Random Thoughts

Based on the title I thought this was gonna be a Douglas Sirk weepie. But instead it’s a very noir film noir!

This movie started off simply fabulous. Ly. Great random set-up and perfect noir performances. But things get more involved and the actors start chewing the scenery and instead of ever-increasing tension, we just get ever-increasing “er… uhm…” But the plot does have some wonderful twists.

The bluray has that over-restored look: In a quest to make the shadows #000000, they’ve dropped all the details down to black. It’s like they’ve just turned the contrast button up to 300%. It kinda suits the movie, but it’s too much.

Too Late For Tears. Byron Haskin. 1949.

Popular movies in July 1949 according to IMDB:

Poster	Votes	Rating	Movie
	12390	7.4	She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
	2091	7.3	Too Late for Tears
	846	7.3	Come to the Stable
	2632	7.2	In the Good Old Summertime
	3234	7.1	The Big Steal
	7515	7.1	The Fountainhead
	3505	7.0	Mighty Joe Young
	514	6.7	The Great Gatsby
	973	6.6	Follow Me Quietly
	655	6.6	Scene of the Crime

This blog post is part of the Decade series.

Huh. Is this the first Ealing comedy I’ve watched in this blog series? I believe it is… Oh! They didn’t start until 1947, so that explains it. This is only their fifth movie, apparently.

This isn’t quite what I expected: It’s slow and witty, but it’s about a serial killer murdering his way into a title (i.e., killing all his relatives before him).

And many of them are played by Alec Guinness, which is fun.

He’s a psychopath, of course, but we root for him somehow. Some of the people he bump off are rather insufferable, but some are nice…

The sleepy performances by basically all the actors doesn’t make for an exciting movie. I mean, it’s a deliberate choice, but I don’t think it really works.

I don’t get it:

Kind Hearts and Coronets was released on 13 June 1949 in the United Kingdom, and was well received by the critics. It has continued to receive favourable reviews over the years, and in 1999 it was number six in the British Film Institute’s rating of the Top 100 British films.

I was mostly bored by this movie, I’m afraid to say.

Kind Hearts and Coronets. Robert Hamer. 1949.

Popular movies in June 1949 according to IMDB:

Poster	Votes	Rating	Movie
	28661	8.1	Kind Hearts and Coronets
	1940	7.4	House of Strangers
	1770	7.2	Colorado Territory
	756	7.2	King of the Rocket Men
	310	7.1	Lost Boundaries
	1330	7.0	It Happens Every Spring
	448	7.0	Sorrowful Jones
	757	6.9	Lust for Gold
	458	6.8	Any Number Can Play
	739	6.7	The Great Sinner

This blog post is part of the Decade series.

Hey! Abbot and Costello. I haven’t seen too many of thse…

This is uncomplicated fun: A mix of physical humour, weak bon mots and general silliness. I’m smiling a lot while watching this, but I’m not actually laughing. But I can totally see an eleven-year-old me finding this to be the height of hilarity.

The bit with the cannibals has, perhaps, not aged as well.

Africa Screams. Charles Barton. 1949.

Popular movies in May 1949 according to IMDB:

Poster	Votes	Rating	Movie
	2418	7.4	The Window
	459	7.2	Home of the Brave
	2119	7.1	The Barkleys of Broadway
	380	6.8	Streets of Laredo
	271	6.7	Roughshod
	640	6.7	Alice in Wonderland
	388	6.7	The Lady Gambles
	240	6.7	Manhandled
	2908	6.5	Africa Screams
	229	6.5	Johnny Allegro

This blog post is part of the Decade series.

Dean Stockwell!? But he can’t possibly…

Oh, he plays the ten year old boy.

And I was thinking of Harry Dean Stanton.

ANYWAY.

This is a fascinating movie. It’s not that often you see a movie that doesn’t fit neatly into a genre category or where you have no idea where the plot is going. This is one of those rare movies.

It’s so weird.

The idea of a secret garden is a very powerful one. It’s like a Jung Bodyan archetype.

Margaret O’Brien is perfect as the snotty, entitled ex-colonial plunked into the British countryside.

The Secret Garden. Fred M. Wilcox. 1949.

Popular movies in April 1949 according to IMDB:

Poster	Votes	Rating	Movie
	2650	7.5	Champion
	1939	7.5	The Secret Garden
	941	7.4	The Queen of Spades
	3060	7.2	Passport to Pimlico
	2014	7.1	The Stratton Story
	237	7.1	The Sky Dragon
	425	7.0	Mr. Belvedere Goes to College
	1674	7.0	Flamingo Road
	930	6.9	Ma and Pa Kettle
	630	6.8	The Crooked Way

This blog post is part of the Decade series.

Oh, this isn’t what I thought it was going to be at all? I thought it was with… Bette Davis? And an adult drama? Little Something Else? The?

Anyway, this is a big-budget Hollywood movie, and it really shows. When this kind of thing works, it really works. And this really works.

There’s so many great actors in here. Janet Leigh, Mary Astor, Elizabeth Taylor…

The “little women” in question are teenagers — I think, but because of the casting it’s a bit difficult to say. The actors range in age from 12 to 32… but at least Elizabeth Taylor is 17 here.

Anyway! This is a pretty flawless specimen. It’s got laughs, it’s got sobs, it’s got romance. And all these perfect little details.

The ending drags, though.

Veteran director Mervyn LeRoy is thoroughly professional, but not very distinctive.

Little Women. Mervyn LeRoy. 1949.

Popular movies in March 1949 according to IMDB:

Poster	Votes	Rating	Movie
	5986	7.8	The Set-Up
	407	7.3	Alias Nick Beal
	4929	7.3	Little Women
	492	7.1	Manon
	2105	7.0	Impact
	2412	6.8	Take Me Out to the Ball Game
	587	6.8	The Undercover Man
	319	6.7	The Blue Lagoon
	374	6.7	The Walking Hills
	867	6.6	Edward, My Son

This blog post is part of the Decade series.