----this week I watched:
I Wake Up Screaming (1941) Betty Grable, Carol Landis, Victor Mature, Laird Kreger. A wonderful mystery and one of the very first films that can be called a "film noir." It has all the elements. Great black and white photography, beautiful victim, wrongly accused hero, and the villain is a hulking nasty piece of business. Betty Grable and Mature had not yet reached superstar status, so she was trying straight drama, and Vic was also trying to get into more serious films. The cast is very good and in the commentary in the extras, "noir" historian Eddie Muller points out the shots we automatically designate for the genre, especially the dark and the use of lighting and effects such as the shadows of venetian blinds across the stars faces,etc. Great addition to my film collection. 9/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033740/
Can't Help Singing (1944) Deanna Durban, Robert Paige. Deanna in technicolor. Her hair is blond, which is a shock because in all her earlier black and white films she seems to be a brunette. This was her only color film and Jack Pierce, the makeup artist overdid the rosy cheeks. No matter. When Deanna sings she is still lovely. Story of a spoiled Senators daughter who runs away to the west to catch up with her dashing cavalry boyfriend. She has to team up with a gambler to buy a wagon and join a wagon train. By the final fade she has won his heart, he has turned a new leaf and the title song is reprieved by the cast. Score by Jerome Kern includes Oscar Oscar-nominated "More & More", "Any Moment Now" and "Californiay" plus the title song. 7/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036692/
Murder, My Sweet (1944) Dick Powell, Clair Trevor, Anne Shirley. This adaptation of the Raymond Chandler novel 'Farewell, My Lovely', renamed for the American market because Powell had another film with a similar title, is a Philip Marlowe mystery story and Powells first try at leaving behind his juvenile singing roles. He is drugged, beaten up and double crossed by a femme fatale, beautifully played by Trevor. Shirley is really cute and plucky as the daughter of the wealthy man who is being swindled. Mike Mazurki is Moose Malloy who sets things off when he gets out of prison and hires Marlow to find "his Velma." Otto Kruger is one of his patented slimeballs in on the swindle. All in all, a fine cast in a very good mystery with great cinematography and effects. 9/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037101/
Hong Kong 1941 (1984/Dang doi lai ming) Chow Yun Fat, Cecelia Yip, Alex Man. Chow is a traveling entertainer, Fay, who is staying with his aunt and temporarily goes to work in a warehouse loading and unloading rice from ships. He befriends another fellow, Keung, who is working there and later meets his girlfriend Nam, who turns out to be the girl he helped when he found her having a severe seizure on the street one day. All three become good friends and when the Japanese invade, they decide to leave but are thwarted when Keung tries to get a mentally handicapped man to leave and they miss the last boat out. The eventual love story between Fay and Nam is heartbreaking as Fay tries to stay out of the way, and Nam is torn between both men. Good early Film role for Chow before his breakout John Woo action films. 9/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087137/
The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) Steve McQueen, Faye Dunaway, Peter Burke. Still very stylish use of the split screen and music to set a mood. Crown {McQueen) plans and pulls off a seemingly perfect heist, getting away with over $2 million in cash. The police are stymied. Enter the insurance companies chief investigator, Vicki Anderson (Dunaway), who admits she has no morals, but always gets her thief. Most of the film is the duel between her and Crown. She knows he was the mastermind, but has to get someone to crack and spill. By the time she thinks she has Crown, she has outsmarted herself. He has flown the coop, so to speak. Dunaway is stunning; the clothes are amusing; McQueen is the coolest. Wonderful fun. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063688/
Ladyhawke (1985) Michelle Pfeiffer, Mathew Broderick, Rutger Hauer, Leo McKern. A fantasy set in the dungeons, castles and cathedrals of Aquila. The villain is a Bishop who has placed a curse on a Knight and his Lady. One must be a wolf at night and the other a hawk by day, so they are forever apart. Young Phillipe - the Mouse - befriends the Knight and along with the Priest who caused the Bishop to put the curse on the lovers, finds a way to help them and the end at the church is satisfying. 7/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089457/
The Blind Side (2009) Sandra Bullock(Oscar), Tim McGraw, Quinton Aaron. Good sports story about a woman who takes in a homeless youngster and mentors him into an All American football player, a first round draft pick for the NFL. The story is strong and Bullock is perfect as a no-nonsense business woman and Mom who sees what needs to be done - and does it. Sometimes nice people do come out on top. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0878804/
Chilly, rainy weather for a week now. Still waiting to plant patio pots and front porch planters. Need some sunny days. Meanwhile, films to watch---
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