Movies I Watched in July

LOVE this dress on Lauren Bacall in Woman’s World (1954).

I finally read the Fred MacMurray biography by Charles Tranberg (the copy at the library disappeared and I finally found an inexpensive used copy-signed by the author!). I also read Shane by Jack Schaefer (been waiting for the library copy to be returned so I could check it out lol). I want to buy my own copy now but I want one with Alan Ladd on the cover and so far I've only seen one pictured online. I would have thought there would be several to choose from, given the popularity of the film. I also finally finished reading Mrs. Miniver. I had started reading it on the Internet Archive, liked it, ordered a copy, and then when I got it didn't get back to reading it. It doesn't have a flow to the story like the film, as each chapter was originally an article in a magazine. Some chapters felt very much like the film, while others not so much. I greatly enjoyed it though. 

* indicates a rewatch

1. Passport to Destiny (1944) - Elsa Lanchester
2. Horizon’s West (1952) - Robert Ryan, Rock Hudson, Raymond Burr, Julie Adams, James Arness 
3. *Shane (1952) - Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur, Van Heflin, Brandon de Wilde, Jack Palance, Ben Johnson
4. Plunder of the Sun (1953) - Glenn Ford, Sean McClory
5. The Las Vegas Story (1952) - Victor Mature & Jane Russell, Vincent Price, Hoagy Carmichael
6. Woman’s World (1954) - Clifton Webb, Lauren Bacall & Fred MacMurray, June Allyson & Cornel Wilde, Arlene Dahl & Van Heflin
7. The Tarnished Angels (1957) - Rock Hudson, Robert Stack, Dorothy Malone, Jack Carson
8. *This Could Be the Night (1957) Jean Simmons, Paul Douglas, Anthony Franciosa 
9. Third Man on the Mountain (1959) - James MacAurthur, Michael Rennie, Janet Munro, Laurence Naismith
10. *Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curst of the Black Pearl (2003) - Johnny Depp, Keira Knightly, Orlando Bloom, Geoffrey Rush
11. *Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) - Johnny Depp, Keira Knightly, Orlando Bloom
12. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007) - Johnny Depp, Keira Knightly, Orlando Bloom, Naomi Harris
13. Viceroy’s House (2017) - Hugh Bonneville, Gillian Anderson
14. *Wonder Woman (2017) - Gal Gadot & Chris Pine
15. *Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022) - Maggie Smith, Michelle Dockery, Hugh Bonneville, etc.

Least Favorite Film: Hmm, probably Plunder of the Sun. I love Glenn Ford but I don't like Sean McClory, and I just couldn't get into the story. I picked up the dvd at Goodwill. The special features were great though! Fascinating history tidbits and behind-the-scenes photos!

Favorite Movie: I really enjoyed Elsa Lanchester's performance in Passport to Destiny. A unique little film. It's been over a decade since I saw the Pirates of the Caribbean movies and I definitely enjoyed them more this time around. I'd seen several scenes from the third film before but am counting it as a first-time watch. I liked the first one best.

Love Lauren Bacall's outfit here!

Movies I Watched in June

This month kind of felt all over the place. I also watched the first 10 episodes of Good Morning World (directed by Carl Reiner). Very funny!!

*indicates a rewatch

1. Dangerous Number (1937) - Robert Young & Ann Sothern, Reginald Owen
2. Trapped (1949) - Lloyd Bridges
3. Shadow on the Wall (1950) - Ann Sothern, Zachary Scott, Gigi Perreau, Nancy Davis (Reagan)
4. Storm Warning (1951) - Ginger Rogers, Ronald Reagan, Steve Cochran, Doris Day
5. *The Racket (1951) - Robert Mitchum, Robert Ryan, Lizabeth Scott, William Talman, Don Porter
6. Split Second (1953) - Stephen McNally, Alexis Smith, Jan Sterling, Keith Andes, Arthur Hunnicutt, Paul Kelly, Richard Egan (directed by Dick Powell)
7. *Titanic (1953) - Barbara Stanwyck & Clifton Webb, Robert Wagner & Audrey Dalton, Brian Aherne, Thelma Ritter, Richard Basehart
8. Tokyo Story (1953-Japanese) - Setsuko Hara
9. The Black Shield of Falworth (1954) - Tony Curtis & Janet Leigh, Barbara Rush, Herbert Marshall 
10. Full of Life (1956) - Judy Holliday & Richard Conte
11. *Separate Tables (1958) - Rita Hayworth, Burt Lancaster, Deborah Kerr, David Niven, Wendy Hiller, Gladys Cooper, Rod Taylor, Audrey Dalton 
12. Battle of the Coral Sea (1959) - Cliff Robertson, Gia Scala 
13. Love Has Many Faces (1965) - Lana Turner & Cliff Robertson, Hugh O’Brian, Ruth Roman, Virginia Grey 
14. Around the World Under the Sea (1966) - Lloyd Bridges, Keenan Wynn, Marshall Thompson, David McCallum, Brian Kelly
15. Air Force One (1997) - Harrison Ford, Glenn Close, Gary Oldman
16. *Mansfield Park (1999) - Frances O'Connor, Jonny Lee Miller
17. War of the Worlds (2005) - Tom Cruise, Dakota Fanning, Justin Chatwin
18. *Letters to Juliet (2010) - Amanda Seyfried, Vanessa Redgrave, Christopher Egan, Gael Garcia Bernal, Franco Nero
19. Ticket to Paradise (2022) - George Clooney & Julia Roberts

Least Favorite Film: War of the Worlds left me very unsettled. I didn't realize until partway through that I had already seen Mansfield Park. It's only ok. I also wasn't much on Air Force One. I've seen several scenes before, but this was the first time I watched it from start to finish. The Gary Oldman character made me too angry. 

Favorite Movie: The Noir movies I watched were all very good. Split Second was interesting. Full of Life wasn't at all what I was expecting but I enjoyed it. My favorite was probably my rewatch of Separate Tables though. 

Who else is a Wendy Hiller fan? 

Movies I Watched in May

Alida Valli in The White Tower (1950)

Not being a member of the CMBA, I really missed celebrating National Classic Movie Day with a blogathon. I was very annoyed when I saw that they stole it from the Classic Film & TV Cafe blog. 

* indicates a rewatch

1. *Sullivan’s Travels (1941) - Joel McCrea & Veronica Lake
2. This Gun for Hire (1942) - Robert Preston & Veronica Lake, Alan Ladd, Laird Creger
3. Lucky Jordan (1942) - Alan Ladd & Helen Walker
4. The Mating of Millie (1948) - Glenn Ford & Evelyn Keyes
5. The White Tower (1950) - Glenn Ford & Alida Valli, Claude Rains, Lloyd Bridges
6. The Miniver Story (1950) - Greer Garson & Walter Pidgeon, Cathy O'Donnell, John Hodiak
7. South Sea Woman (1953) - Burt Lancaster & Virginia Mayo, Chuck Conners
8. Deadly Game (1954) - Lloyd Bridges
9. Wichita (1955) - Joel McCrea & Vera Miles, Lloyd Bridges
10. The Teahouse of the August Moon (1956) - Marlon Brando, Glenn Ford, Machiko Kyo, Eddie Albert, Harry Morgan
11. *The Gazebo (1960) - Glenn Ford & Debbie Reynolds, Carl Reiner
12. Airport (1970) - Burt Lancaster, Dean Martin, Jean Seburg, Jacqueline Bisset, George Kennedy, Van Heflin, Helen Hayes, Dana Wynter, Barbara Hale, Maureen, Stapleton, Lloyd Nolan, Virginia Grey
13. Airport 1975 (1974) - Charlton Heston & Karen Black, Dana Andrews, George Kennedy, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Nancy Olson, Gloria Swanson, Myrna Loy, Martha Scott, Beverly Garland, Jerry Stiller
14. Airport '77 (1977) - Jack Lemmon, James Stewart, Lee Grant, George Kennedy, Olivia de Havilland, Joseph Cotten, Christopher Lee
15. Guilty by Suspicion (1991) - Robert De Niro, George Wendt
16. Backdraft (1991) - Kurt Russell, William Baldwin, Robert De Niro, Donald Sutherland
17. *Unstoppable (2010) - Denzel Washington, Chris Pine
18. *Hell or High Water (2016) - Chris Pine, Jeff Bridges, Ben Foster

Call Me Kate (2022) - doc about Hepburn with home video footage and recorded audio interviews

Least Favorite Film: Well, I didn't like the prison part of Sullivan's Travels, though overall I appreciated the film better than I did when I first saw it several years ago. The first half of The Teahouse of the August Moon was kind of tiresome but once Eddie Albert showed up it was really good. He's so great at playing an enthusiastic farmer lol. And, out of the three Airport movies, the last one was the most unrealistic. And it was the one I had most looked forward to due to de Havilland being in it. 

Favorite Movie: The Mating of Millie was delightful! It had me tearing up one minute and laughing out loud in surprise the next. Highly recommend. Of course it's not on dvd :'( Alan Ladd in This Gun for Hire broke my heart (in a good way). 

Movies I Watched in April

It looks like I didn’t watch a lot of movies this month, but I rewatched The Hobbit and LOTR films - the extended versions. So those six movies were really like watching twelve movies lol. I haven’t seen the LOTR films in probably a decade and, whenever I saw them it was because I was with other people watching them (pretty sure the first time was on a college bus trip). I’ve seen the first one for sure twice (I was at a sleepover and all the girls - except me - were obsessed with Elijah Wood). I wasn’t much on the films at the time - too many ugly/creepy characters. And, while I still don’t like ugly/creepy characters (Gollum creeps me out so much I cover his face with my hand most of the time), I definitely liked the films waaay better this time around (a big part being Aragorn lol). It also got me to finally reread the book (I read both The Hobbit and LOTR long before seeing the films). 

* indicates a rewatch

1. A Lady Takes a Chance (1943) - Jean Arthur & John Wayne, Charles Winninger
2. Casanova’s Big Night (1954) - Bob Hope & Joan Fontaine, Audrey Dalton, Basil Rathbone, Vincent Price
3. Island in the Sun (1957) - Harry Belafonte, James Mason, Joan Fontaine, Joan Collins, 
4. *Until They Sail (1957) - Jean Simmons & Paul Newman, Joan Fontaine, Piper Laurie, Sandra Dee
5. *Airplane! (1980) - Robert Hayes & Julie Hagarty, Leslie Neilson, Lloyd Bridges, Robert Stack
6. *Baby Boom (198) - Diane Keaton & Sam Shephard
7. *Speed (1994) - Keanu Reeves & Sandra Bullock, Dennis Hopper, Jeff Daniels
8. *The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) - Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Ian McKellan, Viggo Mortenson, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Sean Bean, Orlando Bloom, John Rhys-Davies, Christopher Lee, Cate Blanchett, Liv Tyler, etc.
9. *The LOTR: The Two Towers (2002) - above cast plus Karl Urban, Miranda Otto, Bernard Hill
10. *The LOTR: The Return of the King (2003) - above cast
11. *The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) - Martin Freeman, Ian McKellan, Richard Armitage, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, etc.
12. *The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013) - above cast plus Luke Evans
13. *The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014) - above cast

Least Favorite Film: No bad movies this month!

Favorite Movie: I only watched three new to me films. A Lady Takes a Chance was really funny. It was kind of weird seeing John Wayne in it but he worked and had surprisingly good chemistry with Jean Arthur. And of course Bob Hope always makes me laugh. Spotted a couple of recycled gowns from Marie Antoinette (1938)!

Favorite Line: “Women are like socks, they should be changed regularly.” Charles Winninger in A Lady takes a Chance.

Movies I Watched in March

Lloyd Bridges as Mike Nelson in Sea Hunt

This month I got into Lloyd Bridges. I started watching Sea Hunt on YouTube which led me to The Loner, both of which I then had to buy on dvd. I rewatched a couple Clark Gable movies I've been wanting to revisit for a while and finished the Sean Connery Bond movies. 

* indicates a rewatch

1. *It Happened One Night (1934) - Claudette Colbert & Clark Gable
2. *Gone With the Wind (1939) - Clark Gable & Vivian Leigh, Leslie Howard, Olivia de Havilland, Hattie McDaniel, Butterfly McQueen, Thomas Mitchell, Evelyn Keyes, Ann Rutherford, etc.
3. The Tall Texan (1953) - Lloyd Bridges, Lee J. Cobb, Marie Windsor
4. You Only Live Twice (1967) - Sean Connery
5. Diamonds Are Forever (1971) - Sean Connery
6. Chapter Two (1979) - James Caan, Marsha Mason, Joseph Bologna, Valerie Harper
7. Witness (1985) - Harrison Ford 
8. Appointment with Death (1988) - Peter Ustinov, Lauren Bacall, Piper Laurie, Hayley Mills, Carrie Fisher
9. Sleeping with the Enemy (1991) - Julia Roberts (basically the same story as Safe Haven)

Least Favorite Film: Appointment with Death was ok. I did not guess the correct killer. Diamonds Are Forever is definitely my least favorite of the Connery Bond films. 

Favorite Movie: I really liked Witness (aside from the unexpected nudity - I didn't think I needed to check the parental guide for a movie about the Amish). I also liked You Only Live Twice. Marie Windsor's character was named Laura in The Tall Texan so I got to hear Lloyd Bridge and Lee J. Cobb say my name multiple times :)

Marie Windsor and Lloyd Bridges in The Tall Texan (1953)

Movies I Watched in February

I read a two volume WWII time traveling book by Connie Willis last month and now I’m reading and watching a lot of things on the London Blitz, which has led to me watching a few more British films. Then I got on a Charles Boyer kick. I'd been wanting to rewatch Love Affair for a long time and on Valentine's Day I discovered someone had put a clear copy on YouTube!

*indicates a rewatch

1. Polly of the Circus (1932) - Marion Davies & Clark Gable, C. Aubrey Smith

One doesn't think of a minister and Clark Gable at the same time but he was surprising effective in the role. I've only seen a couple Marion Davies films but I thought she was very good in this one and has nice chemistry with Gable (Cain and Mabel is another film of theirs I enjoyed). Trapeze scenes always make me hold my breath. 

 

2. The Garden of Allah (1936) - Marlene Dietrich & Charles Boyer, Basil Rathbone, C. Aubrey Smith

 

3. *History is Made at Night (1937) - Charles Boyer & Jean Arthur, Colin Clive

The only part of this movie I remembered was the Titanic/iceberg scene near the end, so it was like a new movie. Arthur and Boyer were very good together.  

 

4. *Love Affair (1939) - Irene Dunne & Charles Boyer, Maria Ouspenskaya, Lee Bowman

The only thing that puts this film second to An Affair to Remember is the soundtrack. 

 

5. When Tomorrow Comes (1939) - Charles Boyer & Irene Dunne

If you like the chemistry between Dunne and Boyer in Love Affair, make sure you watch this one too. 

 

6. Calling Dr. Kildare (1939) - Lew Ayers, Lionel Barrymore, Laraine Day, Lana Turner

7. *All This and Heaven Too (1940) - Bette Davis & Charles Boyer

8. Week-End for Three (1941) - Dennis O’Keefe & Jane Wyatt, Edward Everett Horton

You have to watch this just for Edward Everett Horton's delivery of the line of what he thinks about women lol. 

 

9. *Mrs. Miniver (1942) - Greer Garson & Walter Pidgeon, Teresa Wright, Dame May Whitty, Henry Travers, Richard Ney

This was my third viewing of this film and I think I liked it the best this time. I wish I didn't know that Garson and Ney married after this film though. It makes watching the movie a little awkward. And I've always thought Teresa Wright looks to "old" for Ney. She has one of those faces where you know exactly what she was going to look like in her 80s. I also purchased the original book by Jan Struther.

 

10. This Happy Breed (1944) - Celia Johnson, Robert Newton, John Mills

11. *Since You Went Away (1944) - Claudette Colbert, Joseph Cotten, Jennifer Jones & Robert Walker, Shirley Temple, Monty Wooley, Hattie McDaniel, Agnes Moorehead

I haven't watched this since I was a teen. I remember I didn't like it very well at the time. I still didn't love it, mainly because I don't think Colbert and Jones were "typical" enough for their roles. I'm also not a fan of Walker. The first movie I ever saw of his was Strangers on a Train so I always see the creepy side of him a little bit. 

 

12. Kiss the Blood Off My Hands (1948) - Burt Lancaster & Joan Fontaine, Robert Newton

13. The Magic Box (1951) - Robert Donat 

14. Thunderball (1965) - Sean Connery 

Really liked this one, even if the underwater battle was a little ridiculous 

. 

15. A Bridge Too Far (1977) - Dirk Bogarde, Sean Connery, etc.

16. The Cat and the Canary (1978) - Honor Blackman, Michael Callan, Wendy Hiller, Olivia Hussey 

Been wanting to watch this one for a while for Michael Callan. A little to creepy for me but an interesting murder mystery. 

 

17. *Uncle Buck (1989) - John Candy, Macaulay Culkin

Least Favorite Film: The Garden of Allah was pretty boring.

Favorite Movie: Probably Thunderball.

Movies I Watched in January

Usually January is a heavy movie month (one year I watched over 40 movies!), but with my job it was a hectic month (a lot of insurance benefits change with the new year). I also got hit with a bad cold out of nowhere. Under each movie I've added a couple of my thoughts. 

* indicates a rewatch.

1. *The 39 Steps (193) - Robert Donat & Madeleine Carroll 

I mean, it’s Robert Donat ;) I watched this with my brother. His first Donat and first British Hitchcock! 

 

2. Smilin’ Through (1941) - Jeanette MacDonald, Brian Aherne, Gene Raymond, Ian Hunter 

I was really impressed with Raymond's acting at the end of the movie - that's something I never thought I would say! This version was good, but I prefer the Norma Shearer one. 

 

3. The Spider Woman (1943) - Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Gale Sondergaard 

 

4. *Vacation from Marriage (1945) - Robert Donat & Deborah Kerr, Glynis Johns 

I love this movie so much. I want to be Glynis Johns when I grow up lol. 

 

5. The Spider Woman Strikes Back (1946) - Gale Sondergaard  

A "sequel" in name only to the Holmes movie.  

 

6. The Falcon’s Alibi (1946) - Tom Conway, Rita Corday, Jane Greer, Elisha Cook Jr.

Conway looked like he could be Errol Flynn's brother in this movie. I've never noticed it before.  

 

7. Beauty and the Beast (1946-French) - Josette Day & Jean Marais

Good, but the eyes creeped me out. IYKYK 

 

8. Gold Raiders (1951) - George O’Brien, Three Stooges  

The scenes with the Three Stooges were funny of course, but the rest of the movie was very predictable. I didn't realize until days later that George O'Brien was the same actor in She Wore a Yellow Ribbon and Fort Apache! While watching it I felt like I should know who he was. 

 

9. Ride, Vaquero! (1953) - Robert Taylor, Ava Gardner, Howard Keel, Anthony Quinn, Jack Elam 

Normally I don't like Howard Keel, but I liked him in this movie. Usually his character is obnoxious and full of himself. 

 

10. *Roman Holiday (1953) - Gregory Peck & Audrey Hepburn, Eddie Albert

Saw this on the big screen!!! I teared up when the credits started. 

 

11. Thunder Road (1958) - Robert Mitchum, James Mitchum, Keely Smith

Loved seeing Mitchum's son play his brother. They look so much alike! 

 

12. Twenty Plus Two (1961) - David Janssen, Jeanne Crain, Dina Merrill, Agnes Moorehead

Really enjoyed this one! Was fun to see Robert Osborne in it for a few seconds as an obnoxious sailor. I thought Dina Merrill did a good job in this film. I watched a couple episodes of The Fugitive last year with Kurt Russell in them. I would like to watch the entire series one day. 

 

13. *Cactus Flower (1969) - Walter Matthau, Ingrid Bergman, Goldie Hawn  

This movie is so good. Most dancing scenes in 60s movies are cringe but this one is just hilarious.

 

14. Nickelodeon (1976) - Ryan O’Neal, Burt Reynolds, Tatum O’Neal, Brian Keith, Stella Stevens, Harry Carey Jr. 

A zany comedy about the early days of filmmaking (they played clips of it in the Carl Laemmle doc). It was hilarious!! You can watch it free on Tubi right now. 

 

15. Private Benjamin (1980) - Goldie Hawn 

 

16. 84 Charing Cross Road (1987) - Ann Bancroft, Anthony Hopkins, Judi Dench 

Read the book by Helene Hanff after watching this. I would like to watch more Bancroft films. I teared up when they played God Save the Queen during the Coronation viewing party scene.

 

17. Breathe (2017) - Andrew Garfield & Claire Foy, Hugh Bonneville 

I saw a clip of Andrew Garfield while scrolling through instagram and suddenly realized he reminded me of Robert Donat. I wanted to then watch one of his movies and since I like Claire Foy I watched this one. It was very good, except for the end when he *spoiler?* chooses to end his life with a doctor's assistance. 

 

Carl Laemmle (2019) - great doc about a great filmmaker and Universal Studios

Least Favorite Film: Gold Raiders felt like it lasted forever lol. 

Favorite Movie: Well, my four rewatches were all pretty solid ;) My favorite new-to-me movie was Nickelodeon.

Robert Osborne and Dina Merrill :)