The BellGab Classic Movie Playhouse

[ge30542]

I would say Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein and all of the other Universal horrors got me started.  Also loved the Rathbone/Bruce Holmes films, Charlie Chan and the early gangster movies particularly The Public Enemy, Little Caesar, The Roaring Twenties and Angels With Dirty Faces.  Those got the ball rolling for me.  This would have been in the early 70's when all we had was a black and white TV.  We got our first color TV in '73 when we moved to Pennsylvania.

I did watch Wizard of Oz and the Ten Commandments religiously in those days too.

We also got color TV in 73.
Dude, remember when you had to get up off of the couch and walk across the room to change channels? 

[21st Century Man]

Zeebo, you are correct. Those films had NO car crashes, NO heads chopped off, NO laser explosions, NO nude/sex scenes, just great stories. I guess I'm showing my age, but as you say, with great story and direction, they generated delightful entertainment.

There's some nudity in pre-Code films made until 1934 and quite a lot of suggestive sexuality.

[Dr. MD MD]

When I was a kid of course there was Wizard of Oz. Then sci fi and scary movies on Saturdays and late late show old movies.

But here is a fun story.  During the summer I was 15, while my mom was in the little park next to our house she found a cigarette pack with a joint in it. I remember she was so excited that she had found it and wanted to try it out with me. So the first time I got high was with my mom and we watched The Thin Man. Best movie I had ever seen  . That began my love affair with old movies. My mom was a big movie buff so she tutored me in classic movies.

She also introduced me to Science Fiction books and Art Bell.  Very cool mom.

Cool story, TL! I have some fond memories of getting high with my dad in my teens and going to the drive-in. My dad is basically a sixties era hippie but he looks really square so he could (and did) basically live a double life. He used to smuggle my brother and I and our friends in the trunk to save some money. Why? Were we poor? No. He just really liked sticking it to the man when he could. 

Anyway, my brother would invariably let a really rank fart go once we got in the trunk, the bastard! Of course, we were still a mile down the road from the drive-in and there was nothing I could do. My brother would laugh the whole way while we were all gagging and cursing him. Fun times! 

[21st Century Man]

When I was a kid of course there was Wizard of Oz. Then sci fi and scary movies on Saturdays and late late show old movies.

But here is a fun story.  During the summer I was 15, while my mom was in the little park next to our house she found a cigarette pack with a joint in it. I remember she was so excited that she had found it and wanted to try it out with me. So the first time I got high was with my mom and we watched The Thin Man. Best movie I had ever seen  . That began my love affair with old movies. My mom was a big movie buff so she tutored me in classic movies.

She also introduced me to Science Fiction books and Art Bell.  Very cool mom.

Great Story, TL.   I think my Mom and Dad smoked some pot in their California days.  There are some pictures where they have this stoned look on their faces.  By the time I was a teenager though, all of us were firmly in the anti-drug camp due to my brother's abuse and subsequent problems with the law.

[Dr. MD MD]

We also got color TV in 73.
Dude, remember when you had to get up off of the couch and walk across the room to change channels?

Oh, fuck yeah! I even remember when we got our first remote control. We all called that thing "the clicker" for years! 

[zeebo]

We also got color TV in 73.
Dude, remember when you had to get up off of the couch and walk across the room to change channels?

VHF & UHF knobs w/ rabbit ears antenna lol.

[Dr. MD MD]

VHF & UHF knobs w/ rabbit ears antenna lol.

Remember the fuzz? Ah...the fuzz...

[21st Century Man]

We also got color TV in 73.
Dude, remember when you had to get up off of the couch and walk across the room to change channels?

LOL.  Yep. I seemed to get through it just fine.  Of course that would be a bitch today with the hundreds of cable channels now.  At least back then, you could say you got some exercise watching tv. 

[21st Century Man]

Remember the fuzz? Ah...the fuzz...

That's why I really don't give a shit about the differences between blu-ray and dvd.  I'm just happy I have a clear picture.  Of course, I do buy the blu-ray now but that is besides the point.

[Dr. MD MD]

LOL.  Yep. I seemed to get through it just fine.  Of course that would be a bitch today with the hundreds of cable channels now.  At least back then, you could say you got some exercise watching tv.

There was always Jack LaLane or, my personal favorite:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0KQcclNYQw

Such a sexy bitch! 

[21st Century Man]

We also used to get these old silent film clips from Black Hawk films that we would watch enraptured.  I harbored a dream  of owning a copy of every worthwhile film in the history of film.  Now I'm living the dream.

Our love for silent films came from going to Shakey's Pizza in California and watching the old flicks while we ate with piano accompaniment.

[WildCard]

There was always Jack LaLane or, my personal favorite:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0KQcclNYQw

Such a sexy bitch! 

HA! I remember Lilia's Yoga. She was awesome.

[ge30542]

Yes, Lila's yoga and you.
We had, early 80s, a VCR with a "wired" remote.
Small remote with about a 40 foot wire to the unit.
Well shit, let's go "all out"old folks up in here, cigs were 60 cents a pack when I started, currently, $ 6.00.

[ge30542]

Being the old, stick in the mud, couch potato that I am, the 2 best ever inventions are HD TV and DVR.

[zeebo]

... Well shit, let's go "all out"old folks up in here, cigs were 60 cents a pack when I started, currently, $ 6.00.

Tying in with the movie theme, remember going to actual big theaters (before they all got chopped up), paying like 5 bucks for a prime time ticket, and like 2 bucks for a full popcorn?  A family outing to the movies now is as expensive as Disneyland was thirty years ago.

[Mind Flayer Monk]

Tying in with the movie theme, remember going to actual big theaters (before they all got chopped up), paying like 5 bucks for a prime time ticket, and like 2 bucks for a full popcorn?  A family outing to the movies now is as expensive as Disneyland was thirty years ago.

There are movie theater subscription services out there now: $40 a month for a movie a day, good at any theater.

[ge30542]

There are movie theater subscription services out there now: $40 a month for a movie a day, good at any theater.

I think when I went to movies regularly, maybe late 80s or so, I can remember $3.50 tickets. What is it now, like 11 dollars?

[ge30542]

There are movie theater subscription services out there now: $40 a month for a movie a day, good at any theater.

there's a theatre here in Atlanta area, that hooks up with TCM, and shows 3 or 4 per summer "old" movies.
Never been, but Casablanca on the big screen would be great. I'd have to start smoking dope again for that.
"C'mon Mr. Richard, let's get outta here".

[ge30542]

Upon hearing that she and her husband will get exit visas, "oh thank you Captain Renault, well be at your office at 7"
"Fine, I'll be there at 10".  Always loved that comeback.

[Robert Ghostwolf's Ghost]

Oh, fuck yeah! I even remember when we got our first remote control. We all called that thing "the clicker" for years! 

I remember our first clicker and being able to surf, before it was called that, the three local neteork affiliates, an indie station, PBS, and a couple of the newfangled UHF stations. There was a cabinet with little metal rings for drawer handles in the room, and we found out that if you closed a drawer the right way, the jingling of the handle would turn the TV on or off. 

One of my grandfathers made his own mute button in the sixties by wiring one end of a lamp cord to the TV and the other to a two-way switch so he could sit on the couch and kill the sound during commercials.  He called it the "Blab Off," and it was pretty amazing for the time.  As far as I know, it was the only one of its kind, probably because most people back then were too afraid of being electrocuted to monkey around in the back of their TV.  It was eventually replaced by a clicker, but it was the next best thing.

[Mind Flayer Monk]

there's a theatre here in Atlanta area, that hooks up with TCM, and shows 3 or 4 per summer "old" movies.
Never been, but Casablanca on the big screen would be great. I'd have to start smoking dope again for that.
"C'mon Mr. Richard, let's get outta here".

Sounds like a great theater.

[TigerLily]

there's a theatre here in Atlanta area, that hooks up with TCM, and shows 3 or 4 per summer "old" movies.
Never been, but Casablanca on the big screen would be great. I'd have to start smoking dope again for that.
"C'mon Mr. Richard, let's get outta here".

There's a theater in San Diego that does that too.  One and only time I've gone  was in February when they showed Maltese Falcon.  Great experience to see it on a big screen with an audience.  Even had a Mankiewicz intro

[ItsOver]

there's a theatre here in Atlanta area, that hooks up with TCM, and shows 3 or 4 per summer "old" movies.
Never been, but Casablanca on the big screen would be great. I'd have to start smoking dope again for that.
"C'mon Mr. Richard, let's get outta here".

I get up to Cincy, occasionally, and there's a nifty old theater in the UC/Clifton area, The Esquire, that usually shows the artsy-type flicks.  Pretty cool.

Quite a ways down the road from Cincinnati in Ohio, there's a beautiful old theater that's miraculously escaped the wrecking ball.  It's in a small city in the boondocks, Marion.  Just gorgeous, with the interior in the original Moorish-style.  A really-magical place and a trip back in time for watching a movie or show.

http://www.marionpalace.org/index.php

[ItsOver]

Fathom Events has classical movies they show at regular cinemas across the nation.  You can sign-up on their site to be notified of classic showings.  Ha!  They have "Animal House" showing next month.    I guess by now, it is a classic.

It IS nice to catch the classics on the big screen.

fathomevents.com

[TigerLily]

Fathom Events has classical movies they show at regular cinemas across the nation.  You can sign-up on their site to be notified of classic showings.  Ha!  They have "Animal House" showing next month.    I guess by now, it is a classic.

It IS nice to catch the classics on the big screen.

fathomevents.com

Didn't mean to give the impression I saw Maltese Falcon at a fancy movie palace. It was in the multiplex at the mall. And it was through Fathom Events.

[zeebo]

The big old-time theaters are becoming scarce.  I miss those cavernous spaces.  But I have to admit the multi-plexes are better nowadays, with good sound and smarter seat design, so it feels like a bigger experience.  Awhile back fathom showed Kubrick's 2001 in a limited engagement, but I couldn't make it.  Next time.

[ItsOver]

Didn't mean to give the impression I saw Maltese Falcon at a fancy movie palace. It was in the multiplex at the mall. And it was through Fathom Events.

No, Impression here, TL.  I enjoy Bogie, no matter the venue. 

[ItsOver]

The big old-time theaters are becoming scarce.  I miss those cavernous spaces.  But I have to admit the multi-plexes are better nowadays, with good sound and smarter seat design, so it feels like a bigger experience.  Awhile back fathom showed Kubrick's 2001 in a limited engagement, but I couldn't make it.  Next time.

I'm very glad some of the old time "palaces" have been preserved.  Some of them are real works of art and are entertaining based upon those merits alone.  Just part of our history and heritage I hope is preserved and passed along for future generations to enjoy.

I thought about catching that view of 2001, too, Zeeb, but I had some other conflict.  Maybe it was showing on a Sunday afternoon and I was zonked-out napping so I could catch The Knapp. 

Thanks to Fathom, I'll be catching the MST3K Reunion show tonight.  It's a re-show of the live event, completely devoted to the old bunch riffing on shorts.  It should be complete hilarity.     If "Animal House" is now considered a classic, can the original MST3K be far behind?

[21st Century Man]

The big old-time theaters are becoming scarce.  I miss those cavernous spaces.  But I have to admit the multi-plexes are better nowadays, with good sound and smarter seat design, so it feels like a bigger experience.  Awhile back fathom showed Kubrick's 2001 in a limited engagement, but I couldn't make it.  Next time.

We still have the Fox Theater here in Atlanta and it usually plays classic movies from time to time.  Most of the time these days, it is mainly a concert venue or a stage theater for Broadway shows.

[21st Century Man]

I have several movies to review and a trio of them feature Elisha Cook, Jr. as a gunsel.

     First off, I'll review Dillinger from 1945.  This is a snappy gangster feature from poverty row film studio, Monogram.  I would call it an A film from a grade Z studio.  The budget seems to be high for such a poverty row feature.  Dimitri Tiomkin supplies the score and the supporting cast is made up of very familiar faces.  Edmund Lowe was a silent film star known for his work in the Quirt/Flagg films like What Price Glory? and maybe best known for the sound Cisco Kid feature, In Old Arizona, with Warner Baxter.  Marc Lawrence, a longtime journeyman actor whose career spanned maybe longer than anyone else in film history.  His career started in 1932 and he continued to act until his death in 2005.  Everyone knows who Elisha Cook, Jr. is.  He is very well known playing small-time hoods and snitches like the one he portrayed in the  Bogart version of the Maltese Falcon.  Modern viewers might know him from his appearances on shows like Magnum P. I. and the original Salem's Lot. Eduardo Ciannelli rounds out the the gang. Anne Jeffrey's plays Dillinger's moll and she was still active in the field as late as 2013.  In his first substantial film role is Lawrence Tierney as John Dillinger.





     This film plays fast and loose with some of the facts but who cares.  It is a fun rat-a-tat feature very much in the style of the early gangster films from Warner Brothers.  Tierney brings a lot of rough-edged charm to the role and you couldn't ask for a better picture to start your career with.  Lawrence, Cook, Lowe and Ciannelli are his partners in crime.  There are several cool bank robberies, one of them taking place outside as the Brinks truck pulls up with the bank's money.  Tear gas and smoke is used to get the cops away from the truck and the crooks take the truck and scram.  Director Max Nosseck, a German Jew who came over when the Nazis took power, films it with great skill.  One is surprised why he never made a bigger impact in films though he would re-team in '51 with Tierney on another gangster flick called The Hoodlum.  Edward Mann was the editor and did a fantastic job. The pacing was great and there was not a boring moment in the film.

Be warned though, the film is very violent for the time.  An old couple is viciously murdered by Dillinger in cold blood.  If the film had been closer to the truth, I would regard it as a classic.  As it is,  it is still my favorite film based (loosely) on the life of John Dillinger.  Public Enemies was meh.  More truthful than this flick but nowhere near as good.  I have yet to see the Warren Oates flick but I have it somewhere around here.  I'm giving it 3.75 stars out of 5 and that may be a conservative rating.  However, this is not the film for you if you are looking for a true-to-life portrayal of Dillinger.