Movies I Watched in December

Season 4 Opening Theme

I started watching season 4 of The Avengers and am greatly enjoying it (first 10 episodes this month)! It's on tubi but was missing season 1, so I hadn't started it. Then I decided to just go ahead and start with season 2 and was confused when Diana Rigg wasn't listed in the opening credits. So I googled it and discovered that season 1 only has three surviving episodes and that Diana Rigg was in seasons 4-6. I like Honor Blackman too (season 2 & 3) so I will definitely go back and watch those at some point. To give you a glimpse of why I started watching it: Out of Africa => composer John Barry =>James Bond - On His Majesty's Secret Service with Diana Rigg => The Avengers.

* indicates a rewatch

1. *The Thin Man (1934) - William Powell & Myrna Loy, Maureen O'Sullivan, Nat Pendleton
2. *Remember the Night (1940) - Fred MacMurray & Barbara Stanwyck
3. The Perfect Snob (1941) - Charles Ruggles, Cornel Wilde, Lynn Bari, Anthony Quinn
4. *I'll Be Seeing You (1944) - Ginger Rogers & Joseph Cotten, Shirley Temple, Spring Byington
5. *Christmas in Connecticut (1945) - Barbara Stanwyck & Dennis Morgan, S.Z. "Cuddles" Sakall, Reginald Gardiner, Sydney Greenstreet, Una O'Conner
6. Smart Woman (1948) - Constance Bennett & Brian Aherne
7. It Happens Every Spring (1949) - Ray Milland, Paul Douglas, Jean Peters
8. *The Secret Garden (1949) - Margaret O'Brien, Herbert Marshall, Dean Stockwell, Gladys Cooper, Elsa Lanchester, Brian Roper, Reginald Owen
9. *White Christmas (1954) - Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Vera Ellen, Rosemary Clooney, Dean Jagger, Mary Wickes
10. *We're No Angels (1955) - Humphrey Bogart, Peter Ustinov, Aldo Ray, Leo G. Carroll, Joan Bennett, Basil Rathbone, Gloria Talbot
11. 5 Against the House (1955) - Guy Madison, Kim Novak, Brian Keith
12. Kidnapped (1960) - James MacArthur, Peter Finch, Bernard Lee, Peter O'Toole, Finlay Currie
13. Out of Africa (1985) - Meryl Streep & Robert Redford
14. *Mickey's Christmas Carol (1987) - Alan Young
15. *Elf (2003) - Will Ferrell, James Caan, Bob Newhart, Zooey Deschanel, Edward Asner, Mary Steenburgen
16. *Blind Dating (2006) - Chris Pine
17. The Contractor (2022) - Chris Pine, Ben Foster

Backstairs at the White House (1979 Mini-Series) - ep. 1, loads of familiar faces

Least Favorite Film: Smart Woman and Out of Africa were both just ok. The score for the latter was gorgeous though, as was Mr. Redford ;)

Favorite Movie: Definitely It Happens Every Spring. 

Favorite Quote: These two pick-up lines from 5 Against the House.

"I'm a stranger in town, can you direct me to your house?" - Brian Keith

"Excuse me, I'm writing a new telephone book and I'd like to include your name and number."

Novak has a stunning, or as the posters say "sizzling," character introduction. 

I love the glitter in her hair.

Keep an eye out for my end-of-year stats post!! 

I should have it up by this weekend :)

Movies I Watched in November

She who must be obeyed.

Started off Noirvember with Laura (1944), then read Gene Tierney's autobiography Self Portrait that I picked it up at an antique store a couple months ago. Ended Noirvember with Nightfall. I also read the book of the same name by David Goodis that the film was based on. Continued watching more Robert Redford movies. Looks like TCM is showing a couple Dennis Morgan movies early every Saturday morning right now. I revisited Tear Gas Squad with my favorite Dennis Morgan song (here):

Cute little Karolyn Grimes in Albuquerque.

This month ended up being Randolph Scott Westerns month. I've never purposefully explored his films. The ones I have seen I was usually watching for someone else: Errol Flynn, John Wayne, Robert Ryan, Cary Grant, Fred and Ginger, etc. A couple months ago I watched Shoot-Out at Medicine Bend because of James Garner and The Walking Hills for Ella Raines. Then right at the end of last month I finished Canadian Pacific, which I had started several months before on tubi, and then decided to watch the two other Scott movies that were on Watch TCM. There's quite a few of his films on tubi so I kept going!

*indicates a rewatch

1. Beau Geste (1926) - Ronald Colman, Neil Hamilton, Ralph Forbes, Noah Beery, William Powell, Victor McLaglen
2. She (1935) - Randolph Scott, Helen Gahagan, Helen Mack, Nigel Bruce
3. The Last of the Mohicans (1936) - Randolph Scott, Binnie Barnes, Bruce Cabot, Heather Angel
4. The Texans (1938) - Randolph Scott & Joan Bennett, Robert Cummings, May Robson, Walter Brennan
5. *Bachelor Mother (1939) - Ginger Rogers & David Niven, Charles Coburn
6. *Tear Gas Squad (1940) - Dennis Morgan, John Payne, Gloria Dickson
7. Tennessee Johnson (1942) - Van Heflin & Ruth Hussey, Lionel Barrymore, Marjorie Main
8. *Laura (1944) - Gene Tierney & Dana Andrews, Clifton Webb, Vincent Price, Judith Anderson
9. Belle of the Yukon (1944) - Randolph Scott, Gypsy Rose Lee, Dinah Shore, Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams
10. *One More Tomorrow (1946) - Dennis Morgan & Ann Sheridan, Alexis Smith, Jack Carson, Jane Wyman, Reginald Gardiner
11. Abilene Town (1946) - Randolph Scott, Ann Dvorak
12. *Miracle on 34th Street (1947) - Edmund Gwenn, Maureen O'Hara & John Payne, Natalie Wood
13. Albuquerque (1948) - Randolph Scott, Barbara Britton, George 'Gabby' Hayes, Lon Chaney Jr., Karolyn Grimes
14. The Cariboo Trail (1950) - Randolph Scott, Bill Williams, George 'Gabby' Hayes
15. Circle of Danger (1951) - Ray Milland & Patricia Roc
16. Carson City (1952) - Randolph Scott, Raymond Massey
17. *All That Heaven Allows (1955) - Jane Wyman & Rock Hudson, Agnes Morehead, Virginia Grey, Gloria Talbott
18. Tight Spot (1955) - Ginger Rogers, Edward G. Robinson, Brian Keith
19. *Nightfall (1956) - Aldo Ray & Anne Bancroft, Brian Keith
20. The Tall T (1957) - Randolph Scott, Richard Boone, Maureen O'Sullivan
21. The Way We Were (1973) - Barbra Streisand & Robert Redford
22. *The Sting (1973) - Robert Redford & Paul Newman
23. *Moonstruck (1987) - Cher & Nicholas Cage, Olympia Dukakis, Vincent Gardenia
24. *Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (1987) - Steve Martin & John Candy
25. Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale (2025) - Michelle Dockery, Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern, Laura Carmichael, et. all

A&E Biography Gene Tierney: A Shattered Portrait (1999)

Least Favorite Film: The Cariboo Trail. I rolled my eyes a lot. It had a lot of the Western cliches.

I loved this costume though!

Favorite Movie: The Tall T was really good. Somehow no one in my family had heard of it before! Also low key obsessed with She. The thumbnail showed snow so I hit play. Really enjoyed Circle of Danger. Ray Milland travels to England to look up the men of the commando unit his brother fought with during the war to try and clear up the mysterious circumstances of his death. No one seems to be able to answer his questions. All three films are on Tubi.

Favorite Quote: (All from One More Tomorrow)

Smith: "Stop being bitter and get me a drink."

Morgan: "Haven't we met before?"

Gardiner: "No, I don't think so. I might have forgotten you, but you'd never have forgotten me."

Morgan: "Strange, I could have sworn that.."

Gardiner: "No, no. We've never met. But you may have seen my picture somewhere. I used to be an advertising model."

(This exchange was funny because they were both in Christmas in Connecticut the previous year.)

Wyman: "What are you doing on this couch, I thought the blue one was your favorite."

Gardiner: "It developed a bump in the middle. It and I are through."

She (1935)