34 and 40 minutes, respectively … two short films from 1950s France … Red Balloon very cute, maybe too cute, loved the “special effects.” Is it a must-see? Non, but it’s mignon. White Mane is about a boy and a horse … and French cowboys (wild horse wranglers). Pretty brutal horse fight within, not PETA approved. Again, it’s a nice little short, but is it a must-see? Non.
Movies Watched -- Sudden Fear (1952)
110 minute running time … at least 10 minutes too long … I wish they could have tightened it up a bit, but I liked this one … Lucille LeSueur, er, Joan Crawford is always so good and you don’t need to be a homosexual man to appreciate her acting skills (this movie is Farr recommended, of course). Volodymyr Palahniuk, er, Jack Palance is absolutely terrifying (he was nearly undefeated as a boxer), and Gloria Grahame plays a great blonde tramp. That’s her list below of “horses that owe me money,” which made me laugh … I have a similar list, though with ticker symbols.
Solid noir from the early 1950s … money, romance, revenge, scheming, love, hate, mistaken identity, violence … it has all the elements. This is a green-go.
Honor Thy Stop (Part 2)
From Homer’s Odyssey:
“First [Circe] bade us avoid the voice of the wondrous Sirens, and their flowery meadow. Me alone she bade to listen to their voice; but do ye bind me with grievous bonds, that I may abide fast where I am, upright in the step of the mast, and let the ropes be made fast at the ends to the mast itself; and if I implore and bid you to loose me, then do ye tie me fast with yet more bonds.”
Never pull the stop. Never add.
Now You're Lookin' Pretty in a Hotel Bar
Cute version with Kenton Chen of a song that may hit close to home for many hotel bar patrons:
Learning What We Don't Wanna Know
The California Honeydrops with Long Way…. note that the horse is trotting to the beat:
Movies Watched -- Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)
106 minute running time … Dennis Price narrates this tale of revenge in his smooth, posh voice as young Obi-Wan simultaneously plays six or eight parts … it’s good, I enjoyed it, it gets a green-go. Thanks to John Farr for the reco. Tony Lane wrote, “I regard it as the best Oscar Wilde film ever made, despite its not being adapted from Wilde.”
The fact is, old boy, we sold short … and the market hasn’t dropped as we expected.
If You Ain't Runnin' Game
An Irish lad’s version of a classic, Hozier covers Say My Name:
Movies Watched -- Guns at Batasi (1964)
103 minute running time … this was suggested by a TWTR buddy and I’m glad he did so because I don’t think I’ve seen it recommended anywhere else before … it isn’t bad, the writing is good, and in fact it’s a green-go purely for Dickie Attenborough’s performance as Sergeant Lauderdale … he’s hilarious (of course he’s not playing it for laughs). End of Empire, no more soldier heroes.
All highly irregular
Movies Watched -- G-Men (1935)
86 minute running time … clever way to make a gangster picture in the early day of the Hays Code … make Jimmy Cagney the good guy … tiny Cagney such a joy to watch, he’s always great … pro-FBI propaganda that Warner Bros. re-released it with weird prologue that makes it an FBI “training film.” I haven’t seen many films from 1935 but most everything with Cagney in it gets a green-go.
A swell kid.
Movies Watched -- Port of Shadows (1939)
87 minute running time … the “poetic realism” movie that bridges the gap between German expressionism of the 1920s with American film noir of the 1940s … it has crime, violence, romance, fatalism, doomed love … all those noir elements and the shadowy lighting, but with a French twist of philosophizing and, amusingly, an artist drowning himself in the sea, people come and go, tu vois? Again, this isn’t a super entertaining movie and it’s really only for film history snobs.
