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| Syd |
 Posted: Sun Jun 02, 2013 9:06 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12929
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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It turned out that I'd only seen the last five or ten minutes of Libeled Lady, so I got to see it with fresh eyes, and I loved it. Spencer Tracy plays Warren Haggerty, an editor whose newspaper prints a story about a marriage-wrecking heiress Connie (Myrna Loy) who is innocent; further, the newspaper's owner has a feud (unexplained) with Connie's father (Walter Connolly, the father from It Happened One Night) so the newspaper is not entirely innocent. Thus the heiress files a $5 million libel suit.
Tracy hires libel expert Bill Chandler (William Powell) to make the case go away. The solution is to compromise Connie by making her the other woman in Powell's marriage. Since Chandler is unmarried, Haggerty donates his fiancee Gladys (Jean Harlow) whom Haggerty has a bad habit of standing up at the altar. Screwball hijinks ensue, many of them very funny, and of course there are all sorts of romantic complications. Powell gets most of the best lines, but Harlow has some, too, and is priceless in the big confrontation at the end. Really, all the lead characters are in good form in service of a good script. |
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Rocky Laocoon foretold of Troy's doom, only to find snaky water. They pulled him in and Rocky can't swim. Now Rocky wishes he were an otter! |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Sun Jun 02, 2013 10:58 pm |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12929
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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| Libeled Lady is not safe for work. Not because of scandalous goings on, but because William Powell has a trout fishing scene that is flat out hilarious, and everyone will wonder why you've suddenly started laughing out loud. |
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Rocky Laocoon foretold of Troy's doom, only to find snaky water. They pulled him in and Rocky can't swim. Now Rocky wishes he were an otter! |
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| Ghulam |
| Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2013 1:14 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4742
Location: Upstate NY
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"Footnote" is an Israeli movie about father and son, both famous academicians in Hebrew University, both candidates for the prestigious Israel Prize. Not a brilliant premise, but interesting character portrayals and behind-the-scenes academic politics. I had thought it was a comedy but it is not.
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| bartist |
| Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2013 8:18 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6961
Location: Black Hills
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Quote: Funny how certain films that are more than just interesting and travel all the way to excellent go totally under my radar. There's a movie currently streaming on Netflix that for some reason I never knew existed, and it's amazing. Titled The Details...
I overlooked The Details, too. Bad joke aside, this one seemed esp. stealthy in its release; didn't even show at the arthouse here, or up in Omaha. Thanks for the alert! |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2013 11:58 pm |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12929
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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| The Story of Louis Pasteur: Louis Pasteur overcomes the opposition of the medical establishment as he develops vaccines for anthrax and rabies and fights against childbed fever. Pretty good scientific biopic that started a bit of a vogue for similar films such as Madame Curie and Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet. I liked Paul Muni's performance. He had a reputation for overacting in his later biopics, but he sinks pretty thoroughly into his role, and there are pleasant supporting characters. Fritz Leiber, Sr. plays his primary antagonist. The cinematography is pretty good considering the film was done on a small budget. |
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Rocky Laocoon foretold of Troy's doom, only to find snaky water. They pulled him in and Rocky can't swim. Now Rocky wishes he were an otter! |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Tue Jun 04, 2013 2:12 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9016
Location: Shanghai
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I remember liking the Louis Pasteur biopic. Better than expected.
I've been digging Underdog lately. In S2, there is a 4 part episode entitled RiffRaffville. Riff and his gang take over a small Western town and from there plot their crimes. They go out there because Underdog was foiling all of their urban crime, but then oddly they lure Sweet Polly out to Riffraffville, which is the standard way to lure Underdog soemwhere.
Anywho, Pt 4 has a great parody of a Western film. As in High Noon or 3:10 to Yuma, Underdog is the lone authority figure pitted against a deadly gang. And Underdog is indeed the underdog as he is weakened without his special pill. As he knocks on doors, the townsfolk all refuse to assist him, or flee to avoid him, while a very amusing Western-style song describes his plight. A very nice parody -- really enjoyed the Western song. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Tue Jun 04, 2013 6:32 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6961
Location: Black Hills
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Quote: I've been digging Underdog lately. In S2, there is a 4 part episode entitled RiffRaffville. Riff and his gang take over a small Western town and from there plot their crimes....
An amusing take on the western is Warren Oates' guest appearance on Lost in Space. He is, literally, a space cowboy. But def not the gangster of love.
I always dug Underdog. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| knox |
| Posted: Wed Jun 05, 2013 11:26 am |
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Joined: 18 Mar 2010
Posts: 1246
Location: St. Louis
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| Hyde Park on Hudson - This has to be the most lethargy-ridden set of performances from talented actors I've seen in the past few years. Uninspired film. Attempts to spice it up with scenes like Linney, as a Roosevelt cousin, giving FDR a handjob are just dismal and sad. Bill Murray is simply miscast as FDR. The King and Queen, who are guests at Hyde Park, are tedious caricatures. The only thing we have to fear is more film like this. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Wed Jun 05, 2013 12:01 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9016
Location: Shanghai
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I tried to find Riffraffville Pt. 4 on youtube, but only came up with a crummy looking Spanish-dubbed version filmed off a tv screen. And the parodic song is gone -- you can barely hear the music in the background while a voice narrates the meaning. Not well done.
This link might work -- http://www.frequency.com/video/underdog-riffraffville-pt-4/33509395 -- though I couldn't use it behind the Great Firewall .... |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Thu Jun 06, 2013 8:44 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6961
Location: Black Hills
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knox wrote: The only thing we have to fear is more film like this.
Possibly the worst film of the year. Trying a "rule of two" with "My Week w/Marilyn," but minus the interesting central story, rational casting, solid script, etc. I'm going to continue loving Bill Murray and just assume this project was a temporary fit of insanity. I bailed shortly after the royals were whining about the bad cartoons on their bedroom walls. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Thu Jun 06, 2013 11:07 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9016
Location: Shanghai
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The Bad Seed is a pretty oddball film. A lot of stilted 50's explanations of genetic disposition to commit murder. Some clunky plot points, and hardcore melodrama as well. But it's also interesting and a bit creepy at times. The standoff between the shrewd but a little feeble-minded janitor and the headstrong little girl are quite good. Also, the drunk mother of the dead boy provides for some edginess and uncertainty when she semi-randomly shows up.
Most of the cast was in the long-running play, and so they really have their roles/identities down. I was impressed with the little girl who projects an air of perfection to the point of creepiness. The tacked on ending -- to make crime not pay -- is unexpected and hilarious. There's a lot of good stuff, mixed in with the heavy limitations of 50's-ness. Worth seeing, as it's such an artifact of its time. |
Last edited by gromit on Fri Jun 07, 2013 8:20 am; edited 1 time in total
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Fri Jun 07, 2013 7:59 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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The Bad Seed was the essence of two things: 1) the filmed stage play, with Nancy Kelly, Eileen Heckart, and Patty McCormack repeating their stage roles and Kelly and Heckart still playing to the second balcony; 2) the 1950s morality which changes the bone-chilling stage ending to a "crime doesn't pay" deus ex machina finale, wrapping things up neatly and "happily."
And though Eileen Heckart was a great actress, her over-emoting in this film was egregious. Of course she was nominated for an Oscar. As was Nancy Kelly, who was a good actress who scored her one serious lead in this play-turned-movie and also chewed up all the scenery that was left over after Heckart was finished feasting. Pre-teen McCormack (likewise Oscar-nominated) was far from subtle, but compared with her elder co-stars she was Lillian Gish and Simone Signoret rolled up into one underacting package. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Fri Jun 07, 2013 12:13 pm |
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| Saw The Bad Seed around 1960/61. It stunk! And the added on scene at the end was so stupid that it would have killed the movie even if it were any good. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Fri Jun 07, 2013 12:35 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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marantzo wrote: Saw The Bad Seed around 1960/61. It stunk! And the added on scene at the end was so stupid that it would have killed the movie even if it were any good.
He's sort of a movie legend, but Mervyn LeRoy was really a terrible director. His desecration of Gypsy with the help of the ego-driven Rosalind Russell was, if possible, even worse than The Bad Seed. His list of turkeys is practically endless, and his son Warner proved that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree by turning Tavern on the Green, the classic NYC restaurant, into a McDonald's with better decor. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Fri Jun 07, 2013 1:40 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9016
Location: Shanghai
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Bad Seed was reminiscent of a Preminger film, where he frequently takes an edgy topic that is somewhat taboo and makes a film equal parts interesting and plodding.
One thing interesting, the feeble-minded maintenance man was named LeRoy in the film, and pronounced LehRoy, as I assume the director's name is. I presume that was an in-joke. |
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