GLuisa88 Reviews

Freckles Comes Home (1942)

Better as Part of a Series

[4/10 · 29 April 2010]

This movie would probably have been better had I seen the previous Freckles movies or read the books on which the movies were based. Things such as Freckles relationship with Jane Potter and the family feud between the Potters and Freckles' family, the Winslows, would have made a little more sense. As it was, the movie was entertaining enough, if somewhat forgettable.

What killed me the most was Freckles' reputation as this wild trouble maker! Perhaps I would have had to have seen the previous movies but honestly, he was so boring I can't imagine him ever being anything other than perhaps a boy scout or choir boy! (That's not a diss on boy scouts by the way!) Not necessarily a movie I would recommend or watch again but by the end I wasn't pulling out my hair or falling asleep so I guess that's a good thing! The best part was definitely the banter between the hotel porter and Roxbury Brown(? I think that is the character I'm thinking of!) Although, the ending scene with the two of them left me seriously disturbed. The porter sells Roxbury a faulty gold finding machine so Roxbury demands his money back but the porter lost it gambling. The ending scene has Roxbury forcing pieces of the machine down the porter's throat... I don't even want to imagine machinery trying to go through the digestive system! Eeek!

Country Gentlemen (1936)

"You Wouldn't Hit a Guy With Glasses!"

[2/10 · 27 April 2010]

We watched this movie only because it was on a Comedy DVD set that my sister received for her birthday- I didn't have high expectations for it but nevertheless I went into it with an open mind... at least until the opening credits! (Ole and Chic both peak their heads out of an office door with the most inane expressions on their faces- I think it was supposed to be funny. It was, but not for the reasons they intended)

There was very little about this movie that was funny- though my siblings and I laughed quite a bit- completely out of sheer disbelief. Some of the gags included Chic and Ole nearly getting into a fist fight with the police until Chic holds up some drinking glasses to his eyes and says "You wouldn't hit a guy with glasses, would you?!"

At another point a mob has bound them to a stick and are carrying them off, tribal/cannibal style, and are planning to blow the duo up. Desperately, one of them yells to the blonde secretary that has been accompanying them on their adventures to "Call me a cop- fast!!" so she calls him a cop. "Okay, you're a cop. Was that fast enough?"

The most enjoyable part of the movie was looking for the gay innuendo- "We're partners! You can't break us up!" "Things go great until you come along and queer things up!", etc. Hahaha!

At one point in their travels they pick up a young boy that's running away from home (people were trusting back then!)Trouble ensues, but when the boy is returned to his mother she is so filled with gratitude that she tells them to come come to her hotel. I was kind of shocked(This movie is from the 1930's after all!)- I thought she was actually inviting them up to her hotel room! But then it was revealed that she was actually the owner of a hotel and she was offering them rooms there.

Also notable is the performance by Fluffy, The Great Dane- formerly known as Prince.

Though the movie packed in a lot of stuff in 60 minutes, it quickly bogged down and was actually kind of boring. One can only take so much of Chic's high pitched giggle which seemed to be the movie's main gag.

Four Daughters (1938)

John Garfield At His Best!

[10/10 · 26 April 2010]

Most people my age have never heard of John Garfield but they are missing out on one of the greatest actors of film history. At the age of 14, John Garfield was my first celebrity crush and he made me love movies.

Four Daughter is his first and perhaps his greatest film (Although he is perhaps more famous for his movie "The Postman Only Rings Twice"). Ironically enough, Warner Brothers assumed that this film would shoot Jeffrey Lynn to stardom however, it was John Garfield who became the superstar. Because of Garfield's surprising popularity due to this film, WB quickly put together "Daughters Courageous" with an almost identical cast.

The film centers around four musically talented sisters and their respective romances, though specifically the sister, Ann Lemp (Priscilla Lane) and the two men who love her: John Garfield and Jeffrey Lynn.

John Garfield is explosive as the brooding, cynical composer who pretty much assumes that the "fates" are out to get him (Perhaps the greatest scene in the movie is where Garfield is at the piano explaining to Lane why the fates wouldn't let him win the upcoming music competition that he is composing a song for, "They've been at me now nearly a quarter of a century. No let-up. First they said, "Let him do without parents. He'll get along." Then they decided, "He doesn't need any education. That's for sissies." Then right at the beginning, they tossed a coin. "Heads he's poor, tails he's rich." So they tossed a coin... with two heads. Then, for a finale, they got together on talent. "Sure," they said, "let him have talent. Not enough to let him do anything on his own, anything good or great. Just enough to let him help other people. It's all he deserves." Well, you put all this together and you get Michael Bolgar.") Four Daughters would pretty much be just another "schmultzy" tear-jerker without John Garfield who completely steals the film the moment he enters and it's no surprise that when he died at the young age of 38, his funeral was the most attended celebrity funeral at that time, with more people in attendance than at Rudolph Valentino's.

I highly recommend this movie- the only problem I have with it is the bittersweet ending. If you want a happier movie, albeit cornier, try the Doris Day, Frank Sinatra musical remake, "Young at Heart"

Colonel Effingham's Raid (1946)

Colonel Effingham's Mob

[2/10 · 26 April 2010]

"Colonel Effingham's Raid" is one of the most unlikeable movies I've ever watched. Hard to find any redeemable qualities.

A brief synopses, Colonel Effingham is a retired colonel who doesn't like the direction in which his small, Georgian city is heading. The politicians are crooked and don't understand the values that made the city great. So the Colonel takes action by starting a column in his nephew's newspaper.

The column is extremely controversial, especially when the Colonel starts a campaign to preserve the 150 year old court house, which the politicians want to tear down and replace with a new, more modern court house.

The movie's pacing was very slow, never caught my interest and no characters were even in the slightest bit sympathetic. The Colonel was a grouchy, arrogant, blow-hard who, while he may have been trying to fight against crooked politicians, went about it in the most obnoxious ways. Perhaps the most disturbing scene was at the end when the angry, but victorious, townspeople/mob try to topple the platform on which the mayor and counsel men are giving a speech.

Perhaps the most ridiculous part of the movie was the romance between Colonel Effingham's nephew, Albert, and a female reporter, Ella.

Throughout the movie, Albert makes snide comments about female reporters and the two, when they are not completely ignoring each other constantly bicker. They pretty much can't stand each other until one day, Albert and Ella are walking somewhere and the wind blows up her skirt and Albert catches sight of her legs and from then on he's smitten. They'll be arguing about something and then Ella will cross her legs and from the look on Albert's face, we are reminded that he is madly in love with her. Problem is, Ella has a boyfriend, Professor Bland. So Albert sets out to woo Ella by taking her out bowling and enlisting in the National Guard- neither grand gesture seems to impress Ella much, until Albert is called upon for active duty and on the eve of his departure he reveals to Ella his deep regards for her legs and instead of being repulsed and slapping him she giggles and says she didn't think he noticed! And of course they kiss, both of them forgetting about Professor Bland.

A few questions for discussion: Why, when the newspaper editor is titling the picture of Colonel Effingham and his dog for the Colonel's newspaper column, does the editor insist that they say that the dog's name is "Rover" instead of it's real name, "Buck"? How is Rover a superior name to Buck??

Why does Professor Bland's name sound like a character out of a board game? And are we supposed to assume from his name that he has a really boring personality?

And speaking of names, who else thinks that the Colonel's name sounds like a euphemistic swear word?

At one point the city counsel presents two independent reports on the structure of the courthouse from two building inspectors, trying to prove that the building is unsound and must be torn down. Colonel Effingham insists that they use a completely objective inspector from a different city. Don't you think it's a little ridiculous of the Colonel to hire, as an objective party, a good friend of his?

Sergeant Dead Head (1965)

Absurdity At Its Best

[10/10 · 5 March 2010]

Absurd, bizarre, crazy, improbable, corny, and wildly hilarious! Don't try to take it seriously, just sit back and enjoy the wackiness.

A few highlights: Eve Arden's song, "The One That Got Away"; Sergeant Deadhead's escape from the jail house; The quickly assembled wedding band that only knows how to play "Jingle Bells"... poorly; The "new and improved" Sergeant Deadhead right after he lands from his trip in space.

I love this movie, I enjoy Frankie Avalon and this is a nice departure from his beach/Annette Funicello films.

It's a shame this film is not better known...

The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T. (1953)

Positively horrible!

[1/10 · 27 July 2006]

I was astonished as I read everybody else's positive reviews on this movie- am I the only one who felt positively ill after watching it? The words that I would use to describe this movie are Bizarre, awful, stupid, dark, a total waste of time!

Besides being cheesy and corny this movie is just plain ridiculous! Naturally, being a low-budget film from the 1950's you can't expect a lot in the way of special effects, but I can usually get past all that if the script is good; but this didn't even have a good script! The dialogue was stupid and the acting even worse! I know this is supposed to be a children's movie and I suppose a child under the age of 12 would probably not mind a bad script, cheesy settings, and ridiculous acting but I wouldn't even recommend this movie for a child because the movie has a very dark atmosphere- there are also several scenes which could potentially be pretty terrifying for a child as this movie is basically about this little boy's nightmare.

Don't waste your time!!!

On the plus side, I did enjoy a few of the songs- slightly.