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The BellGab Classic Movie Playhouse

Started by GravitySucks, June 11, 2016, 05:28:45 PM

ItsOver

I'm doing Sven tonight, after Trek.

Movies! is doing their Film-Noir thing late tonight.  "The Dark Corner," followed by "Fourteen Hours."  I DVR'd "The Big Heat" last weekend.  A Glenn Ford goodie.

http://moviestvnetwork.com/schedule/?date=08/13/16#calendar


albrecht

Quote from: ItsOver on August 13, 2016, 07:56:06 PM
I'm doing Sven tonight, after Trek.

Movies! is doing their Film-Noir thing late tonight.  "The Dark Corner," followed by "Fourteen Hours."  I DVR'd "The Big Heat" last weekend.  A Glenn Ford goodie.

http://moviestvnetwork.com/schedule/?date=08/13/16#calendar
Ill likely do Sven with some switching during commercials for score updates. I don't have a DVR or that station. I rescan every so often but, so far, haven't pick up any new channels. Though eyeing one of those mast antenna for the roof but with really big trees not sure how much better that would be anyway.

Also going to try the TCM app later.

ItsOver

Quote from: albrecht on August 13, 2016, 08:02:33 PM
Ill likely do Sven with some switching during commercials for score updates. I don't have a DVR or that station. I rescan every so often but, so far, haven't pick up any new channels. Though eyeing one of those mast antenna for the roof but with really big trees not sure how much better that would be anyway.

Also going to try the TCM app later.
I try to scan for new OTA channels every month or so.  That's how I stumbled upon Comet TV.  Speaking of, they seem to be upping their game recently with some better quality sci-fi and horror movies.  They still have the schlock but it's been mixed in with Vincent Price and some other decent stuff.  The original Outer Limits was just added to their weekend schedule.

I'm still getting by with my cheap indoor antenna.  One of the best purchases I made last year was a Magnavox DVR.  What I like to do is DVR and THEN watch.  Of course, one of the downfalls of OTA channels is the quantity of commercials, but with a DVR'd show, I just fast forward through all the reverse mortgage, medical lawsuit, and adult diaper commercials.

TigerLily

Quote from: albrecht on August 13, 2016, 07:33:02 PM
Svengoolie hosting "Night Monster" (1942) tonight. But there is also baseball, pre-season FB, Olympics, and SIT with Art interviewing Stan Deyo circa 7/24/96  so not sure.....

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035124/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

for TL TCM's Olivia de Havilland's month is continuing tonight.

ps: for all TCM has an app in which you can choose between both East and West coast feeds and also has on-demand movies. I haven't played around with it much yet so can't say how good it is. You will need to login in with your provider so I'm not sure if it will work when you are not on WiFi.
http://www.tcm.com/mobile/?ecid=subnavgetthemobileapp

Thanks albrecht. I love my TCM. But the Olympics have been interfering with my Summer Under the Stars. Can't wait until football is interfering with my classic movie watching

ItsOver

Quote from: TigerLily on August 14, 2016, 12:57:38 PM
Thanks albrecht. I love my TCM. But the Olympics have been interfering with my Summer Under the Stars. Can't wait until football is interfering with my classic movie watching
I'm counting the days until kickoff.  Not much longer until the best months of the year are upon us.  Fall months, football (for me, it's primarily college ball), Halloween, turkey... it can't get here soon enough.  I want to hear "touchdown!" once again. :))  Too bad Art won't be doing a Halloween show.  Unless he has a surprise up his sleeve.

TigerLily

Quote from: ItsOver on August 14, 2016, 03:05:15 PM
...  Too bad Art won't be doing a Halloween show.  Unless he has a surprise up his sleeve.

We can always hope  :) :) :)

albrecht

Quote from: ItsOver on August 14, 2016, 03:05:15 PM
I'm counting the days until kickoff.  Not much longer until the best months of the year are upon us.  Fall months, football (for me, it's primarily college ball), Halloween, turkey... it can't get here soon enough.  I want to hear "touchdown!" once again. :))  Too bad Art won't be doing a Halloween show.  Unless he has a surprise up his sleeve.
Add to football (especially college) we also get the baseball post-season and WS. I hope Art makes a guest appearance for G2G, I think a show with Heather will be a train wreck that would turn out mostly to be about witchcraft and Samhain/Druid stuff.

ps: I thought Sven's movie last night, "Night Monster" was pretty good. Good atmosphere and setting, some good actors and actresses, and funny at times. The plot was fairly easily figured out but still nice B&W and fun film.

albrecht

Update TCM app wont work if you have Time-Warner (which is now been bought out but still no support, hopefully this will change because looks like it could be good.)

ItsOver

Quote from: albrecht on August 14, 2016, 05:12:03 PM
Add to football (especially college) we also get the baseball post-season and WS. I hope Art makes a guest appearance for G2G, I think a show with Heather will be a train wreck that would turn out mostly to be about witchcraft and Samhain/Druid stuff.

ps: I thought Sven's movie last night, "Night Monster" was pretty good. Good atmosphere and setting, some good actors and actresses, and funny at times. The plot was fairly easily figured out but still nice B&W and fun film.
I was up early Saturday so I didn't make it past the first Sven break before I passed out.  I've DVR'd "Night Monster," so I'll catch it later this week. 

Movies!  "Noir Night" had some very enjoyable flicks last weekend.  "The Dark Corner" was classic.  Great atmosphere, a nice, carefully developed plot, and good acting.  The kind of flick where today's typical brain-dead, CGI, "hurry up with the next explosion and crazy car chase" audience would have had fits over for being "slow and boring." 

Lucille Ball put in a very good performance as the secretary and eventual lady of the protagonist, Mark Stevens.  Completely different from her later, much more well known comedic roles.  Clifton Webb was excellent as the forsaken husband and evil-doer. 



I just started watching "Fourteen Hours."  Very good, so far.  It's great, discovering these hidden classics.  I'm glad they're emerging from the dark and are just as fresh too me as if they had been just released.

Quote from: albrecht on August 14, 2016, 10:28:39 PM
Update TCM app wont work if you have Time-Warner (which is now been bought out but still no support, hopefully this will change because looks like it could be good.)

Please explain what the TCM app is. I feel like we've talked about this before but I don't really remember it.

Man... if I could stream TCM and the NHL Center Ice Package, I'm good. That's all I want from my TV.

By the way, what do you guys think of Burt Lancaster? I caught Judgement at Nuremberg this weekend. I can't stand Burt Lancaster. I hate his slow acting method, I feel like I see the strings and the wheels turning in his head. He comes across like he's really into himself. I was watching it with my dad who used to work in Hollywood and he confirmed Lancaster was a jerk. But man, I hate his acting. It's so self-indulgent.

This film is on my mind today. Perhaps the greatest film to sum up American fame and media. It's up there on the same level as Network but very few people seem to know about it these days. It's also the film that made Andy Griffith a huge star. Believe it or not, before Mayberry Andy Griffith was a hugely deep and complex acting talent who was considered on the same level as Brando. This film was why. A Face in the Crowd.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Dicfa65I2E


ItsOver

Quote from: VoteQuimby on August 15, 2016, 08:51:59 AM
By the way, what do you guys think of Burt Lancaster? I caught Judgement at Nuremberg this weekend. I can't stand Burt Lancaster. I hate his slow acting method, I feel like I see the strings and the wheels turning in his head. He comes across like he's really into himself. I was watching it with my dad who used to work in Hollywood and he confirmed Lancaster was a jerk. But man, I hate his acting. It's so self-indulgent.

This film is on my mind today. Perhaps the greatest film to sum up American fame and media. It's up there on the same level as Network but very few people seem to know about it these days. It's also the film that made Andy Griffith a huge star. Believe it or not, before Mayberry Andy Griffith was a hugely deep and complex acting talent who was considered on the same level as Brando. This film was why. A Face in the Crowd.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Dicfa65I2E
I can't say I either love or hate Burt Lancaster as an actor.  None of his films are real favorites of mine.

"A Face in the Crowd" is on my to-see-list.  I've heard Griffith could be a real jerk as a person.  It's interesting to watch the first season of "Andy Griffith" and watch him play the character as more of a country bumpkin, like his original comedy gig, and then abruptly change to his more straight portrayal as the Sheriff of Mayberry.  The best actor/ comedian for "Andy Griffith," though, who outshines Griffith, is Don Knotts, in my opinion.  A remarkable talent.


Quote from: ItsOver on August 15, 2016, 09:14:27 AM
I can't say I either love or hate Burt Lancaster as an actor.  None of his films are real favorites of mine.

"A Face in the Crowd" is on my to-see-list.  I've heard Griffith could be a real jerk as a person.  It's interesting to watch the first season of "Andy Griffith" and watch him play the character as more of a country bumpkin, like his original comedy gig, and then abruptly change to his more straight portrayal as the Sheriff of Mayberry.  The best actor/ comedian for "Andy Griffith," though, who outshines Griffith, is Don Knotts, in my opinion.  A remarkable talent.



Don Knotts is so underrated, even today. You know what's funny is he's still being imitated today even when people don't know they're imitating him. He became such an American iconic persona that he still reverberates around humor generations beyond his peak. It's hard to think of anyone else you could say that about? Maybe Jerry Lewis is the only other one who comes to mind.

It's so strange watching Griffith in his early films. He's absolutely explosive in A Face in the Crowd which is a huge credit to director Elian Kazan. But Griffith comes bursting off the screen with an energy and masculinity that is rarely matched in cinema. Then he did a pretty funny comedy called No Time for Sergeants where he again was dynamic exploding off the screen. Then he settled into a really safe family friendly TV show and never again went into that incredibly intense acting ability he had. It's a real shame too because you watch A Face in the Crowd and you want more from that talent but we never really got it.

His comedy was incredible. I've only listened to one of his albums but man, the guy was on a whole other level with his southern humor when he first came out. I'm not all that familiar with it but I remember being blown away by the album I heard. The guy was one of the most talented people of his day.

ItsOver

I can't believe I haven't see "A Face in the Crowd," yet.  Lee Remick is one of my favorite actresses. 


Quote from: VoteQuimby on August 15, 2016, 08:51:59 AM
By the way, what do you guys think of Burt Lancaster? I caught Judgement at Nuremberg this weekend. I can't stand Burt Lancaster. I hate his slow acting method, I feel like I see the strings and the wheels turning in his head. He comes across like he's really into himself. I was watching it with my dad who used to work in Hollywood and he confirmed Lancaster was a jerk. But man, I hate his acting. It's so self-indulgent.

This film is on my mind today. Perhaps the greatest film to sum up American fame and media. It's up there on the same level as Network but very few people seem to know about it these days. It's also the film that made Andy Griffith a huge star. Believe it or not, before Mayberry Andy Griffith was a hugely deep and complex acting talent who was considered on the same level as Brando. This film was why. A Face in the Crowd.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Dicfa65I2E

Burt Lancaster is not one of my favorite actors but he's made some great films.  He is very mannered in his acting style and it can be annoying sometimes.

Andy Griffith though is a magnificent actor and it is too bad he didn't translate it to a great movie career but then we wouldn't have the Andy that we know and love. A Face In The Crowd is a great film.  Andy's character in that film was based on Arthur Godfrey who had this lovable persona on the tv screen but was a bastard in real life.

Rix Gins

Quote from: ItsOver on August 15, 2016, 09:47:19 AM
I can't believe I haven't see "A Face in the Crowd," yet.  Lee Remick is one of my favorite actresses. 



Definitely Griffith's big break into show business plus he scored big with his records (What it was, was a football) and before that he was a minor success in a traveling stage play with his first wife.  No Time For Sergeants teamed him up with Don Knotts for the first time and the two of them became friends.

Don had  a rough childhood but still maintained a deep interest in becoming a comedian.  He bought himself a dummy and started out as a ventriloquist but had very limited success.  World War Two started and Don was utilized as part of a traveling performer troupe that entertained fighting troops in the islands.  The powers that be wanted him to use his dummy but Don wasn't happy with it.  He wanted to do stand up comedy so during a trip from one island to the next, his dummy was 'accidentally' lost overboard.

Don and Andy were able to hook up for The Andy Griffith show and the rest is history.  Both were obsessed with staying busy in show business and both were mostly successful.  Both smoked and drank a lot and both had a 'third times the charm' married life.  Both got relatively old before passing away, (Don went first) and both of them were close friends till the end.             

Uncle Duke

Quote from: ItsOver on August 15, 2016, 09:14:27 AM

"A Face in the Crowd" is on my to-see-list.  I've heard Griffith could be a real jerk as a person.  It's interesting to watch the first season of "Andy Griffith" and watch him play the character as more of a country bumpkin, like his original comedy gig, and then abruptly change to his more straight portrayal as the Sheriff of Mayberry.  The best actor/ comedian for "Andy Griffith," though, who outshines Griffith, is Don Knotts, in my opinion.  A remarkable talent.

I remember reading a "TV Guide" interview with Griffith a few years after the AGS ended, he certainly came across as an asshole.  When asked about his future in TV/film, he said he had told his agent he would not take off his clothes and he wouldn't play "fag" roles. 

TigerLily


Olympics are over. Time to spiff this place up before football starts in earnest

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3zShjyaTr8

TigerLily


Wow. TCM Star of the Day is Boris Karloff. Tonight at 5pm/8pm is Frankenstein and immediately followed by the even better Bride of Frankenstein.  Popcorn double feature  8)

Quote from: TigerLily on August 26, 2016, 01:13:35 PM
Wow. TCM Star of the Day is Boris Karloff. Tonight at 5pm/8pm is Frankenstein and immediately followed by the even better Bride of Frankenstein.  Popcorn double feature  8)

Now there is something we can agree on.  :D Love ol' Boris.  Sounds like a good night to ditch the radio.

TigerLily

Quote from: 21st Century Man on August 26, 2016, 01:29:26 PM
Now there is something we can agree on.  :D Love ol' Boris.  Sounds like a good night to ditch the radio.

You're a smart guy 21  ;)  :-*


Hey. Linda Moulton Howe said last night that Carole Lombard was killed by UFO

https://www.earthfiles.com

I watched  Amanda de Ossorio's quartet of Blind Dead films this week.  3 of them were pretty good but Ghost Galleon was rather silly.  I love how when a lady stumbles and has a minor fall, she is unable to walk let alone run.  How convenient for the indescribably slow Blind Dead to catch up with their quarry!  LOL.  Sometimes they are able to get on their horses and chase their victims but much of the time, a turtle could get away from them.

Anyway, for those not familiar with these 1970's Spanish horror films, the Blind Dead are the reanimated corpses of the Knights Templar who were executed because they practiced Satanism.  They look much like skeletons except there is a bit if flesh here and there as well as traces of beards still drooping down. They still have their armor and swords and that may be why they are so slow to move.  LOL.  Still, most of the films are effective.  They are dripping with atmosphere.  There are some beheadings here and there but the gore for the most part is mild.  There is some nudity mostly focusing on female breasts.  The endings to all the films are memorable, some are even classic.

I'll rate films from best to worst.

Return Of the Evil Dead (Film #2) - 1973- Not so much silly stuff in this film.  A town is besieged by the Blind Dead who attack in the night.  Very grim in some parts.  The tension at the end is developed nicely. 3.25 stars.  Watch the Spanish cut.

The Night of the Seagulls (#4)-1975- Great fun with the Blind Dead attacking a village after the inhabitants fail to provide a sacrifice to the Templars.  Again not so much silly stuff. 3.25 stars.  English version is fine as it appears that is what the actors are speaking.

The Tombs Of The Blind Dead (#1)-1972 - Very good film that started off the series but it unfortunately is tainted with the weaknesses that I mentioned earlier.  Girls stumble and act like their leg is broken and fail to get away from the Blind Dead.  The plot revolves around a girl who while riding on a train with friends, gets pissed off and jumps off the train and finds herself in the old monastery used by the Templars in their heyday.  There is a cemetery and the Blind Dead rise at night.  There are genuinely horrifying moments in the film and it would be the best of the films had it not resorted to the cliches that I mentioned.  3 stars.  Do not watch the English version.  Sexual elements are missing in that version.  Hot babes in this film.  Britt Nichols in particular.  She was also in some Jess Franco films.



Ghost Galleon (#3) - 1974- Silly tripe about models lost at sea who stumble upon a ghost ship with crates that hold the Blind Dead.  The script is atrocious and you would be best served by watching the Spanish cut with subtitles.  The English track is laughable, worthy of MST3K.  Still, very memorable ending but it doesn't make a lot of sense.  The Blind Dead are not supposed to be active in daylight but there they are.  2 stars.


TigerLily


Never even heard of these.  Thanks 21. Nice to see your reviews again

Quote from: TigerLily on August 26, 2016, 04:17:38 PM
Never even heard of these.  Thanks 21. Nice to see your reviews again

Thanks, TL.  I bought the first film about 15 years ago but it was edited.  Blue Underground has a relatively cheap set of all 4 films for $19 at Amazon.  Worth checking out if you like Eurohorror films.

     I confess I have a thing for European actresses from the 50's through the 70's.  Last night, I watched a movie called The Snake God starring Nadia Cassini, an Italian actress who is and was somewhat of a free spirit.  She married Oleg Cassini's brother, Igor, in 1969 and started acting in films.  The marriage didn't last but she kept the Cassini name.  In reality, she was born as Gianna Lou Müller  in Woodstock, New York but left America to live in Europe.  She started off as an exotic dancer but soon married Cassini and started her film career.  She managed to make 2 notable films in her career,  Pulp with Michael Caine, Mickey Rooney and Lizabeth Scott as well as Starcrash, a Corman production with a John Barry score, starring alongside Marjoe Gortner and Caroline Munro.  The rest of her work was mainly in Italian sex comedies and other exploitation fare where she was more than willing to take off her clothes and then some.

    I watched her second film called The Snake God (Il dio serpente) from 1970.  It was among the first of the Eurohorror/sexploitation films set in the exotic Carribbean.  An example of this sort of film is Ruggero Deodato's Waves of Lust.  Anyway, The Snake God involves a newly married couple who arrive in the Carribbean to live.  The wife, Paola, (Cassini) is left alone much of the time as her husband spends a lot of time away from home running his business.  She develops a friendship with a native woman (Beryl Cunningham) who is a local school teacher.  Paola is entranced with the native lifestyle which involves the worship of a snake god intertwined with Christianity.  Due to her exotic looks, the snake god in the form of a black man , desires her.  They have sex during the ceremony and shortly thereafter Paola's husband dies in a plane crash.  Some time later, she gets her old boyfriend to come to Italy to be with her.  However she finds that she is no longer attracted to him.  Her sexual desires can only be fulfilled by the Snake God. LOL, I love the metaphor. So anyway, she sets her native friend and boyfriend up and they become a couple.  The rest you can watch for yourself if you desire to.





   To say Cassini is disrobed during much of the film would be an understatement.    She is beautiful with a perfect figure.  I would call this film erotica but nothing hard-core. There are no lesbian scenes so if that's your bag, you'll be disappointed.  It is definitely not a horror film but it has a lot of mysticism involved in it.  The film attacks European colonialism and makes it a point to show that natives are not stupid but are as smart if not smarter than the white man.  I enjoyed the film for what it was.  It is easily the best film that I have seen in this subgenre.  Beautifully filmed with excellent cinematography of the locale.  It was well-paced and not in the least boring.  2.75 stars out of 5.

TigerLily


While watching Frankenstein tonight it hit me that the Bride of Dr. Frankenstein is the Grapefruit Girl in Public Enemy. Mae Clarke

Quote from: TigerLily on August 27, 2016, 12:16:05 AM
While watching Frankenstein tonight it hit me that the Bride of Dr. Frankenstein is the Grapefruit Girl in Public Enemy. Mae Clarke

You would definitely want to see James Whale's version of Waterloo Bridge which she stars in.  Mae Clarke's a great actress and she should have been a major star but apparently she had a nervous breakdown following a disfiguring car crash which sidelined her for a while and she mostly got supporting parts after that.  Whale's Waterloo Bridge was made just prior to Frankenstein and it is a precode classic that was on the first set of TCM's Forbidden Hollywood series of pre-code films.



It is much better than the later version.

TigerLily


Really? I love the Vivian Leigh, Robert Taylor version. And the film score.  Pre-code can make all the difference. I will keep an eye out for the Mae Clarke one

Quote from: TigerLily on June 12, 2016, 10:54:39 AM
TCM is my default tv channel. I am a serious classic movie geek.  I have favorite movies in every genre but probably Film Noir is my favorite.  My all time favorite movie - no surprise - Casablanca.  Every scene is a gem. So many quotable lines, even known by people who have never seen the movie.  Even great backstory tales. And Bogey.
Perfect.

Classic Movie Thread, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship


I'm losing my connection again, so I'll sign off with this. Great thread & Here's looking at you Sister Tiger. ;)

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

TigerLily

That was beautiful, Logan.  You reminded me that one of the best things about the Classics is romance. Who did it better than Bogie and Bacall?

Welcome into the flickering dark of the movie playhouse. Post often.  Do you have a favorite movie or genre?

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