What Was The Last Movie You Watched?

[Stearmen]

Speedway (1929) A silent movie, again, not the best. But the scenes with the front engine racers, and the rill Brick Yard, made it worth it!

 

[Julian Shellhammer]

My Man Godfrey, at our movie night. I had forgotten how good the dialogue and story is. Favorite moment is Eugene Pallette slowly looking at Powell and asking, "Who are you?"

 

[Worf]

My Man Godfrey, at our movie night. I had forgotten how good the dialogue and story is. Favorite moment is Eugene Pallette slowly looking at Powell and asking, "Who are you?"

Mr. Pallette is one of my FAVE character actors. No one and I mean NO ONE could play an exasperated, brow beaten, put upon father/husband like him. He was also a pretty good Friar Tuck as well. Outstanding actor!

Worf

 

[Worf]

'The House that Dripped Blood!" - English horror anthology from the early 70's (oh those man scarves!). Usual suspects, Cushing, Lee etc... with a special visit by the 3rd Doctor Who, out of character of course. Pity the film wasn't a chilling as it's title!

Worf

 

[LizzieMaine]

Eugene Pallette fans should look him up in the very first all-talking picture, "The Lights Of New York," where he plays a small-town barber who gets implausibly involved with big-city mobsters. This is the picture where all the cliches of thirties-era gangster movies were born, including the immortal "take him for....a RIDE" bit. Pallette is quite a bit thinner than you're accustomed to seeing him, but his voice records exceptionally well, and the impression he made in this picture in 1928 is what gave him the boost that made him one of the top character actors of the thirties.

This is also the picture that would be made sport of in later years for all the scenes where characters lean toward conveniently placed telephones, flowerpots, and lamps to be sure the microphones concealed therein pick up all their dialogue, demonstrating that not all the exaggerations in "Singin' In The Rain" were exaggerations.

 

[Fading Fast]

Lizzie and Worf - could not a agree more, Pallette is outstanding. I'm alway glad when he pops up in a movie, which he does in many from the '30s.

In my early days as a film buff (there's a term that is disappearing - might have to post over on that thread), I would confuse him with Walter Connolly - another outstanding actor from the '30s.

P.S. Lizzie, great info on him and love the color about "The Lights of New York," I want to see it now, if for no other reason, to see all the actors lean toward the hidden microphones.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Here's a clip. Guess where the mic is.

 

[Fading Fast]

Here's a clip. Guess where the mic is.

Thank you for posting - incredibly clear picture for '28, it must have been very thoughtfully restored.

And really fun to see a younger and slimmer Pallette.

Since it looks like those two are tethered to the slag glass lamp, that's my guess for where the mic is.

Last thought: That's from 1928, a real early talky, it had to blow the public away as whatever merits silent movies have, the realism - stilted acting, mic issues and all - of those early talkies had to just amaze audiences.

 

[LizzieMaine]

What always amazes me in that picture is just how much of a natural for talkies Pallette is. Pretty much everyone else in the film, with the possible exception of Gladys Brockwell, who plays the gangster's moll, seems to be scared to death -- they act with all the assurance of seventh graders in a class play. But Pallette saunters in and dives into his part like he's been doing talkies all his life.

Warners never intended the first full-length talkie to be a goofy little thing like "Lights Of New York" -- they would have preferred it to be a prestige picture with someone like Barrymore or Jolson or someone of that caliber. "New York" was basically a Vitaphone short that got out of control, and ended up with enough footage to run about an hour -- so they decided to release it as a short feature and see what happened. It ended up grossing over a million dollars on a negative cost of less than $30,000. And as far as Warners was concerned, that was the end of silent pictures.

 

[Fading Fast]

... It ended up grossing over a million dollars on a negative cost of less than $30,000. And as far as Warners was concerned, that was the end of silent pictures.

That's like a "modest" $30 million budget picture today grossing $1 billion. Whatever "magic" made that work - Hollywood of 1928 or 2016 is going to go with it and toss out the old.

And good point, Pallette reminds my of Spencer Tracey, they don't look like they're acting at all, just walking into a room and talking like there isn't even a camera on.

 

[Touchofevil]

Again, Gone Baby Gone
Casey Affleck
Great cast
Superb acting
Very good story
Exceptional movie

 

[DesertDan]

Fire & Ice - I've always been a fan of Bakshis' work.

 

[2jakes]

To Joseph E. Anastasio 1945~2016

I’ve mentioned this before. This movie, in a way
saved my life.
I missed my flight which went down during my
time in the military after watching the late preview.

Joe was there with me.
Later, he was shipped to England & I to the Pacific.
Never saw him again.

Rest in Peace Joey.

 

[Touchofevil]

Because it is on, North by Northwest

 

[Bushman]

Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the 2003 remake. It's more deranged than the first one, and not in a good way. It's overly convoluted and turned what was a pretty straightforward and scary movie into a big mess.

 

[Touchofevil]

Because it is on, North by Northwest

Funny thing at least to me: just as it was ending, a cropduster flew over the house a few times.

 

[Zombie_61]

Because it is on, North by Northwest

My wife and I were out running errands, and came home to find it was about at the half-way point. I've never seen it, but thought I'd watch a few minutes anyway and wound up watching it until the end. The ending is a little abrupt, but I liked what I saw and wish I'd seen it from the beginning. Oh well, there will surely be another opportunity someday.

Right now I'm watching Jaws, also on TCM. It's one of my all-time favorite movies, and I've easily seen it more than 100 times (I lost count long ago).

 

[greatestescaper]

My wife has become something of a Cary Grant fan of late, and has been wanting to watch more Hitchcock as well. As such we recently watch To Catch a Thief and North By Northwest.

This evening The Wolfman and Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman was on the screen.

 

[Touchofevil]

Jaws on TCM. It really is a well done and entertaining movie.

 

[Julian Shellhammer]

The Finest Hours, about the Coast Guard rescue of a tanker's crew. Very much worth a watch.