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

[Matt Hough]

Has anybody watch this movie yet? I haven't been in the mood to do so, but plan on watching it before "The Turning Point" on Saturday night.

No, I haven't gotten around to it, either. I'll have to go to my DVR because it's not on the TCM app, but I hope to get to it before this week's noir appears. But, I got in some review discs today, so that will occupy my time for the next little bit, too.

 

[lark144]

"Quai Des Orfevres" has long been one of my favorites. I have the Criterion DVD and bought the KL Blu during one of the sales but just got around to watching it Monday after seeing Eddie's comments on youtube. I agree with everything he says. A terrific film, and a great showcase for Suzy Delair as well as Louis Jouvet. I had forgotten this is another Xmas Noir. Even though I know what's going to happen, I can't help getting caught up in it. Great entertainment as well as deep human drama. The characters, the milieu--it's set in French music halls and that whole world of singers, songwriters, producers and hangers on--are just so real and rich. Come to think of it, the setting is similar to Hitchcock's "Stage Fright" which I saw over the weekend. Bernard Blier, one of the main actors, says something very interesting in one of the extras on the KL Blu, that Clouzot's films, unlike any of his contemporaries, have a literary aspect to them, that reminds him of 19th Century Russian novelists, like Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky, and he's right. Every character, even the most minor ones, have an inner life. This is one of those films that creates a parallel universe, full of glamor and suspense, that I would love to live in. For those of you who have the Criterion DVD and are thinking of getting the KL, don't get rid of the Criterion as it has subtitles during the songs translating the lyrics, and the KL doesn't.

 

[Walter Kittel]

Finally got around to watching the '47 version of Nightmare Alley, at least partly prompted by the release of the remake (which I have not viewed) to streaming. Wanted to experience the original first and will probably get to the remake in the next few weeks.

This was very enjoyable viewing and had a lot to offer. I liked the performances by the principal actors (Power, Blondell, Gray, and Walker) and thought they all turned in fine efforts. Some really solid work by Tyrone Power in this film.

While the rise and fall story arc was pretty predictable, and telegraphed by the film, I didn't really hold that against the movie as it is one of the popular tropes for dramatic films. In terms of writing the dialog was fairly strong and appropriately florid for a character like Stanton. The betrayal by Ritter kind of caught me off guard, but "It takes one to catch one" should have clued me in.

I really enjoyed both halves of Eddie's comments (intro / outro) regarding the film and it was pretty apparent during the viewing that the tacked on 'ray of hope' for Stanton was not something from the original source material. Pretty grim end for author William Lindsay Gresham in real life, BTW.

Lot to like in this film and to make a somewhat prurient observation... Coleen Gray was a complete smokeshow in this film.

- Walter.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Noir Alley​

When he made THE TURNING POINT, William Holden was box office gold after a string of hits including BORN YESTERDAY and SUNSET BOULEVARD.

See him in the TCM premiere of THE TURNING POINT on #NoirAlley hosted by Eddie Muller Saturday and Sunday.

 

[Robert Crawford]

This weekend's "Noir Alley" movie is "The Turning Point" (1952) starring William Holden, Edmond O'Brien and Alexis Smith. From what I can gather, I don't believe this movie has ever been released on home video here in the States. For many years, I've heard about this crime drama, but never had the chance to view it. Therefore, I'm looking forward to this weekend's showing. The supporting cast looks excellent besides the three leading actors.




Updated TCM's Noir Alley 2022 schedule:


01-01-22: Repeat Performance
01-08-22: Nightmare Alley
01-15-22: The Mob
01-22-22: Over-Exposed
01-29-22: Quai des Orfèvres
02-05-22: The Turning Point
02-12-22: Side Street
02-26-22: Cast a Dark Shadow
04-02-22: TBA
04-09-22: Bob le flambeur
04-16-22: Night and the City
04-23-22: The Window
04-30-22: Johnny Angel
05-07-22: No Man of Her Own
05-14-22: The Killer is Loose
05-21-22: My Name is Julie Ross
05-28-22: Bad Day at Black Rock
06-04-22: Out of the Past
06-11-22: The Guilty
06-18-22: TBA
06-25-22: TBA
07-02-22: The Strange One
07-09-22: Hide Tide
07-16-22: Scarlet Street
07-23-22: 5 Against the House
07-30-22: Raw Deal

 

[Matt Hough]

I've never seen it either, but I'm a fan of the three stars so I'm looking forward to it. I still haven't gotten to last week's installment, but maybe tomorrow I can have a double feature since I'm reviewing today.

 

[bujaki]

Oh, I've seen The Turning Point (where no one dances), but it was 2 generations ago in NYC. I watched it because it was directed by Dieterle. I remember liking it but have no further memory. It will be like watching it for the first time, and that will make it very enjoyable after all these years.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I've never seen it either, but I'm a fan of the three stars so I'm looking forward to it. I still haven't gotten to last week's installment, but maybe tomorrow I can have a double feature since I'm reviewing today.

That's exactly what I did today. This morning, I watched "The Turning Point" which I enjoyed quite a bit. I hope Paramount releases this on Blu-ray or have some boutique label do so. I thought the TCM/Noir Alley video presentation-wise was very good, especially, when compared to most movies shown on that program. The ending was a surprise to me. God, I loved Carolyn Jones cameo in this movie. Man, she had some intense, but beautiful eyes.

This afternoon, I watched "Quai des Orfèvres" which I also enjoyed and will be purchasing the Kino Blu-ray. I particularly liked the performances of the two lead actresses Suzy Delair and Simone Renant. Of course, Louis Jouvet was excellent and particularly, enjoyed the interaction between his character and the one played by Renant.

 

[David_B_K]

I really liked The Turning Point. It was kind of strange to see a noir with such good production values. My wife was bummed about the ending, but I liked it. I loved the mixture of location filming with studio sets. The coliseum where "the fights" were held was a great location and added a lot to the atmosphere.

 

[Robert Crawford]

"Noir Alley" changed 2 of 3 "TBA" weekends to announced movies with "The Pitfall" on April 2nd, and "Down Three Dark Streets" on June 25th.


Updated TCM's Noir Alley 2022 schedule:


01-01-22: Repeat Performance
01-08-22: Nightmare Alley
01-15-22: The Mob
01-22-22: Over-Exposed
01-29-22: Quai des Orfèvres
02-05-22: The Turning Point
02-12-22: Side Street
02-26-22: Cast a Dark Shadow
04-02-22: The Pitfall
04-09-22: Bob le flambeur
04-16-22: Night and the City
04-23-22: The Window
04-30-22: Johnny Angel
05-07-22: No Man of Her Own
05-14-22: The Killer is Loose
05-21-22: My Name is Julie Ross
05-28-22: Bad Day at Black Rock
06-04-22: Out of the Past
06-11-22: The Guilty
06-18-22: TBA
06-25-22: Down Three Dark Streets
07-02-22: The Strange One
07-09-22: Hide Tide
07-16-22: Scarlet Street
07-23-22: 5 Against the House
07-30-22: Raw Deal

 

[Matt Hough]

I hope to get to the last two movies today. I had been going back through all three Harry Palmer movies over the last few nights and along with new offerings from Netflix and Amazon and the Olympics, there just aren't enough hours in the day. Also Vudu reduced the complete series price for Elementary to $40, and I bit to get it in HD. I've been rewatching the first season of that, too, which leaves the DVDs in the dust. But I'll have to keep them since they have the bonus stuff.

 

[Matt Hough]

I FINALLY got around to The Turning Point, and I really enjoyed it. Acting was aces across the board, and Eddie was right: the number of famous character actors was simply astounding dotting the film. The arena sequence was also particularly well directed.

 

[Robert Crawford]

This weekend's "Noir Alley" movie is "Side Street" (1949). This fine movie is a "Noir Alley" repeater as it was shown back in October, 2017. I won't repeat my minor criticism of empty NYC streets on a Sunday morning. I wonder why this movie has never been released on Blu-ray in the States. I don't think it's been released anywhere on Blu-ray. I'll probably watch my DVD again so I can listen to Eddie's and Farley Granger's audio commentary.


Updated TCM's Noir Alley 2022 schedule:


01-01-22: Repeat Performance
01-08-22: Nightmare Alley
01-15-22: The Mob
01-22-22: Over-Exposed
01-29-22: Quai des Orfèvres
02-05-22: The Turning Point
02-12-22: Side Street
02-26-22: Cast a Dark Shadow
04-02-22: The Pitfall
04-09-22: Bob le flambeur
04-16-22: Night and the City
04-23-22: The Window
04-30-22: Johnny Angel
05-07-22: No Man of Her Own
05-14-22: The Killer is Loose
05-21-22: My Name is Julie Ross
05-28-22: Bad Day at Black Rock
06-04-22: Out of the Past
06-11-22: The Guilty
06-18-22: TBA
06-25-22: Down Three Dark Streets
07-02-22: The Strange One
07-09-22: Hide Tide
07-16-22: Scarlet Street
07-23-22: 5 Against the House
07-30-22: Raw Deal

 

[Matt Hough]

Yes, I'll watch it again for sure. I don't own it, so to see it again, I 'll have to watch the telecast.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Yes, I'll watch it again for sure. I don't own it, so to see it again, I 'll have to watch the telecast.

You don't own that Warner "Film Noir Classic Collection Volume 4" DVD boxset?

 

[Matt Hough]

You don't own that Warner "Film Noir Classic Collection Volume 4" DVD boxset?

Nope.

 

[Walter Kittel]

Caught the 2021 remake of Nightmare Alley earlier today. I'll mostly limit my thoughts to comparisons between it and the original film. Each of the films has its strengths and in some cases I prefer the original and in others the remake excels.

The remake has a longer running time which gives the story a bit more room and I thought the extra time was well used by the new version. It lacks the false ending of the original and I do wonder how closely it hews to the source novel by Gresham. We see additional content in the remake that is not present in the original, which may be related to Production Codes and run time. Visually it is a much more attractive film in terms of its production design and its use of meteorological phenomena to set the mood, in terms of rain, storm clouds, and snowy exteriors.

Acting is a bit of a toss up. The new film offers better performances by Pete (David Strathairn), Grindle (Richard Jenkins) and Hoatley (Willem Dafoe). In terms of the actresses I believe I tend to prefer the original film a bit more. Collette is fine as Zeena but the original has more screen time for Blondell who is very effective. I like Rooney Mara as an actress, but I felt the role of Molly was mis-cast in the remake. Colleen Gray was clearly more of an ingenue and I thought this was a much more effective and credible casting decision in the original film. Helen Walker was a bit more believable in the original, or at least not quite as damaged as Blanchett which ties into credibility. Cooper and Power were essentially a tie for me, but I do think that Power had the better dialog in the original which might give him a slight edge.

Enjoyed both film versions quite a bit.

- Walter.

 

[Robert Crawford]

View attachment 128107


This weekend's "Noir Alley" movie is "Side Street" (1949). This fine movie is a "Noir Alley" repeater as it was shown back in October, 2017. I won't repeat my minor criticism of empty NYC streets on a Sunday morning. I wonder why this movie has never been released on Blu-ray in the States. I don't think it's been released anywhere on Blu-ray. I'll probably watch my DVD again so I can listen to Eddie's and Farley Granger's audio commentary.


Updated TCM's Noir Alley 2022 schedule:


01-01-22: Repeat Performance
01-08-22: Nightmare Alley
01-15-22: The Mob
01-22-22: Over-Exposed
01-29-22: Quai des Orfèvres
02-05-22: The Turning Point
02-12-22: Side Street
02-26-22: Cast a Dark Shadow
04-02-22: The Pitfall
04-09-22: Bob le flambeur
04-16-22: Night and the City
04-23-22: The Window
04-30-22: Johnny Angel
05-07-22: No Man of Her Own
05-14-22: The Killer is Loose
05-21-22: My Name is Julie Ross
05-28-22: Bad Day at Black Rock
06-04-22: Out of the Past
06-11-22: The Guilty
06-18-22: TBA
06-25-22: Down Three Dark Streets
07-02-22: The Strange One
07-09-22: Hide Tide
07-16-22: Scarlet Street
07-23-22: 5 Against the House
07-30-22: Raw Deal

My one gripe from my previous viewing of this movie. Damn, after tonight's viewing, I can understand some NYC streets being empty on Sunday morning, but for "Pete's sake" they almost drove the entire island of Manhattan in that last chase sequence without running into a single vehicle. Every time I watch this movie, I have the same reaction to that sequence. Also, James Craig against type plays one nasty "baddie" in this movie. A good performance by him. One more thing, Cathy O'Donnell might not be attractive to some people, but I always found her appealing with her soft/sweet voice, nice smile and sad eyes. Perhaps, I'm the only one that felt that way about this fine actress. Also, fine comments from Eddie.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Caught the 2021 remake of Nightmare Alley earlier today. I'll mostly limit my thoughts to comparisons between it and the original film. Each of the films has its strengths and in some cases I prefer the original and in others the remake excels.

The remake has a longer running time which gives the story a bit more room and I thought the extra time was well used by the new version. It lacks the false ending of the original and I do wonder how closely it hews to the source novel by Gresham. We see additional content in the remake that is not present in the original, which may be related to Production Codes and run time. Visually it is a much more attractive film in terms of its production design and its use of meteorological phenomena to set the mood, in terms of rain, storm clouds, and snowy exteriors.

Acting is a bit of a toss up. The new film offers better performances by Pete (David Strathairn), Grindle (Richard Jenkins) and Hoatley (Willem Dafoe). In terms of the actresses I believe I tend to prefer the original film a bit more. Collette is fine as Zeena but the original has more screen time for Blondell who is very effective. I like Rooney Mara as an actress, but I felt the role of Molly was mis-cast in the remake. Colleen Gray was clearly more of an ingenue and I thought this was a much more effective and credible casting decision in the original film. Helen Walker was a bit more believable in the original, or at least not quite as damaged as Blanchett which ties into credibility. Cooper and Power were essentially a tie for me, but I do think that Power had the better dialog in the original which might give him a slight edge.

Enjoyed both film versions quite a bit.

- Walter.

Yeah, one day I have to sit down and watch this remake. That viewing will determine whether I buy it on home video or not.

 

[Walter Kittel]

Yeah, one day I have to sit down and watch this remake. That viewing will determine whether I buy it on home video or not.

I certainly think it will be worth your time. The remake has received four Academy Award nominations; Best Picture, Production Design, Costuming, and Cinematography. The remake is very deserving of its technical nominations, it is one of the most visually attractive films I've seen in some time in no small part due to Production Design and Cinematography. The urban settings featured in this film are striking, particularly Ritter's office and Grindle's mansion. I'm sure I will revisit this film at some time.

- Walter.