Thursday, March 1, 2018

Movies I Watched in February

Bluebeard's Eighth Wife (1938)

This month I watched my first Anna May Wong film, my second Astaire/Rogers film (I liked this one MUCH better than Top Hat) and saw Wuthering Heights (1939) for the first time. I was excited that several Jean Simmons films were aired on TCM for her birthday.

Here's what I watched this month (* means I've seen it before):
  1. Shanghai Express (1932) - Marlene Dietrich, Anna May Wong
  2. Swing Time (1936) - Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers
  3. Bluebeard’s Eighth Wife (1938) - Gary Cooper & Claudette Colbert, David Niven
  4. Wuthering Heights (1939) - Laurence Olivier & Merle Oberon, David Niven, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Flora Robson
  5. Skylark (1941) - Claudette Colbert, Ray Milland, Brian Aherne 
  6. The Little Foxes (1941) - Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall, Teresa Wright, Dan Duryea
  7. Corvette K-225 (1943) - Randolph Scott, James Brown, Ella Raines, Barry Fitzgerald 
  8. Cry ‘Havoc’ (1943) - Maureen Sullavan, Ann Sothern, Joan Blondell, Marsha Hunt, Ella Raines
  9. Action in the North Atlantic (1943) - Raymond Massey, Humphrey Bogart, Dane Clark, Alan Hale
  10. Confidential Agent (1945) - Charles Boyer & Lauren Bacall
  11. Roughly Speaking (1945) - Rosalind Russell & Jack Carson
  12. The Beginning or the End (1947) - Brian Dunlevy, Hume Cronyn, Robert Walker, Tom Drake, Audrey Totter
  13. Crossfire (1947) - Robert Ryan, Robert Young, Robert Mitchum, Gloria Grahame
  14. Neptune’s Daughter (1949) - Esther Williams, Red Skelton, Ricardo Montalbon, Betty Garrett
  15. The Green Promise (1949) - Walter Brennan, Natalie Wood
  16. Battleground (1949) - Van Johnson, John Hodiak, George Murphy, Ricardo Montalbon
  17. Mystery Street (1950) - Ricardo Montalbon
  18. *Flying Leathernecks (1951) - John Wayne, Robert Ryan
  19. On Dangerous Ground (1953) - Robert Ryan & Ida Lupino, Ward Bond
  20. Affair with a Stranger (1953) - Victor Mature & Jean Simmons
  21. *We’re No Angels (1955) - Humphrey Bogart, Peter Ustinov, Aldo Ray
  22. Interrupted Melody (1955) - Eleanor Parker & Glenn Ford, Roger Moore 
  23. This Could Be the Night (1957) - Jean Simmons, Paul Douglas, Anthony Franciosa
  24. Home Before Dark (1958) - Jean Simmons, Rhonda Fleming
  25. Mon Oncle (1958 - French) - Jacques Tati 
  26. The Prize (1963) - Paul Newman, Edward G. Robinson
  27. Gambit (1967) - Michael Caine & Shirley MacLaine
  28. *27 Dresses (2008) - Katharine Heigl & James Marsden 
  29. My Cousin Rachel (2017) - Rachel Weisz 
Least Favorite Movies: Cry 'Havoc' and Confidential Agent were dark and depressing (and Lauren Bacall's acting was terrible in the latter).

Favorite Movies: Bluebeard’s Eighth Wife was a delight from start to finish, Battleground was breathtaking in it's cinematography and emotional in it's portrayal of average men preforming above average duties, Roughly Speaking was touching and made me fall in love with Jack Carson, Home Before Dark was a psychological masterpiece I couldn't stop watching, and Mystery Street was fascinating in it's portrayal of what police procedure and forensics looked like at the start of the 50s.

Battleground (1949)

8 comments:

  1. Battleground! Mon Oncle! Roughly Speaking! Wow, lots of first viewings in February crammed into such a short month.

    Personally, I like Top Hat more than Swing Time. Victor Moore gets on my nerves in the George Stevens movie. Shanghai Express is so claustrophobic and so impressive. I like the ensemble cast in Cry 'Havoc', but Confidential Agent is a real dud. I wish MGM had made a sequel, or an entire series around those investigators in Mystery Street. Too late now.

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    1. For some reason a couple of your comments went to spam...

      Usually February is a slow month movie-wise but there were lots of good ones this year. Mystery Street definitely felt like a modern crime drama tv show! A series would have been great!

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  2. Oh yes, Swing Time is a classic! I really want to see Shanghi Express, but I haven't gotten around to it.

    You watched quite a few movies in Feb.! I think I only watched 3, because I was mostly watching the Olympics.

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    1. Having access to WatchTCM has really upped my movie watching because there's no longer a dvr limit. Not quite sure that's a good thing though...

      The only sport I ever watched was football but once my favorite player left I began to lose interest and now it's too political :)

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  3. I also watched Cry Havoc for the first time.I actually fell really hard for This Could Be the Night, which I wasn't expecting. And I have Mon Uncle waiting for me on my DVR.

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    1. This Could Be The Night was great. Have you seen Anthony Franciosa in Period of Adjustment?

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  4. Have you seen The Set-Up? It is directed by Robert Wise and has a fine ensemble headed by my favourite Robert Ryan performance. You also must see The Iceman Cometh, Ryan's final performance.

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    1. I REALLY want to see that one. Hopefully TCM will show them both soon :)

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