WylieJJordan Reviews

In Name Only (1939)

Reno Divorce

[6/10 · 29 January 2024]

This tale of the rich behaving badly is set at a time when divorce was almost impossible in the State of New York. Cary Grant, who is unconscious during much of the time, plays a man trying to shed a viscous wife. (Clare Booth Luce's "The Women" does it better.)

Kay Francis plays the grasping wife, whose evil nature is represented by a hairstyle involveing two small horn-like arrangements.

Carole Lombard, playing a widow with a small child, shines as the reason he wants out of the marriage. The little girl is Peggy Ann Garner, charming but from the tory on the screen in the last half of the story.

La antorcha encendida (1996)

two actors' names have been reversed:

[10/10 · 22 December 2022]

The history of the independence movement in México is told with reasonable accuracy, and presented as the background to a romance between fictional characters Mariano Foncerrada and Teresa de Muñiz, played by the lovey Leticia Calderón.

Ofelia Guilmaín does a star turn as Doña Macaria, mother-in-law of the villaneous Don Pedro de Soto, played by her son, Juan Ferrara.

Mariano Foncerrada is played by Humberto Zurita, and appears in 138 episodes but is listed as appearing in only one.

Mariano Jiménez is played by Ramón Abascal and I believe appears only once, but is shown as appearing in 138 episodes.

First Knight (1995)

Medieval History in Technicolor

[4/10 · 30 April 2021]

The magnificent castle of Camelot is a harmony of blue and cream, and it and everyone in it is spotlessly clean. The men wear stylishly beautiful uniforms in blue and black with silver studs, and most of them remain invariably clean-shaven throughout the course of the movie. The more prominent women wear lovely clothes they change rather often, but sadly off-screen. The story, such as it is, is that of an omnipotent Lancelot (Richard Gere) who repeatedly saves the lovely and feisty Guinevere (Julia Ormond) from impossible situations conceived by the merciless Malagant (Ben Cross) so that she can finally marry the unbelievably wise, kind, and loving King Arthur (Sean Connery).

Happy Go Lovely (1951)

Mediocre

[5/10 · 26 April 2021]

David Niven and Cesar Romero are all three wasted in this terminally silly movie enthusiastically described as a 'musical' although the few musical numbers are uninspired. Vera-Ellen is lovely and overdressed, Niven is too stuffy and Cesar Romero's venture into slap-stick is overdone. Perioe piece for 1951.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)

Whine

[1/10 · 26 April 2021]

This picture seems to consist of one long whine that feels interminable. The Hawaaian scenery of lovely, and so is Mila Kunis, but the men, Jason Segel and Russell Brand are both quite unattractive and the girl is a sort of standard pretty. I say skip it.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)

Overdose of nonsense

[1/10 · 30 January 2021]

Dick Van Dyke is always entertaining and fun to watch, and the Julie Andrews clone (Sally Ann Howes) is certainly lovely, but this movie lumbers from silly to ridiculous with long and boring passages between the two. Benny Hill (then 44) is the toy maker and choreographer Robert Helpman (wearing a Cyrano nose) does a brief turn as the child catcher. Don't waste your time waiting for their cameos.

Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971)

Skip it

[1/10 · 30 January 2021]

The talented Angela Lansbury is an apprentice witch unexpectedly stuck with three small children evacuated from London during the Blitz. She and they run into a street magician who, unknown to him, has a few bits of real magic. The story runs on for far too long, and seems almost interminable when unpleasantly extended by an animated cartoon of life at the bottom of the sea. Look for almost anything else.

Stagecoach (1966)

Galloping mellodrama

[1/10 · 13 October 2020]

Despite Technicolor, some famous performers, and a modern score, this remake is a pale imitation of the original. The 1939 film starred accomplished actors and featured a moving score based on traditional melodies including 'Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie.' My advice: skip this noodle and look for a streaming version of the original Stagecoach, with John Wayne, Claire Trevor, Thomas Mitchell, and Donald Meek.

Miss Marple: Sleeping Murder (1987 TV Movie)

Dull & Confusing

[1/10 · 14 September 2020]

The 'adaptation' of the Christie novel is slow and heavy with the addition of extraneous and confusing characters. I read the novel decades ago and had to order a new Kindle copy to figure out the ending. Nowhere near the quality of the Hercule Poirot stories, I recommend give this thing a pass.

My Fair Lady (1964)

Slight disappointment

[10/10 · 17 July 2020]

My Fair Lady is a great movie with unforgettable music, stars, costumes, and sets. Audrey Hepburn is a lovely and talented actress and she does a fine job as Eliza Doolittle. I think, however, that she was too 'delicate' for the role, and I was, for the first and only time disappointed with Miss Hepburn's performance. In all honesty, I admit my prejudice for having twice seen Julie Andrews' spectacular performance on Broadway.

The Undefeated (1969)

Top-notch Western

[9/10 · 23 June 2020]

The Undefeated (1942) is a rousing, heroic, but rather unlikely adventure tale of former enemies after the end of the American Civil War.

Colonel John Henry (John Wayne) and his men-including regulars Ben Johnson and Harry Cary, Jr.-capture a herd of wild horses to sell. The capture is an impressive sequence that must have involved many injuries among the 31 listed stunt men who took part.

Wayne and his Union veterans refuse a cut-rate sale to Yankee opportunists and head for México to sell the horses to the Emperor Maximillian. Wayne's adopted Cherokee son, Blue Boy, is played by football star Roman Gabriel.

In the defeated South, Rebel Colonel Langdon (Rock Hudson), his wife (Lee Merriweather), daughter, and widowed sister-in-law form a caravan headed for refuge in México. The two groups unexpectedly run into each other and hastily form a sort of union to repulse Mexican bandits. Both troops eventually reach Durango where they meet General Rojas (Antonio Aguilar) and more trouble.

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)

Spectacular

[10/10 · 20 June 2020]

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), starring Jane Powell and Howard Keel is one of MGM's finest musicals. The story, based on Steven Benet's The Sobbin' Women, was itself loosely based on an incident in Roman mythology remembered as The Rape of the Sabine Women, when the men of Rome abducted young women from the other cities. Jeff Richards plays Benjamin and the beautiful Julie Newmar is Dorcas. Memorable dance routines feature the spectacular acrobatics of Russ Tamblyn and the amazingly powerful Jacques d'Amboise of the New York City Ballet.

Flying Down to Rio (1933)

First & best Astaire and Rogers

[10/10 · 26 May 2020]

Gene Raymond and the beautiful Dolores del Río star in this entertaining look at what Hollywood thought Latin American might look like. The action is supposed to take place in Brazil, but the tital song is an Argentine tango, Orquids in the Moonlight, beautiful Mexican actress Dolores del Río stars, and everyone but the police speaks English. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers are together for the first time and they steal the show when they introduce the Carioca. They also do a couple of tame versions of the Tango.

The finale is a genuinely fantastic air show well worth watching, if only for the revealing costumes of the 'wing-dancers'. Ginger's best line is when she tells Raul Roulien (who actually was Brazilian) to go after Dolores, 'Use your Brazil nuts.'

Follow the Fleet (1936)

Pleasant entertainment

[10/10 · 26 May 2020]

Fred and Ginger go to sea, with handsome Randolf Scott as the towering petty officer courting Harriet Hillard (Ricky Nelson's mom), who plays Ginger's sister. Be sure to look closely at the girls in the dance hall dressing room, a blond Lucille Ball and Betty Grable. The finale includes the famous 'Let's Face the Music and Dance' on what I believe is meant to be the roof of the casino where Fred has lost his money.

Best line, as they're preparing for the finale: Sailor to gum-chewing Lucille Ball: 'How was heaven when you left?' Lucille: 'Tell me, little boy, did you get a whistle or a baseball bat with that suit?'

The Shack (I) (2017)

Uplifting

[10/10 · 11 May 2020]

The Shack is the curious story of a man, who through suffering and loss, has become judgmental and unhappy. In an Edenic setting, he encounters three people who may be the Trinity but also seem to represent the three major monotheistic religions. Through them he finds Wisdom to love and accept rather than judge.

Let's Do It Again (1953)

Silly

[1/10 · 11 May 2020]

I doubt that anyone at Columbia would ever admit to having authorized this mess. Neither Technicolor nor outlandish dresses, not even Dick Haymes singing (off camera) can rescue a terminally silly plot starring admittedly attractive people who can, unfortunately, neither sing nor dance.

Random Harvest (1942)

Prolonged romance

[9/10 · 1 April 2020]

Ronald Colman and Greer Garson are attractive, competent actors at the top of the form, and they age convincingly over the probably 20 year stretch of this film, which is romantic and entertaining but just this side of entirely unbelievable.

An unidentified WWI soldier is institutionalized because of total amnesia following the trauma of combat. Despite his complete loss of memory, and with the help of a long-suffering woman, he recovers his health, weds, and establishes a happy life. Another traumatic event restores the original memory but erases any recollection of the life he had between the two events.

The resolution is suspenseful and satisfactory but somewhat slow in coming.

The Time of Their Lives (1946)

The Best of Abbot & Costello

[10/10 · 30 March 2020]

This is an entertaining ghost story, utterly distinct from other Abbot and Costello movies. It has a coherent plot and satisfying resolution and the two stars are not a quarreling pair, and rarely interact. Abbot has two living roles, while Costello is a ghost trying to escape a curse.

During the American Revolution, the Master of Danbury Estate is a loyalist plotting against the revolutionary army of General Washington. His fiancée Melody (Marjorie Reynolds) favors independence. When she overhears the plotters, she enlists an itinerant tinker (Bud Costello) to ride with her to warn Washington. They mistake the arrival of Washington's troops as British soldiers, and flee. The Americans think their flight proves they're British agents, and shoot to kill. The American officer, believing the tinker and Miss Melody are traitors, curses their ghosts to linger forever on the Danbury Estate. There is only one way to escape the curse, and the ghosts long to find it.

There are some clever lines: 'Didn't I see you in Rebecca?' to the housekeeper (Gale Sondegard, who looks like Mrs. Danvers in that movie) and 'If you need me, just whistle.' (Bacall's classic line to Bogart)

The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934)

Noble heroism with style

[10/10 · 30 March 2020]

During the Reign of Terror 1793 - 1794) following the French Revolution. Aristocrats are guillotined daily. A mysterious Englishman, identified only by the sign of the wild pimpernel flower (Anagallis arvensis) is helping some escape from France of Robespierre.

London toff Sir Percy Blakeney (Leslie Howard) seems to be an effeminate poet, and ignores his French wife, Lady Marguerite Blakeney (Merle Oberon).. Lady Blakeney has no idea that her husband secretly travels to France. The scarlet pimpernel is a symbol of Sir Percy's family and he uses that sign to identify himself and communicate with his collaborators.

French Ambassador Robespierre sends the villainous Chauvelin (Raymond Massey) to London to identify the Pimpernel. Chauvelin is acquainted with Lady Blakeney, and threatens that her brother will be guillotined unless she can help him identify the Pimpernel.

Nigel Bruce (better known as Dr. Watson) plays The Prince of Wales, the fashion conscious future George IV.

The Prisoner of Zenda (1937)

swashbuckling adventure

[8/10 · 28 March 2020]

The Prisoner of Zenda is a lively and suspenseful adventure, with an attractive and talented cast. Despite a confusing number of 'R' names, the 1937 film may be the best of several versions. Ronald Colman plays Rudolf Rassendyll and Prince Rudolf, and Rupert is Raymond Massey's right-hand man.

The coronation of Crown Prince Rudolf is imminent, but he is a prisoner in the Province of Zenda. The prince's elder but illegitimate half-brother, Prince Michael (Raymond Massey) is heir presumptive, and plans to take the throne if Rudolf does not appear at the coronation. Mary Astor is Michael's mistress and the too-handsome Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. is his not entirely trustworthy henchman, Rupert of Hentzlau.

A dauntless Englishman, Major Rudolf Rassendyll (Ronald Colman), is pressed into service to save the Crown Prince, and he has the help of Captain Zapt (C. Aubrey Smith in his usual rugged role) and Captain Fritz von Tarlenheim (David Niven). Ravishing Madeleine Carroll, with the thinnest eyebrows in creation, is noble princess Flavia, destined to be Queen when Rudolph, or perhaps Michael, is crowned.

The Philadelphia Story (1940)

Mint Condition

[10/10 · 24 March 2020]

Tracy Lord, spoiled daughter of a wealthy family (Hepburn) is about to marry a self-made man (John Howard). The wedding plans are complicated by the arrival of her former husband (Grant) and reporters for a scandal magazine. The resulting squabbles eventually soften Tracy's brittle superiority, and things turn out well in the end. 1930's sophistication is apparent: cigarettes are everywhere and drunkenness is funny

This film was remade in 1956, but despite great songs and Technicolor, "High Society" is a pale imitation of the clever pace of the original. Grace Kelly is lovely, but lacks the sharp edge of Hepburn; Bing Crosby can sing, but has neither the looks nor the class of Cary Grant; and James Stewart is more convincing than Frank Sinatra.

Dinner at Eight (1933)

Stella cast and clever dialog

[10/10 · 22 March 2020]

Millicent & Oliver Jordan (Billie Burke & Lionel Barrymore) are planning a dinner for visiting British aristocrats Lord & Lady Ferncliff. Millicent is dithering over the guest list while Oliver is seriously ill and about to lose the family business. He hopes retired actress Carlotta Vance (Marie Dressler), won't sell her shares, and he tries to get a loan from rough tycoon Dan Packard (Wallace Beery).

Dinner guests include Packard; his social-climbing, crude wife Kitty (Jean Harlow), who is infatuated with Dr. Wayne Talbot (Edmund Lowe); and the Jordan's daughter Paula (Madge Evans), who is in love with a washed-up alcoholic actor, Larry Renault (John Barrymore). Barrymore, called 'The Great Profile' has a part quite like his real life, and he is almost always filmed from the left side to display that famous profile.

The film ends as the guests go in to dinner and, when Kitty (Harlow) tells Carlotta, "I read a book. The guy said that machinery is gonna' replace every profession." Carlotta (Dressler) looks her up and down, and replies, "Oh, my dear, that's something you need never worry about."

Murder, My Sweet (1944)

Overcomplicated

[9/10 · 22 March 2020]

When RKO cast musical comedy star Dick Powell as tough detective Philip Marlow in the film noir 'Farewell, My Lovely', they changed the title to 'Murder, My Sweet' so the public wouldn't expect a musical. Moose Malloy (impressively played by Mike Mazurki) is a lowbrow bully looking for the girl he left when he went to prison eight years earlier. He hires hard-boiled private detective Phillip Marlowe (Dick Powell) to find her and the plot gets complicated. Marlowe eventually unravels a mystery that involves a millionaire, his lovely daughter, and his glamorous new wife, Helen (Clair Trevor). Clair Trevor, delivers a stunning performance and went on to enjoy a long career playing bad girls.

After the Thin Man (1936)

Sophistication in the 30s

[8/10 · 21 March 2020]

This second 'thin man' film is a good-natured tour of what passed for elegance in the 1930s, and that included a good deal of alcohol. The mystery of who shot handsome Australian Alan Marshal is long and complicated but finally solved by Nick and Nora. A young Jimmy Stewart is the nice guy left at the altar. Penny Singleton (who later starred in perhaps two dozen Blondie movies) is nightclub entertainer Polly Byrnes, one of the many suspects. She is listed her under her original name, Dorothy McNulty.

Topper (1937)

Clever

[10/10 · 20 March 2020]

This is the story of two ghosts, played by Gary Cooper and Constance Bennett, and Roland Young as the henpecked bank president they bedevil as they try to record a good deed. The special effects are impressive even by 21st century standards, and so is the car, a customized 1936 Buick with Cord styling, 1948 Cadillac fenders, and a shark fin tail. The movie is entertaining and fun, if only to watch a talented cast including Alan Mowbray as the prefect butler, Arthur Lake (later Dagwood Bumstead) as an elevator operator then a bellboy, Hedda Hopper as a society lady, Ward Bond as a taxi driver, Eugene Pallette as a hotel detective, and Hoagy Carmichael on piano.