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

[Mark-P]

Hey Robert,
Have you ever seen the Tyrone Power movie The Luck of the Irish? I ask because I've never seen it and Vudu is having a St. Paddy's Day half off sale and this one is just $4.99. Is it worth a blind buy?

 

[Robert Crawford]

Hey Robert,
Have you ever seen the Tyrone Power movie The Luck of the Irish? I ask because I've never seen it and Vudu is having a St. Paddy's Day half off sale and this one is just $4.99. Is it worth a blind buy?

If that's the one with Cecil Kellaway it has been years since I last viewed it. I can't remember whether I liked it or not, but for $4.99 I'll try it again.

 

[Mark-P]

If that's the one with Cecil Kellaway it has been years since I last viewed it. I can't remember whether I liked it or not, but for $4.99 I'll try it again.

Maybe I should ask Kevin Koster what he thinks of it since his Grandfather directed it ! Anyhow I guess I’ll have to make a decision quickly as that price is for today only.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Maybe I should ask Kevin Koster what he thinks of it since his Grandfather directed it ! Anyhow I guess I’ll have to make a decision quickly as that price is for today only.

I just got done watching it and started to remember parts of the film along the way. A nice romantic comedy with some fantasy mixed in. Kellaways performance is what stood out for me along with the lovely Anne Baxter.

 

[Robert Crawford]

The Hucksters is one of the few films that Ava Gardner admitting liking her work in it and the film as a whole.

Man, she looked very beautiful in The Hucksters. She and Gable had good screen chemistry.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I just got done watching it and started to remember parts of the film along the way. A nice romantic comedy with some fantasy mixed in. Kellaways performance is what stood out for me along with the lovely Anne Baxter.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I recorded the midnight showing of Noir Alley and watched Eddie Muller's commentary as well as my DVD of Crossfire. This is another classic film my father turned me onto when I was just in junior high school back around 1968. For one, he wanted to point out Robert Mitchum, who was from our hometown of Bridgeport, CT and secondly, he wanted me to observe the acting performance of Robert Ryan in this film. It's ironic that Ryan and Richard Widmark from his performance in the Kiss of Death would have Best Supporting Actor Nominations the same year and not win because of Edmund Gwenn in Miracle on 34th Street. As much as I appreciate Miracle on 34th Street, both, Ryan and Widmark were robbed. I get it Santa Claus wins out over psycho bad guys. More irony that Robert Ryan would portray this disgusting person and be type cast when in real life, he was completely opposite of this character.

Anyhow, back to Crossfire, a film derived from a book by Richard Brooks. A great director and even a greater writer. One of my favorite directors of all-time. With that said, man he can write some dialogue just look at his resume. I still say The Professionals is the best written western film ever produced in Hollywood. Muller had some excellent comments about Crossfire and the filmmakers behind it, but nothing I didn't already know about the film. Anybody that owns the DVD you need to watch the featurette Crossfire: Hate is like a Gun. Man, the blacklisting of filmmakers back during the Red Scare really robbed us of some potential great films that never got made because of it. Truly a dark chapter in our history. This week while I'm multi-tasking on the internet, I'm going to listen to the DVD commentary with Silver and Ursini with excerpts from Edward Dmytryk, the film's director.

Another thing I love about this film is the cast, not only the three Robert's. Ryan, Mitchum and Young, but Gloria Grahame, Best Supporting Actress Nomination, Paul Kelly, Steve Brodie, Sam Levene, George Cooper, William Phipps and even Lex Baxter in a small role. By the way, Kelly's role in this film kind of cracks me up and makes me sad at the same time. Just a pathetic film character. Another irony that Young would appear in this film just days prior to making They Won't Believe Me. Also, just imagine that this film Crossfire was shot in 20 days and is only 85 minutes long. A true film classic.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I just remembered that there is one thing I didn't know about this film and it was who they wanted to play the Police Captain, but due to scheduling issues he wasn't able to play the role. Thinking about that casting, it makes complete sense they would want him playing that role considering the filmmakers history with him. Even so, Robert Young was wonderful in that role.

 

[Matt Hough]

Yes, I enjoyed Eddie's pre and post comments as always, but there wasn't quite as much depth as in other films. He had less time to work with, of course, since the film was longer than many that show up in his Noir Alley timeslot.

I don't have the DVD; I've been holding out for a Blu-ray, but I doubt one will be forthcoming (unless I buy the DVD today and then the future Blu-ray release will certainly be announced this week), so I should look into that. The print shown on TCM wasn't in the best shape with dirt and reel change cues present.

I particularly liked Ryan's shadings in the role. The early scenes with him hides his bigotry, and he seems like a good-natured albeit tough guy, but with each successive scene, we see a little more and more of his hatred and small mindedness.

I would have preferred Powell to Young, I think, but he's excellent.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Yes, I enjoyed Eddie's pre and post comments as always, but there wasn't quite as much depth as in other films. He had less time to work with, of course, since the film was longer than many that show up in his Noir Alley timeslot.

I didn't notice any lack of depth in Eddie's comments. As to the film's length it's only 85 minutes long which is shorter than many of the films shown on Noir Alley.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I particularly liked Ryan's shadings in the role. The early scenes with him hides his bigotry, and he seems like a good-natured albeit tough guy, but with each successive scene, we see a little more and more of his hatred and small mindedness.

In that featurette I noted, they talk about how Dmytryk used different lense sizes to distort how Ryan looked as the film progressed.

One thing I forgot to mention about Dmytryk is that he was married to Jean Porter, a favorite actress of mine that I noted earlier in this thread. They were married for a long time until his death.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

It's been a long time since I watched Crossfire. Thanks for bringing this one up, Robert. I'll have to give it a spin later this week.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Alicia sure has a look of intensity about her. Not a great film, but an entertaining one.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Yesterday, I finally got around to watching my DVD again of Stranger on the Third Floor with Eddie Muller's before and after comments from Noir Alley. I very effective film that's only 64 minutes long. An excellent example of filmmaking on a "B" picture budget.

Man, Peter Lorre was really creepy looking in this film. His teeth made me nervous. It's funny that Lorre and Bogart were really good friends in real life.

 

[Robert Crawford]

This morning before heading out to the cinema I watched the pilot episode of Instinct that I recorded last night. Since Elementary is probably done after this year, I'm hoping this series improves over the pilot and give me something to watch next year. Of course, the ratings will factor into that equation.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Hard to go wrong with Alan Cumming. I meant to check that show out, too, but it got past me.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Hard to go wrong with Alan Cumming. I meant to check that show out, too, but it got past me.

Too bad you don't have iTunes because the pilot episode is free.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Too bad you don't have iTunes because the pilot episode is free.

Hmmmm. I actually have an iTunes account. I've had it for a long time. But I haven't activated it on the Apple 4k yet. Maybe I should...

 

[Robert Crawford]

Hmmmm. I actually have an iTunes account. I've had it for a long time. But I haven't activated it on the Apple 4k yet. Maybe I should...

Yes you should activate it.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I've got to get past this weird mental block I've got about learning about streaming. I don't understand it myself, since I've been relatively quick to embrace new technologies.

As I side note, I've been using the Apple 4k to stream the MLB app and it's WAY BETTER than the app on my Panasonic plasma. No buffering at all compared to how it was working on the TV app.