Bringing Up Baby - 1938

I watched this movie with my entire family as a recommendation from the author of the book you told me about - classic movies for families. we all liked it. 4 stars. Hepburn and Grant were great together.

Compulsion - 1959

This movie is based on a true story of the Leopold-Loeb murder trial that took place in America in the early 20th century. Money, privilege, esteemed background and superior intellect create human beings that feel like they are Gods in a sense. Two young law students in Boston become very disturbing individuals. They begin to feel they are too smart for society. They can do whatever they want and get away with it. Including Murder. Great performances by the two students - Dean Stockwell and Brandon Dillman. Dean may look familiar to you if you ever watched the TV show Quantum Leap. But despite their performances they were no match for a veteran Orson Welles. Welles even gave them a head start. The film lasts 103 minutes. Welles decides to show up for the first time with 25 minutes to go in the show, and he steals everything. Welles is absolutely incredible as veteran homicide attorney Jonathan Wilk. He doesn't need to persuade a jury, he can persuade the judge and the prosecution. The last 10 minutes of the film the camera is on Welles 100% of the time. No other actor could have done what he did in this movie. When you turn it off you realize he was the entire movie - yet only entered in the third act. I had to watch his closing monologue twice just to really think about what he was saying. A 5 star performance for Welles. I love how he tied religion into his closing remarks to the judge. It really tied the movie together. Two things were missing for this pleasant flick to get 5 stars from me and on my top 100 list. So it will sit with 4 stars. 1. I wanted to see how the boys performed the murder- it never showed it. I realize this is 1959 and Hollywood was different, but we need to see the boys faces when they committed the murder, otherwise the viewers don't really know if they were insane or not. Were they nervous, confident, or crazy? I needed to see that to understand what their emotional state was. 2. Orson Welles should have entered the movie earlier. He is so gifted and so talented that if he has the right script and the right role, he is the best in the business. This one fit him perfectly. They could have brought him in earlier in my opinion.

You Were Never Lovelier - 1942

A fun Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth film. Simple script. Excellent dancing. 2.5 stars. Not much to see unless you want to watch 4 great dances with a group duo of Hayworth and Astaire.

Pal Joey - 1957

Frank Sinatra, Rita Hayworth and Kim Novak. Awesome.

The definition of Debonair is courteous, gracious, and having a sophisticated charm: a debonair gentleman. Jaunty; carefree; sprightly. Or in other words - Frank Sinatra!

Yes he can sing, but man this guy is so smooth as an actor that I had to keep shave my scruffy face right before the show so that my face would match his performance.

Hayworth was 40 years old when she made this movie. It was apparent to me during this film that Hayworth really only had a 10-15 year window to be a beautiful star. She was an alcoholic and a chain smoker her entire adult life. By 40 she looked like she was 50. her face is weathered and worn out. I have read that the media really beat her up during the last 25 years of her life because of her drinking. When she died at age 67 she had been suffering from Alzheimer's for 25 years but it went undiagnosed for 15 years according to her family. By age 50 she couldn't remember one line and producers and directors refused to cast her in movies because she just couldn't remember a line even if someone fed it to her - same as Brando in his older years (like when he was 70 not 50 like Hayworth)!

Okay back to the movie. Sinatra play Joey - the slickest nightclub performer of the 1950's (my guess). IMDB states this movies as - Joey Evans is charming, handsome, funny, talented, and a first class, A-number-one heel. When Joey meets the former chorus girl ("She used to be 'Vera...with the Vanishing Veils'") and now rich widow Vera Simpson, the two lecherous souls seem made for each other. That is, until Linda English comes along. Linda is a "mouse on the chorus line" and built like there's no tomorrow. But she's the typical good little girl from a good little home -- just the right ingredient to louse up Joey's cushy set up.

Novak plays Linda English. Hayworth plays Vera Simpson. A night club performer who retires when she marries into money. Joey is able to win her over by treating her for what she truly is on the inside - a dame, rather than a rich woman.

3.5 stars because Sinatra is just fantastic in this one. I love all ths songs, it almost makes it feel like a musical, but there really is only 4 songs.

Gypsy - 1962

I sometimes don't know why I go on these stupid quests to see every single movie that an actor/actress ever made. I should be smart enough to realize that I will be running into some really bad movies. But.. I like doing it and have done so for Robert Redford (I have like 4 movies left), Steve McQueen, Jane Fonda, Paul Newman, Cary Grant (have gotten to 20 of his like 60 movies so far)and Natalie Wood.

This movie is #19 for me of Natalie Woods collection. Like the last 3 I have watched it is just simply a waste of time. 1 star, and it is a generous star.

Wood plays Louise Hovick. Louise is raised by an over the top mother who forces her two daughters into show business - and the reason for that is to offset the fact that she could not become the star that she wanted to earlier in her life.

Rosalind Russell plays the mother - Rose Hovick. If there is any sliver lining in this musical it is her performance. Karl Madden plays Herbie - the business manager and love interest to Rose.

Louise suddenly becomes her mothers only hope of fame when her sister June decides to leave her mothers lifestyle. That lifestyle is one of traveling around the Country looking for the next opportunity. For the Hovick's it never happens, until one day, just when it looks like June is going to give up after 25 years of pushing her kids into show business, almost by accident Louise is asked to perform a small role at a burlesque show. That is the break they needed. Louise goes from nothing to a star - a stripper that is.

The last 20 min of the movie are about Louise becoming Gypsy Rose Lee - the stripper. The movie then moves from a dumb G musical with lame songs and acting to an adult theme of Natalie Wood doing riskay strip routines. The movie is based off of a book written about the real life of stripper Gypsy Rose Lee. What a waste of time I was so mad at wasting 2 hours of my life on this one. Natalie Wood was a star by 1962, I really don't understand why she wasted her time on this one. Maybe it was the directors fault and Natalie liked script.

La Belle et la Bete (Beauty and the Beast) (1946)

This is a French film which begins with this quote, "Children believe what we tell them. They have complete faith in us. They believe that a rose plucked from a garden can plunge a family into conflict. They believe that the hands of a human beast will smoke when he slays a victim, and that this will cause him shame when a young maiden takes up residence in his home. They believe a thousand other simple things. I ask of you a little of this childlike sympathy and, to bring us luck, let me speak four truly magic words, childhood's "Open Sesame": Once upon a time..." I found this movie on www.youtube.com and started showing my four year old daughter it. I was reading her the subtitles and about five minutes into it she asked me why they weren't singing...I have failed. This is essentially the Disney story that we have all grown to love. Critics such as Roger Ebert claim this to be one of the greatest movies of all time; Empire magazine listed it as number 26 of the top 100 world cinemas of all times. Me, I felt it could have been better considering the magic of The Wizard of Oz came out seven years before this. This was a fun watch with my daughter, but that is the only memory I am taking from it.

Safety Last! (1923)

The story begins as a young man (played by Harold Lloyd) is preparing to board a train headed for the big city.  Before he departs he promises his love that he will send for her and marry her when he makes it in the city.  Shortly after he arrives int he city he becomes a clerk at the DeVore Department Store selling fabrics.  He writes his girlfriend daily and sends her extravagant gifts that are well outside of his purchasing ability, thus giving his girlfriend the idea that he is wealthy finally.  She travels to the city to see for herself and shows up unexpected to the department store; he sees her and pretends to be the general manager of the store.  This leads from one cleaver lie to another, digging him deeper and deeper in trouble.  Later in the day he over hears the real general manager expressing that he would give $1000.00 to anyone who could increase the customer base to the store.  This gives the boy an idea to run a stunt of having someone climb the twelve stories of the building.  The boy approaches his roommate and arranges to split the thousand dollars with him, if he trades places with him after about two stores.  Inevitably this plot falls apart and the boy has to climb the building by himself; this is one of the most famous scenes in movie history that no one has seen, but everyone is aware of.

Harold Lloyd was probably the most profitable silent movie star of all time, simply because he made more movies that Chaplin and Keaton, but over the years he preserved the movies and essentially kept them to himself, they have since been re-released for our era to enjoy, and I am here to tell you that he is a joy to watch.  He does not come across as forceful like his counterparts, he seems to be very down to earth and like the rest of us, in that he has to work for what he gets in life.  I am going to try and find some more of his films to watch.  I found this one on www.youtube.com, but it did not have music with it (so it was a real silent film), and I seemed to enjoy it far more, because the music can sometimes distract me from the film itself.  Ryan, I know that you do not like silent films too much but please take the time to check this one out sometime, it is well worth your time.  Since I know that you will not, I am going to post some scenes from the movie for you to watch.  I am going to find space on my list for this five star movie.



Yes, he did most of the climbing by himself, and he is even missing some of his thumb and fore finger from an explosion in a previous movie. Absolutely amazing.  The first 2/3 of the movie are funny, while this last part is breath taking.  This would be a great movie for you to watch with your kids.

Speaking of kids I picked up a book from the library that you might be interested in.  It is called The Best Old Movies for Families, A Guide to Watching Together, by Ty Burr.  He is a movie critic for the Boston Globe and goes through and list many movies for each genre, and explains why you should watch them with your kids, where you might pause the movie and have discussions about points of interest (such as politically incorrect images/statements/practices; or why there was the Depression, etc.)  I have found many movies that I would like to watch with my kids and family from this book.

Adam's Rib (1949)

Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn are a married couple who are both lawyers.  He is an Assistant DA while she is a defence lawyer.  In this show they are representing the opposite sides of an attempted murder by a jilted wife.  The battle of the sexes is represented very well in this show, but the performances by Tracy and Hepburn are off of the charts.  They made nine movies together and were adulterous lovers for most of their adult lives.  This was one of the most publicly known secrets in Hollywood.  That aside, I give this show a solid four out of five stars.

Monkey Business (1952)

Dr. Barnaby Fulton (Cary Grant) is a chemist who is trying to find a position that will make people younger.  He is married to a wonderful wife, Edwina who is played by Ginger Rogers, but he cannot seem to pay attention to her at the moment because he cannot get the formula to work on the lab chimps.  The next day he goes into his lab to find out that one of the chimps has escaped and gone crazy.  He asks the janitor to lock up the chimp so he can get back to work.  Well, the bumbling janitor doesn't get the cage locked and the chimp escapes again and creates the potion perfectly and places it in the water cooler.  Unbeknown st to Barnaby he tried to his new potion on himself and takes a drink of water out of the cooler.  He suddenly feels and acts twenty years younger, but the affects wear off after about six hours.  His boss becomes excited about the developments and wants to instantly market it.  Barnaby gets his boss to hold off, and he tries the potion on his wife (she was in his lab, and took a drink of water out of that same cooler)to the same effects.  The cooler is the running joke of the movie, but it falls flat (simply because humor was different in the fifties than now).

This is the first film I have seen Ginger Rogers in and according to your standards of a good actress I would score her about a 37, she was a treat to watch.  The chemistry between grant and Rogers was amazing and felt genuine.  The bad thing for me was that this movie went on about 30 minutes too long.  Marilyn Monroe was in the movie purely for eye candy, but she did a good job in this one.

Bringing Up Baby (1938)

You know that I am a sucker for Cary Grant, so I am going to go into this movie with the pre-conception that it will be a good movie.  Boy, was I wrong.  Grant and Katharine Hepburn were amazing in the respective rolls; in fact Hepburn was so spot on with her lines it was a joy to watch. 

Cary Grant is an paleontologist who is trying to get a 1 million dollar grant from a local donor.  During a golf outing with this donor he runs into Hepburn who instantly falls in love with him and begins to do everything to keep his attention on her.  Unfortunately she does not know that he is planning on getting married the next afternoon.  Along the way a cheetah arrives on the scene and turns everything upside down.  To make a long story short, this movie was beneath these two actors.  It was a comedy that for me was way too long. 

I have seen this movie on many greatest movie lists, but frankly, I am not sure why.  Only two stars for me on this one.

An Affair in Trinidad - 1952

When I consider top actresses I use 4 categories to add up their overall performance-
1. Ability to act- how do they deliver liines, how smooth are they on camera, etc.
2. Dancing
3. Singing
4. Overall looks and how they present themselves

If you score 1-10 on each of those categories I really think Rita Hayworth is around 35 points. It is what sets her apart from other Hollywood sex goddesses. She was more than that. She was a professional dancer before ever becoming an actress. Her voice is just plain incredible. Because of her - this plain movie become a 3.5 star movie. Who else can star with Fred Astaire in several movies and hold her own? And lets be honest- she is gorgeous.

This movie stars Glen Ford and Rita Hayworth together - just like Gilda which came out 4 years previously (and is in my top 100 list). Ford plays Steve Emery - a man who has flown to Trinidad because his brother sent him a letter telling him there would be a job for him in that Country. Hayworth plays Chris Emery - married to Steve's brother. We never actually meet Steve's brother because he was murdered before the show starts. Steve then has to find out who is behind his murder, which the police are saying was a suicide. Pretty easy to predict the ending, but a fun movie along the way.

There are a few fun characters and overall an okay show. I am too much of a sentamentalist because I like these movies just for the pure fact that they don't exist anymore. The golden age of Hollywood is gone. The close ups on the actors faces, the lighting to bring out their eyes, all of that is just history. No nudity, sex, vulgarity, drugs, or language in this one- so it wouldn't even make it to the big screen in todays world and that is okay with me. I like the old movies.

Moneyball (2011)

I love baseball, so by default I am supposed to love this movie, but unfortunately this movie was a bit to long.  It follows the true story of Billy Bean, the GM of the Oakland A's, and his quest to make the best team possible out of the smallest payroll in the league.  He struggles with the old fashion mindset of finding and replacing good players with good players.  In his search he runs across a recent Yale graduate Peter Brand (played by Jonah Hill, superbe).  Peter graduated in finance and had created a formula to access players, not just if they were super stars, but what their on base percentages were.
Billy find this idea as a valuable new way to look at creating a team and takes a large chance in doing it.  If you remember back to the 2002 season, they were the laughing stock of the league, but then went on the get the longest win streak of any team in the history of the game. 

There are a couple back stories that were needed to explain some aspects of the story, but sadly they made the movie long.  Jonah Hill was amazing and well deservant of his Oscar nod, while Brad Pitt did a great job as well. 

The Quiet Man - 1954

My wife and I watched the first 75 min and just could not get into this movie. I did like the shots of Ireland, but did not like the fake backdrops that they used in some scenes. I did like O'Hara and Wayne but could not understand the locals when they spoke with the Irish accent. I felt the movie was slow and just couldn't get into it, sorry I gave it a chance but it struck out with me.

Spy Game - 2001

Movie #29 in my quest to watch all of Robert Redford's movies. This one is an intense espionage movie starring Redford and Pitt. It is rated R for using the F word about 10 times.

I give it 3 solid stars but nothing more. I liked the storyline but felt parts of the movie were too slow. Some of that acting by the FBI and CIA employees was just awful. Pitt and Redford were great. Not a real winner here.

The Hunger Games (2012)

I went into this movie knowing and understanding the premise, but I will have to add this to my list of movies I wished I had never seen. The concept of kids killing kids as haunted me since I saw it. Please do not get me wrong, this movie was well made, and the bloodiness was kept to a minimum, but the whole concept haunts me.

TrollHunter (2010)

A small group of college students from Norway are doing an expose on the poaching of bears in the surrounding communities. They begin to focus their efforts on a mystreous man who lives in a local trailer park and only goes out at night. One night they decide to follow him, and this desission leads them to the discovery that this man is in fact not a poacher at all but is a troll hunter. Yes you read that right a troll hunter. REluctantly he allows them to follow him around as he hunts trolls; he begins to tell them his story, hoping it will allow for him to get out of the business. This movie had me fromt he very beginning, I was hooked. It was filmed the same way that the Blair Witch Project was filmed, so it gave the sense that this was an actual event taking place, unfortunately they showed us the trolls. Picture the muppets from the Dark Crystal; the very labored movements and unanimated faces. Beyond that draw back I loved this film. I told a co-worker of mine to watch it and he told me today that he turned it off after five minutes. This movie was interesting to me, and it had very beautiful images of the fjords of Norway.