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walsh25tudor
Reviews
Whom the Gods Destroy (1934)
Known as "Shipwreck" in 1934
I saw "Shipwreck" in Radio City Music Hall in 1934 (when I was 7). I especially enjoyed seeing Robert Young for perhaps the first time. I don't recall the semi-happy ending noted in your Summary. Instead, I thought the Walter Connolly character died in his son's office after his wife recognized him. (Maybe I anticipated that ending later on in "Tomorrow Is Forever.") Did time play tricks on me? I erroneously believed that the female lead was Ann Harding, only to find in IMDb that it was lookalike Doris Kenyon. I especially recall the lifeboat scramble and the beatings Connolly received in Newfoundland when his fellow passengers and the locals discovered he had disguised himself as a woman by placing a ladies fur coat over his head.
House of Bamboo (1955)
Fascinating look at "another world"
A recent AMC screening reminded me that "House of Bamboo" ranks with "Year of Living Dangerously" as a fascinating escape to another culture, another shoji-screened world. There isn't a wasted shot by storyteller-director Samuel Fuller, who always got right to the point in his films. Robert Stack was appropriately stolid for his part with hints of warmth here and there; too bad he grew increasingly glacial over the years. Shirley Yamaguchi was a fetching "kimono girl"; too bad we didn't get to see her more often.
IMDb's note that "House" is a retelling of "Street Without a Name" is intriguing. I'll have to keep alert to that other film on the TV movie circuit.