Black Friday (1940) Trailer

Black Friday is a great film starring Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff together in this crime drama from 1940. The most interesting thing about this movie is that for one SMALL scene, Bela is hypnotized by the famous hypnotist Manly P. Hall to play a scene where his character is stuck in a closet. The trailer shows more of Bela in the closet than the film does.

I had never heard about Bela being hypnotized until I saw this film. Apparently, according to the trailer, it was big news at the time. I wonder if being hypnotized to play a scene actually did harm to Bela's psyche. In 2009 it is known that Manly P. Hall worked for the CIA and the US gov't in top secret brainwashing experiments. I happen to think that hypnotizing someone is very dangerous and should only be used in certain circumstances.

This film is available on DVD in the Bela Lugosi collection which also includes The Raven, Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Black Cat and The Invisible Ray. Some of Bela's and Boris's best horror films are included in this collection. It should of been called The Bela and Boris collection since they star together in 4 of the 5 films in the set. I highly recommend it for any fans of old horror and classic film in general.

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Mae West

Mae West is my new idol. She is the most amazing comedian and seductress I have ever seen in a classic film. I recently picked up a 5 pack of her films which feature:

Night After Night-with George Raft, her first roll was a supporting roll but she stole every scene she was in.

I'm No Angel- My favorite in the group, this stars Cary Grant and features some of her most popular numbers including "Sister Honkey Tonk" and "I'm No Angel". This movie is one of the funniest of her 12 films. The courtroom scene is amazing and Mae is a lion tamer in a few scenes.



Go West young Man- Mae stars as a Hollywood movie star whose contract states that she cannot get married for five years but when your Mae West men come with the territory. So her press agent and manager does his best to keep all suitors away, leading to some hilarious situations with a politician played by one of my all time favs Lyle Talbot. On the way west, her limo breaks down and she is forced to stay in a small town where she meets a meek care taker played by Randolph Scott. The ending of this film disappointed me. Not one of her best, but entertaining if you like Scott and West, which I do.



Goin' to Town- This one was my least favorite in the group. You can tell the censors really got to Mae. She looks unhappy and sullen throughout the whole picture. She was definitely held back on this one.

My Little Chickadee-This hilarious romp also stars WC Fields and is very entertaining. A must see western with Mae shooting at Indians and flirting with WC Fields. Mae and WC wrote this one together. It was their only collaboration on film unfortunately because I could see them making a series of hilarious movies that would have given the censors constipation. This one is my second favorite out of the five.
Here is a little bit of Trivia from the film from IMDB.com

"On lunch break one day, W.C. Fields went to his dressing room to start on a new bottle of whiskey he had saved for that purpose. Apparently someone beat him to it, as the bottle had been opened and about half of it had been drunk. Fields immediately ran outside and roared to the crew, "Who took the cork out of my lunch?""

"As he leaves at the end of the film, Cuthbert J. Twillie (W.C. Fields) says to Flower Belle, "Why don't you come up and see me sometime?", a reference to Mae West's famous line in an earlier film, She Done Him Wrong (1933)."


Almost all of her films have been released at one time on VHS or DVD. She only made 12 of them and spent most of her time on the stage.

I highly recommend renting or buying The Mae West Glamour Collection and the DVD of her most famous movie-She Done Him Wrong with Cary Grant.



Mae wrote 5 of her films and a number of plays. She Done Him Wrong is based on her play Diamond Lil.

In 1927 Mae was arrested for corrupting society and indecency for her Broadway play called Sex. I can only imagine her court room scene there. She spent a number of months in jail, mostly dining with the warden and his family-typical Mae West!!!



She died in 1980 after a series of strokes.


Visage of Mae West
by Dali

Its been awhile

Sorry I have not posted here in awhile.
I have been working on other things,
like my writing and film career.

Check out The Battle in Seattle when it comes out in sept.
I have a small featured extra role in the scene with the labor march.
I am the punk rocker with the patches on her pants and a black stocking cap.

Cheers
kim

PS. I still watch classic films everyday. I have just been writing about other things.
I have hella books to finish. Watch out for those too.

All Quiet on the Western Front

Watch Lewis Milestone's Oscar winning World War One Drama here:

http://www.archive.org/details/AllQuietOnTheWesternFront

Bob Hope Radio Show

I recently have discovered the Bob Hope Radio show which ran throughout the 30's, 40's and 50's. Most of the shows online are from the 40's and 50's. They are really funny and my favorite ones are the ones that he did from army bases in the us that aired on the radio for everyone to hear. There are some great guest stars. My favorite being the one with Humphrey Bogart, but I could not find that one for download only streaming media. I am posting some for all of you to enjoy.



Here are some links for many, many more shows to download and listen too.

http://www.archive.org/details/otr_bobhopeshow
http://www.archive.org/details/otr_bobhope
http://www.archive.org/details/bob_hope

Enjoy!
-
kim

Happy Easter---Movies for Resurrections--

The Robe 1953

The Robe is the epic story about a Roman Tribune that is assigned the task of overseeing the crucifixion of Jesus. Richard Burton plays Marcellus Gallio, the Roman Tribune and Victor Mature plays Demetrius, his Greek slave. At the crucifixion, Marcellus wins Christ's Robe in a game of chance. When he picks up the robe it does something powerful and awful to him. He throws down the robe and it is picked up by his slave Demetrius. Demetrius is a follower of Christ and even went to warn his followers that the Romans were after him, but it was too late and Jesus was already in jail.








With the robe Demetrius takes his freedom and goes with Peter the fisherman to preach the word of Christ. Marcellus returns home and is haunted with supernatural panic attacks. His elder instructs that he must find the Greek and destroy the robe.




In the meantime, while on the trail of the robe, Marcellus becomes a Christian and is thus arrested and taken back to Rome. Richard Burton does a great job as the haunted tribune. Victor Mature is as always great in his role as Demetrius. A year later Mature reprises the role in the sequel to The Robe, Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954). In 1959 Howard Keel starred in the 3rd installment titled The Big Fisherman.




Both The Robe and Demetrius and the Gladiators are available on DVD. I recommend the Cinema Classics Collection edition of The Robe, if only for the superior packaging.

For more info:

The Robe
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046247/
Demetrius and the Gladiators
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046899/
The Big Fisherman
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052627/

As Always Turn to Turner Classic Movies for all your classic film needs.
www.TCM.com