What Classics Did You See Last Week, Sept10 to Sept 16

First viewing:

Kes (1970):
An enormously moving tale of a lonely Yorkshire boy who finds a baby kestrel and decides to raise and train it. Young David Bradley as Billy is wonderful, and Ken Loach’s direction is superb. A beautiful film. Highly recommended.



Re-watches:

In the Heat of the Night (1967):
The first time I’ve seen this film since its release, and it was almost as good as I remember it. Great performances and a powerful script, with solid direction by Norman Jewison. Some sloppy editing, surprisingly. Highly recommended because of the story and the performances. Won five Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Rod Steiger) and Best Screenplay (Stirling Silliphant).



The Petrified Forest (1936)
A gangster holds hostages at an Arizona diner. Adapted from Robert Sherwood’s play, it has terrific performances by all the cast, especially Humphrey Bogart, Leslie Howard and Bette Davis, under the solid, if a bit stagey direction of Archie Mayo. Howard and Bogart were both in the Broadway production. Strongly recommended.




I’ll See You in My Dreams (1951):
A sentimental but well done and enjoyable biopic about songwriter, Gus Kahn, with sensitive performances by Danny Thomas and Doris Day. Worth a look for the cast, the music, and Michael Curtiz’s direction.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021).




Vampire Academy (2014).

Thanks for hosting this! mikef6

Here are the movies Tele have lately seen...

from newer to older...


Boss Level 2020 directed by Joe Carnahan.
It felt like a mix of a video game and "Groundhog Day", just more violent and action-filled.
Each morning our hero is killed, by swords or machine-guns or dynamite, and each morning he get's more skilled in surviving until his next death, eventually he'll find a way through all deaths and find out why he is in a loop.
Not too bad, but not for me.


The Suburbans 1999 directed by Donal Lardner Ward.
I can't believe I actually watched this to the end since this was the worst movie drivel I've seen this year.
The main story is OK, a 80's pop group who had a minor before MTV get together for one of the band members wedding, and a producer get's the idea of why not turn their story into a soap on MTV and maybe they can produce a new hit.
The trouble is that each and every scene looks like badly rehearsed leftover scenes edited together.
Avoid! and don't be fooled by some big names in the cast.


The Learning Tree 1969 directed by Gordon Parks and based on a book by Parks himself.
The movie of the week for me, since the story went round in my head after watching it and that is a positive sign.
The story, set in Kansas during the 1920's, covers less than a year in the life of a Black teenager and documents the veritable deluge of events which force him into sudden manhood. The family relationships and enmities, the fears, frustrations, and ambitions of a black teenager in small-town America are explored with a strong statement about human values.

This was interesting, though segregation and racism still exists, this small-town has moved forward, whites don't think all blacks are bad and blacks don't think all whites are bad, and can co-exist in harmony, but still there also those who can't leave the old ways of thinking on both sides. It's those latter that disrupts and reaches a boiling point at some point or other that can destroy the harmony and which it occasionally does.
At first I though it was a bit too episodic but as the story moved forward the movie became clearer what characters to follow and in the end I liked it very much.


I heard about this movie by chance long ago, one of the old singers of the The Count Basie orchestra, "Mr Five by Five" Jimmy Rushing (billed as James Rushing) did a rare acting role in this move.


Alina aka La fille de la nuit 1950 directed by Giorgio Pastina,
Italian-French co-production about a drug smuggling ring across the alps between Italy and France.
On the French side of the border is a luxury ski resort, on the Italian side of the same border is a poor struggling village. To make ends meet the villagers smuggle drugs over the border runned by a shady casino owner on the French side. Alina (Gina Lollobrigida) has joined the smugglers taken over the place of her older sickly husband. One of the smugglers have a special eye towards Alina, but she stays loyal to her husband. Another one who takes an interest in Alina is the casino owner's "second in command" (Amadeo Nazzari), so there will be a lot of drama and tensions before the movie ends.
There is some great black and white cinematography by Tonino Delli Colli here that far outshines director Pastina's direction.
The story is not too bad but handled a bit too heavy by the director.

Worth a look, especially for fans of Gina.


The Mad Doctor 1940 directed by Tim Whelan.
This movie seems mislabeled and could make one think it's a horror movie, well it's a crime-thriller about a Bluebeard-like character (Basil Rathbone) who marries rich and then the wives dies and he moves on to the next gullible victim.
Any movie starring Basil Rathbone is always interesting to watch, and so is this one.

At 90 minutes it's a bit too long to be a programmer or B-movie, it's story is good but maybe could have been tighten up a bit, though it keeps a good pace throughout.


Die Nibelungen: Kriemhilds Rache aka Die Nibelungen: Kriemhild's Revenge 1924 directed by Fritz Lang.
German silent movie based on the folk saga, the continuation and conclusion of the saga that started in the first movie Part.
Siegfried died at the end of the first movie, Kriemheld, his widow, griefs his death. Not long after, she get's an offer from afar, a marriage proposal from Atilla, yes that Hun, which she accepts as she now sees she can avenge those who killed her first husband with the help of the Huns mighty army...
As with the first part I must recommend anyone interested in watching this movie to read a synopsis before watching it, it helped me to understand what was happening and why. This time the storyline was actually easier to get a grip on.
There is no magic or dragon as in the first part, instead there is more action, spectacle and battle scenes and it looks like they spent more money on the second part of the saga, including a gigantic life size castle set that burns down at the end.
Should be mandatory for anyone interested in silent era movies, and they were not silent since there was always a piano player around.

That cat mikef6, could it be a darn cat?


Anyway that was my week!

Bad Sister / Hobart Henley (1931). This pre-code drama is important for two very big reasons. First, it is early Humphry Bogart, his 6th credit and 4th feature film. But just as – maybe more – important: this is Bette Davis’s screen debut.
    A respectable but not wealthy family in a small city consists of business man Father, stay-at-home Mother, and two daughters of marriageable age. There is also a much younger son. The oldest of the daughters is Marianne (Sidney Fox) who is unhappy with her dull life even though the pet of the family and plenty of potential suitors hanging around including the town’s doctor, Dick Lindley (Conrad Nagel). The younger sister Laura (Bette Davis) is shy and reserved, very much in her sister’s shadow. Laura is in love with Dr. Lindley but has to suffer in silence. Into Marianne’s life comes Val Corliss (Bogart), a charming, handsome man from the Big City. At first it looks like Bogart is again playing the Pleasant Young Man role that he frequently got in his Broadway plays and first roles in film. But Corless is just a little too charming, too slick, especially when he starts pitching a sure-thing stock investment. Both daughters have to find themselves when the family is thrown into turmoil. Both future superstars shine.





On Her Majesty’s Secret Service / Peter R. Hunt (1969). When Sean Connery’s five-picture James Bond contract was up, he was anxious to get away from the character (but returned to the series in the next Bond after this one). George Lazenby, a male model without any acting credits outside of TV commercials, was chosen for Bond 6. At this remove, Lazenby does pretty well for himself but in 1969 most of his reviews were negative, with just about every critic pointing out that he was not Sean Connery. I had liked Lazenby and the movie as a whole then and now. I believe that “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” is now generally considered to be one of the top Bond entries. This is also the Bond movie that sticks closest to its source novel.
    The rest of the roles are perfectly cast. Diana Rigg is the perfect partner for James Bond. As Tracy di Vicenzo, the wild rebellious daughter of the head of a crime family, she is pursued by Bond at first as a way to locate his old enemy, Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Telly Savalas). Blofeld has a complex plan to extort money from the world’s countries (of course he does). The Alpine scenery is spectacular and the chases down mountains on skis are thrilling. Rigg and Savalas add immeasurably to the quality. Highly recommended.

PET PEEVE: I hate it when talented women actors such as Diana Rigg, Michele Yeoh, Léa Seydoux, Halle Berry, Sophie Marceau, etc. are referred to as “Bond Girls.”

FUN FACTS / TRIVIA
George Lazenby turned 84-years 12 days ago on September 5.
The Playboy Magazine that Bond finds in the lawyer’s office is the February 1969 issue.





Bacall On Bogart / David Heeley (1988). This 84-minute documentary was produced for the PBS series Great Performances. Bacall narrates her late husband’s biography. The major draw for me were the brief clips of some of Bogie’s earliest movies – movies that can’t be seen anywhere anymore – and, after their 1944 marriage - scenes from Bacall’s home movies of their life together.





Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
“Crossfire” Season 4, Episode 12 (January 29, 1996)
“Return To Grace” Season 4, Episode 13 (February 5, 1996)
“The Brothers Mogh” Season 4, Episode 14 (February 12, 1996)
“Bar Association” Season 4, Episode 15” (February 19, 1996)

Star Trek: Voyager
“Scorpion, Part 2” Season 4, Episode 1 (September 3, 1997)
“The Gift” Season 4, Episode 2 (September 10, 1997)
“Day Of Honor” Season 4, Episode 3 (September 17, 1997)
“Nemesis” Season 4, Episode 4 (September 24, 1997)
“Revulsion” Season 4, Episode 5 (October 1, 1997)
“The Raven” Season 4, Episode 6 (October 8, 1997)
“Scientific Method” Season 4, Episode 7 (October 29, 1997)
“Year Of Hell, Part 1” Season 4, Episode 8 (November 5, 1997)

In Episode 2, Jennifer Lien as Kes leaves the cast while Jeri Ryan joins as Seven Of Nine, the Borg turned human.
Kurtwood Smith (RoboCop, That ‘70s Show, Dead Poet’s Society) is the special guest villain in the two-part “Year Of Hell”

Star Trek: Enterprise
“Canamar” Season 2, Episode 17 (February 26, 2003)
“The Crossing” Season 2, Episode 18 (April 2, 2003)
“Judgment” Season 2, Episode 19 (April 9, 2003)
“Horizon” Season 2, Episode 20 (April 16, 2003)

Peter Gunn
“The Game” Season 2, Episode 10 (November 30, 1959)
“The Briefcase” Season 2, Episode 12 (December 14, 1959)
“Terror On The Campus” Season 2, Episode 13 (December 21, 1959)

Ridley
“Swansong” Season 1, Episode 3 (September 11, 2022)
“The Numbered Days” Season 1, Episode 4 (September 18, 2022)

Van Der Valk
“Freedom in Amsterdam” Season 3, Episode 1 (February 15, 2023)

NOVA
“Sunken Ship Rescue” Season 42, Episode 2 (January 21, 2015)

Poirot
“The Double Clue” Season 3, Episode 7 (February 10, 1991)

Midsomer Murders
“Judgement Day” Season 3, Episode 3 (January 29, 2000)

In older murder dramas like Perry Mason or Midsomer, if a future famous actor is seen, that person will be either be the murderer or the victim. In “Judgement Day,” Orlando Bloom is the (first) victim.

Luna and Sophia.
“The Suicide Tree” Season 2, Episode 5 (2021)

Badehotellet (Seaside Hotel)
“Besat” (Obsessed) Season 7, Episode 6 (March 2, 2020)
………………………….Season 7 Concluded