Friday, July 31, 2020

Movies I Watched in July

House of Bamboo (1955)

Well, this month I randomly fell for Robert Stack. Maybe because I finally watched a movie where he didn’t fall apart lol (Written on the Wind, The High and the Mighty, etc.). I started watching John Paul Jones because Bette Davis was in it (she basically just has a cameo scene at the end) and ended up really enjoying it. Then I watched House of Bamboo, which I’ve been meaning to watch for Robert RYAN but hadn’t been in the mood for. I’m glad I waited. Then of course I watched anything I could find with Stack online, including some of his television appearances (YouTube and Internet Archive). I really want to watch The Untouchables but my library is only allowing in-house checkouts so I can’t request it from another library :( Same goes for Stack’s autobiography, Straight Shooting. There are some great interviews on YouTube, especially one from 1999 where he talks about Hollywood in length.

Robert Stack and Olivia de Havilland

I’ve also been getting a hoot out of listening to The Jack Carson Show. Side effects include singing the Campbell’s Soup jingle constantly... Other familiar voices are Arthur Treacher and Irene Ryan (Granny from The Beverley Hillbillies). Take a listen!


I was greatly saddened to hear of the death of Olivia de Havilland a few days ago. I hosted four blogathons in her honor beginning with her 100th birthday in 2016. I did not end up hosting one this year however. I wanted to share a post I wrote for that first blogathon on My Journey with Olivia

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  1. The Cocoanuts (1928) - Marx Brothers, Margaret Dumont 
  2. Wide Open (1930) - Edward Everett Horton, Louise Beavers
  3. Arrowsmith (1931) - Ronald Colman & Helen Hayes, Myrna Loy
  4. Consolation Marriage (1931) - Pat O’Brien & Irene Dunne, Myrna Loy
  5. Gambling Lady (1934) - Barbara Stanwyck & Joel McCrea, Pat O’Brien, Claire Dodd, C. Aubrey Smith
  6. Blackwell’s Island (1939) - John Garfield & Rosemary Lane
  7. The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939) - Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers 
  8. The Mortal Storm (1940) - James Stewart & Maureen Sullavan, Frank Morgan, Robert Young, Irene Rich, Maria Ouspenskaya, Bonita Granville, Robert Stack, Gene Reynolds, Ward Bond, Dan Dailey
  9. The House of Seven Gables (1940) - George Sanders, Margaret Lindsey, Vincent Price 
  10. Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) - James Cagney & Joan Leslie, Walter Huston, Rosemary DeCamp, Jeanne Cagney, George Tobias, S.Z. Sakall
  11. Casanova Brown (1944) - Gary Cooper & Teresa Wright, Frank Morgan, Anita Louise 
  12. The Sign of the Ram (1948) - Susan Peters, Phyllis Thaxter, Peggy Ann Garner, Diana Douglas, Dame May Whitty
  13. Silver River (1948) - Errol Flynn & Ann Sheridan, Thomas Mitchell
  14. The Bribe (1949) - Robert Taylor & Ava Gardner, Charles Laughton, Vincent Price, John Hodiak
  15. Stranger from Venus (1954) - Patricia Neal
  16. The Long Gray Line (1955) - Tyrone Power & Maureen O’Hara, Donald Crisp, Ward Bond, Harry Carey Jr., Patrick Wayne
  17. House of Bamboo (1955) - Robert Stack, Robert Ryan
  18. Trapeze (1956) - Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Gina Lollobrigida, Katy Jurado 
  19. Saddle the Wind (1958) - Robert Taylor & Julie London, Donald Crisp
  20. The Gift of Love (1958) - Lauren Bacall & Robert Stack, Lorne Greene
  21. John Paul Jones (1959) - Robert Stack, Charles Coburn, Jean Pierre Aumont, Bette Davis
  22. Scent of Mystery (1960) - Denholm Elliot, Peter Lorre, Beverly Bentley, Paul Lukas
  23. Spartacus (1960) - Kirk Douglas & Jean Simmons, Lawrence Olivier, Charles Laughton, Peter Ustinov, Tony Curtis, Woody, Strode, John Ireland, John Gavin, Nina Foch
  24. Captain Newman, M.D. (1963) - Gregory Peck & Angie Dickinson, Tony Curtis, Bobby Darin, Eddie Albert, Robert Duvall
  25. Cattle King (1963) - Robert Taylor
  26. Three Days if the Condor (1975) - Robert Redford & Faye Dunaway, Cliff Robertson 
  27. International Velvet (1979) - Tatum O'Neal, Christopher Plummer, Anthony Hopkins, Nanette Newman
  28. Airplane! (1980) - Leslie Neilson, Lloyd Bridges, Robert Stack
  29. Seems Like Old Times (1980) - Goldie Hawn & Chevy Chase
  30. Bird on a Wire (1990) - Mel Gibson & Goldie Hawn 
  31. *The Bourne Identity (2002) - Matt Damon & Franke Potente
  32. Psych 2: Lassie Come Home (2020) - James Roday Rodriguez, Dule Hill, Timothy Odmunson, Maggie Lawson, Jazmyn Simon Hill, Kirsten Nelson, Corbin Bernson, 
This is Cinerama (1952)
The 20th Century-Fox Hour: A Portrait of Murder aka Laura (1955) - Robert Stack, Dana Wynter, George Sanders

Least Favorite Film: Cattle King wasn't anything special. I only watched it for Robert Taylor since earlier this year I ended up watching several of this films so now I'm watching any that TCM shows that I haven't seen yet.

Favorite MovieThree Days if the Condor was soooo good!! I also read the book it was based on by James Grady, Six Days of the Condor. House of Bamboo was really good. I loved the way it was filmed. Airplane! was hilarious! I also really liked The Bribe  and Wide Open, which was cute.

My favorite part is at 3:06.

4 comments:

  1. Funny. I've been in a mood for The Untouchables but can't find it online/dvd. It was in syndication when I was a teenager so the memory is starting to fade. I recall it had a great score by Nelson Riddle.

    A very cute find will be First Love, 1939. It's a Cinderella type movie with Deanna Durbin and Robert Stack is the "prince."

    Cattle King is disappointing, but on the other hand surprising regarding the romance.

    Thanks for the links to your article and to Jack Carson.

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    1. I can only find the pilot with Neville Brand online but I haven’t watched it yet. The DVDs are available on Amazon but I don’t know if they would work in Canada.

      I saw First Love several years ago but didn’t even realize Stack was in it until I looked at his filmography. Looks like I’ll hVe to revisit it :)

      Yes, the love story was sweet but sad.

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  2. It is so nice to discover your blog (can't believe I just now found it). Speaking of Olivia de Havilland, have you ever seen "My Cousin Rachel"? Do you know if TCM ever shows it?

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    1. Welcome!

      Love that movie! TCM hasn’t shown it for 2 or 3 years I believe. They are having a day of her films next Sunday but My Cousin Rachel isn’t in the lineup :(

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