Movies I Watched in December

Jubal (1956)

This month I watched Die Hard for the first time. So the big question is of course: is it a Christmas movie? My verdict is... kind of. It felt like Home Alone but for adults. It put me in a Bruce Willis mood so I finally started watching Moonlighting again (I had watched three episodes earlier this year but couldn't get into it - it's on Tubi now as well as Hulu).

*indicates a rewatch

1. Fugitive Lovers (1934) - Robert Montgomery & Madge Evans, Nat Pendleton, Ted Healy & the Three Stooges
2. *First Love (1939) - Deanna Durbin & Robert Stack
3. *Dodge City (1939) - Errol Flynn & Olivia De Havilland, Bruce Cabot, Alan Hale, Guinn ‘Big Boy’ Williams, Frank McHugh, John Litel, Ann Sheridan, Henry Travers
4. Young and Willing (1943) - William Holden, Eddie Bracken, Susan Hayward, James Brown, Martha O'Driscoll, Barbara Britton
5. *Christmas in Connecticut (1945) - Barbara Stanwyck & Dennis Morgan, S. Z. Sakall, Reginald Gardner, Sydney Greenstreet, Una O'Conner
6. The Small Back Room/Hour of Glory (1949) - David Farrar, Kathleen Byron, Jack Hawkins
7. *The Heiress (1949) - Olivia de Havilland & Montgomery Clift, Ralph Richardson, Miriam Hopkins
8. *Born to be Bad (1950) - Joan Fontaine, Robert Ryan, Zachary Scott, Joan Leslie, Mel Ferrer
9. *Shadow in the Sky (1952) - Ralph Meeker, James Whitmore, Nancy Davis, Jean Hagen
10. *The Holly and the Ivy (1952) - Ralph Richardson, Celia Johnson
11. *White Christmas (1954) - Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, Vera-Ellen, Dean Jagger, Mary Wickes
12. *The Teahouse of the August Moon (1956) - Glenn Ford, Marlon Brando, Eddie Albert
13. Jubal (1956) - Glenn Ford, Ernest Borgnine, Rod Steiger, Valerie French, Felicia Farr, Charles Bronson
14. 3:10 to Yuma (1957) - Glenn Ford, Van Heflin, Felicia Farr, Leora Dana
15. Blind Date (1987) - Bruce Willis & Kim Basinger
16. Die Hard (1988) - Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman
17. Die Hard 2: Die Harder (1990) - Bruce Willis
18. *Home Alone (1990) - Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, Catherine O'Hara, John Heard, John Candy
19. Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995) - Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson

Least Favorite Film: Young and Willing.

Favorite Movie: Definitely 3:10 to Yuma! It's one of those movies where I wanted to watch it again right after it finished. I also really enjoyed Jubal (obviously) and Die Hard. 

Here's a few articles/blog posts I enjoyed on the two Glenn Ford films: 

Jubal - Jeff Arnold's West

3:10 to Yuma - Hamelette's Soliloquy: Post 1 - Post 2 - Post 3 - Post 4

Killing Time: 3:10 to Yuma & the Lonesome West

3:10 to Yuma - Indiana University 

Favorite Quote: Robert Ryan to Joan Fontaine in Born to Be Bad (1950): "Have you seen the view? It looks better with me in it."

3:10 to Yuma (1957)

Movies I Watched in November

This month was William Holden month. For a long time I wasn't much on Holden but now I can say I'm a fan. I was actually surprised at just how many of his films I've already seen over the years. I'll definitely be rewatching some. I rewatched Sunset Boulevard for the first time in several years and was struck by how young he looks to me in it now lol. I am currently reading Close-Up on Sunset Boulevard: Billy Wilder, Norma Desmond, and the Dark Hollywood Dream by Sam Staggs. I also checked out Nancy Olson Livingston's autobiography, A Front Row Seat: An Intimate Look at Broadway, Hollywood, and the Age of Glamour.

I've also been watching some Powell and Pressburger films that I hadn't seen yet. The documentary has just been added to kanopy if your library offers that service and you missed it on TCM.

I read Ladd: The Life, The Legend, The Legacy of Alan Ladd by Beverly Linet. It was good, though I found the foreboding sentences ending in ". . ." to be overly dramatic. 

* indicates a rewatch

1. Something Always Happens (1934) - Ian Hunter & Nancy O'Neil
2. Arizona (1940) - Jean Arthur & William Holden, William Wellman, Edgar Buchanan
3. Texas (1941) - William Holden, Glenn Ford, Claire Trevor, Edgar Buchanan
4. ...One of Our Aircraft is Missing (1941) - Godfrey Tearle, Eric Portman, Hugh Williams, Googie Withers
5. *A Canterbury Tale (1944) - Sheila Sim, John Sweet, Eric Portman
6. *Phantom Lady (1944) - Ella Raines, Franchot Tone, Alan Curtis, Thomas Gomez, Elisha Cook Jr.
7. The Unseen (1945) - Joel McCrea, Gail Russell, Herbert Marshall
8. *Miracle on 34th Street (1947) - Edmund Gwenn, Maureen O'Hara & John Payne, Natalie Wood
9. The Man from Colorado (1948) - Glenn Ford, William Holden, Ellen Drew, Edgar Buchanan
10. *Sunset Boulevard (1950) - William Holden, Gloria Swanson, Nancy Olson
11. Union Station (1950) - William Holden, Nancy Olson, Barry FitzGerald, Jan Sterling
12. *Harvey (1950) - James Stewart, Josephine Hull, Cecil Kelloway, Jesse White, Peggy Dow
13. The Tales of Hoffmann (1951) - Moira Shearer 
14. Joe MacBeth (1956) - Paul Douglas & Ruth Roman
15. 23 Paces to Baker Street (1956) - Van Johnson & Vera Miles
16. *The Story of Vickie (1954-German) - Romy Schneider, Magda Schneider, Adrian Hoven
17. The Key (1958) - William Holden, Sophia Loren, Trevor Howard
18. The World of Suzie Wong (1960) - William Holden & Nancy Kwan, Sylvia Syms, Michael Wilding
19. *Little Women (1994) - Winona Ryder, Christian Bale, Susan Sarandon
20. Painted Lady (1997-TV Movie) - Helen Mirren, Iain Glen, Franco Nero, Lesley Manville

Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger (2024)

Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes (2024)

Least Favorite Film: Rewatched Harvey for the first time since college and, while it had several funny scenes, I'm just not much on it. It bothered me the way the patients were treated by the doctor. Painted Lady started out fine but got really disturbing in the middle (I actually still have one hour left). Gail Russell needed to slap Joel McCrea for trying to gaslight her in The Unseen. 

Favorite Movie: I enjoyed several movies this month, but especially Arizona and The Key. Neither were what I expected.

Texas (1941)

Movies I Watched in October

Eve Arden, Fashion Designer (The Arnelo Affair)

Not a lot of movies this month. Finished season 4 of Only Murders in the Building and rewatched season 1 of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Also watched It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown twice. 

1. *Topper (1937) - Roland Young, Cary Grant & Constance Bennett, Billie Burke
2. The Saint's Double Trouble (1940) - George Sanders, Bela Lugosi
3. China (1943) - Alan Ladd, Loretta Young, William Bendix
4. The Arnelo Affair (1947) - Frances Gifford, John Hodiak, George Murphy, Eve Arden
5. Fearless Fagan (1952) - Carleton Carpenter & Janet Leigh, Keenan Wynn
6. The Turning Point (1952) - William Holden, Alexis Smith, Edmund O'Brien
7. *Stalag 17 (1953) - William Holden
8. *Love is a Many Splendored Thing (1955) - Jennifer Jones & William Holden
9. North West Frontier (1959) - Kenneth More, Lauren Bacall
10. Tiger Bay (1959) - John Mills, Hayley Mills

Alan Ladd: The True Quiet Man (1999) - The Hollywood Collection

Least Favorite Film: The only part about Fearless Fagan I didn't like is when they showed the lion being abused by his new trainer. It was hard to watch.

Favorite Movie: Hayley Mills was fantastic in Tiger Bay.

Favorite Quotes: (Hint - they're both Eve Arden)

I'm the repulsive type before I've had my morning coffee.

(After staying for breakfast) Thanks for the calories. 

I just love this soundtrack

Movies I Watched in September

A lot of rewatches this month as I dog-sat for my cousin and brought several dvds with me, including several of my kino lorber blurays.

* indicates a rewatch

1. *The Canary Murder Case (1929) - William Powell, Jean Arthur, Louise Brooks, Eugene Palette
2. Arise My Love (1940) - Ray Milland & Claudette Colbert, Dennis O'Keefe
3. *Anne of Windy Poplars (1940) - Anne Shirley, Henry Travers, Joan Carroll
4. *Love Letters (1945) - Joseph Cotten & Jennifer Jones, Cecil Kelloway, Gladys Cooper
5. *High Wall (1947) - Robert Taylor & Audrey Totter
6. The Steel Trap (1952) - Joseph Cotten & Teresa Wright
7. Terror on a Train (1953) - Glenn Ford
8. *Heaven Knows Mr. Allison (1957) - Robert Mitchum & Deborah Kerr
9. Equinox Flower (1958-Japanese) - Ineko Arima, Yoshiko Kuga, Shin Saburi, Kinuyo Tanaka, Chishū Ryū, Fujiko Yamamoto, Miyuki Kuwano
10. The Truth About Spring (1965) - John Mills, Hayley Mills, James MacArthur, David Tomlinson
11. *Anne of Green Gables (1985) - Megan Follows, Jonathan Crombie, Collen Dewhurst, Richard Farnsworth, Schuyler Grant
12. *Anne of Avonlea (1987) - Megan Follows, Jonathan Crombie, Collen Dewhurst, Wendy Hiller, Rosemary Dunsmore, Schuyler Grant
13. The Old Man & the Gun (2018) - Rober Redford, Casey Affleck, Sissy Spacek, Danny Glover
14. *Christmas Getaway (2019) - Bridget Regan & Travis Van Winkle

Least Favorite Film: The print quality was amazing but I found The Canary Murder Case to be somewhat clunky. It was filmed as a silent then changed to sound.

Favorite Movie: Not many new-to-me movies to choose from but my favorite was The Truth About Spring. It's not a Disney movie but with that cast it felt like one!

I feel like I have a screenshot of this blouse/sweater 

combo from another movie somewhere but can't find it...

Movies I Watched in August

Please sign this petition for the preservation of the Internet Archive, an essential resource for Classic Movie bloggers. 

Usually TCM's Summer Under the Stars is a heavy viewing month but this year's schedule didn't excite me. Of course at this point I've seen a great many of the films they showed already. What about you, did you find the lineup lacking?

*indicates a rewatch

1. State Fair (1945) - Jeanne Crain & Dana Andrews, Dick Haymes & Vivian Blaine, Charles Winninger, Fay Bainter, Donald Meek, Frank McHugh, Percy Kilbride, Henry Morgan
2. Margie (1946) - Jeanne Crain, Glenn Langan, Alan Young
3. Young Widow (1946) - Jane Russell & Louis Hayward
4. *She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) - John Wayne (& the John Ford Stock Company)
5. Ten Tall Men (1951) - Burt Lancaster, Gilbert Roland, George Tobias
6. *Clash by Night (1952) - Barbara Stanwyck, Paul Douglas, Robert Ryan, Marilyn Monroe
7. *The Swan (1956) - Grace Kelly, Louis Jordan, Alec Guinness, Jesse Royce Landis, Agnes Moorehead
8. The Miracle Worker (1962) - Anne Bancroft & Patty Duke
9. Little Treasure (1985) - Ted Danson, Burt Lancaster
10. *Ocean's Twelve (2004) - George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Matt Damon, Julia Roberts, etc.
11. Love is Blind (2019) - Aidan Turner

And Then There Were None (2015 - Mini-Series) - Aiden Turner

Bethany Hamilton: Unstoppable (2018) - doc

Frank Capra: Mr. America (2023) - doc

Least Favorite Film: Ten Tall Men was a poor imitation of a late 1930s rollicking action/adventure Errol Flynn-type film. The first part of Little Treasure was good but then it was revealed that the female character's occupation was a stripper, so I had to skip some scenes. 

Favorite Movie: I really enjoyed the two Jeanne Crain films.

Favorite Quote: "Fellow sufferers, are you plump? When you walk in the sun, does your shadow look like a crowd following you?"

~ radio commercial in Young Widow

Love the beading on Stanwyck's sweater.

Movies I Watched in July

The Fastest Gun Alive (1956)

This month I watched season 1-3 of Poldark (2015-2019). I really liked the first season. The second season was still fine but during the third I considered stopping as it was pretty much constant drama and revenge. There was also a marital r*pe storyline introduced for a side character - I fast-forwarded those scenes even though nothing was shown. The series has gorgeous shots of Cornwall. I really want to go there. 

I really enjoyed all of the Bruce Brown surfing documentaries that aired on TCM this month. His commentary had me laughing out loud. The first one felt like watching someone's college home movies. I first watched The Endless Summer (1965) several years ago, so it was fun to see that again. I also want to watch The Endless Summer Revisted (2000) and A Life of Endless Summers: The Bruce Brown Story (2020). All three are on Tubi. I'm also finally read Gidget by Frederick Kohner. My brother found a copy that the real "Gidget" autographed!

* indicates a rewatch

1. *Berlin Express (1948) - Robert Ryan & Merle Oberon
2. *Quo Vadis (1951) - Robert Taylor & Deborah Kerr, Leo Genn, Peter Ustinov
3. Jim Thorpe -- All-American (1951) - Burt Lancaster & Phyllis Thaxter
4. *Artists and Models (1955) - Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis, Dorothy Malone, Shirley MacLaine, Eva Gabor
5. The Fastest Gun Alive (1956) - Glenn Ford & Jeanne Crain, Broderick Crawford
6. Ice Cold in Alex (1958) - John Mills, Anthony Quayle, Sylvia Syms, Harry Andrews
7. *Three Days of the Condor (1975) - Robert Redford & Faye Dunaway, Cliff Robertson
8. The Fabulous Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1977) - Kenneth More
9. The Makioka Sisters (1983-Japanese) - Yoshiko Sakuma, Sayuri Yoshinaga, Yuko Kotegawa, Keiko Kishi, Kuniko Miyake
10. *Corrina, Corrina (1994) - Whoopi Goldberg, Tina Majorino, Ray Liotta, Don Ameche
11. *Gladiator (2000) - Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielson, Oliver Reed, Richard Harris, Derek Jacobi, Djimon Hounsou
12. *Shallow Hal (2001) - Jack Black & Gwenyth Paltrow, Jason Alexander
13. Comeback Season (2006) - Ray Liotta

Slippery When Wet (1958) - had a couple shots of the real Gidget!

Surf Crazy (1959)

Barefoot Adventure (1960) - with narration recorded in 1990

Surfin Shorts (1960) - "Hangin' with Bruce" & "The Wet Set" + "America's Newest Sport" (1966)

Surfing Hollow Days (1961)

*The Endless Summer (1965)

Least Favorite Film: Well, The Fabulous Journey to the Centre of the Earth was a little on the corny side. I definitely prefer the Brendan Fraser and James Mason versions.

Favorite Film: The Bruce Brown surfing films.

The real Gidget

Movies I Watched in June

This month was Burt Lancaster month lol. A couple of Deborah Kerr movies and an impromptu rewatch of Run Silent, Run Deep led me to a From Here to Eternity rewatch (I just can't get with Kerr's "American" accent) which led to more Burt Lancaster. I also finally watched Band of Brothers. I covered up the screen a few times, especially in the Bastogne episode, but it was an excellent series. 

* indicates a rewatch

1. Death on the Diamond (1934) - Robert Young, Madge Evans, William Demerest, Nat Pendleton
2. Singapore Woman (1941) - Brenda Marshall
3. Mission to Moscow (1943) - Walter Huston, Eleanor Parker
4. *Brief Encounter (1945) - Celia Johnson & Trevor Howard
5. I See a Dark Stranger (1946) - Deborah Kerr & Trevor Howard 
6. Desert Fury (1947) - Lisabeth Scott, John Hodiak, Mary Astor, Burt Lancaster, Wendall Corey
7. I Walk Alone (1947) - Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Lisabeth Scott, Wendall Corey
8. Whispering Smith (1949) - Alan Ladd, Robert Preston, Brenda Marshall, Donald Crisp, William Demerest, Fay Holden
9. *Mister 880 (1950) - Burt Lancaster, Edmund Gwenn, Dorothy McGuire
10. *From Here to Eternity (1953) - Burt Lancaster & Deborah Kerr, Montgomery Clift & Donna Reed, Frank Sinatra, Ernest Borgnine
11. *Run Silent, Run Deep (1958) - Clark Gable, Burt Lancaster, Don Rickles
12. Good Morning (1959-Japanese) - 
13. The Chalk Garden (1964) - Deborah Kerr, Hayley Mills, John Mills
14. *Destination Wedding (2019) - Keanu Reeves & Winona Ryder

Band of Brothers (2000) - Damian Lewis, Donnie Wahlburg, etc.

We Stand Alone Together: The Men of Easy Company (2001)

Deborah Kerr: Getting to Know Her (2000) 

Least Favorite Film: Mission to Moscow was very much a propaganda film of it's time. I watched it for Eleanor Parker.

Favorite Movie: Once I got past the first few minutes I really enjoyed I See a Dark Stranger. It ended up being quite funny as well, which I wasn't expecting. I got a little teary reading Caftan Woman's post about it. 

Favorite Lines: "Spanswick, Margery's on the line about the dance tonight. She wants to know whether to wear the backless blue or the frontless white?"

~ I See a Dark Stranger (1946)

"A man's got to settle down on first base and raise a family before you call him 'safe'."

~ Death on the Diamond (1934)

I came across this video of Lloyd Bridges singing on the Ed Sullivan show and had to share!