Crawdaddy's "Random Thoughts" about Home Video, Film & TV (1 Viewer)

[Matt Hough]

By the way, I don't think "Beware, My Lovely" (1952) has ever been released on disc in Region 1/A either. I have it on DVD-R from a previous TCM recording, but I've never watched the film in its entirety.

I'm very disappointed about the situation with Christmas Holiday, but as I've never seen this movie and I really like both stars, it's adequate compensation.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I'm very disappointed about the situation with Christmas Holiday, but as I've never seen this movie and I really like both stars, it's adequate compensation.

Yeah, I'm disappointed too, but I had a feeling the Christmas Holiday rumor was going to be true so I made my second Ebay purchase with Christmas Holiday.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I just checked again and "Pickup on South Street" on December 16th has been replaced too on Noir Alley. They're playing "Talk About a Stranger" (1952) starring George Murphy, Nancy Davis, Billy Gray, Lewis Stone and Kurt Kaszner. Another film that has never been on disc to my knowledge. Also, I haven't seen this film beforehand. I'm disappointed about "Pickup on South Street" which reminds me I need to watch my MOC Region B Blu-ray in the very near future.

 

[Robert Crawford]

A reminder this weekend's Noir Alley showing is "Crack-Up" (1946) starring Pat O'Brien, Claire Trevor, Herbert Marshall, Ray Collins and Wallace Ford. I'm going to watch my WA DVD after I finish "Christmas Holiday" and then listen to Eddie's comments later on.

 

[Robert Crawford]

This is the link to TCM's December schedule.

http://www.tcm.com/schedule/monthly.html

 

[Matt Hough]

A reminder this weekend's Noir Alley showing is "Crack-Up" (1946) starring Pat O'Brien, Claire Trevor, Herbert Marshall, Ray Collins and Wallace Ford. I'm going to watch my WA DVD after I finish "Christmas Holiday" and then listen to Eddie's comments later on.

Yes, I set up my recording earlier this afternoon and will watch it tomorrow at lunch.

Doubly disappointed about Pickup on South Street though its replacement I've never seen before, so I'm OK with it.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I'm very disappointed about the situation with Christmas Holiday, but as I've never seen this movie and I really like both stars, it's adequate compensation.

I think you forgot your viewing of it on Youtube in 9 or 10 parts.

Well, I finally watched it for the first time. It's good, but I think it's a little overrated by some people around here. It held my interest and I did love the ending of it. I thought Durbin was pretty good in her role. She had lovely and expressive eyes with a beautiful singing voice. It's too bad the Hollywood system ruin her desire to remain an actress. I was never a fan of Durbin or her movies, but overall, I enjoyed this film. I thought Kelly was good too in this film and so was Gale Sondergaard as his mother. I liked the darkness of the film, but it's another film in which the production code got in the way of making this a better film by changing her profession in the film from what it was in the novel. At least the production code didn't get in the way too much with its suggestion about the relationship between mother and son. Another thing, the DVD I bought off Ebay is definitely a bootleg because it doesn't have a UPC number. If I knew that beforehand, I wouldn't have bought it. With that said, the video presentation wasn't bad as I've seen legitimate DVDs look worse so it was very watchable for me.

As an adult, Robert Siodmak is now one of my favorite directors as several of his films are listed on my all-time favorite movie listing including some with some favorites actors of mine, Burt Lancaster and Ella Raines.

Phantom Lady
The Spiral Staircase
Cry of the City
The Killers
Criss Cross
The Crimson Pirate
The Suspect

 

[Robert Crawford]

A reminder this weekend's Noir Alley showing is "Crack-Up" (1946) starring Pat O'Brien, Claire Trevor, Herbert Marshall, Ray Collins and Wallace Ford. I'm going to watch my WA DVD after I finish "Christmas Holiday" and then listen to Eddie's comments later on.

I watched my DVD, but will listen to Eddie's comments in the morning. This is perhaps my second viewing of this film in its entirety. However, I have seen different sequences of this film more than a few times, particularly, the ending with Ray Collins as I always enjoyed that scene for some strange reason. I'll talk more about this film after I hear Eddie's comments. By the way, Claire Trevor is another actress that I always enjoyed watching in movies. I always liked the sequence in which she reverted back to her NYC accent in the penny arcade.

 

[Matt Hough]

I think you forgot your viewing of it on Youtube in 9 or 10 parts.

No, you misunderstood (or I wrote poorly). It's not Christmas Holiday that I hadn't seen, it's Beware, My Lovely. One of the UHF stations in my area when I was growing up that didn't have a network affiliation had bought a large package of Universal films from the 1930s and 1940s, and Christmas Holiday was one of the many Durbin movies in that package. It was from that station that I saw a lot of Deanna Durbin, W.C.Fields, the Marx Bros., the Kettles, and the Francis the Mule pictures (but not the Universal monsters; they were in a different syndication package that was likely far more expensive than the station wanted to pay, I imagine).

 

[Hollywoodaholic]

I was excited to hear that Crack Up was based on a short story by one of my favorite writers; Fredric Brown. I have many collections of his short stories, but did not have "Madman's Holiday," which this was based upon. Madness is a familiar theme for him, as my favorite short story of his is "Come and Go Mad." I also have a collection called What Mad Universe. We discussed him in the The Outer Limits thread because both the episode "Fun and Games" and the subsequent Star Trek episode "Arena" seem to be inspired by his short story of the same name (Arena). I hope he was compensated for the many times his stories were adapted or copped for features and series.

I'm not as familiar with Pat O'Brien's oeuvre, but I very much enjoyed his subtle performance here. He definitely underplays the dialogue in a much more naturalistic way than others in this same era. It was fun to read Robert's revelation that Claire Trevor's put-on accent in the penny arcade was native to her. Her outfits and hats are pure Hollywood diva at this point, but she's always good. I had never seen Raw Deal before the Noir Alley airing earlier. That's a great one.

I get that this film was a bit too complex and the topic a bit too pretentious perhaps for the commercial audience at the time, but it was still fun to see a Noir in the more unlikely setting of the art world. And I happen to like the Dali everyone at the museum was laughing at. I live about an hour from the Dali museum in St. Petersburg, and it is well worth a visit if you're ever in the area, and I promise that whomever owns all those paintings, and the gift shop, are laughing all the way to the bank.

 

[Matt Hough]

I had never seen Crack-Up either, and I really enjoyed it. The revelation of the villains caught me completely by surprise (I was going in another direction entirely), and the movie was well paced and well acted.

I am loving being introduced to so many fun movies via Noir Alley. So glad TCM added this to its line-up.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I had never seen Crack-Up either, and I really enjoyed it. The revelation of the villains caught me completely by surprise (I was going in another direction entirely), and the movie was well paced and well acted.

I am loving being introduced to so many fun movies via Noir Alley. So glad TCM added this to its line-up.

Yeah, they kind of did a switch on us regarding that reveal which is why I enjoy watching the last 30-35 minutes of this film so often. Crack-Up is one of those films that I mostly watched in segments. One late night, I did watch an entire TCM showing of it several years ago. As always I enjoyed Eddie's comments about the film and its participants.

 

[SeanSKA]

No, you misunderstood (or I wrote poorly). It's not Christmas Holiday that I hadn't seen, it's Beware, My Lovely. One of the UHF stations in my area when I was growing up that didn't have a network affiliation had bought a large package of Universal films from the 1930s and 1940s, and Christmas Holiday was one of the many Durbin movies in that package. It was from that station that I saw a lot of Deanna Durbin, W.C.Fields, the Marx Bros., the Kettles, and the Francis the Mule pictures (but not the Universal monsters; they were in a different syndication package that was likely far more expensive than the station wanted to pay, I imagine).

Intersting- in NY in the 1970s and 80s, the old Paramount films (Marx Brothers, WC Fields, Billy Wilder,.Hope, Crosby) controlled by Universal were on Channel 5 WNEW , while the Universal films of the 30s, 40s, and 50s aired on Channel 9 (WOR)...Univeral had the right to both catalogs but must have sold them seperately.

 

[Robert Crawford]

A Mike Clark review of "Tarzan's Greatest Adventure". I bought the Tarzan Blu-ray based on opinions about the film posted by other HTF members. I plan on watching it this month.

https://www.mediaplaynews.com/tarzans-greatest-adventure-review/

 

[Robert Crawford]

I spent some quality with the following DVD Release and watched the first three movies of this series with Edna May Oliver and James Gleason. Fun time revisiting the first film and seeing the other two films in their entirety.

 

[B-ROLL]

I think you forgot your viewing of it on Youtube in 9 or 10 parts.

Well, I finally watched it for the first time. It's good, but I think it's a little overrated by some people around here. It held my interest and I did love the ending of it. I thought Durbin was pretty good in her role. She had lovely and expressive eyes with a beautiful singing voice. It's too bad the Hollywood system ruin her desire to remain an actress. I was never a fan of Durbin or her movies, but overall, I enjoyed this film. I thought Kelly was good too in this film and so was Gale Sondergaard as his mother. I liked the darkness of the film, but it's another film in which the production code got in the way of making this a better film by changing her profession in the film from what it was in the novel. At least the production code didn't get in the way too much with its suggestion about the relationship between mother and son. Another thing, the DVD I bought off Ebay is definitely a bootleg because it doesn't have a UPC number. If I knew that beforehand, I wouldn't have bought it. With that said, the video presentation wasn't bad as I've seen legitimate DVDs look worse so it was very watchable for me.

As an adult, Robert Siodmak is now one of my favorite directors as several of his films are listed on my all-time favorite movie listing including some with some favorites actors of mine, Burt Lancaster and Ella Raines.

Phantom Lady
The Spiral Staircase
Cry of the City
The Killers
Criss Cross
The Crimson Pirate
The Suspect

I was going to post this before the Criterion Sale at B&N ended but if you like Robert Siodmak you might look at People on Sunday...(assuming you haven't already)

it's the nexus for Robert, Curt Siodmak, Fred Zinnemann and Billy Wilder ...

 

[Robert Crawford]

I finally watched my DVD of "The Kennel Murder Case" (1933) with William Powell, Mary Astor, Eugene Pallete and Ralph Morgan. Film was directed by Michael Curtiz and was made the year prior to the first "Thin Man" film. A nice little mystery that I've enjoyed over time. I decided to watch my DVD once I saw it on my TCM app. I plan to watch some other films in the collection that I've seen beforehand, but never viewed on DVD.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Those of us that have the TCM app on ITunes, I highly recommend "Crime Wave" for a viewing. Once I discovered it earlier this year, it became one of my favorite "Film Noir's. Eddie Muller loves this film and has done an audio commentary that's on the Warner DVD.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I watched a really good WWII film that I haven't seen since 2000 when I bought the Image DVD. I caught this viewing on the TCM app on iTunes. The Story of G.I. Joe (1945) starring Burgess Meredith and Robert Mitchum. Directed by William Wellman, it's one of the best "War" films about the infantry during WWII. Outstanding acting performances throughout the film along with Mitchum's Best Supporting AA Nomination. Meredith is excellent as Ernie Pyle, one of the most famous war correspondents during WWII and who was killed in action. I need to compare my DVD to this streaming version which I'll try to do tomorrow. A really somber film about life in the infantry.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I watched a really good WWII film that I haven't seen since 2000 when I bought the Image DVD. I caught this viewing on the TCM app on iTunes. The Story of G.I. Joe (1945) starring Burgess Meredith and Robert Mitchum. Directed by William Wellman, it's one of the best "War" films about the infantry during WWII. Outstanding acting performances throughout the film along with Mitchum's Best Supporting AA Nomination. Meredith is excellent as Ernie Pyle, one of the most famous war correspondents during WWII and who was killed in action. I need to compare my DVD to this streaming version which I'll try to do tomorrow. A really somber film about life in the infantry.

I compared my 2000 DVD to the TCM stream and the latter wins heads down. However, the DVD does contain an actual interview that Ernie Pyle did with some soldiers. Also, slides of his last stories out in the Pacific in March/April, 1945. They even had a story recount of his death on April 18, 1945 by a Japanese machine gun during the Battle of Okinawa. On the TCM stream, the host noted that William Wellman couldn't watch "The Story of G.I. Joe" again due to some of the film participants including Pyle getting killed in the Pacific.