| Welcome to In The Balcony. We hope you enjoy your visit. You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free. Plus, you'll be eligible for the monthly $1 million prize. (Not really.) Join our community! If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features: |
- Pages:
- 1
- 2
| Pursuit to Algiers (1945) | |
|---|---|
| Topic Started: Jun 13 2009, 06:54 AM (296 Views) | |
| Laughing Gravy | Jun 13 2009, 06:54 AM Post #1 |
Revered in the UK
  ![]](http://209.85.122.85/static/1/pip_r.png)
|
When the King of a small European nation is assassinated, his heir must be returned home from school in England alive - and Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are just the guys to escort him on board a cruise vessel filled with spies, assassins, suspicious characters, and a babe from Brooklyn who keeps bursting into song. Absolutely delightful latter Universal Holmes film; the star is the picture is really Nigel Bruce, who garners the most screen time and is hilarious as he putters around investigating ("Nothing escapes my keen eye") while everything escapes his "keen eye". He also sings "Loch Lomond" (and very well, too) and tells the story of the Giant Rat of Sumatra. Martin Kosleck is one of the assassins, but why is he dressed like Peewee Herman, I wonder? Marjorie Riordan is the songstress from Brooklyn, and she sings three numbers, giving us three opportunities to head out to the lobby for a smoke. One of the best of the Universal Holmes films, although this print is a tad weaker than the other ones in the "restored" collection. Rather soft-looking. Our short subjects were "A Dream Walking" (Popeye and Bluto beat the hell out of each other while trying to rescue sleepwalking Olive Oyl atop a construction; we get to see Miss Oyl nude, which is appalling), one of the very best Popeye cartoons; "Whoops, I'm an Indian!" with the Three Stooges, an all-over-the-place gagfest from Clyde Bruckman; and chapter 13 of "Mysterious Island", which featured some very nice pacing from the cast. |
 | |
 |
 
|
| Frank Hale | Jun 13 2009, 02:02 PM Post #2 |
|
Balcony Gang, Foist Class
|
I would put Pursuit to Algiers in the bottom third, myself, but they’re all fun, of course. I’m not entirely clear on why you like this series and not the Chan’s. Perhaps you prefer British stereotypes to Chinese ones. I’m about half way through the second Popeye collection, and A Dream Walking has certainly been the best one so far. The animation, timing, gags, story line are all wonderful, without an ounce of fat. By comparison the color epics seem rather padded. Love how everyone in Popeye’s world lives in a dump where the lathing shows though the cracked plaster. Not exactly Disney-land. |
|
|
|
| panzer the great & terrible | Jun 13 2009, 06:28 PM Post #3 |
Mouth Breather
|
I'm in the same boat with Gravy, making it a Gravy boat, I suppose. I love the Holmeses but the Chans put me to sleep. It's not the stereotyping, it's more about the singsong delivery of the various Chans, which I suppose is a stereotype too, come to think of it. Rathbone's delivery fairly crackles by comparison. I don't know any Chinese who talk remotely like Chan. |
| We Wear Short Shorts Flying Purple People Eater | |
|
|
|
| Laughing Gravy | Jun 13 2009, 09:01 PM Post #4 |
|
Revered in the UK
|
I find the Chans boring. I find some Holmeses better than others, but none of them boring. Nigel Bruce's Watson is a big difference; he's a fascinating, odd character and very funny. The Chans follow the same pattern film after film: 10 minutes of a build up to a murder and the appearance of Chan, 50 minutes of nothing happening with an occasional comedy bit from Son #1 and/or Mantan Moreland, and then a five minute wrap up with all the suspects. |
|
| |
|
|
|
| CliffClaven | Jun 13 2009, 11:10 PM Post #5 |
|
Balcony Gang, Foist Class
|
LG, you need to see the GOOD Chans, starring Warner Oland and made with real actors, real budgets and everything. And Oland had a great Number One Son, played by Keye Luke. A capable adult in his first appearance, Luke's character became an overeager college boy, his energy countering Chan's patience just as Watson's affable bumbling counters Holmes' lightning brilliance. By the time Moreland came on board, Sidney Tolar was simply flogging his aphorisms at Monogram as their replacement for Mr. Wong. At the very least, check out Charlie Chan at the Opera. It's got Boris Karloff in a Mephisto costume. Two other Fox series worth checking out: Mr. Moto (Great, strange stuff until the last few) and Michael Shayne. The Shayne films lack the panache of Holmes, Chan and Moto, but Lloyd Nolan is fun as an almost playful gumshoe. Fox put out one Shayne as a bare-bones DVD (Dressed to Kill -- don't remember if they used the title first), then released four more in a single package with a bunch of featurettes. Dressed to Kill is especially entertaining as he lines up multiple clients to pay him for solving the mystery before he really cracks down. |
|
|
|
| Laughing Gravy | Jun 14 2009, 05:29 AM Post #6 |
|
Revered in the UK
|
I have seen many of the earlier Chans. Much better production values, of course, but they are still boring: Chan just kinda putters around while the body count piles up. I love the Moto movies and like the Shayne movies a lot. |
|
| |
|
|
|
| CliffClaven | Jun 14 2009, 08:19 PM Post #7 |
|
Balcony Gang, Foist Class
|
So long as you gave him a fair shot. A few other series to kick around: Bonita Granville as Nancy Drew -- Never read the books, but understand Nancy Drew fans regard her roughly the way Miss Marple fans regard Margaret Rutherford. Still, her hyper silliness (with Donald Thomas' annoyed acceptance of whatever she has in store for him) is fun to watch. The one sour note is that Nancy and her father seem to be upper-class snobs (and the films seem to approve). Their (Irish) housekeeper is treated to a lot of angry yelling, and Nancy reeks contempt when her not-a-boyfriend chats up a hired girl. The RKO Dick Tracy movies -- I'm on the fence with these. They wobble between pedestrian cop dramas and the over-the-top stuff we expect from Tracy and his villains (Max Allen Collins, on the commentary on the Roan edition, indicates the comic strip was still fairly realistic at the time the films were made). The last two films have Vitamin Flintheart, who looks and acts like a comic strip character; and they finally bring in Boris Karloff and some sci-fi gimmicks. Hildegarde Withers -- Why aren't these on official DVDs? The first three with Edna May Oliver are great. The one with Helen Broderick is a misfire, but she COULD have been good with a better script and pacing. The two with Zazu Pitts sort of drift because she just wasn't right: Miss Withers is a tough old schoolteacher who treats cops and murder suspects like rowdy kids, while Pitts made an art of uncertain dithering. Pitts tried to play tough in her first film; in the second she reverted to her standard dithering character while James Gleason became the de facto star. I saw an old TV pilot with Eve Arden. She would have been perfect, but for some reason she or the director decided Miss Withers should be lovably silly and seemingly scatterbrained. Eve Arden cannot play dumb. |
|
|
|
| Laughing Gravy | Jun 15 2009, 05:44 AM Post #8 |
|
Revered in the UK
|
Think Nancy Drew, Reporter is the worst thing in the universe, but the others are somewhat better. Dick Tracy movies are okay, and the one with Karloff is the best. Haven't seen the others. |
|
| |
|
|
|
| Zodiac | Jun 19 2009, 05:50 PM Post #9 |
Balcony Gang, Foist Class
|
I really enjoyed the Mike Shayne series- I was surprised how much I did when I first saw them. Some other reasonable to good series- Boston Blackie, The Saint, The Falcon, The Lone Wolf,Perry Mason with Warren William and Bulldog Drummond Torchy Blaine has its good points, Crime Doctor is fair- Ellery Queen could be good, but I have lousy prints Mr Wong has Karloff but some weak pics in the series- Philo Vance can be creaky, Fu Manchu is dated , but I love Warner Oland and Karloff The greats? The Thin Man, Charlie Chan, Mr Moto and of course SHerlock Holmes with Rathbone |
|
|
|
| Laughing Gravy | Jun 19 2009, 08:08 PM Post #10 |
|
Revered in the UK
|
Boston Blackie is, after the Thin Man & Holmes, my fave movie detective series of the era. Fun films. |
|
| |
|
|
|
| panzer the great & terrible | Jun 20 2009, 06:48 PM Post #11 |
|
Mouth Breather
|
I like the Blackies too, could make a case for them as the best B series after Sherlock. I like the Crime Doctors too, but not as much. Some of the others go right over (or maybe I should say under) my head. I've tried, but the Torchy Blaine movies, f'r instance, put me to sleep every time. To be honest, as I get older just about everything does. If I stay awake for the whole movie, I usually write it up here the next day -- it's that unusual. I'm getting like the geezer in The Magnificent Ambersons -- always napping. |
| We Wear Short Shorts Flying Purple People Eater | |
|
|
|
| CliffClaven | Jun 20 2009, 10:30 PM Post #12 |
|
Balcony Gang, Foist Class
|
I've seen bits of The Saint and The Falcon and enjoyed them -- wish they'd put those out on DVD. Turner released The Saint movies on VHS when that remake came out. What I recall is that the first movie was absolutely nothing like any of the series that followed. Not just different star, but a very strange tone: It begins with headlines to the effect that the city government has actually "called in" The Saint to mop up crime, while all the other films make him the somewhat more believable outlaw. Somehow it felt like a very early sound film. Then the second film introduced Saunders and everything was in place. This happens in several series, although it usually takes two or three films. Either they were never intended to be a series or they hadn't nailed the winning formula. Tarzan and the various Universal monsters started out as dark, unsuitable-for-kiddies A pictures before becoming Saturday matinee thrills. James Bond went the same route, albeit with bigger budgets and bustlines. Sherlock Holmes did manage to shed his early focus on spy smashing in favor of classic murders and masterminds. Charlie Chan was already several films in before Number One Son appeared, vanished, then returned. From there on Chan always had a wisecracking heir hanging around. At the end of the earlier CC in Egypt, Stephen Fetchit shuffles off after the detective, all but announcing to the audience he'd be back as Chan's sidekick. He wasn't. He became a rare male member of a huge sorority: Damsels in distress who seemed to get the hero at fadeout yet were forgotten by the next film. |
|
|
|
| Chandu | Jun 21 2009, 12:20 PM Post #13 |
Knowledge Seeker and rascal at large
|
The Thin Man is my favorite series, although I enjoy all the rest to a lesser degree, but I'm particularly enamored of The Lone Wolf, solely because of Eric Blore's appearances as his bumbling butler. |
| Not plane, nor bird, nor even frog. It's just little ol' me... | |
|
|
|
| Zodiac | Jun 21 2009, 05:09 PM Post #14 |
|
Balcony Gang, Foist Class
|
Don't want to break any rules, but there is a source for great quality DVDs of all the great series- Falcon, Saint etc. Let me know if I can post the site and I will As to "NQ" - Nap Quotient - of old films - that is one of the great measures! Watching an old film you seen many times, happy memories, and the comfort of being able to take a nap, wake up and know where you are in the movie. I am curious though, what is it about some films that is is virtually impossible to stay awake? I had to watch the Karloff Fu Manchu 3-4 times before I got through it and I liked it ! I kept thinking is was the longest movie in the world- 4 or 5 hours at least and then I find out it t is about 60 minutes. LOL I do miss the "B" movies- but they went the way of buggy whips when they stopped the double features. |
|
|
|
| Vornoff | Jun 22 2009, 07:50 AM Post #15 |
Charter Member
|
I don't know, but it's true. Years ago my friend and I continually tried to watch Lugosi's Murders in the Rue Morgue but fell asleep every time. I'm not even sure I've ever watched that movie all the way through. Edited by Vornoff, Jun 22 2009, 07:51 AM.
|
| "Doctor of nothing!" | |
|
|
| Go to Next Page | |
| « Previous Topic · Who Done It? · Next Topic » |
- Pages:
- 1
- 2
10:43 PM Nov 25
