Black Narcissus. 1947 (grade A)

Director Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger
Any Awards? Academy Awards for  Best Art Direction & Pest Cinematography
CAST:   Deborah Kerr; Flora Robson;  Jean Simmons;  David Farrar;  Sabu:  Esmond Knight;  Kathleen Byron,  Jenny Laird;  Judith Furse;  May Hallatt;  Eddie Whaley Jr.;  Shaun Nobel;  Nancy Roberts;  Ley On


story summary: nuns are give an ex-brothel/ home of a sultan's harem, high in the mountains to turn into a school and hospital --this snowy mountain happens to be right next to a sultry jungle paradise --so it is not such a great movie when it comes to realism re geography -- the wind never stops blowing and the nuns are moved to plant flowers rather than vegetables..and there is a handsome man that visits a lot -- he is often scantly dressed --and he drives a lest one nun crazy.

sez says: this is a Jack Cardiff film-- he was a masterful cinematographer--and it is worth watching just to see him working with color and light --copying the art of the grand masters. But the story too is pretty interesting.. the repressed sexuality of nuns is the theme --and it gets pretty steamy. It is something between a melodrama and a horror flick woven around repressed sexual desires and set in an exotic landscape... done in brilliant color and fabulously compelling..and were all of Powell and Pressburgerher films.

mjc says: hard to believe this was photographed in a studio-on a sound stage and aback lot --the tracks of a master cinematographer

The Dark Corner, 1946 (Grade B-)

Director: Henry Hathaway

Any Awards?  none we know of

CAST: Lucille Ball; Clifton Webb; William Bendix; Mark Stevens; Kurt Kreuger; Cathy Downs; Reed Hadley; Constance Collier; Eddie Heywood; Isabel Randolph

Plot outline: Here is a Classic Film Noir that seems to have escaped most of the books on the subject. It tells the tale of hard boiled private eye Bradford Galt (played by Mark Stevens), who relocates to New York City after being framed for a crime he didn't commit. He thus wrongfully served two years in stir on a manslaughter charge. His shyster ex-partner, Tony Jardine (Kurt Kreuger) had been the one who put him in the frame and now Jardine is in NY and he is once again up to his old tricks (blackmailing wealthy women).  And Galt soon finds himself set up again -- this time for Jardine's murder.  Lucille Ball portrays Galt's adoring secretary, and Clifton Webb plays an unctuous art collector.  

sez says: a much more complex plot than many of its ilk.  Fun to see Lucy as a femme fatale (of sorts).  But not too hard to guess the who-done-it and the why-it was done.  Still, this is much better than many better known 'Noiur Classics"  and if you are drawn to the genre you are likely to like this one.

mjc says: overdone gum shoe dialogue--still a pretty good mystery, all the right shadows.

The Long Voyage Home, 1940 Grade - B

Director: John Ford
Awards: Nominated for multiple academy awards
Cast: John Wayne;Thomas Mitchell; Ian Hunter; Barry Fitzgerald; Wilfrid Lawson; John Qualen; Mildred Natwick; Ward Bond; Arthur Shileds; Joe Sawyer; JM Kerrigan; Rafaela Ottiano

 

sez says-- I am not a John Wayne fan-- and thus I was reluctant to watch this, figuring he would play a prominent role, and that would annoy me.  But neither was the case. His role is one of many characters, not more or less important than any other..and he does a fine job being a young Swed trying to get home. Eugene O'Neill wrote this--and it is no doubt his writing that makes this better than the average story.  John Ford directed it. So it is visually wonderful: lots of stark black & white and shadows.  Depicting life on the sea during war time --  and it is about an effort to get explosives to the allies (before  the USA--was in the war). It thus a story that was used to  create concern for helping out in the war effort.   The life of individual men at sea is seen as raw and rough and exploited: It is a life most of us would want to escape--yet men who take to this life seldom do escape. Or so says the story.  Well done -- maybe even a masterpiece of sorts. (Grade B)

Something in the Wind, 1947 (Grade C)

Director: Irving Pichel
Awards? None known
Cast: Deanna Durbin, Donald O'Connor, John Dall, Charles Winninger, Helena Carter

sez says: If you like Durbin's singing you will no doubt like this..I am not a big fan --but I acknowledge she has a remarkable voice. Too bad she didn't use it with better music. This is a typical --totally unrealistic and silly--comedy of errors story.  Rich family mistakes the identity of a young woman, kidnaps her and tried to get her to 'sign papers' to keep her quite about something she never did...meanwhile love hatches between her and one of her captors. Meanwhile, the real gem in this show, Donald O'Connor, sings and dances and is generally entertaining.   There are some wild hair-dos and some snazzy clothing to look at along the way.  (Grade C and that just because O'Connor is so talented)

Nightmare Alley, 1947 (Grade C+)

Director: Edmund Goulding
Awards--none that we know of...
Starring: Tyrone Power; Joan Blondall;  Coleen Gray

sez says: This is a bit of a hidden treasure. It is not a fabulous, wonderful, ya gotta see it right now sort of treasure--but more of a it is worth seeing sometime sort of treasure. It has a touch of noir style--focusing on the underbelly of society.  The acting is a bit hokey--but the story is interesting. Tyrone Power plays a 'natural born' con artist--who find his calling working in a carnival. He does all sorts of underhanded things to become famous--then he gets his come-up-ance. It held my attention eve though it was clear where it was going. (My grade is C+ --and might have been higher if the acting wasn't so silly in places)

Kiss of Death, 1947 (Grade C+)

Director: Henry Hathaway
Awards: nominated for Academy Awards Best Writing (Ben Hecht) and best supporting actor (Richard Widmark) --didn't win
stars: Victor Mature; Richard Widmark, Brian Donlevy, Karl Malden, Coleen Gray

sez says: Italian gangsters (pre Godfather)...go to prison rather than rat on their pals. But here the pals really are not such great guys --they 'make-it' with your wife behind your back, and don't take care of your family when you take the wrap and get locked-up to protect them.  Nick Bianco (Victor Mature) is behind bars when he discovers his wife has killed herself (because of poverty--and guild over messing around with Nick's old pal) and Nick's two daughters have thus been sent to an orphanage.  He then realizes the the gangster's code has less hold on him then does his responsibility as a father.  So he rats.  Then, conveniently, a love interest appears...and with some high drama pertaining to mob activity ...he gets to go be the dad he want's to be with a brand new wife.  But it doesn't end there.  His old life is waiting to entrap him...and you'll need to watch the movie to see what happens.  Mature proves himself to be a much better actor than I ever gave him credit for. But the real pull in this movie is Richard Widmark. He plays a sociopath and indeed, he in one sinister dude.  Not a great masterpiece but it certainly has its moments.  Grade C+ 

Johnny Apollo, 1940 (Grade C+)

Director:  Henry Hathaway
Starring: Tyrone Powers; Dorothy Lamour; Edward Arnold, Loyd Noland

sez says: The son of a jailed Wall Street broker turns to crime  to pay for his father's release. Dad (Arnold) is a rich guy embezzler--but is also a hard working stand-up guy.  Sonny boy (Powers) is a college jock who must  come to terms with his father's downfall. This is a father and son - love ya / hate ya / love ya again story--Freud might have something to say about all of this.  But love and goodness wins out when both daddy and sons debt to society are properly paid. This has lots of twists and turns--and Dorothy aka Lucky sings and dances--and she really is 'a good girl' even if she is a gangster's love interest. GRADE C+

Going My Way, 1944 (Grade D)

Director: Leo McCarey
Starring: Bing Crosby and Barry Fitzgerald
Awards: Lots of Academy Award
IMDB Link:  Going My Way

sez says: hokey schmaltz, darling this is not my cup of tea! Fitzgerald does create a character which has become iconic for its type --so I guess that is something to see. And, maybe some folks like this sort of music--but not me.  Or, possibly you can glean some vaguely  interesting discussion out of thinking about why this might have appealed to Americans during the depths of WW2.  It says: Going to church can be good for you and it might even make you happy but you don't have to go to church to be good ... AND the greatest happiness can be found in doing good for others.  Nice sentiment, and it is great materiel for a sermon--but not so much for a movie. GRADE D  in my book / no doubt a legit higher mark from some one else.  

mjc says:  this is the kind stuff that gives religion a bad name--so completely divorced from reality.  Although, I have to say, when I was in and out of parishes in New York in the 1960s there were rectories that felt just like the one pictured here.  Of course, what was going on in those rectories is another thing altogether.  Anyway, I guess Bing was a huge star in those days and everyone was looking for relief from the horrors of war.