Post by topbilled on Sept 2, 2023 5:46:35 GMT
CLASSIC FILM TELEVISION & RADIO Newsletter
SEPTEMBER 2023
Message board highlights:
Neglected films
Here
Everyday TopBilled reviews a neglected film that was produced between 1930 and 1959. All genres are included. Fading Fast also provides reviews, focusing on precodes which were produced between 1930 and 1934.
9/1..TIME TABLE (1956)..UA — noir
9/2..THE PASSIONATE PLUMBER (1932) — precode
9/3..THE ROAD TO GLORY (1936)..FOX — war film
9/4..THE GREAT GATSBY (1949)..PAR — literary drama
9/5..THE SYSTEM (1953)..WB — noir
9/6..TEN WANTED MEN (1955)..COL — western
9/7..TEACHER’S PET (1958)..PAR — romantic comedy
9/8..ONCE IN A LIFETIME (1932)..UNIV — precode
9/9..SOCIETY DOCTOR (1935)..MGM — medical drama
9/10..KISSES FOR BREAKFAST (1941)..WB — romantic comedy
9/11..BUNCO SQUAD (1950)..RKO — crime drama
9/12..REPRISAL! (1956)..COL — western
9/13..A BEDTIME STORY (1933)..PAR — precode
9/14..FLIGHT FOR FREEDOM (1943)..RKO — war film
9/15..GREEN FOR DANGER (1946)..BRIT — crime drama
9/16..THE RED PONY (1949)..REP — coming of age drama
9/17..THE SKIPPER SURPRISED HIS WIFE (1950) — comedy
9/18..THE INDIAN FIGHTER (1955)..UA — western
9/19..CHASING YESTERDAY (1935)..RKO — historical drama
9/20..POWER OF THE PRESS (1943)..COL — social message drama
9/21..THE LODGER (1944)..FOX — suspense thriller
9/22..POOL OF LONDON (1951)..BRIT — noir
9/23..THE BARRETTS OF WIMPOLE STREET (1957)..MGM — literary drama
9/24..BUREAU OF MISSING PERSONS (1933)..WB — precode
9/25..THE DARK MIRROR (1946)..UNIV — psychological drama
9/26..SAMSON AND DELILAH (1949)..PAR — biblical epic
9/27..HELL’S HALF ACRE (1953)..REP — noir
9/28..OUR DAILY BREAD (1934)..UA — social message drama
9/29..ARIZONA LEGION (1939)..RKO — western
9/30..ADVENTURE IN IRAQ (1943)..WB — war film
Essentials
Here
On Saturdays in September we will be looking at films where British characters go on holiday. There’s an Alfred Hitchcock classic from the 1930s as well as several films from the 1950s that feature iconic British stars at the beginning of their long careers…such as Dirk Bogarde and Alec Guinness. Join TopBilled & Jlewis every Saturday.
On holiday-- British style
September 2: THE LADY VANISHES (1938)
September 9: SO LONG AT THE FAIR (1950)
September 16: LAST HOLIDAY (1950)
September 23: DOUBLE CONFESSION (1950)
September 30: ALL FOR MARY (1955)
Don’t Be So Melodramatic!
Here
On Sundays in September Andrea Doria has chosen an intriguing theme…Letter Melodramas. She will be guiding our live discussion with films that include Bette Davis, Joan Fontaine and Linda Darnell. Start time is 3 p.m. Eastern Time. Don’t be late!
“Letter Melodramas"
Presented by Andrea Doria
9/3 THE LETTER (1940)
9/10 LETTER FROM AN UNKNOWN WOMAN (1948)
9/17 A LETTER TO THREE WIVES (1949)
9/24 THE 13TH LETTER (1951)
Remake City
Here
On Mondays we share clips of original films and remakes found on Yancey Cravat’s YouTube page. Sometimes there are trailers and Word of Mouth segments as well.
This month’s articles:
STUDIO SUPERSTARS: RKO, PART 1…
We’re starting our year-long look at the studios’ top stars with Part 1 on RKO. Formed in 1929 and basically defunct by 1957, Radio Pictures produced some fantastic motion pictures during the 1930s, ‘40s and ‘50s. These films featured some amazing stars like…
Ginger Rogers…She had already scored a hit on Broadway and in Warners Brothers’ GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933, when she was signed to a long-term contract at RKO. There didn’t seem to be any type of material she couldn’t play– romantic trifles like IN PERSON; women’s stories like STAGE DOOR and TENDER COMRADE; and of course, those insanely successful musicals where she danced with Fred Astaire. The high point, though, was her turn in the romance drama KITTY FOYLE, for which she earned an Oscar. She would leave RKO in the mid-1940s, but she did return a decade later for one of the studio’s final films.
In Hollywood during the 1930s and 1940s, bandleaders were everywhere. They were performing in nightclubs, on radio and on screen. RKO gave Kay Kyser and his band a chance to bring their musical comedy magic to movie audiences. A series of films were made that cast Kay and the boys with some rather memorable costars. They worked with Lucille Ball, Peter Lorre and John Barrymore. Kay made pictures at other studios, but his best ones were at RKO.
During the early days of the studio, RKO had a few notable leading ladies under contract that were frequently cast in romantic tearjerkers. One of these pre-code beauties was Constance Bennett. She made films like ROCKABYE and BED OF ROSES, where she played women from the wrong side of the tracks who fell for men she couldn’t have. The formula clicked with moviegoers, and the actress did these parts with dramatic skill and style. After she left RKO, her roles changed, due to the production code and the material that was now being allowed on screen. But she remained popular for many years.
After paying his dues at poverty row studios, Robert Mitchum finally hit his stride with 1945’s THE STORY OF G.I. JOE. He'd just inked a contract with RKO, and soon the handsome actor was a major movie star. At the studio, he excelled in gritty crime dramas like CROSSFIRE and OUT OF THE PAST. Occasionally, there were lighter assignments like HOLIDAY AFFAIR. In the early 1950s, he was paired twice with sultry Jane Russell, and the two remained lifelong friends.
OSCAR HISTORY: ACTRESSES HONORED IN THE 1920s & 1930s…
Best Actresses
1927-28: Janet Gaynor..7TH HEAVEN/STREET ANGEL/SUNRISE (Melodramas)
1928-29: Mary Pickford...COQUETTE (Melodrama)
1929-30: Norma Shearer…THE DIVORCEE (Melodrama)
1930-31: Marie Dressler…MIN AND BILL (Melodrama)
1931-32: Helen Hayes...THE SIN OF MADELON CLAUDET (Melodrama)
1932-33: Katharine Hepburn...MORNING GLORY (Show Biz Melodrama)
1934: Claudette Colbert...IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (Romantic Comedy)
1935: Bette Davis...DANGEROUS (1935) (Melodrama)
1936: Luise Rainer...THE GREAT ZEIGFELD (Show Biz Biopic)
1937: Luise Rainer…THE GOOD EARTH (Literary Drama)
1938: Bette Davis...JEZEBEL (Historical Melodrama)
1939: Vivien Leigh...GONE WITH THE WIND (Historical Melodrama)
Analysis:
In the beginning, the Oscars covered a twelve-month period spread over two years. Also, a performer could be given an award for their work in multiple pictures, which explains why the first recipient, Janet Gaynor, was recognized for three films. Luise Rainer became the first actress to earn two back-to-back Oscars. Bette Davis also earned two Oscars, a few years apart.
Katharine Hepburn earned the first of four Oscars, though she wouldn't receive her second one until the late 1960s. Claudette Colbert's win was the first for a comedy, and historically, comedies have been overlooked by Academy voters. During the production code era, performances in tearjerker melodramas or biographical dramas often snagged the awards. Actresses were often lauded for roles in which they played handicapped characters, addicts or even prostitutes.
Best Supporting Actresses
1936: Gale Sondergaard…ANTHONY ADVERSE (Historical Melodrama)
1937: Alice Brady…IN OLD CHICAGO (Historical Drama)
1938: Fay Bainter…JEZEBEL (Historical Melodrama)
1939: Hattie McDaniel…GONE WITH THE WIND (Historical Melodrama)
Analysis:
This category was not created until 1936. Gale Sondergaard's win was for her screen debut. Alice Brady's win was the first for the newly formed 20th Century Fox studio. Fay Bainter was also nominated for Best Actress in WHITE BANNERS, the first time a performer had been nominated in two different categories in the same year.
Hattie McDaniel became the first African American actress to earn an Oscar. She almost was not allowed to attend the awards ceremony, which was held at a club inside a hotel that had a segregation policy. When it was decided she could attend, she and her date (a black man) had to sit by themselves at a separate table.
SPECIAL FEATURE: BEST OF THE NEGLECTED FILMS VOL. 1…
This month Fading Fast presents his list for the best neglected films he’s watched so far during 2023:
Looking back over the "neglected films" of the first half of 2023, several stand out because of their story, a particular character, a theme or a principle. They are all movies one thinks about often, looks forward to seeing again and hopes others will "discover."
PYGMALION is simply charming. Leslie Howard and Wendy Hiller create two wonderful characters - an arrogant intellectual and the street urchin he's "educating -" who find love, after a lot of fighting. Released in 1938, it's a perfect 1930s-style romcom. Look for the subtly hilarious scene where Hiller is just a bit "off" in her manners at a trial tea.
HOME BEFORE DARK's approach to the gaslighting concept leaves us guessing throughout the movie if the wife, wonderfully portrayed by Jean Simmons, is insane or being driven crazy by her husband. Released in 1958 and set in an oppressive 1950s New England college town, the atmosphere is "heavy" in this engaging soap opera.
NIGHT TRAIN TO MUNICH from 1940 is a favorite less-well-known WWII movie. It's an exciting story, first, and propaganda, second, with appealing stars Rex Harrison and Margaret Lockwood fighting Nazis, while falling in love. Look for the Hitchcockian final "escape by overhead tram" scene set in (a studio recreation of) the Swiss Alps.
Nineteen-thirty-three's EMPLOYEES ENTRANCE, a Depression-era department store tale, is modern in feel because of its grey morality. Here, capitalism isn't evil or a Randian ideal; it's just an imperfect system that works. Plus, the film is a fast-moving soap opera with plenty of hanky-panky, a secret marriage and a few boardroom machinations.
THAT BRENNAN GIRL from 1946 is an inspiring movie that deserves a much-wider audience. Mona Freeman's performance as Ziggy - the girl from a broken home with a crooked mother who, despite her upbringing, tries hard to live an honest life - can be heartbreaking at times, yet it is also uplifting. The movie, with its overlay of Christianity, has a magic to it.
Nineteen-thirty-three's THE EAGLE AND THE HAWK is one of the most powerful war films ever made that most people have never heard of. It's a raw portrayal of the toll war takes on the men who fight it, but it's never smug as it also recognizes that wars have to be fought to stop evil. Fredric March's moving performances will stay with you.
DOUBLE HARNESS from 1933 is a favorite because it feels so real. Quietly beautiful Ann Harding plays a woman in need who tricks a nice guy, played by William Powell, into marrying her. She then sincerely tries to make her marriage work. It's life; it's messy and it's believable. Plus Harding and Powell have great chemistry.
THE GHOST AND MRS. MUIR from 1947 with Gene Tierney as the strong but shy earthly woman and Rex Harrison as the cocky but kind ephemeral ghost is one of the more unlikely but enjoyable romcoms Tinseltown has ever made. Plus the house and sea-side setting are beautiful.
PATTERNS from 1956 is a Rod Serling penned look at big business. It's an exaggerated peek inside the boardroom of a large corporation where politics and ego clash. Ed Begley's performance as the old and tired executive being hounded out of his job by his tyrannical boss, played with relentless venom by Everett Sloane, is sadly memorable.
It's hard to pick "favorites" from so many good movies, so I used one standard: what movies or performances do I find myself regularly thinking about long after I've seen the movie.
For someone looking for a place to start on the "neglected films" thread from the first half of 2023, the above movies would be my suggestions, but you could start anywhere and not go wrong.
c) 2023
SEPTEMBER SCHEDULE
1 Special Theme: Wall to Wall Cinema: THE WALLS OF JERICHO (1948) / THE GLASS WALL (1952)
2 Essentials: On Holiday British Style: THE LADY VANISHES (1938)
3 Don’t Be So Melodramatic!: Letter Melodramas: THE LETTER (1940)
4 Remake City: THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN (1939) / THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN (1960)
5 Performer of the Week: Ginger Rogers at RKO: IN PERSON (1935) / THE STORY OF VERNON & IRENE CASTLE (1939) / KITTY FOYLE (1940)
6 Classic Duo: Edna May Oliver & James Gleason: PENGUIN POOL MURDER (1932) / MURDER ON A HONEYMOON (1935)
7 Directors Spotlight: Joseph Kane Directs Gene Autry: THE OLD CORRAL (1936) / BOOTS AND SADDLES (1937)
8 Special Theme: Edward Arnold and Johnny: JOHNNY APOLLO (1940) / JOHNNY EAGER (1942)
9 Essentials: On Holiday British Style: SO LONG AT THE FAIR (1950)
10 Don’t Be So Melodramatic!: Letter Melodramas: LETTER FROM AN UNKNOWN WOMAN (1948)
11 Remake City: RANSOM! (1956) / RANSOM (1996)
12 Performer of the Week: Kay Kyser at RKO: THAT'S RIGHT YOU'RE WRONG (1939) / YOU'LL FIND OUT (1940) / MY FAVORITE SPY (1942)
13 Classic Duo: Loretta Young & Don Ameche: RAMONA (1936) / THE STORY OF ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL (1939)
14 Directors Spotlight: Joseph Kane Directs Roy Rogers: UNDER WESTERN STARS (1938) / SOUTH OF SANTA FE (1942)
15 Special Theme: Based on the Life of a Composer: A SONG TO REMEMBER (1945) / SONG OF LOVE (1947)
16 Essentials: On Holiday British Style: LAST HOLIDAY (1950)
17 Don’t Be So Melodramatic!: Letter Melodramas: A LETTER TO THREE WIVES (1949)
18 Remake City: IT’S A DATE (1940) / NANCY GOES TO RIO (1950)
19 Performer of the Week: Constance Bennett at RKO: LADY WITH A PAST (1932) / AFTER TONIGHT (1933) / OUR BETTERS (1933)
20 Classic Duo: Robert Preston & Alan Ladd: THIS GUN FOR HIRE (1942) / WILD HARVEST (1947) / WHISPERING SMITH (1948)
21 Directors Spotlight: Joseph Kane Directs Bill Elliott: IN OLD SACRAMENTO (1946) / THE GALLANT LEGION (1948)
22 Special Theme: They Drive by Night Twice: THEY DRIVE BY NIGHT (1938) / THEY DRIVE BY NIGHT (1940)
23 Essentials: On Holiday British Style: DOUBLE CONFESSION (1950)
24 Don’t Be So Melodramatic!: Letter Melodramas: THE 13TH LETTER (1951)
25 Remake City: SCARFACE (1932) / SCARFACE (1983)
26 Performer of the Week: Robert Mitchum at RKO: NEVADA (1944) / MY FORBIDDEN PAST (1951) / ONE MINUTE TO ZERO (1952)
27 Classic Duo: Marion Davies & Patsy Kelly: PAGE MISS GLORY (1935) / EVER SINCE EVE (1937)
28 Directors Spotlight: Joseph Kane Directs Vera Ralston: JUBILEE TRAIL (1954) / GUNFIRE AT INDIAN GAP (1957)
29 Special Theme: Universal Noir: LARCENY (1948) / CRISS CROSS (1949)
30 Essentials: On Holiday British Style: ALL FOR MARY (1955)
SEPTEMBER 2023
Message board highlights:
Neglected films
Here
Everyday TopBilled reviews a neglected film that was produced between 1930 and 1959. All genres are included. Fading Fast also provides reviews, focusing on precodes which were produced between 1930 and 1934.
9/1..TIME TABLE (1956)..UA — noir
9/2..THE PASSIONATE PLUMBER (1932) — precode
9/3..THE ROAD TO GLORY (1936)..FOX — war film
9/4..THE GREAT GATSBY (1949)..PAR — literary drama
9/5..THE SYSTEM (1953)..WB — noir
9/6..TEN WANTED MEN (1955)..COL — western
9/7..TEACHER’S PET (1958)..PAR — romantic comedy
9/8..ONCE IN A LIFETIME (1932)..UNIV — precode
9/9..SOCIETY DOCTOR (1935)..MGM — medical drama
9/10..KISSES FOR BREAKFAST (1941)..WB — romantic comedy
9/11..BUNCO SQUAD (1950)..RKO — crime drama
9/12..REPRISAL! (1956)..COL — western
9/13..A BEDTIME STORY (1933)..PAR — precode
9/14..FLIGHT FOR FREEDOM (1943)..RKO — war film
9/15..GREEN FOR DANGER (1946)..BRIT — crime drama
9/16..THE RED PONY (1949)..REP — coming of age drama
9/17..THE SKIPPER SURPRISED HIS WIFE (1950) — comedy
9/18..THE INDIAN FIGHTER (1955)..UA — western
9/19..CHASING YESTERDAY (1935)..RKO — historical drama
9/20..POWER OF THE PRESS (1943)..COL — social message drama
9/21..THE LODGER (1944)..FOX — suspense thriller
9/22..POOL OF LONDON (1951)..BRIT — noir
9/23..THE BARRETTS OF WIMPOLE STREET (1957)..MGM — literary drama
9/24..BUREAU OF MISSING PERSONS (1933)..WB — precode
9/25..THE DARK MIRROR (1946)..UNIV — psychological drama
9/26..SAMSON AND DELILAH (1949)..PAR — biblical epic
9/27..HELL’S HALF ACRE (1953)..REP — noir
9/28..OUR DAILY BREAD (1934)..UA — social message drama
9/29..ARIZONA LEGION (1939)..RKO — western
9/30..ADVENTURE IN IRAQ (1943)..WB — war film
Essentials
Here
On Saturdays in September we will be looking at films where British characters go on holiday. There’s an Alfred Hitchcock classic from the 1930s as well as several films from the 1950s that feature iconic British stars at the beginning of their long careers…such as Dirk Bogarde and Alec Guinness. Join TopBilled & Jlewis every Saturday.
On holiday-- British style
September 2: THE LADY VANISHES (1938)
September 9: SO LONG AT THE FAIR (1950)
September 16: LAST HOLIDAY (1950)
September 23: DOUBLE CONFESSION (1950)
September 30: ALL FOR MARY (1955)
Don’t Be So Melodramatic!
Here
On Sundays in September Andrea Doria has chosen an intriguing theme…Letter Melodramas. She will be guiding our live discussion with films that include Bette Davis, Joan Fontaine and Linda Darnell. Start time is 3 p.m. Eastern Time. Don’t be late!
“Letter Melodramas"
Presented by Andrea Doria
9/3 THE LETTER (1940)
9/10 LETTER FROM AN UNKNOWN WOMAN (1948)
9/17 A LETTER TO THREE WIVES (1949)
9/24 THE 13TH LETTER (1951)
Remake City
Here
On Mondays we share clips of original films and remakes found on Yancey Cravat’s YouTube page. Sometimes there are trailers and Word of Mouth segments as well.
This month’s articles:
STUDIO SUPERSTARS: RKO, PART 1…
We’re starting our year-long look at the studios’ top stars with Part 1 on RKO. Formed in 1929 and basically defunct by 1957, Radio Pictures produced some fantastic motion pictures during the 1930s, ‘40s and ‘50s. These films featured some amazing stars like…
Ginger Rogers…She had already scored a hit on Broadway and in Warners Brothers’ GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933, when she was signed to a long-term contract at RKO. There didn’t seem to be any type of material she couldn’t play– romantic trifles like IN PERSON; women’s stories like STAGE DOOR and TENDER COMRADE; and of course, those insanely successful musicals where she danced with Fred Astaire. The high point, though, was her turn in the romance drama KITTY FOYLE, for which she earned an Oscar. She would leave RKO in the mid-1940s, but she did return a decade later for one of the studio’s final films.
In Hollywood during the 1930s and 1940s, bandleaders were everywhere. They were performing in nightclubs, on radio and on screen. RKO gave Kay Kyser and his band a chance to bring their musical comedy magic to movie audiences. A series of films were made that cast Kay and the boys with some rather memorable costars. They worked with Lucille Ball, Peter Lorre and John Barrymore. Kay made pictures at other studios, but his best ones were at RKO.
During the early days of the studio, RKO had a few notable leading ladies under contract that were frequently cast in romantic tearjerkers. One of these pre-code beauties was Constance Bennett. She made films like ROCKABYE and BED OF ROSES, where she played women from the wrong side of the tracks who fell for men she couldn’t have. The formula clicked with moviegoers, and the actress did these parts with dramatic skill and style. After she left RKO, her roles changed, due to the production code and the material that was now being allowed on screen. But she remained popular for many years.
After paying his dues at poverty row studios, Robert Mitchum finally hit his stride with 1945’s THE STORY OF G.I. JOE. He'd just inked a contract with RKO, and soon the handsome actor was a major movie star. At the studio, he excelled in gritty crime dramas like CROSSFIRE and OUT OF THE PAST. Occasionally, there were lighter assignments like HOLIDAY AFFAIR. In the early 1950s, he was paired twice with sultry Jane Russell, and the two remained lifelong friends.
OSCAR HISTORY: ACTRESSES HONORED IN THE 1920s & 1930s…
Best Actresses
1927-28: Janet Gaynor..7TH HEAVEN/STREET ANGEL/SUNRISE (Melodramas)
1928-29: Mary Pickford...COQUETTE (Melodrama)
1929-30: Norma Shearer…THE DIVORCEE (Melodrama)
1930-31: Marie Dressler…MIN AND BILL (Melodrama)
1931-32: Helen Hayes...THE SIN OF MADELON CLAUDET (Melodrama)
1932-33: Katharine Hepburn...MORNING GLORY (Show Biz Melodrama)
1934: Claudette Colbert...IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (Romantic Comedy)
1935: Bette Davis...DANGEROUS (1935) (Melodrama)
1936: Luise Rainer...THE GREAT ZEIGFELD (Show Biz Biopic)
1937: Luise Rainer…THE GOOD EARTH (Literary Drama)
1938: Bette Davis...JEZEBEL (Historical Melodrama)
1939: Vivien Leigh...GONE WITH THE WIND (Historical Melodrama)
Analysis:
In the beginning, the Oscars covered a twelve-month period spread over two years. Also, a performer could be given an award for their work in multiple pictures, which explains why the first recipient, Janet Gaynor, was recognized for three films. Luise Rainer became the first actress to earn two back-to-back Oscars. Bette Davis also earned two Oscars, a few years apart.
Katharine Hepburn earned the first of four Oscars, though she wouldn't receive her second one until the late 1960s. Claudette Colbert's win was the first for a comedy, and historically, comedies have been overlooked by Academy voters. During the production code era, performances in tearjerker melodramas or biographical dramas often snagged the awards. Actresses were often lauded for roles in which they played handicapped characters, addicts or even prostitutes.
Best Supporting Actresses
1936: Gale Sondergaard…ANTHONY ADVERSE (Historical Melodrama)
1937: Alice Brady…IN OLD CHICAGO (Historical Drama)
1938: Fay Bainter…JEZEBEL (Historical Melodrama)
1939: Hattie McDaniel…GONE WITH THE WIND (Historical Melodrama)
Analysis:
This category was not created until 1936. Gale Sondergaard's win was for her screen debut. Alice Brady's win was the first for the newly formed 20th Century Fox studio. Fay Bainter was also nominated for Best Actress in WHITE BANNERS, the first time a performer had been nominated in two different categories in the same year.
Hattie McDaniel became the first African American actress to earn an Oscar. She almost was not allowed to attend the awards ceremony, which was held at a club inside a hotel that had a segregation policy. When it was decided she could attend, she and her date (a black man) had to sit by themselves at a separate table.
SPECIAL FEATURE: BEST OF THE NEGLECTED FILMS VOL. 1…
This month Fading Fast presents his list for the best neglected films he’s watched so far during 2023:
Looking back over the "neglected films" of the first half of 2023, several stand out because of their story, a particular character, a theme or a principle. They are all movies one thinks about often, looks forward to seeing again and hopes others will "discover."
PYGMALION is simply charming. Leslie Howard and Wendy Hiller create two wonderful characters - an arrogant intellectual and the street urchin he's "educating -" who find love, after a lot of fighting. Released in 1938, it's a perfect 1930s-style romcom. Look for the subtly hilarious scene where Hiller is just a bit "off" in her manners at a trial tea.
HOME BEFORE DARK's approach to the gaslighting concept leaves us guessing throughout the movie if the wife, wonderfully portrayed by Jean Simmons, is insane or being driven crazy by her husband. Released in 1958 and set in an oppressive 1950s New England college town, the atmosphere is "heavy" in this engaging soap opera.
NIGHT TRAIN TO MUNICH from 1940 is a favorite less-well-known WWII movie. It's an exciting story, first, and propaganda, second, with appealing stars Rex Harrison and Margaret Lockwood fighting Nazis, while falling in love. Look for the Hitchcockian final "escape by overhead tram" scene set in (a studio recreation of) the Swiss Alps.
Nineteen-thirty-three's EMPLOYEES ENTRANCE, a Depression-era department store tale, is modern in feel because of its grey morality. Here, capitalism isn't evil or a Randian ideal; it's just an imperfect system that works. Plus, the film is a fast-moving soap opera with plenty of hanky-panky, a secret marriage and a few boardroom machinations.
THAT BRENNAN GIRL from 1946 is an inspiring movie that deserves a much-wider audience. Mona Freeman's performance as Ziggy - the girl from a broken home with a crooked mother who, despite her upbringing, tries hard to live an honest life - can be heartbreaking at times, yet it is also uplifting. The movie, with its overlay of Christianity, has a magic to it.
Nineteen-thirty-three's THE EAGLE AND THE HAWK is one of the most powerful war films ever made that most people have never heard of. It's a raw portrayal of the toll war takes on the men who fight it, but it's never smug as it also recognizes that wars have to be fought to stop evil. Fredric March's moving performances will stay with you.
DOUBLE HARNESS from 1933 is a favorite because it feels so real. Quietly beautiful Ann Harding plays a woman in need who tricks a nice guy, played by William Powell, into marrying her. She then sincerely tries to make her marriage work. It's life; it's messy and it's believable. Plus Harding and Powell have great chemistry.
THE GHOST AND MRS. MUIR from 1947 with Gene Tierney as the strong but shy earthly woman and Rex Harrison as the cocky but kind ephemeral ghost is one of the more unlikely but enjoyable romcoms Tinseltown has ever made. Plus the house and sea-side setting are beautiful.
PATTERNS from 1956 is a Rod Serling penned look at big business. It's an exaggerated peek inside the boardroom of a large corporation where politics and ego clash. Ed Begley's performance as the old and tired executive being hounded out of his job by his tyrannical boss, played with relentless venom by Everett Sloane, is sadly memorable.
It's hard to pick "favorites" from so many good movies, so I used one standard: what movies or performances do I find myself regularly thinking about long after I've seen the movie.
For someone looking for a place to start on the "neglected films" thread from the first half of 2023, the above movies would be my suggestions, but you could start anywhere and not go wrong.
c) 2023
SEPTEMBER SCHEDULE
1 Special Theme: Wall to Wall Cinema: THE WALLS OF JERICHO (1948) / THE GLASS WALL (1952)
2 Essentials: On Holiday British Style: THE LADY VANISHES (1938)
3 Don’t Be So Melodramatic!: Letter Melodramas: THE LETTER (1940)
4 Remake City: THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN (1939) / THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN (1960)
5 Performer of the Week: Ginger Rogers at RKO: IN PERSON (1935) / THE STORY OF VERNON & IRENE CASTLE (1939) / KITTY FOYLE (1940)
6 Classic Duo: Edna May Oliver & James Gleason: PENGUIN POOL MURDER (1932) / MURDER ON A HONEYMOON (1935)
7 Directors Spotlight: Joseph Kane Directs Gene Autry: THE OLD CORRAL (1936) / BOOTS AND SADDLES (1937)
8 Special Theme: Edward Arnold and Johnny: JOHNNY APOLLO (1940) / JOHNNY EAGER (1942)
9 Essentials: On Holiday British Style: SO LONG AT THE FAIR (1950)
10 Don’t Be So Melodramatic!: Letter Melodramas: LETTER FROM AN UNKNOWN WOMAN (1948)
11 Remake City: RANSOM! (1956) / RANSOM (1996)
12 Performer of the Week: Kay Kyser at RKO: THAT'S RIGHT YOU'RE WRONG (1939) / YOU'LL FIND OUT (1940) / MY FAVORITE SPY (1942)
13 Classic Duo: Loretta Young & Don Ameche: RAMONA (1936) / THE STORY OF ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL (1939)
14 Directors Spotlight: Joseph Kane Directs Roy Rogers: UNDER WESTERN STARS (1938) / SOUTH OF SANTA FE (1942)
15 Special Theme: Based on the Life of a Composer: A SONG TO REMEMBER (1945) / SONG OF LOVE (1947)
16 Essentials: On Holiday British Style: LAST HOLIDAY (1950)
17 Don’t Be So Melodramatic!: Letter Melodramas: A LETTER TO THREE WIVES (1949)
18 Remake City: IT’S A DATE (1940) / NANCY GOES TO RIO (1950)
19 Performer of the Week: Constance Bennett at RKO: LADY WITH A PAST (1932) / AFTER TONIGHT (1933) / OUR BETTERS (1933)
20 Classic Duo: Robert Preston & Alan Ladd: THIS GUN FOR HIRE (1942) / WILD HARVEST (1947) / WHISPERING SMITH (1948)
21 Directors Spotlight: Joseph Kane Directs Bill Elliott: IN OLD SACRAMENTO (1946) / THE GALLANT LEGION (1948)
22 Special Theme: They Drive by Night Twice: THEY DRIVE BY NIGHT (1938) / THEY DRIVE BY NIGHT (1940)
23 Essentials: On Holiday British Style: DOUBLE CONFESSION (1950)
24 Don’t Be So Melodramatic!: Letter Melodramas: THE 13TH LETTER (1951)
25 Remake City: SCARFACE (1932) / SCARFACE (1983)
26 Performer of the Week: Robert Mitchum at RKO: NEVADA (1944) / MY FORBIDDEN PAST (1951) / ONE MINUTE TO ZERO (1952)
27 Classic Duo: Marion Davies & Patsy Kelly: PAGE MISS GLORY (1935) / EVER SINCE EVE (1937)
28 Directors Spotlight: Joseph Kane Directs Vera Ralston: JUBILEE TRAIL (1954) / GUNFIRE AT INDIAN GAP (1957)
29 Special Theme: Universal Noir: LARCENY (1948) / CRISS CROSS (1949)
30 Essentials: On Holiday British Style: ALL FOR MARY (1955)
Stay tuned for more great content from TopBilled! Newsletter is such a great idea, and I hope you all enjoy it just as much as TopBilled loves putting it together! Have a good Sunday everyone. I'll be seeing you soon!