This story initially wants to make a viewer laugh his head off, but as it progresses it makes that same viewer want to weep. George Brenlin puts himself very well into the role of Whizzer McGee, a five-foot man who is bitter as bitter can be. He is a one-time orphan who has had no friends in his life. Jeanne Bal plays the part of the dance hall girl with whom Whizzer becomes taken, but she has no need for him.
One thing that stands out is that there are consequences to trying to be something a person can never be. The story does have a sad end but it can easily arouse people's thinking about their own type character.
Reviews
33 Reviews
Guy Stockwell portrays two characters excellently
15 June 2019
In this particular episode, one of those I've seen many times over, Guy Stockwell does a consummate acting job in this character study: he is both a straight guy and an arrogant outlaw-type man. He starts off as a shy young man who is humiliated in the saloon one day by an arrogant outlaw because he, Stockwell, cannot use a gun, which, in turn, is why Little Joe teaches him the skill of drawing and shooting but, the next thing you know, after he learns well the skill, he becomes himself a bounty hunter who is very cold. He becomes mean and ugly even toward his girl and in one sense becomes practically inhuman.
This episode has a bitter-sweet ending, but it is one of those Bonanza episodes which is very introspective and, again, an excellent character study
Drawing, thanks to the hilarity of the film and the beautiful Marianna Hill
31 May 2019
This has to be probably the most hilarious BONANZA episode ever. And-let's face it-it is almost impossible to keep your eyes off of the beautiful Hill lady who plays well the Mexican senorita whose charm is strongly vied for by the Cartwright sons.
In the story the Mexican guests at the Ponderosa are the older Senor Francisco Tenino and his beautiful daughter Dolores Tenino. The Cartwright sons will compete among themselves to win the affection of this lady, and the handsome, educated, and charming Adam who does well by speaking Spanish fluently and serenading her with his guitar, will definitely win her, and will "have her in the palm of his hand," he strongly believes. Or will he? Even the distinguished-looking widower Ben may win her over. In any case, since she is interested in bull-fighting, Hoss and Little Joe try to impress her with their knowledge of the sport, knowledge which does not exist on the part of either one of those two. But since Joe does seem to want to be a matador, Hoss finds a mean, cantankerous bull for his younger brother to fight.
A bull-fight is scheduled to take place in Virginia City later. But how will Joe fare? Again, with which of these three will Dolores be taken? There will be no spoilers found here; it is enough to say that this episode is a scream!
You have to feel for duryea.
24 May 2019
I preface my remarks by sharing that as an elementary school boy growing up in the 50's I hated Dan Duryea because of the outlaw parts he played so convincingly. I reached the point where I wished he would play decent, straight roles once in a while. (It's hard to believe that he had one spouse, once was a PTA member, and a Scoutmaster.)
Here in this western of the Twilight Zone, however, he portrayed a sorry drunk that everyone in the small, dystopic town inhumanly mocked because he stayed inebriated. He was hardly able to stand, and thus was very pathetic.
"Hope" is the operative word here. But is there any hope for this, ironically, hopeless man? What will happen? Will there be an upswing in his character and personal situation? I personally was left wondering, but I did like the resolve. Great drama and great character study punctuate this episode.
Terror in a Texas Town
(1958)
Hayden at one of his finest acting jobs
23 May 2019
In this unusual-yet-tense western, Sterling Hayden, who plays well at either a straight guy or a crook, is in this movie a quiet and seemingly unhappy Swede who wants to join his father in a small Texas town where there is oil under the ground where his father lives; his father his killed by a henchman working for the town boss who owns not only the town but the sheriff. (Sebastian Cabot plays well the part of the ruthless town boss.) When the younger Swede learns his father is killed, he also learns that no one there is brave enough to buck that mean man. The Swede must fight alone, and so he does in a climatic showdown with his harpoon against the henchman's six-gun.
One thing I did not like about this movie is that three henchmen who mercilessly beat Hayden do not get their comeupins.
Something that should be considered is that there is an undercurrent of prejudice. The town boss does not like is that...as he says...Swedes are "popping up like jackrabbits." Again, the prejudice subtly addressed in this film should be thought about.
The tension is quite similar to that found in the classic western "High Noon."
Definitely an exciting and tense western.
Matlock
(1986–1995)
Was he really a stupid permanent latrine orderly?
22 May 2019
Ages back Andy Griffith was famous for doing his side-splitting monologues. and he made a few movies such as "The Second Time Around," " Onionhead," "A Face in the Crowd" and the unforgettable "No Time for Sergeants"; in the latter he was a Permanent Latrine Orderly, a classification which did not exist but was given him by his sergeant who couldn't stand him, but Will Stockdale (Griffith) thought it was a high-ranking classification in the Air Force.
But here, in "Matlock" he was a serious lawyer in Atlanta who was among the top in the whole U.S.A., though he is as homespun as Sheriff Andy Taylor. Initially, a "city slicker" thought he was not too smart a lawyer, but that thought was amended. In the series he was from a small town in Georgia which no longer existed. Still, all types wanted to retain him, including Mafia dons. He always employed theatrics in the courtroom, and, again, homespunness, but he had a very high "batting average", losing very few cases.
Adding to the "decorum" of the series were Brynn Thayer , another time Linda Purl, another time Nancy Stafford, and from time to time Julie Sommars who played a clever prosecuting attorney.
Again, he was a "good ole boy" who never tried to be, nor claimed to be, any other type person. It did convey the fact, I feel, that no one should ever undermine or scorn small-town boys, since they can be excellent lawyers.
There's truly a good side and a bad side to everyone, as Michael shows.
18 May 2019
I like this episode very much, mainly because of the intricate plot and the suspense of it. In it Michael Landon plays Little Joe and the mean and crooked Cpl. Angus Borden, a former soldier; Borden is in cahoots with a mean and crooked Captain Merced who is played by Douglas Dick. Keenan Wynn portrays a boisterous and stubborn Sergeant O'Rourke. Joe Turkel provides humor as he plays the part of the drunk Private Peters.
In the story, after he is taking a long trip and has to sleep out on the ground one night, Corporal Borden comes along and knocks out little Joe, switches clothes with him, steals Joe's horse, and leaves his own with a saddle which, in turn, has an army brand on it. It is at that point that Sergeant O'Rourke and two other soldiers come along and arrest Joe and take him to a nearby fort where Joe learns he will be executed the next morning. As the day rolls on Sergeant O'Rourke does learn that Little Joe is truly who he says he is, does try to help him even though O'Rourke can do only so much for him.
Again, Landon does play two parts very well and Wynn puts himself into his role so well himself. See the unforgettable episode.
You're traveling through another dimension for certain.
17 May 2019
Warning: Spoilers
During my era, the sixties, The Twilight Zone and Bonanza were household titles, and Rod Serling was a household name, as were the names of the four main characters of Bonanza. Having seen this Bonanza episode more than once, I find it to be one of my favorites. And though Cy Chermack wrote it, with all due respects to Serling he could not have outdone Chermack, at least not in this case. (Of course, Rod Serling did have a few Old West episodes.)
The start is not an anomaly: on a very hot summer day Little Joe is riding through the desert, sees a man lying on the ground, attempts to help the man, only for that latter man to rise, pull a gun on him and steal his horse which had a set of saddlebags on its back which, in turn, contained two thousand dollars. After the outlaw rides away Little Joe goes to the nearby town where, naturally, he is extremely fatigued; a very attractive teen-age girl, performed very well by Davey Davidson in this one of her earliest roles, nurses Joe back to health.
He learns from some of the people there in the town of Martinsville that they are scared of an outlaw band that had once marauded the town which is filled with scared people. At the same time the late sheriff's wife is cold, non-smiling, and bitter because her husband had been killed previously, thanks to, again, the cowardly denizens. (The tall, dark-haired, dark-eyed Doris Dowling would have been attractive if she had not portrayed the type of character she did.) Because they had helped them and, thus, he wants to do them a favor, Little Joe is made sheriff, and one of the main duties he feels needs to be done is for him to instill bravery in the wincing people there. Toward the end the outlaws return, some of the men go against those outlaws who are settled in the nearby cliffs, and Little Joe kills the outlaw leader, only to discover that he actually killed the man who had robbed him.
After Joe's brothers and father finally find him, he briefly shares with them about Martinsville. Of course, the sometimes-hard-headed Joe does not believe the brief account Ben, in turn, shares with him when he tells Joe that Martinsville has been a ghost town for many years, and it had been cursed.
Because of the supernatural/surreal aspect of this episode, it has definitely been unforgettable to me. Again, The Twilight Zone has nothing to surpass this.
Gidget
(1959)
the cutie and the smart girl
29 April 2018
This was definitely Sandra Dee's signature movie, and as a teen-age boy growing up in the sixties I was really taken with her. (Of course, I was not an aberration.) I saw this movie for the first time in the summer of 1959. I liked the beautiful California beach scenery, and the Four Preps music, and I was reasonably impressed with the acting.
The cast was well-chosen. The cuddlesome-looking Sandra Dee was drawing, but she did not receive as much acclaim, as an actress. as she deserved; she was not only a cute bumess, but that little girl was strong-willed and outspoken in this movie. James Darren was a sharp-looking actor and singer, but his character was disgusting, since he was a bitter teen-ager with a big chip on his shoulder. If Arthur O'Connell was supposed to be serious in this movie, he did not do a good job of it as he played the role of Gidget's laughable high-strung father. Mary LaRoche was a beautiful, appealing lady who was wonderful as Gidget's mother. Jo Morrow, beautiful California beach scenery herself, was drawing in her minor role. Tom Laughlin, here about a dozen years before his "Billy Jack" days, seemed to click well with Dee in what was here his minor role.
The story was more than what it appeared to be initially on the surface. It was about a teen-age girl who was at a crucial age, namely 16, and thus was in an identity crisis, and it was also about a girl who was, again, strong-willed as well. This movie was also a character study: she was infatuated with Mahuna, (Robertson)- an ex-Korean War vet in his middle thirties who lived only to surf and stay on the beach in a small hut there-, but she also was very up-front when she intonated to him that that was no way for him, nor anyone else, to live, and she thus had a pressing effect on him. (Only recently when I saw the movie on a DVD did I really notice the more serious aspect of the story.)
Again, Sandra Dee was as cute as cute could be, but the movie did have a serious side. For more than one reason is it worth the time to see it.
Night Passage
(1957)
Murphy and Stewart as you've seldom seen them
23 April 2018
In this western from Universal-International, Audie Murphy and James Stewart are anomalies to what they had been previous to this time. While Murphy was usually a straight guy on the right side of the law, here, though small and baby-faced, is a mean outlaw, evidently scared of no one. Stewart, who was often portrayed as a fine, upstanding, family man in other movies, is in this movie a rough man and temperamental when he had to be. They showed the viewing public that they were versatile actors..
The actors who portrayed the outlaws were definitely adept in their roles. Jack Elam was somewhat this way. Robert Wilke was very much this way, not at all atypical to the "High Noon" outlaw he portrayed. (If he was as mean in real life as he was on the screen, I do not see how he could not have not have been bitterly hated and strongly feared.) Dan Duryea was his mean, boisterous, somewhat obnoxious villain self. Yes, these men fit perfectly into the outlaw mold.
As for the other players in the movie, Elaine Stewart and Dianne Foster were definitely appealing, and the then-young teenager Brandon DeWilde showed that he was capable at an early age at acting.
The Colorado scenery and the breathtaking Technicolor added much to the movie, naturally.
The storyline is not at all complex. A man (Stewart) who had once been fired by the railroad, is now rehired and must take a payroll to the employees who have been anxiously waiting for their pay and are strongly on the verge of quitting. Stewart is on the train-the night passage-when the outlaw band robs the train, only to find that no money is in the safe nor anywhere else on the train.
Beautiful color, beautiful ladies, beautiful scenery, mean outlaws, and excellent acting by Murphy and Stewart. What more would anybody want in a western
undeniable bitter sweet
19 March 2018
While I don't want to give spoilers, I will say that from the beginning the viewer(s) receive, I dare say, an adequate idea of what is going to happen; just the title of this episode says that. In this particular episode Adam is engaged to Laura Dayton, (played well by the very adorable Cathie Browne)but she becomes frustrated when Adam continually misses times when he promises he will be with her: it seems that his work and/or business deals strongly interfere, intentionally or no. (Is it supposed to be comic relief when Adam misses his won engagement party?) Guy Williams who plays Adam's cousin Will Cartwright does his acting part well, by the way.
So what's going to happen? Whatever the case, the ending may be joyful for some but depressing for others. It is definitely not a shoot-'em-up, but a love story which is also a character study, and I earnestly believe it will be forever unforgotten.
Hostiles
(2017)
the scenery was beautiful
5 February 2018
I did like this movie which starred the versatile actor Christian Bale who is adept at any role he plays. This movie was definitely slow-moving but I personally was not jaded. There is not really any story line to speak of: reluctantly, an army captain by the name of Joe Blocker (Bale) must take the dying Chief Yellow Hawk, a pardoned prisoner, back to his home in Montana, and he encounters a Mrs. Quaid whose family...except for her young son...has been wiped out by Indians. Again, the action is slow among all the hostile people on the trip. toward the end there is a quartet of mean bandits who have a showdown with the traveling party. Again, any exciting action is sparse.
But I did like the beautiful Montana mountains and the dry ground, beautiful in their own way.
Scott Cooper did do a fine production job.
Again, the scenery is definitely worth the while.
Hitchcock
(2012)
insightful and great "Good EEvening" entertainment
4 September 2017
The story of the "Master of Suspense" is depicted so well in this movie, thanks to all the players and the nostalgic effects. I remember personally when the scary movie "Psycho" was released when I was fourteen, so I was easily immersed into the era of the early sixties, not only from the time of, again, the release of the reputedly scary movie and the allusions to "North by Northwest" and "Vertigo" (personally, my favorite Hitchcock film, by the way) but also from the allusions to the Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis films of the 1950's. One piercingly noticeable fact from this movie is that Alfred Hitchcock was so obsessed with his working that this man was seemingly possessed by his perfecting in his directing. (There were places where scenes were shot depicting his unhappy home life and scenes were shot depicting, in turn, scenes that were being shot for the movie "Psycho", and it was difficult at times to distinguish between the two types of scenes.) Again, the actors were well-chosen. Though he was not a spitting image of Hitchcock, Anthony Hopkins did portray the part of that man well, with the same bald head and the corpulent body. Helen Mirren adapted well to the role of Alma Hitchcock, Alfred's often-hostile wife. The beautiful Scarlett Johannson came across well as the beautiful actress Janet Leigh, and was virtually an exact look-alike of Leigh. The appealing Jessica Biel acted well the part of Vera Miles. I remember Anthony Perkins from some of his '50's movies, and James D'Arcy looked very much like, and sounded very much like, Perkins himself. The scene of, in turn, again, the shower scene from "Psycho" was done well, loud and scary, and here also Hitchcock was authentic, being so obsessed and/or possessed. Yes, the cast was impressive. Again, an excellent biopic about the Master of Suspense and, simultaneously, an excellent brief account about the making of the movie "Psycho".
very sad but very sweet
11 August 2017
Warning: Spoilers
This is definitely a favorite BONANZA episode for me personally, with the soft-hearted Hoss Cartright becoming also mean toward a character in the story who nobody could easily like, if they could like him at all; Sean McClory plays that part excellently. Cathie Browne plays well the part of Margie Owens, a good friend to Hoss for many years. (Pernell Roberts and Dan Blocker must have understandably had crushes on Browne, since she was in this episode with Blocker and at least three episodes with Roberts.) In this story Hoss wants to marry Margie Owens, but at a party one night she meets a man who has been well-traveled, or so he says. Margie is swept off her feet by the bogus traveler, and after she tells Hoss that she does want to marry the "traveler" and thus breaks Hoss' heart terribly, a month later she does marry the con man. A few months later Margie's upset father regrets the mistake, and sends Hoss to San Francisco to bring the saddened lady back. Hoss goes to the hospital to see Margie who is upset before she delivers a baby; she dies in childbirth. Hoss goes to a saloon where he encounters the con man whom Hoss refers to as a miserable human being and tells him to his face that he is going to kill him. What will happen to Hoss at this point? Watch the episode. Brahms' First Symphony provides a fitting music score for this bitter-sweet episode. Again, it's well done, very touching.
Green Acres
(1965–1971)
just a bit too stupid, to say the least
17 June 2017
It seemed that, as the saying goes, that if you saw it once you saw it a million times, and I feel that the show was more stupid as the years went along. I was definitely impressed, I will say, with the veteran actor Eddie Albert (who played Jeff Douglas) and the appealing actress Eva Gabor, who played his wife who in the series was a high society lady from New York, did a good turn at her role. The other actors were there for decorative purposes only. The basic story line: a man goes to New York to study law and there meets the fashionable lady from the Big Apple itself whom he marries before they return to his dystopic hometown Hooterville, a corny farce of a country town. Think about the stupidity of the thing: when the telephone rang someone there had to step outside on the phone pole to answer it. And too, the county agent, (played by Alvy Moore) literally could not remember one thing to the next when anyone was speaking to him. Pat Buttram, (Gene Autry's sidekick from back in the '30's)tried to sell Eb a coat for that boy who was planning to go to college (though Eb ended up not going); the coat was an anachronism: it was a raccoon-collared coat for boys who went to college in the twenties. And too, far more ridiculous than that, the pig Arnold Ziffel was trying to be a movie star in Hollywood! REALLY! Nominally it was a comedy, but at the same time it was an insult to people's intelligence. It was an absurdity replete with a multitude of far too many groaners, and I personally feel that that is being diplomatic to say that.
Gone with the Wind
(1939)
THE big movie for ages
19 May 2017
Warning: Spoilers
This was the great feat for Hollywood the other side of "The Godfather". The movie is much quoted even today, more than seventy years after its release in 1939. It is an understatement to say it is no wonder that it won the Best Picture award for that same year. Truly, Margaret Mitchell's very long novel (a little over a thousand pages long) was definitely a great feat for the outstanding producer David O. Selznick and directors Victor Fleming and George Cukor, and a great accomplishment for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as well. This definitely made Clark Gable a household name after he played excellently the role of Rhett Butler, and the career of Vivien Leigh was catapulted in this great classic as she played the role of Scarlett O'Hara. The young Olivia deHavilland did something for her career in the movies as well by acting well the part of Melanie Wilkes. Truly Leslie Howard, who played Ashley Wilkes, the husband of Melanie as well as the owner of the plantation Twelve Oaks, typified a southern gentleman, even though in real life Howard was originally from England. Hattie McDaniel was the epitome of a southern mammy. Thomas Mitchell was an almost-perfect actor in his role as Mr. O'Hara, the owner of the plantation Tara and also Scarlet's father. Though not a major actor here, Harry Davenport was quite impressive as Dr. Meade. Butterfly McQueen was there mainly for decorative purposes, but herself did well. The movie depicted well the War Between the States very realistically and graphically, of course. (I will have to tell something on myself: when I was almost eight years of age in the summer of 1954 when this movie was a return, the burning of Atlanta was so loud that I declared to myself that I would never see this movie again, though that did not become the truth.) The screaming wounded Rebel soldiers(though many of them were actually mannequins) added to the cinematic work being realistic and graphic. And, of course, the undulating romance twixt Butler and Scarlett O'Hara was excellently depicted. And too, the southern pride of the characters came across strongly; after all, Scarlett fought well for the reconstruction of the estate Tara at all costs including lying and stealing. Though the movie was originally filmed in B&W, the color did come through beautifully later. And, who can forget the closing line of Gable/Butler to Leigh/Scarlett "Frankly, my dear, I don't..." (Surely the reader of this knows the completion of the line.) A fine of at least a thousand dollars was imposed for using that unforgettable line. For all the reasons listed, definitely it has been for over half a century a movie whose very title has a special ring to it.
unforgettable for definitely positive reasons
13 May 2017
While some of Rod Serling's "The Twilight Zone" episodes were far-fetched and, at the same time, ridiculous and sometimes even frightening, this particular episode was an anomaly to all of that, and was very touching, and even bordered on the spiritual and/or religious. In this particular episode, a no-good bum of a father (played excellently by Jack Klugman) learns that his son is seriously wounded in Vietnam.(This was filmed in 1963, only shortly after the US was involved in the real southeast Asian war.) Klugman learns of this after he himself is wounded because something goes wrong in a bet he has made with somebody, and that man shoots him. While he is wandering about in a closed amusement park, the surreal takes place. He wanders through and sees his son as a boy of about eight or nine, and his son reminds him, in so many words, that he could have been a better father. After that is over, the father takes into serious account all that his son has said, and believes that his son was right. It is then that the father prays a prayer that, though irreverent-sounding, is very sincere, nonetheless: he prays that if he God would take his wretched self that Klugman is, just let his son live. While I'll not give away the ending. I will say that this is, in many ways, one of my favorite episodes of this series. A very heart-warming story.
definitely a mind-sticker
11 May 2017
The last time I watched any first-run "Twilight Zone" episodes was a week before I graduated from high school in 1964. All through my high school years I watched several of this unforgettable series, probably the most far-fetched series in the history of television. But this particular episode stands out in my memory more than others. (On a side note, initially this episode reminded me of the episode "Where is Everybody?!" which starred Earl Holliman.) Imagine how anyone would feel, as did the main characters (played well by Barry Nelson and Nancy Malone) waking up in an artificial house in a town where everything else is artificial, and finding not one person in the small town. It would be strange, at best, though the main characters felt very uncomfortable as well as strange. I'll just say it: this is definitely the scariest episode of this series I ever saw. I had to watch something comical after that particular episode, and it's mainly because of the ending. In all my years of watching any movie and/or TV series, I don't think I saw anything scarier. The episode is creative and well-done, but the ending is frightening!
Bad Day at Black Rock
(1955)
rustic beauty, great cast, tense modern western and mystery
7 May 2017
Spencer Tracy, Robert Ryan, Walter Brennan, Ernest Borgnine, Lee Marvin, and Dean Jagger themselves make this M-G-M modern western something of a classic. John Ericson, Anne Francis, and Walter Sande lend great support. And too, John Sturges shows that he has performed a great direction feat. The Cinemascope and the color are very enhancing as well. If you like the dry southwest, and I do personally, then the rough-looking beauty is drawing. Though there's definitely little of a plot, the viewers are still held in suspense. Again, there's something of a dearth of a plot. John J. Macreedy (Tracy), a one-armed man in the movie, comes from L A to the deserted town of Black Rock again, in the southwest on a hot day in 1946, only shortly after the end of WWII, and all the people in the town wonder why he has made the trip. The townspeople are very suspicious, which is why they are cold and vengeful toward him; in one scene two large henchmen try fighting the rather small, one-armed man, but he handles himself very well. They are hiding a big, shameful secret, which is why they are as they are toward him. The climax may be somewhat surprising when one of the mean men there tries his best to have Tracy killed. Though there is focus mostly, again, on cast and action, there is something drawing about it, which is why personally I have always liked it.
The Twilight Zone
(1959–1964)
a portmanteau of science fiction, horror, and even comedy and westerns
5 May 2017
Warning: Spoilers
The unforgettable zone was definitely what this was as well as anything else you could say about it. Sometimes you could laugh at the far-fetchedness of this five-year-lasting program and there were times you would be frightened by it, so much so you would have to watch a program following it just to go to avoid a possible nightmare. In one particular episode a baseball player, who was actually a robot, one dressed in a baseball uniform, could pitch so hard he could literally burn a catcher's glove, but later the manager of the team read that the player would have to have a heart. (Something new!?)Another time a couple in Las Vegas, or maybe Reno, was being chased by a gambling machine. Then there was occasionally "good 'ole western action", which Rod Serling must have loved. Occasionally some characters encountered giants, and one of that type I saw was one of the scariest things I've ever seen in my whole life! There was one episode which was actually touching, and bordered on the spiritual. In it a young man in maybe his twenties was injured in Vietnam, (and this particular episode was filmed when that was the real conflict there in southeast Asia), and he wasn't given much time to live. At the same time his not-so-good drunk father (played very well by Jack Klugman) learned of this. Naturally, there was the surreal aspect of the episode, in which his son, just a young boy here, was wandering in an amusement park(?), and in so many words the boy said he could have been a better father to him. After the surreal had taken place, this particular dark night the father made what may have sounded like an almost irreverent prayer, but it was very sincere. He said to God that if he would take him the sorry self he was, just save his son; this was actually the way it did happen, and at the end the soldier in his twenties had survived, and we were left to believe that the son felt his father did love him. Unforgettable. The series provided an opportunity for big-time stars to appear, such (again) Klugman, Earl Holliman, Carol Burnett, Cliff Robertson, Bob Cummings, Dana Andrews, Dennis Weaver, Mickey Rooney, Janice Rule, Lee Marvin, Inger Stevens, Donna Douglas, and Buddy Ebsen, just to mention a few, and Jerry Goldsmith provided a haunting-yet-fitting music score. Also, as I heard it once said, it was a big overflow of the creator Rod Serling's imagination, and that was definitely the case for sure. It also, again, provided a diversity of different types of drama. In addition to all else about it, this is most likely why it has been a mind-sticker for over fifty years, since it lasted from 1959 to 1964.
Annie Get Your Gun
(1950)
Could anyone have portrayed Annie Oakley better than Betty?
4 May 2017
This movie, based on fact and, simultaneously, Annie Oakley's biography, is outstanding and heart-warming. Though it was in the tradition of musicals from the king of motion pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, in addition to the musical numbers such as "Doin What Comes Nat'rally", and "The Girl That I Marry", and "There's No Business Like Show Business", the acting was superb. J. Carroll Naish was excellent as Sitting Bull, the tall and imposing Louis Calhern was convincing as Buffalo Bill, and the almost incomparable Howard Keel was his large self with his melodious voice, and thus was splendid as Frank Butler, whom Annie Oakley married in real life. Just as Annie Oakley "stole the show" in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, so Betty Hutton "stole the show" in this movie about the sharp-shooter herself. Hutton caused the populace to sense well what was Annie Oakley's character. Hutton had no trouble falling into the role, since in real life the actress herself was prone to temper tantrums. It was definitely her signature movie. She played two roles, the illiterate backwards country girl to someone who became sparkling all over the country and over much of Europe. On an unrelated note and yet also on a related note, the movie communicates the fact that anyone from anywhere and from any type of subculture can make of himself or herself anything he or she desires if the person puts the mind to it. The Technicolor was very beautiful and the scenes were beautiful. But again, Betty Hutton did for certain steal the show. Magnificent movie!
Topeka
(1953)
A great cowboy, a beautiful actress, a wonderful story
14 March 2017
When I was growing up in the '50's, Bill Elliott was my favorite cowboy, and I saw this western while still in grade school. But at that young age how often does anyone give thought to the story? The exciting action was that which stayed in my mind. I've seen it on DVD more recently, and at this much older age, while I still like the action and the cast, I was touched by the wonderful story. No one ever connected the straight Bill Elliott with being a bank robber, but here he was crooked while leading a band of crooks. It starts off with a bank in a small eastern Iowa town being robbed, and then the bandits go through eastern Nebraska and then end up in Topeka, KS. Though they are bandits who plan to rob the town, yet because they, more than once, mercilessly beat up the town bandits already there and instill fear in the local bandits' town boss, the town council makes Elliott sheriff, and his four (or maybe five)cohorts are placed in various businesses in the town to rob the entire Topeka. Of course, there is a love angle in this movie. The young, beautiful, refreshing-looking Phyllis Coates and Elliott find themselves falling for each other. But will that change him and, consequently, his outlaw gang? Whatever the case, the western action, excitement, and, again, the love angle combine to make this a favorite movie of mine. A great flick.
Fargo
(1952)
the stereotype western cast makes the movie
6 March 2017
The movie was exciting and had a good story line, but I feel the cast is what sold this 1952 "B" western. Bill Elliott was my favorite cowboy actor, and he did well as the low-keyed-yet-very tough, determined rancher. Kermit Maynard was excellent as the rancher sometimes at odds with Elliott yet basically his friend. To state it mildly, Phyllis Coates was a very attractive attention-getting icon as Ken Maynard's daughter and Elliott's lover, as she was in other movies with him. (Oh! She was adorable!) As for the villains, Robert Wilke and Myron Healey were mean outlaws par excellence: you almost have to feel sorry for those two who were primarily portrayed as crooks during their film careers. And Stanley Andrews, later to be known as the Old Ranger on "Death Valley Days" fell well into his role as the judge. Truly, this was a well-amassed cast for a movie of its kind. In this movie whose story line centered around the rancher (Elliott) wanting to ward off cattle stampedes by building barbed-wire fences, there was no dearth of action. Yes, the movie was very exciting and rather tense all the way through. It was for me personally very much of a favorite.
Man in the Shadow
(I) (1957)
Jeff Chandler and Orson Welles great together
19 December 2016
In this B&W modern western from Universal-International, Jeff Chandler and Orson Welles do give great performances and thus show great acting skills in this tense drama which, as has been noted, is an a la "High Noon" western: Chandler is very much the answer to the marshal Gary Cooper did portray in the latter-mentioned allusion. In the movie the marshal is forced to stand alone against the wealthy crazed-bigot ranch owner (whom only the sheriff is willing to defy), the role portrayed by Welles. You can't keep from hating the ranch owner and his cohorts as well. The beautiful Colleen Miller does performs well the role of Welles' daughter. Barbara Lawrence, the "nut" Gertie Cummings in "Oklahoma!", is here a totally different person in the role as the sheriff's wife; here, she is a very serious, scared, yet staunch-looking lady. The movie hits hard at the matter of bigotry which is, to state it extremely mildly, politically incorrect. A Chicano is murdered and the sheriff must go after the killer responsible for it taking place. The climax is totally surprising, I feel. I have watched it more than once and the acting and tension sell it more than anything else connected with it. It is worth the time, basically for those reasons.
Holiday Inn
(1942)
sweet love story, hilarious comedy, well-done dancing by Astaire, great singing by Crosby
27 November 2016
Warning: Spoilers
This 1942 Paramount movie is wonderful for Christmas, though it acknowledges all the main holidays of the year. In this story an accomplished singer (Crosby) opens an inn in Connecticut, not all too far from NYC, which is open only, again, on the main holidays, such as New Year's Day, Lincoln's Birthday, Washington's Birthday, Easter, Independence Day, Thanksgiving, and last but not least, Christmas. In the movie, Fred Astaire and Virginia Dale make for a great dancing team, and there is sparkling chemistry between Bing Crosby and the very pretty and adorable Marjorie Reynolds; the latter portrays a young lady anxious to go to Hollywood. To adumbrate a lot, Astaire comes to the inn after his fiancé, (Dale) instead of marrying Astaire goes to meet someone in Texas about whom she hears is rich. Astaire meets the girl anxious to go to Hollywood, and he falls in love with her. (Personally, I can't blame him.) It doesn't matter to Astaire that the young girl had once talked to the singer about marrying her, though nothing is set. The comedy enters when Crosby does anything he can to get her away from the dancer, including a change of rhythm in music during the Washington's Birthday dance sequence. At the same time he tries to get her away from two Hollywood scouts by having his employee Gus drive her into the water. While the story is slightly heart-breaking in one place, it does have a good resolve. Who will end up with whom? I'll give nothing away here. But it is a wonderful, heart-warming story. One of my favorites. And needless to say, the songs by Irving Berlin are drawing, such as "Abraham", "Easter Parade", and, of course, last but not least, "White Christmas", just to mention a few. The songs as well as the story make the movie.
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