Motion Picture Picks: for Winter

Considering the flurries and snowfalls we've been getting here, and also considering that we rarely get sizable amounts of snow and therefore don't have the correct equipment to get rid of a foot of snow, I decided it was a prime time to make a list of my motion picture picks for winter.  Also considering that I'll probably spend tomorrow having to stay inside, I'll probably be watching many of these throughout the day!! :-). Some of these are for you to watch curled up on your couch with a mug of hot chocolate, while others are to help you dream of summer.  (I put summer or winter under each film, so you'll know which choice it is.)  I tried to pick films that would hopefully be easy to get a hold of if you don't own them on DVD, perhaps through your library, Netflix, or something like that.  Hope you enjoy them!!

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The Bishop's Wife

~winter~

(1947)

Starring Cary Grant, Loretta Young, David Niven

In this film, David Niven is bishop of a small church, and his dream is to build a large church on a hill for the city.  Problem is, he's having trouble getting funding for it, and in his fixation on the church fundraising, he's ignoring his wife (Loretta Young). Pretty soon, heaven decides to send along an angel (Cary Grant) to save the two's marriage, and help the bishop with his church.  Except the bishop's wife starts getting awful fond of the angel...........

This was the first Cary Grant film I saw, and it is undeniably a classic, alas an under appreciated one.  Number one on this list!!

Neptune's Daughter

~summer~

(1949)

Starring Esther Williams, Ricardo Montalban, Red Skelton, Betty Garrett

Esther plays the championship swimmer turned bathing suit company associate in this movie.  Her little sister (Betty Garrett), is desperate for a boyfriend, and when the South American polo team comes to town, it seems like a dream opportunity for her to find one.  Red Skelton is the masseur for the stable, but when Betty comes over to find herself a polo player, she accidentally knocks him unconscious....and mistakes him for the captain of the polo team, José O'Rourke (Ricardo Montalban).  Jack Spratt (Skelton) is happy to have a girl himself, so when he eventually realize who Betty thinks he is, he doesn't correct her.  Meanwhile, Eve (Williams) is mad as a hornet at José for getting involved with her sister, and begrudgingly agrees to go out with him on a date once in her sister's place, as José has decided to use the situation to his advantage and get a date with Eve.  Will everything ever get straightened out? 

Christmas in Connecticut

~winter~

(1945)

Starring Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan

Stanwyck plays a columnist for a home and garden magazine, much like a Martha Stewart type.  She pretends to have a beautiful farm, a nice husband, and to be an excellent cook, but in actuality, none of those things are true.  When her editor tells her to host a war hero for the holidays, she's forced to figure out some way to produce the farm, cooking skills, and husband, or lose her job.

The Shop Around the Corner

~winter~

(1940)

Starring Jimmy Stewart, Margaret Sullavan, Frank Morgan

Jimmy Stewart is a store clerk in this fun movie, and Sullavan gets hired as a fellow clerk after she is able to sell an item neither Stewart's character nor anyone else had been able to sell.  The two cannot stand each other at work, but they also unknowingly are writing anonymous letters to each other.  Neither realizes that their pen pal sweetheart is the same clerk that annoys them to no end at the office.....

Holiday Inn

~winter~

(1942)

Starring Bing Crosby, Marjorie Reynolds, Fred Astaire, Virginia Dale

Fred and Bing play two song-and-dance men who do an act with a beautiful girl (Virginia Dale). Bing's character and Dale's are engaged, but in truth, she's in love with Fred instead!!  Bing finds out about it and leaves for his farm, quitting show business.  He decides ultimately to turn his farm into a unique inn only open for the holidays.  Things get complicated when Marjorie Reynolds shows up for a job as a singer, and over time, she and Bing fall in love.  But then Fred wants her as his new dance partner after Virginia runs out on him, and soon the two are both vying for her singing and dancing skills.....and her heart.

Daddy Long Legs

~ summer~

(1955)

Starring Fred Astaire, Leslie Caron, Terry Moore, Thelma Ritter

Fres is a millionaire, and while traveling through Paris, he sees a beautiful orphan (Leslie Caron) during a stop at an orphanage.  He feels bad for her, and wants her to have a good life, so under the understanding with both the orphanage and his business partners that he will maintain no contact with her and will be anonymous, he pays for her college education in America, and buys her loads of clothes and things to take to said college.  But she doesn't understand why her anonymous sponsor won't answer her letters, and after he eventually reads them, he decides to visit the college during a family and friends event, and simply not tell her who he is.  But then they begin to fall in love, and she still doesn't know who he is....but don't worry, everything works out in the end!

I particularly like that this film doesn't ignore how old Fred was at the time (he was in his 60s), and just stick him with a 20 year old in a film.  Instead, they worked it into the storyline. :-)

Good News

~summer~

(1947)

Starring June Allyson, Peter Lawford, Patricia Marshall, Joan McCracken

Peter Lawford plays the big ladies' man on campus, a football hero.  And June is the girl working herself through college by working in the library.  Patricia Marshall (who plays a character who has the exact same name as herself) is the new student on campus, a transfer from finishing school, and she thinks herself the cat's pajamas (and so does every boy on the campus). But she rebuffs Peter's character, and he doesn't like that.  But he eventually falls in love with June instead......and then accidentally breaks a date with her when fickle Pat decides to go out with him after all.  Broken hearts all around, but perhaps Miss Fickle can be made to put her attentions elsewhere...

Midnight

~summer~

(1939)

Starring Claudette Colbert, Don Ameche, John Barrymore

Miss Colbert, one of my favorite actresses, plays a showgirl who bet everything in Monte Carlo, and then subsequently lost everything in that bet too.  She ends up back in Paris, and strikes a deal with a cab driver (Don Ameche) to drive her around to look for work, and if she gets a job, she'll pay him double the meter.  But he likes her, and although she rather likes him too, she's dead set on marrying a rich man!  So she sneaks into a fancy party, where a high society gentleman (John Barrymore) decides to employ her help in taking his wife's lover's attentions off his wife!  But the cab driver isn't going to give up so easily on finding her, and so what ensues is a long path of assumed identities (Claudette pretends to be a rich baroness), hilarious comedy, and romance.

So there's my list!!  I just realized that the good majority of them are 1940s films, but I hope you won't mind. :-)

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Ta-ta, dahlings!!

Jan

Movie Matinee Monday: Forever Darling(1956)

My opinions on the poster:

It's very simple, but this was released at the height of Lucy's and Desi's popularity.  I don't think they needed more than two big drawings of their faces on the poster.  I didn't know that 'riotous' was a word....but I love it on the poster!!

The stars:

Lucille Ball ~ as Susan Vega

Desi Arnaz ~ as Lorenzo (Larry) Vega

James Mason ~ as the Guardian Angel Whom Just Happens to Look Exactly Like James Mason

Louis Calhern ~ as Charles Bewell

Natalie Schafer ~ as Millie Opdyke

The critic's opinions:

2.5/5 stars

I hate to give a movie starring my favorite Old Hollywood couple a less than five star rating, but I've got to be fair.  The truth is, although I find the movie endearing and I adore it, it's not the best OH film out there.  Lucy and Desi play characters that are, at their root, Lucy and Ricky Ricardo of I Love Lucy.  Susan Vega has the same tendencies as Lucy Ricardo to get into scrapes, cause trouble, and end up in slapstick comedy.  And Lorenzo Vega continues to use such language as 'dun't' and other such classic English. :-). The first time I saw this movie, the only other film I'd seen James Mason in was North by Northwest (also starring Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint).  Quite a change of characters....Mason was the evil villain in the Hitchcock picture.  Here he plays Susan's guardian angel, and he does a terrific job; Mason definitely is able to play a wide variety of roles.  Of course, there's the terrific joke of the guardian angel looking like James Mason.....because he is James Mason!!  Many watchers of this film, even if they are die-hard OH fans, tend to find it a bit boring, and definitely a less than par watch.  The truth is, those watchers are agreeing with the box office back at the movie's original release.  Unlike The Long, Long Trailer, which was released three years earlier, Forever Darling just plain failed to be a box office smash.  In fact, it didn't even make all that much of a profit, at least compared to The Long, Long Trailer.  Forever Darling's budget was $951,000, and the box office was $2,288,000.  With The Long, Long Trailer, on the other hand, the budget was $1,534,000 and the box office was $4,985,000.  Quite a difference, huh?  The truth is, I think the guardian angel angle of the plot doesn't mesh in with the comedy.  The film is quite obviously an overall romantic comedy....but the guardian angel angle gives it some kind of odd fantasy/sci-fi overtone.  It just doesn't fit.  If the guardian angel had gotten to be more comedic, or there were more comedic episodes involving him, I think it would've been better.  I also wish he'd gotten a little more screen time towards the end....he completely disappears during the camping trip, and then randomly shows up at the end to save everything.  At first Susan is annoyed with the angel, and then she likes him.  As in, she like likes him.  Of course, at the end she likes him as a friend, but at times, the entire guardian angel plot seems like a completely different movie than the comedy parts.  Then there's one more little problem: Lorenzo's and Susan's marriage problems parallel Lucy's and Desi's at that time way too much.  It rather puts a damper on the entire film, since we know what they were going through at that point.  But, enough with the negative.  Why should you watch the film?  Well, Lucy and Desi are in it.  That's a million reasons right there.  Also, despite all my ranting, there are plenty of good scenes in the film, including the slapstick and awesome camping trip they go on near the end of the film.  And, it's fun to see Lucy in color, along with her outfits, a few of which I believe I also spotted on I Love Lucy.  Susan's wedding dress is beautiful, and also looks stunning in the many publicity photos it was featured in.  And finally, you have to see it just to see all of Lucy's 'major' films. :-)

The bottom line:

A decent watch.  I recommend seeing it at least once, just so you can judge it for yourself.  You may enjoy it more than others.  It's not a film I'd say to go buy on DVD, but if it's in a box set with others (like the TCM sets), I think it's a nice film to have around and watch occasionally.

My favorite film moments {I try to stay spoiler-free}:

~ The entire camping trip

~ Lorenzo's and Susan's wedding 

~ When Susan talks to the guardian angel for the first time and realizes he is real

~ The ending......it's amazing and fabulous.

Photographs:

I'm sorry all the photographs are lobby cards, but that was all I could find.  Which should give you an idea of how popular Forever Darling is....

Behind-the-scenes:

Movie trailer:

The trailer was not on youtube, unfortunately.  I am so sorry about that!!

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Ta-ta, dahlings!!

Jan

Movie Matinee Monday: Desk Set (1957)

Today I have for you a lovely Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy film, directed by Walter Lang (who also directed The King and I).

My opinions on the poster:

I like the vintage-style drawings.  Is it just me who feels that the big drawing of Kate and Spence kind of reminds you of a Rodgers and Hammerstein poster?

The stars:

Katharine Hepburn ~ as Bunny Watson

Spencer Tracy ~ as Richard Sumner

Gig Young ~ as Mike Cutler

Joan Blondell ~ as Peg Costello

The critic's opinions:

3.5/5 stars

It's a fairly traditional storyline at it's root: girl has a long "sort-of-engagement, but not really", and then meets another guy and falls in love.  The unique factor of this motion picture lies in it's research department of a television station setting.  Richard Sumner is on assignment: to install one of his smart computers (EMERAC) in the research library.  But he's ordered not to tell any of the research employees why he is there, and so all of the employees think they are being fired....and replaced by the said computer!!  At a few points the plot slows down considerably, and you wonder when it will pick up again.  I couldn't help but think that the huge computer in the film reminds me of IRAC in the 1970s Wonder Woman television show.  I love movies set in a business/professional setting, so there's that too.  Bunny is no idiot in this film.  She's practically a walking dictionary, able to recite off anything someone asks her, whether it's the amount of trees on Earth or the names of Santa's reindeer.  She's a smart woman, and I love her character.  Sumner originally thinks she's some kind of idiot, and gives her a complicated critical thinking test.....and she passes at 100%, and even answers spinoff questions that weren't on the test!  I was happy to see Joan Blondell in this film; she's best known as a 'blonde bombshell' actress of the 1930s, but she was wonderful in this.  She's one of Bunny's best friends, and gives her advice frequently.  The wide range of CinemaScope is perhaps a bit too much for this film; the only reason I'm glad it's so wide is so the viewers can see the whole library (I love it!). A few shots seem a bit stretched out.....like the actors or actresses are positioned as far away apart from each other as possible without looking ridiculous.  But, overall, Lang does a good job of filling the wide scope, so kudos to him for that.

The bottom line:

A wonderful under appreciated classic.  Great watch, if even just to see Joan Blondell in one of her later roles. I love practically any Tracy/Hepburn film, so it didn't take much for this movie to worm it's way into my heart.

My favorite film moments {I try to stay spoiler-free}:

~ When the giant computer goes crazy and starts spitting paper everywhere

~ When a new employee is brought in to manage the computer....she's completely annoying and ridiculous.

~ Bunny's critical thinking test: she positively aces it!!

~ The Christmas office party; 1950s style!

~ The ending......see it yourself to see why I love it so! :-)

Photographs:

Behind-the-scenes:

Movie trailer:

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Ta-ta, dahlings!!

Jan