Old Movies of the '30s, '40s, '50s and '60s.

[Snarky Oracle!]

I don't know much about the case on which the film is based or how much Hollywood changed it to suit their needs but I thought it was a pretty interesting story. I couldn't help but think of the Dominick Dunne film An Inconvenient Woman which was kind of similar. And it was a coincidence then that on the the DVD extras for the film there was a little featurette about Joan and one of the speakers was Dominick Dunne, speaking about how he first met her in the 1950s, and they have been friends ever since. He mentions how much he loves The Girl In The Red Velvet Swing, and that style of film. I wonder did he let that influence his writing of An Inconvenient Woman?

Oh, Harry Thaw's 1906 murder of architect Stanford White over Evelyn Nesbit was la scandale of the new century!

but im very obsessed about the 1945-67 era of the 20th century.

Yes, there's just something about it...

 

[ArchieLucasCarringtonEwing1989]

Just watched an excellent film on Talking Pictures (watch this space TCM!) its from 1947 called;
The Red House, with Edward G Robinson, Judith Anderson and a young and beautiful Julie London who plays a typical 40s teen would be femme fatale, it's almost Hitchcockian, and there's elements of the seeds that would sprout into Marnie just a decade and a half later.

Has anyone else seen this?

 

[Seaviewer]

It's an annual tradition of mine to watch Easter Parade at this time of year.

One of the greatest of the great musicals with Fred Astaire, Judy Garland, Anne Miller, and Peter Lawford. And the afore-mentioned Jules Munshin in a memorable supporting role.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Just watched an excellent film on Talking Pictures (watch this space TCM!) its from 1947 called;
The Red House, with Edward G Robinson, Judith Anderson and a young and beautiful Julie London who plays a typical 40s teen would be femme fatale, it's almost Hitchcockian, and there's elements of the seeds that would sprout into Marnie just a decade and a half later.

Has anyone else seen this?

View attachment 2878

Yes, it's pretty good.

 

[ClassyCo]

The only other one I watched was Rally Round The Flag Boys. I liked it but it was very light hearted and fluffy. Silly even. I thought she had good chemistry with Paul Newman who was probably even more beautiful than young Joan. Those blue eyes, that tan, those teeth, that blonde hair. I was probably too distracted by Mr Newman to really appreciate Joan in it. lol

What's funny is the A&E biography done on Joan Collins some years ago seems to believe that her part as Angela in Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys! was her "best role to date". And for you trivia lovers out there---Collins wasn't 20th Century-Fox's first choice for this role, either. Supposedly, Jayne Mansfield had been assigned the role, and legend has it, she had received a script and was scheduled for wardrobe fittings when she learned that she was replaced with Collins, whom she had co-starred with in The Wayward Bus in 1957. From what I know, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward felt Mansfield wasn't "right" for the part. I've seen pieces of the film (mostly Joan's scenes), and I personally think Mansfield would have been better in the role. Collins, though, isn't bad by any means. It's just Collins didn't quite fit the role to me. If Mansfield had played it, I think it would have been more over-the-top and satirical, and I think that's what the role needed. Joan's performance was more sedate than Mansfield's would have been I believe.

 

[Alexis]

What's funny is the A&E biography done on Joan Collins some years ago seems to believe that her part as Angela in Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys! was her "best role to date". And for you trivia lovers out there---Collins wasn't 20th Century-Fox's first choice for this role, either. Supposedly, Jayne Mansfield had been assigned the role, and legend has it, she had received a script and was scheduled for wardrobe fittings when she learned that she was replaced with Collins, whom she had co-starred with in The Wayward Bus in 1957. From what I know, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward felt Mansfield wasn't "right" for the part. I've seen pieces of the film (mostly Joan's scenes), and I personally think Mansfield would have been better in the role. Collins, though, isn't bad by any means. It's just Collins didn't quite fit the role to me. If Mansfield had played it, I think it would have been more over-the-top and satirical, and I think that's what the role needed. Joan's performance was more sedate than Mansfield's would have been I believe.

I agree. Joan plays it too innocent, which is actually strange when you think about Joan Collins. She's supposed to be this temptress that teases Newman's character but young Joan Collins seems too young, bright eyed and innocent for that. I think Mansfield would have been a bit more tongue in cheek and worldly than Collins.

 

[ClassyCo]

I agree. Joan plays it too innocent, which is actually strange when you think about Joan Collins. She's supposed to be this temptress that teases Newman's character but young Joan Collins seems too young, bright eyed and innocent for that. I think Mansfield would have been a bit more tongue in cheek and worldly than Collins.

I agree. Although Mansfield was only like a month older than Collins, she seemed older than that. They were both 25 in 1958. However, Mansfield had a more aggressive man-hungry vibe going. Her humor was always more satirical (an over-the-top Monroe in many ways), and I think it would have fit the atmosphere of this film great. Also, I think it would have been fun to see two blonde beauties on either side of the male lead---Mansfield and Newman's real-life wife Joanne Woodward.

 

[Karin Schill]

Actually I think Joan Collins was perfect for the Angela role in Rally Around the Flag, Boys! It's my most favorite movie with her that I've seen so far.
She was funny and seductive without being over the top. Yes she was young and there was a sweetness about her too. But yeah I think she was effective in that role.

 

[Alexis]

I recently bought a few more John Gavin films as he's like my boyfriend, ya know?

Anyways John Gavin and Douglas Sirk is always going to be a winner for me. I got A TIME TO LOVE AND A TIME TO DIE last weekend and loved it. It's such a bleak film and shows a side to war that a lot of older films just don't, all while still being an epic and lush weepy love story. John Gavin looks just incredible in it too. I know I have yacked on about his looks a lot but he's actually a pretty decent actor too. I think he has a great voice and delivery. My Gavin binge continued with him and Doris Day in Ross Hunter produced MIDNIGHT LACE. This one wasn't quite as good as I'd hoped but it's such a pretty film to look at. All those lovely '60s sets and costumes and baubles. It also features Rex Harrison too, which is a plus I guess. I got it as part of a box set of Doris Day movies. One of two of her box sets. The first has MIDNIGHT LACE, THAT TOUCH OF MINK and THE BALLAD OF JOSIE. The second which hasn't arrived yet features PILLOW TALK, LOVER COME BACK and SEND ME NO FLOWERS, all of which co star Rock Hudson. I have come to love these fluffy glamourous '60s Romcoms. I love the look of them and the humour and that they are so stylistic. I have also come to appreciate Doris Day a whole lot more too as an actress. I'd once perceived her as sickly sweet but now I see she has a very natural genuine likability. I think listening to her singing maybe changed my perception of her a bit. I'll have to remember this thread when I watch the rest of the films.

I also ordered BACK STREET also with John Gavin and this time he's paired again with Virginia Miles, also from PSHYCO with and Susan Hayward. I have long wanted this film but it wasn't available for a decent price in the UK on DVD. I finally gave in an bought it from the US and it wasn't that cheap still. It's another Sirk film and it's produced by Ross Hunter. No doubt I will love it! And I hope Hayward gets to do some of her manic diva hysterics in it! I'll be sure to post about it when it arrives, eventually.

Lastly I ordered THE SNOWS OF KILIMONJARO with Gregory Peck, Susan Hayward and Ava Gardner, because what's not to like about that cast? This also hasn't arrived yet.

I have been reading up and looking into more older films and have a bit of a list to work my through once again. So I imagine I'll be posting her a bit more.

 

[Alexis]

Well last night I watched THE SNOWS OF KILIMANJARO. What I hadn't realised when I bought the cheap DVD was that it wasn't a studio release. I guess this film had fallen into the public domain at some point. The visual quality of the film was shockingly bad. I still watched it though and even enjoyed it. The cast is great, but at first I thought what is this? I'm not going to like this, Gregory Peck dying slowly and recounting his life in fever induced flashbacks. But it did work and I did find myself engrossed in it. Ava Gardner was gorgeous in it, as was Susan Hayward too. I loved the tragedy of Peck and Gardner's relationship. How it starts off all bohemian and wonderful in Paris and then through slight misconceptions and misunderstanding it slowly dies. There was something wonderfully soapy about it. The film's story by Ernest Hemmingway would actually make a great mini series or limited run series.

My one problem with the film was the insertion of stock footage into scenes to show we are in deepest Africa. It just looks so clunky and clumsy and takes you right out of a scene when you are being shown a Hyena or Elephant trotting across the plains.

I think I would like to see a cleaned up version of this film at some point. Anyways tonight I'm going for a bit of Doris Day and Rock Hudson.

 

[Alexis]

I just watched PILLOW TALK with Rock Hudson and Doris Day. What an enjoyable little film. A nice fluff piece of late '50s cuteness. Hudson and Day are so likeable together and so natural with each other. The silly plot isn't even half the reason this film was so enjoyable to me. It's just looks so gorgeous. The sets and all the mid century furniture and art work. Every set has these amazing modernist paintings on the walls. And Doris Day swanning around in gowns by Jean Louis and jewels by I cant remember but they sure do look pretty.

Rock Hudson acting as a straight man posing as a gay guy to win Doris Day's heart is a kick. I honestly found the film very funny.

I'm off to watch LOVER COME BACK now.

 

[ginnyfan]

Pillow Talk is a perfect rom-com and in a way created a footprint this genre will follow into the 90s. I love it! Plus it started this whole second phase of Doris' career as the queen of the genre and box office.

 

[Alexis]

Tonight I watched BACK STREET, from 1961 with John Gavin and Susan Hayward. It also featured Vera Miles as Gavin's vile alcoholic wife. It's branded a tear jerker and for most of the film I wasn't really getting that. What it appears to be is a classic Ross Hunter film, it has that look. You would even almost swear it was directed by Sirk, it's not. It's directed by David Miller, who directed Gavin in Midnight Lace which I mentioned previously. However I think it's clear that producer Hunter wanted it to be exactly in the style of his Sirk films. Maybe Sirk had given up on Hollywood by 1961? I cant remember.

Anyways Miller does a good enough job of making this film in the same vein. It's all gowns by Jean Louis, and the film won an Oscar for them. It also has lots of bling from David Web and all those lovely sets with modernist oil paintings. The film spans a period of years and takes us from the US to Rome and Paris. Gavin is a US Marine and heir to a Department Store fortune who meets and falls in love with Hayward, a wannabe designer. All good, only he's married to Vera Miles and she's a horrible demented drunk. A long love affair ensues and it's all to and fro all over the world. Hayward becomes a partner in a very successful fashion house and achieves her dream of being a great designer.

Gavin is adorable as the tormented husband. He's like a little wounded child when Vera Miles spits bile at him. And then he's like an adoring little puppy dog in the arms of Susan Hayward. He's as stunning as ever. In the beginning of the film in his Marine uniform and then in the later half in his dapper suits and greying hair.

I had hoped that Hayward would launch into some hysterics as she has done in previous films I have seen but she doesn't. Instead it's all left up to Vera Miles. And she's truly despicable. Swanning around kinda like Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty only blonde and drunk. Too drunk to look after her own children or even spend any time with them. Instead they are shipped around Europe with a Nanny. Soon the evil wife finds out about the affair and tries to ruin Hayward socially by embarrassing her at a fashion show.

In the climax of the film Gavin decides to sue for divorce as his wife would never grant him one, and his son already knows about he affair. Gavin and Miles argue in a car and then crash. She dies, Gavin survives, barely. His last words are to Hayward whispered down the phone line... "I love you"

Then the film finally lives up to it's tear jerker status. The last scene is of Hayward in the Paris house he bought for her sitting alone staring at his portrait. Then she flashes back to all their memories, imagining a happy ending. She's awoken from her daydream by a knock at the door. John Gavin's two children enter and it's implied that Hayward will be part of their lives and help in their raising.

Tear firmly jerked.
The End.

 

[Alexis]

SEND ME NO FLOWERS 1964
Another Doris Day and Rock Hudson caper with Tony Randal. Again I found this genuinely funny. I don't know why I had thought I wouldn't enjoy these films. Maybe I had a preconceived idea about Doris Day? Anyways I was wrong. I love the chemistry between the two leads and it doesn't matter how silly the plot it's just a fun ride.
This one revolves around the idea that hypochondriac Rock Hudson believes he is dying after a mix up at the doctors office. It's a bit Jason Colby only more kooky '60s than soapy '80s. All kinds of silliness ensues including Rock Hudson buying a cemetery plot from a very camp sales man, for himself, his wife, and her future husband. I actually laughed out loud.

The film was filmed on the Universal backlot and clearly on the street where Desperate Housewives was filmed. I am almost certain that Doris Day's and Rock Hudson's house is Mary Alice Youngs house. It's one of the houses on that lot that can actually be filmed inside and it's the same basic layout for the front portion. I'm sure the back part was a studio set. You can also see a few other houses from Desperate Housewives on the street.
I think it's kind of incredible that that set is there still and there's so much history attached to it. The stars that have walked that street and been in those houses. Ahhhh Hollywood!

 

[ginnyfan]

^ I love rediscovering Wisteria Lane in classic movies. I have seen it many times most recently in a 1955 Bogart movie, The Desperate Hours. Even though it's a Paramount movie, it was clearly filmed on the Universal backlot and Wisteria Lane features a lot in it, since most of the movie takes place in one of the houses where a family is held hostage. Looking into my screencaps now, it seems to be the same house used in Send Me No Flowers, the Mary Alice Young house. Seems like they did some redressing for Send Me No Flowers.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Just bought THE FURIES (1950) with Barbara Stanwyck and Walter Huston. It's arty noir western and clearly wants to be a classic. Beautifully shot in B&W in Tucson (doubling for New Mexico) it features a weirdly incestuous vibe between father and daughter, lots of psychomelodrama over who owns the eponymous ranch, and an eyebrow-raising scissors toss between Stanwyck and Judith Anderson (who exits all too quickly, but I guess we can't blame her), only the second cinematic time Missy has tried to kill The Dame.

I like it and was eager to own it, but in a way I can understand why so many critics consider it "underrated" and also why it is. There's something not quite focused about it, despite being several shades of marvelous.

 

[Angela Channing]

I finally managed to get a copy of The Last Angry Man (1959) which was Paul Muni's final film. He's one of my favourite actors and I've tried to watch all the films he's been in.

This film was not great and really only worth watching for Paul Muni's performance which every bit deserved the Oscar nomination it received. The film was about a compassionate doctor who never turned away a patient, even those without money and how a TV producer (played by the first Digger Barnes) tries to persuade him to do a TV documentary on his life.

I'm not sorry that I watched it but I'm in no hurry to see it again.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

the gorgeous Farley Granger

He really is, too. And Hitchcock's STRANGERS ON THE TRAIN is one of his most polished, artful films -- one I discovered surprisingly late.

 

[Justine]

You can see from my avatar I am obviously an Elizabeth Taylor fan, and Giant (1956) is one of my absolute favourite old Hollywood films. It's an epic. It stars Rock Hudson and James Dean, who are both in their prime and I believe it inspired the later series some of you may have heard of called Dallas.

 

[Alexis]

For Christmas I was bought a Bette Davis boxset. I already owned most of the films but there was one I hadn't yet seen. The Old Maid from 1939. Tonight I watched it. Bette and Miriam Hopkins as battling cousins both hiding a deep secret. Bette is wonderful as per usual. And she does what she does best, playing a woman through her full adult life, starting as a young beauty and going right through to the titular old maid. I don't think I have ever seen a Bette film or performance that bored me. She's just so darn watchable. And in the beginning of this film she's really quite beautiful. Like strikingly so. I'm sure I have seen Miriam Hopkins in other films but I cant think what they were. She seemed almost like a new face to me.

I think I am going to re-watch the rest of the films in the box set over the next few nights. Next up is 1946's Deception.