The Night Of The Hunter

The Night Of The Hunter
Released Date: November 24, 1955
Director: Charles Laughton
Actors: Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish, James Gleason, Evelyn Varden, Peter Graves, Don Beddoe, Billy Chapin, Sally Jane Bruce, Gloria Castillo, Emmett Lynn, and Corey Allen

     The movie is a hit now, but when it was first released it was not. The director, Charles Laughton, said that he would never direct a movie again. Which was the truth. This was the director's last film. Robert Mitchum was never one to talk about his career, the different movies he was in, but later on in his life, Mitchum said that this was his favorite movie that he acted in, and that Charles Laughton was his favorite director that he worked with. Mitchum wanted to play a preacher, and wanted this part very badly. Good thing!!! He was perfect for the part. This has a great cast, and one that makes the movie even better. It made it even better, knowing that Mitchum really was in jail at one point. He made it that much more convincing.

     Rachel Cooper (Lillian Gish) starts the movie out. By talking to all of the children she takes care of, explaining life, and that you have to be careful who you let into your life. Taking the bible into the explanation and the wolf in sheep's clothing. After her speech, we go to a preacher, Harry Powell (Robert Mitchum). He is on his way down the road in a car. Talking to the Lord with his knuckles showing the words "Good" and "Evil" written on his fingers. He believes that everything that happens is for a reason, but that all of the things he goes through are God taking him in the directions. Willa Harper (Shelley Winters) has just lost her husband. He had been arrested and hung for murder. Her husband gave money he stole to his children. Who is in the same cell as the husband but Harry Powell. Powell overhears his cell mate talking in his sleep about the money. Powell tries to get the man to tell him where the money is, but never gets the actual location, except that his children know. After Powell gets out of jail, we see him in the same town as the widow and her children. If you said "Uh Oh" you're right. Powell marries Willa and brainwashes her. Powell tries desperately to get the children to talk, and to point him in the direction of the cash. It is a wild ride, and a great movie. Very creepy at times but well worth it. This movie is well directed, and well acted. You'll have goosebumps.

     One of my favorite things about this movie, besides the creepiness of it, is that the coloring in it is amazing. The black and white coloring is creepy and well done. The shading is great, all of it.

Dracula

Dracula 
Released Date: February 14, 1931
Director: Tod Browning
Actors: Bela Lugosi, Helen Chandler, David Manners, Dwight Frye, Edward Van Sloan, Herbert Bunston, Frances Dade, Joan Standing, and Charles K. Gerrard

      You may have heard the rumor that Bela Lugosi could not speak English very well, and had to learn his lines Phonetically. That was not the case, he actually knew English well enough by this point in his life that he learned all of his lines by himself. You can see Bela Lugosi play Dracula again in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. Nowadays, you would never put a light in someones eyes, but in Dracula the cinematographer, Karl Freund, put two pencil spot lights into Bela Lugosi's eyes to make his hypnotic stare more intense. Very well played however, his eyes were intense. Another cool effect: the castle's spider webs were made from shooting rubber cement from a gun, a rotary gun. Also, take a hard listen, the peasants you will see in the inn are praying in Hungarian, they are saying The Lord's Prayer.

     We follow Dracula (Bela Lugosi), of course, as he turns a man that is visiting the Vampire's castle, into a psychotic. Poor Renfield (Dwight Frye), he is scared to no end. Renfield is drug into a sea voyage and from there, a intituition where he can be looked after from now on. The sea voyage takes us to London, where Dracula starts sucking the blood from a young woman by the name of Lucy Weston (Frances Dade), she then becomes a Vampire. Afterwards, he turns his attention to Lucy Weston's friend, Mina Seward (Helen Chandler). Mina has friends on her side, they are doctors trying to take the attention away from Mina so she too, will not turn.

Thanksgiving

I Hope Everyone Had a Happy Thanksgiving :) 

Bette Davis made sure that the service men had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Thank you Bette Davis for making our troops happy!!! Bette Davis started the Hollywood Canteen, and worked the canteen too. 

Robert Young

I was just watching Father Knows Best and I wanted to write about Robert Young. He was born as Robert George Young on February 22, 1907 in Chicago, Illinois. He was very quiet but always wanted to get into acting. He was getting into a Playhouse before movies in 1931. One of the first movies I ever saw him in was a movie called Navy Blue and Gold. And now, thanks to Netflix, Father Knows Best. He was a fantastic actor. In Navy Blue and Gold, which was made in 1937, he played a young man who wanted to get into the navy to get women. Thinking that the uniform was all he needed, he learned fast that it also takes being a man and a brave man at that. My personal favorite actor, James Stewart starred in the movie with him. In Father Knows Best, Young plays a father who takes care of his wife and kids, life is great and it is a happy home. The show came out and teaches us to be good honest people, just like Robert Young teaches us. Robert Young battled Alcoholism and depression in his old age. He was well loved by everyone he worked with. You can tell in the cast of Father Knows Best. Truly a happy cast.

The Ghost And Mrs. Muir

The Ghost And Mrs. Muir
Released Year: 1947
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Actors: Gene Tierney, Rex Harrison, George Sanders, Edna Best, Vanessa Brown, Anna Lee, Robert Coote, Natalie Wood, Isobel Elsom, Victoria Horne, Helen Freeman, Stuart Holmes, Whitford Kane, Buster Slaven, and Will Stanton

     This movie was done by 20th Century-Fox, who always uses trumpets for their opening numbers. This film and three others do not use the sound of the trumpets. The other films are All About Eve, Sounder, and The Sound of Music. Bernard Herrmann composed the music for this picture, he is also known for his work with Alfred Hitchcock as well. Herrmann has said that this was the best music he ever composed. Another cool piece of information is that this movie is about a seaman, which happens to be funny because the word "Muir" means "The Sea" in the Irish language, Gaelic. You may also recognize Victoria Horne, she was also in Harvey with Jimmy Stewart.

     The year is 1900 and Lucy Muir (Gene Tierney) is tired of living with her late husband's mother Angelica (Isobel Elsom) and sister Eva (Victoria Horne). Which is not surprising as they are two irritating people. So Lucy decides to pack up and leave with her daughter Anna (Natalie Wood). The two end up moving to a beautiful house called Gull Cottage, and it is sitting by the ocean on a coastal village. Lucy soon starts to hear things inside the home. And discovers a ghost! The ghost is Captain Daniel Gregg (Rex Harrison), and the story is that he committed suicide. Which Lucy soon finds out from the source that it just isn't so. The two of them find themselves talking everyday and having a great time. For when Lucy first moved in, the Captain tried to get rid of the Muir's by trying to scare them. Which Lucy was just not afraid enough to move out. Realizing this, the Captain becomes friends with her instead. After a bit of time, Lucy's mother in law, and sister in law come to the house only to tell her that she will be having financial trouble which means losing the house. The Captain and Lucy end up writing a novel together to save the house. The Captain does not want to lose her, and does not want to have to scare away another family! The book is soon finished and Lucy is to take the book and get it published. At first, the publisher is not interested, he says that he gets thousands of women in every year trying to publish a love story. But this book is different, it is about a seaman and all of his travels. It is a book for men! Lucy gets the publisher to read her book, and he falls in love with it. Lucy ends up with the money and keeps the house. During this trip to the publisher's office, she meets Miles Fairley (George Sanders). He is an attractive man and he also tries to woo her. The Captain is pretty jealous of this, but decides to leave so he can stay away and not interfere with Lucy and her new life. But soon Lucy finds out a secret about Miles that may or may not mean wedding bells. He did propose, but does this secret mean no to the marriage? Lucy can't live forever can she? Will this mean that when she dies, she will end up with Captain Daniel Gregg, or will she have married Miles and end up with him as ghosts instead? Find out by watching this must see! I enjoyed it very much, and recommend it to everyone.

The Incredible Mr. Limpet

The Incredible Mr. Limpet 
Released Date: March 28, 1964
Director: Arthur Lubin
Actors: Don Knotts, Carole Cook, Jack Weston, Andrew Duggan, Larry Keating, Oscar Beregi Jr., Charles Meredith, Elizabeth MacRae, Paul Frees, Phil Arnold, Sayre Dearing, and Louie Elias

     Most movie premieres are in New York City or California, but this movie that is set in the ocean had its premiere at a big underwater theater in Weeki Wachee Springs, Florida. That sounds pretty cool, and I totally wish I was there for the premiere. This was a Warner Brothers film, and was also the last animated movie made by Warner's. The animation studio was shut down in 1969. They used real battleships in this movie. And one ship in this picture happened to be a real United States Destroyer that was used in WWII and the Korean War. Don Knotts was in the Army and happened to be in WWII.

     This movie follows Mr. Henry Limpet (Don Knotts), his wife named Bessie (Carole Cook) and his best friend, George Stickel (Jack Weston). Limpet is a bookkeeper and a huge fan of fish. He loves his fish, and he even wishes everyday to be one. He thinks that the life of a fish would be so much better because they don't have any worries, they swim all day and have the perfect life. His wish becomes true one day while he is out with his wife and best friend. Both Bessie and George believe Henry drowned, when in fact, he turned into a fish. Who still needs glasses. WWII is still going on, and Limpet helps out the Navy by revealing where the German Subs are and the precise location. It's a dangerous world for a fish,  but can Limpet survive the crazy fish life?

     This is such a cute movie, and one out of a number of reasons why I love Don Knotts. He has a huge range for acting. He can be cooped up in a Police Station down in Mayberry, or he can play a fish at the bottom of the ocean. You'll love this movie too, and I promise that this is one movie that everyone can enjoy. From the youngest child, to the oldest grandparent :) Prepare to be amazed and happy at the same time!

The Apartment

The Apartment
Released Date: September 16, 1960
Director: Billy Wilder
Actors: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray, Ray Walston, Jack Kruschen, David Lewis, Hope Holiday, Joan Shawlee, Naoimi Stevens, Johnny Seven, Joyce Jameson, Willard Waterman, David White, and Edie Adams

     Billy Wilder has directed such stars as Marilyn Monroe. He directed her in The Seven Year Itch, and Some Like It Hot. He was not a huge fan of directing the star because she had such a huge demand as far as treatment goes. But in this film, Wilder chose a Monroe like characters throughout this movie. You can spot them easily during your watch. You will also note that Billy Wilder's trademarks character name is Sheldrake, which he also uses in Sunset Blvd. and Kiss Me, Stupid. The person he chose for Sheldrake was Paul Douglas but he died of a heart attack before filming began. He died while eating breakfast before his flight to the Coast for this movie. He lived in New York at the time. Shirley MacLaine filmed her famous cameo in Ocean's Eleven while on break from this movie. You will also note that the Christmas scene was filmed on December 23, 1959, everyone was in the mood for the holiday and it made the Christmas feel more real. Which is pretty neat.

     We follow a young man, C. C. Baxter (Jack Lemmon). He's lonely as he works for an insurance company in New York City. He's a hard worker who happens to loan his apartment out to four of his executives for a little after date love in the sack. Baxter is unhappy about the way he is used but never confronts his coworkers as unhappy as he is. He is not always able to sleep well, and ends up with a cold. His neighbors believe it is him making all that noise. They also believe that his body is an iron to make all of that noise almost every night, and he also must be the person they hear drinking all the time too. His big boss calls him into his office to talk about his apartment loans. The boss is Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray). It is comical and it almost sounds like he is about to be fired. But all of his managers write great reports about how great Baxter is to Mr. Sheldrake. However he does realize what is going on. Sheldrake gives Baxter two tickets for The Music Man. When all of a sudden, Sheldrake asks for a chance at his apartment too. The elevator operator catches Baxter's eye and he wants to go on a date with her. She is Fran Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine). She just recently cuts her hair short and Baxter notices and makes a comment on how cute the cut is. Hopefully they end up dating because they would sure be a cute couple. At the Christmas party, Baxter realizes that another man is after a relationship with Kubelik, the man is Sheldrake. What is Baxter going to do? He was sworn not to reveal that Sheldrake is also using his apartment but the girl he wants is going to end up to his apartment with his boss. Kubelik does realize that she is the mistress to Sheldrake. By the end of the movie we get to hear the famous final line "Shut up and deal." Who says it? Hopefully Baxter does to Kubelik. This is a very cute movie. And a funny one at that. Of course it is with Jack Lemmon leading the movie along. Shirley MacLaine is a great actress. I hope you enjoy this classic as much as I have.