The Children's Hour - 1961

I'd never heard of this movie, but it has Audrey Hepburn in it, and she's one of my favorite actresses.

In this movie, an insufferable child accuses her teachers of an inappropriate relationship. Even though one of them is engaged, the community quickly rallies behind the lie, and the two women are left with the shattered pieces of what used to be their school.

Much of this movie was super frustrating, because I wanted to punch a little girl in the face. She was so awful, and for some reason her grandmother couldn't see it. And then she bullied and threatened another girl into lying with her, and that just set things into a spiral. She's just terrible.

The end was a surprise, and not in a good way. It was sad and thought provoking. It showed how actions, even retroactively "fixed," can destroy relationships. Once those types of things happen, the consequences can't be taken back. It's like the demonstration I did with my kids once. I had them empty a small tube of toothpaste. Once they were done, I told them to put the toothpaste back in. They looked at me confusedly and told me it was impossible. I said it was the same with words and actions. Once they happen, you can't take them back.

I thought the movie was well done. I was sad there wasn't a happy ending, but after everything that happened, it made sense. I'm still a happy ending person, but I felt it was a good movie, and for the time it was made, it was probably pretty controversial. Good Movie!

The Scarlet Claw - 1944

A Sherlock Holmes mystery starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. They're somewhat iconic as the crime-detecting pair, and I've enjoyed their performance a few times. This case isn't an actual story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, so I wondered how it would hold up.

The church bells are ringing, but no one wants to investigate in the small Canada town where a monster has been seen lurking in the marshes. Eventually, the priest takes initiative and discovers the body of a local gentry, Lady Penrose. 

Sherlock and Watson end up on the case by letter. The woman feared for her life, and since S&W were attending an Occult Society meeting with her husband, she asked for help. Unfortunately, it was too late. The husband very much believes something spiritual killed his wife and wants nothing to do with Sherlock and his methods. I thought that was a bit strange. If someone I love was murdered, I don't care who wants to help - find that killer!

Anyway, Sherlock tries to save people, but there are two more murders. The killer is revealed at the end, and the case is sol-ved (Pink Panther reference for anyone who loves the Peter Sellers movies like I do). I liked this movie. It had all the Sherlock elements in there. The detective disappeared without telling anyone what he was up to, thus giving himself an edge in the information department. It's just what he does. Overall, if I hadn't noticed it was based on the characters, I think it could've easily fitted into the original stories quite well. Good Movie!

D. O. A. - 1950

This movie is one of those classics I'd seen before, but I wanted to watch it again so I could review it.

Frank heads off to San Francisco for a week vacation. His clingy girlfriend isn't happy about it, so she keeps calling throughout the film. Across the hall from his hotel room, a party is going on. He's invited, and the group ends up at a club where Frank is poisoned.

The next day, he doesn't feel well and heads to a doctor. (Can you imagine just walking into a doctor's office and being seen? They'd laugh you out the door nowadays!) He seems fine until the tests come back that he has "luminous poisoning." 

From here on, Frank wants to know why someone in a strange city wanted to murder him before it's too late. He makes a lot of wrong guesses, but gets there eventually.

I found a few things interesting/amusing with this movie. First, the intro tells you that he makes it to the police station after his adventure, so any future scrapes he gets into, you know he makes it out of. It removes the tension from the situations. And then, at the beginning, the cop asks Frank to tell the story in his own way, and that's when we watch the movie. Some parts make me grin. Is he describing this meaningless argument with Paula? Is he going into detail about the touching scene on the sidewalk before he leaves? Weird. It was also a good thing he had perfect timing. It was one of those deaths that come right after you've said your piece. "And that's why I died." If he hadn't timed it correctly, he might've died while telling the story of one of the less important moments.

Anyway, joking aside, it was an okay film. I understand the shock factor with the beginning. "I've been murdered" isn't something most people walk into a police station and say. But by starting the film that way, they sacrificed a lot of suspense later on. I guess the "luminous toxin" was a descriptive term used for an actual poison (according to the end note). I tried to do a bit of digging on it, but I couldn't find anything conclusive.

It was an okay movie. Paula was irritating, and Frank was way over the top with his accusations and wrong guesses. He was a putz to most of the people he met, and while you could make excuses for why, it didn't exactly endear his character to me. And you knew he was going to die at the end, so there was no point hoping for a happy ending.

From Where They Stood - 2021

This is a documentary covering clandestine photos taken at five of the concentration camps during the Holocaust. I wanted to find a book on the subject, but I wasn't able to find one.

The introduction to the film explains why I watched it: "In Dachau, Buchenwald, Mittelbau-Dora, Ravensbruck and Auschwitz-Birkenau some prisoners managed to take unauthorized photographs. Since they have worked so hard to pass on these images to us, we must look at them."

Christophe Cognet goes to these camps to line up the secret photos with the places they were taken. He blows them up and examines details hidden within the photos. Sometimes he sees things I don't.

The tone of the documentary was eerie. There was no background music (I don't know if that's normal - I don't watch many documentaries), and the pictures were haunting. I liked that they took the time to explain what they knew about the history of the pictures themselves and the people that took them.

On the other hand, there seemed to be a lot of unnecessary filler. For instance, nothing happens for four minutes at the beginning. It shows a rain shower at the beginning (and at the end - I understand why), but it goes on forever. There are also shots of trees that go on for a bit too long. What I'm trying to say is that I don't think this film needed to be two hours.

I don't think "enjoy" is the right word, but I didn't feel the time (unless it was one of the pauses). It was in French, but the subtitles were easy to read and didn't interfere with me having time to watch the screen at the same time. I'm glad I watched this film, and I learned a lot. Good Documentary!

The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming - 1966

In this movie, a Russian sub runs aground off a small island in America. A small boarding party heads in to see if they can find a boat to try and pull the sub off the sandbar.

This is during the Cold War, so the situation is fragile. The Russians don't want to be caught, since it could be a political disaster. They try to mask their accents and approach a house, but that quickly turns south, and a series of problems and craziness ensues.

The movie is a comedy, but it also has some real moments in it. When a couple of the people talk about not wanting to hate, that was a particularly well done scene. The other thing was the way the terror spread. The leader of the Russian landing party summed it up pretty well when he said, "They're all crazy." The way the story grew reminded me of the game telephone. The story changed and grew until there were parachutists who'd taken over the airport, and they were taking over the entire island. I also want to commend the actors on their efforts with the Russian, and I liked that they didn't add subtitles. For some reason, it worked really well.

I really liked this one, and the ending was very wholesome. It's based on a 1961 novel called The Off Islanders by Nathaniel Benchley, but that seems to be out of print. Maybe I'll get the chance to read it one day. Good Movie!

Sleuth - 1972

Milo is invited to the home of author Andrew. When he gets there, Andrew accuses him of wanting to marry his wife. Milo admits it and then is talked into a plan to make himself rich. Marguerite is a woman with rich tastes, and Milo isn't a rich man.

What follows is Andrew pulling the strings of a carefully planned "robbery." There are twists and turns galore that I never saw coming. I loved that about the movie. That doesn't happen often for me, so when it does happen, I'm even more impressed. There wasn't necessarily anyone particular to root for, they both had a dark side, but the elements of the game were well executed.

This is one of those films that you can only have one first time. The twists were awesome, but if I chose to watch it again, I'll already know them. I think the performances by both actors were amazing, and I'm so glad I watched it! Great Movie!

 

All Quiet on the Western Front - 1930

This is one of the most famous anti-war films ever made. I'd never seen it, but I really wanted to. I was able to see the 2022 version, which everyone was raving about. I personally didn't think it was super spectacular, but that's just my opinion.

The movie begins with a teacher "inspiring" his class to join the war. He is highly successful, and a group of friends goes to the front together. Over the course of the movie, the group shrinks by various tragedies until there's no one left.

I was drawn into this film, but it's not exactly a feel good film. There isn't a happy ending. But I do feel it was an important film. Since it revolves around a group, different people experience it in different ways. Some are injured and others struggle more with the mental aspect of the horrors of war.

I liked this film, but I don't think I'll watch it again. And that's more because it isn't my usual style. In this case, I can appreciate it without wanting to watch it repeatedly. I'm also going to say that I liked this one better than the 2022 version, but I'm not going to go into reasons why. Good Movie!

Passage to Marseille - 1944

Even though I haven't been fond of much of anything I've seen Humphrey Bogart in, the summary of this one intrigued me, so I recorded it off TV. It's based off a novel called Sans Patrie (Men Without Country) by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall written in 1942.

A journalist has come to the English countryside to find out how the Free French have been operating in the skies. He meets the commander, who starts to tell the story of a group of men who escaped from French Guyana and worked very hard to get to Britain to fight against the Germans.

Anyway, the men escape with the help of an old man who used to be a prisoner. He acquires a canoe for them, but he ends up having to stay behind because there is too much weight, and he's too old to fight. He decides to leave that for the younger men. After an incident, they are picked up by a boat carrying members of the French military. One of them is suspicious, but they seem to have a believable story. In time, though, things change, and with the surrender of France to the Germans, the situation becomes dangerous.

The captain wants to make sure his ore doesn't get confiscated by the Germans. He knows that certain people on board will not be happy if he changes course, but he tries it anyway. A fight breaks out on deck between the two factions, until the free men take control. One of the traitors escapes and radios their position to Germany, and then the ship comes under attack. When the smoke clears, the remaining men head to England to fight for freedom.

This was something. I'm even sure how to describe the convoluted storytelling they used. Most of the movie is one sort of flashback or another. At one point, there were four layers of flashback going on. Crazy! I still wasn't a big fan of Bogart, but I was interested enough in the other characters that I wasn't too distracted. It was a bit strange to see Peter Lorre in a role like this, but I knew he had some range after I saw him in M. The "special effects" were...interesting, and the love story was just okay. I commend the effort, but this movie just didn't impress me.

The Fighting Lady - 1944

This is a documentary that was filmed while World War II was going on. It features an unnamed aircraft carrier (later identified as the USS Yorktown) as they take on Japanese forces in the Pacific. It is an hour film and takes place completely on the ship.

I was impressed by how interesting this was. It won't be for everyone, I understand that, but I was fascinated. I saw how the planes fit onto the flight deck and heard a lot of ship's slang. They showed a diagram of the carrier, and it was just so interesting to me.

The other thing that grabbed my attention was the shots during the missions. The gun cameras were something I don't think I've seen before, and I like how the narrator explained what I was seeing. And then there were shots when the planes were diving to strafe their targets. I couldn't believe how low they looked!

All in all, this was a great glimpse into the part played by the USS Yorktown during the fight for the Pacific. It covers all aspects, including the crashed planes, injured pilots, and it even took a moment to recognize a few of the dead that were previously shown in the film. I really enjoyed this one. Maybe someday I can visit the USS Yorktown, which is now a museum in South Carolina. Good Movie!

Leave Her to Heaven - 1945

I'm not sure how this one ended up on my watch list, but I had some time this morning so I put it on. It's based on a book by Ben Ames Williams.

Ellen is on the train with Richard, an author. They are actually heading to the same place where they end up falling in love. Ellen already has a fiancé, but she dumps him so she can be with Richard.

After that, Ellen just wants to be with Richard. She doesn't want anyone else around. And I mean anyone. When someone gets in the way, she gets them out. Even resorting to letting Richard's brother drown because he doesn't agree with her plan to get him out of the house for a while. After this incident, Richard is understandably upset, but she cheers him up by getting pregnant.

What she didn't count on was getting put on bed rest. At this point, Richard and Ellen are living with her mother and "sister" in a house by the sea. When Ellen sees Richard and her sister talking and laughing together, the baby is in the way and has to go. From then on, Richard figures out what's going on, and Ellen takes some pretty drastic measures to try and "keep" him in her clutches.

Gene Tierney plays Ellen, and I recognized her from The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. When I looked her up to verify it was her, I saw she was in a couple of other movies I've seen recently as well.

This movie unsettled me. The relationship between Richard and Ellen made me cringe. She was so possessive and manipulative to everyone around her. And everyone is pulled into her plans: Richard's younger brother, the doctor, her sister, her mother and even her ex-fiancé. The scene with the doctor was especially jarring. The way she flipped her attitude instantly was scary. Overall, I'm going to give this one a Good Movie! review. It kept me thinking throughout the day, and that's a sign of some good writing.