The Mountain Road - 1960

Jimmy Stewart stars in this depressing war drama. A group of soldiers is retreating from an airfield in China, but on their way, they’re tasked with doing whatever they can to delay the invading Japanese. The man in command hasn’t had much experience, but he wants to prove himself.

He blows up bridges and roads while people are trying to flee, and it’s heartbreaking to watch. He gets a bit of perspective from a woman that is traveling with them and one of his own men. All the good will disappears when the well-meaning man is killed while trying to share some food with some starving Chinese. Then, later, his body and another man are desecrated by locals. This pushes the commander to take revenge on a village and its inhabitants.

Something I found interesting was that the Japanese were never seen in this movie. Stewart is trying to prove himself, but in the end, he’s not really satisfied with what he’s done. It was an interesting movie but seriously depressing. I wouldn’t watch it again, but I’m glad I saw it.

Went the Day Well - 1942

I heard about this movie when I did a bit of research on The Eagle Has Landed. I skimmed my way through that movie, so I wanted to see if I’d like this any better. In this movie, truckloads of Germans invade a small town in England. They soon have the town under their control, or so they believe. But these townspeople aren’t going to just stand by as they are picked off one by one. What they don’t realize is that they have a traitor in their midst.

I really enjoyed this one, and I couldn’t wait for it to end. By that I mean I wanted to know what happened as soon as possible. I didn’t want to see more of the townspeople suffer, and I wanted the traitor to get found out. The time flew by, and I found myself yelling at the screen a few times when an escape attempt didn’t work, or there was a close call.

The movie is based on a Graham Greene short story, The Lieutenant Died Last, and I hope one day to read it. A scary scenario for sure. There’s one young woman that I really felt sorry for. She lost her father, and she was attracted to the traitor. I don’t know how she’d ever trust anyone after that. I really enjoyed this movie, and I give it a Good Movie! Rating.

Sudden Fear - 1952

This is one of the ones I had to rewatch to jog my memory as to what happened. It took a bit, but it came back to me after a while.

The first part of the movie, a playwright gets an actor fired because he doesn’t fit what she believes should be the main man of the play she’s written. Later, on a “chance” meeting, he ingratiates himself to her, eventually leading to a relationship and marriage.

In a technological twist of fate, Myra (the playwright) discovers that her husband isn’t actually fond of her at all. He’s after her money, and he isn’t pleased she’s planning on making a trust in her father’s name. With his female cohort/lover, he now plans to kill her before she can sign her will on Monday. Little does he know that she planned on taking care of him. He found a will she was editing when she left her dictating machine on.

This next part is where Myra goes off the rails. She accidentally destroys the evidence, and so now she’s on her own to save herself. She concocts an elaborate plan to not only save herself but also get revenge on her husband. But can she go through with it?

The tension in this film grows as the deadline draws closer. Myra’s plan is so elaborate something has to go wrong. The other problem is that she just isn’t a murderer, so following through with her own plan is going to present its own issues. The end was a satisfying bit of karma, and I feel like people got what they deserved. It’s a Good Movie! and I wish it had more exposure.

Stalag 17 - 1953

I wanted to watch this movie for a few reasons. First, I’ve been interested in WWII for quite a while now. Second, I had a great-uncle who was in Stalag 17. If you're not aware, Stalag 17-B was a POW camp during WWII that had a lot of captured American airmen beginning in 1943.

I wondered what the focus of this movie would be. Would it be about life in the camp? Well, no. There are glimpses of that in there, but I’d say the main focus is a mystery. Someone is giving information to the Germans, and the most likely suspect seems a little too obvious.

The mystery in this one had me sucked in from the very beginning. I end up talking to my TV when I really get into a movie, especially when I’m alone. And if it’s a black and white movie, it’s a safe bet I’m by myself. I kept trying to figure out who was the rat. I didn’t want to think any of the men would do that, but someone clearly was. It was frustrating, and at that point, I just wanted them to be found out. And yes, I was yelling at the TV.

I looked into the background of this movie, and it’s written by a couple men who were in the camp. It was originally a Broadway play, and it’s written from their experiences. They actually shot the film in chronological order. They normally don’t do that, since it’s more expensive. Members of the cast later said they didn’t know the traitor’s identity until the last three days of filming. That’s crazy! The suspicion was real, and the ending was just amazing. Great Movie!

Batman and Robin (serial) 1949

(A serial was a series of short films, generally consecutively and once a week, shown before the main film in a theater.)

I watched this one with my kids. I guess technically they’re adults now, but hey, they’re still my kids! We would watch an episode or two when they came home from college, basking in the glory that was Batman and Robin. This was completely cheesy and wonderful.

The Wizard has stolen technology that is very dangerous in the wrong hands. And apparently later he can turn invisible. He’s simply amazing! His outfit is pretty great as well. During each episode, red herons (herrings, but I call them herons for fun) are thrown out left and right. The girls and I thought we had the villain figured out 3 or 4 times. In the end, we didn’t have it figured out.

We had a lot of fun with this one. I loved Batman’s weird ears, Robin’s broad shoulders and Neil. This is my second favorite serial I’ve seen. My first is still the Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941), but this one is a close second. Oh, and RIP Jimmy. Good Watch!