The Fury (1978)

This Kirk Douglas flick is a little later than most of the movies I'd planned to write about here, but it's still +40 years old, so I'll wedge it in. It's a thriller that turns into a horror movie at the end (spoiler). 60-year-old Douglas looked pretty good in this one. No wonder he lived to 103! One scene late in its 125-minute running time rips off a lot from Carrie (1976). Why was everyone in the 1970s so scared of psychic powers? I guess one character explains it: "What a culture can't assimilate, it destroys." Oh, I get why it was so creepy: Brian De Palma directed, and he had directed Carrie two years earlier. John Williams of Star Wars orchestral fame provides perfectly moody and almost never intrusive music for this suspense drama.

Fun trivia: Darryl Hannah's first speaking part in a movie, playing a classmate of Gillian (Amy Irving). Hannah was playing 17 at 17; Irving was 24 playing 17!

The Woman in the Window (1944)

Starring Joan Bennett and Edward G. Robinson, and directed by Fritz Lang, this film noir/thriller had me on the edge of my seat for most of its 99 minutes. No wonder this BW flick scores +90% on Rotten Tomatoes: it's a winner! From the first year of the film noir era in Hollywood, 1944-54, it is definitely permeated with "a mood of pessimism, fatalism, and menace" (Oxford). I thought I would be thoroughly discouraged by this picture, but the ending left me feeling okay ... No spoilers. Joan Bennett was mesmerizing as the woman caught in a situation of her own making who ends up having no real choices at all. If you can stand the intensity, I recommend watching this one. Robinson is perfect as usual. I could write a whole essay about Lang's direction, but I want to keep these posts short. Superb, nuff said. Lang liked working with Bennett, Robinson, and Dan Duryea so much that they all got together the next year and made Scarlet Street (1945).

Alice when she realizes there's a dead man on her floor: 

Alice when she realizes there's a dead man on HER floor:

Alice when she realizes THERE'S a DEAD MAN on HER FLOOR:

Deadline -- U.S.A. (1952)

This Humphrey Bogart vehicle romanticizes the mission of the fourth estate in the US, a poignant topic for me, a former journalist, to watch in this era of failing newspapers and fake news. In the film, the reporters are driven crusaders who seek to print the truth to save their city from gangsterism and to solve the brutal murder of a young woman. Bogart gives an excellent performance as the Editor in Chief of The Day, a long-running daily whose staff of 1500 (!) fights against yellow journalism and the impending sale of their newspaper to the competition. The filmmakers were in love with the printing press, and the many scenes near the giant machines made me nostalgic for my young, starry-eyed reporter self of the early 1990s. Fun trivia: Ethel Barrymore, called "The First Lady of the American Theatre," also starred in this movie. Her scenes with Bogart were electric: two old pros who could give master classes in acting. I really appreciated how they included women reporters in the newsroom scenes. Two thumbs up.

House on Haunted Hill (1959)

Black screen.

A woman screams over and over.

That's a promising opening for a horror movie!

And then it turned into a gun movie? The characters walk around holding handguns (party favors?) for half the movie.

This Vincent Price classic contained many chilling and grotesque moments. The pacing kept me interested, and the actors were pretty good. Modern critics too often seem to confuse B-movie budgets and effects with camp. This flick has more psychogical thriller elements than any truly obvious camp. "Camp aesthetics delights in impertinence." Rather, this movie influenced the future camp horror films that filled the 60s, 70s, and 80s theatres, much to audiences' delight.

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)

I had no idea that the 1956 Jimmy Stewart vehicle of the same name was a remake of Alfred Hitchcock's own film from +20 years earlier. This political thriller kept me on the edge of my seat for almost the entire 75 minutes. The lengthy pitched gun battle near the end of this movie is trite Hollywood fare at this point, but in 1934 Britain it must have been quite shocking for the audience. Co-star Peter Lorre had escaped from Nazi Berlin only a year before, and he seems to relish the role of a revolutionary leader. Lorre's menace is in fine form in this, his first (I think!) English film. One element of Hitchcock's direction that I really appreciated was showing how clumsy people actually are when they are trying to climb over walls and rush into gunfire. And throw chairs at each other for a good five minutes in a church meeting room! That sequence was bizarre but fasinating. The screenplay won me over at the very end -- spoiler -- by making the mother's crack shot ability (established at the beginning of the film) save her daughter's life. 

I adore the title font on this poster!

The League of Gentlemen (1960)

This British heist movie was a twin film of the American Ocean's 11 released in the same year. For all the poster brags about laughs, my partner and I barely cracked a smile. Is that a generational thing? The screenwriters' blatant misogyny in the opening sequences dampened any enthusiasm I might have had for this ensemble caper flick. Thumbs down from me and my partner, who usually loves heist flicks. (Only one of the eight characters had severe homophobia, so there's that? Ugh.)

"Q Planes" aka Clouds over Europe (1939)

This espionage thriller comedy stars Ralph Richardson, Laurence Oliver, and Valerie Hobson. A sci fi element beefs up the slight plot when the Germans use an EMP raygun mounted on their salvage ship to knock British test planes out of the sky. Richardson's impeccable comedic timing and Hobson's independent journalistic spirit make this one worth a watch. Richardson should've always gotten top billing on the original movie posters: his character is the star of that show.

Lost Horizon (1937)

Frank Capra's epic fantasy adventure opens during a rebellion in China. The hero played by Ron Colman works to fly out 90 white refugees from the violence. I think I might have preferred the 6-hour director's cut of this film, which had one of the biggest budgets of any movie at that point. I can see why some original audiences laughed at certain points, much to Capra's chagrin. Utopia is always a difficult trope to nail down because everyone has their own idea of utopia. The trek through the Himalayas was amazingly well portrayed for a 1937 movie. Give this 132-minute (restored) adventure a pass. Rewatch Indiana Jones and the Lost Ark instead.

The Story of Alexander Graham Bell (1939)

I'm not usually into biopics, but I have a soft spot for Bell, so I gave this one a chance. It took me four sessions to get through it because it was soooo sloooow. Young Don Ameche convinced as a thoughtful scientist who displayed occasional passionate outbursts about his invention. Luminous Loretta Young swanning around in flouncy late 19th-century gowns was kind of fun to watch. The scene where Bell's voice first travels over the wire was exciting, with a young Henry Fonda as Watson. My favourite line was at the very end, when some businessmen offer Bell a deal and a settlement to resolve a court battle over the telephone patent, he says to them, "I'll have to ask my wife." !!! That was how important Mabel was to him throughout his life, so I'm glad they included that part of their romance in the film. BW 98 min.