What Was The Last Movie You Watched?

[Doctor Strange]

Sullivan's Travels. This was my first time to see it. I enjoyed it.

Gee, I wish I could see it again for the first time! It's my favorite Preston Sturges film, and one of the great movies-about-movies. Endlessly quotable, shockingly serious in its last act, and with some very keen observations throughout. This exchange has a touch of George Bernard Shaw:

John L. Sullivan: I'm going out on the road to find out what it's like to be poor and needy, and then I'm going to make a picture about it.

Burrows: If you'll permit me to say so, sir, the subject is not an interesting one. The poor know all about poverty and only the morbid rich would find the topic glamorous.

John L. Sullivan: But I'm doing it for the poor. Don't you understand?

Burrows: I doubt if they would appreciate it, sir. They rather resent the invasion of their privacy, I believe quite properly, sir. Also, such excursions can be extremely dangerous, sir. I worked for a gentleman once who likewise, with two friends, accoutered themselves as you have, sir, and then went out for a lark. They have not been heard from since.

Burrows: You see, sir, rich people and theorists - who are usually rich people - think of poverty in the negative, as the lack of riches - as disease might be called the lack of health. But it isn't, sir. Poverty is not the lack of anything, but a positive plague, virulent in itself, contagious as cholera, with filth, criminality, vice and despair as only a few of its symptoms. It is to be stayed away from, even for purposes of study. It is to be shunned.​

 

[Fading Fast]

"Malaya" 1949 starring Jimmy Stewart, Spencer Tracy and Sidney Greenstreet

• Set in WWII, it tells the putatively true story of how a newspaper man (Stewart), a low-level crook freed for this mission (Tracy) and a Dutch barkeeper (Greenstreet - he had a nicer bar in "Casablanca") shipped massive amounts of much-needed-by-the-allies rubber out of Japanese-occupied Malaya

• Despite being '49, the movie has a very war-time propaganda feel - everyone sacrifices or comes around to sacrificing for the cause and the Japanese are all but two dimensional enemies that are vicious but bumbling (and the one German is venally dishonest)

• That said, the quality of acting is strong enough and the story is good enough to make this a fun "Sunday Afternoon" movie (and, heck, it's enjoyable to watch a bunch of, effectively, resistance fighters run around Malaya smuggling rubber in linen or seersucker suits, ties and white bucks)

"Force of Evil" 1948 starring John Garfield

• We watch a lot (a whole lot) of TCM movies and every once in awhile you stumble across a really good one like this that you never saw before

• It's the story of the national mob trying to take over local bookies in the numbers game - it gives an incredible window into how "the numbers" (illegal lottery) worked prior to the gov't, effectively, taking over this business when it legalized and started running lotteries itself (all of a sudden, something "bad" became acceptable now that the gov't could profit from it)

• Garfield plays a mob lawyer who gets too close to the darkness (his brother is one of the small-time bookies) and - in classic film noir style - slowly destroys himself in a combination of distorted morality, greed, and coming-too-late self doubt

• The story and acting are strong and the atmosphere outstanding with the only flaw being a muddled anti-capitalism message that tried - in a ham-fisted way - to tie the rackets to Wall Street

Edit Add: Has Touch of Evil seen "Force of Evil" as it is right up his alley?

 

[AmateisGal]

"Malaya" 1949 starring Jimmy Stewart, Spencer Tracy and Sidney Greenstreet

• Set in WWII, it tells the putatively true story of how a newspaper man (Stewart), a low-level crook freed for this mission (Tracy) and a Dutch barkeeper (Greenstreet - he had a nicer bar in "Casablanca") shipped massive amounts of much-needed-by-the-allies rubber out of Japanese-occupied Malaya

• Despite being '49, the movie has a very war-time propaganda feel - everyone sacrifices or comes around to sacrificing for the cause and the Japanese are all but two dimensional enemies that are vicious but bumbling (and the one German is venally dishonest)

• That said, the quality of acting is strong enough and the story is good enough to make this a fun "Sunday Afternoon" movie (and, heck, it's enjoyable to watch a bunch of, effectively, resistance fighters run around Malaya smuggling rubber in linen or seersucker suits, ties and white bucks)

"Force of Evil" 1948 starring John Garfield

• We watch a lot (a whole lot) of TCM movies and every once in awhile you stumble across a really good one like this that you never saw before

• It's the story of the national mob trying to take over local bookies in the numbers game - it gives an incredible window into how "the numbers" (illegal lottery) worked prior to the gov't, effectively, taking over this business when it legalized and started running lotteries itself (all of a sudden, something "bad" became acceptable now that the gov't could profit from it)

• Garfield plays a mob lawyer who gets too close to the darkness (his brother is one of the small-time bookies) and - in classic film noir style - slowly destroys himself in a combination of distorted morality, greed, and coming-too-late self doubt

• The story and acting are strong and the atmosphere outstanding with the only flaw being a muddled anti-capitalism message that tried - in a ham-fisted way - to tie the rackets to Wall Street

Both of these look really good! Might have to watch them over the long holiday weekend as they should be on the Watch TCM app.

 

[Fading Fast]

Both of these look really good! Might have to watch them over the long holiday weekend as they should be on the Watch TCM app.

Both are good, but if time limits you to one, I'd suggest "Force of Evil" as it's a stronger movie / story overall. If you do watch either or both, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

 

[Benzadmiral]

"Forbidden Planet" 1956 starring Walter Pigeon, Anne Francis and Leslie Nielsen

• It's been awhile since I've watched this one from beginning to end and I had forgotten how much of "Star Trek" is in this movie eleven years before there was a "Star Trek"

. . .

There's never been (or I've never read) any indication that Gene Roddenberry saw this film before he began to dream up the concept he called "Star Trek," but I don't know how he could have missed it. It was an "A" picture, with solid names like Walter Pidgeon and Anne Francis. Beyond that, FP gives us that old Astounding Science Fiction sense of wonder, which Trek managed to do more than once even on its much smaller budget. The vision of 8000 cubic miles of Krell nuclear reactors, the roaring red nightmare of the "beast," and little things like the dust being kicked up by the starship's landing, the green sky of the planet, and the shape of the Krell doors, all make the movie special.

In the '70s and '80s, local ST fan convention Vul-Con always closed down the movie room on Sunday evening for the die-hards -- with a showing of Forbidden Planet.

 

[Fading Fast]

There's never been (or I've never read) any indication that Gene Roddenberry saw this film before he began to dream up the concept he called "Star Trek," but I don't know how he could have missed it. It was an "A" picture, with solid names like Walter Pidgeon and Anne Francis. Beyond that, FP gives us that old Astounding Science Fiction sense of wonder, which Trek managed to do more than once even on its much smaller budget. The vision of 8000 cubic miles of Krell nuclear reactors, the roaring red nightmare of the "beast," and little things like the dust being kicked up by the starship's landing, the green sky of the planet, and the shape of the Krell doors, all make the movie special.

In the '70s and '80s, local ST fan convention Vul-Con always closed down the movie room on Sunday evening for the die-hards -- with a showing of Forbidden Planet.

There is so much ST in FP that, while anything is possible, it is really, really hard to believe that Roddenberry hadn't seen it. That in no way diminishes Roddenberry's genius or contribution - everything has antecedents / everything is derivative.

As you note, how would a guy already interested in Sci-fi not have seen the one big-budget Sci-fi movie made up to that point?

 

[AmateisGal]

Both are good, but if time limits you to one, I'd suggest "Force of Evil" as it's a stronger movie / story overall. If you do watch either or both, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

It will depend on how strong my brother's internet is in western Nebraska as to whether I can watch them or not! So we'll see...

 

[Fading Fast]

It will depend on how strong my brother's internet is in western Nebraska as to whether I can watch them or not! So we'll see...

Hopefully, it's better than my girlfriend's parents' internet in MI where every Christmas finds me roaming outside the house with my cellphone held high like the Statue of Liberty torch hoping to find a bar or two for reception.

 

[AmateisGal]

Hopefully, it's better than my girlfriend's parents' internet in MI where every Christmas finds me roaming outside the house with my cellphone held high like the Statue of Liberty torch hoping to find a bar or two for reception.

In the past, it's been pretty good. I think he has it through his cable company. It's much harder to get good internet at a decent price where he's at - which is in the Panhandle of Nebraska (very close to the Wyoming border).

 

[Touchofevil]

The tail-end of Glory Alley and all of Code Two on TCM this morning.
Both just “B” movie okay, but then I am not a huge fan of Ralph Meeker.

 

[Fading Fast]

"Night Nurse" 1931 starring Barbara Stanwyck

• Pre-code hospital / murder drama with Stanwyck as a naive nurse who discovers and tries to reveal a scheme to murder two infants for their trust fund (horrible parents aren't a new invention)

• Pre-code highlights
  • Stanwyck is the strongest, smartest and most ethical character with most (not all) of the men venal, stupid or both
  • Prohibition is the law of the land, but booze is easy to obtain and no stigma is attach to drinking it or even dealing in it (a bootlegger in one of the minor heroes)
  • While she's the strongest and smartest character (and even though the movie is only 71 minutes), they still managed to fit in several scenes with Stanwyck in just her underwear / pre-code world didn't obsess about our modern pieties - women can be smart and men like to see women in their underwear - that's no problem for pre-code directors

• Overall it's a clumsy and dated effort with the "pre-codeness," Stanwyck and a ridiculous young (and wooden) Clark Gable as a heavy being the real reason to watch this one

 

[BlueTrain]

I've been watching Charlie Chan movies lately, although I barely have the patience to sit through a whole hour of a motion picture these days. All the ones I've seen have been those with Sidney Toler. There is much about them that is fascinating, although the plot is not generally one of them. As in many murder mysteries, the plot seems a little contrived and contains a lot of little details just to make a good story. Even if the plot strains credibility, they're still interesting.

One of the interesting things is studying how the characters are dressed and well-dressed they usually are. Those stories always featured well-to-do people who wear dinner jackets in the evening and suits the rest of the time. Sometimes they even wear hats. The women usually wear hats, too. One was set in a beach house in Malibu, which was different, and most of the characters were in bathing suits at some point. There was frequently a crotchety housekeeper of uncertain age, wearing an old-fashioned floor-length dress with Pince-nez glasses.

They were invariably murder mysteries set in a house full of unrelated people, few of whom seem to be greatly upset that someone has just been written out of the plot, and no more so when it happens again. It may be because most of them drink a lot and smoke a lot, too. The women never have a hair out of place and the men never have five o'clock shadow, either. Their hair is never out of place, either. I always thought those little pencil-thin mustaches must have been difficult to keep just so, too. One of my aunts had a thin mustache.

People sure had nice houses or apartments, then, too. There was usually a bar, which I think is a nice addition to any house. But for the apartment dwellers, the remarkable thing was that there was always parking right in front of the building. Unfortunately, people were careless about leaving their windows open.

 

[Benzadmiral]

"Night Nurse" 1931 starring Barbara Stanwyck

• Pre-code hospital / murder drama with Stanwyck as a naive nurse who discovers and tries to reveal a scheme to murder two infants for their trust fund (horrible parents aren't a new invention)

• Pre-code highlights
  • Stanwyck is the strongest, smartest and most ethical character with most (not all) of the men venal, stupid or both
  • Prohibition is the law of the land, but booze is easy to obtain and no stigma is attach to drinking it or even dealing in it (a bootlegger in one of the minor heroes)
  • While she's the strongest and smartest character (and even though the movie is only 71 minutes), they still managed to fit in several scenes with Stanwyck in just her underwear / pre-code world didn't obsess about our modern pieties - women can be smart and men like to see women in their underwear - that's no problem for pre-code directors

• Overall it's a clumsy and dated effort with the "pre-codeness," Stanwyck and a ridiculous young (and wooden) Clark Gable as a heavy being the real reason to watch this one

I wonder if my mother, who would have been about 15 at that time, saw that film. She was certainly a big Gable fan (she said one reason she watched The Fugitive was that David Janssen looked like a young Gable) -- and only 3 years later she went to nursing school here in NO, and did indeed work as a night nurse many times during her career.

 

[Fading Fast]

I wonder if my mother, who would have been about 15 at that time, saw that film. She was certainly a big Gable fan (she said one reason she watched The Fugitive was that David Janssen looked like a young Gable) -- and only 3 years later she went to nursing school here in NO, and did indeed work as a night nurse many times during her career.

That's awesome. I'd bet she did go to see it as your options for exploring your interests were so much more limited then, that you had to take advantage of what came along. Small coincidence. My grandmother loved David Janssen and watched "The Fugitive" just to see him. She also had a crush (she'd never admit it) on Joe Namath, but what the heck, we all have the odd attraction or two out there.

 

[Stanley Doble]

Under The Yum Yum Tree a 1963 Jack Lemmon comedy. Jack didn't care for it and neither did I the first time I watched it. After thinking it over for a while I figured out that it was a combination romantic comedy, bedroom farce, and sendup of the Hugh Hefner Playboy lifestyle. Looking at it in that light I watched it again and it was very funny. Have watched it several times since and it keeps getting funnier. This is unusual as jokes usually fall flat the second time you hear them. Jack isn't lacking for support. Imogene Coca, Paul Linde, Edie Adams, Dean Jones and Carol Lynley are all funny in their own right.

Another movie that intrigues me is Limitless because of its premise. It's about a loser who turns his life around thanks to a drug that gives him super intelligence. The idea fascinates me. I watch the movie and think about life, success, achievement and the like. Other than that it is a fairly routine effort still it makes me think.

 

[scottyrocks]

Although made recently, Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them (2016) takes place in the late 1920s. I have seen this film a few times, but my daughter, a big Harry Potter fan, and I watched it again last night.

Yes, it is filled with CGI, but the four principle characters, and the settings, are worth the time it takes to sit through it. Each one is a joy to watch.

 

[green papaya]

The BREAKING POINT (1950) starring John Garfield,

Broke and with a family to support, charter-boat skipper Harry Morgan (John Garfield) makes a desperate gamble. For cash that will save his boat from creditors, he ferries gangsters to safety after a racing-track heist. But when you gamble, sometimes you lose. Tense and sinewy, The Breaking Point is a more faithful adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's To Have and Have Not than the earlier Bogart-Bacall classic. Garfield, one of the screen's great anti-heroes, makes Morgan his own in a rugged portrayal etched with anguish. Director Michael Curtiz (Casablanca), who guided Garfield to instant stardom in Four Daughters, turns the action scenes into movie dynamite, but the film's quiet final image is the one that will haunt you.

 

[Worf]

"War For Planet of the Apes" - I liked this final (?) film of the trilogy a LOT. It had humor, drama, tragedy and filled in a LOT of holes from the Heston original, like... how did man lose the ability to speak. The best part of the film was all the homage paid to earlier films... particularly the original "Planet of the Apes" but other films as well. Woody Harrelson does a rock solid impression of Colonel Kurtz from "Apocalypse Now" even down to shaving his bald head with a bayonet. The film was fun and money well spent. Puddin' was laughing and crying. Couldn't ask for more!

Worf

 

[1mach1]

The Maltese Falcon with @EstherWeis

Haven't seen it in years, and she had never seen it. I always forget how enjoyable that film is to watch.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

 

[Touchofevil]

The Maltese Falcon with @EstherWeis

Haven't seen it in years, and she had never seen it. I always forget how enjoyable that film is to watch.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

You are correct, it is enjoyable.