Houseboat (1958)

A terrible dad (Cary Grant) tries to reconnect with his three children after his estranged wife dies, so he takes them to his undersized Washington DC bachelor pad. There one of the boys meets with a young woman (Sophia Loren) who is rebelling against her dad. He needs a housekeeper and she a job, so she is hired. Implausible comic mischief has them living on a dilapidated houseboat.

This is a pretty standard rom-com so we know the dashing 54 year old will end up with the beautiful 24 year old, and we are never to feel weird about that. In reality she and the married Grant had been dating since they both appeared in The Pride and the Passion. He accepted this role trying to keep the relationship alive, but she had moved on to dating the married Carlo Ponti, who was merely twenty two years her senior. Grant tried and failed to back out of the film. Maybe this is why their chemistry isn’t what it could have been. Ponti divorced his wife and married Loren by proxy during the filming. Five years later they would divorce, take a four year break, then remarry.

Murray Hamilton, you know, the mayor in Jaws, has a smallish role as a low grade jerk. Somewhere in there is a young Barbara Steele in her first film role. I never saw her. Martha Hyer was charming as the red-herring love interest. She shows up from time to time (most recently in Born to Kill) but I never before took notice.

It’s a little known fact that dialog spoken by children in movies is actually written by adults. And by little known, I mean very obvious. But it wasn’t more obvious than by listening to Grant’s three children. It was conspicuous how non-childlike they spoke. You might be tempted to attribute their less than naturalistic performance to their age, but all three were already acting veterans. This was apparently a decision.

Grant wasn’t very likable and as mentioned there wasn’t great chemistry between the leads, but it isn’t without its charm. In the past I may have awarded Houseboat a passing grade, but I am growing tired of by-the-numbers Hollywood dribble. AMRU 2.5.

Guys and Dolls (1955)

Gangster Nathan Detroit (Frank Sinatra) is trying to organize an underground poker game, but for some reason can’t afford the rent on a location. So he makes a bet with high-roller Sky Masterson (Marlon Brando) that he can’t go on a “date” with a woman of his choosing. Sky agrees and Nathan chooses  the prudish do-gooder, Sarah Brown (Jean Simmons).

What is hyper-realistic, non-singing Marlon Brando doing in a hyper-stylized musical? I understand Sinatra was annoyed at losing the lead to Brando, whom he called Mumbles. I’m strongly in Sinatra’s camp here. Brando seemed like he was in a different movie.

Old friend Sheldon Leonard is here. I have realized that his and the other gangsters’ non-use of contractions is used by the legitimate businessmen in The Simpsons. In fact, Fat Tony is a dead-on impersonation of Sheldon’s Harry the Horse. Jean Simmons is new to me and I found her quite charming.

Guys and Dolls is has a pretty nonsensical story. Some of the musical numbers were tedious and I found the distinct and unique style was a bit off-putting, but in the end I came around, mostly. The numbers that worked, worked. I find my view softening the more time that passes since I watched it. I really want to give it a 3, but, what the hell. AMRU 3.5.

Lady on a Train (1945)

When travelling to New York, young Nikki (Deanna Durbin) believes she witnesses a murder outside her train window. The police don’t take her seriously so she enlists the help of her favorite mystery writer, as one does.

IMDb classifies this movie as noir, which it is not. But I watched it because it was supposed to be a Christmas movie, which it is not. While set during Christmas time, the season is nothing more than set dressing. Christmas is the theme, not just the decor.

Deanna Durbin came up through the ranks with Judy Garland. She did the same kind of fluff pieces, musical comedies with a tinge of romance. And these light films became very profitable, pulling Universal out of the red. She would eventually eclipse Garland and even Shirley Temple to become the number one box office draw for a few years. But more serious roles were not forthcoming so after twenty one feature films and 28 years of age, she retired. She has since slipped into obscurity, none of her films remembered much today.

Dan Duryea and that Ralph Bellamy fellow are brothers disinherited by their deceased uncle. Duryea played a smarmy and malevolent character similar to his role in Winchester '73. Bellamy took a ten year break from Hollywood after this film then went on to an impressive late career resurgence. Character actor Edward Everett Horton shows up here. Very distinctive in style, he has appeared in a great deal of films.

The “Think they witness/nobody believes” is such a common trope that it could be a genre unto itself. Rear Window comes to mind but if you think of a protagonist exclaiming “Why won’t anyone believe me!”, ask yourself what movie you heard that in. For me, it’s quite a few.

Essentially a crime mystery comedy, Lady on a Train is an entertaining if not thought provoking watch. Because Durbin’s fans came to hear her sing, they inserted three songs that the film would have been better without. Durbin was quite charming and the story holds your interest. Not noir, not really a Christmas movie, but a mystery that allows the observant viewer enough details to figure it out. Glad I watched it. AMRU 3.

Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964)

The children of Mars are acting strange. They are listless and without appetite. All they do is homework, watch Earth television, and sleep. After talking with a mysterious space wizard, the Martian leader decides to kidnap Santa to solve their parenting problems for them.

Pia Zadora, the 80’s Paris Hilton, appears on screen for the first time. She plays Martian girl Girmar. Her brother is named Bomar. Her mom? Well, that would be Momar, naturally. Pia doesn’t have much to do except act listless. She may have been overqualified for the role.

The intended message was that kids need to be kids. You know, all work and no play. Unfortunately, the message delivered is that children must be showered with material goods and kidnapping is an appropriate way to go about it. This highlights the fact that it was a very slap-dash production. Some sets and props were fine, considering, but the makeup looks like it was applied in a hurry by someone who doesn’t know how to apply makeup.

Santa Claus Conquers the Martians is renowned as a supremely terrible film. IMDb ranks it as 42nd worst film of all time, and if you consider only films released before 2000, it jumps to seventh place. The plot is dumb, the sets and costumes are decidedly low budget (don’t get me started on the polar bear!), and the message is questionable. But truth be told, it wasn’t that bad of a film. The plot and acting were very silly but it’s a kids movie. There is plenty to goof on and the overuse of stock footage and exposition makes it a bit tedious, but I’ve watched far worse. Make no mistake, it is a bad film. I can’t even recommend it to its target audience. There are far too many fair to good Christmas movies to waste time with this one. But it’s not at the Manos level, and isn’t even the worst Christmas special. AMRU 2.5.

Born to Kill (1947)

A floozy wants to get her tough underworld-type boyfriend (Lawrence Tierney) jealous, so she goes out with a young sap. He responds by killing them. The bodies are found by a woman (Claire Trevor) who considers calling the police, but has a train to catch. So does the murderer, who takes a fancy to her.

Truth be told, I selected this film because I saw Lawrence Tierney’s name and mistook it for Gene. I’m glad I did. Lawrence was an interesting chap. Violent and hot-headed in real life, he was perfectly cast as the violent and hot-headed Sam. His career is pockmarked with confrontations and bar fights. It’s a wonder his career lasted as long as it did, not to mention his life.

Gritty and pessimistic, this is not the kind of film I expect from Robert Wise. No doubt a talented director, but even his horror films tend to exhibit a certain optimism. Elisha Cook Jr. is great as usual as Sam’s buddy, and I must blurb on Walter Slezak sometime, but today my attention is drawn to Claire Trevor. We’ve crossed paths a few times but I’ve never taken the time to notice her. Here she is the object of desire but a year later she gets slapped around in Key Largo. Eight years prior she was a hooker with a heart of gold in Stagecoach. She was fantastic here and I must pay her closer attention in the future.

Born to Kill may be a non-traditional noir, but make no mistake, noir it is. And I thoroughly enjoyed every scene, never knowing precisely where the story leads. I could quibble with a few story elements, but noir tends to have an element of fantastic realism. It was a fun watch. AMRU 4.

Nora Prentiss (1947)

The Good Doctor Talbot (Kent Smith) is dead. Murdered, in fact. Let’s go back in time to see how this all transpired. The stayed 40-something family man begins to grow tired of his predictable, boring life. A chance encounter with a 30-ish nightclub singer (Ann Sheridan) turns everything upside down.

Not terribly noir-ish, but I will allow it. What I cannot abide is that the IMDb description is a third act spoiler. I know the film is pushing 75, but that is unnecessary. End Rant.

Kent Smith appeared in both of Val Lewton’s Cat People films and I found his manner stiff, but here it fits the character. He is something of a stick in the mud, punctual and reliable. While Ann Sheridan sparkled five years earlier in The Man Who Came to Dinner (my Christmas pick), she seemed a little shop-worn here. Still, pretty and exciting to the dependable dad. Her club friend is played by Robert Alda, better known as Hawkeye’s dad.

I don’t remember how Nora Prentiss got onto my radar (and thus my DVR), maybe TCM ran a piece glowing about her performance. But I found the story kinda flat. There are some good reveals (better if they’re not spoiled for you), but I didn’t feel the chemistry and didn’t care about the characters. It’s a medium drama with some interesting story elements that left me kinda blah. AMRU 3.

Lured (1947)

Pretty women of London are being murdered, lured by an ad in the personal column. When the friend of pretty Sandra (Lucille Ball) goes missing, she agrees to act as bait for the investigation.

Lurid is classified by IMDb as Film-Noir, but I reject that label. While it does have some noir elements, it completely lacks the most important ones. A remake of a French musical romance, it keeps a rom-com undertone. That original film was inspired by a real-life case that became the last public execution in French history. Lurid was a financial failure, no doubt caused by the studio changing the title to Personal Column during its initial run. Apparently Lured sounded too much like Lurid.

Many old friends visit us here. Everyone’s favorite lecherous old man, Charles Coburn is the decidedly non-lecherous chief inspector. Batman’s Alfred Alan Napier makes an appearance, and personal favorite George Zucco has a sizable role, both appearing in their tenth film I’ve covered. But somebody please tell me what Boris Karloff is doing in this picture! My guess is he was under contract and his name was needed for promotional purposes. His small and inconsequential scene gave him forth billing. But let’s talk of George Sanders.

Before agreeing to work for the police, Sandra sets up an interview at a fancy club owned by Sanders’ Fleming, but doesn’t show. Fleming falls for her based on her voice and the chase is on. Always playing the notorious cad, Sanders was wonderful in this role. It is his performance here that, despite story issues, makes the film worth watching. Villain or not, he is wonderful in all of his roles.

Much has been said of Lucy’s less than stellar early film career and here is yet another example. Not bad, should have been better, and sabotaged by the studio with the title change. But 35 is a bit long in the tooth for a woman striving to achieve A-list status during that era. Not for a man, but certainly for a woman. Despite lots of leading lady talent, it just didn’t happen for her. But things worked out for her in the end. AMRU 3.5.

Rosemary’s Baby (1968)

A struggling actor and his young wife (Mia Farrow) rent a fancy Manhattan apartment with weird neighbors. She becomes pregnant and then is slowly convinced that her neighbors are Satanists intent on killing her baby.

Arguably the most iconic horror film I had left to cover, Rosemary’s Baby casts a long shadow. Schlock director William Castle got the rights to the book but realized he was not up to the task of putting it on the screen. This task was given to rising star Roman Polanski, but allowed himself a Hitchockian cameo. Filmed at the Dakota Apartments, that would later be the location John Lennon would meet his fate.

This may be the first film to lean hard into the occult. Castle felt the production was cursed. His health started failing and was getting hate mail for bringing the devil back. 23 year old Mia Farrow’s fifty two year old husband didn’t approve of the subject matter so he served her divorce papers on the set. Polanski’s wife and unborn child were later brutally murdered by cultists, causing him to start finding thirteen year olds irresistible.

Here we see some old friends. Eliza Cook Jr. visits us once again, as does that Ralph Bellamy fellow. We see a young Charles Grodin, rest in peace, but the standout performance goes to Maude herself, Ruth Gordon. She was amazing as the nosy, annoying neighbor. Who might worship Satan.

Adult life can be terrifying. Economic uncertainty, pregnancy, new situations are frightening enough without the specter of neighbor satanists with designs on your unborn child. Polanski and the source material exploits this theme expertly. The Take YouTube channel did an excellent video exploring elements of control and lack of it. Rosemary is young, frail, and pregnant, and alone in her fight. Check it out.

Rosemary’s Baby is a slow burn, and quite frankly did feel a bit long. Also, traditional horror elements are noticeably absent. The production designer called it the greatest horror film without any horror in it. While not exactly true, it’s close enough to not be wrong. But it is iconic for a reason, influencing The Exorcist, The Omen, and many others. AMRU 4.

"Shut up. You're in Dubrovnik, I don't hear you."

Death Bed: The Bed that Eats (1977)

There’s this bed, see, in an old, abandoned house. When people sleep in it, the bed eats them. Roll credits.

To be fair, the bed has a backstory and there is a conclusion, but Pulitzer Prize material it is not. This is a very low budget, very independent film that despite the amateur status proves to be quite watchable. Shot silent and dubbed in post, Death Bed is mostly an art film, narrated by a ghost behind a painting.

The film rose to fame when back in 2007 comedian Patton Oswald did a bit on it, referring to it as “The Bed that Eats People” in a comedic flourish. It was shot in 1972 and a print wasn’t stuck until 1977. There it sat until bootleg copies began circulating. It got a DVD release in 2003 and the rest is history.

Kinda interesting if mostly for it’s unusual narrative style, it is a very watchable film. It has a dreamlike quality and the most was made with amateur actors. Compare it to the bulk of the super low budget amateur films, it rises above. On the overall watchability scale, I give Death Bed an impressive AMRU 3.

Night of the Lepus (1972)

An Arizona ranch is being overrun by Lepus. Wanting to avoid the indiscriminate spraying of poison, they turn to a well-meaning scientist who injects … something … into one of the Lepus. It escapes and later that day, giant Lepus are attacking the town and killing people. What’s a Lepus? Oh, they are bunny rabbits.

That’s right, this is the famous giant rabbit horror movie, three years before The Holy Grail. How do you make bunnies terrifying? Simple. Take close up shots of real bunnies on miniature sets, slowed down and shot at a low angle. Adding fake blood and a menacing growl made them genuinely terrifying fuzzy widdle baby-boos! Who’s a fuzzy boy! You are! Yes, you are!

Yea, this didn’t work. But the low rent special effects are not the worst part. Not even close. The pacing is slow and plotting, the story underdeveloped, and the acting … oh, the acting. I would periodically check to see if this was made for TV.

Films like this follow a certain format. The monster is introduced, there are initial incidents, the people try to figure out what is going on, things escalate, a plan is formulated, and conclusion. Them!, The Blob, The Birds, Jaws, they all progress the threat while exploring the people’s reaction to it. It should come as no surprise that the movie featuring giant, murderous bunnies does this very poorly. Things just happen and people just do things. There is very little logic. I mean, considering.

So, with this low budget, poorly conceived film, how did they manage to get former A-Lister Janet Leigh? Well, it was ten years since her last big film. And it was filmed near her house. Also here is Rory Calhoun. Perhaps you remember him from such films as Rogue River, Massacre River, and River of No Return. Oh, and How to Marry a Millionaire. And hey! Look, it's Doctor McCoy! Nice to see him get work.

The studio knew this wouldn't work, keeping the bunny angle a secret. Clunky, drab, and poorly acted, the effects just may be the best part of the film. There is an environmental Silent Spring message that may have won points with some viewers, but felt out of place. And the conclusion would take those points right back. AMRU 2.

The Odd Couple (1968)

When the wife of neat freak Felix (Jack Lemmon) leaves him, he becomes suicidal, causing his poker buddies to worry. He stays with slob Oscar (Walter Matthew) while he gets over the shock. They do not get along.

It is impossible for me to separate the movie from the 1970’s TV show I watched as a kid. I will refrain from contrasting the two works except to say that it is impressive how Tony Randall and Jack Klugman successfully created a personalized but very recognizable version of the same characters.

Ostensibly, The Odd Couple is a film about men’s relationship with women. Oscar and Felix’s ex-wives, who are never seen, and the Pigeon sisters, whom they attempt to engage. Women, or the desire of them, drive much of the action. But in reality, this is a story about men’s relationship with each other. They bicker, but are genuinely concerned when one is in jeopardy. Felix and Oscar cannot stand living together, but grow close through the experience. Closer than what they can comfortably communicate.

Not laugh out loud funny, at least for me, but funny and engaging. Particularly the coo-coo Pigeon sisters, Monica Evans and Carole Shelley, who reprised their roles from the stage play and would again for the TV series. They would also play Maid Marion and Lady Kluck in the Disney version of Robin Hood, a childhood favorite of mine.

The Odd Couple depicts adult male life in a very different and in many ways more realistic way than films to that point. That’s the hallmark of stage to film adaptations. They are not the idealized manly men of some films, but men in a very recognizable and sometimes unflattering way. The crisis forces them to confront a situation they are not capable of handling very well. In the end they learn and grow, play poker, and bicker with each other. AMRU 4.

The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927)

A man calling himself The Avenger is murdering “fair haired” girls, causing panic in London. When a strange man matching his description rents a room, they begin to suspect him.

Set in current day (well, 1920’s) London, The Lodger is based on a book about Jack the Ripper. The book and the movie differ particularly in the ending in ways and for reasons that spoil. This is Hitchcock’s third film and first thriller. Having done his first two in Germany, he experimented with expressionist style to good effect.

The story centers around the husband and wife running the house, their fair haired daughter, her detective boyfriend, and of course, the lodger. Detective Joe is obsessed with catching The Avenger and doesn’t care much for this odd stranger, but pretty Daisy likes him just fine. Daisy is billed as being a “mannequin”, meaning she modeled clothes in a department store for rich people.

Hitch did his first ever cameo, and it came by accident. He didn’t hire enough extras for an early newsroom montage, so he sat in, back to the camera. A tradition is born. Assistant director and script supervisor Alma Reville had a quick cameo as well.

The expressive style and tense storytelling make The Lodger a compelling watch. The animated title cards were imaginative. One declaring Murder “Wet from the press”, which I presume to be the 1920’s London version of “Hot from the press”. But this film showed what Hitchcock could, and would eventually do. In fact, it would be years before he produced it’s equal. AMRU 4.

Tabu: A Story of the South Seas (1931)

After catching fish, young men wash off in a waterfall, as one does. Realizing that young ladies are bathing upstream, they sneak up and kidnap them. I may be misunderstanding this part of Polynesian courtship. Anyhow, a white man’s boat arrives carrying an elder from another tribe. He reads a scroll written in French. It’s unclear what it says but judging by the tonal shift in the film’s score, it does not bode well for our young kidnap victim.

Tabu is essentially a silent film with a synchronized score. There is no dialog and the only thing resembling a title card is when written words are shown on camera. I was about a third through the film that I realized turning on closed captions would translate them. The Amazon version seemed to be missing about nine minutes. A copy on youtube appears to be complete and shows translated text without resorting to closed captions. Amazon Prime fails me again.

Here "Tabu" means forbidden, but with a tribal enforcement aspect. Because pretty young Reri is promised to a powerful chief, it is Tabu for another man to express interest in her. Also, don’t dive for pearls where sharks are known to swim. Safety tip. It’s also taboo to build a house on ancient burial grounds as Directory F.W. Murnau did. This, along with his manner and how the natives were depicted, caused significant friction with the local population. He would die before the film’s release. And so it goes.

A great number of films were made exploiting the young, pretty, and topless ladies of the south seas. While I don’t think that was the intention of this film, it might be their spiritual granddaddy. That said, there isn’t a whole lot of story here. Boy kidnaps girl, girl is promised to powerful chieftain, they run away together, then face the consequences. The classic tale. More so than nudity, the film exploits their exotic otherness. See the native peoples and their strange ways. Nanook director Robert J. Flaherty, no stranger to exotic otherness, was supposed to be co-director. He quit after butting heads with Murnau.

Filmed almost thirty years prior to Hawaii’s statehood, audiences ate it up, even though the fairly sparse nudity had been edited out. Today the novelty of seeing Pacific Islanders is not a thing, so Tabu offers little for modern audiences. And, truth be told, while it is interesting, it's not that interesting. AMRU 3.

Terror by Night (1946)

A young man hires Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) to protect The Star of Rhodesia, a huge and valuable diamond, as his mother travels with it to Scotland. There is a murder, the rock is stolen, and Holmes solves the case.

I Initially watched this on Amazon Prime and found the audio and video quality to be quite poor. Five minutes also appeared to be missing. I rewatched it on Kanopy and there it was complete and the quality was significantly improved. I must remember this going forward.

Just about all of the film is set on a train, from the introduction of the case to the apprehension of the culprit. After the first murder, the action is further contained to a single car. Each compartment contains suspicious characters for our heroes (and inspector Lastrade of Scotland Yard) to question.

It has been two years since my last Sherlock film and it was high time I took steps towards finishing them. A focused setting, short run time, and interesting mystery makes Terror by Night one of the better in the series. Even on second viewing I found it fun to watch. AMRU 4, you know, because I rewatched it. Two more to go.

Ace in the Hole (1951)

Big shot reporter Chuck Tatum (Kirk Douglas) must resort to working for a small-time newspaper in Albuquerque to crawl his way back to the top. Nothing breaks for him until he stumbles upon a story he can sink his teeth into. A man is trapped in an Indian cave and Chuck manipulates the sheriff, the townsfolk, even the man’s wife (Jan Sterling) to turn the story into a personal gold mine.

O’ll Chuck may be our main character but he is not a good guy. He is unabashed in his ambition to exploit a bad situation. He even brings the cub reporter along for the ride. Still, I found myself rooting for him a bit. But as he transitions from taking advantage of a desperate situation to taking control, his truer nature is revealed.

Sterling was no stranger to genre pictures, but this was a rare leading role for her. She played the self-involved ditz pretty well. Frank Cady played an early arrival at Chuck’s carnival. He was a recognizable character actor in many films, but will forever be remembered as Sam Drucker from Green Acres. It’s the place to be.

Native peoples are featured, somewhat in the background, but respectfully considering the day. Chuck calls a native man ‘chief’ but this informs us of Chuck’s character. That native was Iron Eyes Cody himself, the litter-hating Indian from my youth. Keep America Beautiful. His real name was Espera DeCorti. Speaking of bit parts, Timothy Carey may have had a bit part as a construction worker. It is unconfirmed. Remember him from Kubrick’s The Killing and Paths of Glory. He was a weirdo.

Ace in the Hole takes a bleak, cynical look at human nature. Chuck is the circus ring leader, but almost everyone is willing to jump through his hoops. Maybe not quite as much ironically hilarious dialog as one expects from Billy Wilder, but it is among his more important films. AMRU 4.

“Bad news sells best. ‘Cause good news is no news.”

I Was a Male War Bride (1949)

Cary Grant is French Captain Henri Rochard with a Cary Grant accent. He goes on one last mission and for the purposes of the story needs an American WAC to come along. That woman is Lieutenant Catherine Gates (Ann Sheridan), with whom they’ve had a troubled personal history. Details there are scarce. After implausibly falling in love, they face difficulties getting him into the US.

The film begins with Grant being chauffeured across a bombed out German city with up-beat and patriotic music playing in the background. The language barrier is played for laughs. This scene may not have bothered me had I not recently watched films like Two Women and Bicycle Thieves. Here, the consequence of war is that America is strong, rich, and happy. I can no longer ignore the other consequences.

Part one has our heroes looking for a German black marketeer named Schindler to convince him to move to Paris for some reason. In actuality, it is about our two heroes bumbling around, getting into predicaments, and expressing hate and distrust for each other. Through the power of a haystack, they fall in love.

Director Howard Hawks cast the supporting characters as he saw fit so the 52 year old chose his nineteen year old girlfriend. I’m not sure how much better an inappropriate relationship is than a casting couch, but here we are. The production was beset with illness, with Sheridan coming down with pleurisy and Grant contracting hepatitis, appearing visibly thinner in the second half.

The title refers to the plot point that while there is a process for a male soldier to bring a war bride back to America, there is not for a female soldier bringing home a foreign husband. I’m curious how true this is. They designate him a war ‘bride’ and hilarity is expected to ensue. To be fair, there was one joke that made me laugh out loud. It involves a sign post written in German, but much of the rest wasn’t very inspired. They bicker, there are misunderstandings, things go wrong for him, stuff like that. It’s “funny because it happens to somebody else” type comedy but it doesn’t work because Cary Grant is our hero. Well, my hero.

Grant called I was a Male War Bride one of the best comedies he had done. While it’s not his worst, it is far from his best. He and Ann Sheridan had little chemistry and their predicaments were mostly unfunny. I feel I am being generous by giving it an AMRU 3.

The Misfits (1961)

A divorced hot chick (Marilyn Monroe) and her landlady (Thelma Ritter) meet up with a tow truck driver (Eli Wallach) and his cowboy friend (Clark Gable). They later swap out the landlady for a troubled ranch hand (Montgomery Clift), then go rustling Mustangs. They all fall over Marilyn while she falls out of her dress.

Clark Gable was 59 going on 109 and would pass just after filming wrapped. He had said that working with Marilyn was going to give him a heart attack and, well, it seems he was right. He got in shape for the roll, quitting booze and losing weight, but too little, too late. There was a doctor on call but it was for the troubled Monroe and Clift. This would also prove to be Marilyn’s last film, dying of a semi-accidental drug overdose a year and a half later. Of the five principles, only Eli Wallach would see 1970, leaving us in 2014 at 98.

Maybe because he wasn’t playing the romantic lead, I liked Montgomery Clift’s performance. He played a neurotic, self-destructive cowboy. A role I suppose he could relate to. Except for the cowboy part. I’ll again repeat Marilyn’s quote about him: "the only person I know who is in worse shape than I am".

Not what I was expecting. There is a whole lot of ogling of Marilyn to the point where it seems to serve the dual purpose of making a point and appealing to men who like ogling Marilyn. She was 34 or 35 here and still effectively playing the 20-something bombshell, if maybe carrying a bit more weight than normal. It was said that they suspended production for two weeks so she could detox but that may have been a ruse to cover director John Huston’s gambling losses.

The four main characters (excluding Ritter’s landlady) are trying to figure out where they fit in. The aging cowboy out of touch in the new west, the tow truck driver dealing with the dead wife he worshiped, the young ranch hand not sure where he is going in life, and of course the divorcee who based her identity on the men who want her. You know, Misfits. They seem to come to terms with their issues, but it is not altogether clear.

The Misfits is an interesting film. Here we say goodbye to two icons of classic Hollywood. However I don’t know what to make of the overt “male gaze” aspect of the film. It felt very intentional. I may not see it again, but I do find myself thinking about it. AMRU 3.5.

"Honey, we all got to go sometime, reason or no reason. Dyin's as natural as livin'. The man who's too afraid to die is too afraid to live."

Two Women (1960)

 A strong willed woman (Sophia Loren) and her delicate daughter flee Rome during World War II to escape the constant bombing. They face difficulties.

There is a much talked about incident, leading many to believe it’s the inciting incident around which the story revolves. In reality, it occurs in the third act and is just one of many trials the two women endure. Many readers know what I am referring to but for spoiler reasons I will comment no more about it.

Twenty-five year old Sophia was deemed too young to play Cesira, feisty mother of a twelve year old, but she pulled it off, earning her a well-deserved Best Actress Oscar. Eleonora Brown played young Rosetta. It’s easy to assume she was much older than her character, but she was twelve during filming. Jean-Paul Belmondo looked familiar and I was surprised to learn that he was the lead in Breathless, released earlier that year. Very different roles.

The story is really about the Italian people and what they faced during the war, caught between a cruel fascist government and allied bombs. Life is chaotic, desperate, and bleak. Not an aspect of the war we are used to seeing here. But an important story. Somewhat hard to watch in parts, but an excellent piece of storytelling. AMRU 4.

Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958)

Or, “A Woman Scorned, 1950’s edition”

Harry Archer likes to hang around bars with floozies (Yvette Vickers) and this causes his wife Nancy to fly off in a rage. You see, despite his lecherous ways, she still loves him. Problem is, he doesn’t and because she's loaded, he can’t divorce her or he won’t get a cent. A solution presents itself when she returns hysterical with talk about seeing a thirty foot man in a “satellite”. Sanitarium-bound she is. Problem is, there actually IS a thirty foot man in a “satellite”. At some point she grows very tall, maybe fifty feet, who’s to say.

Side note: this was during the Sputnik hysteria, which the media described as a satellite. Not knowing what that meant, the screenwriter assumed it referred to all spherical spacecraft. Sci-Fi as a second language. Additionally, while the height of the man in the “satellite” is mentioned, poor Nancy’s is not. When standing next to a building, thirty appears to be a better estimate.  I don’t know this but I think the film was titled after it was in the can. I suppose Attack of the 30 Foot Woman wasn’t quite as dramatic.

But talk about following through with your promises. There is a woman, of some unnatural yet undetermined height, who (spoiler alert) does attack. Valley of the Zombies, this is not. Most of the film is personal drama. Harry and Floozie plot ways to prove poor Nancy crazy and such, and the actors (with the exception of the comic-relief deputy) take the material very seriously. This raises the level of the product somewhat and makes it a much more enjoyable watch. But make no mistake. This is not a good film.

Not having the money to do adequate special effects is one thing. Not having the money to hire someone who knows how to do special effects at all is quite another. The “satellite” and giants are translucent, proportions of both are wildly wrong, and Nancy’s oversized hand just may be the single worst prop in film history. Also, when Nancy goes large, she looks completely different. This is the film’s legacy.

Not that I think the filmmakers gave any thought to message, I do wonder what the ending meant. Nancy, now a giant, blond, and wearing a bikini she picked up somewhere, saunters into town looking for Harry. (Ok, that's another problem. Vengeful giants don't 'saunter'!) One hot take I heard painted her as the villain, but I don’t buy this. Harry was never depicted as sympathetic and his fate was retribution for his sins. My question is, however, is Nancy looking for Harry for revenge or because she wants him back? A case can be made for either conclusion. Surprisingly deep for a straight to drive-in flick.

In the end, Attack of the 50 foot Woman is amusing, well paced, interesting, and appropriately brief. I have no intention on exploring all of the many goofs this film presents. Look to YouTube for that. I say give it a watch. It's fun. AMRU 3.5.

Grey Gardens (1975)

Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter (also Edith Bouvier Beale) were the socialite aunt and cousin of Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis. Still living in Grey Gardens, their dilapidated East Hampton mansion, they talk about their life, past and present.

Not a pretty picture. Big Edie is obese and bedridden, with trash and filth strewn about. She emotionally manipulates her daughter to keep her around. Little Edie isn’t all there. At 56 she thinks of herself as a child. She wears pinned bathrobes and imagines it the latest fashion, talks about someday getting married, and puts on song and dance numbers. It’s hard to watch.

So we have two codependent people, talking over each other, living in squalor, remembering life of high society while flies and raccoons slowly take over the house. They are not well. It's hard not to feel sorry for them but at the same token, they had everything and became a product of their choices. Raccoons have gotten into the attic and Little Edie goes up there and dumps an entire loaf of white bread and a whole box of cat food right on the floor. These are not wise decisions.

Little Edie attended the film’s premiere (wearing her dress backwards) and was reportedly quite proud of it. But I wonder how it was received by their society kin. Certainly they knew the situation. I have not found an interview that discusses that.

Grey Gardens is not easy to watch. There is no real narrative here. Just, “look at these people”. There is a cringe factor at work, but it feels nothing but authentic. And that authenticity makes all the cringier. Still, this is what happens to some people, be they from rich and fancy families or not. I saw a sizable piece of it a few years ago and knew I wanted to cover it, but I had a hard time convincing myself to actually watch it. It is a landmark of documentary filmmaking and truly remarkable, but I know I will never be watching it again. AMRU 3.

The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek (1943)

 A young woman (Betty Hutton) wants to give departing servicemen a proper send-off, but her old fashioned dad (William Demarest) won’t have it. So, she uses the town dork (Eddie Bracken) as an alibi to get out of the house. She ditches him and doesn’t return until morning with no memory, and apparently married. And worse. She needs to further manipulate her dork friend to fix things.

A fan of Preston Sturges, I’ve long wanted to see this film and was happy when TCM finally ran it. When I started watching, I realized that I had seen at least part of it. By the time it was over, I realized that I had seen all of it. Recently. Now, this has happened before, but only to films I wasn’t particularly interested in and proved to be forgettable. This is a film that was on my radar for a long time and I truly enjoyed. I have no explanation. Does anyone else smell toast?

Norvel and Trudy, the two main characters, are charmingly ditzy. Betty was a rising star at the time and Eddie was an established comic actor, and they had good chemistry together. Unusual for comedies, there are long tracking shots of the two and the performances were spot on. Betty would go on to star in the second-worst best picture winner ever. William Demarest played the William Demarest character.

While the antics and performances are quite enjoyable, it’s a rather depressing story when you think about it. I can’t explain lest I spoil, so I will leave it there. The Miracle of Morgan's Creek is a charming, well written, funny film with some excellent performances. It was a huge success and I'm quite shocked it got past the censors. AMRU 4.

Woman in the Moon (1929)

Crazy and disgraced college professor clings to his theory that there is gold in the mountains of the moon. One of his former students is in a position to actually go and find out. He’d bring his bestest buddy but it seems that our hero is the odd man out in a love triangle. Also, Evil Corp will stop at nothing to make sure the plan proceeds to their direction.

I started this film years ago but for reasons lost to time I did not finish it. I remember that it was pretty long but a quick check on IMDb says it was just over an hour and a half. Not too bad, so I started it. I became suspicious when I hit the hour twenty mark and had yet to see a spaceship. Apparently there are many edits of this film and TCM ran the director’s cut, reaching almost three hours. I had a three day intermission.

Silent film storytelling takes a while to get used to and I don’t know I would have been able to appreciate this film when I first attempted it. Fritz Lang is a master storyteller at the height of his abilities. But man, the pacing. He needs to communicate that the disgraced professor is poor and disgraced. The angry protagonist is angry. The evil antagonist is evil. The lovely love interest is … lovely, I guess. And he does. But once he hits his message, he needs to move on. But no, he just keeps hammering the point.

Many characters are introduced but there are five or six main people. The crazy old professor is pretty crazy and the primary comedic element. The antagonist has a very Hitler feel about him. Gerda Maurus plays the object of affection that motivates the sub-plot. She was weird looking. In real life, she was having an affair with director Fritz Lang. But before you feel too sorry for his screenwriter wife, know that when Fritz fled Germany after the Nazi’s took power, she stayed behind to make propaganda films.

Women in the Moon appears to be the first ever in the ‘saucer and spaceship’ subgenre. It was well researched and got a lot of things right. It got some wrong, but hey, a lot happened over the next four decades. It is important and well made. But man, it could use a little tightening. AMRU 3.5.

Marnie (1964)

A troubled woman (Tippi Hedren) robs her company, then jumps to a new job. Also, she is terrified of storms, the color red, and the embrace of a man. At her new job she catches the eye of the company president (Sean Connery). Can his machismo solve all of her problems?

Hey, look! It’s Alan Napier, Batman’s Alfred! He pops up in a number of films. Also here is a very young Mariette Hartley. I was unaware she was an actress. I thought she had a career simply as a guest on other people’s talk shows. She was quite pretty. A young Bruce Dern makes a small appearance.

I considered Marnie as part of Hitchcock’s continued slide after his masterpiece, but TCM introduced it as a film being reevaluated as a masterpiece itself. Maybe I dismissed Tippi’s acting talents too quickly after The Birds. So, clean slate. Is this a gem waiting to be rediscovered?

Nope. Hedren’s acting limitations stand out much more clearly in this very complex role. Especially next to Connery, who seems miscast. Showing all the smug confidence of his more famous role, it is hard to imagine him willing to risk it all for a profoundly damaged person. And, at best, the third most attractive woman in the film.

Hitchcock does well what Hitchcock does well, make no mistake. But at best Marnie is an uneven film with an uninteresting story. Full of pop psychology, poor acting, and a screeching score, it failed to charm me. And Connery’s Rutland “taking what’s his” scene does not age well. AMRU 2.5.

I Married a Monster from Outer Space (1958)

A woman marries a man who turns out to be a Monster from Outer Space. Spoiler alert.

What may have been intended as a by-the-numbers drive-in horror flick turned out to be something slightly better. Pretty Marge (pretty Gloria Talbott) is the focus of the story as she realizes she doesn’t know the man she married. This channels the fear of many newlyweds who truly don’t know their partner prior to tying the knot. But in this case it’s because, as previously mentioned, he’s a Monster from Outer Space.

Once her fears are confirmed she tries to get help, but few people are willing to take her seriously. Women, am I right? Always not being taken seriously by men. Here the plot dips slightly into Invasion of the Body Snatchers territory.

There are a few points that puzzled me. How well does the alien … sorry, the Monster from Outer Space understand human culture? How well does it understand it’s human target? Did the newlyweds … you know … do it? Their plan is pretty vague.

I Married a Monster from Outer Space is far from a good movie. The acting, cinematography, and creature effects are pretty good considering the budget and genre, but the story can be a little slow, nonsensical, and slightly lacking in horror. Also, equipment shadows are frequently noticeable. It is what it is, which isn’t altogether bad. Thanks for the recommendation, Jerome. AMRU 3.

Playtime (1967)

Monsieur Hulot (Jacques Tati) visits Paris and goes to a trade show, visits an old army buddy, and attends the grand opening of a fancy restaurant. There’s a tour bus from America there as well. Visual comedy ensues.

Playtime is commentary on modern life. According to director Tati, the star of the movie is the decor. Hugely elaborate set pieces were constructed for the film in an absurdist modern style. They will feel familiar to today’s office dweller. Lots of plate glass, door handles you are unsure if you should pull or push, poorly sized and uncomfortable chairs. A scene at a travel agency has posters of various destinations showing iconic images with the stupid modern office building blocking the view.

Except for the small amount of English dialog, the film is subtitled. Not that it needed to be. It is visual comedy in the style of silent films. It is the third of four Monsieur Hulot movies made by Tati and by far the most ambitious. And it was a commercial flop. The reasons vary. It wasn’t the Hulot-focused story audiences wanted, the anti-modernist theme was more prescient years earlier when the film was developed, it was only shown in theaters equipped with 70 mm projectors. The end result is Tati was in debt for many years and audiences slowly recognized it as a masterpiece.

Filmed entirely in long shots, one sometimes is not sure where to focus their eyes. Second and third viewings will likely reveal details missed the first time. But there is essentially no narrative story. Just a series of visual gags that happen over the course of the day. I do not know how it differs from the other Hulot films and I am curious to find out. But truth be told I did not love Playtime as much as I had hoped. It's reputation preceded I sought it out specifically. It was amusing and visually interesting, but I didn't LOVE-love it. AMRU 3.5.

The Ladykillers (1955)

Pretending to be musicians, a gang of thieves rent a room from a little old lady (Katie Johnson) and plan their heist. Things don’t go as planned.

Quite unintentionally, this is the third black comedy I’ve hit recently. Leader Obi Wan (Alec Guinness) hatches a complicated plan and puts all of the pieces in place, including their charming landlady. The producers balked at casting the 76 year old Johnson and hired a younger actress, who died prior to filming. And so it goes.

A young and somewhat hard to recognize Peter Sellers appears in what he called his first ‘real’ film. He idolized Alec Guinness, who was insecure about his role. Originally intended for Alastair Sim, Guinness did a better than fair impersonation of him. Herbert Lom played another thug and would go on to co-star with Sellers in the Pink Panther series.

I suppose this falls into the ‘caper gone wrong’ subgenre and the plan was quite ingenious. I had watched the remake and it stands as the only Coen Brothers movie that disappointed me. As for the original, it was amusing, clever, and interesting to the finish. AMRU 4.

7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964)

Stereotype rich bad man (Arthur O’Connell) tries to buy out a small town in the old(ish) west (got to do with where the choo-choo go), stereotype underdog (John Ericson) tries to stop him while wooing stereotype hot spinster (Barbara Eden) for the obligatory romance angle, when they are visited by a strange man (Tony Randall) in stereotype Chinese makeup.

Dr. Lao runs a circus and despite having bigger concerns, the entire town attends. There they learn the lessons of community, the folly of greed, and the necessity of catching a man. Tony Randall plays all seven characters (Chinese stereotype, tiny abominable snowman, Merlin, Greek fortune teller, Pan, snake, and sexy sexy Medusa). The role was intended for Peter Sellers for obvious reasons. Randall’s Dr. Lao falls in and out of accent, making one doubt that he is who he appears.

Produced and directed by sci-fi legend George Pal (War of the Worlds, The Time Machine), 7 Faces wasn’t a financial success. A sequel was announced but never produced. Pal would go on to produce only two more films and never direct again.

There are quite a few interesting character actors here, but I want to mention Lee Patrick. She had a small role in Vertigo but she is memorable as Sam Spade’s secretary in The Maltese Falcon. Here she is memorable as a vain busibody. Also here is Noah Beery Jr, son of Noah Beery and nephew of Wallace Beery. Combined they have appeared in 429 films of which I’ve seen six. He will always be Jim Rockford’s dad to me.

Randall’s characterization  does not age well, but it is hard to know what to make of it. Is he mocking the townsfolk with his over the top accent? Does that even matter? Maybe it’s no Mr. Yunioshi but in no way could you describe his depiction as ‘respectful’.

7 Faces of Dr. Lao isn’t original in many ways except for the fantastical Dr. Lao character and events. It's a pleasant, silly fantasy that is fun to watch, so long you can forgive the obvious. AMRU 3.

The Trouble with Harry (1955)

A retired sea captain (Edmund Gwenn) is out hunting when he discovers the dead body of a stranger he presumes to have accidentally shot. Not wanting trouble, he tries to hide the body. Unfortunately this corner of the forest gets many visitors today, some of which also feel responsibility.

It is said to be Hitchcock’s second comedy, but several of his early films are labeled as such. Either way, this is the first Hitchcock comedy I’ve seen. It was an experiment to see how audiences would react to a film without big stars. Lukewarm was the answer but that may have had more to do with the unexpected tone from The Master of Suspense. More of a dark comedy, there are few real laughs.

The film gives Shirley MacLaine an “introducing” credit which is strange as six year old Jerry Mathers didn’t. He, of course, had already done a fair bit of film and television by that time. The main protagonist was starving artist Sam (John Forsythe) who to me is Charlie of Angels fame. Known mostly for television, he also did a fair number of films.

Nobody feels sorry for dead Harry. And as the story progresses, we learn that we shouldn’t shed too many tears for him. This is key to the comedy. His inconvenient body is dragged around with little regard. Along the way we have not one but two obligatory Hollywood romances, with Santa Gwenn making time with the “well preserved” spinster Gravely. It was downright uncomfortable when the two male leads mention how no man had ever “crossed her threshold”. Well preserved, indeed.

Filmed in VistaVision, The Trouble with Harry looks fantastic. The exteriors were filmed in Vermont but most of the action was filmed on a Hollywood sound stage. They imported boxes of fall leaves. This is a surprising, pleasant diversion. A film I would not have even heard of had it not been for one YouTuber. AMRU 3.5.

“Yes, very well preserved. And preserves have to be opened, some day.”

The Gorilla (1939)

A rich man (Lionel Atwill) in a spooky mansion receives a note saying he will be killed by The Gorilla. He hires the worst detectives in the world to protect him, but is there more going on here?

The Ritz (or Joachim) Brothers were something of a poor man’s Marx Brothers. While prolific in their day, they never saw the same success. They appeared in fourteen films over eight years. If that sounds impressive, consider that their first twelve were released within four years. They used to just stamp these things out back then.

Unlike the Marx Brothers, however, some of their films were not purely Ritz Brother’s vehicles. Instead, the boys acted as comic relief in someone else’s film. And if The Gorilla is any indication, they were also unfunny. What was their comedy like? Think Huntz Hall from The Bowery Boys, with a touch of Shemp Howard, times three. Their jokes were mainly being dumb and doing the exaggerated delayed reaction gag. You know the one.

Luckily the film does not rely on the Brothers. Patsy Kelly, playing a domestic, was quite amusing. Atwill brought significant gravity to his role. Bela Lugosi was kinda wasted as the creepy butler. Peter Lorre, originally intended for the role, might have been a better fit. There was a lot going on with his character that was never explored.

At its core The Gorilla is a spooky mansion mystery/comedy with an ape fetish. The comedy is what it is, and the mystery element does not hold up at all. The filmmakers wanted to pull a twist on an already twisted ending, but none of it made any sense. I don’t think it matters as the audiences were likely checked out of that part of the story.

I shouldn't judge the boys too harshly. This is their lowest rated film. But I think I watched this film out of fear that someone would find out I liked the Marx Brothers, ask if I ever saw a Ritz Brothers film, and I would have to say no. Now I can say yes. Watchable with an occasional giggle. AMRU 2.5.