Change Your Image
ronnybailey
Reviews
Tales from the Darkside: Deliver Us from Goodness (1986)
One of the best of the series
Valeria Cantrell has a bit of a problem. Apparently, she is a saint. This comes with all the trimmings, including minor miracles and an occasional radiant glow when she speaks. Unfortunately, this is causing a few problems for her and her husband, who is running for mayor. Her glowing and unexpected miracles don't seem to be in keeping with the image of a prospective First Lady of their town.
After consulting with a local priest, she earnestly tries to change the situation by systematically breaking each of the ten commandments.
This episode of TFTD is a real change of pace for the series, because it's very funny. Poor Valeria is really a sweet lady and seeing all the ways she tries to solve this problem is a joy to watch.
Definitely check out this episode if you can. It's a shame this series is not available on DVD yet!
High Gear (1931)
Just don't scratch the car!
Good fun as the gang goes out for a drive and Mickey tries to take care of his dad's car. They give a hard time to a cop and have a big fight with some bad guys in an abandoned house. A great opportunity to see David Sharpe do some of the fancy stunt work that would later make him a legend in the business. Watch for the continuity goof with the ink on Edgar Kennedy's face. He gives his usual excellent job as an exasperated cop who wishes he had never run into those kids.
This was part of a collection of George Stevens shorts on Turner Classic Movies and I'm glad I didn't miss it. Hopefully, it will be rebroadcast in the future.
The Andy Griffith Show: Opie Flunks Arithmetic (1965)
Shark jumping?
I don't know exactly when it happened, but it was around this time. Opie is doing poorly in math and Andy overreacts big-time, coming down hard on Opie. No more playing sports, get up in your room and study; you know the routine. For this episode at least, the affectionate, understanding father-son relationship that was such a big part of the show's success is almost entirely missing. This was the era of TAGS where 'the grumpy Andy' made his appearance and for the most part would remain for the rest of the series. For me, it seems the pacing of the episodes slowed down a bit and it wasn't as funny or as enjoyable as earlier years. Rarely would we have the 'bust out laughing' quality of writing and performing that was so common in previous years.
Social Class in America (1957)
Introduction to the American social class system
This genre of films was shown in schools back in the old days when I was a kid. This one follows three young men of differing social classes as they enter the job market after graduating from high school in their small town. Ted, the middle class example, does manage to make some progress on the social-economic scale, but only by leaving town and working somewhere else.
This film has a saccharine feel to it since virtually all audio is of the narrator. I would have liked to hear the actors speaking.
You can view this film free by going to the Prelinger Archives on the internet.