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

[Robert Crawford]

The "Noir Alley" showing this weekend is "The Hunted" (1948). A film I haven't seen beforehand so I'm looking forward to this "B" picture showing.

 

[Matt Hough]

The "Noir Alley" showing this weekend is "The Hunted" (1948). A film I haven't seen beforehand so I'm looking forward to this "B" picture showing.

I'm looking forward to this one with great anticipation, too. It will also be new to me.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I loved the latest Noir Alley broadcast because Ms. Stanwyck is my all-time favorite actress. She stands along the Duke as my favorite male and female actors of all-time. Also, another film that I enjoyed of her's back then was Annie Oakley. I think Christmas in Connecticut was the frosting on the cake for me. My first film noir with her was Double Indemnity, but my favorite became The Strange Love of Martha Vickers.

I watched Annie Oakley (1935) on Filmstruck this morning. A nice little film about the female sharpshooter that performed in Buffalo Bill's western shows back in the day. George Stevens directed this film and had Preston Foster and Melvyn Douglas in the cast. Ms. Stanwyck was good and lovely as always with Moroni Olsen playing an older Buffalo Bill. The sequences with Sitting Bull always cracked me up.

 

[Matt Hough]

I took one of your suggestions and watched Affair in Trinidad today on the TCM app. I thought I'd seen it before, but obviously I was thinking of another Rita Hayworth picture because I hadn't, and it was very enjoyable. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[Robert Crawford]

The one thing I have to say about "The Hunted" (1948) is that fan at that Film Noir Foundation showing was right. My first and probably my last viewing of this film because I was kind of disappointed. I thought it was weak and could've been better if they made the necessary change at the end, though, irony might have made the movie more tolerable to me. I always liked Preston Foster and I didn't notice that scar on Belita's face until near the end of the film in her room. Nice to see Charles McGraw do an uncredited cameo in this film. I'll be interested to read Matt Hough's or anybody else's comment about this film. Eddie must have a soft spot for this film, but I did find his Belita's commentary interesting. Though, he did ignore the rest of the cast including Foster and McGraw. I'm now interested in watching that third Belita movie "Suspense" (1946) that's out on WA DVD. I might pick that up during a sale or stream it.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I took one of your suggestions and watched Affair in Trinidad today on the TCM app. I thought I'd seen it before, but obviously I was thinking of another Rita Hayworth picture because I hadn't, and it was very enjoyable. Thanks for the suggestion!

Ford and Hayworth made a good film pair. I know they were romantically involved as Ford was quite the ladies man.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Yesterday, I got a boatload of new Blu-rays including eight Criterion titles. I'm going to spend some time this week watching a few of them including "A Raisin in the Sun", "The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez", "The Naked Prey" and perhaps "The Incident" from Twilight Time. I've never seen "The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez" except a few scenes. The other titles I have seen before so I know they're high quality films.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Guys,

Amazon is now selling "Odds Against Tomorrow" for $12.99. They're out of stock and are saying 2-3 months, but I bet you it gets in-stock much shorter than that time period. They're price-matching Best Buy.

FYI, I ordered this a couple of weeks ago and received my shipping notice from Amazon this morning. The disc should be here tomorrow.

 

[Hollywoodaholic]

The only thing worthwhile about The Hunted were Belita's legs. Horribly slow paced. Stiffly staged. Almost no story beyond the premise. Predictable. And a missed opportunity for a true noir ending (we all know). I get it, Muller obviously has a thing for Belita, and the story of her life was far more interesting than this picture. Preston does his best. And yes, the surprise cameo by McGraw was fun, but this is just one bad Noir. Great gams, though.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Before NFL games started I watched "The Invisible Man Returns" (1940) starring Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Vincent Price, Cecil Kellaway, Alan Napier, Nan Grey and John Sutton on Blu-ray. An excellent audio and video presentation of this sequel. It's not in the class of "The Invisible Man", but it's an entertaining film with some comedic moments. Like the original, you don't see Invisible Man's face until the end of the film.

 

[Matt Hough]

I watched The Hunted at lunchtime, and I liked it slightly more than you guys, but only a little. I guessed the twist as soon as the lawyer broke attorney-client privilege and told Foster what she did, and when the flapjack flipper similarly identified her, I figured out his part in the charade, too. Still, with this being my first time seeing it, I couldn't be sure of my guesses, and if Belita had been a more expressive actress, it might have camouflaged what was going on even better. The long skating routine was completely unnecessary, of course, but it did show that Belita had more athletic jumps in her repertoire than the more famous Sonia Henie had.

Yes, Eddie waxed on far too long about Belita to the detriment of so many great character actors in this film not getting even a mention. I disliked that very much.

 

[Robert Crawford]

TCM’s “Noir Alley” Schedule


10-28-18: Follow Me Quietly

11-04-18: The Sniper

11-11-18: The Threat

11-18-18: Woman in the Window

11-25-18: The Killing

12-02-18: Crack-Up

12-09-18: Too Late for Tears

12-16-18: Pickup on South Street

12-23-18: Christmas Holiday

12-30-18: Double Indemnity

01-06-19: His Kind of Woman

01-13-19: Lured

01-20-19: Murder My Sweet

01-27-19: Talk About a Stranger

 

[Matt Hough]

I can't believe he's got Christmas Holiday which we were just talking about in another thread a day or two ago. And Pickup on South Street is one of my favorite all-time noirs with that great, great Oscar-nominated performance by Thelma Ritter.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I can't believe he's got Christmas Holiday which we were just talking about in another thread a day or two ago. And Pickup on South Street is one of my favorite all-time noirs with that great, great Oscar-nominated performance by Thelma Ritter.

You can almost forgive Eddie for his Belita fetish.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Sorry guys, I took a break from watching any movies today. Maybe tomorrow, if I survive watching the new "Halloween" movie.

 

[Dan McW]

I can't believe he's got Christmas Holiday which we were just talking about in another thread a day or two ago. And Pickup on South Street is one of my favorite all-time noirs with that great, great Oscar-nominated performance by Thelma Ritter.

I think Christmas Holiday has been pulled from the schedule, unfortunately, and replaced with Beware, My Lovely.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I think Christmas Holiday has been pulled from the schedule, unfortunately, and replaced with Beware, My Lovely.

If that's true then that is so disappointing.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Sorry guys, I took a break from watching any movies today. Maybe tomorrow, if I survive watching the new "Halloween" movie.

No "Halloween" movie for me this morning instead I spent my time watching two of my unwatched Blu-rays. I'll have more to say later on these two films. One film is okay entertainment while the other film is simply a great film that still resonates today, 60 years after the play the movie is based on opened in the theater.

"Beneath the 12 Mile Reef" (1953)

"A Raisin in the Sun" (1961)

 

[Robert Crawford]

I venture out to my nearest cinema to watch "Halloween 2018". Luckily, I only paid $5.00, otherwise, I would've been better off watching another Blu-ray. All kidding aside, it was alright, but behind the first two Halloween films with the original being the best by a large margin.

 

[Robert Crawford]

After viewing the Criterion Blu-ray of "A Raisin in the Sun" today and most of the bonus material, I started to reflect back on my own African-American family. My parents moved our family to a mostly white neighborhood in Connecticut, shortly after this movie came out. I was too young and more interested in boyhood things to recognize what the effect that move had on my family. It was a big step for my family to move out of our apartment complex into a home with a yard and woods to play in as kids. To this day, I regret not thanking my parents for making the necessary sacrifices for improving my life as well as those of my siblings. Anyway, as far as this 1961 film goes, it wasn't a box office or critical success when it came out. The Broadway play was much more successful in those regards. Perhaps, the film was ahead of its time or the film's boundaries were too limited due to studio interference. The studio limitations caused the film to appear more like a play than a movie. Amazing it received no Oscar nominations despite the great writing and acting. A fine musical score too. IMO, I think this was Poitier's best acting performance. Just a terrific cast with Ruby Dee, Claudia McNeil, who played the mother was only ten years older than Poitier, Diana Sands, Ivan Dixon, Lou Gossett Jr. and John Fiedler.

It's sad to think both, Lorraine Hansberry at 34 and Diana Sands at 39 years old would die from cancer. Both of them were great talents and to die so young is really tragic.