In The Good Old Summertime (1949)

A remake of The Shop Around the Corner (1940), now set in an 1890’s American music shop, and with color, songs, and Judy Garland! What could be better? The original, in every way.

Let’s make a few things clear. Technicolor does not necessarily make a film better, the songs were tedious, and Judy was a poor actress. But let’s give it some credit. The change of setting was a good idea. A music show makes sense given that it’s now a musical. It’s nice to see the older Buster Keaton get a paycheck. Van Johnson wasn’t a terrible substitute for Jimmy Stewart and Judy should have been an improvement on the forgettable Margaret Sullavan. So what went wrong?

It is an almost scene by scene remake of the original excluding the most dramatic parts! The tone was all wrong giving it a more comedic, almost slapstick quality. We are not charmed when the love interests are introduced. I was annoyed. We are left with the formula of add nothing except forgettable songs, subtract much of the charm and drama, and replace actors with poor substitutes. Cuddles Sakall might work in small roles but he was not up to the task of taking on Frank Morgan. And let’s face it. Ernst Lubitsch was the master.

In The Good Old Summertime is not remembered as one of Judy’s best, but fans will like it because that’s what they do. Given my druthers I would have watched Meet Me in St. Louis this season but a DVR issue sabotaged that idea. And after watching this and The Clock, I think I’m done with Judy for a while. If anything good came from this experience, it’s realizing how much I actually like The Shop Around the Corner. AMRU 2.

The Holly and the Ivy (1952)

Good girl Jenny wants to get married (shush, don’t tell anyone!) but can’t because she must care for her doddering father, the Parson. That’s like an Angelican priest. Prospective hubby-to-be doesn’t understand why little sister doesn’t step up and take care of pops, but things are complicated. And there’s just no talking to father. You know, because he’s a Parson. So, naughty little sis, soldier bro, crazy aunts, and random guy show up to celebrate Christmas and discuss family issues.

I needed a new Christmas movie for the season and seem to have hit all the biggies. TCM made me aware of this one and I watched it the night it aired. They liked it way better than I.

Jenny's soldier brother is played by Denholm Elliott. You know, Marcus Brody from Indiana Jones. You won't recognize him. I'm was somewhat put off by the fact that 31 year old Jenny was played by 45 year old Celia Johnson, who apparently skipped makeup day. She was seventeen years older than her fiancee and six younger than her dad, Ralph Richardson. Ralph's pretty famous, but I don't expect to see too many of his films. He was the Supreme Being in Time Bandits.

The Holly and the Ivy is a British production based on a British play, and few films are British-er. Chuck full of overly formal conversations using understated expressions that will make you wonder what the hell is going on half the time. What we see is loads of set up before the family overcomes all of their problems in about ninety seconds right at the end of the film.

I wanted to like Holly and Ivy, and was tempted to give it a generous 3, but it’s fairly uninteresting. All is resolved but little is revealed, and we ignore the fact that Parson Pops turns out not to be the judgmental and narrow-minded clergyman his family and the entire town know him to be, for their entire lives.

Some of the family members faith has slipped and a redeeming feature is that rather than have them be rejuvenated by the spirit of Christmas, the father learns to accept them for who they are. A far better moral. I just wish it wasn’t so damn boring. AMRU 2.5.

Dark Waters (1944)

Pretty young woman (Merle Oberon) survives a u-boat attack that killed the rest of her family. She has no one to stay with despite apparently being fairly wealthy now. As luck would have it an aunt and uncle she’s never met live on a plantation not too far from the hospital. An overly helpful doctor offers to take her there and check in on her constantly. Things are not as they seem! Or they are?

I have a better film on my DVR. But it was late and I didn’t want to watch a two plus hour movie. So, instead I found something on Amazon Prime that was only 89 minutes, after twenty minutes of searching. Smart, aren’t I? Dark Waters sounded like an interesting film-noir. Wrong on both counts.

Merle Oberon is a rather enigmatic leading lady. Quite pretty, somewhat exotic, and a pretty good actress, but her films are mostly forgettable. After Wuthering Heights (1939), none of them have more than a few thousand votes on IMDb. 1939 was a bad year for your best film. Despite playing the delicate flower (why does a rich woman in her 30’s need relatives to stay with?) she was charming and had chemistry with her obligatory romantic partner.

The cast was rounded out by Elisha Cook, Jr. (playing an Elisha Cook, Jr. type) and Thomas Mitchell (speaking of 1939) as Uncle’s business partner. Both great character actors that always seem to find their way into great films. And films like this. I presume Merle was playing a woman much younger than herself making our creepy doctor's behavior seem even worse as he looked every bit of his 40 years plus a few.

Dark Waters (not to be confused with Dark Waters, or Dark Waters, or even Dark Waters) is labeled film-noir but it’s not really. It has some of the elements but in actuality its just a crime drama. I wasn’t expecting a “good” film but I did have higher hopes based on the cast. But it’s the film that lets the cast down. The audio and video quality could have been better but the main flaw is the pacing. Scenes drag as the director beats us over the head with the “good guy is good” message. Certain elements didn’t make sense, like, “what the hell is the plan?” When you spend an hour and a half on a small story the audience should not be left guessing. Also, they treat a lamp briefly going out then back on like a paranormal event. They are in a house, deep, deep in the bayou, during world war 2. Faulty wires anyone? The real mystery is how they have electricity in the first place.

I watched it, liked the performances, and was left disappointed. If they cut ten minutes and wrote a more satisfying ending, you might have something there. As is, AMRU 2.5.

I will not fear long movies, I will not fear long movies, I will not fear long movies ...