I recorded some movies off of Turner Classic Movies the other day and watched them this morning. Oldies, mostly in Black & White. I was talking to a guy I know the other day and he said some movie was an old movie. I asked when it came out. In the 80's. That's not old I said, old is before the 50's.
I watched The Wheeler Dealer with James Garner and Lee Remick first. It's not so old, 1963, but it sure is dated. It's in color, but it doesn't help. Lee's a lady who works on Wall Street and she sticks out like a big gash on your forehead. The men on The Street treat her, and all the other women, like they don't belong. They aren't very nice, her bosses, they want to get rid of her. Figuring that they need a reason to fire her, they give her some stocks to push. If she can't move them, she's gone. James Garner drops in and that gets the romance started. He's an Ivy League educated fake Texan who is in need of some investment money for his oil business. It's one goofy thing after another as he makes deals and gets the girl. The dialogue is pretty fun and the IMDb has some quotes here. It's got a huge cast, John Astin, Phil Harris, Chill Wills, Jim Backus, Louie Nye, Pat Crowley, Marcel Hillaire, James Doohan, Charles Lane, and Laugh-in's Alan Sues. The story makes little sense but that's not the point, the point is the guy gets the girl. They talk about sex a lot but nothing happens until after the movie is over. Not a total waste of time.
Sunset Blvd is right on the cusp of old. It came out in 1950, but the past figures so heavily it skews older. It's in B&W, which really helps the story out. Gloria Swanson is a washed up silent star living in a crumbling old mansion in Hollywood. She hasn't worked in decades and most everyone thinks she's dead. She has no friends and her only fan mail is faked. She lives in her big empty house with Erich Von Stroheim. He's got a sad story too. He was her director, her first husband and her first divorce. He couldn't work after she left him and his career withered. Now he's her butler and only servant. William Holden is a failed writer. He can't get work in the studio's and his short story fiction doesn't sell. No one calls him back and he can hardly get some time with his agent. He needs 300 bucks or he'll loose his car. It's all bleak. The paths of these three loosers cross and William winds up dead. You know that from the first second of the film. He floatin', croaked in a swimming pool and his spirit takes us on a flashback. Holden narrates the events that brought him to his water-logged doom. It's not a pretty picture. Gloria Swanson, the ancient washed up silent movie star, was 53 at the time the picture came out. My age right now. There are some other good actors in the film, like Nancy Olson (who got an Oscar Nomination for her supporting role), and Jack Webb as a young assistant director. It's a good movie, directed by Billy Wilder, but it's not so happy and it won't lend itself to many repeated watchings.
I can't say the same for The Man in the Iron Mask. I watched the 1939 version directed by James Whale and I'd watch it again. I don't think James Whale would, he didn't like the Small Studio (in name and stature) interfering in his movie making. He acted up and was eventally fired just a couple of days before it wrapped. He couldn't have been trying too hard. Louis Hayward plays the dual Prince of France role and he's ok. I was more interested in seeing Warren William. I have become a fan in recent months having seen him in several selections from the TCM library.
The Lone Wolf Spy Hunt from 1939 had William as The Lone Wolf. He's a good criminal, ala The Saint, and he's being framed by some Nazi Spys. He kicks their asses. The Case Of The Curious Bride has Willam as Perry Mason, being directed by Michael Curtiz. There's hardly any ass kicking in the physical sense. It's a typical Mason story and William is good as are the rest of the cast. Allen Jenkins plays Spudsy, a character he would play once again in a second Perry Mason film with Warren William, The Case Of The Lucky Legs. He'd play the exact same character in three of the Falcon movies, which starred George Sanders. The Falcon was a Saint like character that the RKO Studio started when they felt they were paying Leslie Charteris too much money for the real thing. George Sanders played The Saint in five films. He played The Falcon in four films. In the last film he's joined by his brother, Tom Conway, who then takes over and makes 10 more Falcon films. Warren William was also in The Dragon Murder Case, where he plays Philo Vance. Unfortunately, there is not a real dragon in the movie. Someone is killed by a dragon, but it's a fake dragon killing. Someone puts spikes on some rubber gloves and kills with that. Cheaters.
Back over in France Warren William is pretty good as D'Artagnan. He's a close friend of the King of France, who intrusts him to carry off the second of twin boys and raise him as his own. There can not be two male heirs to the throne. It would destroy France. I guess France was pretty fragile in those days. The spare is carried off and everyone forgets about him for 22 years. Then all hell breaks loose. It's not that dramatic, it's 1939, but there's some swordfighting, lots of horse riding and the occasional smooching scene as the good twin steals the heart of that raven haired beauty Joan Bennett from his evil brother. The Wikipedia has an article on the basis of the Man in the Iron Mask. More dicking around by some rich cobbers that need a good chokin'. A nice little swachbuckler for my collection at the cost of a DVDR. Nice.
I finished off with The Big Hangover, a 1950 Van Johnson and Elizabeth Taylor comedy. He's a war vet with an unusual hang up and she's the daughter of the head of the law firm he works at. They fall in love while he finds out that the great and powerful firm isn't very nice when you get up close. There's a great cast. I liked Leon Ames and Edgar Buchanan particularly. It's got a nice message and a good ending. I've never been a fan of the two leads but they do a great job. I'd give this one another watch.
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