mamalv

IMDb member since December 2004
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    50+
    IMDb Member
    19 years

Reviews

Ten North Frederick
(1958)

A sensitive and deeply compelling look into the private life of a gentleman.
This film delves into the private lives of a family that has always shown the world a respectable environment. However behind the closed doors of 10 North Frederick are many secrets and personal struggles. Gary Cooper is a man out of his time and place among people who are climbing the ladder without scruples. He sees his life as just as it is, until it is disrupted by an unexpected pregnancy. His daughter, "his lovely daughter", played by Diane Varsi has married an unacceptable man, who later is bought off. Geraldine Fitzgerald as the ambitious wife is hateful and insincere in everything. The explosion comes when she admits to Joe that she had an affair. She does this on the worst day of his life losing all chances of a political career. Needless to say he is now destroyed, and afloat in a sea of lost dreams. His daughter has moved to New York, and shares an apartment with Suzy Parker a model. He meets her and despite the large age difference they are in love. She loves him without reservation, but he sees the age gap as a detriment to any future. Totally sad, since they are true to the love forever. I love Gary Cooper here. The age difference disappears into the small light of his hopes to be with a truly loving woman. To say this is a sentimental journey would be selling the film short. It is more about how people live their lives and deal with love, and sometimes disappointment.

The Shootist
(1976)

The Duke's finest hour!
I never tire of watching this movie. John Wayne, as J B Books is totally believable as the aging gunfighter fighting his last battle. He is dying, and it seems that no one cares, except for his landlady, played wonderfully by Lauren Bacall. This was the Duke's last role and it is magnificent. I can not even imagine another actor in this role. He is vulnerable, yet there is still a strength, that has come from many years of life in the wild country as he says. We see people come and go from his room and not one offers a kind word. The reflection of this in his face is priceless. Ron Howard plays Bacall's son, and has all the enthusiasm of a young man finding his way. He is stubborn and head strong, and has a fascination with Books. He finds that the old man is dying, and is crushed. I like the interaction with James Stewart as the Doctor, delivering the bad news with such hesitation. In the end Books goes out as he has lived, in a blaze of gunfire, sparing himself the ongoing pain, and humiliation of a death not becoming his character. All and all, this is a great movie and a fitting part for Wayne's last film.

Magnum P.I.
(2018)

Terrible, waste of film.
Are they kidding? Just had to ask. Jay Hernandez does no justice to the original Magnum PI with Tom Selleck. He has zero personality and the new female Higgins is even worse. Why they insisted on re-booting this iconic show is beyond me. The original was witty and the characters were blended like a fine wine. The character of Magnum had charisma and his sparring with John Hillerman as Higgins was just a delight to watch. Please stop the madness, this is a terrible tribute to the original show.

Shadow of a Doubt
(1943)

Hum a little tune, and catch a murderer.
This is a favorite of my Hitchcock collection. Joseph Cotton is mesmerizing as Uncle Charlie. Theresa Wright is the perfect choice for Little Charlie. Watching her unravel the puzzle that produces the evil side of the much beloved brother and uncle, makes for a suspenseful journey. Macdonald Carey is always a steady actor in any play. The reality that little Charlie finds culminates in the final scene. This film was made in 1943, when mothers stayed at home, and fathers went to their job supporting the family. They had children sometimes a little later in life as seen here with the large age gap between Charlie and her two siblings. Refreshing look back on a really ideal life, that is until little Charlie discovers the deep dark secrets of her favorite uncle. There is a sinister feel to the film, abundant with dark shadows and black and white photography. The comic relief comes between the father and his best friend taking great joy in figuring out how to murder each other. Of course only theoretically. And so we see here that no one really knows anyone, and even in the best and most average families there could be lurking, dangerous, and more aptly, murderous tendencies.

The Unforgiven
(1960)

A secret held for a lifetime, destroys all.
This is a complicated Western about racism, secrets and a family in denial.. I found it as good as good gets. Burt Lancaster as the big brother and the head of the family is always good. Lilian Gish gives a heart wrenching performance as the mother torn between her need to have a girl baby, and the consequences of a long held secret. Audrey Hepburn is fresh and wonderful as the child who only knows what she has been told about her birth and eventual adoption by a frontier family. However the standout performance here is from Audie Murphy. It is his finest hour as the brother who finds out about his sister being an Indian, calling her a "red nigger". Vile words and he means them when he spoke them. In the end, all the family fights off the Indians who had come to claim the girl. I think that Murphy could have been a very good actor given the right material, and her he had it.

X
(1963)

Some things are better left unseen.
Dr. James Xavier (Ray Milland), discovers a drug that can make him see thru the human body into its organs. He feels this is the break thru to helping heal, and be able to see beyond anything imaginable. He continues his quest even after the project funding is stopped. Along the way he becomes more and more sensitive to the drops and has what is probably almost LSD like visions. Roger Corman has outdone himself in this film. Probably his best ever. He wanted Ray Milland for this part, and felt that Milland was underrated, even though he had won an Academy Award for The Lost Weekend. Thinking of this film as a science fiction or horror film sells it short. It is really a physiological thriller that starts a little slow but builds into a run for Milland's life. There are some comical scenes when the Doctor sees all the participants at a party without their clothes. Don Rickles is great as the carnival barker with an idea to make Milland the healer he is quite capable of being. However the more sickness he sees, the more despondent he becomes. Finally after going to Las Vegas to win the money needed to continue the research, he goes on the run, winding up at a tent sermon and plucking out his eyes to stop the mental anguish. Corman chose the right person to play the moral doctor stuck in a web of an unending sadness. Milland is perfect and so is the film.

Golden Earrings
(1947)

Ray Milland is simply gorgeous and Marlene Dietrich is captivating.
What a wonderful movie. It captures the blooming relationship between a stuffy military man on the run and a free spirited gypsy totally. Milland is on a mission with a young man to get a formula for a deadly gas from a man in Germany. Along the way they split up, and plan to meet again at a road crossing. In the mean time Milland is running and hiding from the Nazi's when he comes across Dietrich. She makes him up as a gypsy to hide his identity, and they go on their way to his destination. Even though Dietrich is dirty and messy, he becomes closer to her as he sees that she is a unique and wonderful woman. There are many lighthearted moments where Milland tells her to sit on her hands as she is constantly trying to seduce him. The pairing of these two stars is nothing short of magnificent. Milland is absolutely gorgeous and it is not a wonder that Dietrich is having a hard time keeping her hands off him. The war ends and he returns to her to be with her forever.

The Confession
(1964)

Very cute movie with a pairing of Ray Milland and Ginger Rogers.
I never knew of this film with Ray Milland but came across it on youtube. It is a cute film with a nostalgic pairing of Ray Milland and Ginger Rogers. It centers around a hidden treasure that is hidden deep below a statue of St. Joseph in a small village. Milland is a thief and he is after that and then of course after Rogers who plays a madam in a house of ill repute. They get together and when he finds a prostitute begging the St. Joseph to speak to her and help her with her pregnancy, he speaks and tells her everything will be okay. She goes to the priest to tell him there has been a miracle. Many funny scenes come when every person in the town with a secret ask St. Joseph to forgive them. In the end the statue crumbles revealing a solid gold stake, truly showing a miracle. There are many stars in the movie, which certainly helps it move along. It is just fun to watch Milland and Rogers together again.

The Secret Partner
(1961)

Money can't buy love or anything else it seems.
THE SECRET PARTNER, is a quite good suspense thriller. We are taken down a path of intrigue, and a man's search for the truth. Or maybe not. Stewart Granger is very good, in a quiet performance that runs him from pillar to post. We see him being blackmailed by a dentist of all people, who knows that Granger was an s thief before this job. . The dentist is approached by a man in a mask and told there might be a way to drug Granger to get the combination to the safe. He goes through with the plot, and the money goes into the hands of the masked man. Granger runs all over the place to find that man and clear his name. But then something just does not seem right. The plot is off somewhat, and when it is finally revealed we see that Granger is the masked man, and had planned the whole thing to rob his business. The wife was in on the whole thing. He does it all for her love, but is mistaken that she never wanted money, just his love. And he could have kept her if only he had not used her over and over in his plots. So as we see here, money can't buy love, as she leaves him for another man, and he returns the money, because now it has no value without her. The end is similar to the end of the LIGHT TOUCH, where the art thief returns the stolen religious painting to the church so he can have the love of the girl. Granger is much better here, than in that film. A very good thriller.

Gone Girl
(2014)

Amazing Amy, for sure.
GONE GIRL is certainly a thriller in the vein of a Hitchcock film. David Fincher is almost the reincarnation of Alfred Hitchcock in this tale of deceit and psychoanalysis. To understand Amy we must first understand her parents, and their obsession with the fantasy life that they created in books, Amazing Amy. They have created a childhood that never existed and thereby have created the psychotic adult. In the beginning of the romance we see Amy and Nick as a kind of urban couple who are in love. Their romance however drains away as life steps in. They lose their jobs, and go back to Missouri to take care of Nick's ailing mother. He was never too ambitious to begin with, he just sort of sits around living off his wife's trust fund. He is neither a good husband or good provider, and when Amy catches him cheating she sets out on a path of revenge. If you think you have the plot in the first 30 minutes of the film, think again. Nick knows Amy better than anyone else, and she does not have him fooled. There is a lot of blood and gore is in some of the scenes that may recall, Anthony Perkins shower scene in Psycho. Of course the shower scene will seem tame to the viewer of GONE GIRL, probably because of the era that Psycho was filmed. This is a good, if not great thriller with many twist and turns, and a ending that may not satisfy everyone, but is appropriate to the story of Nick and Amy.

The Premature Burial
(1962)

Till death do us part.
I am not a big fan of horror movies, but watched this one because of the great Ray Milland. Since others have reviewed that Vincent Price would have been a better choice, I disagree completely. Milland gives a wonderful portrayal of a man living a nightmarish preoccupation with death. His father, he believes was buried alive, and he is afraid he will follow the same terrible fate. Milland still has the looks to be believable as the newly married man, with a younger woman so so in love with him, or is she? The movie may be somewhat like GASLIGHT, where Charles Boyer is slowly driving Ingrid Bergman insane. The dimly lit home the caverns beneath, and the foggy woods where the bodies are buried, are a cinematic wonder. They almost look dreamlike as I would suppose that Corman had in mind. This is certainly one of Corman's best, mostly because of Milland's performance.

Columbo: The Greenhouse Jungle
(1972)
Episode 2, Season 2

Rare Orchids, kidnapping, and murder.
This is a particularly good episode in the second season of Columbo. Ray Milland, as Uncle Jarvis, is a stylish, and cunning murderer. He plots a fake kidnapping with his worthless nephew Bradford Dillman, who wants to break the trust fund to keep his cheating wife. What Jarvis plans is to keep the money after he kills the nephew. He thinks Columbo is a dumb cop, as many others did, but he underestimates his skills. Jarvis thinks he is smarter than everyone, and till the last few minutes of the episode thinks he is free. However he made one small mistake and when he is caught in the greenhouse with a bullet casing, the look of disbelief on his face is priceless. Much like the character of Tony Wendice in Dial M For Murder, he obligingly walks out with the police. Milland is great as the bad guy and there should have been more face time with Falk so that we could see if he could manipulate him as he did everyone else.

Dear Heart
(1964)

A wonderfully sweet and hopeful love story.
What a great movie this is! Geraldine Page as the lonely postal employee in New York for a convention, meets Glenn Ford a man just promoted and hoping to finally settle down in one place. Angela Landbury is the woman he hopes to marry and settle down with. She is a high tone woman, with a grown son, who she has passed off, by an old picture as a young boy. Ford seems overwhelmed by the thought of the whole thing, and finds that Page is a port in the storm. You don't immediately see the chemistry between the two, but as the picture goes on, we see that they are kindred souls. She is sweet and social, and just a bit needy for companionship. He under everything is basically the same. In the end he chases her to the train station, realizing that he has truly met the woman who he can be with for the rest of his life. Excellent small film with wonderful performances by all.

Skylark
(1941)

She doesn't like the cigarettes, soap and dog biscuits, chum.
Very cute movie, about a wife that is sick of playing second fiddle to her husband's advertising job. It is obvious that he loves her but, he is so obsessed with his job, and little else, he loses her. Claudette Colbert is great as usual, and has some very funny scenes. She proves she was never afraid to get messy as long as it got a laugh. Ray Milland is dashing, but we don't like him in the beginning of the film when he makes Colbert apologize to his clients wife for running off with her other man, played so well by Brian Ahern. One of the funniest lines is when he "gifts" his clients his cook. Mona Barrie who plays the best friend of his wife says: "Lookie, lookie, lookie, there goes cookie". She leaves Ray, and then he realizes what a mess he made and tries to win her back. She gets involved with Ahern, who is charming and attentive and totally lovable. Ray lies about quitting his job, but she catches him in the lie and that is that. I really like this film, it is funny and touching and we are wanting Ray to win her back. He is so good looking and when he realizes that she is all that matters, we see him wear his heart on his sleeve for her. In the end, love conquers all over the job and the dog food.

Just as a note.....I just came across a Vanity Fair article about Claudette Colbert where she said that she and Milland had planned a tryst at her secretary's apartment. Both were married at the time. She got half way there and turned around and went home. No tryst but she admired him all thru her life. Milland was a big womanizer, and maybe she thought better of the situation. They are so good together that it does not surprise me.

The Safecracker
(1958)

Good Thief, Bad Thief, ahh all for the prize.
This is a neat little movie with a morality story to boot. Colley is an unabashed thief, who is recruited to go on a commando mission. Patriotism is not his cup of tea, but to get out of prison, he agrees. No one, especially Colley is crazy about him going along. Film was starred in and directed by, Ray Milland. Those who thought he was too old for the part, I think miss the plot. He is a man working in a dull job for many years, opening and setting safes in ritzy homes. Thereby he would be older. Of course he is still a striking presence on the screen, handsome and cunning. Colley gets the goods but can not resist stopping to steal a prized statue on the way out. Of course that was his mistake, and his demise. Ray Milland despite some critics is the perfect Colley. Can't see anyone else in the part.

Jamaica Run
(1953)

Great Technicolor adds to the Jamaican background.
This is a pretty picture, the Technicolor adds to the scenery and helps move a rather ordinary tale along. The story of hidden treasure under the sea is been done a few times, and successfully. I do like this movie if only for the two beautiful stars, Ray Milland and Arlene Dahl. She is beautiful here and Milland is still so handsome, that even if it is a sort of dry story we want to go along for the ride. Carol McComas as the out of touch, and nutty mother is very good. When Milland is good he is good. He always steps up to any part, regardless of the material. He always said he wanted to work, so he made the best of some not too great parts. Take the time to see this movie, it is actually a nice 50's adventure.

Three Brave Men
(1956)

Communist scare tactics of the fifties.
What can I say about this film, other than it is so good that it deserved recognition of some sort. Ernest Borgnine is always good, but here he is excellent as the every day man. His life is turned upside down, by rumors, and petty suspicions. He works for the Navy as a civilian and is accused of Communist leanings. He gets suspended from his job, and goes to Ray Milland, portraying a lawyer for help. People are vicious but his real friends step up to help. Milland as the lawyer plays the part a bit understated and of course is great. There are a lot of A list stars in this film. Nina Foch, Frank Lovejoy, Dean Jagger. All in all it is a wonderful look back at the paranoia of the fifties. Worth more than one look.

Screen Directors Playhouse: Markheim
(1956)
Episode 23, Season 1

A wonderful half hour of television.
What a wonderful look back at the golden age of television. Ray Milland of course is wonderful as a man driven to murder. Why did he do it? Well I would suppose that he feels that his life is mundane and poor and by getting rid of the greedy shopkeeper he can turn his life in to something useful. But a horrible deed does not make for a good life. Rod Stieger is the devil who steps in to tell Markheim he can show him that money if he only should do one more thing, kill the housekeeper. The ends don't justify the means when Milland turns himself in for the murder. The show has a totally film noir feel and Milland is as good as he ever was.

The Light Touch
(1951)

The title says it all.
Title of the Light Touch is surely an indication of a charming tale of a thief who has no scruples and lures a young naive girl into a web of deceit. Pier Angelli is very good here, as the young artist taken in by an older, wiser, and unscrupulous Stewart Granger. She is totally in love with him and goes along with the art forgery plan. I like this movie, it is as said, light. Granger is suave and manipulative and of course George Sanders is just as charming as the dealer of stolen art. Some have said it does not take on the same chemistry as the Love in the Afternoon movie with Cooper and Hepburn, but I think it is just different. After all Cooper was a playboy seducing a young Audrey Hepburn. Here we have a man with a purpose who feels that the end justifies the means. Pier Angelli was sort of a sweet presence on the screen, probably because that is her in real life. Giving up James Dean destroyed her.

The Doctor Takes a Wife
(1940)

Totally enjoyable comedy with two great stars.
What a great little film. Ray Milland as the Doctor and Loretta Young as a feminist before it was popular. She writes a popular book "Spinsters are not Spinach" about being a single woman and being happy about it. He is a research doctor hoping to get a professorship so he can earn enough money to marry his girl. They meet by accident, and from then on they go through one mishap after the other. People think they married, however they did not but if found out it would ruin bother their careers. They move in together to continue the farce. Finally they realize they are in love and due to his stubborn short thumbs wind up together. They look great together and Milland always had a great comedic talent.

Black Widow
(1954)

Ginger Rogers opens her web and disposes of the other woman.
This is a film filled with a great classic cast. Van Heflin is accused of the killing of Peggy Ann Gardner a manipulative young woman looking for the good life. Of course he is innocent and no one believes him, not even his wife, Gene Tierney. George Raft is cool and classy as the cop trying to find the real culprit. Ginger Rogers is so good as the stage star who is mean and hateful to everyone that any man would cheat on her. She finds that her kept husband has been having an affair, and now the young girl is pregnant and wanting him to marry her. Well Ginger is having none of that and kills her setting up Van for the crime. It is a better than average who done it with great performances all around. It is in color and hardly ever leaves the apartments in the building. Sort of like a stage play, reminds us of Rope with James Stewart. Great find to watch on a rainy day.

The Well Groomed Bride
(1946)

Cute film with a champagne twist.
Ray Milland is the Navy officer in search of a Magnum of Champagne to launch a battle ship. Olivia Dehaviland is in search of the same bottle to launch her wedding to Sonny Tufts. They collide over and over again when they find only one bottle in the whole of San Francisco. Not a lot of chemistry between Ray and Olivia, but enjoyable anyway. I read that Paulette Goddard was the first choice for this film, and would have probably been better in the part, because she had great moments with Milland in other films. I thought it odd that Olivia got top billing when this film was released after the remarkable performance of Milland in The Lost Weekend. His Oscar should have been the reason to put him first on the marquee, unless it came after the fact.

Night Into Morning
(1951)

Despair and sorrow enter into an idyllic life.
A realistic look at the sorrow and despair that most human beings suffer after a sudden and horrific loss. This is a mature Ray Milland who suffers the loss of his wife and son in a home explosion. His grief is so raw that it overwhelms even those of us watching his spiral into darkness. He finds solace in alcoholic slumber only to wake and find it was not a dream but stark reality. This is not the story of an alcoholic as in his award winning role as Don Birnam in the Lost Weekend. Birnam was lost because of his disappointment in himself, not in grief over the loss of his loved ones. Milland once again proves he was a terrific actor, who could swing from crazy comedy to the depths of reality. Only after Nancy Kelly, who has also suffered a loss, comes to find him on the ledge of a building ready to jump, does he finally break down the shield of false bravado. An outstanding performance from Milland again.

The Big Clock
(1948)

Thirty Six hours ago and the clock is ticking.
Thirty six hours ago starts the beginning of the clock ticking down on George Stroud. He tries to put it together how he got here, hiding in the clock mechanism, afraid to move. We see him backlog through his predicament, being chased by everyone, the cops, the boss, his wife. Ray Milland is perfect as the suave man about town, it does not seem to matter to him that he is a husband and father. He gladly accepts the attention of other women, and to his wife's (Maureen O'Sullivan) dismay he is never around. Always running, always chasing the next big story for Charles Laughton the editor of Crime Ways magazine and others. The wife goes on a trip without him, as again, he has not shown up. Stroud goes on a bender with a blond model, Pauline York. She is Laughton's mistress. Laughton is great here, slimy and manipulative. Although dressed to the nines he is still physically unattractive. The only reason Pauline is with him is for the money of course. She wants George to write a biography of Janith (Laughton) so that they can blackmail him. He soon passes out in her apartment and upon leaving sees Janith arriving. Janith and Pauline have a row and Janith kills her. He goes to George McCredy for help covering up the deed. They find out the Pauline was with a man around town and they put Stroud on the search, not knowing he is that very man. This is great noir, and Milland is the perfect man for this part. As good or better than Cary Grant in North By Northwest. There is just something wonderful about the black and white photography that years later holds up so much better than newer film noir in color. Great movie.

Copper Canyon
(1950)

Beautiful color and two beautiful stars in this western adventure.
This is quite a good western with stellar performance by Ray Milland as the Confederate soldier who is hiding behind the guise of being a trick shot entertainer. Milland is always cool and charming even when in the old west. Hedy Lamaar is lovely and desirable, and of course there is a budding romance between the two. MacDonald Carey is very good as the vicious sheriff who runs the town and the corruption. When Milland and Hedy are together there is no doubt about the chemistry, even when he skips out on her to help the ore train get to its destination. The Technicolor in this film is beautiful and the backdrop for the film is wonderfully photographed. Some of the plot has been seen before in other westerns, but Milland and Hedy make it a worthwhile viewing. As always Milland gives even a common thread his best and therefore shows he can do any part and make it enjoyable.

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