The Black Cat (1941)

The matriarch of a vast estate is nearing death and her greedy heirs gather to get their share, and maybe help her along. Into this our hero (Broderick Crawford) arrives with a batty antiques dealer (Hugh Herbert) in hopes of making some scratch himself.

Many of the old dark house tropes are on display, including the mysterious last will and testament, secret passages, a crypt, and creepy staff (Bela Lugosi). Creepy atmosphere, however, is undermined by the comedic tone, specifically from Herbert’s Mr Penny character. He would be the comic relief character had there been any tension to cut.

Herbert was a popular comedian of the 30’s and 40’s, and his likeness and distinct mannerisms were lifted by Warner Brothers cartoons. His distinct “hoo-hoo-hoo” was copied by Daffy Duck and inspired Curly Howard’s signature “woo-woo”. Basil Rathbone appears as one of the unpleasant heirs, as does Alan Ladd, whose career was just taking off. Some may remember today’s hero (Crawford) as the heavy in Born Yesterday.

Our hero enters the story uninvited with money as his motivator (and perhaps a little romance), is repeatedly told to leave, and somehow stays around sleuthing for clues. More than a little strange, it’s an awkward story contrivance that could have been addressed at least in part.

The Black Cat shares a title with the Poe story and little else. It’s only a fair mystery because of the precious few clues leading to the villain. Not much of a mystery, not much of a comedy, not at all horror, but somehow watchable. Consider the vastly superior Cat and the Canary instead. AMRU 3. I feel generous.

“Everything here is for the cats, which is why this place is going to the dogs.”

2024 Retrospective

I, like many old people, subscribe to cable. It's what we do. I record things, mostly from Turner Classic Movies, to watch when the mood strikes me. I don’t hoard them. I delete after viewing, but I record faster than I can watch. Much faster. This problem was occasionally “solved” when my rental DVR would crap the bed and I would have to start over. When my cable provider offered me a “cloud” DVR option, I jumped on it.

I didn’t want my year end wrap-up to be a rant, but here we are. On November 12th my cable provider sent an email exclaiming “Your Cloud DVR is getting a future-forward upgrade”. A consequence of this upgrade is that “Content recorded before August‌ 11 will be removed as part of this update”. The benefits of the upgrade, however, are that “Any content recorded after August ‌11 will remain available to you” and “we’re excited about the improvements this update will bring”, so I have that. This mass deletion was scheduled for December 11. Already angry that films were being deleted one year after record, which was not disclosed when I upgraded, I called to complain. That resulted in bupkis.

When the mass deletions did not occur, I was cautiously optimistic. But on January 8th, Cox Communications fulfilled their promise. I had binged a few films before the deadline, but ignoring the films that had already expired, I lost about forty films. Some that TCM seldom runs.

I could, in the future, prioritize films that are approaching the one year mark, and re-record when available, but the only channel I give a crap about is TCM. Paying for a full suite of channels for one doesn’t make sense. There is no streaming equivalent. There is YouTube TV, but they also expire films, sometimes faster than one year. Also their user interface is aggressively terrible.

But one thing I can count on is that this will happen again. Cox Communications hates their customers. About six or seven years ago a truck caught and yanked down overhead wires, cable and power both. Three or four houses lost service. Verizon got my neighbors back online within hours. Several calls to Cox resulted in several promises to have some out there soon. When nobody ever showed, I learned they had no record of my calls and I would be down for the weekend. One ass insisted he could send a signal to my cable box despite the cable lying in the street. At least they promised to prorate my bill for one week. They didn’t, but they promised to.

I realize nobody wants to read all this, but almost literally nobody reads the blog at all. I paired the rant down from ten paragraphs. Anyhow, my favorite movie this year was either The Last of Sheila or The Bad and the Beautiful (another reason to hate the selection of The Greatest Show). The worst was High Society, which was just dumb. Two best pictures, one silent film, one foreign language film, two musicals, three Westerns, and four Christmas films. Changes are ahead.

What Else I Watched, 2024Q4

For October I rewatched The Little Shop of Horrors (1960) then saw Little Shop of Horrors (1986) for the very first time. The Roger Corman film was adapted into an off-broadway musical In the early 80’s, then later adapted for this film and changed quite a bit along the way. I was pretty lukewarm on the first film and was again here. I didn’t love the musical remake as much as I hoped. I liked elements of it. Ellen Greene was spot on as Audrey. Rest in peace, Jonathan Haze.

I also rewatched Carnival of Souls (1962), which was fine. I gave it a four last time, and I will leave it there.

Wicked Little Letters (2023) is loosely based on a true story of a woman who was falsely accused in 1920 of mailing profanity-laden letters to a respected family in a small English village. I remember enjoying it but little else. I gave it a 7 on IMDb, so 3.5?

It’s been eight years since I watched The Bishop’s Wife (1947). I liked it fine back then, saying it was “quality holiday fare” and had “humor and heart”. On second viewing, I think I liked it even better. I’ll give it a 4 out of 5 this time around.

A Christmas Story (1983) is still charming and amusing and a must-watch Christmas movie, but I don’t know if it’s at the must-watch-every-season level. Like Carnival of Souls, a bit of the shine seems to have come off.

From Darkness to Light (2023) is a documentary about Jerry Lewis’ troubled production of The Day the Clown Cried. Long story short, the studio lost faith in the production, the producers failed to renew the rights to the story, and the existing footage was both praised and condemned by Lewis himself. The shoot was not complete, there is no final edit, no adaptation rights, and we may never see it. If Harry Shearer is to be believed, maybe that is a good thing. Fascinating watch. AMRU 4.

I first and last saw It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) fifteen years ago, when I called it a “Well made, satisfying movie”. I will revise that by saying it’s the best Christmas movie ever. Ironically, the climax was far more impactful the second time around. I will up my rating from 3.5 to 4.5, and my IMDb score to 9/10. I am looking forward to seeing it again next season.

Eight off-brand films a quarter isn't too bad, I suppose, but it was feast or famine for me. Three were in October and four in December. And truth be told, I haven't watched anything since. Happy nother year.

Penny Serenade (1941)

Julie (Irene Dunne) announces that she is leaving her husband Roger (Cary Grant) because they don’t need each other anymore. While looking through her record collection, she reminisces about their life together, the good times and the bad.

Dorothy Adams is a familiar face, memorable as Laura’s maid. Character actress Beulah Bondi also made a thirty year career playing old ladies, including It’s a Wonderful Life, which I rewatched this season. And if It’s a Wonderful Life is sappy done right, Penny Serenade is sappy done wrong. Starting in the second act the sentiment is poured on fairly thick, and it only got worse.

This was Grant’s first of two competitive Oscar nominations. He was up against Gary Cooper as Sergeant York, so he had no chance here. I never saw None But the Lonely Heart, so I don’t know what chance he had against Bing Crosby.

Penny Serenade is a tiresome watch. Grant is always entertaining, though I prefer when he doesn’t play an idiot. The story isn't very compelling, but it’s the sentimentality that ruins it for me. AMRU 2.5.