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description= Notes on Film by John Greco;
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with movies like the cat and the canary the ghost breakers and continued into the 1940s monsieur beaucaire the princess and the pirate the paleface and the road to movies by the mid 1950s his films were going downhill in the 1960s hope s films were hopeless ouch movies like call me bawana eight on the lam i ll take sweden boy did i get a wrong number and a global affair were unfortunate affairs but in that early golden period bob hope a master of timing had many gems that still hold up a few years back i wrote a post about celluloid comfort food and one of the five films i mentioned was my favorite brunette it s always been a go to film whether i was in some sort of funk or did not feel like watching anything new i know the film by heart watching my favorite brunette and other hope films you can see the influence old ski nose had on woody allen bob hope was woody s comic idol you easily see this in many of woody s early films the cowardly sperm in everything you always wanted to know about sex the live lobster scene in annie hall and most of the scenes in bananas the mannerisms the jokes it s all there my favorite brunette is a marvelously funny take off on the classic film noirs of the day adding a bit of noir authenticity is the inclusion of a cameo by alan ladd as tough guy detective sam mccloud an evil peter lorre and hope s character telling the story in voice over hope is baby photographer ronnie jackson a wannabe private investigator when we first meet ronnie jackson he is on san quentin s death row awaiting execution for a murder he did not commit the warden allows him to tell his story to a group of reporters portrait photographer ronnie jackson is having a tough time photographing mrs fong s baby the child will not smile two hours and numerous shots later ronnie gets his perfect photo and promises to have the proofs ready tomorrow shortly afterward ronnie visits sam mccloud whose office is next door to jackson s photography studio in san francisco s chinatown jackson has been begging to mccloud to give him a chance at p i work ronnie wants to be a tough guy p i like humphrey bogart dick powell and even alan ladd jackson reveals his newly invented keyhole camera he s been kicked out of five hotels already trying it out and his recently purchased gun but tough guy mccloud says nothing doing ronnie can answer his phone whenever he is out on a case for ronnie it s better than nothing when mccloud takes a quick trip to chicago he leaves ronnie in charge to man the phone unwittingly giving ronnie a chance to play detective that happens when our sultry femme fatale who else but dorothy lamour enters the detective s office mistaking ronnie for p i tough guy mccloud her name is baroness carlotta montay she claims her invalid husband really her uncle baron montay has been kidnapped by some very dangerous men including a weasel like henchman called kismet noir veteran peter lorre who followed her to mccloud s office and is peeking into the detective s door carlotta begs jackson for help she gives our hero an address and a critically important map that she tells him to guard with his life ronnie hides the map in a paper cup dispenser in his photography studio and is soon on his way to his first p i case he soon finds himself deeply involved in a convoluted plot involving mystery murder and mayhem hot on the trail ronnie s detective work leads him down the rocky road to san quentin and the gas chamber as expected jackson is saved from execution thanks to carlotta mccloud and mrs fong s help the biggest loser in the film is not the criminals but bing crosby whose film ending walk on as the executioner leaves him disappointed he cannot execute bob this is my contribution to the classic movie blog association s laughter is the best medicine blogathon if you need more comic shots in the arm click here and here share this share on facebook opens in new window facebook share on x opens in new window x share on tumblr opens in new window tumblr email a link to a friend opens in new window email share on pinterest opens in new window pinterest share on linkedin opens in new window linkedin like loading 3 comments posted in bob hope film reviews tagged bob hope comedy dorothy lamour my favorite brunette half a hero 1953 may 18 this post is my contribtuion to the cmba s hidden classics blogathon these are the forgotten gems the underrated ones that deserve more attention you can discover more hidden classic gem by clicking on this link america in the early 1950s was on a high the war was over the boys were home a baby boom was in full swing and the economy was growing many folks were leaving the city and heading out to the white picket fence world of the suburbs in the suburbs away from the hustle and bustle of the city people were living what many thought was the american dream released in 1953 half a hero is a small low budget programmer that had nothing on its mind other than providing a few laughs written by max shulman rally round the flag boys the affairs of dobie gillis and directed don weis i love melvin the affairs of dobie gillis this was the kind of small film that television helped kill but time has been good to this little film make no mistake this is no lost masterpiece what it is though is a reflection or a mirror held up to a time and place in america that reveals the country s mood and emerging middle class during this period 1 that may seem like a lot of weight to place on a small lightweight programmer that stars comic red skelton but it s true skelton plays ben dobson an unemployed writer who gets a job at a magazine where his new and frugal boss mr bascomb charles dingle approves of ben and his wife martha jean hagen living in a small tenement building on the west side of manhattan bascomb hates the newfangled fad of people moving out to the suburbs or as he calls them the slums of tomorrow where they are living above their financial means borrowing money on credit which he rails against claiming it will ruin the country ben starts off as a rewrite man checking and correcting other writer s work his boss likes his work but the frugal employer does not offer a raise meanwhile ben s wife jean hagen informs hubby she is pregnant she s pushes for ben to ask for an increase or quit it works ben to his surprised is valued with a family now jean hints their small apartment feels cramped they need more space she suggests they look for a house where else but in the suburbs ben is against it however he reluctantly agrees to look he sets the amount they could afford to spend on a house and swears they cannot wavier from it naturally the houses in the price range ben was limiting their financial sights on are small and not what his wife wants and just as naturally she gets her way with a house costing more than ben wanted expenses soon mount as bill after bill arrives it seems never ending ben by the way has not told his boss about his move to the suburbs so when the boss man informs ben he wants him to write an exposé on how suburbanites are living above their means ben who is unhappy with his living in the burbs hopes that if he writes the article to be called the slums of tomorrow about the folks in his own hometown they will hate him and his family so much they will feel forced to move back to the city surprisingly there are quite a few serious moments in a film that is basically a comedy it manages to jump smoothly back and forth skelton a comic handles it all well along with jean hagen singin in the rain the asphalt jungle as his wife and charles dingle talk of the town my favorite brunette as his cheap boss the cast includes mary wickes the man who came to dinner and frank cady ace in the hole as potential buyers of their suburban home king donovan invasion of the body snatchers and dorothy patrick come to the stable as fellow suburbanites along with kathleen freeman burt mustin and polly bergen who appears as herself singing the song love by 1953 when half a hero arrived in theaters red skelton had already moved toward television sure there were more films public pigeon no 1 the great diamond robbery and some cameos in films like susan slept here and ocean s 11 but more and more his work was on the tube his hit television show began in 1951 and ran for an amazing twenty years footnotes hyperlink https d docs live net d1a7fc87681f81d0 half 20a 20hero docx 8221 l _ftnref1 1 nicholas ray s 1956 film bigger than life presents a darker view of the 1950s american suburban dream share this share on facebook opens in new window facebook share on x opens in new window x share on tumblr opens in new window tumblr email a link to a friend opens in new window email share on pinterest opens in new window pinterest share on linkedin opens in new window linkedin like loading 11 comments posted in uncategorized tagged half a hero jean hagen red skelton 6 films 6 decades blogathon may 16 here is my contribution to the national classic film day blogathon 6 films 6 decades six favorite films one from each decade beginning with the 1920s through 1970s it was hard just picking one film how do i choose between the maltese falcon and double indemnity i picked one from each decade but did i pick the right one the answer is on the day i wrote this post it was the right answer but i keep asking myself how could i leave double indemnity off how could i have chosen mean streets over the godfather or the last picture show how could i have picked the graduate over rosemary s baby or the manchurian candidate i m sure if you call me tomorrow i would come up with six different films and still be conflicted find more contributions to this series by clicking here the gold rush the gold rush was the first silent feature film i ever watched back in the days before streaming before dvds before vhs a few movies silent films that had fallen into public domain were sold on 8mm film via blackhawk films most were shorts and comedies by the likes of buster keaton laurel and hardy and others the gold rush is my favorite of chaplin s feature films for pure laughs you cannot beat it but there is more iconic images such as the dance of the dinner rolls the boiling and eating of one of his boots for dinner and waking up one cold morning after a fierce snowstorm to find his cabin teetering on the edge of a cliff these images are at times poignant sweet and always laugh out loud funny angels with dirty faces i love warner brothers gangster films they were tougher grittier and more streetwise than say a mgm gangster film like johnny eager i grew up on films like the public enemy the roaring twenties and angels with dirty faces and to this day they remain favorites michael curtiz was one of hollywood s great house directors the only other director who can match him for one great film after another is alfred hitchcock angels with dirty faces brought james cagney back to his gangster type roles of the past as well as back to warner brothers after a contract dispute he came back in style in one of the best gangster films of the classic era but angels is more than just a gangster flick it s warner s known for its social commentary giving us a dose of how fate can change the course of your life on a dime how things turn out in life is sometimes just a matter of chance who can make it over the fence getting away from the police and who does not this was sophisticated filmmaking dressed up as slick popular entertainment rocky s last mile is brilliantly shot with high contrast lighting his defiant attitude and then the final moments of his life as he turns cowardly the filmmaker s leave it ambiguous did rocky really die a coward did he do it for the kids or did he do more for father jerry his only real friend we can only surmise and draw our own conclusions because the filmmakers aren t telling the maltese falcon humphrey bogart has been one of my favorite actors ever since i first became a film lover whether on the right or wrong side of the law he never lost that cynical anti hero touch of a man who always went his own way and live by his own code best expressed in this classic line when a man s partner is killed he s supposed to do something about it it doesn t make any difference what you thought of him he was your partner and you re supposed to do something about it there is much more to the story that investigating his partner s death there are lies deceit sex and betrayal there is also a supporting cast of sydney greenstreet peter lorre and elijah cook jr all who would become seminal supporting players in noirs to come rear window i ve written about this film times before it s my favorite hitchcock and that is saying a lot and one of my all time favorites rear window gets to the roots of movie watching and still photography for anyone who is an avid filmgoer it is no great revelation that watching movies is an extension of voyeurism after all that s what we do we look into the lives of others observing in a socially acceptable way as opposed to peeping into the windows of neighbors or strangers we are all to an extent curious to know what other people are doing it s human nature however most people can keep these voyeuristic tendencies limited to the socially accepted variety alfred hitchcock was well aware of this trait in humans and he suckers us into compliance right from the beginning with the casting of james stewart who better than mr nice guy mr straight lace to lure you into peeping in on your neighbors and making you think there is nothing weird about it you may not like hearing it but yes if you like watching movies you are a voyeur rear window is also smart funny tense meticulous and intriguing the graduate there are some films that are indelibly burned into your psyche for whatever reason it may have to do with the heart of every audience member jumping into their throats the first time the shark comes out of the water in jaws it could be the blaring rock sound of the ronettes singing be my baby on the soundtrack of mean streets or the discovery of a little know film called the panic in needle park as you watch a then unknown actor named al pacino blow you away there are certain films that are etched into your life and become a brick on the wall that helped build your love for movies for me the graduate was one of those films the source material a novel by charles webb was published in 1963 to little and no acclaim by 1967 a lot had changed in america the anti war movement had emerged long hair hippies the love generation an anti establishment movement was growing there was a feeling of it was us against them in 1968 jerry rubin would make the phrase never trust anyone over 30 a rallying cry webb s benjamin braddock did not live in that world he seems to be a character on the cusp a product of 1950s white picketed suburban america though unlike his 50s counterparts he did not want to follow in his parents footsteps subsequently he 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