Pick My Movie Tag 2: Five Least Favorite Hitchcock Films

I was tagged by The Flapper Dame to write a post on my five least favorite Alfred Hitchcock films for The Pick My Movie Tag 2. The rules are as follows:

• Nominate one or more people to review the film or films of your choice. Or you can request they review something from a certain year, genre, or star. Everyone can review the same thing, or you can request each person cover something different. As long as it’s something they haven’t written about yet, you’re good.
• Nominees are allowed to request a different pick for whatever reason no more than five times. Stuff happens. We all know it.
• Nominees must thank the person who nominated them and provide a link their blog.
• Nominees may nominate others to keep the tag going. Picking the person who nominated them is allowed, or they can nominate someone else. Maybe both.
• All participants need to include these rules in their post, whether they’re nominees or picking nominees.
• All participants should use the “Pick My Movie” banner or something similar in their posts.
• Have fun!

At first I thought I wouldn’t be able to come up with that number, but I looked through the films I’ve seen and five was the exact number. Now, I still have several films I haven’t seen. I started Under Capricorn once but it wasn’t grabbing me, and I have no desire to watch his final films, Family Plot and Frenzy. And of course I haven’t seen most of his British films (that includes a The Lady Vanishes - I know). However, here is what I was able to come up with (SPOILERS are marked):

1958

Ok, before you start, I only watched this once probably over a decade ago. I need to rewatch it. At the time though, I really wasn't a fan of Jimmy Stewart, especially when he gets those crazy eyes. I have a thing about close-ups of eyes in movies. I also thought he was too old for Kim Novak (same goes for Grace Kelly in Rear Window). The whole psychedelic sequence was not to my liking either. Being younger, I probably missed a lot of underlying meanings and signs that I would get nowadays. Anyway, this is the first film that pops into my head when asked about my least favorite Hitchcock film.

1944

SPOILERS: It really disturbed me when Walter Slezak (I think it was him?) let Canada Lee fall overboard while everyone was sleeping just because he was black. And William Bendix losing his leg also bothered me.

1948

I watched about 15 minutes but did not like it so I stopped. I will probably never watch it all the way through. It was just too morbid.

1936

I couldn't get on board with Sylvia Sidney being married to Oscar Homolka. And SPOILER, her brother getting blown up at the end was pretty gruesome, even though they didn't show it.

1939

I don't really remember anything about this movie except that it was boring and I didn't like it. Was probably just creeped out by Charles Laughton.

What can I say? Those are my choices and I'm sticking to them!

Thanks to Emily for tagging me! And now I tag Hamlette's Soliloquy to write about her Favorite Movie that was FILMED in Europe!

Halloween Films 2

When I first started this blog, my second post was a list of Halloween Films. They were almost all comedies. Since then I have watched some scarier (to me) films that I would like to share with you:

The Leopard Man (1943) - another Val Lewton/Jacques Tourneur classic, this one came out the year after the more well-known cult-film Cat People (1942). Set in New Mexico, it features Lewton's signature shadows and sounds, and even the same panther!

That moment when you show up to a party in a killer dress and with a panther

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The Uninvited (1944) - starring Ray Milland and Gail Russell, this haunting film is a must-watch. Milland and his sister (Ruth Hussey) buy a cheap mansion that happens to be haunted. At night they hear a woman moaning but no one can ever be found. Gail Russell is a neighbor who lived there as a child - until her mother fell, or jumped, of the nearby cliff. When Russell comes to visit her new neighbors she falls into a trance. 

A séance is always a good idea.

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The Innocents (1961) - a classic starring Deborah Kerr, a governess who is convinced that the two children in her charge are possessed by a couple that died there. I only watched a little bit of it on TCM, but I plan to watch the whole film soon.

 

Have a Happy Halloween!

Simone Simon ~ The Fetching Feline

 

This post has been two years in coming. I first discovered Simone Simon shortly after creating this blog. The film was Cat People (1942) and there was so much I wanted to say about the movie and her performance in it but couldn't find the perfect words to describe it. The post would have just been me gushing about her accompanied by at least 30 photos of her adorable and bewitching face.

 

 

When the Classic Movie History Project Blogathon was announced with a category for foreign stars, I decided it was the perfect opportunity to learn more about this little known star that captured my attention so quickly.

 

Simone Simon was born in France on April 23, 1910 of a French father and an Italian mother. Raised in Marseilles and Madagascar, she moved to Paris when she was 19 and worked as a model, cabaret dancer, and briefly a fashion designer. She got her start in motion pictures there in 1931 when she appeared as a singer in the film Le Chanteur Inconnu. Then, in 1934, she appeared as a " a mysterious child of nature called Puck, who entrances Jean-Pierre Aumont, the swimming instructor at a mountain lake resort," in the film Lac Aux Dames. She was noticed by 20th Century Fox and made her English film debut in Girls' Dormitory (1936). Over the next two years, she made four more films: Ladies in Love with Janet Gaynor, Loretta Young, and Constance Bennett (it can be viewed on TCM on the 12th), Seventh Heaven (1937) with James Stewart - a remake of a Gaynor film, Love and Hisses (1937), and Josette (1938) with Don Ameche.

 

Simone Simon Films on YouTube:

 

Girl's Dormitory

 

Ladies in Love

 

Seventh Heaven

 

Tired of the silly fluff she was being given, and her low salary, Simon returned to France and 10 days later started filming on La Bête Humaine (1938). The producers had a different actress in mind for the role of femme fatale Severine, but the director, Jean Renoir, insisted on Simon.

I claimed, and still claim, that vamps have to be played by women with innocent faces. Women with innocent faces are the most dangerous ones! Also, you don't expect it, so there is an element of surprise! I insisted we use Simone Simon, which we did, and I don't think we were sorry.

 

Simon made one other film in France and then, because of the war, returned to Hollywood, this time to RKO, where she appeared in The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941) - also known as All That Money Can Buy.  

 

Her next film paired her with the master of shadows, Val Lewton, in the cult classic Cat People (1942). Simon plays Irena, a fashion sketch artist who believes that the people of her Serbian ancestors village have a curse on them that if aroused sexually they will turn into a panther. This tale doesn't stop the handsome Oliver Reed (Kent Smith) from marrying her. He understands she is fearful of intimacy and lets her take her time before consummating their marriage. When she can't seem to get past her superstition, he enlists the aid of a psychiatrist, Dr. Louis Judd (Tom Conway). He also spends more and more time at the office with his pretty co-worker, Alice Moore (Jane Randolph). As time goes on, Irena becomes jealous of Alice and Dr. Judd tries to make a pass at his pretty patient.

 

 

With it's spectacular use of shadows and sounds to arouse terror in its audience, rather than showing that which is terrifying, the film remains Simon's best known film. Just watch this pool scene with actress Jane Randolph. It's terrifying without actually showing anything:

 

Here is what I wrote the day I watched it for the first time (8/12/14):

I just watched Cat People (1942) starring Simone Simon and its sequel, Curse of the Cat People (1944). First off, I really liked the first one. It was unusual and different from what I normally watch. I saw this movie listed in a film history book and its description intrigued me so I watched the trailers, which looked interesting, and then checked the film out from my library.

I think Simone Simon is so cute! I love her hair in the movie and she really does have a "cat" face. Not an evil cat but a cute cat. I liked her accent too.

 

Some screenshots and a gif:

 

This is NOT a look you want to see...

Trivia:

Because of the small budget (only $150,000), sets from Orson Welles' The Magnificent Ambersons were used.

The entire film was shot in 18 days. The crew worked in shifts around the clock.

Was Lewton's directorial debut. He went on to make several more successful low-budget horror films for RKO.

It is included among the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die" list.  

Based on the success of the film, a sequel titled Curse of the Cat People (1944) was made. It focused on the friendship of Oliver and Alice's daughter with the ghost of Irena. The title is misleading, as it's really just about a lonely little girl.

Even with the success of Cat People, Simon never achieved critical acclaim in Hollywood. She made three other films at RKO - Tahiti Honey (1943), Johnny Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1944), and Mademoiselle Fifi (1944) - before returning to Europe. She appeared in only ten more films, taking a break from 1956 to 1973, when she made one more film. After that she disappeared from the public eye, refusing to give any interviews as she was now a "very old woman" and didn't want to appear on camera.

Her personal life is clouded in mystery and myths. Her maid, who was caught stealing from Simon, spread around an untrue story that she gave men to whom she was attracted a gold key to her boudoir. She also, according to IMDb, had an "affair with a famous WWII spy, Dusko Popov, who was Yugoslavian and thought by the Germans to be a spy for them but in fact was a spy for the British. Popov was a very successful double agent and a well-known ladies man, and during WWII was also acquainted with another spy, Ian Fleming, who later used Popov as the basis for James Bond." Simon never married and died of natural causes at the age of 94 in her Paris apartment. She was buried at the Cemetery, Chateau-Gombert in the Cote d'Azur region of France.

This post is part of the Classic Movie History Project Blogathon focusing on the System (How movies are made) hosted by Movies Silently, the Films (the movies themselves) hosted by Silver Screenings, and the People (the folks who made the movies) hosted by Once Upon a Screen.

Day 1: The Studios & the Publicity Dept.

Day 2: The Production Code & the Magic of Animation

Day 3: The Groundbreakers & Before They Were Stars

Day 4: The Technical Dept. & the Wardrobe Dept.

Day 5: Movie Disasters & the Wonderful World of Color

Day 6: The Family Business & a Foreign Affair

Ten Movies on an Island: Horror/Ghost/Sci-fi

I am not a Horror movie fan. I'm not a Sci-Fi movie fan either. Which is why I had to make this a Horror/Ghost/Sci-fi list.

1. The Ghost Breakers (1940) - Bob Hope & Paulette Goddard

2. *Cat People (1942) - Simone Simon & Kent Smith

3. *The Univited (1944) - Ray Milland & Gail Russell, Ruth Hussey, Donald Crisp

4. The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945) - Hurd Hatfield, George Sanders, Donna Reed

5. Lured (1947) - Lucille Ball, George Sanders

6. The Time Machine (1960) - Rod Taylor, Alan Young

7. Psycho (1960) - Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh

8. Mysterious Island (1961) - Michael Craig, Joan Greenwood, Michael Callan

9. What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) - Bette Davis & Joan Crawford

10. The Birds (1963) - Tippi Hedren & Rod Taylor, Suzanne Pleshette

Horror films I want to see: The Unseen (1945) - a sequel of sorts to The Univited starring Gail Russell & Joel McCrea; Val Lewton's The Leopard Man (1943), and The Innocents (1961) starring Deborah Kerr, though it looks a little too creepy for me. Also The Most Dangerous Game (1932), The Mummy (1932), and Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933).

On my Netflix list: The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961).

Tomorrow Friday my Top Ten Noir Films!

Three Times Barbara Stanwyck was Terrified

Stanwyck, NOT terrified

Barbara Stanwyck has always seemed to be a pretty brave woman. She exudes self-confidence (especially when it comes to men), always keeps a cool head, and is definitely NOT just another pretty face - she has brains too. But even someone as self-assured and sturdy as Barbara Stanwyck can become terrified from time to time. You would be too if you experienced what she did these three times:

Terrifying Experience #1: The Two Mrs. Carrolls (1945/47)

The first time Barbara was terrified, was when she became the second Mrs. Carroll to Humphrey Bogart. His first wife had been slowly poisoned and it became soon apparent that she was being poisoned too. While many reviews of this film say that both Bogart and Stanwyck were miscast I disagree. To me Bogart was very convincing as a crazy painter and Stanwyck's performance is magnificent. I highly recommend it. It was actually filmed in 1945 but not released until 1947.

 

The Two Mrs. Carrolls will be airing on TCM March 21 at 8pm EST.

Terrifying Experience #2: Cry Wolf (1947)

The second time was when she married Errol Flynn's crazy brother and, when he died, went to the ancestral home that emanated queer sounds and screeches. And while Barbara wasn't completely terrified (in fact, she was quite brave under the circumstances), there were some heart-stopping moments she could have lived without. You can read my previous post on Cry Wolf here.

 

Terrifying Experience #3: Sorry, Wrong Number (1948)

The third time was when she overheard some men plotting the murder of a bedridden woman who just happens to be her, and can't get anyone to believe her. It took Stanwyck 12 days to films those terrifying scenes and she had to keep up that energy the entire time.

Conclusion

Barbara wasn't always lucky with her choice of husband and the moral here is to not get married unless absolutely sure of your husbands mental health and that of his family. Also, never drink the glass of milk your husband brings you when you are ill ;)

 

This post is part of the Remembering Barbara Stanwyck Blogathon hosted by In the Good Old Days of Classic Hollywood. Be sure to read all of the other posts about this legendary woman.

Evil Twins in Classic Movies: Bette Davis in "A Stolen Life" & Olivia de Havilland in "The Dark Mirror"

The year 1946 saw two movies where the leading actress played a dual role: twins with herself. The most famous "twin" movie where only one actress plays the parts is The Parent Trap starring Haley Mills. Twins have always been fascinating studies. How are they different? How are they the same? More importantly, what happens when one of the twins is evil...

A Stolen Life starring Bette Davis and The Dark Mirror starring Olivia de Havilland are both examples of this. One of the intriguing things about them is that you get to see the actress in two very different lights: good and bad. I find it fascinating to watch these films because you both love and hate the actress. Let's look at each film separately and then compare them.

The first "evil twin" film I saw as A Stolen Life. It has a great supporting cast: Glenn Ford as the love interest, Charles Ruggles as the concerned Uncle, Walter Brennan as the lighthouse keeper, and Dane Clark as the cynical artist. The story takes place in New England, where old town charm and crashing waves heighten the battle of good vs. evil.

Davis plays Kate and Pat Bosworth. Kate is a painter, visiting her uncle in Cape Cod. She meets the handsome Bill Emerson (Glenn Ford) when she misses the boat back to the mainland (after touring a lighthouse where Bill just happens to be living at the moment) and he has to give her a ride in his boat. Kate, who wants to do a portrait of Bill's uncle who the lighthouse keeper, goes back the next day in her sailboat. The two begin to fall in love; Kate faster than Bill. But there is something Bill doesn't know: Kate has a twin sister.

Bill meets Pat and, thinking it's Kate, begins talking love to her. Pat, who now knows what the secret Kate has been keeping from her is, plays along. Just as Bill is about to kiss her, Kate walks up. Of course he is confused. To make it more awkward, he has just told Pat, whom he thought was Kate, that she was more beautiful than usual; that she has that extra something she lacked earlier. Of course, it's not evident to the viewer as Kate and Pat are both Davis. "Pat" is simply more forward.

After that incident, Bill double-checks every time he goes to pick up Kate. Pat however, being more aggressive and taking advantage of her "extra something" (not to mention that she's also a b*tch) slowly begins to lure Bill away. Kate of course  stands by and watches her twin steal the man she loves from her. Bill, being a patsy, ends up falling for Pat instead of Kate, whom he really loves. Pat is of course "so sorry" that Bill chose her. She "knows" how it must have hurt Kate to be passed over like that.

Pat goes so far as to marry Bill. Of course their marriage is a failure from the start as Pat's true side comes out. Bill realizes his mistake too late. To escape his loveless marriage, he takes a job in Chile.

Kate, meanwhile, helps out a struggling artist (Dane Clark), letting him work in her studio with her. He criticizes her work, saying it is stiff, and finds out about her lost love. This leads Kate to go back to the Cape to think about where her life is going. She discovers that Pat is also there visiting. While there, the sisters go for a sailboat ride. A storm arises and Pat is washed overboard and drowns (in keeping with the Hays Code, Pat get's what was coming to her). Kate is saved but becomes sick and is put to bed. Everyone believes she is Pat and that it was Kate that drowned.

Bill is summoned back from Chile. Kate awakes and discovers that everyone thinks she is Pat, because she is wearing Pat's wedding ring (which came off Pat's finger as Kate tried to save her). Everyone tells her how sorry they are that Kate drowned and how much they loved her. Instead of telling them who she is, Kate decides to assume Pat's identity. Now she is "married" to Bill! However, when Bill comes to take her home she learns that Bill and Pat were in the midst of getting a divorce, due to Pat's infidelity. This makes things awkward as she now has to break up with Pat's lover. Also, the dog doesn't know her, causing complications. She finds it very heard to pretend to be someone that everyone dislikes (which is putting it mildly). Kate's uncle figures out who she is but promises, ate her request and against his better judgment, to keep her secret.

 

 

How does the film end? Does Kate tell Bill who she really is? Or does Bill discover it for himself? Do they live happily ever after?

Unfortunately it's not showing on TCM anytime soon, but you can watch the trailer here. Or you can listen to the Lux Radio Theater broadcast.

     

 

                       

 

 

Click on the pictures to view larger

 

This was given to the theatre's showing A Stolen Life to tell them how to get people to see the film. Love the "Follow-Up Stunt"

This ad uses the film to teach about safety

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~ ~

 

Twins! One who loves, and one who loves to kill!

 

That's one of the taglines used for The Dark Mirror starring Olivia de Havilland, Lew Ayres, and Thomas Mitchell. The film was, to me, reminiscent of Gaslight (1944), where Charles Boyer slowly drives his wife, Ingrid Bergman, to insanity. In this case however, one twin is slowly driving the other twin crazy. I found this film particularly intriguing as one is not used to seeing the sweet Olivia de Havilland acting so evil and ruthless.

She plays twins Terry and Ruth Collins. One of them murdered someone. Both have perfect alibis. One is psycho. The other is slowly being made psycho. There are several scenes involving psychology, as the film was made in a time where psychoanalysis was a new field. There are several scenes involving the Rorschach ink blot test and it is even used in the opening credits. The twins are told this is for a twin personality study, but really they are trying to determine which one is the killer.



Meanwhile, the evil twin (Terry) is driving the good twin (Ruth) out of her mind slowly. She plays music on a record during the night and pretends not to hear it or remind her of things that one of them said that she doesn't remember. This causes the Ruth to start to lose her grip and wonder if  she maybe didn't commit the murder after all. She also begins to rely on sleeping pills to get a good night's rest, taking more than she needs at her sister's suggestion.

Ayres plays Dr. Scott Elliot. While conducting the tests on the twins, he falls in love with Ruth. After he has completed the tests, he knows which one is the killer and sets a trap. He invites Terry up to his apartment to tell her something "important" (the identity of the killer).

He makes Terry believe that he thinks she is Ruth. When Terry comes to his apartment, he confronts her and tells her that he knows she's Terry and that she did it. She still tries to blame it on Ruth. They are interrupted by a call that Ruth has committed suicide. They rush to the apartment and Scott goes into the bedroom to confirm the death. Terry, thinking that Ruth is dead, now pretends that she is Ruth and that she was trying to help cover up Terry's crime. As she talks, she becomes more and more into her lie. Suddenly, the real Ruth's reflection appears in the mirror. Terry throws an object at the mirror and completely breaks down. After she is taken away, Scott explains why the had to pretend she was dead and comforts her.

The girls wear distinctive personalized jewelry so you can tell them apart.

If ever I was to turn evil, I would definitely try and make the other person feel like they were going crazy. As long as you're good liar (and the other person is sweet and trusting) it would work.

You can watch the full movie here on YouTube.

 

 

 

de Havilland and Ayres with the director, George Cukor

 

 

Not even nature can duplicate character, not even in twins.

~ Dr. Scott Elliot, The Dark Mirror

 

Be sure to look for my post on The Whole Town's Talking (1935) on Sunday, where Edward G. Robinson plays the dual role of a meek office worker and a ruthless gangster (his specialty)! Also check out what's new to the blog, my post on look-alike celebrities (it's been all about twins here lately), and my 50th Anniversary Sound of Music posts!

This post is part of the Great Villain Blogathon hosted by Speakeasy, Shadows & Satin, and Silver Screenings. Make sure and check out all five days of great entries!

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5

 

All images found via Pinterest

Other Sources: A Stolen Life on TCM and The Dark Mirror on TCM