---Stewart is the breathtaking beauty this week:
Joy Of Living (1938) Irene Dunne, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Alice Brady, Jean Dixon, Guy Kibbee. Irritating to the max. Fairbanks plays a stalker of a Broadway star. We are supposed to think him charming. I thought he was nuts. The music is okay but nothing special. Irene is lovely and always worth watching. The script is awful and, having now seen this twice, years apart, and still hating it, I'm through. Since the roller-skating was fun - 4/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0030293/
Over 21 (1945) Irene Dunne, Alexander Knox, Charles Coburn. Newspaper editor joins the army and his screenwriter wife ops to move to the base housing to be near him. In the years of the WWII this was amusing, but is just dated now. Even back in '45, when I first saw it as a teen, it wasn't that funny and I think it was sort of a dud. 6/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037966/
Beware, My Lovely (1952) Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan. Bob is his nut-case best as Howard, a handyman who shows up at widow Mrs. Gordon's door. She hires him to do some cleaning. He seems to be simple but willing and she potters about talking as he starts his days work. As the day wears on, he becomes morose and suspicious for no reason, and then finds the keys in the locks and locks up the house tight. An example of paranoid schizophrenia that becomes hard to watch as we keep waiting for the madman to do something. But he pulls back to reality just in time before he does something awful. No actor can make you believe he is going to explode into raging madness like Ryan. Taut and high strung, he might explode at any minute; then soft smile and soft words, like a child. Interesting story. 7/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044417/
Take The High Ground (1953) Richard Widmark, Karl Maldin, Elaine Stewart. Former Korea soldiers reassigned as drill instructors at Fort Bliss, Texas, where it was partially filmed. Lots of fresh faced actors who had later careers, including Russ Tamlyn and Carleton Carpenter. Story of getting raw recruits ready for war in 16 weeks of basic training. Tough Sgts. Ryan and Holt are hard on these goofs, but fair. When they meet gorgeous widow Stewart on first weekend away, we know there will be hell to pay. Always has had a place in my heart since I first saw it way back during the "Police Action." Stewart takes your breath away, she is so gorgeous. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046398/
Libel (1959) Olivia de Havilland, Dirk Bogart. A story of identify theft - or is it? A former prisoner of war is convinced the man he sees on TV is an impostor, posing as another prisoner. They were so similar even their fellow prisoners had a hard time keeping them straight. But now, he brings charges against Sir Mark Loddon, and eventually almost everyone comes to believe he is an impostor. Even his wife. Complicated, but the cast does well. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053003/
The Journey (1959) Deborah Kerr, Yul Brynner, E.G. Marshall, Robert Morley, Kurt Krasner, Jason Robard, Anne Jackson. 1956 and the invasion of Hungary by the Russians diverts a group of air travelers from the airport to head for the border by bus. Stopped at a village, they become reluctant guests of Major Surov, who is attracted to the Lady Diana Ashmore, who is helping a wounded Hungarian freedom fighter escape. From the time I first saw this in 1959, I have felt this was Yul's best and most realistic performance. He is sizzling. As with any film with a group of people trying to do something, parts are more interesting than others. Love the gypsy music and the inn which looks like it could have been there since the other Dark Ages. 9/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052950/
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