you'd be lovely to have around, just to sprinkle the flowers with your personality

Average rating: 7.5

On the Beach (1959) - "After World War III, Australia is the only remaining haven for mankind. However, wind currents carrying lingering radiation all but condemn those on the continent to the same fate suffered by the rest of the world. When the survivors receive a strange signal from San Diego, Cmdr. Dwight Towers (Gregory Peck) must undertake a mission with Lt. Peter Holmes (Anthony Perkins) to see if there is hope for humanity—leaving behind Moira (Ava Gardner) and Mary (Donna Anderson), the women they love."
length: 2 hours, 14 minutes

source: I borrowed the DVD from my parents' collection
I watched it because: it caught my eye while flipping through some movies I'd borrowed, and I often like Gregory Peck's work

    previously reviewed here
IMDB: 7.1/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 77% Audience: 69%
my IMDB: 7/10

MPAA rating: Approved

notable quote: "'You know, I think I've discovered why you fascinate me. Shall I tell you?'

    'Uh . . . huh.'

    'Because you take me for granted. I know women aren't supposed to like that sort of thing, but somehow I do. I've been treated in every other way. Like a child. And sometimes like . . . well, like things I've probably deserved. But I've never been pushed around in . . . in such a nice way and treated something like a wife. [pause] I suppose what I mean is, like an American wife.'"

directed by: Stanley Kramer

my notes: it puts the dys in dystopian! There's no mystery as to how it will end, in a global sense (pun intended), but only in the discrete methods it will take. Intensely, deeply depressing and chillingly prescient, it is terrifyingly possible to imagine this happening right now. Peck (Towers) is the best of the bunch, in his sturdy good looks and thoughtful manner. Gardner (Moira) is a powerhouse of torment and ego. Less compelling are Perkins' Holmes (not enough meat in that role), Fred Astaire's scientist Julian Osborn (miscast, awkward, and unbelievable), and especially Anderson's Mary (dull, unappealing, and simplistic). 

    In fact, the casting is pretty abominable. When this was made, Perkins was 27 and Anderson 20 (given the characters' relationship this is notable)—and Astaire was 60, which is just plan gross considering his main tension. The "Australian" cast are mostly American actors, with varying stages of pathetic accents. Astaire's character is British but sounds more Omaha than Oxford.

    It's worth seeing, well shot (I do love an organic Dutch tilt) and well acted, if extremely depressing, and of course dated in its sci-fi elements.

Academy Award nominee:
• Best Film Editing—Frederic Knudtson

• Best Music, Scoring of a dramatic or comedy picture—Ernest Gold
overall:  recommended with caveats

 

The Gold Rush (1925; 1942 Chaplin reissue) - "In this classic silent comedy, the Little Tramp (Charles Chaplin) heads north to join in the Klondike gold rush. Trapped in a small cabin by a blizzard, the Tramp is forced to share close quarters with a successful prospector (Mack Swain) and a fugitive (Tom Murray). Eventually able to leave the cabin, he falls for a lovely barmaid (Georgia Hale), trying valiantly to win her affections. When the prospector needs help locating his claim, it appears the Tramp's fortunes may change."
length: 1 hour, 12 minutes

source: I own the DVD (which includes both the 1925 and the 1942 versions; I watch the 1942 because Chaplin preferred it
I watched it because: I wanted a comedy, and this is the best of the best

    previously reviewed here (and recommended here)
IMDB: 8.1/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 100% Audience: 93%
my IMDB: 10/10

AFI: 100 Years ... 100 Movies (1998 original list) #74

    100 Years ... 100 Laughs (2000) #25

    100 Years ... 100 Movies (2007 10th anniversary list) #58

MPAA rating: Approved

notable quote: "Ah, Georgia! You don't have to explain; I understand. I love you! I'm going to take you away from this life. I'm going away, and when I return . . . I shall come back."

directed by: Charles Chaplin

my notes:  this is what movies should be: fun, exciting, romantic, engaging, surprising, and beautifully shot. The Little Tramp is heartbreaking, earnest, and deeply funny. Chaplin was a true creative genius, and I feel lucky to be able to enjoy his work a century later.

Academy Award nominee:

• Best Sound, Recording—James L. Fields (RCA Sound)

• Best Music, Scoring of a dramatic or comedy picture—Max Terr
overall: most highly recommended

No Man of Her Own (1932) - "Babe Stewart is a card cheat who has to go on the lam to avoid a pesky cop. He meets a lonely, but slightly wild, librarian, Connie Randall, while he is hiding out. The two get married after Connie wins a coin flip, and they move back to the city. Babe continues his gambling/cheating scheme, unbeknownst to Connie. When she discovers his 'other life', she pressures him to quit. Babe feels crowded and tells her that he is leaving for South America—but the fact is something else all together."
length: 1 hour, 25 minutes

source: I own the DVD
I watched it because: I've seen it before and liked it - and only just now acquired a copy for myself

    previously reviewed here

IMDB: 6.6/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 91% Audience: 69%
my IMDB: 7/10

MPAA rating: Approved

notable quote: "Oh, I know his breed—he's so used to having girls say yes. No ... the girl who lands him will have to say No, and put an anchor on it. But isn't it tough, when all you can think of is Yes?"

directed by: Wesley Ruggles

my notes: a fun, funny film with gorgeous stars and a witty script. Very nicely shot and lit, for a slightly grainy nearly hundred-year-old film. And there is a scene toward the end where the main characters are having a discussion, talking over something serious, and they are completely silent for more than 15 seconds. That doesn't sound like much, but in cinematic terms (especially a movie with no constant soundtrack) it is a remarkable directing and acting move. This is one to see.

overall: happily recommended

Dead End (1937) - "Mobster 'Baby Face' Martin (Humphrey Bogart) returns home to visit to the New York neighborhood where he grew up, dropping in on his mother (Marjorie Main), who rejects him because of his gangster lifestyle, and his old girlfriend, Francey (Claire Trevor), now a syphilitic prostitute. Martin also crosses paths with Dave (Joel McCrea), a childhood friend struggling to make it as an architect, and the Dead End Kids, a gang of young boys roaming the streets of the city's East Side slums."
length: 1 hour, 33 minutes

source: I own the DVD
I watched it because: I'm into Joel McCrea
IMDB: 7.2/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 83% Audience: 77%
my IMDB: 6/10

MPAA rating: Approved

notable quote: "Aw, what chance have they got against all this? They gotta fight for a place to play, fight for a little extra somethin' to eat, fight for everything. They get used to fightin'. 'Enemies of society' it says in the papers... why not? What've they got to be so friendly about?"

directed by: William Wyler

my notes: strange movie. I'm not sure where they were trying to go with it. Is it romance? Historical fiction, a period piece? Crime/noir? Bogart's thug Martin steals the show, with McCrea's deceptively-mild Dave washing out to the background. Sylvia Sidney is not a good actress and makes Drina only strident and irritating. "The Dead End kids" are intensely annoying, their nonsensical taunts and jeers distracting from the story. 

    I will see it again, to get a better look at Claire Trevor's Oscar-nod and at the climactic action scene.

Academy Award nominee: 

• Best Picture

• Best Supporting Actress—Claire Trevor

• Best Cinematography—Gregg Toland

• Best Art Direction—Richard Day
overall: very mildly recommended

 

[the title quotation is from No Man of Her Own]