I missed a bus once and I was lucky. I wanted to see if I could be lucky twice

This set is packed with historic goodness.

3:10 to Yuma (1957) - "Broke small-time rancher Dan Evans is hired by the stagecoach line to put big-time captured outlaw leader Ben Wade on the 3:10 train to Yuma but Wade's gang tries to free him."

source: DVD
I watched it because: Glenn Ford is on my list of most handsome movie actors from the days of classic cinema
IMDB: 7.6/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 94% Audience: 79%
my IMDB: 8/10

notable quote: "Funny, some men you see every day for ten years and you never notice; some men you see once and they're with you for the rest of your life."

MPAA rating: NR (TV-PG)

directed by: Delmer Daves

my notes: different interpretation than the remake (reviewed here). Darker, grittier, and more sarcastic. I liked it.
overall:  recommended

Forbidden Planet (1956) - "A starship crew in the 23rd century goes to investigate the silence of a distant planet's colony, only to find just two survivors, a powerful robot, and the deadly secret of a lost civilization."

source: DVD
I watched it because: it was too bizarre to resist
IMDB: 7.5/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 96% Audience: 85%
my IMDB: 6/10

notable quote: "Oh, no, Robby. It must be the loveliest, softest thing you've ever made for me, and fit in all the right places, with lots and lots of star sapphires."

MPAA rating: G

directed by: Fred M. Wilcox

my notes: weird, weird, weird. Leslie Nielsen is a heartthrob. Robby the Robot...yikes.

Academy Award nominee: Best Effects, Special Effects—A. Arnold Gillespie, Irving G. Ries, Wesley C. Miller
overall: slightly recommended

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946) - "A man is reunited with his childhood friend and her husband who believes he knows the truth about the death of her rich aunt years earlier."
source: Crackle
I watched it because: Barbara Stanwyck was a strong actress who chose indelible roles, both heroine- and villain-types
IMDB: 7.4/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 100% Audience: 74%
my IMDB: 6/10

notable quote: "'What do you think he wants?'

    'What he can get. He's a gambler, a sharpshooter, an angle boy. They come through my office by the hundreds. Couldn't you see blackmail in his eyes?'"

MPAA rating: NR (TV-PG)

directed by: Lewis Milestone

my notes: dark, twisted, and a little stinky. I didn't love it. Stanwyck's Martha is a bit too readable, and Kirk Douglas as Walter is revoltingly weak. Sam Masterson (Van Heflin) is the most interesting character, and he's maybe not intended to be so.

Academy Award nominee: Best Writing, Original Story—John Patrick
overall:  recommended

Shooter (2007) - "A marksman living in exile is coaxed back into action after hearing of a plot to kill the President. After being-double crossed for the attempt and on the run, he sets out for the real killer and the truth."
source: DVD
I watched it because: I owned it and am thinking of listing it for sale
IMDB: 7.1/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 48% Audience: 80%
my IMDB: 6/10

notable quote: "I don't feel embarrassed. A Force Recon Marine Scout Sniper disarmed me three weeks out of the academy. If anything... I feel lucky to be alive."

MPAA rating: R

directed by: Antoine Fuqua

my notes: I like Fuqua's direction, which is precise and engrossing. This film is beautiful, too, with some striking settings. However, it's one of those movies that, once you've seen it, the mystery is pretty much gone. The pieces, which seem so challenging upon the first viewing, are terribly obvious afterward. Or maybe that's just me?

overall: marginally recommended

 

Casablanca (1942) - "A cynical expatriate American cafe owner struggles to decide whether or not to help his former lover and her fugitive husband escape the Nazis in French Morocco."

source: DVD
I watched it because: it's been years since I've seen it, and I've been in the old movie mode (also reviewed here)
IMDB: 8.5/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 99% Audience: 95%
my IMDB: 8/10

AFI: 100 Years…100 Movies (original list 1998) #2

    100 Years…100 Thrills (2001) #37     

    100 Years…100 Passions (2002) #1

    100 Years … 100 Heroes and Villains (2003) Hero #4

    100 Years…100 Cheers (2006) #32

    100 Years…100 Movies - 10th anniversary edition (2007) #3

notable quote: "'Remember, this gun is pointed right at your heart.'

    'That is my least vulnerable spot.'"

MPAA rating: PG

directed by: Michael Curtiz

my notes: bittersweet, surprisingly funny, and pretty decent as far as the history part goes. Paul Henreid as Victor Laszlo is the best of the bunch.

Academy Award winner:
• Best Picture

• Best Director—Curtiz

• Best Writing, Screenplay—Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, Howard Koch
Academy Award nominee:
• Best Actor—Humphrey Bogart

• Best Supporting Actor—Claude Rains

• Best Cinematography, Black and White—Arthur Edeson

• Best Film Editing—Owen Marks

• Best Music, Score—Max Steiner
overall:  recommended

Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941) - "Boxer Joe Pendleton dies 50 years too soon due to a heavenly mistake, and is given a new life as a millionaire playboy."
source: DVD
I watched it because: I'd seen another of movies in the loosely-related Mr. Jordan series (Down to Earth, reviewed here), and was curious to see more
IMDB: 7.6/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 100% Audience: 82%
my IMDB: 6/10

notable quote: "I don't want anybody's body. I want my body!"

MPAA rating: passed (TV-G)

directed by: Alexander Hall

my notes: this is a strange movie, funny and charming. Robert Montgomery (Joe Pendleton) is marvelous.

Academy Award winner:
• Best Writing, Original Story—Harry Segall

• Best Writing, Screenplay—Sidney Buchman, Seton I. Miller
Academy Award nominee:
• Best Picture

• Best Actor—Robert Montgomery

• Best Supporting Actor—James Gleason

• Best Director—Hall

• Best Cinematography, Black and White—Joseph Walker
overall:  recommended

 

[the title quotation is from The Strange Love of Martha Ivers]