Change Your Image
norman1066
Reviews
Heaven Only Knows (1947)
Vote for it on TCM.
I haven't commented on this one before now, only because it would be redundant--I am one more who saw "Heaven Only Knows" on TV as a kid, and loved it, never forgot it, and would love to see it again. This is one of my two favorite Bob Cummings movies, along with the equally memorable "The Lost Moment"--also sadly unavailable.
But now I can report that there is something we can do about it. Look it up on Turner Classic Movies (tcmdb.com), and there is a spot where you can vote for it to be made available. I was just there, and 40 people had voted for it already. So if you haven't yet done so, by all means please get over there and vote for it! And maybe add a vote for "Lost Moment" too.
Hänsel and Gretel (1954)
Enchanting Silhouette Animation
I saw Lotte Reiniger's "Hansel and Gretel" as a boy, perhaps 8 yrs old, and remember being really impressed with it. It was like a piece of artwork magically moving. The animation style was unique to me then, and to this day I have still never seen anything quite like it. Black silhouette characters (all painstakingly scissor-cut by creator Reiniger) move against lovely backgrounds reminiscent of the style of the classic fairy-tale illustrator Arthur Rackham. It was thoroughly enchanting.
This was a short film by the creator of the earlier "Adventures of Prince Achmed," which was arguably the first full-length animated film (1929). I have no idea whether "Hansel and Gretel" is available in DVD or VHS, but I'd love to see it again.
The Spiral Road (1962)
A great example of the term "Memorable Movie"
"The Spiral Road" has stuck in my memory ever since I saw it on TV decades ago, and I have always wanted to see it uncut and widescreen. The supporting roles are uniformly good: especially Gena Rowlands, in confident and alluring form as the sophisticated Els (and still turning in moving performances as of 2005's "The Notebook"). But this is largely a two-man vehicle for Burl Ives and Rock Hudson--and especially in the concluding scenes, nearly a one-man tour-de-force for Hudson. This is not the shallow handsome-guy Rock often had to play. He makes the most of the chance to display depth and intensity as the arrogant, atheistic city doctor who comes to the jungle with scorn for the locals, and especially for missionaries. Burl Ives shows neither the sentimental cuteness of "Frosty the Snowman" nor the over-the-top bombast of Big Daddy in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof"--his Dr. Jansen is kind and realistic, a savvy jungle survivor and a practical mentor. Notably, for a film with a clear eye toward colonialist excesses, missionaries are not stereotyped here, but we see examples of both self-righteous culture-tramplers and people of self-sacrificing faith. Ives delivers my favorite line: "Out here in the jungle, the Lord has a way of sorta putting his thumb on people that don't believe in him."