Swing Time (1936)

Star Rating- 2 1/2
Length of Film- 103 minutes
Director- George Stevens
Cast- Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Victor Moore, Helen Broderick, Eric Blore, Betty Furness, & Georges Metaxa
Oscar-Jerome Kern & Dorothy Fields (music)
Oscar Nominations- Hermes Pan (dance)

The only good thing about this movie is the music and the dancing. This film produced two popular songs, "The Way You Look Tonight" & "A Fine Romance". 

The plot line was weak...very weak. Pretty sure the production company had a contract with Astaire and Rogers so they had to put the duo together and made this crap film. I understand why this movie is so memorable; it's because of the musical numbers and the dancing abilities of the actors. No one dances like the greats such as Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire. They were super stars for a reason. 

The big, (oh my gosh, did they really put this on film?) was Astaire's solo of "Bojangles in Harlem". They painted his face black to represent Bill Robinson. "While Astaire’s admiration of Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, was genuine, a salute to a black artist, is not a salute if it is also insulting to African Americans." 
http://www.mirrorfilm.org/2010/09/15/race-in-film-swing-time-shall-we-dance/comment-page-1/


Fun Facts
"Never Gonna Dance" took nearly fifty takes to nail. Roger's feet were bleeding by the end. 


In "The Way You Look Tonight", Ginger Rogers is seen to be washing her hair. The crew tried various soaps, shampoos, and even egg white, but it always ran down her face too quickly. They achieved success with whipped cream.

The Band Wagon (1953)

Star Rating- 2 1/2
Length of Film- 111 minutes 
Director- Vincente Minnelli
Cast- Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, Oscar Levant, Nannette Fabray, Jack Buchanan, James Mitchell, & Robert Gist
Oscar Nominations- Betty Comden, Adolph Green (screenplay), Mary Ann Nyberg (costume), & Adolph Deutsch (music)

The Band Wagon came out a year after Singin' in the Rain, and it did NOT match the same "amazingness" of rain. A lot of it had to with the leading man. Fred Astaire can dance, but he doesn't have the looks or the singing ability like Gene Kelly.

This is going to be a short and sweet synopsis. The first half was producing and practicing  for the stage production of the musical, and of course it failed because the director had a different vision than the writers. The cast and chorus decided to re do the production to the original when they went on tour. The tour was a success and then they went back to on stage.

The end of the film was seeing each individual song in full costume and on stage. My favorite scene was when the 3 main characters dressed up as babies and sang and dance. You can CLEARLY see that they have fake arms and legs, but I have no idea how they did it. The song was catchy and you couldn't take your eyes away from the performers and trying to figure out how they did it. Here's an explanation from tcm.com


"Another musical sequence, the bizarre "Triplets," shows Astaire, Fabray and Buchanan all apparently midgets dressed as babies, sliding down from their high chairs and dancing. Since we see their feet hit the floor and special effects seem impossible, how did they do it? By balancing on artificial legs strapped to their knees, Fabray reports; they fell dozens of times before getting it right, and relied on pain-killers." 

The ONLY reason why I gave this movie the 1/2 star is because of the "Triplets" song. 

Atlantic City (1980)

Star Rating- 2
Length of Film- 104 minutes
Director-Louis Malle
Cast- Burt Lancaster, Susan Surandon, Kate Reid, Michel Piccopi, Hollis McLaren, Robert Joy, Al Waxman, Robert Goulet, Moses Znaimer, Angus Macinnes, Sean Sullivan, Wallace Shawn, Harvey Atkins, Norma Deil' Agnese, & Louis Del Grande
Oscar Nominations- Denis Heroux (best picture), Louis Malle (director), John Guarenas (screenplay), Burt Lancaster (actor), & Susan Surandon





If you want to see Susan Surandon rub lemon juice on her chest, shoulders, and breast...then watch this movie.

If you want to watch Susan Surandon make out with an older man...then watch this movie.

If you want to see a husband leave his wife for her sister, because they got pregnant...then watch this movie. 

If you want to see how they bought and sold cocaine...watch this movie.

Everyone rants and raves about how this movie portrays the crumbling Atlantic City with all the renovations and the mix of old and new AC trying to mesh as one. Burt Lancaster playing the old AC mobster who cannot let go of the past, and Susan Surandon, the present who is trying to get out of the food industry to the card tables to better her life.


I just didn't like it... I didn't like the romance the writers wrote having Surandon and Lamcaster be lovers. I can't believe a woman would go for a man 40+ years older. 

The book, "1,001 Movies You Must See Before You Die" raved about this film stating..." A wonderfully hard-to-categorize combination of crime thriller, love story, Beauty and the Beast-style fairy tale, and meditation on the changes affecting an American resort over half a century. " 

Yes, you write a compelling review interesting me in the film, but it sucked!!! Why would you want to watch a movie about a town that's falling a part, showing that crime and drugs were a crucial part of the city? Not me... 

Susa Surandon's accent was god awful, and made me second guess why she was even nominated for an Oscar. Why? Because she was topless and had to make out with Burt Lancaster? I don't think so... 

The ONLY part I liked was when the mixed the coca in with baby talc powder, or something along those sorts to trick the sellers and make more $. Thought that was pretty clever. 

Again, make your own mind. I disagreed with the reviewer of the book, but it doesn't mean that you won't. 

Happy watching!

M*A*S*H (1970)

Star Rating- 4

Length of Film- 116 minutes
Director- Robert Altman
Cast- Donald Sutherland,Elliott Gould, Tom Skerritt, Sally Kellerman, Robert Duvall, Roger Bowen, Rene Auberjonois, David Arkin
Oscar- Ring Lardner Jr. (Screenplay)
Oscar Nominations- Ingo Preminger (best picture), Robert Altman (director), Sally Kellerman (actress in support role), and Danford B. Greene (editing)






This film is considered a "satire" the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues. This of course hits the nail on the head about the Korean War. Here are some of the quotes from the film that made me laugh.

Soldier #1: I think we should send a letter or commendation to the armed forces radio network.

Soldier #2: Ah, wonderful. Yes. It was the most uplifting program I’ve ever heard.

Soldier #1: It was climatic.

_____________________________________________________________________

Hospital Worker- Who are you?

Hawkeye- I’m Dr. Jekyll, actually. This is my friend, Mr. Hyde.

McIntyre- [Grunts]

 This movie is a just a bunch of guys stuck in a small area. They entertain themselves by teasing a female Major, nicknaming her "hot lips". They even go as far as tearing down the walls of the bathroom revealing her naked body for everyone to see.

Another hilarious part was when a soldier was so depressed, that he wanted to commit suicide. They throw him his last supper, which looked a lot like the last supper in the New Testament. 

At the end of the movie, while Hawkeye and Duke was driving away in a jeep, going home after being discharged, the intercom came on with announcements stating the movie MASH would be playing. It went through and named all of the actors that were in the film. It was a creative way to incorporate the credits, but still be in the film.  

The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

Star Rating- 3

Length of Film- 126 minutes
Director- John Frankenheimer 
Cast- Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh, Angela Lansbury, He ray Silva, James Gregory, Leslie Parrish, John Mcgiver, Khigh Dhiegh, James Edwards, Douglas Henderson, Albert Paulsen, Barry Kelley, Lloyd Corrigan, & Madame Spivy
Oscar Nominations- Angela Lansbury (actress in support role), Ferris Webster (editing)

List of reasons why you should watch this movie: 
1. Angela Lansbury plays a villain
2. Military brainwashing 
3. Love of his life is murdered
4. Frank Sinatra
5. Political manipulation

Here are some fun, behind the scenes info from the book, "The Greatest Movies Ever". 

*Due to its vehemently anti- Communist subject matter, the film was not released in Eastern Bloc countries until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1993.

*In the karate scene, when Sinatra smashes the coffee table with his hand, that grimace of pain isn't acting. He broke his finger that never completely healed.


Watch this movie. There were so many memorable scenes in this movie: especially when the North Korean held a forum, explaining and showing examples of how heartless the brainwasher can be and when they're told to jump, they say "how high?" 

You will never look at a Queen of Diamonds the same, ever again.

The Conversation (1974)

Star Rating- 3
Length of Film- 113 minutes
Director- Francis Ford Coppola
Cast- Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Allen Garfield, Frederic Forrest, Cindy Williams, Michale Higgins, Elizabeth MacRae, Teri Garr, Harrison Ford, Mark Wheeler, Robert Shields, & Phoebe Alexander
Oscar Nominations- Francis Ford Coppola (best picture), Francis Ford Coppola (screenplay), Walter Murch & Art Rochester (sound)
Cannes Film Festival- Francis Ford Coppola (Golden Palm, ppirze of the ecumenical jury-special mention)



Henry Caul (Gene Hackman) was hired to follow his clients wife, because he suspects she's cheating on him. Henry follows the couple and successfully has a recording of the boyfriend saying, "he'd kill us if he got the chance." 

He gives the recording to his client, and he hears the recording, and fears for the wife and boyfriends safety. In the recording he hears that they're going to meet at specific hotel at, certain date, and time. Becoming obsessed with this case, he gets the hotel room next to theirs, he drills a hole to the other hotel room to hear their conversation.

The hotel had bathroom block windows and a body was smashed up against it, Henry viewing it all...Henry flushes the toilet, and it overflows with blood and towels.

In the end, the quote "he'd kills us if he got the chance" wasn't said by the boyfriend, worried that THEY were going to die... 

In the end, Henry was threatened to keep his mouth shut, because they were listening. He tore his house to shreds to find the bug. And when I say, tear his house apart, I'm talking about the hard wood floors, and the walls.

The best party of the movie was finding out the boyfriend/wife committed murder, and seeing Henry tear his house apart, never finding the bug.

Shadow of a Doubt (1943)

Star Rating- 3
Length of Film- 108 minutes
Director- Alfred Hitchcock
Cast- Teresa Wright, Joseph Cotton, Macdonald Carey, Henry Travers, Patricia Collinge, Hume Cronyn, Wallace Ford, Edna May Wonacott, Charles Bates, Irving Bacon, Clarence Muse, Janet Shaw, & Estelle Jewell
Oscar Nomination- Gordon McDonnell (screenplay) 





Serial killer leaves the city to small suburbia where his sister lives. His teenage niece, Charlie is named after her uncle, and they have this weird psychic connection. As soon as Uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotten) is around, Charlie (Teresa Wright) has a vision of a party and hearing a specific song. We later find out it's the location where the murders happened.

Uncle Charlie said he was in business, and deposited $40,000 in the bank where his brother-in-law works. Everything was peachy keen until detectives come to town. They don't come right out and say they're detectives. They say they're working on a national survey. They come to the house, with a camera to take photos of a working class family, but they're really wanting photos of Uncle Charlie, the murderer suspect. The photographer snaps a photo of Uncle C, but he demands the film, stating he NEVER has his photo taken.

Detective Jack (MacDonald Carey), falls in love with young Charlie and proposes marriage after admitting his intentions to why he was actually there; their suspicions that Charlie is the murderer. Young Charlie does research and finds newspaper clippings and her visions fit the scene of the crime. The ring he gave young Charlie as a gift, had initials engraved in them that matched one of the murders initials. 

Charlie catches on to Young Charlie's skepticism and he tries to get rid of her. The ending is a very Alfred Hitchcocky...suspenseful, edge of your seat.