eddie will talk about this real life 'Mutt and Jeff' friendship.

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Updated TCM's Noir Alley 2021 schedule:

01-02-21: The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry
01-09-21: The Glass Key
01-16-21: Witness to Murder
01-23-21: Born to Kill
01-30-21: The Killers
02-06-21: The Killer that Stalked New York
02-20-21: Native Son
02-27-21: Odds Against Tomorrow
03-06-21: Killer's Kiss
03-13-21: The Night Holds Terror
03-20-21: The Third Man
03-27-21: Pepe Le Moko

I was wrong about Eddie talking about Tierney and Cook friendship as Eddie had a guest again so, of course, the attention was more about the writers than the actors.

I'll say it again, I love me some Claire Trevor. One of the most underrated actresses from that film era.

 

[Matt Hough]

I didn't remember much about the movie, but I did watch (and enjoy) it again in its entirety. But having a guest means that interesting supporting players like Esther Howard get totally ignored. She pops up in plenty of movies and is always memorable. Wish Eddie had gone into some depth about her career.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I didn't remember much about the movie, but I did watch (and enjoy) it again in its entirety. But having a guest means that interesting supporting players like Esther Howard get totally ignored. She pops up in plenty of movies and is always memorable. Wish Eddie had gone into some depth about her career.

Yup, she was excellent in this movie.

 

[Matt Hough]

Yup, she was excellent in this movie.

She's my favorite character. I was so relieved when she escaped certain death near film's end.

 

[Robert Crawford]

The latest installment of 'Ask Eddie'.

 

[Cranston37+]

The latest installment of 'Ask Eddie'.

The exact moment Anne wishes she had put her damn cat in another room before the livestream...

 

[Robert Crawford]

Anne and her cats are kind of annoying and disrupt the flow of the 'Ask Eddie' segments.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Man, I've got to get my movie-watching mojo back as I've been slacking off the last couple of weeks. Does anybody else run into movie-watching slumps like that?

 

[Robert Crawford]

Man, I've got to get my movie-watching mojo back as I've been slacking off the last couple of weeks. Does anybody else run into movie-watching slumps like that?

To help me get out of my movie-watching funk, I posted the following in the 'Classic Westerns' thread in Movies.

I've kind of lost my movie-watching mojo in January. Watching 'Westerns' usually leaves me a good way mentally-wise. Therefore, starting in February, I'm going to re-watch my entire top '100' westerns before the end of the year. It's almost two 'Westerns' a week which if quite doable on my part. I will need a substitute for 'Geronimo' (1939) because it's been missing in action from home video or even TV showings for several decades. I'll probably leave that substitution to one of my last movies to watch by the end of the year. Anyhow, I'll announce which movie I pick to watch in place of 'Geronimo' at a later date. Also, the 'Westerns' I recently watched over the last couple of months, I'll leave for another viewing the last couple of months of 2021. One of them '3 Godfathers' is an annual Christmas viewing anyway. Some of my top '100' are coming out on BD in 2021, so I won't watch them until their actual BD release date. I'll posts my thoughts about each movie in my thread. I think my first 'Western' is going to be "The Alamo" (1960) since I just bought that HD Digital last week from Vudu. Again, my top '100' isn't in any particular order as I listed them as they came to me.

1. The Gunfighter (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
2. High Noon (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
3. The Searchers (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
4. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
5. Warlock (Blu-ray)
6. 3:10 to Yuma (1957) (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
7. The Wild Bunch (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
8. The Ox-Bow Incident (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
9. The Last Wagon (Blu-ray)
10. Shane (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
11. Hombre (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
12. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
13. Jeremiah Johnson (Blu-ray)
14. Fort Apache (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
15. The Big Sky (DVD)
16. Ambush (DVD)
17. Open Range (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
18. The Professionals (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
19. Winchester '73 (DVD/HD Digital)
20. The Tin Star (DVD)
21. The Magnificent Seven (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
22. Rocky Mountain (DVD)
23. Dodge City (Blu-ray)
24. They Died with their Boots On (DVD/HD Digital)
25. Nevada Smith (DVD/HD Digital)
26. Cowboy (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
27. Tall in the Saddle (DVD/HD Digital)
28. Apache (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
29. Night Passage (Blu-ray)
30. Man Without a Star (Blu-ray)
31. Red River (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
32. Rio Grande (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
33. The Unforgiven (1960) (Blu-ray)
34. Union Pacific (Blu-ray)
35. Canyon Passage (Blu-ray)
36. The King and Four Queens (Blu-ray)
37. Rio Bravo (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
38. My Darling Clementine (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
39. South of St. Louis (Blu-ray)
40. Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
41. Angel and the Badman (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
42. Westward the Women (DVD)
43. The Outlaw Josey Wales (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
44. Vera Cruz (Blu-ray)
45. The Horse Soldiers (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
46. Geronimo (1939) (Not on Home Video)
47. The Plainsman (1936) (DVD)
48. 3 Godfathers (1949) (DVD/HD Digital)
49. Blood on the Moon (Blu-ray)
50. Stagecoach (1939) (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
51. Unforgiven (4K/UHD/4K Digital)
52. Escape from Fort Bravo (DVD)
53. Last Train from Gun Hill (DVD)
54. The Fastest Gun Alive (DVD)
55. Virginia City (DVD/HD Digital)
56. Hondo (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
57. The Bravados (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
58. The Big Country (Blu-ray)
59. Devil's Doorway (DVD)
60. Jubal (Blu-ray)
61. Hud (DVD/HD Digital)
62. Monte Walsh (Blu-ray)
63. Will Penny (DVD/HD Digital)
64. Pillars in the Sky (DVD)
65. McLintock! (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
66. The Westerner (DVD)
67. The Last of the Mohicans (1992) (DVD/Blu-ray/HD Digital)
68. Lonely are the Brave (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
69. Arizona (DVD/HD Digital)
70. The Alamo (1960) (DVD/HD Digital)
71. The Proud Ones (DVD/HD Digital)
72. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (Blu-ray/4K Digital)
73. Last of the Dogmen (DVD)
74. Western Union (Blu-ray)
75. Yellow Sky (Blu-ray)
76. Kit Carson (DVD)
77. The Shootist (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
78. The Sons of Katie Elder (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
79. Buffalo Soldiers (1997) (DVD)
80. Five Card Stud (DVD)
81. Destry Rides Again (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
82. The Tall Men (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
83. Backlash (Blu-ray)
84. The Last Hunt (Blu-ray)
85. Four Faces West (Blu-ray)
86. Ride the High Country (Blu-ray)
87. California (Blu-ray)
88. Comanche Station (Blu-ray)
89. She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (Blu-ray)
90. Broken Lance (Blu-ray)
91. Joe Kidd (Blu-ray)
92. El Dorado (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
93. Only the Valiant (Blu-ray)
94. Death Hunt (Blu-ray)
95. The War Wagon (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
96. Pursued (Blu-ray)
97. Santa Fe Trail (Blu-ray)
98. Cheyenne Autumn (DVD/HD Digital)
99. The Furies (DVD/HD Digital)
100. Walk the Proud Land (DVD)

 

[Matt Hough]

I do hit slumps occasionally, but usually, it's during the primetime TV season that the movies get slack, mainly because I watch a lot of TV shows, and I just have no time for film watching.