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cathytreks
My partner and mate is a Kiwi born U.S. diplomat, my husband and lover, and father to our children, we share this space here @imdb, AND we hope/wish goodness upon all things for everyone!
Kia ora
"As a finger pointing a way to a moon don't concentrate on the finger or you will miss all that heavenly glory!"
- Bruce Lee
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The Last Time I Saw Paris (1954)
One of the screens enduring story's of love, sorrow and joy.
One of the screens enduring story's of love sorrow and joy. of the post WWII era and it's aftermath on those who lived it. Charles (Van Johnson) returns to Paris to reminisce about the life he led in Paris after it was liberated. He worked on "Stars and Stripes" when he met Marion (Donna Reed) and Helen (Elizabeth Taylor). He would marry Helen and at first be happy staying in Paris after his discharge and working for a news organization. He would try to write his great novel, but that and too much of "the high life" would come between Charles, his wife and their young daughter as tragedy unfolds.
Based upon the F. Scott Fitzgerald short story, Babylon Revisited.
Suzy (1936)
One of Harlows best later films!
A happy film for Jean Harlow personally, she got to play something other than a tough feather brained sex symbol persona, she really could act up a storm as Suzy a giving young woman, and friend with a hopeful naive humanity at the same in her character, more joy in the viewing of her performance here a very likable person and sympathetic , we all root for her in this interesting World War 1 period film with just one error in what looks like 1930's clothing on many of the woman in the story set nearly 17 years earlier.
A very fine film of Harlow with a great supporting cast of Lewis Stone, Franchot Tone, and a very young, and handsome (albeit somewhat inexperienced) Cary Grant! This is a treasure of a performance by Jean in one of her last films, worth more than a mere view and and a worthy addition to any Harlow fan collection. 9/10!
The Pied Piper of Hamelin (1957)
A Great made for TV Colour Children's movie of the 1950's!
Van Johnson and Claude Rains stand out especially so for the type of presentation it is. It is very well made in Technicolor for the then early medium of early colour filmed Television. The cast is first-rate, with movie great Van Johnson brilliantly playing the strange and yes often frightening piper!, as well as the kindly school teacher Trueson, who is also the village conscience. Legendary movie Thespian Claude Rains is absolutely wonderful as the clever, sneering, and corrupt lord mayor of Hamlin. Rains clearly has fun playing him much like he did PrinceJohn in 'Adventures Of Robin Hood from back in 1938! Rains even does a comical, show-stopping song and dance, Gilligan's Island's Jim Backus also appears as the King's messenger, and his comedy is sorely needed as this fairy tale goes rather dark in it's second half! One highlight of the film, is Van Johnson as the Pied Piper, leading the rats out of Hamlin to their deaths in the river. He is playing on his pipe the haunting melody of 'In The Hall Of The Mountain King' from Mr. Greig's 'Peter Guint Suite' as the cleverly animated rats march off to their oblivion! Others in the cast are as familiar as they are enjoyable as well, This as an all around delightful nostalgic romp. This should appeal to both young and old alike! And unlike the fairy tale of books, this 'Pied Piper Of Hamlin' has a happy ending for all, and with a lesson for everyone about greed, selfishness, and false pride. I rate this a heartfelt ***** STARS!
A Ghost in Monte Carlo (1990)
A wonderful adaptation of a great story with a fantastic cast and plot!
This is a superb adaptation of a page turning Barbara Cartland novel, with all the frills you would expect, and one will find this to be highly watchable. While some have said you may "figure out most of the story in the first few minutes" I dare say otherwise and with the cast in the film and excellent production values this has more of a "movie movie" feel, than a made for TV film, as you watch it enfold as its enveloping twists and turns it will delight the viewer to it's moving climax.
Sarah Miles and Lysette Anthony are wonderful, Ms Miles delivers a compelling and sympathetic performance as a world weary Countess who takes her innocent niece (Ms.Anthony) from a convent and sends her into the exciting world of Monte Carlo, into the arms of the Crown Prince himself, all played to atypical romantic perfection!
This ensemble cast of top actors shine in this photo-play. The late Oliver Reed, along with the ever wondrous Christopher Plummer, shine especially, along with the superb Samantha Eggar, Fiona Fullerton and Gareth Hunt in supporting but important roles this is a true classic of 1990s television at it's best, to be watched and enjoyed, and watched again. This is a ***** star TV Movie production that zips by in in an all too short 90 mins!
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)
One of the best James Bond Film made.
It's the first entry to star someone other than Sean Connery in the lead role; it's the first instance of Bond threatening to quit the British Secret Service; it's the first and only time Bond ever marries; and it's the first and only Bond issue to bring a tear to the eye. It's also the lengthiest Bond ever (142 minutes). Let's start with George Lazenby. When Connery called it quits, a worldwide search went out to find a replacement. Curiously, the producers came up with Lazenby, who had never acted before. Okay, he's a bit stiff at first and he could be set in a window to sell clothes, Which, in fact, was pretty close to his former job, a model. However, he grows on you more as the film moves along and so even more than Connery he did look and sound like the fellow the producers had wanted all along, Cary Grant. The only reason they had gone with Connery in "Dr. No" was that Grant's asking price was out of their range. So Lazenby looks and sounds great, although Lazenby said he was surprised during the film's premiere to find that his Australian accent had been looped.
Anyway, appearance and voice aside, Lazenby wears a tuxedo well, he looks great in a casino playing baccarat, and smartly sits behind the wheel of an Aston Martin.
The plot is pretty straightforward. Bond rescues a beautiful young woman, Tracy (Diana Rigg), from an attempted suicide and from a group of thugs. Her father, Draco (Gabriele Ferzetti), turns out to be a big-time crime-syndicate boss who offers Bond one million dollars to marry his daughter. Bond agrees to consider the offer if Draco will help him locate the whereabouts of his arch-enemy, Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Telly Savalas), the evil head of SPECTRE, who is threatening to release a virus on the world. In the course of events, Bond romances Tracy, finds and defeats Blofeld high in the Swiss Alps, and then returns to get married. All in the line of work for a super agent. Everything in it is so good including Lazenby, and the lovely and talented Diana Rigg, fresh from "The Avengers" TV series, makes one of the best Bond heroines of all with her combination of beauty, intelligence, and charm. Interestingly, Honor Blackman (Pussy Galore in "Goldfinger") was also a product of "The Avengers," obviously a program noted for its strong female leads. Savalas makes a believable Blofeld for a change.
Savalas takes the part and flies with it. He was perfectly evil and as malign, perhaps, more vicious, as chooses to carry out the role in a quietly sinister fashion! One of my favourite lines, "We'll head him off at the precipice." LOL , In addition to the principal actors, the usual supporting cast is on hand: M and Q and Miss .
Unlike many of the 007 films, this one gets off to a fairly slow yet welcome start. That is, director Peter Hunt prefers to build up the relationship between Bond and Tracy before starting in on too many ski chases, car chases, bobsled chases, or avalanches. When these events do begin, though, they are among the best of their kind. The scenes in the high Alps are spectacular in the extreme!
That final run down the mountain is a sure crowd pleaser. One major difference between the early versus late Bond movies is that in the earlier ones fewer things blow up. I suspect this has something to do with surround sound and the spectacular CGI effects directors can now pull off. Unfortunately so to a degree perhaps?
This and that: Lazenby accompanies his transition to the part with a bit of self-deprecating humor. After losing the girl in the initial fight scene, he comments, "This never happened to the other guy." At another point in the story, Bond investigates his genealogy and is told that his family motto is "Orbis Non Sufficit" or "The World is Not Sufficient," more loosely translated as "The World Is Not Enough"; hence, the title of the much later film.
The motto is written beneath the Bond family crest, which depicts three golden balls. Bond continues to crack double entendres, maybe not with the same snap or conviction of his predecessor. For instance, after the particularly bloody death of one of the villains, Lazenby quips, "He had lots of guts." Not quite up to form, what?...but so what, and the immortal Louis Armstrong sings the movie's love theme, "All the Time in the World," which would be the last song the great jazz artist ever recorded.
Finally, Q (Desmond Llewelyn) mere token appearance at Bond's wedding, tells you that this adventure is relatively free of gimmicks, gizmos, and gadgets! The director wanted to stick as closely as possible to Ian Fleming's novel and make the film more realistic than the several Bond releases that preceded it and come after....and in many ways they did! This is one of the best Bond film ever made and is memorable in the series of films.
For the First Time (1959)
Mario's Lanza's Greatest movie.
He was really coming into his own in this film, it was released just before he died in 1959 at the tragically young age of 38, murdered (some say) by the Italian mafia, but most likely a heart attack, But anyway in this movie he could even sing a "calypso/rock n roll" in it with the "pineapple pickers" number, as well as his outstanding operatic music too, He was so truly good and believable in this his last movie, helped by a wonderful supporting cast including Kurt Kasner and Zsa Zsa Gabor that helped him with his role tremendously as Tony Costa, Mario was so handsome, a sexy man Yes, indeed Mario shines through this movie.
His scene where he sings "Come Prima ("For the First Time") is a top moment indeed!, Aside from the movie's vocal strengths, what also helps save the film is the tender love story between Lanza and his delightful co-star, Johanna Von Koczian. Their flowering love for each other quickly though it develops, seems convincing and heartfelt, you believe they do love one another and without question...yes, Mario Lanza will live forever in this motion picture vehicle from the last year of the 1950's!