What was the last movie you saw?

[dask]

Somewhere between The Prince And The Pauper and The Parent Trap there was:

Enjoyable pre-code (beat the cutoff date by about two months) romantic comedy with Cary Grant an Sylvia Sydney who seemed born to play this double roll.

 

[J Riff]

King Dinosaur 1955
This one, is so ridiculous that it's ridiculously ridiculous. We get a bunch of rocketry techblab and hype, then are informed that a new planet has popped up, quite near Earth, and two guys and two gals go there in a rocket. They land in a a nice meadow near a forest and a lake. They are wearing ridiculous spacesuits and they have to do a series of tests; atmosphere, bacteria etc. Everything checks out, and only then do they notice the large Elk, frolicking baby Bears and large bird flocks. Also Sloths. snakes, Alligators, Owls, and 'Joe' the cute Honey Bear co-star. A monster Ant appears, they gun it down, right near their makeshift camp - which they had to cobble together because they couldn't find their way back to the rocket - but we never hear about this ten-foot Ant again even tho it's laying there upside down near their camp - but anyway they decide to visit the mysterious island out in the centre of the lake the next morning in a rubber inflatable.
There's dinosaurs there - pet store Skink, a Cayman, and maybe a Bearded Dragon or an Iguana which they deem a T-Rex, and two of our characters are trapped in a cave while the Dinos duke it out. The other guy and gal come over in a 2nd raft to try and find them, and during their escape we get cameos from a Snapping Turtle, a giant Armadillo which they shoot at for no good reason, some Buffalo or Muskoxen and a huge Mastodon.
Despite various difficulties created by our characters not having a compass or Walkie-Talkies along, they DO have a handy little Atomic Bomb... and it's set on a timer and it vaporizes the island, also for no apparent good reason.
There's good dialogue too, like : 'They all read too much Science Fiction; 'Nobody's ever going to believe this' and, as the island is being nuked: 'We brought civilization to Planet Nova.'
...

 

[Randy M.]

I noticed Robert Mitchum's character Garry fanning the hammer of his pistol, a thing that has been associated with Clint Eastwood's man with no name. I was very surprised to see it in a 1948 film.

I seem to recall an early '60s TV Western with a character who would do that, too. Can't recall which one, though.

 

[Randy M.]

Somewhere between The Prince And The Pauper and The Parent Trap there was:
View attachment 115289Enjoyable pre-code (beat the cutoff date by about two months) romantic comedy with Cary Grant an Sylvia Sydney who seemed born to play this double roll.

Hard to believe she was later the gruff-voiced Juno in Beetlejuice.

 

[Fox Astor]

I got caught up watching The Marvels as it was on (for the kids) at a friends' house and I have to admit it wasn't all bad. The Marvel bubble burst for me a while back, but this was a fun popcorn flick that only asks for you to switch your brain off for 90 minutes.

 

[dask]

Hard to believe she was later the gruff-voiced Juno in Beetlejuice.

Didn’t know that (or have forgotten, hard to tell nowadays). Cool info.

 

[Jeffbert]

Dames (1934) pre-code Busby Berkeley musical starring several of my favorite actors of the time. But best of all, and quite unexpected was the song I only have eyes for you. The Flamingoes version is one of my favorite oldies. There is even a Wiki page on the song.

But, getting to the plot, Stick in the mud Ezra Ounce (Hugh Herbert) a millionaire, decides to give his relative Horace Peter Hemingway (Guy Kibbee) ten, count 'em, $10 million, but only if he proves himself to be an upstanding prude. Hemingway's daughter Barbara (Ruby Keeler), is involved with a Broadway musical, Sweet and Hot. this must be hidden from old uncle Ounce, lest he keep his money for himself. Jimmy Higgens (Dick Powell) is the guy wrote wrote the musical, and Mabel Anderson (Joan Blondell), sings the opening number, about being the girl at the ironing board (in the laundry), which is really amusing, with all the clothes on the line being animated by puppeteers.

So, learning about the scandalous Broadway show, Ounce decides to see for himself, just how degenerate it is, and hires a dozen tough guys to infiltrate the audience and on his signal, cause havoc. But, ounce has his own weakness, he uses a certain snake oil called Dr. Silver's Golden Elixir, to cure his hiccups, apparently oblivious to the high alcohol content.

My late mother would have loved this film, because of the B.B. dances, etc., though I myself thought they were a bit too long and drawn-out, but, I am not one who enjoys such things very much. Dick Powell sang I only have eyes for you for what seemed like 10 minutes.

So, there they are, 4 stuffed shirts, 3 men & one woman Matilda Ounce Hemingway (ZaSu Pitts), sitting inn the balcony, gazing in un-approval at the stage, all guzzling the 'elixir' straight from the bottle, and thoroughly drunk.

Even I enjoyed this film, though, I might not have watched it, if not for those actors I noted. Comedy was very well done, & the BB part was also amusing. 8/10.

 

[paranoid marvin]

Lord of Misrule

Almost a brilliant folk horror movie. A recently appointed vicar's daughter goes missing during a pagan festival in a rural village. A cross between Children of the Corn, Robin Rebreast and Wicker Man, but not as good as those movies.

The movie takes one or two wrong steps, which could have sent it on the path to greatness, but instead leaves it in the 'watchable' category.

Great performance by Ralph Ineson, which really helps carry the film, but a few slightly disappointing roles elsewhere. Also about 20 minutes too long

If you want to watch a horror movie with a spooky atmosphere, and which doesn't rely on cheap shocks for its scares, this is worth checking out.

 

[Jeffbert]

Rampage (1963) Animal trapper Harry Stanton (Robert Mitchum) teams with big game hunter Otto Abbot (Jack Hawkins) to capture several large cats in Africa, for the client, a German zoo. Abbot's girlfriend Anna (Elsa Martinelli) finds herself attracted to Stanton, and this, Abbot cannot tolerate. Stress, feeling emasculated, etc., Abbot will attempt to reacquire his trophy.

8/10; & best of all, never seen it until now!

 

[KGeo777]

Rampage (1963) Animal trapper Harry Stanton (Robert Mitchum) teams with big game hunter Otto Abbot (Jack Hawkins) to capture several large cats in Africa, for the client, a German zoo. Abbot's girlfriend Anna (Elsa Martinelli) finds herself attracted to Stanton, and this, Abbot cannot tolerate. Stress, feeling emasculated, etc., Abbot will attempt to reacquire his trophy.

Martinelli was in HATARI! as well.
I thought that was the film for a minute.
There's a cheaper one Rhino! with Robert Culp, Harry Guardino. and Shirley Eaton. I remember that because Guardino gets sprayed in the eyes by a cobra.

 

[KGeo777]

THE PINK PANTHER 1963 - I have seen it before.

 

[Ubergeek]

Lord of Misrule

Almost a brilliant folk horror movie. A recently appointed vicar's daughter goes missing during a pagan festival in a rural village. A cross between Children of the Corn, Robin Rebreast and Wicker Man, but not as good as those movies.

The movie takes one or two wrong steps, which could have sent it on the path to greatness, but instead leaves it in the 'watchable' category.

Great performance by Ralph Ineson, which really helps carry the film, but a few slightly disappointing roles elsewhere. Also about 20 minutes too long

If you want to watch a horror movie with a spooky atmosphere, and which doesn't rely on cheap shocks for its scares, this is worth checking out.

Thanks paranoid marvin. Sounds like something I'd like . Will see if I can source it .

 

[paranoid marvin]

Thanks paranoid marvin. Sounds like something I'd like . Will see if I can source it .

Cool. I watched it on Amazon Prime, sale rental price £1.99 at the minute. Hope you enjoy!

It was apparently filmed in Aldbury, a rural country village where some Midsommer Murders were filmed. Looks like a beautiful place to live (as long as it isn't harvest time!)

 

[JunkMonkey]

Blue Murder at St Trinian's (1957) - long day and I just needed something unchallenging. Turned out to be a lot funnier that I was expecting - lots of familiar faces, George Cole, Peter Jones (who I always expect to launch into something from Hitchhikers), Terry-Thomas, Lionel Jeffries, all doing their thing at the top of their game. I had forgotten how funny Joyce Grenfell was.

 

[KGeo777]

ATLAS 1961 --Wow--not your standard peplum, and yet it was so bizarre, I did find some fascination with it. There are certain American accents which just do not work with a toga. Michael Forrest was ok, but Frank Wolff and the girlfriend were really out of place in Ancient Greece.
And the helmets and shields are quite possibly the worst I have ever seen--they looked like papier mache.
Some of the dialogue lines were ok--but odd somehow--I don't know if it was the accents throwing it off. I was expecting Wolff to say at least once, "Heavens to Murgatroyd!"

And the erratic editing cuts to fighting in closeup were strange--Dick Miller shows up suddenly in the final battle. Obviously they needed some actual shields and swords that could make contact with each other. What terrible armor they had. So cheap.

It's not like an Italian peplum--they have the token dancing girls scene--but Forrest is overshadowed by Wolff. In your standard Italian peplum, the hero guy is like a visiting superman, but in this --he is in search of truth. With the American accents--it just feels so weird compared to sword and sandal films I usually watch.
I won't say it is the worst Corman movie I have seen--Creature From the Haunted Sea was really a pain to watch.

 

[KGeo777]

NIGHTHAWKS 1981 - Sylvester Stallone, Billy Dee Williams, Rutger Hauer.

"You know when the bus arrives, he's going to waste you."

"Why do you always trying to cheer me up?"

This is one of Stallone's better movies and yet it rarely gets mentioned. As I watched, I was thinking how it works as a silent movie because so much depends on facial expressions--like the disco club sequence. The film does a great job establishing the villain as lethal and ruthless right away which helps make the hostage scene even more of a nail biter.

 

[KGeo777]

FRAME UP - 1968 - Henry Silva is framed for a murder and then his son is shot in front of him and he wants revenge. A rather disjointed crime film although it was kind of funny how it thwarts the usual trope of the superior police official who berates his subordinate cop. Keenan Wynn is the chief but he is actually rather compassionate to Silva--and even when the latter is "questioning" a witness and slips--punching Wynn in the gut by mistake, he's perfectly forgiving. I assumed there was a sinister reason for that but no--actually right to the end he remains sympathetic and mild. He must be saving his yells for Kolchak.

 

[JunkMonkey]

Barbarella - my annual watch of what is one of my favourite films of all time. This time with Number One Son who thought it was "all right". This apparently high praise. Chinese tonal shifts have nothing on the subtle differences between my adolescent male son's praising something as being "all right" as opposed to saying something is merely "all right", or even dismissively, disdainfully "all right".

I ****ing LOVE Barbarella.

 

[Jeffbert]

Woman in the Dunes (1964) A vacationing teacher goes to the dune in search of tiger beetles, and ends up enslaved by the local villagers, who trap him in a pit. He overstayed his welcome, and after the last bus departed, needed a place to stay the night. They duped him into descending a rope ladder to stay in the "old hag's" house (more like a dilapidated shack) at the bottom. She welcomed him, but said nothing about this being a trap. Next morning, he expected to leave, but, where is that ladder?

Upon realizing he was there to stay, he initially accused her of being in-on the thing, but eventually realized she was also a slave. They were expected to shovel sand into buckets that were hauled up by a pully, but, I never understood the purpose of it.

After realizing they were not going to release him, he became determined to escape. As an amateur entomologist, he should have realized he could not climb out, anymore than an ant could escape an antlion's trap. the sand just was not firm enough to climb. Eventually, knotting cloth together, he made a rope, and using a scissors, made a grappling hook. One night, he climbed out, and ran for freedom. Unfortunately, he was caught in quicksand, and sank up to his waist, before becoming desperate enough to call for help. He was extracted by his captors, who wore boards on their feet to keep them from sinking.

This quicksand was unlike any I had seen in TV or movies. It was so thick, they had to dig him out. When he thrashed about, the sand did not fill-in around him.

Anyway, apparently the film is considered the director's masterpiece; an allegory for the futility of life, or something like it.

8/10; perhaps I should rate it higher.

 

[KGeo777]

SH! THE OCTOPUS - 1937 - Gets some attention for the use of a spfx technique which is pretty good but that is only 3 seconds of a 55 minute comedy which has only one problem: it isn't funny. At all. It's terrible. They use a couple of gags like the candle on the back of a turtle but I am sorry to say--it makes a difference when you don't have Abbott and Costello. The villain of the story goes into Wicked Witch mode which is interesting--you could wonder if the performer was under consideration for the role in The Wizard of Oz--and even more bizarre-the ending of the film is very similar to it. I would recommend watching that film or Abbott and Costello instead of this.