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A Place in the Sun (1951)
Learn to swim!
My Headmaster at school told us that the world is covered in 2/3rds water so we all had to learn how to swim from age 5. It was a good policy. One that should have been applied to all cast members of this film. Shelley Winters is in this one. I don't think I need to say anything further.
Montgomery Clift (George) plays an uneducated man who gets a job at his wealthy uncle's company which introduces him to new social groups. However, he is torn between two women at opposing ends of the wealth spectrum. There is factory worker Shelley Winters (Alice) and socialite Elizabeth Taylor (Angela). He needs to commit to one, which is bad news for the other!
This is the story of how one man's life is ruined by women.
Kind Lady (1951)
Prisoner in your own home
Ethel Barrymore (Mary) is the kind lady of the film's title. She is an art-lover who has collected various valuable pieces over the years and lives in a large house in a wealthy part of London. Just herself, her maid Doris Lloyd (Rose) and her cook Phyllis Morris (Dora). One day around Christmas, Barrymore is visited by artist Maurice Evans (Elcott) and a friendship is forged between the two. Barrymore is a benevolent lady and begins to be rather too charitable to Evans and his wife and friends as she finds out to her peril as they begin to take over her house once invited in.
This is a remake of a 1935 film of the same title and both films are worth watching. The cast are good and the story resolves itself in a satisfactory manner with a twist at the end.
The world is full of conmen. I came across someone who claimed to be a member of the royal family and befriended me. I then introduced him to my social group. It soon became apparent that he was stealing from people and just telling lies about everything from his background to his daily activities. He was very charming but we had all been conned.
We gradually put the pieces together surrounding his claims and missing money and one night at my friend's house, my friend just gave him some money to get a taxi and told him to never come back. That was it - he just disappeared and moved on to his next victims as we later learned. About a month later my friend got a phone call from somebody who was after this guy as he owed him money. He had told this person that my friend's number was his international dialing line. So, my friend explained that he was a conman and so the cycle repeated.
It's amazing how many of these sociopaths and psychopaths are roaming freely. Be careful who you let into your home. It's a good film.
Hollywood Story (1951)
Watch a silent film instead
This film starts with the totally redundant film agent Jim Backus (Mitch) greeting his old schoolfriend film producer Richard Conte (Larry) and showing him around a film studio in which they will be working together. Conte is intrigued by an unsolved murder that occurred on set 20 years previously and he puts his energies into digging up the past to make a film about it and potentially solve it. This is not a popular move and someone takes a shot at Conte. He must be on to something...
The story takes inspiration from the real-life murder of silent film director William Desmond Taylor in 1922 and they should have stuck with the real-life incidents surrounding this case. Unfortunately, the film is a bit boring and complicated. It just comes across as Conte spouting an endless stream of people's names. Wow, how interesting.
As for the characters, Backus also acts as narrator but there is absolutely no point to having him in the film. The female lead Julie Adams (Sally) adds no glamour or interest. The best character is the funeral director who references the beloved departed. Henry Hull is suitably eccentric as the script writer and does have some good lines. One that stands out is when he is asked whether he has finished the script, his response is "Yes". Pause. "I just need to fill in the words". Ha ha.
This style of response could be used in so many situations. For instance, when asked if you have done the washing up - "Yes". Pause. "I just need to make contact with the cutlery and the dishes".
The film is corny with some obvious moments and some stupid moments. How come nobody from the original investigative team either looked at the music roll on the pianola or failed to identify a bullet-hole in the music roll. This is really dumb stuff.
Pandora and the Flying Dutchman (1951)
Love on a ghost ship
The Flying Dutchman is a ghost ship upon which Dutch Captain James Mason (Hendrick) is doomed to wander for eternity until he can meet a woman who is prepared to die for him. He is already dead and has been for centuries but he is allowed time to visit Earth's physical realm once every 7 years for a period of time in order to seek out his destiny. Wild Ava Gardner (Pandora) is intrigued when one day she notices his ship appear alongside the Spanish coastline.
This film has a good story and is probably true. Who knows whether or not time can weave itself between the spirit world and the world that we physically inhabit. Yes, time exists for our human need to live in a linear world but there could well be different dimensions that permeate this universe. So, this is the type of film that really appeals to me. It has a "Portrait of Jennie" (1948) vibe to it and Gardner resembles Jennifer Jones as the main female focus. The film even incorporates a portrait painting.
The cast are a mixed bunch as none of Gardner's suitors seem suitable! They all carry out inexplicable and unrealistic acts in order to demonstrate their love with a special mention going to
Spanish bullfighter Mario Cabré (Montalvo) - ha ha! He is such a bad actor and so arrogant that you look forward to his appearances in a so-bad-that-it's-good kind of way. Apparently, he was exactly the same off camera with Gardner which comes as no surprise.
It's a film that draws you in with its ghostly storyline although it is done romantically rather than in a spooky fashion. This film also wins the award for "Funniest killing of a dog sequence".
Finally, James Mason's teeth aren't ready for Technicolour.
The Girl on the Bridge (1951)
Anyone want to buy a candlestick?
Beverly Michaels (Carla) is the girl on the bridge of this film where she is befriended by kindly watch repairman Hugo Haas (David) at the beginning of the story. She has a baby but is a single mum as her pianist boyfriend Robert Dane (Mario) has taken off to tour another country. However, Dane returns with his gang of trouble-makers that includes John Close (Harry). Dane is not too pleased with the current set-up between Michaels and Haas and Close puts a plan into operation that goes wrong...Uh-oh, somebody is now dead.
This is an engaging film that has you supporting Haas, although there is a bit of a dodgy age difference between him and Michaels. It also explores the question of whether or not you should try to cover up a crime. Keeping things to yourself could give rise to Mr. Guilty paying you a long-term visit.
Missing Women (1951)
Hands v Super Hands
Newlyweds Penny Edwards (Claudia) and John Hedloe (Phillip) are hijacked on a country lane and Hedloe is shot and left for dead. Penny decides to exact revenge on the killers and especially James Millican (Hans) who forced himself on her during the attack. She changes her name and appearance and goes undercover to infiltrate the gang. However, the police are on her case as she has been reported missing.
The film zips by and it is ok. There are a couple of memorable scenes - the stealing of a car from the parking lot and the moment went Edwards is forced to meet ex-con Marlo Dwyer (May) who she claims to have known in prison - but on the whole there is not really any tension as one scene follows another before we get the anticipated rushed ending with a simplified shoot-out. The goodies win and the baddies lose. End of film.
There is some wordplay going on as you think that Millican's nickname is "Hands". Connoisseurs of good British comedy will immediately make the link to the iconic character of "Super Hands" from the comedy show "Peep Show". Watch this show if you haven't seen it for a far better level of entertainment.
No Man of Her Own (1950)
Identity theft
We start the film with a knock at the door and the police want to speak to one of two people - Barbara Stanwyck (Helen) or John Lund (Bill) - and we are told through Stanwyck's narration that it concerns murder. There is also a baby in the room with an enormous head. Cue flashback...
This film started badly for me. First of all, there was Stanwyck's whispered narration which went on for too long. Secondly, she was holding a baby with a ridiculously oversized head. Thirdly, once the flashback sequence began, we were forced to endure Stanwyck's painful over-acted histrionics and soppy crying. Urgh! I have to admit that I was close to stopping the film at this point as things were getting intolerable for me.
However, my advice is to stick with it. If you can look past Stanwyck's over-the-top nonsense, the story is quite involved and keeps you watching. We get deception, blackmail, murder and an ending that you will not figure out and comes as a surprise.
My Blue Heaven (1950)
Directions to Hell, please
Married TV personalities Betty Grable (Kitty) and Dan Dailey (Jack) want a baby. That is it! That's the story!! The film is full of sentiment regarding having a baby, adopting a baby and generally just longing for children. Therefore, there is pretty much no story. Add to this some truly awful songs and the result is a truly awful film. The film scores marks for Technicolour and that alone. God knows what the relevance of the title is.
The film had more interest for coincidences. We watched it and Mitzi Gaynor (Gloria) had just died in real life. Her most famous role was in "South Pacific" (1958) and they perform a parody of "South Pacific" in this film. That's weird as 8 years later, Gaynor stars in the real thing. For this segment of the film, Grable wears a dark wig. She does not suit black hair. By the way, all of the dancing as well as the songs are forgettable, sub-nursery rhyme standard and boring. The song writers should have been fired.
Another coincidence is that we watched it around Halloween time and there is a Halloween themed section with a song - it's rubbish, of course!
Weren't those coincidences interesting? If you don't think so, avoid this film as it doesn't get any better than the coincidences just mentioned.
Best part of the film is the title sequence at the beginning with Grable singing "My Blue Heaven".
Panic in the Streets (1950)
Dullsville, New Orleans
This is a film about a plague that will potentially spread through the population and doctor Richard Widmark (Clinton) and Captain Paul Douglas (Tom) are heading the team to stop this from happening. They need to vaccinate those who have been exposed and stop 3 gangsters, headed by Jack Palance (Blackie), who are roaming the streets as carriers.
Well, isn't it amazing how much time you can spend talking whilst repeating yourself and getting nowhere. Nothing happens! Oh look, some more talking. We also get scenes of Widmark's family life which has no relevance and is incredibly boring. This film includes an annoying kid who says "Pop" with EVERY sentence. How dumb is that! And Widmark's wife Barbera Bel Geddes (Nancy) is utterly pointless.
Widmark should be a bad guy not a good guy and this film needed some better female roles. Did anybody else have alarm bells ringing with the appearance of that guy who likes to watch the kid. He has two appearances, one at the film's end, and it is painfully obvious to me what is happening. Paedo alert!!
The soundtrack scores the films some marks.
"The Killer That Stalked New York" is a far better film from the same year about the same topic. Watch that instead.
Cronaca di un amore (1950)
Ferrari or Maserati?
Which car do you pick if you are a wealthy Italian? Bus or walk is more like the option for everybody else.
It's an interesting film due to scenes filmed on location in Italy and it came across to me as a type of Italian film noir. The difference being that instead of dark dingy settings, night-time and seedy nightclubs, this is filmed during the daytime.
Private investigator Gino Rossi (Carloni) is given a task by Ferdinando Sarmi (Enrico) who wants to delve into the past life of his wife Lucia Bosè (Paola). Lucia has a secret friend/lover on the scene in the form of Massimo Girotti (Guido) who was present with Lucia when a mutual friend accidently died many years ago and Rossi pursues this line of investigation.
Watch out for those lift shafts when you are abroad! My cousin's husband's father died by falling down a lift shaft in Egypt. Lift maintenance is professionally regulated and competently carried out in the UK but health and safety is somewhat more lax on the continent.
The ending of this film concentrates more on human feelings regarding love and belonging which gives the film more of a romantic tragedy angle as opposed to the Hollywood-style justice must be served storyline.
Does anyone else fancy a Sarti Soda after watching this?
Caged (1950)
Freeside awaits
This film takes place inside a women's prison and we follow new inmate Eleanor Parker (Marie) as she arrives and has to adapt. By the end of the film, she has adapted very well. Too well.
The film has some good female characters with a shoutout to the wicked matron as played by Hope Emerson. She is great. I found Parker way too soppy at the film's beginning - I don't like to see a cry-baby. However, Parker pulls off a great transformation which leaves a memorable ending to the film.
The end sequence cranks the film up a notch or two. Before that, it is the usual type of thing you can imagine from a film about women in a prison and it's a bit soppy for me in parts. But then, I'm not a woman.
I never understood why we let criminals mix with each other in prison. This obviously leads to a breeding ground for various illegal activities and provides an expertise in associated methodologies. This film addresses that issue quite effectively.
Crisis (1950)
Save me
It is a doctor's duty to save people and Cary Grant (Eugene) is getting pretty tired of this expectation. Just as I grew pretty tired of the film. Dr Cary Grant is kidnapped in a South American country in order to operate on the dictator José Ferrer (Farrago). All Ferrer's subjects hate the man and want a revolution. Grant is given a choice by the citizens - if Ferrer lives after the operation, Grant's wife Paula Raymond (Helen) will be killed. One problem with this.....Grant never gets the note so is unaware of the trade-off.....
Another problem with this is that the film takes forever to get to the point outlined above. By the time, we get there I had already had enough of Raymond and thought "Ok, fair trade". I didn't think much of her in this film. There is no way around the fact that this film is boring. They could have done so much more with it.
"State Secret" (UK) is a better film on a similar subject from the same year starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr, Jack Hawkins and Glynis Johns.
The Clouded Yellow (1950)
Trapped
Trevor Howard (David) is a spy who has messed up and so is kicked back onto civvy street where he needs to fend for himself, although he will be closely watched in whatever he does as he knows a lot of State secrets. The Secret Service, as represented in this film by André Morell and Kenneth More, will always have an eye on him. Howard gets a job cataloguing butterflies in a quiet country estate. However, these estates are never so quiet! He is soon on the run with Jean Simmons (Sophie) when she becomes the number one suspect in a murder on the estate. Both are pursued across England, taking in some great locations, especially the waterfall in the Lake District. Did Simmons do it? She might have.....
You will probably change your mind a couple of times in trying to figure out the culprit and the film keeps you watching with a good cast and several locations to keep up the visual interest.
The Clouded Yellow is a type of butterfly that Barry Jones (Fenton) is excited to categorize and monitor. Some people just like to do these odd things. Other strange hobbies that prevail today include jogging. Why do people persist in ruining their joints on purpose. It must just be ignorance. The result of jogging is a life of aches, pains and preventable hip replacements. Or how about the current trend to count how many steps you take every day. I mean, Jesus! Have we really been put on this planet to spend time counting the number of steps we take every day! Some people are truly blind to the gift of life and its purpose.
It's always a pleasure to see Maxwell Reed (Hick) in a film with one of his trademark arrogant characters. In this one, he is the gardener on the estate who sets the rabbit traps. As always, you just want him to get his comeuppance.
Tea for Two (1950)
No thanks
"Tea for Two, and Two for Tea, Me for You and You for Me". That's the only tune that you'll remember from this film. The film is worth watching for the dancing numbers and Doris Day gets involved in this which I was surprised at. She can dance. Otherwise, the film is slightly boring and I kept wishing it would finish.
The story centres around Day (Nanette) having to say "No" to everything for a couple of days in order to acquire $25,000.00 to fund a show. Her wealthy uncle SZ Sakall funds the bet, although he can't really afford it as all his investments are slumping in the Big Crash of 1929. Eve Arden (Pauline) is thrown in to fill out the cast and Gene Nelson (Tommy) proves himself a better dancer than Gene Kelly. The colour is fun, especially the outfits of the spiteful Patrice Wymore (Bea) who wants the lead role in the show.
Doris Day, although surprising me with her dancing ability, insists on flashing a goofy smile and keeping her mouth open for quite a lot of the film. Unfortunately for her, all the other girls in the dance numbers look more attractive than her and have better outfits. She is kind of frumpy in comparison.
See if you can only say "no" to every question for a while. I'll start you off. Is this film good - "No". Do I look forward to more Doris Day films - "No". Is SZ Sakall cuddly and funny with his dialogue where he sticks the verb at the end of each sentence - "No". Gosh this is easy.
Mystery Street (1950)
The Grass Skirt
Now that is one club worth visiting. Check out the grass-skirt dancing-girl lampshade. I want one.
We follow escort girl Jan Stirling (Vivian) to her place of work - a club called "The Grass Skirt" - where she is trying to arrange an important meeting. She comes across innocent young Marshall Thompson (Henry) who has drunk far too much for his own good and uses him to get where she needs to be. Uh-oh. She shouldn't have made that meeting! Detective Ricardo Montalban (Moralas) is called in to solve the mystery of a woman's skeleton that has washed up on a shore.
This starts off as a stylish film noir but the introduction of Montalban brings a slightly unintended comic quality to things. He doesn't belong in this film. Still, the story and police procedures keep up the interest, although forensic doctor Bruce Bennett (McAdoo) is difficult to understand at times. He needs diction lessons. Otherwise, the cast is good with Elsa Lanchester playing another memorable kooky role as an alcoholic landlady.
This film wins the award for "Best Lampshade in a Film".
Broken Arrow (1950)
Chief Greasy-Arms
We are in Apache territory during wartime and gold prospector James Stewart (Tom) befriends Apache Chief Jeff Chandler (Cochise). Together they come up with a plan for peace in the area. There are, of course, factions on both sides who are determined not to see this peace last and they spring attacks outside of the negotiated peace.
Whilst this film is ok to watch, the way that the film has been constructed is misleading. We think we are watching a Cowboy/Cavalry and Indian film but what we are actually watching is a love story between Stewart and Indian squaw Debra Paget who gets given some ridiculous name for the film. And the problem with this is that the love story is very unconvincing. Old man Stewart and teenage girl Paget - NO WAY! This love story is central to the film and so the film fails.
We do get some funny dialogue and Technicolour is always a treat. On recommendation from Chandler, you will be tempted to try out a new technique with the grease left over next time you fry some eggs. Go on - ha ha - I dare you.
September Affair (1950)
Oops......missed the plane
Ha ha. What a ludicrous beginning. Nobody would just go off like that given the time constraint to board the plane.
Big-shot engineer Joseph Cotten (David) and piano-playing Joan Fontaine (Marianne) find themselves stranded in Italy when they miss their return flight to New York. They spend time with one another and fall in love. Meanwhile, the plane they should have been on has crashed in the Mediterranean with no survivors. What an opportunity for both of them to leave their old lives behind and start afresh with one another. No-one need know that they are still alive. Well, circumstances pass so that Cotton's wife Jessica Tandy (Kitty) seeks a meeting in Italy with her husband's last known contact - piano-teacher Françoise Rosay (Maria). Things start to unravel.
This film is like a travelogue of various towns and islands in Italy and as such, it is interesting to see. Otherwise, the film is ok but the music is overdone and not particularly interesting with "September Song" repeated a couple of times. The first time we hear it is on a record that is played in a café. Unfortunately, the singer is rubbish and the song sounds like some old British Music-Hall number. The second time we hear it, a very annoying American soldier Jimmy Lydon (Johnny) has a nice voice when he sings it. Unfortunately, his character is dreadful and the film loses interest in his particular section of the story.
It's a romance that you watch to see if it works out for the two main characters but we needed something bad going on for that extra interest factor. Rosay is the best character.
Champagne for Caesar (1950)
Frosty knows everything
Ronald Colman is given a really stupid name for this film - "Beauregard"! What a crap name. He is also way too old. He's about 20 years older than everyone else. This film asks us to believe that his sister is 20 years younger than him (ludicrous!) and that his girlfriend is 20 years younger than him (ludicrous!). And that everyone else involved in his life is 20 years younger than him. He basically doesn't belong in the film. We needed an actor who was the same age as everyone else or the film should have been cast with a significantly older age group to fit around Colman.
Colman plays an intellectual type who is frustrated at the dumbing down of the human population. So am I. He goes onto a quiz show answering a question each week that will either double his money for him to return the following week if he answers correctly or leave him with nothing if he gives the incorrect answer. His aim is to bring down the owner of the soap company that sponsors the show - Vincent Price (Burnbridge).
There are plans and schemes and the dialogue is funny in parts - Price is the funniest character. However, the film slows down once the love interest Celeste Holm (Flame) is introduced. The film just starts to get a bit patchy where segments seem to go on for too long. However, it is ok for a comedy, which is a notoriously difficult genre to pull off.
Colman may come across as arrogant by stating that he knows everything. But he isn't. I know everything. Everyone knows everything. We just don't realize it. Well, I do. One day in the future, someone will be given credit for this thinking and it will be accepted as the truth, because it is the truth. If we can unlock our sub-conscious mind and have it run alongside our conscious mind as well as tap into the spiritual dimensions around us that are ever-present, then bingo! The human brain is a collective conscience that knows everything. We are that right now. You know everything. You just don't know it. Even dumb blonde "Frosty" as played by Ellie Marshall knows everything.
Finally, what is the point of the unfunny parrot?
Winchester '73 (1950)
Where's your apron?
James Stewart (Lin) and his friend Millard Mitchell (Frankie) are on the trail of Stephen McNally (Dutch Henry) when they ride into Dodge City and enter a shooting contest to win a rare rifle - the Winchester 73. Already in town is you-know-who. And he is also in the competition. Stewart and McNally take the contest right to the wire before McNally takes off ahead of Stewart. Stewart needs to track him down.
The story weaves through several episodes that include a romantic angle between Charles Drake (Steve) and Shelley Winters (Lola). Can this romance really last with Jimmy Stewart on the scene? And, wait for super baddie Dan Duryea (Waco) to appear. He also takes an interest. There are Indian attacks and this is a cast that just keeps giving. We get Rock Hudson as the Indian chief and Tony Curtis as a cavalryman fighting off an Indian attack. During the film, it is Duryea who is my favourite on screen. He's just got his own style. He's a scary, psycho lunatic - ha ha. You will, of course, ask yourself if Shelley Winters will die as she always seems to do in all of her films. Watch and find out.
There is great scenery and the good cast make the film an entertaining watch. We get tense scenes and some straight-talking dialogue. Note Drake's admission of cowardice - ha ha. I am baffled, though, about the interest in a stupid rifle. But this is America for you. They just love guns and rifles. Idiots.
Wabash Avenue (1950)
Wash-out Avenue
What a shame. The colour is great as are the costumes for the showgirls on stage, but there is far too much time wasted with a comedy Irish drunk character and the plot will have you asking "where's the story?" as well as the story being completely ludicrous when it actually gets going. The idea is that Victor Mature (Andrew) will fool Phil Harris (Mike) into thinking Harris has killed someone in order to blackmail Harris to produce a show together and steal his girlfriend Betty Grable (Ruby).
Grable keeps this watchable with her music numbers otherwise it would be a bore and quite annoying with that idiotic drunken James Barton (Harrigan) taking up far too much screen time and grinding the film to a halt every time he appears.
Woman in Hiding (1950)
More than 'Run-of-the-mill'
At the beginning of the film, Ida Lupino (Deborah) is driving her car out of control and it goes over an edge into the river. The next morning, the car is recovered but they cannot find a body. Her husband Stephen McNally (Selden) is concerned but is it for the right reason? Lupino narrates as we go into flashback....
It's a good film which will make you jump on at least one occasion (my wife and I both shouted out at the same time). Tension is well maintained as the story unravels and ends with a twist. I saw it coming, though!
There is a false segment in the film which shows a convention taking place and the ensuing celebrations. Whilst the dramatic part to this segment maintains the interest, the madcap antics and elongated conga dancing on what seems like every floor is just a bit ludicrous.
Two Flags West (1950)
It's a sing-off
What's the better song "Dixie" (I wish I was in Dixie) or "Battle Hymn of the Republic" (Glory Glory Hallelujah). It's obvious - Dixie! No contest. So, the Confederates win the singing. However, they didn't win the war.
In this film, Joseph Cotton (Clay) is a captured Southern Colonel who is conscripted into the Union army along with his men to serve under Yankee Major Jeff Chandler (Henry) and alongside Yankee Captain Cornel Wilde (Mark) in an isolated fort in the middle of the desert. Linda Darnell (Elena) is also at the fort under the care of Chandler and she longs to get away.
The majority of the film concerns the sparring between the Northern and Southern soldiers. Can anyone trust anybody from the other side? But then, Chandler goes and does the most stupid thing you can imagine doing! Well, now everyone is in real trouble because the Indians want revenge. What a jerk! There are Apache Indians on the warpath and this troop of soldiers need to work together. But will they?
It is an entertaining watch which educates you about the war that the Americans were having. My wife didn't think Cotton convinced in his role.
Nancy Goes to Rio (1950)
Nancy goes to a studio set
...and everyone pretends they are in Rio!
Jane Powell (Nancy) takes a cruise ship to Rio to star in a musical play but her mother Ann Sothern is already in Rio and mistakenly thinks that the part is for her. Barry Sullivan (Paul) is also on the cruise with Powell and gets caught up in a love triangle with the mother and daughter combination. It's a musical comedy so everything gets resolved and everyone is happy in the end.
The trouble with the film is that all the musical numbers are rubbish apart from the standard "Shine on Harvest Moon" which will always sound good whenever anybody sings it. The misunderstandings are so painfully contrived that it is quite annoying watching all the ensuing confusion as you just want the characters to be straight-talking with each other. Which they aren't!
The colour, the costumes and the sets are good to see but there is no filming on location in Rio. Shame. The film is ok to watch but it fell short for me. For a better film with Jane Powell, watch "Two Weeks with Love" also from 1950.
The Sound of Fury (1950)
I'm from Ireland and I'm having a baby
Frank Lovejoy (Howard) desperately needs a job to take care of his wife and son. By chance, he meets Lloyd Bridges (Jerry) at a bowling alley and so begins an association that brings him a job. Of sorts. It also leads to the destruction of his life.
This film is based on a true story about the killing of a wealthy college graduate whose killers sent a ransom note after they had already killed him. The ensuing events triggered a 'wild west' mentality to resolve matters.
The story is interesting, especially as it is true, but I'm afraid that the actors ruin this for me. Lovejoy's behaviour makes no sense in the 2nd half of the film when his conscience plays havoc with his head and he does something really stupid, and I mean REALLY stupid! So, can't relate to this guy. Then there is the patronizing pseudo intellectual Renzo Cesana (Vido) who explains his psychological mumbo-jumbo as if lecturing the audience with his obvious clap-trap. But whilst the audience is insulted by being preached to, the moronic journalist Richard Carlson (Stanton) views his soundbites as a revelation and reveres Cesana as a beacon of eye-opening intelligence. What a load of cack!
Then there are the women - oh my goodness!! I never want to watch another film with the ghastly, saccharine "I'm having a baby" Kathleen Ryan (Judy). She is so irritating and throws in the "I'm having a baby" line at every opportunity. All of her scenes have the sincere melodrama laid on thick and this will lead to many viewers wanting to vomit. My advice is to watch this film with a bucket nearby. We also have Katherine Locke who plays some sort of simpleton woman desperate for a man but not hitting the mark of a real actual character at all. Nothing rings true about her.
Lloyd Bridges (Jerry) plays the only interesting character but even he also loses credibility when he descends into an over-the-top cartoon performance towards the end. The film is only interesting when he is on screen which needed to be far more than what he was given. Otherwise, the film is just way too many characters of no interest interacting with each other.
Instead of remembering an interesting story, I am left with an overall feeling of annoyance, especially "I'm having a baby" Kathleen Ryan.....aaaarrgh!!....
Quai de Grenelle (1950)
Nice shoes
Henri Vidal (Jean-Louis) and his girlfriend Françoise Arnoul (Simone) are crossing the road when a gendarme castigates Vidal for jay-walking and having a bad attitude. As a crowd gathers, incorrect reports of the original offence spread like 'Chinese Whispers' which eventually make it to the police station. In the meantime, Vidal has legged it and is now unfairly wanted for questioning over a more serious offence - a robbery. This is the story of how an innocent man can be taken down by unfortunate circumstances.
Whilst the story is typically French, ie, downbeat, it is entertaining, especially thanks to the supporting cast. The women all have interesting roles. Watch how nightclub boss Margo Lion (M. Chotard) coaches new recruit Arnoul in how to carry herself when walking around the club. The French are such pros! Talking of pros, prostitute Maria Mauban (Maria) plays her role well as the world-weary street-walker. Yep, the women keep this film ticking along............and how about the weird shoemaker Jean Tissier (Zana)!! We also have tabloid journalist Pierre Louis thrown into the mix to do what tabloid journalists do.....make stuff up...!
There is plenty here to entertain as well as an interesting setting on location in Paris and some choice language. And you get some boobs on show. This is no Hollywood film.
The lesson from this film is don't disrespect a policeman! If only Vidal had just kept his mouth shut....