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Reviews
Johnny Angel (1945)
Raft Should Have Stuck To Flipping Coins
I just caught this on TCM's Noir Alley. It's not really Noir and it should have been taken into an alley and beat up. Raft moves along stiffly in his crisp, white captain's outfit even though he was far from stiff in real life. He was an excellent dancer. Here though, he is badly miscast as a leading man. Hoagy Carmichael steals the show, though it's like taking candy from a baby.
One of Noir Alley's most boring offers yet.
The Window (1949)
Obviously a different time.
As with many films of the '40's and '50's, this movie could not be made today, without the makers being charged with promoting child abuse.
A young boy, who has a penchant for fibbing, is locked in his room, by both his mother and father. The dad even nails the window shut, so he can't get out. He is left alone in NYC, for long periods of time. The capper, is that in the bedroom he is locked in, hanging on the wall, is a rifle.
Not a bad little movie. A bit sappy, but fun to see Della Street(Barbara Hale), pre Perry Mason.
Curb Your Enthusiasm: Thank You for Your Service (2017)
I Enjoyed It
I love Curb, and there really aren't any bad episodes for me. Some are better than others, but this was pretty good.
The scene with the female mail carrier, who Larry asks to carry a package a couple doors down, without actually mailing it, that's the kind of humor I like. Larry's like, "What's the big deal?", "Don't be a stickler."
I also loved the scene where everyone was "thanking the guy for his service". Certainly veterans are, and should be appreciated and honored for what they do; but the phrase is so overdone now, it's almost trite. Like, "Have a nice day", when you couldn't really care less about their day. And Larry's right. Do you have to say it every time, to every veteran you come across? If that's the case, civilians may as well start saluting every time they meet a veteran.
When he starts thanking the host for dinner, and thanking everyone for every little thing, it kind of makes the point.
Plus, when the veteran gets all perturbed when he isn't thanked, I don't think any real veteran would expect a verbal thanks. They might very well appreciate it, but not expect it every time.
Adventures of Superman: The Big Freeze (1956)
Left me cold.
A pretty dumb episode about a corrupt politician, who's backed by a gang who, through intimidation tactics, try to get the citizens of Metropolis to vote for their candidate.
The plot in and of itself isn't bad, but I hate episodes where Superman can be rendered powerless by something other than Kryptonite. They should have remained faithful to the comic book by adhering to this.
Superman is lured into a trap in which he is flash frozen, and all his strength is gone. There is a ridiculous scene where Clark Kent(who of course, is also frozen a ghostly white color); goes into Lois Lane's office, and finds some makeup. In five seconds, he is a makeup expert, and applies rouge and other products, and in a couple minutes, you'd never now anything was amiss.
John Hamilton, as Perry White, does make a funny comment about how Kent looks like he has a tan.
One saving grace that this episode does have is when Clark says something so absurd, he might as well admit he's Superman. Superman is told by the professor who invented the freeze room, which trapped our hero; that an intense heat might reverse the effect. Superman walks into a blast furnace, and it works. He's Superman again.
When the election returns are coming in, it looks as if the crooked guy will win, but Supe's hits the polling places, and intimidates the intimidating.
At the end, Lois Lane says to Clark, "Do you think Superman's really better, Clark?" To which Clark responds, "Never felt better in my life!"
Adventures of Superman: Great Caesar's Ghost (1955)
A Decent Color Episode
The color episodes of the Adventures of Superman, were generally more kid friendly, and lacked the edge of the earlier black and white episodes, but this one isn't bad.
Perry White is supposed to be a star witness at the Morley gang trial. The gang gets the idea to drive him nuts, by capitalizing on his oft used phrase of "Great Caesar's Ghost!"
A guy dresses up like Caesar's Ghost, complete with Roman costume and phosphorescent paint, and every time White says the phrase, the gang member answers.
Slowly, Perry is seemingly driven mad, even to the point of trying to jump out of a plane to see who's voice he's hearing.
Superman rigs up a sting operation with Jimmy to make the gang member think HE'S seeing a ghost. White realizes he's not going insane.
One thing I love about this episode, is that there is a scene in it, where Clark Kent practically admits he's Superman. It would go over a kid's head, but an adult watching would have to chuckle.
Clark, Lois and Jimmy Olsen are in White's office. Kent is acting as temporary editor while White is about to check in at the booby hatch.
Lois makes a comment along the lines of, "Why hasn't Superman tried to help poor Mr. White". Kent responds, "Well Lois, I've been so chained to this desk..."