January 2019 Round-Up
TOTAL FILMS SEEN IN JANUARY: 8
(see the film posters at the bottom of the post, arranged in watching order)
NEW-TO-ME: 6
REWATCHES: 2
SEEN ON THE BIG SCREEN: 2
The new year didn't start very well, movie-wise. Not enough time to watch films and at the beginning of the month I was still feeling the effects of a cold I had caught during my extended holiday in The Netherlands. I came back to Barcelona on the 3rd of January and had planned visits to the Filmoteca to watch Arsenic and Old Lace and Judgment At Nuremberg on the big screen. I really wanted to go but unfortunately didn't feel well enough and in the end I missed both films. The Filmoteca also showed a documentary on Ava Gardner's life in Spain, La Noche Que no Acaba by Isaki Lacuesta. A bummer I missed that too due to my cold.
Fortunately I felt better when the Filmoteca held screenings for Mrs. Miniver and Kiss Me Kate. Both films I had seen before (the only rewatches of this month) but it was great to see them on the big screen.
Kiss Me Kate was shown in 3-D. Though it's not among my favourite musicals, it does have one of my fave dance scenes ever, the From This Moment On sequence with the incomparable Bob Fosse and Carol Haney. The Taming of the Shrew play can become a bit tiresome, as well as Kathryn Grayson and Howard Keel's constant bickering, but there are some nice 3-D touches, the Technicolor colours are vibrant and the print was very good. And Ann Miller sure knows how to tap dance!
Mrs. Miniver is a true WW-II classic and I love the pairing of Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon. They make such a natural and believable couple. Garson is excellent as the titular Mrs. Miniver and I'm also really starting to like Pidgeon (I used to find him kind of boring). The best moment is the claustrophobic scene in the air raid shelter with the kids. I know that Teresa Wright doesn't survive the war but I always dread the moment when it happens. Also love Henry Travers and his Miniver rose.
I was curious about the Miniver sequel so also watched The Miniver Story. It's actually not a very good sequel but it was still nice to see Garson and Pidgeon repeat their roles as the Miniver couple. John Hodiak's part is very small, actually negligible, and Cathy O'Donnell is sweet but she doesn't compare to Teresa Wright. The ending was a bit sad and I felt sorry for Mr. Miniver.
I also watched another WW-II film, the semi-documentary Bombardier. I checked this out because I wanted to see an obscure film starring Robert Ryan. It also stars Pat O'Brien, Randolph Scott and Anne Shirley. Ryan has a small role but makes an impression just the same. I thought the film would be more in documentary style but it's an actual film telling an engaging story of the training of bombardiers and the different characters involved. There's even a light romance (so Shirley also has something to do) but the emphasis is on the drama and the action. More than anything it's a propaganda film, yet an entertaining one.
It's really really sad how few films I watched this month but luckily there were some enjoyable new-to-me films.
Two O'Clock Courage is an entertaining B-mystery with a spunky Ann Rutherford and a suave Tom Conway (whom I like better than his brother George Sanders). This unknown and early film in the impressive oeuvre of director Anthony Mann has a very noirish opening scene that holds great promise but it never gets really dark and the overall tone stays light. Look out for Jane Greer in a small part and early performance, she looks beautiful.
Somewhere in the Night is not as great as I thought it would be but still good. I guess I was just disappointed with how predictable the identity of the bad guy was. Nancy Guild is a noir female in the same vein as Ella Raines and I like her pairing with John Hodiak. Great noir cinematography and nice supporting role by Lloyd Nolan.
I felt like watching some more Hodiak and picked the sweet feel-good movie Sunday Dinner for a Soldier. It's a slow film but it was nice to see soon-to-be husband and wife Hodiak and Anne Baxter together on screen. They met and fell in love during filming. I had to wait a long time for Hodiak to make his appearance (almost an hour), though. Great support by Charles Winninger and the children. And I love the make-believe scene with Hodiak and Baxter dancing.
The biggest disappointment this month was Deception starring Bette Davis, Paul Henreid and Claude Rains. I actually felt bad rating it so low on Letterboxd but I didn't like it very much. Best thing about this movie is the stellar cinematography by Ernest Haller. I found the story execution pretty lame and I wasn't impressed with Davis' performance and her character is not likeable at all. The other characters aren't very likeable either. There are some beautiful music sequences, although you can debate whether Henreid is believable as a cellist. Director Irving Rapper, Davis, Henreid and Rains collaborated on a much better project, in fact one of my fave Davis' films, Now, Voyager. See that one instead and skip this one.
Well, that's it for this month. Let's already forget about my sad movie count and let's hope for the better in February!
PHOTOS/GIFS IN THIS POST FROM TOP TO BOTTOM:
*Mrs. Miniver (1942) with Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon;
*Mrs. Miniver (1942) with Greer Garson and Henry Travers;
*Mrs. Miniver (1942) with Greer Garson, Teresa Wright and Walter Pidgeon;
*Kiss Me Kate (1953) with Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel and Ann Miller;
*Kiss Me Kate (1953) with Bob Fosse and Carol Haney;
*Kiss Me Kate (1953) with Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel and Ann Miller behind the scenes;
*The Miniver Story (1950) with Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon;
*Bombardier (1943) with Anne Shirley and Pat O'Brien;
*Two O’Clock Courage (1945) with Ann Rutherford and Tom Conway;
*Somewhere in the Night (1946) with John Hodiak and Nancy Guild;
*Sunday Dinner for a Soldier (1944) with John Hodiak and Anne Baxter;
*Deception (1946) with Bette Davis and Paul Henreid.
