FilmWeViews.com » black and white

Horse Feathers

GroovyMovieGuy — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 21:51:29 +0000

The Marx Brothers go to college in “Horse Feathers,” but not with honors. This movie is more like a series of sketches rather than an evolving plot.
Prof. Quincy Adams Wagstaff (Groucho Marx) becomes head of Huxtable College which his son Frank (Zeppo Marx) attends. The new president decides this backwater school needs to set its priorities straight and build a winning football team. Pinky (Harpo Marx) and Baravelli (Chico Marx) participate in a wild plot to recruit, then kidnap their opponent’s top players.
The famous speakeasy password (swordfish) scene with Groucho and Chico is a comedy classic. Another highlight of the film is Chico’s piano playing while pretending to be a music teacher. (68 min.)

Unrated - 1932

Director:
Norman Z. McLeod

Starring:
Groucho Marx
Harpo Marx
Chico Marx
Zeppo Marx
Thelma Todd
David Landau

Writers:
Bert Kalmar
Harry Ruby
S.J. Perelman
Will B. Johnstone

Lauren Bacall’s famous line from ‘To Have and Have Not’

movieMoll — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 12:45:03 +0000

Bogey and Bacall made cinematic history. Every fan of classic movies knows Lauren Bacall’s line to Humphrey Bogart’s character: “You know how to whistle, don’t you, Steve?”

Shall We Dance

movieMoll — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 16:39:04 +0000

Of the 10 Astaire-Rogers movie pairings, “Swing Time” has the best of the duo’s dance numbers and this film, “Shall We Dance,” has the best songs. Not surprising since it features tunes that George and Ira Gershwin wrote specifically for long-time friend Fred Astaire. Highlights include “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off,” noting the couple’s differing pronunciations of ‘either’ and ‘potato,’ and “You Can’t Take That Away from Me.” Usual silly plot features Astaire as ballet dance master Petrov, an American with the worst-ever fake Russian accent, and Rogers as Linda Keene, a musical revue star. A love-struck Petrov pursues Keene. Ironically, their budding romance is complicated by the fact that everyone else thinks they are already married. Edward Everett Horton is onboard again as Petrov’s manager, as is Eric Blore as a hotel manager. The comic chemistry between Horton and Blore is as enjoyable as the chemistry between the two leads. Best Fred and Ginger dance number in this one is performed on roller skates. (109 min.)

Unrated - 1937

Starring:
Fred Astaire
Ginger Rogers
Edward Everett Horton
Eric Blore
Jerome Cowan
Ketti Gallian
William Brisbane
Harriet Hoctor

Director:
Mark Sandrich

Writers:
Harold Buchman (story)
Lee Loeb (story)
Ernest Pagano (screenplay)
Allan Scott (screenplay)
P.J. Wolfson (screenplay)

Shall We Dance

GroovyMovieGuy — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 16:36:08 +0000

It’s the classic Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movie plot, this time spanning from Paris to New York with a cruise ship in between. “Shall We Dance” includes two of my favorite Astaire and Rogers dance scenes. In the first scene, the two are unexpectedly brought together for a dance that is light, fun and looks impromptu. The second features the two on roller skates. They even tap dance on skates. Now that’s impressive.
Reoccurring actors in the Astaire/Rogers series, Edward Everett Horton and Eric Blore, bring their usual counterpoint to the majors’ roles. They engage in one of cinema’s finest “shushing” scenes during a ballet that proves the difficulty of a performance does not equal it’s merit in grace or artistry.
Not only is this possibly the best of the ten Astaire/Rogers movies, it has one of the best soundtracks. The score was written by George Gershwin with lyrics by Ira Gershwin. Great songs include “They All Laughed (at Christopher Columbus), “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off,” and “They Can’t Take That Away From Me.” (109 min.)

Unrated - 1937

Starring:
Fred Astaire
Ginger Rogers
Edward Everett Horton
Eric Blore
Jerome Cowan
Ketti Gallian
William Brisbane
Harriet Hoctor

Director:
Mark Sandrich

Writers:
Harold Buchman (story)
Lee Loeb (story)
Ernest Pagano (screenplay)
Allan Scott (screenplay)
P.J. Wolfson (screenplay)

Charlie Chan at the Opera

GroovyMovieGuy — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 19:47:26 +0000

A classic from the famous “Chinese” detective, “Charlie Chan at the Opera” is one of the best of the series. Boris Karloff’s character is an excellent foil to Chan played by Warner Oland.
If you watch it late at night, you’ll want to stay awake to the end. That won’t take too long. The bad guy is bagged in just over an hour. (68 min.)
The DVD watched has an interesting bonus feature, “Charlie Chan’s Lucky Director: H. Bruce Humberstone.” The feature takes a short look into the director’s life and Hollywood politics.

1937 - Unrated

Starring:
Warner Oland
Boris Karloff
Keye Luke
William Demarest
Guy Usher
Margaret Irving
Gregory Gaye
Nedda Harrigan
Charlotte Henry

Director:
H. Bruce Humberstone

Writers:
Charles Belden
Scott Darling
Bess Meredyth (story

Suddenly

movieMoll — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 17:54:15 +0000

In this taut 1954 thriller, the leader of the Rat Pack plays a real rat. Cold-blooded killer Johnny Baron (Frank Sinatra) and his band of guns for hire take a household hostage in the sleepy town of Suddenly, Calif., so they can use the hilltop residence as a vantage point to shoot the President of the United States. The clock ticks minute by minute to the president’s arrival at the train station below. Frayed nerves unravel as injured Sheriff Tod (Sterling Hayden) matches wits with Baron, waiting for a chance to take the bad guys out while protecting the hostages. (75 min.)

Not Rated - 1954

Starring:
Frank Sinatra
Sterling Hayden
James Gleason
Nancy Gates
Willis Bouchey
Kim Charney
James O’Hara
Paul Frees
Christopher Dark
Paul Wexler

Director:
Lewis Allen

Writer:
Richard Sale

Suddenly

GroovyMovieGuy — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 17:51:53 +0000

Frank Sinatra plays a thug who proves that a gun doesn’t make a man a man. Sterling Hayden plays a sheriff who shows that it’s the character of the man behind a gun that makes him a man – especially when protecting others. “Suddenly” has suspense, action and about all the 1950s’ era flag waving that can fit into a little more than an hour. Even with the cliches, it’s a pretty good flick where real men and The American Way prevail. (75 min.)

Not Rated - 1954

Starring:
Frank Sinatra
Sterling Hayden
James Gleason
Nancy Gates
Willis Bouchey
Kim Charney
James O’Hara
Paul Frees
Christopher Dark
Paul Wexler

Director:
Lewis Allen

Writer:
Richard Sale

The Stranger

movieMoll — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 13:37:48 +0000

They don’t come much stranger than Orson Welles, who is well-cast as a creepy Nazi war criminal hiding out in small-town America. He has managed to blend in seamlessly with the locals until he’s ferreted out by Nazi hunter Edward G. Robinson, who’s playing the good guy for a change. As director, Welles does a masterful job of casting sinister shadows — literally and figuratively — over an idyllic New England town. (95 minutes)

Not rated - 1946

Edward G. Robinson
Loretta Young
Orson Welles
Philip Merivale
Richard Long
Konstantin Shayne
Byron Keith
Billy House
Martha Wentworth

Director:
Orson Welles

Writers:
Anthony Veiller (screenplay)
Victor Trivas (adaptation)
Decla Dunning (adaption)
Victor Trivis (story)

The Stranger

GroovyMovieGuy — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 13:31:36 +0000

A Nazi gets his clock cleaned in this post-war classic of suspense and noir. Although it drags a bit and there’s a lot more suspense than action, “The Stranger” offers a good evening’s worth of diversion. Edward G. Robinson and Orson Welles are at the top of their game. As one would expect in a Welles movie, the attention to detail in photography and sound is well done. (95 minutes)

Not rated - 1946

Edward G. Robinson
Loretta Young
Orson Welles
Philip Merivale
Richard Long
Konstantin Shayne
Byron Keith
Billy House
Martha Wentworth

Director:
Orson Welles

Writers:
Anthony Veiller (screenplay)
Victor Trivas (adaptation)
Decla Dunning (adaption)
Victor Trivis (story)

The Thirteenth Guest

movieMoll — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 16:15:38 +0000

There’s no Fred Astaire in this Ginger Rogers movie. There’s also no dancing and none of Roger’s usual grace in this clunky whodunit. In a twist on the murder of dinner guests at a spooky old mansion, guests at a dinner party held 13 years earlier start turning up dead at the spooky old mansion where their host had died the first time around. Wisecracking cops and a look-a-like corpse make this B movie decent fare for late night viewing. (69 minutes)

Not rated - 1932

Starring:
Ginger Rogers
Lyle Talbot
J. Farrell MacDonald
Paul Hurst
Erville Alderson
Ethel Wales
James Eagles
Crauford Kent
Eddie Phillips
Frances Rich

Director:
Albert Ray

Writers:
Arthur Hoerl (screenplay)
Frances Hyland (screenplay)