1941

1.     Ball of Fire

2.     Caught in the Draft

3.     Devil and Miss Jones

4.     Dumbo

5.     Look Who's Laughing,

6.     Never Give a Sucker an Even Break

7.     Road to Zanzibar

8.     Sullivan's Travels

9.     The Lady Eve

10. The Strawberry Blonde

11. Hellzapoppin'

    

Drama

1.     Meet John Doe

2.     I Wake Up Screaming

3.     Sergeant York

4.     Suspicion

5.     Penny Serenade

6.     Maltese Falcon

7.     The Sea Wolf

8.     Citizen Kane

9.     Here Comes Mr. Jordan

      Musical

1.     That Night in Rio

2.     Girl Babes on Broadway,

3.     Ziegfeld

     British

1.     Target for Tonight

2.     That Hamilton Woman (aka Lady Hamilton)

     Foreign

1.     The 47 Ronin (Genroku chushingura)

      Western

1.     Western Union

2.     They Died with Their Boots On

3.     Shepherd of the Hills

The Last Hunt (1956)

Stars: Robert Taylor, Stewart Granger, Lloyd Nolan, Deborah Paget
Plot: In the Old West, two men with vastly differing views on killing and Indians partner to hunt Buffalo.  After killing a Sioux raiding party, one man takes a squaw for his own thereby leading to conflict and a showdown.

Pros:  Robert Taylor,  Several Location shots,  Acting

Cons:  Real Buffalo killed on screen, Miscast supporting actors, Too stage bound and talky,  Mediocre Script

Produced by Liberal MGM producer Dory Shary this adult western is really another civil rights morality play with Psycho Robert Taylor (full of greed, a love of killing, and a hatred for "Injuns") is opposed by Good Guy Granger.  There are a few good location shots and bursts of outdoor activity -but too much is shot on sound stage "campfires" and Hollywood backlots.  There's much talk and little action, and the movie ends with a whimper not a bang.  While Granger more or less convinces as a Westerner, the supporting cast fairs less well.  Nolan is too urbane and nasal as the lovable old coot/sidekick ( ala Walter Brennan) while Deborah Paget is about as Indian as Myrna Loy.  Justly characterized as bleak, it seems much longer than the 104 minute run time as  Granger takes forever to break with the Psychotic Taylor.  The on-screen Buffalo killing (done by National Park Rangers) adds nothing and  manages to be  both disgusting and boring at the same time.  

Summary:  Notable only for the excellent performance by Robert Taylor, otherwise a mediocre talky Western.  People who dislike seeing Animals killed onscreen should avoid at all costs. 

The Runaway Bus and The Last Tycoon

The Runaway Bus - A pleasant and forgettable English comedy-thriller staring Frankie Howerd as a hapless Bus driver lost in fog in route to an alternate airport, On board are a mixed group of passengers (well acted by Margaret Rutherford, Petulia Clark, and Belinda Lee) one of whom is the mysterious criminal mastermind "The Banker". The film does a good job of disguising who is "The Banker" till the very end and several comedy bits are quite funny. However, there's a lot of Frankie Howerd, so if you find him tiresome, you're in for a long 88 minutes.

The Last Tycoon - Based on F. Scott Fitzgerald's unfinished novel, it tells the thinly disguised story of MGM's wonder boy Thalberg. Given talent involved, De Niro, Kazan, Mitchum, Pinter, this was quite a disappointment. Its not bad, it just never got me involved. De Niro does his usual good job as the lead and the direction is fine, but there's just nothing in the story/script that got my pulse racing. Its one of those movies where you get to "the end" and ask "what was the point?" Others may find it deep and subtle.

Les Amants (1958)

Director - Louis Malle

Not really my kind of movie but Jeanne Moreau is incredibly attractive as a bored Upper-class wife who finds excitement with a new lover. Well made and interesting, as always, for the views of 1958 Paris and the countryside. Probably famous today because it was involved in the absurd 1964 SCOTUS case Jacobellis v. Ohio, where Justice Potter Stewart goofily stated "he knew Pornography when he saw it" but otherwise couldn't explain why.

Three by Dearden

League of Gentlemen (1960) - Very enjoyable bank heist movie. Jack Hawkins has never been better. 
Victim (1961) - Dirk Bogarde shines as a Gay closeted Lawyer battling a blackmailer preying on the Gay community. Well done and interesting even though a bit dated. 
All Night Long (1962) - Based on "Othello" a party of Jazz musicians turns nasty. More or less a filmed play. Not bad but the lack of charisma in the supporting actors hurts it. Charles Mingus and Dave Brubeck make brief appearances and show why they chose Jazz over acting.

Obsession (1949)

Neat little British thriller/film noir with some heavy American input (Dymtryk). Robert Newton shines as the cold as ice Doctor who plans on killing his wife's American Lover (Phil brown) by committing the "perfect murder".

Newton was the real revelation in this one as he is miles away from his "Avast Ye" Long John silver role. He out does James Mason as highly intelligent, cold as ice Killer who underneath is a raging mass of obsession and jealousy.

Supporting Newton are Sally Gray - intelligent and impossibly lovely - and Naunton Wayne, as the laid back, pipe smoking Scotland Yard detective. Phil Brown is good as the Gray's lover but is overshadowed at times by Monty the dog.

Very enjoyable.

Cleopatra (1963)

A rewatch of the infamous Burton-Taylor sword and sandals epic that almost sunk Fox. On the plus side: Harrison and the massive crowds, sets, and customs. You can see all the money on the screen. A big minus has to be the script which just lumbers along for 4 hours (!) along with Burton who seems very subdued. He gets better at the end when his character has more to do. As for Taylor, it hard to think who else could have played Cleopatra in '63 spectacular, but she her acting seems very flat at times and seems at times somewhat matronly.

The supporting cast seems fine except the occasional lapse such as Roddy McDowell as Octavian!

All in all, not as bad as I remember. Certainly watching it on DVD helped as I was able to pause and do other things as opposed to being immobilized for 4 hours in a theater. Of course, the photography is more impressive on a big screen.

Supposedly, the director wanted to issue two 3 hour movies, which is incredible since it may mean that they shot 6 hours of film and cut 2 hours! Like Mutiny on the Bounty the film lost money for the studio not because it was unpopular - it was the highest grossing film of 1963 - but because it cost so much.