![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Back to the Movies
Aug. 16th, 2021 12:09 pmI finished off my Rennie movies, and even managed to get through my Flynn movies, so lots of movies this time. Some of you might even have heard of some of them. *g*
MOVIES WATCHED IN JULY
July 2 - Mambo (1954)
Silvana Mangano plays a young, poor Venetian woman, Giovanna Masetti. She is struggling with a difficult life as a shop assistant. She escapes her unhappy life when she becomes the star of a dance trope but when she returns to Venice she is drawn back to old lovers and old pains from which she may be unable to escape.
Director: Robert Rossen
Stars: Silvana Mangano, Michael Rennie, Vittorio Gassman
Not a bad movie, even if there are some missing parts to the story. Rennie doesn’t have a huge part, but is still integral to the plot.
July 4 - Desiree (1954)
Désirée (Jean Simmons) is young Napoleon's first true love, long before his rise to power. However, he has to decide whether to marry her and sacrifice his career or abandon her. The two lovers go their separate ways, only to meet again when as Napoleon’s star is beginning to rise.
Director: Henry Koster
Stars: Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, Merle Oberon, Michael Rennie, Cameron Mitchell, John Hoyt, Alan Napier
One of my all-time favorite movies. Maybe over-romantic for some, and history is probably skewed, but Rennie looks fantastic in his marshal’s uniform. *g*
July 7 - The Rains of Ranchipur (1955)
Despite marital problems, English Lord Albert Esketh and his rich American socialite wife Lady Edwina Esketh travel to India to buy a prize horse from the ruler of Ranchipur.
Director: Jean Negulesco
Stars: Lana Turner, Richard Burton, Fred MacMurray, Michael Rennie
Better than I thought it would be. I liked that life taught Lady Esketh some needed lessons.
July 10 - Teenage Rebel (1956)
Nancy Fallon gets custody of her teenage daughter back from her ex-husband when she remarries, but she must win her love.
Director: Edmund Goulding
Stars: Ginger Rogers, Michael Rennie, Mildred Natwick
Much better than I thought it would be, considering the premise. And considering how tall he was, Rennie is surprising light on his feet. I guess they would have had to make sure of that, since he dances with Rogers.
July 14 - Third Man on the Mountain (1959)
A boy attempts to realize his father's dream of climbing an alpine peak known as the Citadel.
Director: Ken Annakin
Stars: Michael Rennie, James MacArthur, James Donald, Janet Munro, Herbet Lom
Pleasantly sappy, as many of Disney’s movies were at the time.
July 17 - The Lost World (1960)
Professor Challenger leads an expedition of scientists and adventurers to a remote plateau deep in the Amazonian jungle to verify his claim that dinosaurs still live there.
Director: Irwin Allen
Stars: Michael Rennie, Jill St. John, David Hedison, Claude Rains, Fernando Lamas
Other than having to listen to St. John constantly screaming, I enjoyed the movie. The special effects were mostly pretty bad.
July 19 - Charge of the Light Brigade (1936)
Inspired by history and Tennyson’s poem, The Charge of the Light Brigade tells the tale of a band of British Lancers who challenge an army of 25,000 Russians.
Director: Michael Curtiz
Stars: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Haviland, Patric Knowles, Donald Crisp, David Niven
One of Flynn’s better movies. Not being the romantic lead seems to agree with him.
July 21 - The Sisters (1938)
Three daughters of a small town pharmacist undergo trials and tribulations in their problematic marriages between 1904 and 1908.
Director: Anatole Litvak
Stars: Errol Flynn, Bette Davis, Anita Louise, Donald Crisp, Alan Hale
Davis shines in this movie. She hated him, but she played well against Flynn.
July 22 - The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
When Prince John and the Norman Lords begin oppressing the Saxon masses in King Richard's absence, a Saxon lord fights back as the outlaw leader of a rebel guerrilla army.
Director: Michael Curtiz
Stars: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone, Claude Rains, Patric Knowles, Alan Hale
For all the hype, this isn’t one of my favorite Flynn movies. The romance is stilted, and the history is really skewed.
July 24 - The Dawn Patrol (1938)
British flying aces in World War I contend with the harsh realities of war.
Director: Edmund Goulding
Stars: Errol Flynn, Basil Rathbone, David Niven, Donald Crisp
My favorite Flynn movie. He’s at the height of his beauty, and probably of his acting, too. He and Niven play well together, perhaps because they were friends in real life. And the lack of women in the movie actually helps.
July 28 - The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939)
A depiction of the love/hate relationship between Queen Elizabeth I and Robert Devereux, the Earl of Essex.
Director: Michael Curtiz
Stars: Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Donald Crisp, Alan Hale, Vincent Price, Leo G. Carroll
Pretty good. Again, history takes a back seat.
July 29 - The Sea Hawk (1940)
Geoffrey Thorpe, a buccaneer, is hired by Queen Elizabeth I to nag the Spanish Armada. The Armada is waiting for the attack on England and Thorpe surprises them with attacks on their galleons where he shows his skills on the sword.
Director: Michael Curtiz
Stars: Errol Flynn, Brenda Marshall, Claude Rains, Donald Crisp, Flora Robson, Alan Hale, Gilbert Roland
Pretty bad. There’s no spark between him and his leading lady.
July 30 - Santa Fe Trail (1940)
In 1854, Jeb Stuart, George Custer and other graduates from West Point are posted to Kansas to help pacify the territory before railroad construction to Santa Fe can resume.
Director: Michael Curtiz
Stars: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Raymond Massey, Ronald Reagan, Alan Hale
It was really strange watching a movie where the hero is the traitor, Jeb Stuart, even if he is played by Errol Flynn. Talk about history being skewed. Reagan is totally miscast as George Custer.
July 31 - Dive Bomber (1941)
A military surgeon teams with a ranking navy flyer to develop a high-altitude suit which will protect pilots from blacking out when they go into a steep dive.
Director: Michael Curtiz
Stars: Errol Flynn, Fred MacMurray, Ralph Bellamy, Alexis Smith, Craig Stevens
A pretty good movie except for the forced comedic skits thrown in with two minor players. Smith isn’t well used as the casual love (?) interest.
MOVIES WATCHED IN JULY
July 2 - Mambo (1954)
Silvana Mangano plays a young, poor Venetian woman, Giovanna Masetti. She is struggling with a difficult life as a shop assistant. She escapes her unhappy life when she becomes the star of a dance trope but when she returns to Venice she is drawn back to old lovers and old pains from which she may be unable to escape.
Director: Robert Rossen
Stars: Silvana Mangano, Michael Rennie, Vittorio Gassman
Not a bad movie, even if there are some missing parts to the story. Rennie doesn’t have a huge part, but is still integral to the plot.
July 4 - Desiree (1954)
Désirée (Jean Simmons) is young Napoleon's first true love, long before his rise to power. However, he has to decide whether to marry her and sacrifice his career or abandon her. The two lovers go their separate ways, only to meet again when as Napoleon’s star is beginning to rise.
Director: Henry Koster
Stars: Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, Merle Oberon, Michael Rennie, Cameron Mitchell, John Hoyt, Alan Napier
One of my all-time favorite movies. Maybe over-romantic for some, and history is probably skewed, but Rennie looks fantastic in his marshal’s uniform. *g*
July 7 - The Rains of Ranchipur (1955)
Despite marital problems, English Lord Albert Esketh and his rich American socialite wife Lady Edwina Esketh travel to India to buy a prize horse from the ruler of Ranchipur.
Director: Jean Negulesco
Stars: Lana Turner, Richard Burton, Fred MacMurray, Michael Rennie
Better than I thought it would be. I liked that life taught Lady Esketh some needed lessons.
July 10 - Teenage Rebel (1956)
Nancy Fallon gets custody of her teenage daughter back from her ex-husband when she remarries, but she must win her love.
Director: Edmund Goulding
Stars: Ginger Rogers, Michael Rennie, Mildred Natwick
Much better than I thought it would be, considering the premise. And considering how tall he was, Rennie is surprising light on his feet. I guess they would have had to make sure of that, since he dances with Rogers.
July 14 - Third Man on the Mountain (1959)
A boy attempts to realize his father's dream of climbing an alpine peak known as the Citadel.
Director: Ken Annakin
Stars: Michael Rennie, James MacArthur, James Donald, Janet Munro, Herbet Lom
Pleasantly sappy, as many of Disney’s movies were at the time.
July 17 - The Lost World (1960)
Professor Challenger leads an expedition of scientists and adventurers to a remote plateau deep in the Amazonian jungle to verify his claim that dinosaurs still live there.
Director: Irwin Allen
Stars: Michael Rennie, Jill St. John, David Hedison, Claude Rains, Fernando Lamas
Other than having to listen to St. John constantly screaming, I enjoyed the movie. The special effects were mostly pretty bad.
July 19 - Charge of the Light Brigade (1936)
Inspired by history and Tennyson’s poem, The Charge of the Light Brigade tells the tale of a band of British Lancers who challenge an army of 25,000 Russians.
Director: Michael Curtiz
Stars: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Haviland, Patric Knowles, Donald Crisp, David Niven
One of Flynn’s better movies. Not being the romantic lead seems to agree with him.
July 21 - The Sisters (1938)
Three daughters of a small town pharmacist undergo trials and tribulations in their problematic marriages between 1904 and 1908.
Director: Anatole Litvak
Stars: Errol Flynn, Bette Davis, Anita Louise, Donald Crisp, Alan Hale
Davis shines in this movie. She hated him, but she played well against Flynn.
July 22 - The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
When Prince John and the Norman Lords begin oppressing the Saxon masses in King Richard's absence, a Saxon lord fights back as the outlaw leader of a rebel guerrilla army.
Director: Michael Curtiz
Stars: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone, Claude Rains, Patric Knowles, Alan Hale
For all the hype, this isn’t one of my favorite Flynn movies. The romance is stilted, and the history is really skewed.
July 24 - The Dawn Patrol (1938)
British flying aces in World War I contend with the harsh realities of war.
Director: Edmund Goulding
Stars: Errol Flynn, Basil Rathbone, David Niven, Donald Crisp
My favorite Flynn movie. He’s at the height of his beauty, and probably of his acting, too. He and Niven play well together, perhaps because they were friends in real life. And the lack of women in the movie actually helps.
July 28 - The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939)
A depiction of the love/hate relationship between Queen Elizabeth I and Robert Devereux, the Earl of Essex.
Director: Michael Curtiz
Stars: Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Donald Crisp, Alan Hale, Vincent Price, Leo G. Carroll
Pretty good. Again, history takes a back seat.
July 29 - The Sea Hawk (1940)
Geoffrey Thorpe, a buccaneer, is hired by Queen Elizabeth I to nag the Spanish Armada. The Armada is waiting for the attack on England and Thorpe surprises them with attacks on their galleons where he shows his skills on the sword.
Director: Michael Curtiz
Stars: Errol Flynn, Brenda Marshall, Claude Rains, Donald Crisp, Flora Robson, Alan Hale, Gilbert Roland
Pretty bad. There’s no spark between him and his leading lady.
July 30 - Santa Fe Trail (1940)
In 1854, Jeb Stuart, George Custer and other graduates from West Point are posted to Kansas to help pacify the territory before railroad construction to Santa Fe can resume.
Director: Michael Curtiz
Stars: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Raymond Massey, Ronald Reagan, Alan Hale
It was really strange watching a movie where the hero is the traitor, Jeb Stuart, even if he is played by Errol Flynn. Talk about history being skewed. Reagan is totally miscast as George Custer.
July 31 - Dive Bomber (1941)
A military surgeon teams with a ranking navy flyer to develop a high-altitude suit which will protect pilots from blacking out when they go into a steep dive.
Director: Michael Curtiz
Stars: Errol Flynn, Fred MacMurray, Ralph Bellamy, Alexis Smith, Craig Stevens
A pretty good movie except for the forced comedic skits thrown in with two minor players. Smith isn’t well used as the casual love (?) interest.
