jbian7 Reviews

A Letter to Three Wives (1949)

A film that is both humorous and thoughtful, a delight.

[9/10 · 9 March 2004]

A Letter to Three Wives has a stellar cast with Ann Southern, Jeanne Craine, Linda Darnell, Paul Douglas, and Kirk Douglas. Any one of those actors would assure the viewer of a terrific performance. All of them together creates one of the first ensemble casts that are so popular today as in ER or Friends. Ann Southern is great as she plays off of Kirk Douglas and Thelma Ritter. Just looking at Linda Darnell makes watching the movie worthwhile. She was one of the most beautiful women who ever acted in a motion picture. Paul Douglas plays his usual rough and tumble character with a heart of gold. The premise is that a group of friends has one female who has the attention of all the men, and all the stares of the women. One day when the three wives are working on a volunteer project with some children when they receive a special delivery letter from the target of their stares. In the letter the woman states that she is moving away and will never return, and she is taking one of their husbands with her. The women then think about how easily it could be each one of their husbands. It's a great way to spend a couple of hours on a Sunday afternoon, and boy will it surprise your wife when you watch it with her. She won't know what to think.

Captains Courageous (1937)

A great way to spend a Sunday afternoon with your kids and a bowl of popcorn.

[9/10 · 7 March 2002]

They simply do not make movies like this any longer. This is a wonderful family movie. All too often, "family movie" means that the movie is either aimed at 3 year old children, or they are a vehicle to sell toys."Captains Courageous" is a film that everyone will enjoy. It will make you laugh and cry, and it might teach your kids a lesson or two about life. Freddie Bartholomew, who plays Harvey, is the consummate spoiled rich kid. He tries to manipulate everyone around him. He ends up being rescued by a fisherman, played by Spencer Tracy, and brought back to a fishing trawler that is out to sea for three months. After threatening to have the entire crew put in jail, if they don't give up a big chunk of their fishing season to return him to New York, he slowly learns that he cannot manipulate everyone he meets. Here he meets a different kind of people. They are a crew of men who rely on one another for their livelihoods. Men who live and work together towards one goal: filling the ship's hold with fish, and heading for home. Before long, Harvey learns that the feeling that comes from working with others toward a common goal is a truly wonderful thing.

The Thief of Baghdad (1961)

Known in America as the Thief of Baghdad, this is one of the most under-rated pictures of the last 50 years.

[19 October 2001]

This film has something in it that everyone would enjoy if they just allow themselves to be taken by it. If you have the chance to see it, simply sit there with a snack & beverage and let the film bring you into the land of 1001 Arabian Nights. The music is almost hypnotic, as the theme plays all through the background. The colors and scenery are breathtakingly beautiful. I enjoyed this film when I was a boy. It took me 20 years to find it on a video cassette and expected to be a little disappointed. I wasn't. It was all that I had remembered and more. See this one with your kids!

The Cockeyed Miracle (1946)

A wonderfully funny movie about the after-life.

[10/10 · 9 July 2000]

This movie, about a dreamer who never plans for the future, dies suddenly and doesn't know it. He attempts to speak with his wife and children, but gets frustrated when they can not hear him. He is then met by a man who explains to him that he is dead, and has come to escort him to heaven. Suddenly the dead man realizes that his "guide" is his own dead father. Together, the two dead men connive to arrange for the family's future security.

I found this movie to be surprisingly funny. The charachters are a little predictable, but they fit the movie well. Frank Morgan and Keenan Wynn are wonderful as son and father, after you get used to seeing a father who is younger than the son.