Dolemite (1975)
Rudy Ray Moore’s blaxploitation classic Dolemite (1975) is one of the few truly terrible movies endearing and fun enough to be watchable.
The Perfume of the Lady in Black (1974)
It’s an odd, languid, beautiful, frustrating giallo that is really only held together by Farmer’s fantastic performance and the audience’s willingness to go along with the notable amount of nothing in so many of the scenes.
The Man and the Moment (1929)
The big surprise here is that, despite its many flaws, The Man and the Moment is still a lot of fun to watch. Maybe not entirely for the reasons it was meant to be fun — La Rocque channels Franklin Pangborn a lot and I find that charming and fascinating — but at this late date, who’s to quibble? Just being able to watch the film is a fantastic thing.
Dead Pigeon on Beethoven Street (Tote Taube in der Beethovenstraße, 1973)
Originally released as an episode of the long-running German television show “Tatort,” Samuel Fuller’s Dead Pigeon on Beethoven Street (1973) is a surreal parody of the crime caper, with plenty of sarcastic humor and references to beloved films noir to make it enjoyable.
Suspicion (1941) on Blu-ray from Warner Archive
If you’ve seen Alfred Hitchcock’s Suspicion (1941), and you probably have, you know that by the end we discover it was all just a big misunderstanding. Golly!
Adults Only! Trashy Lady (1985)
Steve Scott’s Trashy Lady (1985) features authentic vintage sets, period accurate costumes, and lots of hardcore gettin’ down.
Brotherly Love (Country Dance, 1970)
Brotherly Love has been saddled with the label “tragicomedy” for decades, though there is very little outright comedy here, just wry observations and O’Toole waving his arms about more than usual. Essentially, York and O’Toole both give fine performances while both seemingly failing to understand the humor in all of this. Though the screenplay was written by Kennaway, it feels like an inferior adaptation, and O’Toole’s role feels like a rehearsal for The Ruling Class (1972).
Not So Dumb (1930)
With an ex-con butler, silly parlour games and a house full of whackadoos, Not So Dumb is a direct ancestor to the screwball comedies that would become popular in the late 1930s. Dulcy’s jangly bracelets are reminiscent of Mame Dennis’ acting debut and plot points seen in Not So Dumb are used again and again in films like Arsenic and Old Lace, Holiday, The Philadelphia Story, and others. And for those of you who think Gone With the Wind was the first instance of a mainstream film using naughty, naughty swears, note that Mr. Forbes, the cranky businessman, declares, “I don’t care a damn about pictures!” And he doesn’t stop there.
Book Review: I Am Not Ashamed, by Barbara Payton
Eccentric or no, by the time the love triangle between Barbara, Franchot Tone and B-actor Tom Neal turned violent, Barbara was no longer famous, but rather infamous. Her decline continued and in a few short years she was being busted for bad checks and soliciting.
The Woman in White (1948)
Woman in White is a post-Code lurid Gothic horror, and as such pushes its own boundaries within the genre, mostly through the character of Count Fosco. It’s interesting to note that the film was made in 1946 and not released until 1948, when standards had lessened to a degree; I can’t imagine Frederick’s assertion that he personally has no problem with pre-marital sex being allowed in a film in 1946. But concessions were apparently made to appease the Production Code, and by the time the useless and unstable Frederick reveals himself to be a libertine, he’s been so sufficiently coded as evil and gay that his open-mindedness is easy to overlook.