“In a Lonely Place” (1950)

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cops

This film is considered to be one of Humphrey Bogart’s finest by many critics.  He is very engaging as a passionate, dark, anti-hero with a checkered past.  As always, Bogie becomes the character, making acting look effortless.  (“He’s so interesting, isn’t he?” my dad commented after a particularly intense scene.)

Bogart plays middle-aged, famous, and jaded LA screenwriter, Dixon Steele.  He’s a man who likes drinking, fighting, and speaking whatever is on his mind.  One night, he is approached by Mildred Atkinson, a pretty young coat check girl.   She gushes about the movies he’s written, and wants to know more about famous people.  Steele grudgingly takes her home to talk more (she kept insisting), but grows weary of her praise, naivete, and chattiness.  Politely, he sends the girl on her way, saying he’s had a very long day.

squeeze

The next morning, one of his friendly local cops comes to his apartment.  We learn that the coat check girl was murdered just a few blocks from Steele’s home.  He is their number one suspect, and has a history of getting rough with people (indcluding an ex-girlfriend).

interest

But his new neighbor, an aspiring actress named Laurel Grey (Gloria Grahame), says she saw him at his door after the girl left.  Laurel boldly comments (in front of some detectives, including Steele’s friend Captain Lochner) that she finds Steele’s face “interesting.”  They quickly become a couple.

doubts

The writer and actress are a swell pair for a few weeks.  He gets a burst of creativity; she takes care of  his home/meals/friends.  But Steele seems to have “a strange fascination with death,” as Captain Lochner’s wife comments after a dinner party.  (The scripts he writes include creative ways to murder people, we learn.)  Eventually, Laurel starts to get suspicious because of Steele’s sudden mood swings and bursts of violence.  Could Steele have killed Mildred?  And even if he’s not a murderer, should Laurel stay with such an unpredictable man?

A recent review of the film:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kim-morgan/please-dont-let-me-love-y_b_236463.html

“Portrait of Jennie” (1949)

Emma3 Comments
The opening of the film- WOW!
The opening of the film- WOW!

This is one of the MOST beautifully lighted movies I’ve ever seen!  It also has an unusual, engaging, and (unapologetically) romantic storyline.  If you liked The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, you should check out Portrait of Jennie.  Eben Adams (Joseph Cotton) is a struggling artist in NYC, hoping and waiting for a spark of inspiration.  He paints for a living, earns some money, BUT wants to create a great piece. 

"I wish you were older."
"I wish you were older," Eben tells Jennie.

One day in Central Park, Eben meets an unusually pretty, cheerful young girl named Jennie Appleton (Jennifer Jones).  They chat as she skates across the pond.  Eben is captivated by Jennie’s face, and wants to paint her portrait.  But Jennie has to leave.

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Eben tells his friends, art dealer, and gallery owner (played by Ethel Barrymore) about Jennie; she has become his inspiration.  He looks for her in the park for several days.  When he sees Jennie again, she has grown a bit older!  How can that be?  Eben asks to meet her parents, so he can get permission to paint her.  Jennie says that her parents died in a high-wire accident.  She doesn’t give her address.  Eben does some research to find out more about this mysterious girl.        

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The third time Jennie appears, she’s in Eben’s studio.  She’s a full-grown woman, ready to attend convent school (college).   Eben, overjoyed and in love, can finally work on her portrait.
We always want what we can't have!
We always want what we can't have!
Before the portrait is finished, Jennie has to go away again.  She’s gone for some time, and Eben despairs of ever seeing her again.  He waits by a park bench as night.  When she does come again, Jennie (a sophomore in college) admits that she’s in love with Eben.  They walk through the streets of NYC all night, talking and wishing they could stay together for longer.
 
The finished portrait
The finished portrait

This film has an aura of mystery, suspense, and sweetness.  Is Jennie a ghost?  And is there any way for these lovers to be together?

“The Year of Living Dangerously” (1982)

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tyld_2

This is another film I’ve wanted to see for a while!  You’ll see a natural/young Mel before he became a celeb w/ extreme opinions.  Guy Hamilton (Mel Gibson) is an Australian/American foreign correspondant  assigned to cover political unrest in Indonesia under Sukarno in the mid-60s.  (The film was shot in the Philipinnes.)  Guy meets a small group of reporters from Western nations (all w/ varying ideas about Indonesia), as well as a very intelligent Australian/Chinese photographer, Billy Kwan (Linda Hunt).  Billy, who is a little person, takes a keen interest in Guy.  He shows the newbie around Jakarta and helps him get interviews (including one w/ the leader of the Communists).  Billy also serves as narrator for most of the film, and is the most interesting character in the story.  He knows Indonesia (jungles, slums, embassies, etc.), cares deeply about its common people (who face terrible poverty), and has connexs all over.  Some wonder is he’s a spy.           

 

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Billy introduces Guy to one of his closest friends- a beautiful/tough-minded Englishwoman who works at the British Embassy, Jill Bryant (Sigourney Weaver).  Billy slyly finds a way to bring Jill and Guy together, thinking they’d be good for each other.  (Mel and Sigourney have GREAT chemistry onscreen.)  Just as their romance gets going, all hell breaks loose!  Will Guy keep chasing the story OR run away w/ the woman he loves?    

 

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The title The Year of Living Dangerously is a quote which refers to a famous Italian phrase used by Sukarno: vivere pericoloso, meaning “living dangerously.”  -Wikipedia

 

Mel described his character Guy, saying, “He’s not a silver-tongued devil. He’s kind of immature and he has some rough edges and I guess you could say the same for me.”  -Wikipedia

 

When I first started out there were very few tall actors… Mel  Gibson got on a box, never had a problem.  He was just as sweet as can be.  He was just so secure about my height.  He just thought it was a lark, he thought it was funny.  –Sigourney Weaver

“Mad Men” (Seasons 1 & 2)

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The cast of "Mad Men" (AMC)
The cast of ensemble drama “Mad Men” (AMC)

My little sister watches this show, so I decided to check it out.  (She’s usually in the know about what’s cool.)  Another reason to see Mad Men is Elisabeth Moss (known to many as President Bartlett’s youngest daughter, Zoe, on The West Wing).  Elisabeth’s character, Peggy Olson, starts out as a cheerful/eager/naive secretary at the start of Season 1.  Like the viewer, she doesn’t know what to expect from Sterling Cooper (the ad agency that is the main setting of the show).

Peggy Olson- always watching & learning
Peggy Olson- always watching & learning

Women esp. will empathize w/ Peggy, a young woman who experiences workplace harassment (it’s the early ’60s after all), romantic disappointment, and disillusionment on her way to becoming a copywriter (in Season 2).  She brings to mind the compromises, trials, and sacrifices faced by early feminists, though Peggy NEVER calls herself a feminist.  Peggy works hard and wins the trust/confidence/respect of boss, Don Draper (Jon Hamm).

The unflappable Roger Sterling
The unflappable Roger Sterling

After Peggy, my fave character is Roger Sterling (played by TV/theater veteran John Slattery).  Roger, a partner in the firm, is an “old-school” guy- charming, confident, and a heavy drinker (w/o any guilt, he comments).  He usually has a twinkle in his eye, enjoying work and life to the fullest.  I particularly enjoyed the few eps where Roger was worried about aging.

Don (Jon Hamm) & Betty (January Jones)
Don & Betty

Peggy (Elisabeth Moss) & Pete (Vincent Kartheiser)

Don Draper (Jon Hamm) w/ bohemian Midge (Rosemarie Dewitt)

Don w/ businesswoman Rachel

Though many people have commented on Don’s hot & heavy romance w/ Midge, I thought the storyline w/ him and Rachel was MORE interesting.  She is a successful/single/lonely businesswoman who is a client of Sterling Cooper (in Season 1).   Don doesn’t want to work w/ her at first, but soon becomes intrigued by her perserverence.  Though Rachel is wealthy, she is an “outsider” b/c of her Jewish heritage.   Don falls deeply in love w/ her, and tells her secrets about his life.  (Unfortunately, I didn’t see this ep!)   He’s (visibly) shocked when he sees Rachel w/ her new hubby (Season 2).

 

Jon Hamm in "People" mag (2007)
Jon Hamm in “People” mag (2007)

I watched a FEW interviews w/ Jon Hamm; he comes across as a VERY polite/sweet/unassuming actor.  He said he wears glasses and prefers his hair longer than Don’s in real life.  I watched Jon (a few yrs ago) as a sensitive detective on the Lifetime drama, The Division.  After a LONG struggle in Hollywood, this actor has made it BIG!

From Parade mag
From “Parade” mag

Hamm “has this wonderful sadness and lost quality in his eyes,” said director Alan Taylor. “It’s a rare quality for a strapping leading man.”  Leave your political correctness at the door, and tune in for Season 3 of Mad Men on SUN night!

 

Related Links:

An extensive Vanity Fair article: http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2009/09/mad-men200909?printable=true&currentPage=all

Basket of Kisses: a Mad Men fan site

http://www.lippsisters.com/

A comprehensive Jon Hamm fan site:

http://www.jon-hamm.com/

“Notorious” (1946)

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This is one of my mom’s fave classic films, BUT I just recently watched all of it.  It’s Hitchcock, but also VERY romantic (note the lighting).  And we get the pleasure of seeing Hollywood’s two most GORGEOUS, sophisticated, and talented actors working together!  

 

Alicia Huberman (Ingrid Bergman) is a beautiful/young/strong-willed Miami socialite who has turned to drinking and carousing since the imprisonment of her father.   At a party one night, she gets very drunk, and has to be driven home by T.R. Devlin (Cary Grant). 

 

Grant and Bergman have insta-chemistry!
Grant and Bergman have insta-chemistry!

Devlin learns that Alicia, who loves America, is bitter that her father worked as a German spy.  Devlin proposes that Alicia work as a spy for the American government on a special assignment in Rio de Janeiro.  The country could use someone w/ her background and talents, Devlin’s superiors say.   

 

NOT merely contact and spy!
NOT just contact and spy!
Even before the plane lands in Rio, Dev and Alicia are deeply into each other.  She quits drinking, resigned to be a better person.   That night, she says she’s in love with Dev.  But the new romance is suddenly halted when Dev learns what Alicia will be required to do IF she accepts the assignment.  She’ll have to get VERY close to wealthy businessman Alexander Sebastien (Claude Rains), one of her father’s close friends.  Devlin’s bosses explain that Sebastien was in love w/ Alicia years ago, and is eager to see her again!