Norma Shearer, Errol Flynn, Bette Davis, George Sanders, Joan Crawford, Marsha Hunt, John Wayne, Marx Brothers (together & separate), River Phoenix - 6 films
Tony Curtis, James Garner, Eve Arden, Goldie Hawn - 5 films
Stars I discovered/grew to love/admire: Elvis Presley, Robert Taylor, Mel Gibson, Robert Stack, River Phoenix
Did you keep track of the movies you watched in 2020? Was there a star or movie you discovered that you can't live without now? Let me know in the comments!
This month I had the typical Christmas rewatches and then randomly ended up watching quite a few “new” movies: nearly half of this list are post-1970 films! I even watched a movie on “opening weekend” (WW84). Oh, btw... HBO Max doesn’t offer a free trial anymore :/ Luckily there’s enough exclusive content on there that the $16 will be worth it.
I never got around to writing about the free classic movies on the Peacock streaming service. They had over 100 but as of Jan. 1, 2021 they have exactly two movies made before 1970 (not counting James Bond): a Columbo Movie and Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol... So basically the only thing left for me to watch on there is Murder, She Wrote.
* indicates a rewatch
The Prizefighter and the Lady (1933) - Max Baer & Myrna Loy, Walter Huston
Sabotage (1936) - Sylvia Sydney
Desire (1936) - Gary Cooper & Marlene Dietrich
A Yank at Oxford (1938) - Robert Taylor & Maureen O’Sullivan, Vivian Leigh
Flight Command (1940) - Robert Taylor, Ruth Hussey, Walter Pidgeon, Paul Kelly, Red Skelton, Nat Pendleton, Marsha Hunt
To the Shores of Tripoli (1942) - John Payne & Maureen O’Hara, Randolph Scott, Pat O’Brien
*Christmas in Connecticut (1945) - Barbara Stanwyck & Dennis Morgan,
Deep Valley (1947) - Ida Lupino & Dane Clark, Wayne Morris, Fay Bainter, Henry Hull
Fighter Squadron (1948) - Edmund O’Brien, Robert Stack, Rock Hudson
The Damned Don’t Cry (1950) - Joan Crawford
My Man and I (1952) - Ricardo Montalban & Shelley Winters, Claire Trevor, Wendell Corey, Jack Elam
Dangerous Mission (1954) - Victor Mature & Piper Laurie, Vincent Price, William Bendix, Bette St. John
*White Christmas (1954) - Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, Vera Ellen, Dean Jagger, Mary Wickes
This month I started watching The Donna Reed Show (free with ads on IMDb TV - watched half of season 1 with my aunt last year) and season 4 of The Crown.
Too Many Kisses (1925) - Richard Dix, William Powell, Harpo Marx
A Successful Calamity (1932) - George Arliss & Mary Astor
Penthouse (1933) - Warner Baxter & Myrna Loy, Mae Clarke
The Vampire Bat (1933) - Melvyn Douglas & Fay Ray, Lionel Atwill
*The Smiling Ghost (1941) - Wayne Morris, Brenda Marshall, Alexis Smith, Willie Best, Alan Hale
*Whistling in the Dark (1941) - Red Skelton, Conrad Veidt, Ann Rutherford, Virginia Grey, Rags Ragland, Eve Arden
Whistling in Dixie (1942) - Red Skelton & Ann Rutherford, Diana Lewis
The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) - Joseph Cotten, Tim Holt, Anne Baxter, Agnes Moorehead
*Ball of Fire (1942) - Gary Cooper & Barbara Stanwyck, Dana Andrews, S.Z. Sakall, Henry Travers
Whistling in Brooklyn (1943) - Red Skelton & Ann Rutherford, Rags Ragland, William Frawley
The White Cliffs of Dover (1944) - Irene Dunne & Alan Marshall, Gladys Cooper, Frank Morgan, C. Aubrey Smith, Roddy McDowell, Elizabeth Taylor, Peter Lawford, Van Johnson
Mr. Skeffington (1944) - Bette Davis & Claude Rains
Two O’Clock Courage (1945) - Tom Conway & Ann Rutherford
*It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) - James Stewart & Donna Reed, Henry Travers, Thomas Mitchell, Gloria Graham, Beulah Bondi, Ward Bond
Deception (1946) - Bette Davis & Paul Henreid, Claude Rains
Dead Reckoning (1947) - Humphrey Bogart & Lizabeth Scott
*Miracle on 34th Street (1947) - Edmund Gwenn, Maureen O’Hara & John Payne, Natalie Wood
*Red River (1948) - John Wayne, Montgomery Clift & Joanne Dru, Walter Brennan, John Ireland, Harry Carey, Harry Carey Jr.
The Woman on Pier 13 (1950) - Robert Ryan & Lorraine Day, John Agar
Harriet Craig (1950) - Joan Crawford & Wendell Corey
Top Secret Affair (1957) - Kirk Douglas & Susan Hayward, Jim Backus
Good Day for a Hanging (1959) - Fred MacMurray, Robert Vaughn, Joan Blackman
The Great Impostor (1960) - Tony Curtis, Karl Malden, Gary Merrill, Edmund O’Brien, Joan Blackman
G. I. Blues (1960) - Elvis Presley & Juliet Prowse
The Candidate (1972) - Robert Redford, Peter Boyle, Melvyn Douglas
Running on Empty (1988) - River Phoenix & Martha Plimpton
Dogfight (1991) - River Phoenix & Lili Taylor
Robert Ryan in The Woman on Pier 13 (1950)
Least Favorite Film: For some reason I didn't really like The Candidate. Nothing wrong with it, just worn out hearing about politics I guess.
Favorite Movie: It's been a few years since I watched Red River and I felt like I got more out of it this time. I also read the book by Borden Chase. I loved G. I. Blues, especially this song...
This month I watched Citizen Kane for the first time! It was different from what I expected. The story line didn't seem that unique to me but the cinematography and editing was interesting! I also watched the classic Dracula. Last October I watched half of The Story of Mankind (1957) but was bored so I didn’t finish it. TCM aired it again this month and, like I mentioned in last years post, I am a completest and therefore watched the second half. It was better. The Marx Brothers were funny.
The part they gave Anna May Wong in Impact was insulting to her talent and embarrassing to watch.
I read the novel Rebecca and rewatched the 1940 film. You can read my thoughts on them here (including the new Netflix adaptation).
Our Modern Maidens (1929) - Joan Crawford & Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Anita Page, Rod LaRoque
One Heavenly Night (1931) - John Boles & Evelyn Laye, Leon Errol
The Erl King (1931-French)
Dracula (1931) - Bela Lugosi, Helen Chandler
The Solitaire Man (1933) - Herbert Marshall & Elizabeth Allen, May Robson, Mary Boland, Lionel Atwill
Murder on the Blackboard (1934) - Edna May Oliver, James Gleason
The Mark of the Vampire (1935) - Lionel Barrymore, Elizabeth Allen, Lionel Atwill, Jean Hersholt, Bela Lugosi
Stolen Holiday (1937) - Kay Francis, Claude Raines, Ian Hunter
Breakfast for Two (1937) - Herbert Marshall & Barbara Stanwyck, Eric Blore, Glenda Farrell, Donald Meek
*Rebecca (1940) - Laurence Olivier & Joan Fontaine, Judith Anderson, George Sanders, Reginald Denny, Florence Bates
Citizen Kane (1941) - Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Agnes Moorehead, Ruth Warrick,
Mr. & Mrs. North (1942) - Gracie Allen & William Post Jr., Virginia Grey, Tom Conway, Felix Bressart, Keye Luke, Jerome Cowan
Impact (1949) - Brian Donlevy & Ella Raines, Charles Coburn, Anna May Wong
Across the Wide Missouri (1951) - Clark Gable, Ricardo Montalban, John Hodiak, Adolph Menjeu, J. Carroll Naish, Jack Holt
Flesh and Fury (1952) - Tony Curtis, Jan Sterling, Kim Hunter
Bright Road (1953) - Dorothy Dandridge, Harry Belafonte
The Runaway Bus (1954) - Margaret Rutherford, Petula Clark
The Story of Mankind (1957) - Ronald Colman, Vincent Price, Marx Brothers
Jailhouse Rock (1957) - Elvis Presley & Judy Tyler, Mickey Shaughnessy, Dean Jones
The Blob (1958) - Steve McQueen
The Journey (1959) - Deborah Kerr, Yul Brynner, Jason Robards Jr., Ronny Howard
*Psycho (1960) - Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin, Martin Balsam
Alice of Wonderland in Paris (1966) - Carl Reiner (voice)
Double Trouble (1967) - Elvis Presley
The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) - Steve McQueen & Faye Dunaway
The Lonely Guy (1984) - Steve Martin
*Letters to Juliet (2010) - Amanda Seyfried, Vanessa Redgrave, Christopher Egan
Least Favorite Film: Double Trouble was terrible!
Favorite Movie: Loved The Thomas Crown Affair!!! Breakfast for Two was really cute and The Runaway Bus was unexpectedly funny. Tony Curtis was adorable in Flesh and Fury (the film would have been more effective if the sound had been handled differently).
Last week realized that the new Netflix adaptation of Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca was about to drop so I finally pulled out my copy of the original novel to read first. Now, my introduction to the story was with Alfred Hitchcock's 1940 classic starring Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine as Mr. and Mrs. De Winter and Judith Anderson as the creepy Mrs. Danvers. It's such an amazing movie, as I'm sure many of you will agree. The book was equally amazing. Only a few chapters in I was already dreading getting to the end. It is exquisitely written, with descriptions that would have made it come alive even if I had not already had seen the visual masterpiece that came about with the Hitchcock/Selznick adaptation.
Florence Bates IS Mrs. Van Hopper
One of the things that immediately struck me was how faithful the movie was to the novel. We have David O. Selznick to thank for that. Another was that Florence Bates WAS Mrs. Van Hopper. She is probably the most perfectly cast character in the 1940 film. Yes, even over Mrs. Danvers, as brilliantly portrayed by Judith Anderson. As I read, I never fully imagined Olivier and Fontaine in the roles. Most of the characters are described slightly different in the novel than the stellar actors that portrayed them in the film. The cast is ridiculously talented. I mean, George Sanders, Reginald Denny, Gladys Cooper, C. Aubrey Smith... I could go on. The most notable character differences were with the Favell character, played in the film by Sanders, and the old servant Frith. Frith seemed a tad more sinister in the novel. In the film he definitely seems more kindly. Jack Favell is described vastly different from the suave George Sanders. Here is the introduction to his character:
He was a big, hefty fellow, good-looking in a rather flashy, sunburnt way. He had the hot, blue eyes usually associated with heavy drinking and loose living. His hair was reddish like his skin. In a few years he would run to fat, his neck bulging over the back of his collar. His mouth gave him away, it was two soft, too pink. I could smell his breath from where I stood. He began to smile. The sort of smile he would give to every woman.
One has trouble seeing Rebecca even associating with him!
I wish I had a gif of this moment. Sanders even jumps through the window gracefully!
The character of Frank
Crawley, played by Reginald Denny, seems less sophisticated and rather socially
awkward in the novel but always a gentleman and very tactful. It's hard to
imagine Denny being awkward. He plays Crawley quiet and dependable.
The other big change from the novel seems to be Manderley itself. Throughout the book it mentions its "perfect symmetry. In the film, while Manderley is extremely impressive (it was a large model built on a table) it is rather rambling, with nothing being repeated in its outward design. The interior however is very symmetrical, with its central staircase in the great hall with rooms and passages leading to the east and west wings.
I revisited the film after reading the book and was surprised that the novel was almost entirely there (only chapter 15 where Mrs. De Winter meets Maxim's grandmother was left out ). Sometimes a different character said a certain line or the action took place in a different room, but it was virtually all there exactly as it was in the book. However, after reading the slow-pace novel with its many descriptions of Manderley and the grounds and Mrs. De Winter's thoughts, the film seemed to rush a little, with sometimes several chapters condensed into fifteen minutes. And the film is over two hours long!
Warning! If you have not read the novel or watched the
1940 film yet you may want to skip the next two paragraphs.
Spoilers!
There are two major departures from the novel in the film, one of them a direct result of the Hays Code. In the novel, Maxim actually kills Rebecca - he shoots her after she tells him she is going to have a child, which is of course a lie. In the film, Rebecca's death becomes and accident, as a character cannot go unpunished in a film if he commits a crime according to the Hays Code.
The second difference is the fate of Mrs. Danvers. Who can forget that terrifying scene when she sets Manderley on fire and stands there in Rebecca's room surrounded by flames with that creepy smile on her face? In the book she still sets fire to the De Winter ancestral home, but she doesn't stay and die. One knows this immediately upon reading the novel as Mrs. De Winter wonders where she is in the first chapter.
End of Spoilers
The 2020 Film
I almost didn't want to watch this version, despite my initial excitement when I first learned of it (I like both Armie Hammer and Lily James), as the novel was SO GOOD! But I decided to watch it anyway and... stopped after 30 minutes. It was underwhelming, crude, and in general not very well made. The early interior shots of Manderley looked like they were trying to go for a horror movie look but minus the horror? I don't know. They DID get the symmetry of the exterior correct.
Menabilly, Du Mauriers home that she based Manderley on.
Manderley 2020
I thought Mrs. Danvers would be the character I would be most critical of, but her portrayal by Kristin Scott Thomas seems fine. I HATED Mrs. Van Hopper.
I didn't get this far of course, but the creative choice of changing the dress pitured below from white to red is baffling to me. The irony of Rebecca wearing the white dress is that, while she may have fooled everyone around her but her husband, she was definitely not innocent and sweet and virginal like the white gown suggests, whereas it IS perfect for the second Mrs. De Winter (Fontaine). Changing it to a more seductive red dress takes that underlying meaning away and the viewer is easily able to imagine Rebecca flaunting herself in it.
I may still finish this film one day. If it had been an original story I probably would have watched it and liked it, loved it even. If you look at the films I watch every month you've most likely noticed I rarely watch anything from this century, and if I do it's usually a rewatch (or it stars a current crush). As movies rely more and more on sex, crude humor, and excessive violence to entertain their audience, I find myself staying away from them more and more. There are many times when I see a movie trailer that looks really good but then I discover it has nudity or lots of violence so I decide not to watch it. And if I DO end up watching it I'm quick to use the skip/fast-forward button.
Rebecca
Who do you imagine Rebecca to be when you watch the film or read the novel? Who would you cast as Rebecca if a prequel had been made? I have always subconsciously imagined a combination of Gale Sondergaard and Gail Patrick and, suddenly realized recently, Wallis Simpson! A friend of mine imagines Vivian Leigh in the role (she tested for the lead role of the second Mrs. De Winter but was all wrong for the part). I could also easily see Joan Crawford playing Rebecca if Hollywood had made a prequal in the early 40s. Many of her characters in the 30s were likable yet, as we see in The Woman (1939) she could also play the "There's a name for you ladies, but it isn't used in high society... outside of a kennel" type.
In which adaptation is her presence most strongly felt? Which version is your favorite (there is also a 1997 TV movie which I have not seen). Did you watch the 2020 version?
It has been six years since I began this blog. Last year I shared a list with my favorite film from each year starting with 1928. I had to skip a few years because I either hadn’t seen any from that year or the ones I had seen I didn’t really care for. This year I’m able to fill in a few of those “blanks:”
1929 -
1930 - Wide Open - Edward Everett Horton
1970 -
1971 -
1972 - A Warm December - Sidney Poitier
1973 - Paper Moon - Ryan & Tatum O’Neal
1974 -
1975 - Three Days of the Condor - Robert Redford & Faye Dunaway
CHANGE 1978 from Hooper to - Foul Play - Goldie Hawn & Chevy Chase
1981 - Gallipoli - Mel Gibson (likely to change)
1984 - Protocol - Goldie Hawn (likely to change)
1991 -
2013 -
2020 - this would have probably been the new James Bond...
This month I watched some movies that have been on my “to watch” list for a long time: The Gold Rush, Foreign Correspondent, Sun Valley Serenade (Sonja Henie was cute!), and Sergeant York. I also started binging Sister, Sister on Netflix. Who else misses the 90s?
The Gold Rush (1925) - Charlie Chaplin
The Last of Mrs. Cheney (1929) - Norma Shearer & Basil Rathbone, Hedda Hopper
Flying Down to Rio (1933) - Dolores Del Rio & Gene Raymond, Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers
Nick Carter, Master Detective (1939) - Walter Pidgeon, Donald Meek
Sky Murder (1940) - Walter Pidgeon, Donald Meek
Foreign Correspondent (1940) - Joel McCrea & Laraine Fay, Herbert Marshall, George Sanders, Edmund Gwenn
Sergeant York (1941) - Gary Cooper & Joan Leslie, Walter Brennan, George Tobias, Ward Bond
Sun Valley Serenade (1941) - Sonja Henie & John Payne, Milton Berle, Glenn Miller
*Now, Voyager (1942) - Bette Davis & Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Gladys Cooper, Bonita Granville
We Were Dancing (1942) - Norma Shearer & Melvyn Douglas, Gail Patrick, Lee Bowman, Marjorie Main, Reginald Owen, Alan Mowbray
Her Cardboard Lover (1942) - Norma Shearer & Robert Taylor, George Sanders, Frank McHugh
The Crystal Ball (1943) - Ray Milland & Paulette Goddard, Gladys George
Pan-Americana (1945) - Philip Terry & Audrey Long, Eve Arden, Robert Benchley
Of Human Bondage (1946) - Paul Henreid & Eleanor Parker, Alexis Smith, Edmund Gwenn, Janis Paige
A Dangerous Profession (1949) - George Raft & Ella Raines, Pat O’Brien, Jim Backus, Bill Williams
The Secret Fury (1950) - Claudette Colbert & Robert Ryan
Devil’s Doorway (1950) - Robert Taylor, Louis Calhern, Paula Raymond, Marshall Thompson, Edward Buchanan, Spring Byington
Westward the Women (1951) - Robert Taylor
Latin Lovers (1953) - Lana Turner & Ricardo Montalban, John Lund, Louis Calhern, Jean Hagen, Beulah Bondi, Rita Moreno
Carmen Jones (1954) - Dorothy Dandridge & Harry Belafonte, Pearl Bailey, Diahann Carroll
Nightfall (1956) - Aldo Ray & Anne Bancroft, Brian Keith
The Prince and the Showgirl (1957) - Marilyn Monroe & Laurence Olivier
Cry Terror! (1958) - James Mason & Inger Stevens, Rod Steiger, Angie Dickinson, Neville Brand
Party Girl (1958) - Robert Taylor & Cyd Charisse, Lee J. Cobb, John Ireland
The Wreck of the Mary Deare (1959) - Gary Cooper, Charlton Heston, Richard Harris, Michael Redgrave
The League of Gentlemen (1961) - Jack Hawkins, Robert Livesly
*Come Fly with Me (1963) - Dolores Hart & Karlheinz Bohm, Karl Malden & Lois Nettleton, Hugh O’Brian & Pamela Tiffin
*Man’s Favorite Sport (1964) - Rock Hudson & Paula Prentiss
Charro! (1969) - Elvis Presley
Skyjacked (1972) - Charlton Heston, Yvette Mimieux, James Brolin, Mike Henry, Walter Pidgeon, Nicholas Hammond, Jeanne Crain
Elvis: That’s the Way It Is (1970) This is Elvis (1981)
Anne Bancroft & Aldo Ray in Nightfall (1956).
Least Favorite Film: Flying Down to Rio needed a stronger leading man. I don't really get the charm of Gene Raymond but apparently he had appeal in the early 30s. Also the finale was ridiculous. Charro! could have been better. Pan-Americana would have been better with Robert Cummings in the lead.
Favorite Movie: Her Cardboard Lover was hilarious. Also greatly enjoyed The Wreck of the Mary Deare. The first half was especially exciting. I highly recommend Westward the Women. Nightfall was really good. What are some of your favorite snowy noirs?
John Payne in a cozy sweater in Sun Valley Serenade (1941)