TV and Movies

[Oznell]

Intrepid @Annabellethecat66, in the thread on "The Misfits", asked film-loving @drizzellla and me to give our favorite old movies.  Here's the beginning of my list, to which I'll probably add later.  Apologies to those who have heard me drone on about these before:

"The Magnificent Ambersons"--  Orson Welles' vision of a great, prosperous Midwestern family, brought down over time and misfortune.  Joseph Cotten, Agnes Moorhead Tim Holt, Anne Baxter, Ray Collins

"The Big Heat"--   Fearless, righteous policeman sets out to bring down crime boss with tentacles all over the city.

Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Lee Marvin playing indelible roles.

"Shadow of a Doubt"--   One of Hitchcock's best.  Restless young woman (Teresa Wright) in small California town starts to suspect  uncle (Joseph Cotten) of being a sociopathic killer.

"His Girl Friday"--  Brilliant, breakneck comedy with crafty editor Cary Grant and talented reporter Rosalind Russell, from the time when journalism was a respected but unpretentious craft.

"The Phantom Lady"--   Resourceful secretary sets out into the urban jungle to prove her boss is innocent of the murder of his wife.  Has the greatest, wildest jazz sequence in any Forties movie.  Ella Raines, Franchot Tone, Allen Curtis.

"The Best Years of Our Lives"   World War II veterans and their families and sweethearts adjust to complex postwar life.  Bittersweet, resonant. Fredric March, Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright.

"The File on Thelma Jordon"--   Barbara Stanwyck in fascinatingly ambivalent role as femme fatale who enters and memorably derails the ordered life of Wendell Corey. Steamy theatrics, and potent musical score.  And here's the entire film streaming on youtube!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCOU78M_0t4

More to add later....

[SharkE]

Did you ever see Harriet Craig, Queen Bee ?  I could watch Joan all day

[Oznell]

@SharkE, my two all-time favorite Crawford films are "Sudden Fear", and for sheer suds, "Female on the Beach".

ETA--  Oh, can't forget "Humoresque" where she vamped it up with John Garfield.

[SharkE]

What was that one with Sydney Greenstreet in it playing the town sheriff and Crawford was in the traveling show and he kept bugging her ? I liked that one.

Strait-jacket and I saw what U did was a down fall for her, but, she was old in Hollywood by then and you had to eat, so, she had to do those kinds of films.

[Oznell]

Just a guess, was that one "Flamingo Road"?  There's one where she clawed her way to the top as a politician's wife or something.  She did a couple of similar ones that I can never keep straight!

[SharkE]

Sounds right. I got most of her films.

[Oznell]

List continues:

"The Reckless Moment"

"The Night of the Hunter"

"The Third Man"

"Anatomy of a Murder"

Favorite directors.  If one of these guys made the movie, chances are good I'd like it:

Robert Siodmak

Fritz Lang

Max Ophuls

Orson Welles

Jacques Tourneur

William Wyler

Vincente Minelli

Alfred Hitchcock

Frank Capra

Howard Hawks

[drizzellla]

OK - Oznell - once again you pulled me in. I am going to watch File on Thelma Jordon. It sounds to me like the movie Harriet Craig.

And my son recommended Shadow of a Doubt to me. That has you going throughout the movie.

And I found your list of Directors so interesting and varied. But after reading the biography of Rita Hayworth, I don't care for Orson Welles. Personally or Professionally. Not sure why it should matter but I don't seem to be drawn into his movies.

[bikerbabe]

The Best Year’s of Our Lives is on my top 5 short list of favorite movies of all time - new and old. Too many reasons to even list. Everyone is perfection in this movie. Harold Russell - I cry every time he shows Wilma what he is like without his prosthetics. I really think Dana Andrews deserved an Oscar for this movie. He is nothing less than magnificent as the war hero with PTSD who can’t get hired for a decent job. I could go on and on about this movie. It was quite daring for the time. I know I am sensitive to this subject because my father was a WWII veteran and DH is a Vietnam vet with PTSD. Post WWII it was expected that vets were to magically go back to their pre-war lives like nothing had happened, and spouses were ill-equipped to understand.

[Oznell]

So well expressed, @bikerbabe.  Your family has given so much-- so much that can never be repaid or acknowledged too much.