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Mystery of Marie Roget (1942)
Edgar Allen Poe mystery
Sadly I couldn't get into this.
The Mystery of Marie Roget is a Universal programmer starring Maria Montez, Patric Knowles, Lloyd Corrigan, and Maria Ouspenskaya.
Based on a true story that took place in the U. S., this Poe story is moved to France where Maria Montez goes missing, reappears, plans to kill her sister and then is murdered herself.
Lloyd Corrigan was very annoying. It didn't seem to me that Maria Montez had much to do. Not being that familiar with her, I expected more. I should know more about her. I was asked to do a TV interview about her at one point and read a book about her the night before. I guess most of it faded from memory. I do remember, she was married to Jean Pierre Aumont and died in the bathtub.
Nice atmosphere, though. And Patric Knowles is very likable.
The Saxon Charm (1948)
No charm there
Robert Montgomery stars as a ruthless producer, based on real-life producer Jed Harris, in That Saxon Charm from 1948.
First some trivia: Everyone loathed Jed Harris. Laurence Olivier based his physical appearance in Richard III on him. Allegedly Disney based the Big Bad Wolf's look on him. Who knows, but Richard III and the Wolf look alike.
John Payne portrays a playwright who becomes involved with Saxon (Montgomery), a very controlling individual who insists on rewrites and interrupting time with his wife Janet (Susan Hayward). Janet has already been warned about Saxon by his longtime girlfriend, portrayed by Audrey Totter. Meanwhile, as great a producer as he might have been, there are signs that he has lost his touch.
Nice, different performance by Susan Hayward as a loving wife, well played without the histrionics she was known for.
Many best friend worked for Elizabeth Montgomery's manager and knew her very well. I got the impression Saxon may not have been that much of a stretch.
Harry Morgan and Cara Williams, before they starred in Pete and Gladys, also appear.
Scandal: The Trial of Mary Astor (2018)
What a woman
Very good documentary on the struggle film star MaryAstor had after her husband got hold of her notorious diaries, and the two fought for custody of their daughter, Marylyn.
The daughter in question, Marylyn Roh, talks about her mother, as do Leonard Maltin, Molly Haskell, and others.
What emerges is the story of a strong woman under tremendous pressure, making a very big film at the same time she is supposed to appear at a trial to get custody of her daughter, and her willingness to give up her career if it meant, she could have her daughter back with her.
At one point, she goes to a department store and asks if she were looking for a job, would they hire her? They said they would be thrilled to hire her and would make them their European buyer. She then knew that she could continue the fight and have a way to take care of her child.
Asked by the top studio executives to settle the case, as they were sick of all the Hollywood scandals, she said no, it would have to play out, as she was in the fight for her child.
The beginning of Astor's life was very sad. She was a big star as a teenager, kept a virtual prisoner by her parents, and paid a very tiny allowance while they built a lavish home and lived a huge lifestyle. Her diary was the only outlet she had for her feelings.
I especially liked the description of the time, the 1930s, the novelty of a court case as compared to today, and how Mary's diaries and case knocked the Olympics off the front page of the newspapers.
As Haskell explained, people were not used to movie stars speaking as themselves. Everything they said in public was scripted. This made the diaries and the trial all the more interesting to the public.
Highly recommended. A fascinating woman, and if you aren't familiar with her films, you will want to become familiar after you see this documentary.
Washington Story (1952)
Washington in the '50s
Reporter Alice Kingsley (Patricia Neal) comes to Washington to do a story about the professional life of a congressman and is steered toward Congressman Gresham (Van Johnson) in Washington Story from 1952.
In actuality, Kingsley works for a tabloid, and she wants something juicy. Her attitude changes when he impresses her with his commitment and honesty.
Gresham is dealing with a problem- the constructive of a ship building facility, great for his constituents but with negative national implications. Voting against it will cost him the election.
Both Johnson and Neal are very good, Johnson with that great all-American boy presence and charm, and Neal, a wonderful actress with an earthy sexiness.
Entertaining and at least nowadays, total fiction.
In Person (1935)
Ginger is delightful
Beautiful, multitalented Ginger Rogers is -guess what - a beautiful and multitalented movie star in In Person from 1935, also starring George Brent.
After a nervous collapse, a popular film star, Carol Corliss, goes into hiding, donning an ugly duckling disguise. Her psychiatrist thinks time in a mountain cabin will do her good, and asks a outdoorsman (Brent) to accompany her.
At first he doesn't know who she is, but he discovers her identity soon enough.
Then her frequent costar (Alan Mowbray) shows up, declaring his love and wanting her to return to Hollywood.
Pleasant enough, but Ginger's singing and dancing really are the highlights. She and Brent have good chemistry.
The Pretender (1947)
Paranoia
Another W. Lee Wilder special. This one a study in paranoia.
Albert Dekker plays Ken Holden, the trustee of a woman's estate. He's robbing it blind, so like any good trustee he attempts to convince the heiress, Claire, to marry him. But she's in love with someone else.
Decker then does what any trustee would do, he has a hit put out on the fiancé. However, Claire breaks off the engagement and elopes with Kenneth.
Kenneth attempts to cancel the hit which is now on himself, but the thug who made the arrangements dies.
Holden spends the rest of the movie terrified, refusing to eat food that is served to him, instead hoarding food he has purchased and eating it in his room. His life becomes so concerned that she calls in her old fiancé, who is a doctor, played by Charles Drake.
People talk about the twist ending in the last W Lee Wilder film I saw, which I had figured out, either because it was an old plot or I had seen the movie before. In this case, I figured it out also. So there really wasn't any twist for me here either.
As the point of trivia, W Lee Wilder is the brother of our very own Billy.
Time Cut (2024)
A teen goes back to 2003
I kind of enjoyed this. It's a teen time travel movie.
On the 21st anniversary of the murder of a sister she never knew, a young woman, Lucy (Madison Bailey) accidentally winds up back on the date of her sister's (Antonia Gentry) death. Her death was at the hands of a serial killer, and there were other casualties. The murders were never solved, and the tragedy has hung over the town. In Lucy's case, her parents are overprotective and she is afraid she is going to miss out. I don't important internship as a result.
The big question all these time travelers have to ask: what happens if they change the future? The question is especially gripping here: If she saves her sister, would her grieving parents ever have had another child - namely, her?
Not without holes, and particular involving one character, but it's enjoyable. You can't really ask for a realistic time travel movie. We haven't figured out how to do it yet.
The Glass Alibi (1946)
Very poor print
I may have seen this before.
A reporter, Joe Eykner (Douglas Fowley), learning that an heiress, Linda Vale (Maris Wrixon) has a few months to live, seduces her in about five minutes and marries her so that he and his girlfriend Belle (Anne Gwynne) can be on Easy Street.
Call it the power of love, but Linda doesn't die on schedule. The money Joe borrowed is running out, so he becomes desperate.
Three notable things about this film: It was directed by Billy Wilder's brother; Anne Gwynne is the grandmother of Chris Pine; and putting gas in Joe's car cost 40 cents.
Douglas Fowley's acting was awful, and even a dying woman looking for a few months of happiness wouldn't have married such a sleaze.
There's a big twist ending but right before the denouement I remembered the rest of the plot. Not sure it was this film, but it was something very similar.
Bad print.
Candlelight in Algeria (1943)
Take me to the Casbah
Candlelight in Algeria from 1944 is a British film about the invasion of North Africa by the Allies. It stars a skinny, mustached James Mason and Carla Lehmann.
Lehmann plays Susan, an American from Kansas who meets Alan (Mason) on the run from the Germans, when he breaks into her house. He asks her to steal a camera which has film showing the meeting place of the Allies to plan the invasion.
When the Germans arrest her, Alan rescues her, but the Germans are in pursuit.
Very good and atmospheric film, with Lehman resembling Meryl Streep in some angles. Mason had a remarkable career in British films before hitting a big over here; in this film, he is a scrappy freedom fighter.
The Long Arm (1956)
Investigation 1950s style
Jack Hawkins stars in "The Long Arm" from 1956. This film uses police procedural techniques from the day which are fascinating.
After a robbery takes place at a company, and the police somehow miss him, Scotland Yard Detective-Superintendent Tom Halliday gets the case. The strange thing is, the criminal opened the safe with a key. Halliday suspects an inside job.
After a lot of questioning and investigation, he finally finds a connection between a group of unsolved robberies where the safe was broken into was the safe itself, Rock Safe. Halliday and his partner (John Stratton) retrieve a list of people no longer working where the safes are manufactured.
One night, a young man (Stanley James) on his way to work sees the crook climbing down the front of a business. The man then runs to a car, and the car drives off. When the young man stands in the middle of the street to stop the car, he is mowed down. Questioning him is not much help, and he ultimately dies, making this a case of murder.
The film goes through every detail of the case, from finally locating the car, using a newspaper found there to trace a particular area in Wales, and ultimately narrowing down the where the next robbery will take place.
Interesting and well-acted, with Jack Hawkins doing a terrific job as a determined, caring superintendent and family man. What I loved the most is all the card files! A good example of the kind of hard work it took to solve a case before the age of computers and DNA.
The Spider (1945)
Ann Savage bows out early
Good, solid B film from 20th Century Fox starring Richard Conte, Faye Marlowe, Kurt Krueger, Martin Kosleck, Ann Savage, Mandan Moreland, and Cara Williams.
Conte is Chris Conlin, a New Orleans detective hired by Marlowe, seeking info on her sister, who has disappeared and may have been murdered.
When Chris' partner (Savage) is murdered, seemingly as a result of this case, Chris endeavors to get to the bottom of the case and his partner's murder. This leads him to a mind-reading act.
People will see the name Ann Savage and watch the film, but she dies almost immediately. Nevertheless, keep watching.
Conte does a terrific job, ably supported by the hilarious Mantan Moreland. That kind of comedy came under criticism later on, but Moreland was one of the most talented actors around, with that rubber face and flawless comic timing. A young Cara Williams is a neighbor, and she's stunning.
One of the high points for me was Chris' office, a beautiful set.
A little six degrees of 20th Century Fox separation- the granddaughter of one of Fox's biggest stars, Tyrone Power, disappeared in New Orleans in 1994.
'C'-Man (1949)
B movie
You will read that this is hidden treasure. I guess it's pretty hidden, but that's possibly because it's no treasure.
C-Man's chief claim to fame is that the score won a Pulitzer Prize. Be glad it wasn't played during the film, just the credits. What little bit that was played during the film was intrusive.
This B movie had some talented people: Dean Jagger, who won an Oscar the next year, John Carradine, Harry Landers, and stage actress Edith Atwater.
The story concerns a customs agent on the trail of a $325,000 necklace - that's $4 million today, and several people have been killed because of it.
The fight scenes in this were atrocious.
The plot was somewhat convoluted.
Strange Alibi (1941)
Warners gangster film
Similar premise to Beyond a Reasonable Doubt - a man undercover, the man who put him there dies, and he is sent to prison.
In Strange Alibi, Arthur Kennedy is police officer Joe Geary, who goes undercover to ferret out corrupt police officers. He winds up arrested for the murder of the Chief, the very man who sent him undercover, with the one witness on the lam.
Arthur Kennedy was always terrific, and he's ably supported here by Florence Bates.
This is the type of film Warners excelled in, and while it's just a programmer, it has some exciting scenes.
Baby boomers will see William Hopper, Perry Mason's Paul Drake, as a clerk, and the original Perry White of TV's Superman (John Hamilton) as a judge. Howard daSilva is a sadistic guard.
Some trivia - Florence Bates was the first woman to practice law in Texas.
Only Murders in the Building (2021)
Fun show
I don't think you can go wrong with the versatile, Uber funny and Uber talented Steve Martin and Martin Short. Add the lovely Selena Gomez, and you've got Only Murders in the Building.
These three true crime lovers begin to investigate murders that take place in their building, the Arconia, in New York City.
Turns out the building has a wacky past, some fascinating characters living there, hidden passages, and some crazy goings on.
It's a very funny show, loaded with guest stars that include people like Meryl Streep, Nathan Lane, Eugene Levy, Ron Howard, Tina Fey - the list is huge.
However, the show's popularity and its ability to attract big stars can take away from the three permanent ones, whose personalities really drive the series. There is that danger. Hope the focus can stay on them.
Loan Shark (1952)
Kit Parker film
George Raft plays a tough ex-con, Joe Gargen, who discovers that his brother-in-law and other workers at his factory are involved with loan sharks who resort to violence when the workers cannot pay.
When a union leader and the factory owner ask Joe to help, he refuses. Then his brother-in-law is murdered.
Joe goes undercover in order to infiltrate the gang and find out who is heading it up. Because you can't tell anyone what he's doing, his sister and his new girlfriend (Dorothy Hart) turn on him.
Typical Kit Parker film, made on a shoestring, with a nice tough guy performance by Raft. Beautiful Hart left films soon afterwards and became involved in UN projects for children.
A Bundle of Trouble: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery (2017)
Family affair
Another entry into the Aurora Teagarden mystery series on Hallmark. Hallmark is more popular than ever; in fact, I'm watching it now.
Martin, Aurora's boyfriend, played by handsome Yannick Bisson, is thrilled when his niece, her husband, and their new baby show up for a visit. Aurora (Candace Cameron Bure) is happy to have her stay in the house while she and Martin go out. Now, I should point out this is a house where three dead bodies were found previously.
When they return, all hell has broken loose. The niece is gone; the baby's father is dead, and they find the baby in the shower.
Unraveling this one leads Aurora to private adoptions, illegal adoptions, midwives who charge big bucks, nosy neighbors, and the search for Martin's niece.
All these movies are okay - harmless, family-friendly fun and sometimes the mysteries are pretty good. This wasn't hard to figure out, but it beats watching the depressing news any day of the week. And millions have found that out.
Signed, Sealed, Delivered: Home Again (2017)
Sweet story
Okay, I'm the sap of the year, but I really got into this story. I loved the cast - Kim Delaney, Barry Bostwick. Gregory Harrison - can't beat it.
When the Postables discover an antique vase that was never delivered 18 years earlier, they learn one of the daughters sent it to an antique dealer to sell and save the family farm. Eighteen years later, the farm is in trouble again, and it's up to the Postables to prove ownership and help the family. ,
I thought this was a lovely story. And let's face it, Hallmark is earning some big ratings for these family-friendly films. The climate of the country has something to do with it. Personally this was a great alternative to the news.
A Case of Murder (2017)
Confusing
A Case of Murder is from the Hallmark mystery "Garage Sale" series starring lovely Lori Laughlin as Jenn, the co-owner of an antique store and amateur sleuth.
After buying an old reel-to-reel recorder at a garage sale, Jenn discovers a tape on which a man is pleading for his life.
Actually this was a tad confusing. The pleading man is a psychiatrist who has just retired. Jenn picks up the recorder at a garage sale where the psychiatrist's wife - apparently at this point he's not dead - has taken off for a few days so she's selling his stuff. When Jenn tries to track down the source of the recording, she finds the doctor's body.
When she goes back to talk to the wife about her antiques (allegedly) she mentions the man's death and the wife gets all huffy and says it hasn't been published that he's dead and basically throws her out of the house. Yeah, it's a little out there.
Slow, with the subplot of Jenn's partner (Sarah Strange) trying to figure out what to do with her life. An ex-beau of hers returns to town as she's doing her imaging board. This woman is 42 - they dress and make her up like she's fifty so that the old high school beau looked about ten years younger. Not sure if that was the case, but Hallmark does seem to dress the women in these mystery series very middle-of-the-road and somewhat unstylishly.
These films were all made to appeal to a certain demographic, a demographic where people all have long hair and don't seem to know how to dress. I think they need to spiff things up because a lot of people in urban areas are loving Hallmark now - it's light, it's happy, it has familiar faces, no graphic sex, and no bad language. It's a nice alternative to news channels and dark shows.
Last Scene Alive: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery (2018)
Aurora in another mystery
Hollywood comes to Lawrenceton to film a movie - and in fact, the lead character is based on Aurora (Candace Cameron Bure). Written by an old beau, it's a mystery story - and becomes a bigger one when the leading lady is found murdered! Aurora's boyfriend Martin (Yannick Bisson) is a little jealous of the writer, who used to date Aurora.
Everyone is a suspect for different reasons, but Aurora concentrates on eliminating people and finding the killer.
The love story is convoluted. We say goodbye to John, and Martin goes to South America. Aida needs to figure some things out - John's involvement with the murder club is dangerous, and she turns around and dates a murder suspect? Sad writing.
These are cute movies, a little old-fashioned in their presentation but nevertheless enjoyable.
The Impostor (1944)
The wonderful Gabin
This is a good film from the Gabin-Duvivier partnership, though now the two of them have escaped Paris and are in Hollywood. The result is this World War II propaganda film.
Jean Gabin plays Clement, a prisoner found guilty of murder who is about to be executed. He is with the executioners when the Nazis bomb that part of the prison, and Clement escapes. He hitches a ride with some soldiers in a truck; there is a skirmish, and when Clement regains consciousness, the soldiers around him are dead. He steals the clothes and identity of a soldier named LeFarge. He then joins the French Resistance, headed for Africa.
This film is about true identity and camaraderie as soldiers, separated from the homes and loved ones, reminisce about what they've left behind, but patriotism has taken them to the fight.
Gabin is great as an embittered loner who soon learns the meaning of friendship as he fights in the trenches. There are wonderful performances from Richard Whorf, Allyn Joslyn, Ellen Drew, and Peter Van Eyck.
What's in a name - indeed. Highly recommended.
Deadly Deed: A Fixer Upper Mystery (2018)
So-so Hallmark mystery
The usual from Hallmark - a nice, clean mystery, this time starring Jewel and Colin Ferguson.
I wouldn't call it original, with the meanest man in town named Potter, just as in "It's a Wonderful Life." Jewel is Shannon, in charge of turning a repossessed Victorian mansion into low-cost housing. One problem is that the bank manager (the aforementioned Potter) doesn't like the terms. Then he's found dead.
Plenty of people wanted him dead, so Shannon gets to work trying to sort it out, using her deducting skills.
This has all the qualities of a Hallmark film: it's slow, takes place in a small town, the people are nice-looking, there's no bad language, and no sex.
Pleasant.
The Julius House: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery (2016)
Aurora's new home is fraught with mystery
It's amazing how Hallmark Channel's ratings have skyrocketed in the last couple of years. In a turbulent world, people like cozy mysteries, romance, happy endings, and no bad language.
I watch everything, from classics to new films and yes, even Hallmark, because I'm a mystery buff. So I admit I enjoy The Aurora Teagarden mysteries starring pretty, vivacious Candace Cameron-Bure, Marilou Henner, Yannick Bisson, and Bruce Dawson.
In this one, Aurora buys her dream house, which a family named Julius disappeared from some years earlier. Of course Aurora becomes involved in the mystery - where are the bodies? What happened to the family?
Enjoyable and a pretty fair mystery.
Dead Over Heels: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery (2017)
The original Aurora Teagarden films
Given the current climate in this country - unrest, frustration, unhappiness, bad news every time you turn around, Hallmark has come into its own. After years of being a sweetness and light network of small-town family values and chaste romance, it's in vogue. People want to watch attractive stars they know from soap operas or prime time comedies in light romances and mysteries with happy endings and no bad language.
Though it's obviously geared toward fundamentalist religious parts of the country - you can tell by the Bible and holy water ads - lots of people who fall outside this group are now addicted to Hallmark, people you'd never expect. And who can blame them?
Dead Over Heels: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery is from 2017, and it's an episode of the mystery series that stars pert Candace Cameron Bure. She plays a librarian and amateur sleuth. Aurora has a chaste relationship with her boyfriend (Yannick Bisson), and in some of the episodes, lives with her real estate broker mother (Marilu Henner). Aurora runs a mystery club that discusses old unsolved murder cases.
In this particular episode, the police chief falls from a plane - dead - into Aurora's yard.
The stories are okay and inoffensive, the wide-eyed Bure is cute and familiar to audiences who saw her on "Full House." The only problem I have is with the look of the show - all the women have long hair and sometimes can be hard to tell apart if you don't know the actresses very well. I'm not sure if this is because producers think that people have no sense of style in certain parts of the country or what.
Anyway, enjoyable.
Woman of the Hour (2023)
First directing attempt by Anna Kendrick
Anna Kendrick stars and directed "Woman of the Hour," from 2024.
The story is fairly well known - a serial killer, Rodney Alcala (Daniel Zovatto) appeared on The Dating Game and won a date with aspiring actress Cheryl Bradshaw (Kendrick).
All I remember about the actual story is that Cheryl refused to go out with him. Smart move.
I couldn't get past the casting of Zovatto. Alcala was sleaze personified but he was attractive if you like the type. This character came off like a slob and not at all charming, and it was hard for me to imagine women just going off with him.
I love Anna Kendrick, but I can't say this held my interest. Very slow, and theway it was directed, it seemed like many around him had his number, as there was always tension. This being the case, casting people would have picked up on it, not to mention the women he killed.
My gay friend, an aspiring actor in the '70s, who went on to a very nice career, was a bachelor on The Dating Game. He didn't win.
Singapore Woman (1941)
Strictly B fare
Singapore Woman stars Brenda Marshall in the eponymous role, from 1941, directed by Jean Negulesco.
Said woman is Vicki Moore, who considers herself a jinx, with good reason. Her father's tin mines were flooded and rendered useless, her husband was lost at sea, and a suitor kills himself.
On night an associate (David Ritchie) of her father discovers her soaking up gin in a cheap waterfront bar. He decides to help her get her life back.
The dark, exotically beautiful Marshall was Mrs. William Holden for 30 years. She's not really photographed to her best advantage in parts of this film. Nor is she surrounded by top Warner stars.
Nevertheless, it's a kind of Singapore riff on Dangerous, and she's interesting to watch.