Does anyone know if 'Its a wonderful life' is on TV this week?
Movie Classic Films — Let's Discuss
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It’s a Wonderful Life
When: Wednesday, December 24 at 8:35pm
Where: Fox Classics
Christmas just wouldn’t be the same without a viewing of this charming 1946 film about a man (James Stewart) who almost loses everything on the eve of Christmas.
When: Wednesday, December 24 at 8:35pm
Where: Fox Classics
Christmas just wouldn’t be the same without a viewing of this charming 1946 film about a man (James Stewart) who almost loses everything on the eve of Christmas.
For those of us in Victoria, it's also showing at The Astor on the Christmas Weekend.
Asgardian
Bigfooty Jedi
I got hold of a copy of Stagecoach to Dancers' Rock, made in 1962, a couple of weeks back and was very happily surprised.
The reviews are generally rather negative, but in my opinion they take no notice of the fact it is a poverty row production with a very solid cast.
Martin Landau doesn't just play the bad guy in this western, he lives the role. Plus his wickedness is really off the scale, murder, torture, rape are just a few of his crimes.
If you want a B&W western to spend an hour & 1/4 in front of, get a hold of this one.
The reviews are generally rather negative, but in my opinion they take no notice of the fact it is a poverty row production with a very solid cast.
Martin Landau doesn't just play the bad guy in this western, he lives the role. Plus his wickedness is really off the scale, murder, torture, rape are just a few of his crimes.
If you want a B&W western to spend an hour & 1/4 in front of, get a hold of this one.
Watched it but missed the first hour or so. Bloody good movie. I never knew Rocky's wife was in Godfather before Rocky. Two timing bitch...
oh my god. That is bizarre. I just reply to post I thought was from tonight saying Godfather 2 was on but it is actually from December last year but that movie just finished on tv in last hour. Freaky!!!!
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Yes I thought my quoted post might've been referring to this morning's screening as well. Ok I watched it and it had subtitles so I understood it. I didn't know Dominic Chianese was in it either. Good show.
Asgardian
Bigfooty Jedi
Managed to get hold of a 1971 'made for TV' movie, The Devil and Miss Sarah
Starred Amos Burke & Bat Masterson himself, Gene Barry, as Rankin. A very mysterious chap who might be a whole lot more than just the usual western gun slinger. Also The Virginian, James Drury, as Gil Turner a down to earth farmer with a sense of right & wrong, plus Janice Rule, who was always "one role away" from being a bona-fide Hollywood starlet, as Sarah his wife. Charles McGraw & Slim Pickens had good small roles as victims.
The movie opens with a chap, turns out to be Rankin, staked out and hooded by the local Indians waiting for the marshal & his deputies to arrive and take this 'man' away from their grounds. McGraw, the marshal, has run across Rankin years ago, so he keeps him hooded to appease the Indians who are afraid of Rankin's eyes. On the way to trial the posse is ambushed by Rankin's gang of murderers, the deputies killed, the marshal badly injured, but still able to keep control of Rankin and makes his escape with his prisoner.
They come across Gil & Sarah, the marshal dying, asks Gil to take Rankin to the nearest town where Rankin can be taken in by the law, Gil being a good bloke agrees. However Sarah, who we find seems to have a whole lot more in common with Rankin, rather than love for her husband, immediately is afraid of Rankin imploring Gil to kill him. He sees no reason to do so, because he reckons he can handle this 'small' task for the law, so off they go. Rankin appears to find a kindred spirit in Sarah, so non-stop he is at her, especially when they are alone, reaching into her being, trying to force his will on her, impressing on her that she has to kill her husband to be free. (these days she'd be labelled as a schizophrenic I suppose?).
Sarah tries to fight off Rankin's strength of will and seems to be succeeding when they reach a burnt out wagon coach stop that Rankin's gang has got to first, however there are still two very frightened meek & mild male passengers left alive. Gil takes control and sets up their defence against the gang who are trying to take back their boss. All goes well until Rankin is able to impress his will on the two gut-less wonders, so when Gil turns his back on them they attack him, knocking him out and then freeing Rankin.
Rankin, feeling benevolent, sets them on their way into the desert with no water or food and guns aimed at their backs, never to be seen again. Sarah, now minus the influence of her husband, seems to be a different woman, lively, sexy, promiscuous, desirous of Rankin, without a care in the world and oh so obviously his sexual partner.
Gil finally comes to, finding a gun at his side placed there by Rankin who now wishes to play with his former jailer, cat with mouse style. Sarah taunts Gil crawling all over Rankin, distracts him, allowing Ranking to shoot, hitting Gil in the leg, crippling him. Rankin the gun-fighter is enjoying himself but as usual for the bad guys, he under-estimates Gil, who while under-fire manages to shoot, twice, killing Rankin. Sarah, now free of Rankin's influence, seems to wake from a deep fogged out sleep, and is now the demure farmer's wife.
A hour & a half of entertainment that has only a few of the usual western cliches', I give it a 7.5/10
Starred Amos Burke & Bat Masterson himself, Gene Barry, as Rankin. A very mysterious chap who might be a whole lot more than just the usual western gun slinger. Also The Virginian, James Drury, as Gil Turner a down to earth farmer with a sense of right & wrong, plus Janice Rule, who was always "one role away" from being a bona-fide Hollywood starlet, as Sarah his wife. Charles McGraw & Slim Pickens had good small roles as victims.
The movie opens with a chap, turns out to be Rankin, staked out and hooded by the local Indians waiting for the marshal & his deputies to arrive and take this 'man' away from their grounds. McGraw, the marshal, has run across Rankin years ago, so he keeps him hooded to appease the Indians who are afraid of Rankin's eyes. On the way to trial the posse is ambushed by Rankin's gang of murderers, the deputies killed, the marshal badly injured, but still able to keep control of Rankin and makes his escape with his prisoner.
They come across Gil & Sarah, the marshal dying, asks Gil to take Rankin to the nearest town where Rankin can be taken in by the law, Gil being a good bloke agrees. However Sarah, who we find seems to have a whole lot more in common with Rankin, rather than love for her husband, immediately is afraid of Rankin imploring Gil to kill him. He sees no reason to do so, because he reckons he can handle this 'small' task for the law, so off they go. Rankin appears to find a kindred spirit in Sarah, so non-stop he is at her, especially when they are alone, reaching into her being, trying to force his will on her, impressing on her that she has to kill her husband to be free. (these days she'd be labelled as a schizophrenic I suppose?).
Sarah tries to fight off Rankin's strength of will and seems to be succeeding when they reach a burnt out wagon coach stop that Rankin's gang has got to first, however there are still two very frightened meek & mild male passengers left alive. Gil takes control and sets up their defence against the gang who are trying to take back their boss. All goes well until Rankin is able to impress his will on the two gut-less wonders, so when Gil turns his back on them they attack him, knocking him out and then freeing Rankin.
Rankin, feeling benevolent, sets them on their way into the desert with no water or food and guns aimed at their backs, never to be seen again. Sarah, now minus the influence of her husband, seems to be a different woman, lively, sexy, promiscuous, desirous of Rankin, without a care in the world and oh so obviously his sexual partner.
Gil finally comes to, finding a gun at his side placed there by Rankin who now wishes to play with his former jailer, cat with mouse style. Sarah taunts Gil crawling all over Rankin, distracts him, allowing Ranking to shoot, hitting Gil in the leg, crippling him. Rankin the gun-fighter is enjoying himself but as usual for the bad guys, he under-estimates Gil, who while under-fire manages to shoot, twice, killing Rankin. Sarah, now free of Rankin's influence, seems to wake from a deep fogged out sleep, and is now the demure farmer's wife.
A hour & a half of entertainment that has only a few of the usual western cliches', I give it a 7.5/10
Asgardian
Bigfooty Jedi
I found a rather obscure and little known Pommy film called Noose for a Lady, made in 1953 directed by Wolf Rilla, best known for the tense "Village of the Damned". Rilla only made 22 films, I have 7 of them.
A lady is in the dock at court where she is found guilty of the murder of her husband by poisoning him, it happens I suppose. Her step-daughter, Jill Hallam played by Rona Anderson, visits her in jail promising to do all in her power to see the conviction overturned, however there is only seven days to go till the execution will take place, so there seems little to be optimistic about. By chance cousin Simon Gale, played by Dennis Price, turns up from his job in Uganda to see his cousin, uncle & aunt, only to be told of the dire circumstances facing his family. He's immediately on the job, seeking out everyone who knew his uncle, trying to find any clues, and more importantly any viable suspects that could be accused, so to set his aunt free.
The trouble is his uncle was not a well liked man, in fact he had enemies throughout the local area, all of whom had equally good reasons to have killed the old boy. With cousin Jill in tow, he goes about meeting everyone who could have had a motive, finding every single one of them is a likely murderer. Naturally this confuses the issue as he is unable to eliminate any of the suspects. Even the kindly local constable, who is sympathetic to his cause as he doubts that the aunt was the killer, can shed no further light on the subject.
While at the local pub Simon & Jill encounter the local illiterate town grump, who likes his booze, but has next to no money, hence he'd do away with his own mother for a quid. This grump could be of assistance to Simon & Jill as it was probable that he was out poaching the night the uncle was killed, and could have seen any comings & goings from the Hallam house. At first the grump is uncooperative, however a day later he offers to help Simon in exchange for 50 quid, and for Simon to meet him later that night at his abode where they could meet secretly.
Simon conveys this good news to his aunt, promising that despite there only being a couple of days before the execution, he'd get her free, however even he had doubts. At the appointed time he goes to meet the grump only to find him dead, poisoned, with a note nearby. The killer has made a mistake, the grump was illiterate, plus he was killed by the same poison that did away with the uncle, but this being only circumstantial evidence, it is not enough to free the aunt.
With a day to go Simon takes a last gasp gamble, he invites all of his suspects to the Hallam house for supper, hoping to trip up the murderer. As in an Agatha Christie mystery, he goes through the suspects, pros & cons style, until finally turning to the one he believes/knows was the murderer and shines the harsh glow of accusation on that person, trying to make the person's fragile mind crack and admit the deed.
At this point I'll leave this as a cliffhanger, was the aunt executed, did the killer come to light too late to save the aunt, was the aunt the actual killer, was someone found out early enough to stop the execution or was the death in reality a suicide made to look like a murder by the uncle, as a final act of wickedness by an evil man who acted with an accomplice?
I give it a solid 6.5/10
A lady is in the dock at court where she is found guilty of the murder of her husband by poisoning him, it happens I suppose. Her step-daughter, Jill Hallam played by Rona Anderson, visits her in jail promising to do all in her power to see the conviction overturned, however there is only seven days to go till the execution will take place, so there seems little to be optimistic about. By chance cousin Simon Gale, played by Dennis Price, turns up from his job in Uganda to see his cousin, uncle & aunt, only to be told of the dire circumstances facing his family. He's immediately on the job, seeking out everyone who knew his uncle, trying to find any clues, and more importantly any viable suspects that could be accused, so to set his aunt free.
The trouble is his uncle was not a well liked man, in fact he had enemies throughout the local area, all of whom had equally good reasons to have killed the old boy. With cousin Jill in tow, he goes about meeting everyone who could have had a motive, finding every single one of them is a likely murderer. Naturally this confuses the issue as he is unable to eliminate any of the suspects. Even the kindly local constable, who is sympathetic to his cause as he doubts that the aunt was the killer, can shed no further light on the subject.
While at the local pub Simon & Jill encounter the local illiterate town grump, who likes his booze, but has next to no money, hence he'd do away with his own mother for a quid. This grump could be of assistance to Simon & Jill as it was probable that he was out poaching the night the uncle was killed, and could have seen any comings & goings from the Hallam house. At first the grump is uncooperative, however a day later he offers to help Simon in exchange for 50 quid, and for Simon to meet him later that night at his abode where they could meet secretly.
Simon conveys this good news to his aunt, promising that despite there only being a couple of days before the execution, he'd get her free, however even he had doubts. At the appointed time he goes to meet the grump only to find him dead, poisoned, with a note nearby. The killer has made a mistake, the grump was illiterate, plus he was killed by the same poison that did away with the uncle, but this being only circumstantial evidence, it is not enough to free the aunt.
With a day to go Simon takes a last gasp gamble, he invites all of his suspects to the Hallam house for supper, hoping to trip up the murderer. As in an Agatha Christie mystery, he goes through the suspects, pros & cons style, until finally turning to the one he believes/knows was the murderer and shines the harsh glow of accusation on that person, trying to make the person's fragile mind crack and admit the deed.
At this point I'll leave this as a cliffhanger, was the aunt executed, did the killer come to light too late to save the aunt, was the aunt the actual killer, was someone found out early enough to stop the execution or was the death in reality a suicide made to look like a murder by the uncle, as a final act of wickedness by an evil man who acted with an accomplice?
I give it a solid 6.5/10
Demosthenes
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Have been going through a bit of a Howard Hawks phase recently. I am a sucker for his dialogue and female characters.
So now I have to go out and find it. Your post is like an Alfred Hitchcock movie? ha ha ha !
He always delivered strong dialogue. The kind of stuff that sounds completely natural and effortless, yet works perfectly for film.
sherbrook
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I really enjoy late 60s/early 70s stuff like Five Easy Pieces, King of Marvin Gardens and Chinatown
All Nicholson starrers
All Nicholson starrers
estherholly01
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Just re-watched Duel.
It'a a fricking masterpiece.
It'a a fricking masterpiece.
Asgardian
Bigfooty Jedi
Would anyone like some new reviews of movies pre 1970?
yes thanks.
i watched Cool Hand Luke again on TCM last night. God I love that film and Newman's performance.
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Along with: the date u posted that is one day after my wedding day Oct 25 2015 and yesterday (one day ago) I bought godfather one and two to add to the collection as they were two for twenty at jbhifi
Asgardian
Bigfooty Jedi
Okay ... as most who read this thread would know, I try to present movies that are off the beaten track, a delight to the hard core collector of such that are very nearly ephemeral to general viewing public.
Wanted for Murder (1946)
This film started off with A grade pretensions, Emeric Pressburger had a hand in the script, plus borrowing movie star Eric Portman from Two Cities Films Ltd and giving him a very solid back-up cast to work against.
Anne Fielding, played by stage actress Dulcie Gray, is in a rush to catch a London underground train and just barely does so. Once aboard she is noticed by Jack Williams (Derek Farr), a London bus conductor who recognises her as a regular on one of his bus routes, a regular who he has taken an unspoken shine to. The London underground, being a neutral venue, he decides to take a chance and actually speak to her, the train breakdown, not being his fault, is an opportune circumstance to take advantage of.
Meanwhile at the fair grounds a mysterious character (he's mysterious because we do not see his face) has caught the eye of an attractive young lady. She moves off into the crowd, our mystery man not far behind. We can assume the train has been repaired because Anne & Jack are wandering around the fair grounds, Anne, quite worried because she is running very late, is in search of her man friend. Jack remains by her side in the hope that he can take over from her date, they seem to be getting on rather well together, the usual chitchat, he is on his way to be a qualified engineer, she works in a gramophone music shop. He asks if she'd like an ice-cream so dashes off to get a couple, while he's away, Anne sights her date so rushes off to catch up with him, effectively losing Jack in the big crowd. Her date, Victor James Colebrooke (Eric Portman) is angry with her for being an hour late, she explains about the train breakdown, despite that Victor remains angry, furious in fact and wants to get away from the fairgrounds in an awful hurry.
Having lost Anne in the crowd, Jack makes his way back to the London underground, asking the guard there if he has seen the lady that he was with, but with no luck there he angrily makes his way to a train. The guard then has a couple of ladies tell him a woman's body has been found murdered.
The next day Victor buys a newspaper, full of details saying another woman found strangled, and makes his way to the gramophone shop asking Anne to get a record for him to listen to. He goes to a booth and Anne puts on the record for him, they try to make it look all very innocent because the shop floor supervisor is a bit of an old dragon, making sure the shop girls only do work and not chat to their boyfriends during working hours. He apologises for being so angry the previous evening, giving her some flowers while listening to the music, but the old dragon notices telling Anne, in a stern voice, to tidy up the music catalogues all over the counters.
I've gone into detail to set up the movie because what happens after this point becomes a rather common New Scotland Yard case of trying to find the mass murdering strangler. Everything to be said about the movie from this point will only expose the killer before he or she should be exposed.
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