Watchingwell   

             Curated classic films

Guilty Pleasures Part II

Movies that are so bad, they’re sorta good

     Yes, folks, in my quest to relay to you the rarest of film finds, I have actually unearthed another set of these unappreciated gems. I present them to you in reverse order of embarrassment to the film-making profession.




The Crawling Eye (1958)
I hope I won't spoil it for anyone by saying the crawling eye is actually an alien.  Forrest Tucker gives a respectable performance as a scientist in Switzerland looking into strange happenings in a small town. Directed by Quentin Lawrence.

The Corpse Vanishes (1942)
Ooh, Bela Lugosi is a scientist who tries to keep his wife alive by kidnapping young women and extracting their young, glandular fluids for her. Directed by Wallace Fox.





The Wild, Wild Planet (1966)

A mad scientist tries to engineer the perfect human by using attractive specimens he captures for crazy experiments. Directed by Antonio Margheriti (as Anthony Dawson).

Teenagers from Outer Space (1959)
Romeo and Juliet in space as an earthling and an alien in love try to save Earth from an alien lobster invasion. Directed by Tom Graeff.





From Hell It Came (1957)

Killer tree takes revenge on natives because before it was a tree it was a man -- oh, it doesn't matter -- killer tree --hilarious! Directed by Dan Milner.




                                                    The Mad Monster (1942)
Discredited doctor, the competently-evil, George Zucco, plots revenge by doing experiments.  His first one turns his gardener into a werewolf. Oops. Directed by Sam Newfield.






Killers From Space (1954)

Bug-eyed aliens 'save' Peter Graves after his plane crashes in the desert while recording radiation levels from atom bomb tests. Peter comes home acting strange. Directed by W. Lee Wilder.




                                                        Lost Continent (1951)
Two scientists go to South Sea Island to recover a downed atomic rocket.  They have to do a lot of climbing when they get there and find -- dinosaurs!  A pretty decent cast and really cheap special effects.  Directed by Samuel Newfield.
Project Moon Base (1953)

A spy on board a ship bound for the moon is out to sabotage the space station. This film is worth watching  just to catch the jaw-dropping sexist dialogue. Directed by Richard Talmadge.

and the number one most embarrassing is:

Jungle Goddess (1948)
George Reeves (of Superman fame) and Ralph Byrd (of Dick Tracy fame) travel to Africa to rescue American heiress who was in a plane crash.  However, they must contend with the fact that she has become the 'white goddess' to the natives (naturally). Watch the Mystery Science Theater 3000 version.  Directed by Lewis D. Collins.


Grab some popcorn and have some laughs.

Watchingwell   

             Curated classic films

The Honor of your Viewing Presence is Requested…

       Here I am sitting in blissful anticipation of yet another royal wedding that I will sadly miss on account of sleeping through it. (I am unwilling to sacrifice sleep for anyone less than the first in line.) For this one, I can wait for the replays, of which there will be many, I’m sure.  Although not on the royal bandwagon, I wish them well. They have it so easy, though, – they fall for each other, they decide to marry, they tell the Queen. She says, “Lemme think, -- American, actress, bi-racial, divorced?  Sure, why not.”  Later, she adds, “BTW, the acting is out, she has to become a British subject, and – oh yes, baptized in the Church of England (of which I am the head), in the unlikely event that the sixth in line is ever important enough for anyone to care about his wife’s religion.”

   

But others in the royal biz have not had it so easy, if you watch the movie versions. In the case of Mayerling (1936), there was no future for the love story of Charles Boyer’s Rudolph, Crown Prince of Austria, and Danielle Darrieux’s Baroness Mary Vetsera.  Supposedly based on a true story, the consensus is that ‘loosely based’ is giving it too much credibility. However, there was really a Crown Prince Rudolph and there was a Baroness Mary Vetsera and as a result of their romance, dad (Emperor Franz Joseph) named Archduke Franz Ferdinand as his heir, and you know how that worked out for the world. Directed by Anatole Litvak, Boyer is suavely, good-looking and Darrieux is young and beautiful and it’s all very romantic.  Oh, yeah, spoiler alert. Tragically, romantic.

     Oh, FYI, there was another version in 1968 with Omar Sharif and Catherine Deneuve, directed by Terence Young. Nice to look at, but IMHO, not as good.

     

     Likewise, the 1952 remake of The Prisoner of Zenda is missing the magic of the 1937 version starring Ronald   Colman, Madeleine Carrol, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., and directed by John Cromwell. The story of the Englishman drawn into the affairs of state of Ruritania by his uncanny resemblance to the endangered king is also about sacrificing one’s own happiness for honor and duty.  The sacrificing royal in this case, however, is the Princess Flavia.  Tragically romantic, but a super swashbuckler.

     Even Greta Garbo could not command happiness for herself as Queen Christina (1933). The queen of Sweden

falls in love with the Spanish envoy, but politics keeps them apart. So she sacrifices everything for love. With John Gilbert, directed by Rouben Mamoulian. The final scene is probably the most famous close-up in film history. Great vehicle for Garbo if you are not familiar with why she was such a big deal. 





     

Twenty years later, we have Audrey Hepburn making her own sacrifice in Roman Holiday (1953). Audrey, as a runaway princess, falls in love with reporter, Gregory Peck, while taking in the sites of Rome. Directed by William Wyler. Remarkably, Hepburn’s first starring role, for which she won an Oscar. If you haven’t seen it, this is one of the great romantic comedies.



     Then there is the immature prince who falls in love with a

barmaid while at university and then shapes up to take his place at the palace making the difficult choice about his romance, all while singing a Sigmund Romberg operetta. The Student Prince (1953) stars Ann Blyth and Edmund Purdom (with his songs sung by Mario Lanza). With all the singing, it's hard to remember that this is another tragically romantic story.  Directed by Richard Thorpe.

A beautiful silent version, obviously not an operetta, was made in 1927 as The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg, directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Norma Shearer and Ramon Novarro.

     Just before she chose to marry a real prince, Grace Kelly starred in 1956 as a princess who wanted desperately to marry commoner, Louis Jordan, in The Swan. But Alec Guiness, the unromantic royal to whom she was betrothed, convinces her that duty calls and one day, Louis Jordan will be old and then, what’s the difference, or words to that effect. Anyway, he convinces me. Directed by Charles Vidor.

 

However, at least one brave princess defies the court and the arranged marriage in the 1935 film of the Victor Herbert musical, Naughty Marietta. The first on-screen teaming of Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy was a box office hit and they went on to make several more delightful musicals from the golden age of melody and lyrics. In this film, Jeanette escapes from the French court and marriage to a Spanish nobleman by sailing away incognito and after encountering pirates, and being rescued from same, ends up New Orleans and finds love. Ah, sweet mystery of life!

      A happy story of a royal wedding is … Royal Wedding

(1951), the film that takes place in London where a real royal wedding is taking place (We don’t actually get to see Princess Elizabeth and Philip Mountbattan whose marriage was the reason for the festivities). But the festive air is the backdrop to the story of Fred Astaire and his sister, Jane Powell and their dancing together and romancing with Sarah Churchill and Peter Lawford, respectively. Watch for Fred’s famous dance on the ceiling. Directed by Stanley Donen.





         

Speaking of movie brides, there are two famous ones that come to mind. Elizabeth Taylor is the bride and Spencer Tracy is Father of the Bride (1950), a great comic role for Tracy. Directed by Vicente Minnelli.





     Elsa Lanchester is the Bride of Frankenstein (1935) in the adaptation of the1916 story by Mary Shelley in which the

characters from the original tale survive and find romance, briefly. With Boris Karloff as the groom, Colin Clive as the reluctant matchmaker, deftly directed by James Whale. Although both are classics, in some ways this is better than the original 1931 film, and it has that great hairdo.






          And three weddings that figure prominently in the plots and are in the last scenes of three top-of-the-list comedies.

Academy Award winning, It Happened One Night (1934), directed by Frank Capra, where Claudette Colbert is just about to say “I do” when she remembers that Clark Gable is actually the better choice.

The Palm Beach Story (1942) where Claudette Colbert starts with a happy wedding to Joel McCrea, has second thoughts and divorces, then marries again, while Rudy Vallee and Mary Astor run interference. Directed by Preston Sturges.



 

Then there’s the story of Philadelphia society bride-to-be, Katherine Hepburn in the aptly titled, The Philadelphia Story (1940) in which the groom at the end is not the groom in the middle, but is the groom at the beginning. Confused? Only if you’ve never seen it. You should. It’s a classic, directed by George Cukor, and co-starring Cary Grant, James Stewart, and Ruth Hussey.

 Two happy brides?

 

         The real Royal Wedding of 1947.          

Watchingwell   

             Curated classic films

Season’s Greetings!

        It's April and although we are not likely to think Spring when snow is visible out the window, we still can think -- baseball!  Yes, baseball in the snow in several cities this month.  Balaclavas under baseball caps -- what planet is this? It is Earth, of course -- where else would such a gratuitously-complicated sport have been invented? Well, the answer to that is that it is not a sport, it is a ritual, part of the authentic American culture, which has even penetrated the cultures of other nations.  Hence, everyone, whether they know the rules, or even like the game, relates to a story about baseball, and Hollywood has played a part in this.  Some of the following films are better than others, but they all offer American audiences something familiar and reassuring about the baseball mythology of teamwork and individual aspirations, disappointment and redemption, often seen through the lens of family memories.

Gary Cooper was nominated for an Academy Award for his portrayal of Lou Gehrig in Pride of the Yankees (1942).  Directed by Sam Wood, and co-starring Teresa Wright as his wife, this is the prototype sports biography, with Gehrig's illustrious career ended by ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), and his farewell speech at Yankee Stadium, declaring himself, "the luckiest man on the face of the earth", insuring his and the film's immortality.





Speaking of "pride", there was also The Pride of St. Louis (1952), the story of Hall of Fame pitcher, Jerome "Dizzy" Dean, starring Dan Dailey.  Directed by Harmon Jones and co-starring Joanne Dru and Richard Crenna.






                                                Another biopic, The Stratton Story (1949), is about pitcher, Monty Stratton, who lost his leg in a hunting accident and was able to resume his career.  Starring James Stewart and June Allyson and directed by Sam Wood, this is an uplifting, well-acted story.





A biography that is not so  uplifting is Fear Strikes Out (1957), directed by Robert Mulligan and starring Anthony Perkins as Billy Piersall, a popular player in Boston, who suffers a mental breakdown, after being subjected to years of  brutal, perfectionist standards by his father, played by Karl Malden, in one of his best roles.




The Winning Team (1952) is the entertaining story of Grover Cleveland Alexander, the Hall of Fame pitcher of the early 1900s, starring Ronald Reagan as Alexander and Doris Day as his wife.  Directed by Lewis Seiler, the film recounts Alexander's problems with epilepsy and alcohol, even though he never had a losing season, with 373 lifetime victories.




    
I hesitate to mention this film, 
which is arguably the worst

sports biography, but it's one of those 'so-bad-it's-fun' films, and it is about the best-known player in history, The Babe Ruth Story (1948). Many biopics tend to portray the subject as an unblemished hero, but this one sugarcoats with a trowel. Babe Ruth was a great player, extremely likable and generous, but his over-the-top lifestyle was well-known. Starring William Bendix as the Babe with Claire Trevor, directed by Roy Del Ruth. 




Two entertaining musicals you should see that have baseball themes:  Damn Yankees (1958) starring the amazing Gwen Verdon and directed by George Abbott and Stanley Donen,and Take Me Out to the Ball Game (1949) with Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly, Esther Williams and Betty Garrett, directed by Busby Berkeley.



Several baseball films deal with perennially losing teams like the one in Damn Yankees where someone makes a deal, in desperation, with the devil or some other power to let the team win. Paul Douglas and Janet Leigh star in Angels in the Outfield (1951), where the title helpers of the Pittsburgh Pirates are invisible. Directed by Clarence Bown. 





Billy Chapin becomes the nine-year old manager of the losing Bisons in The Kid From Left Field (1953) relaying advice from his ex-player father, and when he gets sick, his dad, Dan Dailey, must step-in.  Co-starring Anne Bancroft, directed by Jack Sher.

Then there is another kid, The Kid From Cleveland (1949) where young Russ Tamblyn, is re-directed from some bad influences by his beloved Cleveland baseball team.  Starring George Brent and Lynn Bari, directed by Herbert Kline.


Speaking of kids, many of us have fond memories

of kids playing for The Bad News Bears (1976). Michael Ritchie directs Walter Matthau, Tatum O'Neal, and Vic Morrow. There are many fine performances from the kids who play the game in this story of the enduring appeal of the little leagues.




     

In film, there are many possible influences on a team's fortunes  besides the quality of play.  For instance, there is the secret chemical formula that repels wood (as in a baseball bat) discovered in It Happens Every Spring (1949). Ray Milland, Jean Peters, and Paul Douglas star in this semi-madcap comedy, directed by  Loyd Bacon.


Another Ray Milland baseball comedy is Rhubarb (1951) directed by Arthur Lubin. Also starring Jan Sterling and Gene Lockhart, Rhubarb is the name of a cat who becomes the team mascot as they start to win and is a target for the opposing teams. This is a good comedy, especially for people who like baseball and cats.





Lloyd Bacon directed another semi-madcap comedy, Kill the Umpire (1950), where Ray Collins arranges for baseball- crazy grandson, William Bendix, to go to umpire school.  It's not so easy for Bendix, who is used to being on the other end of the abuse.



Leslie Goodwins directed the 1943 comedy from RKO, Ladies Day, about a team's star pitcher, Eddie Albert, whose  pitching suffers when he is in love, which is frequently, this time with Lupe Velez.  So, the wives of the other team members, who want the cash that comes with winning the World Series, plot to keep the couple apart.

Edward G. Robinson plays the real-life Hans Lobert, who runs a school for young prospects for the New York Giants in Big Leaguer (1953). Director Robert Aldrich makes this somewhat predictable story of young men trying to make the big leagues pretty watchable. Having Edward G. Robinson in the lead doesn't hurt.

                                                                                           

 

James Earl Jones, Billie Dee Williams, and Richard Pryor star in an intelligent and under-appreciated comedy, The Bingo Long Traveling All Stars and Motor Kings (1976), a fictional story of a Negro League team that rebels against corrupt management and goes out on their own in the 1930s. Directed by John Badham, the cast is great, as is the music by William Goldstein.

Before Robert DeNiro became -- well, Robert DeNiro, he starred with Michael Moriarty in Bang the Drum Slowly (1973), the story of a friendship between a star pitcher and a not-so-valuable catcher who is terminally ill. Directed by John Hancock, with a great performance by Vincent Gardenia as the manager, DeNiro and Moriarty give peerless performances that elevate this from the level of tearjerker.


      I will go no further forward in time than 1984 but this allows me to include my personal favorite baseball movie, The Natural, which captures the mythological quality of the game more than most. Yes, Robert Redford may have been too old for the role, but he got it right.  Based on the Bernard Malamud novel, and directed by Barry Levinson, the film is best when it centers on the game itself.  The iconic score by Randy Newman adds to the magical reality. It captures like no other that I have seen the sounds and the tension of a crowd filled with hope in the bottom of the ninth, with two out and two strikes on the batter.  In what other sport is there still the possibility of victory with just one swing of the bat? Four years later life imitated art when Kirk Gibson hit that improbable home run in the ninth inning of Game One of the 1988 World Series in Los Angeles with two out and two strikes. Everyone thought about that scene in The Natural.