Movies I Watched in April

Errol Flynn in The Sea Hawk (1940)

A few more rewatches than normal this month. I have a question mark beside Desperate Journey because I don't know if it's a rewatch or not. I have misplaced my 2013 & 2014 movie viewing list and so am unable to check and see if I watched it back then. A lot of Flynn's movies have the same cast (same with Bogart WWII films) and, when you've watched a bunch of a certain actor's filmography in a short span of time, they can become muddled. 

* indicates a rewatch

1. *The Sea Hawk (1940) - Errol Flynn, Brenda Marshall, Claude Rains, Alan Hale, Flora Robson, Donald Crisp, Una O'Connor, Gilbert Roland
2. ?Desperate Journey (1942) - Errol Flynn, Ronald Reagan, Alan Hale 
3. They All Kissed the Bride (1942) - Joan Crawford & Melvyn Douglas, Allen Jenkins, Billie Burke, Roland Young
4. Millions Like Us (1943) - Patricia Roc
5. *So Long at the Fair (1950) - Jean Simmons, Dirk Bogarde, David Tomlinson, Honor Blackman
6. Wagon Master (1950) - Ward Bond, Ben Johnson, Harry Carey Jr., Joann Dru, Jane Darwell, James Arness
7. Kill the Umpire (1950) - William Bendix, William Frawley
8. The Killer That Stalked New York (1950) - Evelyn Keyes
9. *Young Bess (1953) - Jean Simmons, Stewart Granger, Deborah Kerr, Charles Laughton
10. *Dangerous Crossing (1953) - Jeanne Crain, Michael Rennie
11. About Mrs. Leslie (1954) - Shirley Booth & Robert Ryan
12. *The Detective (1954) - Alec Guiness, Peter Finch
13. Boy on a Dolphin (1957) - Alan Ladd & Sophia Loren, Clifton Webb
14. Gideon's Day/Gideon of Scotland Yard (1959) - Jack Hawkins, Anna Lee
15. *Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011) - Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Naomi Rapace
16. *The Boys in the Boat (2023) - Callum Turner, Joel Egerton
17. The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024) - Henry Cavill, Alex Pettifer, Henry Golding, Cary Elwes (in theaters)

STEVE! (martin) a documentary in 2 pieces (2024) - Apple TV+

Manhunt (2024-mini series) - Tobias Menzies, Anthony Boyle

Least Favorite Film: The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare. Don't get me wrong, I LOVED Henry Cavill in it. And it had Guy Ritchie's signature humor, shooting style, and score, buuuut... it was missing the magic chemistry that's in his Sherlock Holmes films and of course UNCLE.  I knew it wouldn't be as good as those films but I was still hoping. My brother said it felt like they were trying to push some of the other actors into being the next big *star,* especially the lady who seemed to have the most screen time and lines. I hope I'll like it better on a second viewing now that I will go into it with lower expectations. My friend (who loved UNCLE but wasn't obsessed with it like me and has only seen it the one time) loved the movie though. 

Favorite Movie: Melvyn Douglas was hilarious in They All Kissed the Bride. I kept imagining how it would have been though with Carole Lombard (she died before filming and Crawford took her place, famously donating her salary to the war effort). I watched it on tubi - blurry but watchable (unlike the one on YouTube).

Favorite Line: "Aw, come on, everybody likes hot dogs. Even the Queen of England!" 

 ~ Melvyn Douglas in They All Kissed the Bride, referring to the time King George VI 

and Queen Elizabeth (the Queen Mother) visited FDR at Hyde Park and ate hot dogs.

"Boy on a Dolphin" - Julie London

Movies I Watched in March

Glenn Ford and Shirley MacLaine in The Sheepman (1958)

This month was pretty good! I wish The Boys in the Boat would have come out AFTER Masters of the Air because I would have definitely gone to see it in theaters. 

* indicates a rewatch

1. Cottage to Let/Bombsight Stolen (1941) - Michael Wilding, Alastair Sim, John Mills
2. The Crime Doctor's Strangest Case (1943) - Warner Baxter, Lloyd Bridges, Reginald Denny
3. The Years Between (1946) - Michael Redgrave, Valerie Hobson, Flora Robson
4. The Captive Heart (1946) - Michael Redgrave
5. Twelve O'Clock High (1949) - Gregory Peck, Hugh Marlowe, Gary Merrill, Dean Jagger
6. Don't Go Near the Water (1957) - Glenn Ford, Gia Scala, Earl Holoman, Anne Francis, Eva Gabor
7. The Sheepman (1958) - Glenn Ford, Shirley MacLaine, Leslie Neilson, Pernell Roberts
8. The Best of Everything (1959) - Hope Lange, Stephen Boyd, Diane Baker, Joan Crawford, Brian Aherne, Louis Jourdan
9. Almost Angels (1962) - Vincent Winter, Sean Scully, Peter Weck, Denis Gilmore
10. The Curse of King Tut's Tomb (1980) - Robin Ellis, Raymond Burr, Eva Marie Saint, Wendy Hiller
11. Father of the Bride (1991) - Steve Martin & Diane Keaton, Kieron Culkin
12. *Prince Caspian (2008) - William Mosely, Anna Popplewell, Skandar Keynes, Georgie Henley, Ben Barnes
13. *Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010) - Skandar Keynes, Georgie Henley, Ben Barnes, Will Poulter
14. Queen & Country (2014) - Callum Turner, Vanessa Kirby
15. Little Women (2019) - Saoirse Ronan, Timothee Chalamet, Laura Dern, Meryl Streep, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scalen
16. Tolkien (2019) - Nicholas Hoult, Lily Collins, Anthony Boyle
17. The Boys in the Boat (2023) - Joel Egerton, Callum Turner, Hadley Robinson

Frasier (2023-present) - Kelsey Grammer

The Bloody 100th (2024)

Least Favorite Film: The Best of Everything. It was definitely written by a hard-core feminist because almost all of the men characters were creeps or rotten. 

Favorite Movie: Several winners this month. The Captive Heart made me tear up several times. Cottage to Let was another good British film with several of humorous scenes. Both were on Tubi. I thought The Sheepman was going to be your typical 'cattlemen vs. sheep farmers' but it was more along the vein of Support Your Local Sheriff (though not quite as funny - that's a classic). I didn't expect to love the 2019 Little Women as much as I did. I think it *just* beats the 1994 version (third place would be the 1978 TV mini-series because it has Greer Garson, Robert Young, and Dorothy McGuire). 

One of my favorite moments ♥

Sunshine Blogger Award #???

Rachel at Hamlette's Soliloquy nominated me for a Sunshine Blogger award and I was able to answer her questions quickly so I actually completed it (I legit have like three old awards in my drafts that I never finished lol). 

Rules: 

• Display the award’s official logo somewhere on your blog. 
• Thank the person who nominated you. 
• Provide a link to your nominator’s blog. 
• Answer your nominator’s questions. 
• Nominate up to 11 bloggers. 
• Ask your nominees 11 questions. 
• Notify your nominees by commenting on at least one of their blog posts.

I'm not going to nominate anyone but here are the answers to her great questions:

1. What's the first movie you have a memory of watching? 

Probably The Quiet Man (1952). My favorite scene was the kiss in 

the graveyard lol. I wanted to marry John Wayne when I grew up.

2. Have you ever written a fan letter to a celebrity?  (If so, did you get a reply?)

No. I've wanted to but never got around to it. I really need to write Robert Wagner...

3. What are the three funniest movies you have ever seen?

Off the top of my head: Son of Paleface (1952), Support Your 

Local Sheriff (1969), Robin Hood Men in Tights (1993).

4. What movie do you really want to change the ending of?

The World, the Flesh, and the Devil (1959). I want Inger Stevens to explicitly 

choose Harry Belafonte. Also any movie where John Wayne's character dies.

5. What movie do you wish had a sequel, but it doesn't?

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (2016)!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :(

6. Who were your favorite actor and actress when you were a teen?

John Wayne and Judy Garland.

7. Who is your favorite actor and actress now?

It changes but if pressed I would say John Wayne for actor. I can't choose 

an actress. My favorite actress currently making movies is Emily Blunt.  

8. Does anyone else in your family love movies? 

We all watch old movies but my oldest younger brother is the closest to me in terms 

of the amount of old movies he watches in a year. He also owns the most dvds. 

Probably watching John Wayne.

9. If you could pick an actor/actress to play you in a movie, who would you choose?

That would be a really boring movie lol. Maybe Natalie Wood for little me.

Me at my 7th birthday party.

10. Do you ever watch a movie in the theater more than once?

Only one I went back to see a second time so far was The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (2016).

My friend and I DIED laughing at this scene.

11. Are there any movies coming out in 2024 that you are looking forward to?

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare - Henry Cavill and director Guy Ritchie 

(The Man From U.N.C.L.E. I know it won't be as good but I'm still excited).

Thanks Rachel!!

Movies I Watched in February

Young and Innocent (1937)

This month wasn't as good as last month... I read We'll Always Have Casablanca by Noah Isenberg. If you are watching Masters of the Air, I highly recommend Harry Crosby's memoir, A Wing and a Prayer. It is on both the Internet Archive and Hoopla (free with your library card) - both e-book and audio book. The Making of Masters of the Air Podcast is really good too. 

* indicates a rewatch

1. Young and Innocent (1937) - Nova Pilbeam & Derrick De Marney
2. *Suspicion (1941) - Joan Fontaine & Cary Grant
3. The Story of G.I. Joe (1945) - Burgess Meredith, Robert Mitchum
4. *Notorious (1946) - Cary Grant & Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains, Louis Calhern
5. Champagne for Caesar (1950) - Ronald Colman, Celeste Holm, Vincent Price, Barbara Britton, Art Linkletter
6. The Lusty Men (1952) - Robert Mitchum, Susan Hayward, Arthur Kennedy
7. Track of the Cat (1954) - Robert Mitchum, Tab Hunter, Beulah Bondi, Teresa Wright
8. Guns of Darkness (1962) - David Niven & Leslie Caron
9. The Victors (1963) - George Hamilton, George Peppard, Eli Wallach, James Mitchum, Michael Callan, Romy Schneider, Mervyn Johns (father of Glynis!)
10. Ransom for a Dead Man (1971) - Peter Falk, Lee Grant
11. Gosford Park (2001) - Maggie Smith, Helen Mirren
12. The Lightkeepers (2009) - Richard Dreyfuss, John Brown, Blythe Danner, Mamie Gummer, Bruce Dern
13. *Mirror Mirror (2012) - Julia Roberts, Lily Collins, Armie Hammer
14. *Snow White and the Huntsman (2012) - Kristin Stewart, Charlize Theron, Chris Hemsworth
15. The Lucky One (2012) - Zac Efron, Taylor Schilling
16. Austenland (2013) - Keri Russell, JJ Feild, Jennifer Coolidge, Jane Seymour

Lost in Austen (2008 - miniseries) - Jemima Rooper, Hugh Bonneville

Masters of the Air (2024 - miniseries) - Austin Butler, Callam Turner, Anthony Boyle, Nate Mann, Barry Keoghan

Least Favorite Film: The Victors was good until about two-thirds of the way through when they killed the dog. It was crummy after that but I had already invested two hours in it so I finished it. I didn't care for Track of the Cat. I don't like movies about dysfunctional families where everybody is angry or hateful or rotten.

Favorite Movie: Not really any clear winners this month. The Lightkeepers was sweet. 

Mitchum with some luscious hair in The Story of G.I. Joe (1945) - not a word I ever thought I'd use lol.

Movies I Watched in January

Kenneth More & Glynis Johns, No Highway in the Sky (1951)

I watched a lot of British films this month. Glynis Johns led to more Kenneth More and also Jack Hawkins. I discovered a "new" TV show, The Four Just Men starring Hawkins, Dan Dailey, Richard Conte, and Vittorio De Sica (they alternate episodes). There are several episodes on YouTube. 

* indicates a rewatch

1. Beauty and the Barge (1937) - Jack Hawkins, Margaret Rutherford
2. He Couldn't Say No (1938) - Frank McHugh, Jane Wyman, Diana Lewis
3. Hold That Kiss (1938) - Maureen O'Sullivan & Dennis O'Keefe, Micky Rooney
4. *Rebecca (1940) - Joan Fontaine & Laurence Olivier, Judith Anderson, Reginald Denny, George Sanders, C. Aubrey Smith, Gladys Cooper
5. *I Know Where I'm Going (1945) - Wendy Hiller & Roger Livesey
6. Black Narcissus (1947) - Deborah Kerr, David Farrar, Sabu, Jean Simmons
7. *Miranda (1948) - Glynis Johns, Googie Withers, Griffith Jones, David Tomlinson, Margaret Rutherford
8. No Highway in the Sky (1951) - James Stewart, Marlene Dietrich, Jack Hawkins, Glynis Johns, Kenneth More
9.  Appointment with Venus (1951) - David Niven, Glynis Johns, Kenneth More
10. One Minute to Zero (1952) - Robert Mitchum & Ann Blyth, William Talman, Charles McGraw, Richard Egan
11. Second Chance (1953) - Robert Mitchum & Linda Darnell, Jack Palance
12. Genevieve (1953) - John Gregson & Dinah Sheridan, Kenneth More, Kay Kendall
13. *Mad About Men (1954) - Glynis Johns, Margaret Rutherford
14. Front Page Story (1954) - Jack Hawkins, Elizabeth Allan
15. *The Enemy Below (1957) - Robert Mitchum, Curt Jergens
16. The Two-Headed Spy (1958) - Jack Hawkins & Gia Scala
17. *The Defiant Ones (1958) - Tony Curtis & Sidney Poitier, Lon Chaney Jr.
18. The 39 Steps (1959) - Kenneth Moore & Taina Elg
19. The Angry Hills (1959) - Robert Mitchum, Gia Scala, Sebastian Cabot
20. How to Frame a Figg (1971) - Don Knotts, Yvonne Craig
21. The Lady Vanishes (1979) - Cybill Shepherd, Elliott Gould, Angela Lansbury
22. Dominick and Eugene (1988) - Tom Hulce, Ray Liotta, Jamie Lee Curtis
23. Miss Austen Regrets (2007) - Olivia Williams, Hugh Bonneville

Emma (2009-TV Mini Series) - Ramola Garai & Jonny Lee Miller

Sidney (2022) - a must watch!

The Power of Film (2024) - TCM Documentary series

Least Favorite Film: I did not like Black Narcissus. If I could un-watch it I would. I don't like creepy eye close-ups. Also, if you watch The Two-Headed Spy, skip the torture scene. 

Favorite Movie: I finally watched No Highway in the Sky after having on my watchlist for a long time. It was really good. I've always considered Emma my least favorite Austen heroine, but I really liked the 2009 mini series! I'm rereading the book to see if I like it better now than when I first read if probably 10+ years ago (I did not like the Paltrow movie either). 

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (2015) is one of my favorite movies from recent years so I'm excited for another collaboration between Henry Cavill and director Guy Ritchie. I wish Alicia Vikander was in it!

2023 Movie Stats

In the year 2023 I watched 158 new-to-me movies and 55 movies that were rewatches for a total of 213.

New to me: 158 (118 pre-1970, 40 post-1970)

Rewatches: 55 (31 pre-1970, 24 post-1970)

Total: 213 (149 pre-1970, 64 post-1970)

Where I watched them: 

TCM: 76 (11 rewatches)

Library (DVD & Apps): 8 (3 rewatches)

Personal DVD: 20 (13 rewatches)

YouTube & OK: 32 (6 rewatches)

Paid Streaming Services: 32 (15 rewatches) 

TV & Free Streaming Services: 44 (6 rewatches)

Theater: 1 (1 rewatch)

Here are my top ten movie discoveries:

Q Planes (1939) - Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson, Valerie Hobson

Good Sam (1948) - Gary Cooper & Ann Sheridan

The Mating of Millie (1948) - Glenn Ford & Evelyn Keyes

A Woman of Distinction (1950) - Ray Milland & Rosalind Russell, Edmund Gwenn

The Whistle at Eaton Falls (1951) - Lloyd Bridges, Carlton Carpenter, Ernest Borgnine

Heaven Knows Mr. Allison (1957) - Robert Mitchum & Deborah Kerr

The Admirable Crichton (1957) - Kenneth Moore, Sally Ann Howe

Advance to the Rear (1964) - Glenn Ford & Stella Stevens, Joan Blondell, Melvyn Douglas

Nickelodeon (1976) - Ryan O'Neal, Burt Reynolds, Tatum O'Neal, Brian Keith, Stella Stevens

The Cheap Detective (1976) - Peter Falk, Madeline Kahn, Ann-Margaret

Classics I finally watched: 

A Christmas Carol (1938) - Reginald Owen, Gene Lockhart

Gilda (1946) - Glenn Ford & Rita Hayworth

Tokyo Story (1953-Japanese) - Setsuko Hara

The Big Heat (1953) - Glenn Ford & Gloria Graham, Lee Marvin

Creature from the Black Lagoon (1957) - Julie Adams, Richard Carlson

The Italian Job (1969) - Michael Caine

Airport (1970) - Burt Lancaster, Dean Martin, Van Heflin

Field of Dreams (1989) - Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones, Ray Liotta

         

Number of movies per decade:

1910s: 0 
1920s: 2 
1930s: 20 (9 rewatches)
1940s: 47 (9 rewatches)
1950s: 62 (10 rewatches)
1960s: 17 (3 rewatches)
1970s: 14 
1980s: 9 (4 rewatches)
1990s: 16 (4 rewatches)
2000s: 14 (7 rewatches)
2010s: 10 (8 rewatches)

2020s: 2 (1 rewatch)

Number of movies per month:

January: 17 (4 rewatches)
February: 17 (6 rewatches)
March: 9 (2 rewatches)
April: 13 (10 rewatches)
May: 18 (4 rewatches)
June: 19 (5 rewatches)
July: 15 (6 rewatches)
August: 30 (6 rewatches) 
September: 19 (2 rewatches)
October: 15 (1 rewatch)
November: 22 (4 rewatches)
December: 19 (5 rewatches)



Number of Foreign Language Films: 3 (1 rewatch)

Number of Documentaries: 6

Most Watched (Leading) Movie Stars: 

Glenn Ford - 19 films

Ray Liotta - 10 films

Alan Ladd - 9 films

Lloyd Bridges (+ season 1 of Sea Hunt), Orlando Bloom (LOTR, Hobbit, & Pirates) - 8 films 

Charles Boyer, Ronald Colman, Dennis O'Keefe, George Kennedy, Jane Wyatt (+ Father Knows Best) - 5 films

Sean Connery, Joan Fontaine, Rita Hayworth, Deborah Kerr, Burt Lancaster, Robert Mitchum, Viggo Mortenson (LOTR), Kurt Russell, Robert Ryan, Barbara Stanwyck - 4 films

Stars I discovered/grew to love/crushed on: Lloyd Bridges, Glenn Ford, Ray Liotta

*To see last year's stats, click here.

Did you keep track of the movies you watched in 2023? Was there a star or movie you discovered that you can't live without now? Let me know in the comments!

Double Feature: Two Hitchcock Remakes

I recently discovered British actor Kenneth More in The Admirable Crichton (1956) and, by searching Tubi to see what other films of his were available, that he had starred in a 1959 remake of Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps (1935), which is a great favorite of mine. This led me to also discover that there was a 1979 remake of The Lady Vanishes starring Cybill Shepherd, Elliott Gould, and Angela Lansbury. I ended up watching them back-to-back and decided to jot down a quick post with my thoughts.

While enjoyable, The 39 Steps, directed by Ralph Thomas, had none of the suspense of the original. More acted as if he were simply on holiday and there was never any real feeling that his life was in danger. The women in the film - the lady who was murdered in his flat, the wife at the house he took refuge in, and finally Miss Fisher (Madeline Carroll's role) - weren't quite right either. The first was too matter of fact, the second a "fortune teller," and Miss Fisher not nearly annoyed enough. All of the tenseness of the original scenes simply wasn't present. The impromptu political speech Hannay gives in the original is replaced with a botany lecture at a girl's school that isn't nearly as tense or funny and the final scene fell a little flat. It's still worth a watch and the color scenery was lovely, though not as harsh and dramatic as in black and white. It helped lend to the more "holiday" feeling.

The Lady Vanishes, directed by Anthony Page, faired better. I've only seen the original once (as opposed to I think four times for The 39 Steps plus the book by John Buchan). Cybill Shepherd plays the heroine differently than Margaret Lockwood (I do wish Sheperd didn't talk so loud the entire time) but it was a fun film. Again, not as tense as the original but that film also had more of Hitchcock's humor. I would say the remake had a slight screwball element to it as well with Sheperd's portrayal as a seemingly flighty heiress with multiple marriages and on her way to another.  It was set in 1939 and had a stronger N*zi presence - our introduction to Shepherd's character is her doing a H*tler impression. There was on-location shooting in Austria, so this film had lovely scenery as well. 

Have you seen any remakes of Hitchcock films (aside from the one's he remade himself)? What did you think of them? Did you like them better than the original?