Bringing Up Baby.

Review #2060: Bringing Up Baby.

Cast: 

Katharine Hepburn (Susan Vance), Cary Grant (Dr. David Huxley), May Robson (Elizabeth Carlton Random), Charles Ruggles (Major Horace Applegate), Walter Catlett (Constable Slocum), Barry Fitzgerald (Aloysius Gogarty), Fritz Feld (Dr. Fritz Lehman), Virginia Walker (Alice Swallow), George Irving (Alexander Peabody), Leona Roberts (Hannah Gogarty), Tala Birell (Mrs. Lehman), and John Kelly (Elmer) Directed by Howard Hawks (#951 - The Big Sleep, #1352 - His Girl Friday, #1399 - Rio Bravo, #1687 - O. Henry's Full House and #1773 - Red River)

Review: 

"I think the picture had a great fault and I learned an awful lot from that. There were no normal people in it. Everyone you met was a screwball and since that time I have learned my lesson and I don’t intend ever again to make everybody crazy."

In 1937, Howard Hawks read a short story in the magazine Collier's that had been written by Hagar Wilde. He laughed so much that he wanted to make a film of the story, which I'm sure you know was called Bringing Up Baby. He had time to spare, considering that he was being stalled out in making "Gunga Din" (which was worked out eventually by George Stevens). Wilde wrote the story and co-wrote the screenplay with Dudley Nichols (known for his structure work with films such as The Informer three years earlier) that retained a chase for a docile cat (panther in the story, leopard in the movie) in the wilderness of Connecticut. Look, sometimes you have to say audiences don't always know what the hell they want. This is especially true here for a film that only would make a small profit upon subsequent re-release. Perhaps most famously, Hepburn would be referred to as "box office poison" by the Independent Theatre Owners of America a couple of months after the release of this film in 1938, who referred her as having an excellent performance but also referring to it and another film in Stage Door as flops when closing out by saying "Sound judgment and good business sense are valuable assets in an industry that is far from being an art." Believe it or not, Hawks actually had Harold Lloyd in mind first for the lead role played by Grant. The studio rejected that suggestion and offered the role to a handful of others that rejected it. Lloyd apparently told Hawks that the film was the "best constructed comedy" he ever saw, which I'm sure has something to do with Grant and his portrayal that surely was modeled after Lloyd (right down to the glasses). Walter Catlett (a veteran of vaudeville and a number of films since the early 20th century) was brought in to help out Hepburn and her early jitters with doing comedy and ended up having a key role in the film as well. This was the second of four films with Grant and Hepburn after Sylvia Scarlett (1935), Holiday (1938) and The Philadelphia Story (1940), and it was her work in the latter of the four that resulted in Hepburn's first of four Academy Award wins, proving the old lesson that sometimes words on print really are worth less than toilet paper.

It is a profoundly silly movie, the screwiest kind of screwball movies that could only be done by a craftsman of energetic filmmaking. Hawks may have thought that the film had a few too many zany characters, but the main thing that is told here is that at the end of the day, it is better to enjoy life with free-spirited energy rather than try to stick with dignity. Hawks later stated that the way he achieved such vast pace is by pacing the actors "quickly within the frame rather than cross cutting fast". This results in a zany film filled with consistent energy from beginning to end that delivers everything you would think comes in these types of films without failing in the goal of worthwhile comedy. The 102-minute runtime is the ideal time to try and wrap these odd little characters for one wholly watchable feature that never plods in how it presents these two main people and the winding road they are tied to in amusing predicaments, complete with a select handful of ad-libs. Grant was already a comedic name on the rise with The Awful Truth (1937), because he really was quite the charmer who could hold his own with any kind of material and any kind of requirement, which in this case involves flustered panic. You can see pretty easily from the first sequence involving old bones and where his energies have to lie with such vaunted people. Hepburn is a free spirit of the highest order in impulse, one who has such a great chemistry with Grant that never leaves our mind from the very get-go. They make for such a great pair together, one zigging where the other is zagging without a false note detected among their interactions or ones where Grant is left trying to spin out of a spinning top of absurd situations, one of which involves a torn dress and a hat and another involving waiting to be heard in the middle of a convoluted explanation. They make a quality pair in both timing and, eventually, romance. Robson (a veteran of the stage who became a noted film presence at the ripe age of her seventies) amuses as the dignified straight one among the proceedings to be accompanied by Ruggles and his befuddled attitude among would-be hunters. They are swept up into probably the most interesting of all confounding situations when it comes to Catlett and the belief of just who is really who and the case of one (or two? or none?) leopard. It is the kind of film with quality animal performances (Nissa, the leopard who is used to play both the docile and circus leopard and Skippy, already familiar from The Thin Man) to go with quality timing that practically is as timeless as one would hope to expect in a comedy of screwy manners. The only real debate is just how damn good it is within the career of Howard Hawks and his immeasurable qualities in filmmaking.

Overall, I give it 10 out of 10 stars.

An Affair to Remember.

Review #1394: An Affair to Remember.

Cast: 
Cary Grant (Nicolò Ferrante), Deborah Kerr (Terry McKay), Richard Denning (Kenneth Bradley), Neva Patterson (Lois Clark), Cathleen Nesbitt (Grandmother Janou), Robert Q. Lewis (Himself), Charles Watts (Ned Hathaway), and Fortunio Bonanova (Courbet) Directed by Leo McCarey (#085 - Duck Soup and #1350 - Love Affair)

Review: 
Do you ever feel like you're watching the same film twice? Honestly, the only things that really need a remake are films that were clunkers the first time around, not movies that were good enough once already. But hey, maybe one really did want to see another version of a love affair with the same director and nearly the same script 18 years later. At least this time around I knew what to expect when it came to the climatic point of the film, since not only had I seen the original only two months ago but it happened to be prominently referenced in another overrated tearjerker that I saw years ago in Sleepless in Seattle (1993). Of course this particular film happens to be longer at 115 minutes, with the second easiest difference being that it has a steeper fall in its second half than its predecessor after it leaves the boat. This is a film that has the luster of starpower to try and hide its mediocrity that makes it quite a frustrating film to sit through, because one knows that it is going to be completely fine and nothing else, complete with CinemaScope to hit that final shiny mark to play for its audience (this of course is not meant to be a iconoclastic jab at films of that era). Grant and McCarey had done two previous films with each other, while Kerr and Grant were in their second of three collaborations with each other. As was the case with numerous McCarey films, improvisation was something to be encouraged when on camera, with some improvised lines finding their way into the film. The movie does seem to flow better when it focuses on just these two together, with a slow-but-fruitful chemistry that makes a majority of the film fairly palpable. One always has a fine time with Cary Grant when it comes to seeing him on screen, seeing how he never really seems to age too particularly as a leading man in terms of charm that is hard to resist to smile with. Kerr, a versatile actress if there ever was one (having been nominated six times for an Academy Award) catches up with Grant fairly well in elegance despite having to deal with silly stuff such as having to sing with a kid's choir or the end scene. Denning and Patterson, constricted in roles that firmly neutral in romantic chemistry that seem more fitting somewhere else, prove okay. Nesbitt provides a quietly sweet presence for the moments that bridge an interesting first half before it gets sluggish. Maybe one has more patience for its contrived turning point, where a lover suddenly hit by a car decides to not tell the other about their condition until that big scene at the end where Grant puts two-and-two together (any longer and he would've needed a picture book) that leads to an intended tearjerker scene that just makes me roll my eyes. There is passion present here, but there must've been a better way to do all of this (let's go full absurd and just have the lead go into a coma or fall into a manhole with alligator captors while we're at it) than the same thing again. I can't get mad at it being average for doing things again with a capable duo to back up material just like before, so I suppose that the nicest thing I can say is that this is a film comprised of fair and clunky attitudes about romance that will prove adequate for those who want an average crowd-pleaser for their time.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.

People Will Talk.

Review #1378: People Will Talk.

Cast: 
Cary Grant (Dr. Noah Praetorius), Jeanne Crain (Deborah Higgins), Finlay Currie (Shunderson), Hume Cronyn (Prof. Rodney Elwell), Walter Slezak (Prof. Lyonel Barker), Sidney Blackmer (Arthur Higgins), Basil Ruysdael (Dean Lyman Brockwell), and Katherine Locke (Miss James) Written and Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz (#750 - All About Eve)

Review: 
A good movie comes from a variety of aspects, whether through its actors or through its director in telling a story worth experiencing on screen. Joseph L. Mankiewicz. He had started in Hollywood as a titles writer because of his brother Herman (an accomplished writer in his own right, notably co-writing Citizen Kane), eventually moving on to writing scripts such as Skippy (1931, where he earned his first Academy Award nomination). He worked for Paramount for a few years before moving to MGM to write and eventually produce films as a well (although he did un-credited work on numerous productions of his). He shifted to 20th Century Fox and found his chance to direct, which he did with Dragonwyck (1946). He soon reached prime success with A Letter to Three Wives (1949) and All About Eve (1950). Both films won him Academy Awards for Best Director and Adapted Screenplay. In total, Mankiewicz made twenty films (with one documentary and one TV film) from 1946 to 1972 before his death at the age of 83 in 1993, with other notable films of his being Julius Caesar (1953), Cleopatra (1963), and Sleuth (1972).

The film was adapted from the German play Dr. med. Hiob Prätorius by Curt Goetz, which had been adapted into a film one year prior in West Germany (which Goetz co-directed along with playing the title role) and would be done again in 1965. The 1950s were still a time for a Production Code (with power that withered considerably) that tended to butt itself in to films touching certain aspects of life , such as wedlock pregnancies or taking one's life, but that didn't mean films couldn't find ways around it with cleverness or some amiable star power, which works itself out with folks like Mankiewicz and Grant at the helm. This is an interesting comedy-drama, one wrapped in casual composed charm from Grant (as one could expect) and a measured presence from Crain that makes for a sly and clever time that aims for sophistication over convention in terms of life with medicine. It has a foundation that can still be applied today, where a good film is like medicine in being more than a bunch of parts to jam together but one that needs good care and belief in one's director, which works adequately enough for 110 minutes. Currie carries through with support as a careful presence that isn't forgotten from the screen for too long, while Cronyn contributes an adversarial role with the right sense of condensation and envy and Slezak delivers some light charm. There are quite a few interesting moments to highlight, such as Grant dealing with composing music with a student/faculty orchestra, or the misconduct hearing with composed sly tone and humor. It might not be the best film in the Mankiewicz portfolio, but it is still a worthy one worth checking out for its charm and reach for drama alongside comedy that stands for itself as a fair gem for the 1950s.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

The Philadelphia Story.

Review #1355: The Philadelphia Story.

Cast: 
Cary Grant (C.K. Dexter Haven), Katharine Hepburn (Tracy Samantha Lord), James Stewart (Macaulay "Mike" Connor), Ruth Hussey (Elizabeth Imbrie), John Howard (George Kittredge), Roland Young (William Q. Tracy), John Halliday (Seth Lord), Mary Nash (Margaret Lord), Virginia Weidler (Dinah Lord), and Henry Daniell (Sidney Kidd) Directed by George Cukor (#479 - Travels with My Aunt and #974 - A Star is Born)

Review: 
There are films that are born to be classics. This is one of those movies, pure and simple. Who better to headline this film than three prime stars of Hollywood's Golden Age: Grant, Hepburn, and Stewart. Each had their own way of finding success, which they would utilize for several decades, with a combined five Academy Awards on 18 nominations between them, with the latter two receiving the most benefit from the film in their own ways. had found herself drawn to acting while in college, with her debut in theater occurring in 1928. She spent four years with mostly small roles, but she was noticed in The Warrior's Husband by a scout that led to subsequent screen-testing for RKO for A Bill of Divorcement (1932). Director George Cukor was impressed, and the two would become friends that would do ten films together. She proved a success with the film, and she subsequently won an Academy Award for her third film in Morning Glory (1933). However, her career soon went through a series of setbacks in terms of audience appeal (both in film and theater) that would enclose the rest of the decade, which led her to be dubbed "Box office poison" in one film journal. There were a few moderate successes among slight flops, with a good deal of those films now being held in better respect, such as Mary of Scotland (1936) and Bringing Up Baby (1938). In 1939, she starred in the comic play The Philadelphia Story by Philip Barry. Inspired by the antics of socialite Helen Hope Montgomery Scott, Barry wrote the play directly for Hepburn, who took on the lead role alongside funding it, which ran for over a year to success. When it came to film rights, Hepburn was given the films rights as a gift by Howard Hughes, which she soon sold to Metro Goldwyn Mayer for the chance to star and choose her own team to direct, write and star. This led to the hiring of Cukor, Donald Ogden Stewart (with un-credited help for the award winning work by Waldo Salt), and the aforementioned two sides of the dynamic triangle for the film in Grant and Stewart, who had just found success in leading roles through You Can't Take It With You (1938) and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939).

It is easy to see why this proved to be Hepburn's resurgent comeback. Beyond the fact that she has two dynamic leads to go alongside a game script, she proves her ground with allure, where one sees her vulnerability alongside a good sense of humor that has tremendous chemistry with the other leads. Grant does just as well, having a good sense of timing and debonair nature. Stewart provides some offbeat everyman charm that generates the kind of warmth one would expect from him while delivering a few laughs in one notable scene where he is carrying Hepburn home after a midnight dip, while singing bits of "Somewhere over the Rainbow". Hussey and Howard also prove to be quite interesting in comparison to the others, both lending their own kind of depth (whether fawning or cynical, respectively) that keep them from being just in the background. Young, Nash, and Weidler also keep the support moving with their contribution to the depth the film has in compelling entertainment. The film is generally listed under the genre of romantic comedy with the subgenre of "comedy of remarriage", in which a couple divorces and flirts with others before remarrying (in a time where affairs were not allowed by the Production Code). It has plenty of passion along with moments of amusement, starting right from the opening scene, with an friendly exchange of broken golf clubs and a shove to the ground from the newly divorced leads. Cukor is certainly the right director for this kind of material, one that is smart with where it wants go in romance and amusement, keeping a steady pace of 112 minutes with plenty of heart that makes it a seminal picture of its genre and for the decade as a whole. It is a tremendous achievement for its iconic stars and its director that is definitely worth a look anytime.

Overall, I give it 10 out of 10 stars.

His Girl Friday.

Review #1352: His Girl Friday.

Cast: 
Cary Grant (Walter Burns), Rosalind Russell (Hildy Johnson), Ralph Bellamy (Bruce Baldwin), Gene Lockhart (Sheriff Hartwell), Porter Hall (Murphy), Ernest Truex (Bensinger), Cliff Edwards (Endicott), Clarence Kolb (the Mayor), Roscoe Karns (McCue), Frank Jenks (Wilson), Regis Toomey (Sanders), Abner Biberman (Louie), Frank Orth (Duffy), and John Qualen (Earl Williams) Directed by Howard Hawks (#951 - The Big Sleep)

Review: 
Everybody needs a remake now and then. Or, at the very least, an adaptation of material that strives to improve what had been done before without seeming like a complete cash-grab or unnecessary. In other words, it makes sense to have someone like Howard Hawks at the helm of directing an adaptation of The Front Page, which had been adapted nine years prior. It was a chance meeting with cinematographer and future director Victor Fleming (while racing on vacation) that helped him get his first film job in 1917, serving as a prop boy for In Again, Out Again. After serving in World War I (serving in the US Army Air Service), he returned to Hollywood. Over the next few years, he gradually moved from producer on short films to production editing before his eventual directorial debut with The Road to Glory (1926) for Fox Film. He worked with that studio for three years with marginal success, but over the next four decades he worked as an independent producer-director, with The Dawn Patrol (1930) helping in his transition from silent to sound. He directed in various genres, ranging from romance to comedy to westerns to noir to action. Although he received just one nomination for Best Director, he received an Academy Honorary Award in 1974, three years before his death at 81. Hawks aspired to make a fast-paced adaptation, utilizing multiple microphones (which needed to be turned on and off by the sound technician for scenes, which could be done as much as 35 times) and even using a sound mixer to try and speed up the dialogue to be faster than The Front Page. Hawks encouraged his actors to be spontaneous, with improvisation in the lines serving to help in having the film run a few days over schedule. The main difference between the two films is the character of Hildy being played by a woman, with Hawks being inspired by the actor auditions (or more specifically, someone reading lines belonging to a character) and how his female secretary was saying the lines. Charles Lederer (co-writer of the previous adaptation) was brought in to write this film, which would keep some of the dialogue from before. In any case, this is a wonderful movie, having plenty of charming moments within a quick 92 minute pace that lives to its potential through a solid duo in Grant and Russell. Whether bantering with each other or with others, each does their part in generating amusement while following most of the beats from before without seeming old-hat or too familiar. Grant can be quite conniving with charm, and Russell (who was quite talented in both comedic and dramatic roles) holds up with her own energy, with her even hiring an ad-writer to give her more clever lines, which only Grant seemed to notice. Bellamy holds up just as well with being the straight man to these quirky folks, while Lockhart and Kolb make for a crooked pair of chuckles. The others provide a chuckle or two, with nobody seeming too out-of-place in the long run. It's a charming movie, one that runs fast to please and joke around with through some clever work by Hawks and his cast that makes this a worthy comedy to sit through (perhaps more than once). After all, the film lapsed into the public domain, so one can view it any-time they please without trouble, so there really is no reason to avoid this movie and have your curiosity rewarded. A solid remake that improves on the original - no question there.

Next Review: Sonic the Hedgehog.

Overall, I give it 9 out of 10 stars.

Topper.

Review #1346: Topper.

Cast: 
Constance Bennett (Marion Kerby), Cary Grant (George Kerby), Roland Young (Cosmo Topper), Billie Burke (Mrs. Clara Topper), Alan Mowbray (Wilkins), Eugene Pallette (Casey), Arthur Lake (Elevator boy / Bell boy), Hedda Hopper (Mrs. Grace Stuyvesant), Virginia Sale (Miss Johnson), and Elaine Shepard (Secretary) Directed by Norman Z. McLeod (#688 - Horse Feathers)

Review: 
One needs a gimmick sometimes to make a comedy click with interest. One involving fun-loving ghosts haunting their stuffy friend sounds like a good one to go with. The main trio of actors involved with this film each have their own versatile qualities to help make this a quite enjoyable experience. Bennett was known for her work in melodramas alongside comedies that made her a prime star of the 1930s (having also made the shift from silent to sound films), while Grant was slowly gaining recognition for his suave charm (having moved from vaudeville to film in 1932), and Young was known his diverse work in comedies, mysteries, and dramas. Of course a film needs a good director to lead the actors together, with Norman Z. McLeod being a worthy one to help with comedy. The WWI fighter pilot-turned film-man started his career as an animator with comedy shorts, and it was his skills as a gagman that would serve him well for his eventual directing career. His big break was assistant director on the 1927 film Wings, and he had his directorial debut with Taking a Chance (1928). Before his death in 1964, McLeod directed films with notable comedy actors that ranged from W. C. Fields to the Marx Brothers to Bob Hope. The film was an adaptation of the 1926 novel (known as both Topper and The Jovial Ghosts) by Thorne Smith. The sequel novel Topper Takes a Trip (1932) would also be adapted into a film in 1938, with a further film named Topper Returns (1941) coming to theaters a few years later. Young and Burke appeared in all three films, while Bennett and Mowbray appeared only in the sequel. In any case, this is an entertaining comedy, full of charm with little moments and entertaining chemistry between Bennett, Grant, and Young that makes the 97 minutes go without too many hitches. It's a silly charmer (for a film that has its main couple die in the first 25 minutes, anyway) that runs its gags to good mileage, whether that involves sight gags where special effects help make things look like they move on their own (such as a ghost driving a car) or whimsical screwball dialogue (which helped sell Grant on doing the idea when hesitant on the supernatural material). Bennett and Grant thrive on inspiring fun and charm, while Young succeeds on his dryness alongside a daffy Burke. Playful and absurd, it should be no surprise that turned out the way it did as a neat little supernatural comedy gem, deserving of a watch to see charm display itself on screen with such effective power that is executed well enough to make for interesting entertainment.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

Charade (1963).

Review #1029: Charade.

Cast: 
Cary Grant (Peter Joshua), Audrey Hepburn (Regina Lampert), Walter Matthau (Hamilton Bartholomew), James Coburn (Tex Panthollow), George Kennedy (Herman Scobie), Dominique Minot (Sylvie Gaudet), Ned Glass (Leopold W. Gideon), Jacques Marin (Insp. Edouard Grandpierre), Paul Bonifas (Mr. Felix), and Thomas Chelimsky (Jean-Louis Gaudet) Directed by Stanley Donen (#137 - Bedazzled, #227 - Singin' in the Rain, and #346 - On the Town)

Review: 
Writers Peter Stone and Marc Behm had made a script called The Unsuspecting Wife across Hollywood, however nobody wanted the script. It was turned into a novel (with the title of Charade), along with being serialized in Redbook magazine, with attention soon focused on it, with the rights sold to director Stanley Donen. The final script was written by Stone to fit the main cast, while Behm got a co-credit for story. In any case, this is a movie that fits into three genres: suspense thriller, romance, and comedy, and the final result is a film that does well in all three genres, particularly due to the cast. The movie has been cited as one resembling an Alfred Hitchcock movie (Grant had starred in Hitchcock's North by Northwest (#223) four years prior), with a few plot twists, scenes to build tension, and innocent people thrust into strange/dangerous situations. It helps that the title sequence is done by Maurice Binder, who would become famous for doing the title sequence for the James Bond films for over 20 years, with Henry Mancini providing the music score.

The movie also happens to have an interesting relationship between Grant and Hepburn, resembling something out of a romantic comedy, although this is one that is quite interesting. Grant was nearly 60 by the time of the film's release in December of 1963, with the age difference between him and Hepburn being one of roughly 25 years. There are lines in the film where he comments on his age, and it is Hepburn who pursues him, which is certainly refreshing. In any case, they have good chemistry with each other, responding with a sense of wit and fanciful cleverness that always seems right. In terms of the suspense elements, they also do a good job handling the thrills and suspense just right. Hepburn is refreshing and compelling as usual, which one could apply to Grant as well. Matthau does a fine job, sticking out easily but being quite useful for the film. The trio of Coburn, Kennedy, and Glass are all fine adversaries for the movie, not merely just cardboard cut-outs for the film to throw away without giving them some sort of scene for them to stick out, such as when they first appear during a funeral. The rest of the cast is also fairly decent in their roles. In any case, this is a movie that keeps you on your toes, having a few turns that don't cheat the audience but keeps them guessing and keeps them excited as well. The violence that occurs in the film may feel a bit off in tone with the other parts of the movie, but it never comes off as too distracting with the entertainment that comes with the movie. The run-time of 113 minutes is pretty fair for the film, never really dragging at any one point.

One thing to note is that the movie is in the public domain, due to an error made by Universal Pictures (the studio that released the film) on the copyright notice. At the time, copyright notices needed to include "Copyright", "Copr." or its symbol on the notice, but since there was no such thing on there, the film (but not the music by Henry Mancini) was immediately in the public domain upon release. The film has been remade four times: Kokhono Megh (1968), Somebody Killed Her Husband (1978), The Truth About Charlie (2002), and Chura Liyaa Hai Tumne (2003). In any case, Charade is a fine gem that succeeds in what it wants to be, whether a thriller or a romantic comedy, whether due to Donen's execution of the script, or from the dynamic cast. This is an easy one to recommend, for all the charm and fun that it inspires.

Let me say a few words about the significance of today's day, December 20th. Seven years ago on this day, Movie Night was created. Over the years, I have done reviews on this certain day for previous anniversaries, from The Iron Giant (#083) for 2011, The Avengers (#312) for 2012, The Man Who Came to Dinner (#501) for 2013, Shock (#676) / Elf (#677) for 2014, Galaxina (#770) for 2015, and Billy Madison (#887) for 2016. Obviously the show has evolved quite a bit since then, and I like to think that Movie Night will continue to evolve and hopefully stay useful, no matter what happens. Thank you. 

Overall, I give it 9 out of 10 stars.

Notorious (1946).

Review #910: Notorious.

Cast:
Cary Grant (T. R. Devlin), Ingrid Bergman (Alicia Huberman), Claude Rains (Alexander Sebastian), Leopoldine Konstantin (Madame Anna Sebastian), Louis Calhern (Captain Paul Prescott), Moroni Olsen (Walter Beardsley), Ricardo Costa (Dr. Julio Barbosa), Reinhold Schünzel (Dr. Anderson), Ivan Triesault (Eric Mathis), and Eberhard Krumschmidt (Emil Hupka) Directed by Alfred Hitchcock (#219 - Rope, #223 - North by Northwest, #446 - Spellbound, #447 - Psycho, #450 - Vertigo, #455 - Rear Window, #553 - Strangers on a Train, and #800 - Shadow of a Doubt)

Review:
It has been a while since I covered a Hitchcock film on Movie Night, but I figured that it was time to do one that I had been thinking of doing for quite a while now, which is a brilliant spy film noir. The easiest benefit (aside from Hitchcock's direction, which I'll get to) is the trio of Grant, Bergman, and Rains. All three shine in their respective roles, with Grant and Bergman having great chemistry together, particularly during one stretch where the two engage in kissing alongside dialogue and looking at each other, and the sequence (lasting two-and-a-half minutes) is not only one of the most famous sequences in film but also a passionate one to watch. The production code of the time prevented kisses longer than 3 seconds, but the sequence works better than a scene that would've been allowed to linger on that kiss, in part because of the tension one can see between the two being framed better. Rains is also a good villain, being carefully crafted while also having his own kind of chemistry with Bergman, with the right kind of pace and movements.  Konstantin (an Austrian actress popular during the pre-war times in Germany in her only American film performance) is also pretty good. The rest of the cast is also pretty good in their roles. The camera shots are also a key standout, from the shots that introduce Grant's character to the shots from a character's point of view during the climax, with every shot having a key element of finesse to it. The story is crafted excellently, with love and duty being a strong theme that makes for a riveting movie that also has moments of suspense that deliver a great payoff. The climax is a fairly good one, utilizing the characters and story to conclude itself without resorting to a big battle or anything that wouldn't have worked for this movie; this is the kind of a movie where it ends on a character going back to their own house (resigned to their fate), and it's just a neat way to end both that arc and the movie. At 101 minutes, it certainly is a movie with a good pace, and I can definitely recommend checking out this movie, especially if you are a fan of Hitchcock and his work.

Overall, I give it 10 out of 10 stars.

Movie Night: The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer.

Review #527: The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer.

Cast
Cary Grant (Richard Nugent), Myrna Loy (Margaret Turner), Shirley Temple (Susan Turner), Rudy Vallee (Tommy Chamberlain), Ray Collins (Dr. Matt Beemish), Harry Davenport (Thaddeus Turner), Johnny Sands (Jerry White), and Don Beddoe (Joey) Directed by Irving Reis.

Review
The title certainly got me interested in this film, trying to figure out what exactly a Bobby-Soxer was. Apparently it (according to Wikipedia) is a 1940s sociological coinage describing the often very zealous fans of Swing music, often young adults, or in this movie, Shirley Temple. If your like me, you probably didn't know Shirley Temple made films in her teenage years (that or like me you didn't watch any of her films prior to this and only know her due to commercials trying to sell her films to people watching at home), and she doesn't do a bad job, and while her character could be regarded as annoying at times, she is okay either way. Cary Grant is charming and is certainly very entertaining, and Myrna Loy works well with Grant as well. The rest of the cast do well, and there are good laughs with this film, it has a clever way with fun, and this is a film that while unusual with its pairing, is a good film.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

Movie Night: North by Northwest.

Review #223: North by Northwest.

Cast
Cary Grant (Roger Thornhill), Eva Marie Saint (Eve Kendall), James Mason (Phillip Vandamm), Martin Landau (Leonard), and Leo G. Carroll (The Professor) Directed by Alfred Hitchcock (#219 - Rope)

Review
This was the last film Hitchcock made in the 1950's, which had Dial M for Murder, Vertigo, The Man Who Knew Too Much, and other various films, and this does feel like the end of one decade and the thesis of the next decade. It feels like a spy film with its involvement of a plot with agents, numerous chase scenes, a leading man and lady, mistaken identity, a villain, and an important object. Grant and Saint do a wonderful job, which usually is essential to make a film, but there is more to it as well, with suspenseful action and soundtrack with a dynamic climatic fight on Mount Rushmore to make a classic romantic thriller. It truly is a great film.

Overall, I give it 10 out of 10 stars.