Crawdaddy's "Random Thoughts" about Home Video, Film & TV (3 Viewers)

[Robert Crawford]

My Flicker's Alley Blu-ray of The Guilty/Hide Tide arrives today. Both movies will be shown on "Noir Alley" in the coming weeks.

 

[Matt Hough]

Never read it. I'm sure he has some interesting stories to tell. I'll have to see whether the NYPL has it.

I've never read it either, but I found a used copy on Amazon Marketplace for $1.99 ($3.99 shipping), so I bought it. His MGM and subsequent studio years should be fascinating reading, and I don't know why I didn't buy it when it was first released.

 

[lark144]

I've never read it either, but I found a used copy on Amazon Marketplace for $1.99 ($3.99 shipping), so I bought it. His MGM and subsequent studio years should be fascinating reading, and I don't know why I didn't buy it when it was first released.

Yeah. Andre Previn was a marvelous raconteur, and had a fascinating life. Not a bad musician either.

 

[Robert Crawford]

TCM’s Star of the Month for June is no surprise. Celebrating Judy Garland’s 100th birthday.

Also, revisionist westerns will be spotlighted in June on TCM.

 

[Walter Kittel]

Watched Bad Day at Black Rock for the first time in a long time on TCM this weekend. Damn, that film is SO good. All the elements work in that feature, particularly the acting and script. My favorite scene has to be the Tracy and Ryan conversation / confrontation at the gas station. Splendid acting and writing in that scene. Tracy doesn't have a bad moment or word of dialog in the film, but that scene kind of stands out for me.

It has been sometime since I've viewed it, and it really holds up.

- Walter.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Watched Bad Day at Black Rock for the first time in a long time on TCM this weekend. Damn, that film is SO good. All the elements work in that feature, particularly the acting and script. My favorite scene has to be the Tracy and Ryan conversation / confrontation at the gas station. Splendid acting and writing in that scene. Tracy doesn't have a bad moment or word of dialog in the film, but that scene kind of stands out for me.

It has been sometime since I've viewed it, and it really holds up.

- Walter.

I watched my Blu-ray again on Saturday and listened to Eddie's comments early Sunday morning. The TCM broadcast was obviously not derived from the scan used for the 2017 Blu-ray as the Blu-ray's video presentation is outstanding while the
TCM broadcast was lacking in comparison. With that said, I enjoyed Eddie's comments especially his comments about Tracy and Borgnine because it did occur to me during my Blu-ray viewing that Bad Day at Black Rock came out the same year as Marty. One more thing, when I was looking for my Blu-ray, I couldn't find it with my other film noirs then the light bulb in my peanut size brain came on and I found the Blu-ray stored with my western films. I relocated the Blu-ray back to my film noir Blu-rays. Sure, this 1955 movie has more western than film noir elements to it, but I think it's best to keep it with my film noir Blu-rays.

 

[Robert Crawford]

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My Flicker's Alley Blu-ray of The Guilty/Hide Tide arrives today. Both movies will be shown on "Noir Alley" in the coming weeks.

I watched both movies on Sunday. Right now, I'm watching the extensive bonus material on the Blu-ray disc. However, I won't watch either movie with the audio commentary until they're shown on "Noir Alley" in the coming weeks.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Man, the bonus material for "The Guilty/High Tide" Blu-ray is excellent. We have Eddie Muller, Alan K. Rode and Imogen Sara Smith are some of the contributors to this material along with various other people. All of the segments are newly produced specifically for this Blu-ray release. Below, I have the bonus material listed with their respective running times. Again, I'll watch the movies again with their audio commentaries when each movie plays on "Noir Alley" in June and July.

Right now, after viewing each movie for the first time, I favor "The Guilty" over "Hide Tide". However, that might change after watching each movie again and gathering more information about each movie's production. I won't go into details about their plotlines as I'll save that for when each movie appears on "Noir Alley" so we can discuss them. Anyhow, some good stuff as I really enjoyed these "B" movies in which each of them were shot in two weeks with a very limited budget.

• Introduction to "The Guilty/High Tide (7.04)
• Jack Wrather: A Legacy of Film and Friendship (23.04)
• Nightmare: The Life and Films of Cornell Woolrich (37.55)
• John Reinhardt: Direction Without Borders (18.37)
• Lee Tracy: The Fastest Mouth in the West (19.43)

 

[Matt Hough]

I, too, enjoyed Eddie's comments and was prepared to watch the film again, but when it started and was clearly an old master and not the beautiful Blu-ray master, I opted to spin ahead to Eddie's closing remarks and will watch the film again on Blu-ray at a later date.

 

[Walter Kittel]

Re: TCM vs. Blu-Ray presentation of Bad Day at Black Rock...

Going through my collection it turns out I do have this film on Blu-Ray. Doh! Like I said, it has been some time since I last viewed the film.

While I agree with the point that it makes sense to view a film in the best possible manner, the superlatives of this film including the acting and screenplay are minimally affected by the use of an older master. But I understand opting for the Blu-Ray which is what I should have done. Maybe I will spin the Blu-Ray later this week since the older master is fresh in my memory (for the sake of comparison.)

- Walter.

 

[Robert Crawford]

TCM's June Schedule:

TCM Monthly Schedule - View the Full TCM TV Schedule

Find TCM's full month schedule and learn what classic movies will be airing on Turner Classic Movies. A printable schedule organized for the current month's programming is also available here.

www.tcm.com

 

[Robert Crawford]

The Criterion Channel's June Lineup:

June 2022 Programming on the Criterion Channel Announced

For June, the Channel will feature films from Billy Wilder, Terence Davies, Fronza Woods, and more!

criterioncast.com

 

[Robert Crawford]

I, too, enjoyed Eddie's comments and was prepared to watch the film again, but when it started and was clearly an old master and not the beautiful Blu-ray master, I opted to spin ahead to Eddie's closing remarks and will watch the film again on Blu-ray at a later date.

That Eastman Color looks really good on that Blu-ray.

 

[Robert Crawford]

TCM broadcasting The Thin Man from the scan used for the Blu-ray.

 

[Robin9]

I've never read it either, but I found a used copy on Amazon Marketplace for $1.99 ($3.99 shipping), so I bought it. His MGM and subsequent studio years should be fascinating reading, and I don't know why I didn't buy it when it was first released.

You won't be disappointed. It's an excellent set of memoirs.

 

[AnthonyClarke]

While searching for Andre Previn's memoirs, take a look also for the equally enjoyable 'The Street Where I Live' by Alan Jay Lerner. Pure bliss too, for lovers of 'My Fair Lady' and everyone else of sense and sensibility. And of course, the fusion of Lerner and Previn created cinema magic.

 

[Robert Crawford]

The latest "Ask Eddie" segment and I must say it's not one of their best:

 

[Bert Greene]

I found "High Tide" (1947) a welcome little discovery. It definitely punched above its weight for a 1947-vintage Monogram release. Good pulpy dialogue, characters that grabbed my interest, and fine pacing. Both films' scripts did get a little too cutesy, holding back info from the audience at times, but "High Tide" navigated through it tolerably enough. As for "The Guilty" (1947)... eh. It was marginally kept afloat for me thanks to a cast I liked, and the innate thrill I get whenever I see a Monogram film print look so sharp and stellar. But overall, not really the kind of story/characters that appeals to my tastes. Too much psychological mumbo-jumbo. Can't really enjoy films when just about all the characters annoy me to one degree or another. The bonus features on Flicker Alley's disc were exceptional in every way, and added huge value to the release.

Monogram's delvings into noir territory can be hit-or-miss with me. I liked "The Hunted" (1948), "Suspense" (1946), the recently released "I Wouldn't Be in Your Shoes" (1947), and some minor odds-and-ends, like "Incident" (1949), "Stage Struck" (1948) and such. On the other hand, I never really cared for everyone's darling, "Decoy" (1946). Nor did I like "The Gangster" (1947), which I found ridiculously pretentious. Didn't like the dreary "Fear" (1946) either. Everything else probably falls into the mid-range for me. Not even sure if some of it fits into the ever-amorphous borderlines of noir, like "The Strange Mr. Gregory" (1946), which I think of more like a sort of Inner Sanctum radio-playlet. The only title that I know of that I haven't seen (offhand) is that remaining Jack Wrather produced, and Don Castle starring, "Perilous Waters" (1948). Anyone seen that one, and have an opinion on it?

 

[Capt D McMars]

I found "High Tide" (1947) a welcome little discovery. It definitely punched above its weight for a 1947-vintage Monogram release. Good pulpy dialogue, characters that grabbed my interest, and fine pacing. Both films' scripts did get a little too cutesy, holding back info from the audience at times, but "High Tide" navigated through it tolerably enough. As for "The Guilty" (1947)... eh. It was marginally kept afloat for me thanks to a cast I liked, and the innate thrill I get whenever I see a Monogram film print look so sharp and stellar. But overall, not really the kind of story/characters that appeals to my tastes. Too much psychological mumbo-jumbo. Can't really enjoy films when just about all the characters annoy me to one degree or another. The bonus features on Flicker Alley's disc were exceptional in every way, and added huge value to the release.

Monogram's delvings into noir territory can be hit-or-miss with me. I liked "The Hunted" (1948), "Suspense" (1946), the recently released "I Wouldn't Be in Your Shoes" (1947), and some minor odds-and-ends, like "Incident" (1949), "Stage Struck" (1948) and such. On the other hand, I never really cared for everyone's darling, "Decoy" (1946). Nor did I like "The Gangster" (1947), which I found ridiculously pretentious. Didn't like the dreary "Fear" (1946) either. Everything else probably falls into the mid-range for me. Not even sure if some of it fits into the ever-amorphous borderlines of noir, like "The Strange Mr. Gregory" (1946), which I think of more like a sort of Inner Sanctum radio-playlet. The only title that I know of that I haven't seen (offhand) is that remaining Jack Wrather produced, and Don Castle starring, "Perilous Waters" (1948). Anyone seen that one, and have an opinion on it?

Do you have a copy of https://www.kinolorber.com/film/a-scandal-in-parislured-two-films-by-douglas-sirk
I've been waiting for almost 4 months for this to get restocked. Both Kino and Cohen Collection still say OOS!!! Both of these would be a great addition to thier mystery/noire collection!!

 

[Robert Crawford]

I found "High Tide" (1947) a welcome little discovery. It definitely punched above its weight for a 1947-vintage Monogram release. Good pulpy dialogue, characters that grabbed my interest, and fine pacing. Both films' scripts did get a little too cutesy, holding back info from the audience at times, but "High Tide" navigated through it tolerably enough. As for "The Guilty" (1947)... eh. It was marginally kept afloat for me thanks to a cast I liked, and the innate thrill I get whenever I see a Monogram film print look so sharp and stellar. But overall, not really the kind of story/characters that appeals to my tastes. Too much psychological mumbo-jumbo. Can't really enjoy films when just about all the characters annoy me to one degree or another. The bonus features on Flicker Alley's disc were exceptional in every way, and added huge value to the release.

Monogram's delvings into noir territory can be hit-or-miss with me. I liked "The Hunted" (1948), "Suspense" (1946), the recently released "I Wouldn't Be in Your Shoes" (1947), and some minor odds-and-ends, like "Incident" (1949), "Stage Struck" (1948) and such. On the other hand, I never really cared for everyone's darling, "Decoy" (1946). Nor did I like "The Gangster" (1947), which I found ridiculously pretentious. Didn't like the dreary "Fear" (1946) either. Everything else probably falls into the mid-range for me. Not even sure if some of it fits into the ever-amorphous borderlines of noir, like "The Strange Mr. Gregory" (1946), which I think of more like a sort of Inner Sanctum radio-playlet. The only title that I know of that I haven't seen (offhand) is that remaining Jack Wrather produced, and Don Castle starring, "Perilous Waters" (1948). Anyone seen that one, and have an opinion on it?

Some bad movies, but I like some bad movies despite being accused in another thread of not enjoying such movies.