The Paradine Case - 1947

This film is directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starred Gregory Peck. I saw a few other familiar faces, but I wouldn't be able to name them.

Tony is persuaded to represent a lovely widow who is charged with the murder of her blind husband. Tony finds her attractive and doesn't seem to have the ability to hide that fact from anyone. His love makes him come up with an alternate scenario where the husband's valet is responsible for the murder. Mrs. Paradine warns Tony not to try this tactic, but he ignores her. The valet cracks on the witness stand and admits he was having an affair with his master's wife. She denies it, but when the news breaks the valet has done away with himself, she admits to her wrongdoing. She doesn't care anymore. Her lover is dead.

I disliked this movie a great deal. Tony is a putz. I don't see what he finds so fascinating about Mrs. Paradine. His wife, Gay, is much too tolerant of his wandering eye. She even comes to him in the end and is like, "All is forgiven! Please be a lawyer some more!" Gag.

This movie is based on a Robert Hichens book. I thought that name sounded familiar, so I looked back and discovered the link: the movie Temptation and the book Bella Donna. Both of which I was not a fan of.  I have no intentions of reading the book for this one. I'm sure Tony is still a putz...

The Million Pound Note - 1954

Henry finds himself poor and alone in London. He's hungry, and no one seems to be able to help him. Not even the American consulate. A pair of brothers spots him from a window and invites him inside. They give him a letter and tell him not to open it until 2 p.m. They tell him it has money inside. They just don't say how much.

Finding a million pound note in a letter is something of a shock not only to Henry, but to everyone he shows it to. People are opening doors to him, giving him free food and clothes with the promise to wait forever for payment. Eventually, all this good fortune will weave itself into a nasty web he wants to get out of, but he has to give the note back to the brothers intact after a month to fulfill his part of the bargain.

This movie wasn't that bad, but the comedy fell a bit flat for me. I think it was all the added noises that signaled a comedic moment. Those grated on my nerves a bit. I liked Henry's sidekick, and even though he couldn't talk, he was my favorite character. I always hate when there's the whole "easily fixed by a little communication" problem in a movie. Granted, Henry did try, but he waited too long, so Portia didn't believe him when he told her the truth.

Just as an FYI, this is based on a story by Mark Twain. Overall, I didn't regret watching it, but I doubt I'll ever watch it again.

The Wages of Fear - 1953

When I put this movie on, I really expected a crime thriller, because of the list I pulled it from, but that wasn't what I got. I mean, the first thing I saw was a half naked boy. And it was the bottom half, and he was definitely a boy. Then, there was just a bunch of weird stuff that happened. Where was the crime? Well, it wasn't there. I guess this was meant to be a general thriller.

A group of people are trapped somewhere in South America, and it costs a lot to get out. The problem is, they can't get jobs. A fire breaks out at an oil derrick 300 miles away, and the oil company needs four brave/crazy men to drive two trucks filled with nitroglycerin down there.

You have four guys on the trip. I never found out how the old dude "convinced" the one guy to back out or not show up. The guy was in the end sequence, so he didn't get murdered or maimed or anything. Also, everyone dies. I hate that the two guys I actually liked just blow up, and I don't know how. There's just a scene with the one guy shaving and then they show the other truck and BOOM! Then old man gets run over and changeable Mario makes it to the derrick. But then he drives like a moron on the way back and swerves himself off a cliff. Eh? I'm not kidding, he was literally swerving back and forth on the road with glee for no reason and then somehow loses control and off the cliff he goes.

I will give this movie credit for ramping up the tension. It was just disappointing that the payoff was everyone dying. The movie was in French, but I had subtitles. At the end, I was left wondering, "What did I just watch, and why?" Pass. 

Laura - 1944

I have no idea how this got on my list of things to watch, but I was hunting around for something around an hour and a half, and this fit that criteria.

A police lieutenant, McPherson, is trying to solve the murder of a beautiful young woman. He doesn't have many suspects, but the ones he has are a bit strange. I mean, the movie opened with a writer in the tub. He had a typewriter on a movable tray, so good on him for finding a way to multitask, but...

We also have Laura's crone aunt and her sponge fiancé (played by Vincent Price). Ok, so I just called her a crone because she's clearly in love with the fiancé, and that's messed up. I normally like Vincent Price's characters, but not in this one. He's a pain in the rear and sponges off women. Multiple women. The author was a condescending twit and annoying.

I was fond of Laura, but my favorite character by a mile was McPherson. I love the way he played with a little marble game when he was trying to think. I like the way he would use Columbo tactics (before Columbo) to trip up the suspects. He was the best.

This was a pretty good movie all around. I thought I knew what was going on, but then something would happen that would make me question if I was right. I did have it figured out, but I didn't have the why or how until later on. It's entirely possible I'd watch this one again, even though there are more irritants than characters I want to root for. Oh, and RIP to both the antique clocks...Good Movie!

The Incident - 1967

I heard about this one through an article about classic thriller movies. It's based on a teleplay called Ride of Terror that was made into a TV movie in 1963.

Two hoodlums (one of them Martin Sheen in his first film appearance) are up to no good. Various people come together on a subway car when they discover they're in the wrong car. The hoodlums arrive and just start terrorizing the passengers. They start with the unconscious bum but soon move on to literally everyone else. Anyone that tries to stand up to him gets put in their place. It takes them approaching the four-year-old girl for someone to finally do something. And then it's only the one person.

A fight ensues, and the hero gets injured. The train finally stops, and "help" arrives. At first, they try to arrest the African American man, then they pick up the criminals and leave the train. The poor stabbed man is just left on the floor. Finally, his friend scrapes him up off the floor. When the hero asks, "where were you?" the answer was just "it happened so fast." Um, no, sir. You were a coward and so was everyone on this train. The man with a broken arm had to step up by himself...sad.

There was some language in there and some sexual innuendos. I was begging someone to do something, but especially at the end. They definitely outnumbered the two hoodlums, so if they had stood together instead of approaching them one at a time like video game enemies, they would have overpowered them much sooner. I'd like to think it wouldn't take that long today for people to stand together against evil, but I'm not so sure. People would probably pull out their phones and yell, "someone call the police!" if they saw something happen...

Anyway, it was a decent movie, but it was frustrating. I don't feel the need to watch it again since it was so infuriating, but I will give it credit for being a Good Movie!

Whirlpool - 1950

Ann is caught shoplifting and can't imagine telling her psychoanalyst husband the truth. In waltzes David Korvo, who claims to be able to help her. He has the ability to hypnotize Ann, and he eventually uses it for his own purposes.

Now Ann is accused of murder, and it looks like an open and shut case. All the evidence points to her, and she can't remember anything about that night. Corvo has an airtight alibi, and Ann's husband allows himself to believe she may have been unfaithful. From then on, I was just hoping for someone to crack the case. Corvo was so smug, I just wanted to smack him!

In the end, he escapes earthly justice, but he doesn't cost the court any money. His power to hypnotize himself works against him, and Ann is free. It was a pretty good movie, and it's based on a book called Methinks the Lady by Guy Endore. I may try to track it down one day.

In a lot of ways this movie reminded me of Shock, starring Vincent Price. It explores what can happen when those who claim to be able to help with mental illness abuse their power. Out of the two movies, I'm not sure which one I prefer. I may end up watching this one again. Good Movie!

Patterns - 1956

I became interested in this movie when I noticed it was written by Rod Serling. If you recognize the name, but you're not sure why, think Twilight Zone. This particular film has nothing to do with the supernatural, but I was still interested to see what was in store for me. Just for the record, I haven't really watched a lot of Twilight Zone. Serling came on my radar when I was researching the Pacific theater during WWII. He was part of the Battle of Leyte.

Fred shows up for his first day at a new job. It's at a swanky high rise in New York, and he's a young man from Ohio. He's been set up in a large office right next to the VP. As time goes by, it becomes clear that the boss has picked Fred to replace the older VP, Bill. Fred doesn't really feel comfortable with the idea of pushing out Bill, but he also wants the job. By the end of the movie, though, he can't understand why Bill just won't resign. The boss harangues Bill constantly until the poor man collapses, and that's the last straw for Fred. At that point, he's ready to leave the company, but the boss won't let him go. Fred asks for insane concessions, and the boss grants them all. And he doesn't hide the fact that he hates the man.

I wouldn't necessarily watch this movie again just because it isn't really my type of film. But I want to give credit where it's due, and I'll admit I got a bit teary-eyed at the end. Poor Bill. The end was so heartbreaking. Watching Bill spiraling was painful, and the last scene with him just hurt to watch. The end was a bit of a surprise, and the boss (alas, a villainous Ramsey) was a real jerk. Even though I wouldn't necessarily watch it again, I feel like it was well done and will give it a Good Movie! review.

The Dark Corner - 1946

This is a crime noir movie, but I'm not sure how it ended up in my list to be watched. I found it a bit sad the main character is listed fourth on the movie poster. Poor guy!

Galt finds himself being followed and decides to find out what's going on. He scuffles with the man and hears a name from his past: Jardine. It seems like his old partner is after him, but in reality, he's being set up. Galt's secretary is along for the ride and will do just about anything to help.

This movie was okay, but there wasn't anything special that made it stand out. Lucille Ball puts on a pretty good performance, and the plot was interesting enough, but it just didn't have anything in it to push it over the top. It was an okay movie, but I don't think I would watch it again. I will give it credit for a clever title, though.

Operation Pacific - 1951

I found this title in a list of submarine movies. My dad loved John Wayne movies, but I'm not sure how he felt about this one. I'm not even going to suggest he's never seen it. He especially liked the westerns and war movies.

The movie is following life on board the submarine USS Thunderfish as it patrols the Pacific and encounters Japanese ships. It's not just battles, either. There's glimpses of rescues, ship to ship transfers, repairs, and solving torpedo problems. Every once in a while, we go back to Pearl Harbor and see Mary Stuart, Duke's ex-wife. She's got a new love interest, and we're supposed to care. I'm not sure why everyone addresses her as "Mary Stuart" all the time. I mean, they always seem to use her first and last name, even her ex. It just struck me as strange.

They could have removed the whole love triangle aspect to the movie, and I would have been perfectly fine. I enjoyed most of the movie, but when it came to the relationship, I didn't see the relevance. Sure, they made vague connections, but that whole part could have been taken out. You still would have had a movie about life in the Navy on a submarine in the Pacific, and I think it would have been better. And I wouldn't have had to listen to Bob whine...

Overall, I liked it, but I don't think I'll watch it again. The love triangle hurt my enjoyment, but I'd still call this one a Good Movie!

Temptation - 1946

I have no idea how this movie ended up in my list of films to be watched, but here we are. I picked this one randomly and had no idea what it was about.

Ruby is a manipulator and likes to have things her own way. She marries an Egyptologist, and when she tires of that life, she starts having an affair. The man has many of the same qualities that she does, but she falls in love with him anyway. Later on, their affair is threatened by money issues and Ruby's marriage. The only way out seems to be getting rid of one of the obstacles. Or maybe both...

Ruby is awful, and her lover isn't much better. I don't know if the movie wanted me to sympathize with her, but the only person I really felt sorry for was her husband, Nigel. He knew her past and loved her anyway. She didn't know that until the end, but it shouldn't have made a difference. He loved her the whole time and was good to her. But Ruby just had to have more...

The movie is based on a book called Bella Donna by Robert Hichens. I may look into reading it one day, just to see if Ruby's character was less irritating. The best part was Nigel being protected from the truth about the woman he loved so much while the villains get what they deserve. Nigel and Marie are the real high points of the movie, followed by the policeman and the doctor. I don't see myself watching this one again.

High Noon - 1952

I think this was mentioned in a list of movies with good soundtracks. I'm not usually a western watcher, but I decided to give this one a chance.

Will has just gotten married. He has literally just handed over his marshal's badge when a telegram comes in that alerts the town that a convicted murderer is on his way on the noon train. Three of the criminal's henchmen are already in town waiting for the train.

Will leaves town in a hurry. He was the one who put the murderer away, and even though he was supposed to be hanged, the criminal vowed revenge. Will doesn't get too far away from town before he turns around and heads back. He's not going to run.

What happens next is that the whole town abandons Will. First, his Quaker wife tells him that if he doesn't leave with her, she's not staying to find out what happens. Next, his deputy quits. Then, everyone he tries to recruit pretends they aren't home, makes excuses or just flat out says no. Some of the town even hopes the marshal dies.

The judge is one of the first ones he encounters, and the man is straightforward with Will. He tells him that this is just one town. He's been the judge in more than one town, so he'll just go somewhere else. It's not worth his life to stay. But, Will knows that if he leaves the murderer will track him down, so he's just kind of stuck.

This was sad. The way this man's "friends" abandon him and the town in general was disgusting. I liked the end and the way his wife stepped up. And when he threw his star in the dirt, it was perfect. Then, he just leaves without saying a word. The dang people came out of the woodwork once the thugs were dead, but no one was there when Will needed help. I don't think I'd watch this one again, but it was a good movie.

Detour - 1945

I'm not sure why this was in my list of movies to watch, but it was a little over an hour, so I decided to give it a shot. I also had no clue what it was about when I started it.

This is the story of a man, Roberts, who decides to hitchhike across the country to reunite with his sweetheart. On the way, he chooses the wrong car to get into, and from then on, strange things happen.

I have no idea what to think of this movie. The man was a walking disaster. For some reason, he opens a car door and that murders a man. Huh? And it didn't even look like he checked for a pulse or anything - he just goes into full coverup mode. Then he decides he'd better take the man's clothes because he looks too poor to be driving the car. Okay...

Fast forward a bit, and we meet up with Vera. She's...something else. She was aware of the car's owner, and now she has Roberts hooked because she can turn him into the cops for murder. They talk about selling the car for cash, but Vera learns they might be able to get more money if Roberts continues to pretend to be the car's owner. And then another weird murder happens. Drunk woman wraps phone cord around her own neck and then Roberts strangles her from the other room. WHAT?!

I have to say, this one is definitely not getting watched again. The murders were so odd, and Roberts is narrating throughout the whole thing. That got irritating as well. Plus, he seems triggered by a particular song, but I wasn't really sure why. Yes, it was a tune they "played" (it's another movie where someone fakes an instrument) in New York, and I think it was playing in Hollywood, but I couldn't hear it. Anyway, I'll be sure to pass this one by if I see it pop up somewhere again.