What Was The Last Movie You Watched?

[MisterCairo]

On Saturday with my wife, Deadpool 2. There are simply no words. We will add the Blu-ray to the first outing we have.

On Sunday as a family, Solo: A Star Wars Story. Our mileage went far, and we really enjoyed it.

 

[Fading Fast]

Couldn't sleep, so I watched the last two-thirds of "42nd Street," which happened to be on TCM last nite.

I've seen this picture dozens of times going back nearly fifty years, but it always works for me. Yes, it's the definitive backstage musical, and yes, it features every backstage musical cliche that ever was -- but it was also, as they say, the "trope namer" for just about every one of these cliches, and it does them in such a way that they stand right up and dare you not to take them seriously. You get the sense that everyone in this picture believes in every word of the script, and it's done with such absolute sincerity that it transcends all the hundreds of cheap imitations that would follow.

This is also one of the definitive "Warner Brothers Stock Company" movies, with so many of the Old Favorites showing up in their usual roles -- Dick Powell as the snappy juvenile, Ruby Keeler as the wide-eyed ingenue, Guy Kibbee as the goofy old sugar daddy, Ned Sparks as the sour-bellied producer, Allen Jenkins as the creepy stagehand, Una Merkel and Ginger Rogers as the wisecracking comedy relief, and on and on. (You keep waiting for Frank McHugh and Hugh Herbert to show up, but that's another movie.)

The real star of the film is Bebe Daniels, who is outstanding as the bitchy Broadway diva whose personal life is in a shambles as she pushes on with the show. She was a veteran of the first wave of early-talkie musicals and this was her farewell to the genre -- and she puts it over like the trouper she was. Not so hot is her love partner for the occasion, George Brent, whose acting offers all the expressiveness of a slab of beaverboard in a double-breasted suit, but his sappiness does fit his role, the sad-sack vaudeville hoofer who just can't catch a break. (Ronald Reagan would have done better in this part, but he was still a few years down the pipe.) One must also note the fine performance from Warner Baxter as the suffering director of the show -- there is no trace of camp or irony in his performance, and the scene of him sinking alone onto the fire escape in the darkness at the very end of the picture as the audience emerges raving about the show is a superb bit of acting.

The music is sublime, one of the best of the Dubin-Warren scores of the period, and while the Big Production Numbers a la Berkeley are exactly as advertised, the musical highlight of the picture for me has always been Bebe Daniels' wonderful performance of "You're Getting To Be A Habit With Me," where she prances around the stage in fabulous satin pajamas with a group of inanely-grinning chorus boys, only to dump them all and skip off arm-in-arm with Gandhi at the end. It makes no sense at all, and it doesn't have to.

It's a great musical and a great example of pre-code filmmaking -- the gamy dialogue comes thick and fast, and I always snicker when Una Merkel, sitting on a leering chorus boy's lap, makes a comment about "sitting on a flagpole" that would have sent Joseph Ignatius Breen into a spasm. No matter how many times you've seen it, it's always worth another watch.

Outstanding write up - one would think you were a professional writer .

"...George Brent, whose acting offers all the expressiveness of a slab of beaverboard in a double-breasted suit, but his sappiness does fit his role, the sad-sack vaudeville hoofer who just can't catch a break. (Ronald Reagan would have done better in this part, but he was still a few years down the pipe.)..."

Regarding Reagan, let me state upfront - IMHO, his acting skills were a full-notch below those of a leading man, but he was quite competent in many supporting roles. That said, I'd take him over somnambulant George Brent who (with an exception here and there) could not have been more stilted and drowsy as an actor. For some reason, they gave Brent a lot of leading roles in A pictures opposite some of the top actresses of his era. Reagan would have done a better job in those than Brent, since, obviously, Gable, Grant, Tracey, et al., weren't available.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I've always enjoyed Ronnie's movie work, especially his light-comedy stuff from the late thirties, "Brother Rat" and things along those lines. I always wanted to see him in a picture with Jack Carson as college rivals for the hand of Priscilla Lane, but they never got around to making one. And maybe Ted Healy as the football coach and Pat O'Brien as the scheming dean trying to put over a fix on the big game.

 

[Fading Fast]

I've always enjoyed Ronnie's movie work, especially his light-comedy stuff from the late thirties, "Brother Rat" and things along those lines. I always wanted to see him in a picture with Jack Carson as college rivals for the hand of Priscilla Lane, but they never got around to making one. And maybe Ted Healy as the football coach and Pat O'Brien as the scheming dean trying to put over a fix on the big game.

He works best in small doses as in "Dark Victory" where he doesn't have to carry a movie. While I enjoy him and the movie "The Voice of the Turtle" as it's just a throwaway fun movie (with Eleanor Parker and Eve Arden doing the heavy acting lifting anyway), you can feel that Jimmy Stewart or Cary Grant would have made it a much better movie.

Good call on Carson as there's an echo of him in Reagan (albeit with the volume turned down). Both had the good guy, buddy thing oozing out of them.

 

[Bushman]

think this is the most lack luster of the Disney Star Wars movies.

It's forgettable, honestly.

L3, Lando's droid is extremely annoying and basically throws "equal rights" in your face through most of the movie. I've heard it's deliberate, but it doesn't come across as such. It's just annoying. The showing was too dark, which I've heard is a prominent problem with this movie. You can hardly make out any details, and everything looks desaturated.

There's waaaaaay too much "wink wink nudge nudge" thrown into the dialogue. The amount of callbacks is almost every other line. It comes to the point of being annoyingly superfluous. Like, we get it, this is what's going to happen in the OT. It's terrible. The dialogue in general isn't great though. Fortunately Alden Ehrenreich makes it work. He's not a terrible Han Solo, but he's not a great Harrison Ford either. He's his own character at points who occasionally throws out dialogue with a Han-like inflections.

 

[Worf]

"Annihilation" - Strange movie. I kinda get where they're going here. It felt a like similar movie that starts with the letter "A"... "Arrival". While moody and visually stunning I could not connect with any of the characters. There were some amazing scenes with "animals" but they provide little more than jump scares. The end is also not very satisfying. All in all I give it a C-Plus...

Worf

 

[Formeruser012523]

Shall We Dance.

Why am I just now realizing how creepy stalker-ish Fred Astaire's characters often are in these movies? I've loved these movies for years, but just didn't notice. And I'm not a fan of most movie musicals. Really, he needs to back off Ginger. Even she speeds off in a car in The Gay Divorcee, but still can't get away from his creepiness. And in that one he immediately proposes marriage. Women loved that in the '30's, I guess? As long as he could dance?

Won't stop watching them, no matter the creep factor they give off. lol

 

[LizzieMaine]

Ginger's characters got much more needy when she went to RKO. At Warners she was always a two-fisted independent-minded gal.

The thing with the Astaire-Rogers pictures is that they're all, plotwise, bog-standard Broadway-style musical comedies. But nobody ever sees them for the plots.

 

[Zombie_61]

...Even she speeds off in a car in The Gay Divorcee, but still can't get away from his creepiness. And in that one he immediately proposes marriage. Women loved that in the '30's, I guess?...

A similar situation in a lot of movies made in the '30s and '40s (and some before and after those decades as well) has always bothered me. A man and woman meet, encounter each other again a time or two either through happenstance or by design, and even though they hardly know each other suddenly they're madly in love. I find it annoying and it often takes away from the believability of the overall story. I know movies are only entertainment and the stories within often take place in a form of alternate reality, but my disbelief can be suspended only so far.

 

[Formeruser012523]

Keep laughing at her high eyebrows face whenever Fred is singing at her. It's always the same face. Why did their characters have such ridiculous names? And then there's always rebound guy that she tells him she has to marry.

It's no wonder she got tired of this fare and moved on.

 

[Formeruser012523]

A similar situation in a lot of movies made in the '30s and '40s (and some before and after those decades as well) has always bothered me. A man and woman meet, encounter each other again a time or two either through happenstance or by design, and even though they hardly know each other suddenly they're madly in love. I find it annoying and it often takes away from the believability of the overall story. I know movies are only entertainment and the stories within often take place in a form of alternate reality, but my disbelief can be suspended only so far.

Insta-romance. I used to watch things that had this in it and was guilty of writing things that contained it. I despise it now.

It's difficult to fix. Young people seem to like it, so it still gets made. But, maybe I'm guessing. I'd rather two characters have more of a history or a growing respect throughout a movie/series/whatever. It's more believable.

 

[scottyrocks]

Watched Support Your Local Sheriff (1969) yesterday.

I generally don't care for the mixed genres of western and comedy but this is one of the best. The entire thing is clever, and the actors fit the parts perfectly. I watch this movie whenever I know it'll be on.

 

[Zombie_61]

Insta-romance. I used to watch things that had this in it and was guilty of writing things that contained it. I despise it now.

It's difficult to fix. Young people seem to like it, so it still gets made. But, maybe I'm guessing. I'd rather two characters have more of a history or a growing respect throughout a movie/series/whatever. It's more believable.

Oh, I definitely agree. Here in the real world, every couple I've known who succumbed to that kind of "insta-romance" had their relationship fall apart just as quickly. I'm not saying I think a slowly developed relationship will be a guaranteed success, but the long-term couples I've known throughout my life took the time to really get to know each other before they committed to their relationships. I suppose "love at first sight" relationships exist, but I've never seen one.

 

[BobHufford]

I'm not saying I think a slowly developed relationship will be a guaranteed success, but the long-term couples I've known throughout my life took the time to really get to know each other before they committed to their relationships. I suppose "love at first sight" relationships exist, but I've never seen one.

First date was Valentine's Day 1983 and we were married April 29th. Had to wait for turkey season to be over. And...no... we didn't have to get married. Our first child was three years later. Married 35 years and counting. It happens...

 

[Zombie_61]

First date was Valentine's Day 1983 and we were married April 29th. Had to wait for turkey season to be over. And...no... we didn't have to get married. Our first child was three years later. Married 35 years and counting. It happens...

Excellent! And congratulations!

My wife and I waited a little longer than that, about 15 months. August 22nd will be our 37th anniversary as a married couple; I hope we make it.

 

[Fading Fast]

Shall We Dance.

Why am I just now realizing how creepy stalker-ish Fred Astaire's characters often are in these movies? I've loved these movies for years, but just didn't notice. And I'm not a fan of most movie musicals. Really, he needs to back off Ginger. Even she speeds off in a car in The Gay Divorcee, but still can't get away from his creepiness. And in that one he immediately proposes marriage. Women loved that in the '30's, I guess? As long as he could dance?

Won't stop watching them, no matter the creep factor they give off. lol

I have noticed the creepy stalker angle, but think it's a bit the culture of the time period, a bit that movies don't reflect reality and a bit of applying our modern concerns to a different era's norms (still wrong, but was more acceptable then).

As to love in a flash in movies (then and now), it drives my girlfriend and me nuts. It happens so often in movies that you almost have to let it go, but it is still irksome. At least in the old movies (and with the code enforced), they weren't having out-of-wedlock sex (in real life, sure they were, but not in movies of the era), so, in movies, you didn't have the normal "process" (have a lot of sex) to figure out the "is it love or lust" test?

All that said, the rollerskating dance scene was a real good one in "Shall We Dance." I love the Fred and Ginger movies and just let all the stupidity flow by and enjoy the dance scenes and the, in general, light, silly, even-we-aren't-taking-this-too-seriously vibe.

And to Lizzie's point - Ginger was a real actress who could give as good (or better) than she got when the studio and code let her. Some of her pre-code and, even, not-with-Astaire code-era movies show her more than able to take care of herself.

First date was Valentine's Day 1983 and we were married April 29th. Had to wait for turkey season to be over. And...no... we didn't have to get married. Our first child was three years later. Married 35 years and counting. It happens...

That's awesome. Glad you guys are one of the great exceptions to the "rule."

 

[LizzieMaine]

Caught a little piece of "Top Hat" last night, specifically the "Isn't It A Lovely Day" number, in which Ginger gives as good as she gets in the dance. One of the best songs in a year full of best songs, and I'm not even a particular fan of Irving Berlin. And if you want to talk about creepy, Erik Rhodes.

ALso, if Fred Astaire were alive and in his prime today, he'd be the top choice to play Prince Namor the Sub-Mariner in a Marvel blockbuster.

 

[Doctor Strange]

(Addendum: D'oh! You beat me to it while I was writing this post, Lizzie.)

Wow, you're right! Especially the way Namor was drawn in the in the golden age, with that triangular head.



Jack Kirby bulked him up and de-triangularized his head when the character was reintroduced in the sixties.



And let it be said: Namor was essentially the template for the appearance of Mr. Spock.

I love those Fred and Ginger movies, but the plots are exhausting and distracting. I prefer Swing Time to the others, not just because it's got some of the greatest songs and dances (and supporting cast)… but because they don't spend most of the film running around "hating" each other and misunderstanding everything quite so much.

 

[LizzieMaine]

"Swing Time" is one of the ten best films of the thirties, and maybe of all time. There isn't a single frame that lags, and the score might be the best thing that Jerome Kern ever did. If he never wrote another song but "The Way You Look Tonight," he'd still be one of the true giants of American music.

 

[Doctor Strange]

I can't argue with any of that, it's a wonderful film. And these days it's perversely entertaining to watch the PC police fretting over "Bojangles of Harlem".