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Reviews
The Lady Gambles (1949)
Babs hits the skids!
This is not a great film but it is a must see for all those Barbara Stanwyck fans out there (of which I am one). She plays Joan Boothe,a housewife who while visiting Las Vegas with hubby Robert Preston gets the gambling bug. She quickly becomes addicted and descends into the seedy, dirty world of the compulsive gambler. The movie attempts to psychologically explain why La Stanwyck has an addictive personality but really who cares. Sit back and watch the masterful Barbara portray a sick, out of control addict. She bankrupts her husband, gets beat up , screws up a horse racing con, prostitutes herself. This is grim stuff but in the hands of the brilliant Barbara Stanwyck it is worth watching. Barbara Stanwyck was the greatest of all the leading ladies from the golden Age of Hollywood. Versatile, compelling and oh so watchable she was a natural infusing every scene she played, with a believable humanness. Joan Crawford could have played this and done so fairly well but she wouldn't have been as good as Stanwyck. I just got finished watching a bunch of her movies and I am giddy with Stanwyckitis. I am addicted! Thank God the lady made 80+ movies-I can keep watching for a while before I run out of Barbara and withdrawal sets in!
Niagara (1953)
Marilyn's magic
"Niagara" does not hold up very well as a movie, plot wise. What starts off as a promising film noir thriller (In Technicolor) soon descends into implausibility and silliness. However you cannot deny the cinematic power that Marilyn Monroe possesses. She is mesmerizing if not a top rate actress. She plays Rose Loomis an unhappily married woman who decides to dispose of her husband (played by a very gloomy Joseph Cotton) with the aid of her lover. Jean Peters and Casey Adams play a couple on their honeymoon whose lives get intertwined with the Loomis'. This all takes place within the breathtaking view of Niagara Falls. Monroe is a natural as a film actress. The camera loves her and she knows instinctively how to play to it. Jean Peters who is a good movie actress in her own right doesn't stand a chance against la Monroe. I am a Marilyn Monroe fan and even in this second rate movie she is worth watching. Tune in for her, Niagara falls and the beautiful cinematography but as for the story line, it's pure second rate
Magnificent Obsession (1954)
Sirk de so crazy
I did something really insane last night: I took out of the local library The Criterion Collection of "Magnificent Obsession" thinking I was only getting the 1954 remake. However when I got home I discovered I had both versions, Jane Wyman's and Irene Dunne's 1935 original. Now this is where I ought to have my head examined because I decided to watch both movies one right after the other! I am still reeling. Here's the plot: Helen is married to a doctor who dies because medical equipment that could have saved him was unavailable because it was being used to resuscitate selfish playboy Bob Merrick. When Bob tries to make it up to Helen he inadvertently causes her to have an accident which blinds her! Hopelessly in love with our sightless heroine Bob decides to go to medical school to become a surgeon so he can perform the operation that will restore her sight! I am not making any of this nonsense up. Though I love Irene Dunne the Jane Wyman remake is the better of the two films not so much for Jane (Hollywood's dullest leading lady) but for Douglas Sirk's lush direction and an over the top musical score. Plus you get to see a gorgeous Rock Hudson naked from the waist up! This is sheer movie lunacy but if you must watch do yourself a favor and only view one of them at a time! Otherwise you risk losing your mind. I almost lost mine!
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
Prestige pic of '46
I watched "The Best Years of Our Lives" for the very first time this morning prepared to loathe every minute of its almost three hour running time. Why ? I have an aversion to "prestige films". Movies that are made it seems just to win Oscars ("Gandhi", "Titanic"). I know that my prejudice is unreasonable and I risk missing some very good movies because of it but what can I do-I like quirky flicks, also ran's and B-movies the hell with the Miss America's I want the bearded lady in the side show. I was a bit disappointed I kinda liked this movie. I liked Myrna Loy and Dana Andrews, both great screen actors. I love Teresa Wright-she can do no wrong in my book. Fredric March was the weakest of the leads despite winning the Oscar for best actor (too much fat on this ham) but Virginia Mayo's performance holds up (and talk about va-voom! What a knock out. I wish they had gone with an actor for the role of the disabled vet. Harold Russell was admirable to tackle the part but his inexperience as a performer was off putting (think Sofia Coppola in "The Godfather 3"). Thank god we have William Wyler helming the picture-he is a great director and keeps this cumbersome vehicle humming along. Best scene: March's homecoming when Loy realizes it is her husband who has rang the doorbell. Almost wordlessly executed it is an exquisite piece of filmmaking. Too bad there are not enough of them to make this a great movie-only a pretty good one
The Awful Truth (1937)
Dunne is delightful !
Irene Dunne is wonderful in "The Awful Truth" an actress largely forgotten today I beg movie lovers to watch this movie (and others she has dunne-ha ha) and maybe together we can resurrect her formidable career! I don't waste time on plot, lets talk about the highlights in this achingly funny film: Irene being tickled by Cary, Irene being forced to dance with oaf Ralph Bellamy, Irene passing herself off as Cary's trashy sister and singing the mildly risqué song "My dreams have gone with The Wind". Irene Dunne was delightful, delectable, dynamite and most important durable. She lasts! She sang superbly, acted effortlessly and danced with precision and panache. One of AFI's 25 greatest female stars lets affirm her legacy and make her viable again! Here are some of her other films I have seen: "Show Boat", "Roberta", "My Favorite Wife", "Love Affair". Musical, comedy, drama, heck she even tackled westerns ("Cimarron"). C'mon people! Make the next film you watch an Irene Dunne vehicle! This is Daniel at the movies. Till we meet again don't know where don't know when.
A Most Wanted Man (2014)
Hoffman's last hurrah
"A Most Wanted Man" is a film most people need to see. I did not intend to write a review, I was saving my time and energy to do that for "The Awful Truth" (1937. However I was so impressed with this movie that I felt compelled to write a few lines encouraging others to catch this intelligent, adult and engrossing piece of film-making. I will dispense with the plot. Why? You can get that on IMDb. What I want to write about is this: "A Most Wanted Man" is a mature movie and I use that expression as the highest form of a compliment. It is thoughtful, well crafted, smartly constructed and shrewdly paced, building to a shattering finale (The whole film leads to this devastating ending and is worth staying with to experience). John Le Carre' wrote the book the movie is based on and helped to produce. Philip Seymour Hoffman heads an incredibly talented cast-his performance alone is worth watching the film. I know he was facing some personal demons while filming-he doesn't allow them to interfere with his craftsmanship A fitting role to say goodbye with and I am grateful. If for nothing else than to pay respects to Mr. Hoffman, please catch this film