Tuesday, March 3, 2020

Movies I Watched in February

 
 
Drums Along the Mohawk

February is 31 Days of Oscar month on TCM and it is usually a rather slow month for me as I've already seen a majority of the films or they are ones that air several times a year anyway. However, this time I made an effort to finally watch some of the films I say I'm going to watch every time TCM shows them but never actually get around to viewing (three that have been on my watchlist for some time are A Midsummer Night's Dream, Dark Victory, and Separate Tables). This month also ended up being a Robert Taylor (5) and Greer Garson (7) month for me, as you will see. And I enjoyed Madame Curie so much I am currently reading the biography of the same name by her daughter Eve Curie as well as A Rose for Mrs. Miniver: The Life of Greer Garson by Michael Troyan.  I also just announced The Rose of MGM: The Greer Garson Blogathon.
  1. The Painted Desert (1931) - Bill Boyd, Helen Twelvetrees, Clark Gable
  2. A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935) - James Cagney, Mickey Rooney, Anita Louise, Dick Powell & Olivia de Havilland. Joe E. Brown, Ian Hunter, Frank McHugh
  3. The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935) - Gary Cooper, Franchot Tone, Richard Cromwell, C. Aubrey Smith
  4. Broadway Melody of 1936 (1935) - Jack Benny, Eleanor Powell & Robert Taylor, Buddy & Vilma Ebson, Una Merkel
  5. Born to Dance (1936) - Eleanor Powell & James Stewart, Virginia Bruce, Una Merkel, Buddy Ebson 
  6. Three Comrades (1938) - Margaret Sullavan & Robert Taylor, Franchot Tone, Robert Young
  7. *The Cat and the Canary (1939) - Bob Hope & Paulette Goddard, Gale Sondergard
  8. Dark Victory (1939) - Bette Davis & George Brent, Geraldine FitzGerald, Humphrey Bogart, Ronald Reagan 
  9. Drums Along the Mohawk (1939) - Henry Fonda & Claudette Colbert, Edna May Oliver, Ward Bond
  10. *The Ghost Breakers (1940) - Bob Hope & Paulette Goddard, Willie Best, Paul Lukas, Richard Carlson, Anthony Quinn
  11. *Pride and Prejudice (1940) - Greer Garson & Laurence Olivier, Ann Rutherford, Marsha Hunt, Frieda Inescourt, 
  12. Blossoms in the Dust (1941) - Greer Garson & Walter Pidgeon, Marsha Hunt
  13. *Mrs. Miniver (1942) - Greer Garson & Walter Pidgeon, Teresa Wright, Richard Ney, Dame May Whitty, Henry Travers, Reginald Owen
  14. Madame Curie (1943) - Greer Garson & Walter Pidgeon, Henry Travers, Dame May Whitty, Robert Walker, Van Johnson
  15. None Shall Escape (1944) - Marsha Hunt, Alexander Knox, Henry. Travers
  16. The Valley of Decision (1945) - Greer Garson & Gregory Peck, Marsha Hunt, Preston Foster, Jessica Tandy, Gladys Cooper, Donald Crisp, Lionel Barrymore, Marshall Thompson, Dan Duryea, Reginald Owen
  17. Danger Signal (1945) - Faye Emerson, Zachary Scott, Rosemary DeCamp
  18. That Forsyte Woman (1949) - Greer Garson, Errol Flynn, Robert Young, Janet Leigh, Walter Pidgeon 
  19. Quo Vadis (1951) - Robert Taylor & Deborah Kerr, Peter Ustinov
  20. All the Brothers Were Valiant (1953) - Robert Taylor, Ann Blyth, Stewart Granger, Keenyn Wynn, Betta St. John, James Whitmore, Lewis Stone
  21. *River of No Return (1954) - Robert Mitchum & Marilyn Monroe 
  22. On the Waterfront (1954) - Marlon Brando & Eva Marie Saint, Lee J. Cobb, Karl Malden, Rod Steiger
  23. Magnificent Obsession (1954) Rock Hudson & Jane Wyman, Agnes Moorehead 
  24. Executive Suite (1954) - William Holden, Barbara Stanwyck, June Allyson, Walter Pidgeon, Fredric March, Nina Foch, Dean Jagger, Shelley Winters, Paul Douglas, Louis Calhern, Tim Considine
  25. Written on the Wind (1957) - Lauren Bacall, Rock Hudson, Robert Stack, Dorothy Malone
  26. Separate Tables (1958) - Deborah Kerr, David Niven, Burt Lancaster, Rita Hayworth, Wendy Hiller, Gladys Cooper, Rod Taylor, Audrey Dalton
  27. The House of the Seven Hawks (1959) - Robert Taylor & Nicole Maurey
  28. Pepe (1960) - Cantinflas, Shirley Jones, Dan Daily
  29. The Facts of Life (1960) - Bob Hope & Lucille Ball, Ruth Hussey, Don DeFore 
  30. The Rare Breed (1966) - James Stewart & Maureen O’Hara, Juliet Mills, Brian Keith
  31. A Warm December (1972) - Sidney Poitier & Esther Anderson
  32. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) - Henry Thomas, Drew Barrymore, Dee Wallace, Robert MacNaughton
  33. Mrs. Soffel (1984) - Diane Keaton & Mel Gibson
  34. Spaceballs (1987) - Mel Brooks, John Candy, Bill Pullman
  35. Double, Double, Toil and Trouble (1993) - Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen, Cloris Leachman
  36. *Maverick (1994) - Mel Gibson & Jodie Foster, James Garner, James Coburn
  37. Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019) - Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, Michelle Phieffer, Chiwetal
Least Favorite Film: Didn't like how Three Comrades ended...

Favorite Film: Lots of solid films but I really loved Madame Curie.

 
 
Three Comrades
 
What Oscar winning films did you finally watch this month? Was there a CLASSIC that you enjoyed more than you expected? Was there a star you watched more than any other?

ANNOUNCING “The Rose of MGM: The Greer Garson Blogathon”


In the month of February I ended up watching five new-to-me Greer Garson films and revisited two that I had seen before. I also started reading her biography, A Rose for Mrs. Miniver: The Life of Greer Garson by Michael Troyan. I decided it was time to hold a blogathon for Miss Garson and settled on the weekend of April 6th, the 24th anniversary of her death.

Since Garson appeared in under 30 films, I will allow two duplicates. However, it would be fantastic to have all of her films covered. Posts on her television appearances, frequent co-starrings with Walter Pidgeon, her many Oscar nods, or her impact on women during WWII are also welcome and encouraged.

To claim your topic, please comment with your choice and link to your blog. Then take one of these banners to display!

ALREADY CLAIMED TWICE:

Mrs. Miniver (1942)





Roster:

Phyllis Loves Classic Movies: Madame Curie (1943) & Greer Garson’s appearance on Father Knows Best

The Midnite Drive-In: Mrs. Miniver (1942)

The Wonderful World of Cinema: Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)

Musings of a Classic Film Addict: Remember? (1939)

Musings of an Introvert: Pride and Prejudice (1940)

Movies Meet Their Match: Sunrise at Campobello (1963)

Rebecca Deniston: Mrs. Miniver (1942)