tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185294584889963228.post746542364717096285..comments2024-02-22T17:59:50.213-05:00Comments on in so many words...: Tuesday's Forgotten (or Overlooked) Film: EYES IN THE NIGHT (1942) starring Edward ArnoldYvettehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08919246184376538331noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185294584889963228.post-30749660631314955822013-12-07T12:59:28.489-05:002013-12-07T12:59:28.489-05:00Thanks for the plug, Kathy. :) To check out any sp...Thanks for the plug, Kathy. :) To check out any specific past review just scroll all the way down to the bottom of the blog and you'll find the 'search' thingy. Type in the name of whatever film or book you're looking for and the link will pop up at the top of the blog. That's how it works around here. :) OR you can use the 'movie' link on the right hand sidebar - but that's less specific. Yvettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08919246184376538331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185294584889963228.post-65955309503705040892013-12-07T01:16:08.835-05:002013-12-07T01:16:08.835-05:00Note to Susan D.: Read Yvette's reviews of Th...Note to Susan D.: Read Yvette's reviews of The Woman in White parts I and II. And put your coffee down first! (Also, you'd do yourself a favor to read all of the stellar movie reviews posted here: the commentary is unique and right on target, so much fun.)<br /><br />And to Yvette, where are those reviews? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185294584889963228.post-75723628196700729562013-12-06T14:26:00.354-05:002013-12-06T14:26:00.354-05:00Oh lazy Sunday afternoons are perfect for old movi...Oh lazy Sunday afternoons are perfect for old movies. They're practically de rigeur. (Spelling?) You know what I mean. :)Yvettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08919246184376538331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185294584889963228.post-85258791359946496012013-12-06T14:25:08.467-05:002013-12-06T14:25:08.467-05:00Thanks Susan, I'd never heard of Rick Blechta....Thanks Susan, I'd never heard of Rick Blechta. Will definitely take a look. Glad you liked my little sarcasm. :)Yvettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08919246184376538331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185294584889963228.post-30824548520574686142013-12-06T14:23:58.729-05:002013-12-06T14:23:58.729-05:00My mom was a hoot. Well, most of the time. :) Late...My mom was a hoot. Well, most of the time. :) Later in life she refused to watch any movie with violence in it and I had to really REALLY convince her that JURASSIC PARK wasn't real. She was a hoot.<br />Youtube is lately a great source for lots of old movies. Most of the Charlie Chans and Sherlock Holmes are available there.Yvettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08919246184376538331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185294584889963228.post-48848184215063314502013-12-06T12:25:37.105-05:002013-12-06T12:25:37.105-05:00Excellent choice and review, Yvette. There are a w...Excellent choice and review, Yvette. There are a whole bunch of black-and-white films from the 1940s and 1950s I'm just not aware of. Fortunately, I have your weekly reviews to look forward to and I agree with Tracy about the pictures that makes you feel like watching films like these on a lazy Sunday afternoon.Prashant C. Trikannadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16079354501998741758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185294584889963228.post-27034271646065069762013-12-06T10:32:44.015-05:002013-12-06T10:32:44.015-05:00Okay have to jump in too. I see Kathy's alread...Okay have to jump in too. I see Kathy's already said this, but I'll second it. "...the sort of hapless, helpless, dither-headed woman for whom men were invented." Good thing I'd already put my coffee down.<br /><br />Available on Youtube? Oh joy. Timesink here I come!<br /><br />The broken lightbulb etc scene was used to good effect in Wait Until Dark. And then, Audrey Hepburn heard the unmistakable sound indicating the fridge door was open....<br /><br />For a blind detective in contemp mystery lit, check out Rick Blechta http://rickblechta.com/Pages/SSitD.html<br />Susan Dhttp://www.susannastone.blogspot.canoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185294584889963228.post-82274850483298485112013-12-06T04:37:24.688-05:002013-12-06T04:37:24.688-05:00So, it is on You Tube, the entire movie! Amazing!...So, it is on You Tube, the entire movie! Amazing! Now I know what to do this weekend.<br /><br />So, your sarcasm was learned from your mother? She sounds great, what an excellent movie partner.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185294584889963228.post-23288660967486014602013-12-06T04:34:49.160-05:002013-12-06T04:34:49.160-05:00It's on You Tube? I thought I'd have to k...It's on You Tube? I thought I'd have to knuckle under and join Netflix.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185294584889963228.post-13365396586640584282013-12-05T22:38:03.404-05:002013-12-05T22:38:03.404-05:00I really do think it works best if the guy is a pr...I really do think it works best if the guy is a private eye. If and when they ever make another series. I remember Brad Dillman - Suzy Parker's hubby and a very talented character actor. Yvettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08919246184376538331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185294584889963228.post-80712743361080385512013-12-05T22:35:30.149-05:002013-12-05T22:35:30.149-05:00You can watch the film on youtube, Tracy, at least...You can watch the film on youtube, Tracy, at least currently. Hope you like it as much as I did. :)Yvettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08919246184376538331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185294584889963228.post-62244244988130545962013-12-05T21:44:18.944-05:002013-12-05T21:44:18.944-05:00I almost missed this. It sounds like a great movie...I almost missed this. It sounds like a great movie; just from the photos alone I could tell that. And with a dog. And if I could find the book it was based on and read that too. TracyKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08303342674824383688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185294584889963228.post-38362640184166324442013-12-05T17:11:41.941-05:002013-12-05T17:11:41.941-05:00On Longstreet, Franciscus was an insurance investi...On <i>Longstreet</i>, Franciscus was an insurance investigator.<br />In fact, that was the reason for the attempt on his life in the pilot: the villains were scared wasteless that the great Longstreet would solve their planned crime, and so they bombed him - except they got his wife and only blinded him.<br /> <br />And more minutiae:<br /> I recently read a memoir by Bradford Dillman, <i>Are You Anybody?</i><br />Dillman recounts his experience playing a blind man on a live drama early in his career, and then segues to the <i>Longstreet</i> pilot, in which he was cast as Franciscus's superior at the insurance company.<br />Remembering what he'd learned in his previous job, Dillman told the producers that the series wouldn't work unless Longstreet's blindness were cured by episode six at the earliest.<br />The producers nodded and smiled, and when the series went into production, Mark Richman had the part.<br />Dillman tells the tale on himself, which is the tone of the whole book - worth the looking for, if you want to put forth the effort.<br />(Have we beaten this to death yet?)Mike Dorannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185294584889963228.post-67098428795588370222013-12-05T14:09:10.469-05:002013-12-05T14:09:10.469-05:00It's a fun movie all right, Kathy. :) You'...It's a fun movie all right, Kathy. :) You'll love it. I'm going to try and hunt down the second film featuring the same character. Unfortunately it's not available on youtube. <br /><br />Oh, you noticed my sarcasm. HA! Sometimes I think I go too far but then I think, nah! - my readers are used to it. HA! My mother and I would go to the movies and if the heroine didn't shape up my mom would say 'why doesn't she just kill him?' HA! Or 'why doesn't she just knock him down or beat her up or beat them both up' words to that effect. My mom didn't stand for nonsense - even in the movies. Yvettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08919246184376538331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185294584889963228.post-51612818228405263322013-12-05T14:04:26.530-05:002013-12-05T14:04:26.530-05:00Well, Matt Damon will be old enough in a few more ...Well, Matt Damon will be old enough in a few more years. :)<br />How about Patrick Stewart?<br />But if you're going 'body-type' than that's a different thing. Actors shaped like Edward Arnold are few and far between in today's world. More's the pity. :)<br /><br />At any rate, I do remember James Franciscus and I did like the show very much. Yet you're right, he was too young. It's best if the character is an ex-cop with years of experience. That makes more sense even if Franciscus' character was an ex-cop to begin with. Don't remember.<br />He was still too young.<br /><br />I remember Robert Middleton, he would have been perfect. Yes.<br /><br />Oh, thanks for the correction on Baynard Kendrick by the way. <br /><br />I love show biz minutiae.Yvettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08919246184376538331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185294584889963228.post-10111566240579899382013-12-05T06:03:00.654-05:002013-12-05T06:03:00.654-05:00Okay, I was minding my own business and reading th...Okay, I was minding my own business and reading this movie review, merrily scrolling along, and then I came to this: " But Norma is, I'm afraid, the sort of hapless, helpless, dither-headed woman for whom men were invented."<br /><br />Then I lost it, laughed so hard I lost my place. Then it continues from there with much hilarity.<br /><br />I think, Yvette, you are at your sarcastic, witty best when you are talking about women characters in the "old" days and their lot, and the men who related to them, as in The Woman in White. Not that all of your movie reviews aren't stellar. They are. <br /><br />I must find this movie, which I will. It sounds too good to be true, full of all of the stereotypes of this sort of thing, and, of course, including a Nazi household. What else could there be in 1942?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185294584889963228.post-56347109297745651142013-12-04T10:48:53.380-05:002013-12-04T10:48:53.380-05:00Hello again ...
Actually, it wasn't that the ...Hello again ...<br /><br />Actually, it wasn't that the two characters, Maclain and Longstreet, had the same "creator".<br />Most likely, someone at Paramount TV remembered that Baynard Kendrick was still alive in 1971, and he got a payoff in the form of a screen credit and weekly royalty, in order to avoid a possible plagiarism suit. Things like this were commonplace in Hollywood for many years (still are, comes to that ...).<br /> <br />There had been a previous attempt to do Captain Duncan Maclain as a TV show:<br />In 1962 or '63 (can't nail down the date), Robert Middleton made a pilot for Revue-MCA (what Universal-TV was called then), which aired on <i>Kraft Mystery Theater</i> that summer. Just the one shot - Middleton was as close as you could get to Edward Arnold in the '60s.<br /><br />Today? It seems to me that Maclain works best as an older, more settled character (more mature, if you like; I've always thought that was why James Franciscus didn't pull off <i>Longstreet</i> in '71 - especially when he went up against Raymond Burr's more mature <i>Ironside</i>).<br />So who in the Millenium could do "Edward Arnold"?<br />Only name I can come up with is James Gandolfini - and he's pretty much out of the running now ...<br />Oh well ...Mike Dorannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185294584889963228.post-82566665461606187642013-12-03T20:19:50.581-05:002013-12-03T20:19:50.581-05:00I did remember that series, Mike, but I didn't...I did remember that series, Mike, but I didn't want to confuse the issue. Didn't know that the two characters had the same creator. Go figure. I still think it might be updated to today. Might make for another terrific movie too. I wonder who could play Maclain???<br /><br />How about Matt Damon? Just thinking out loud.Yvettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08919246184376538331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185294584889963228.post-48716177742770936102013-12-03T18:12:48.756-05:002013-12-03T18:12:48.756-05:00Uhhh, Yvette ...
Not only could he be "broug...Uhhh, Yvette ...<br /><br />Not only <i>could</i> he be "brought up to date" ...<br /> ...<b>he was.</b><br /><br />Remember a TV series from 1971 called <i>Longstreet</i>?<br />James Franciscus as a blind detective in New Orleans?<br />Baynard Kendrick, who wrote the original Maclain books, got a creator credit - and money (he was still alive at the time).<br /> <br />.... and the hits just keep on coming ...Mike Dorannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185294584889963228.post-89230061267787465322013-12-03T16:48:24.590-05:002013-12-03T16:48:24.590-05:00Thanks, Sergio. Now we know that at least there wa...Thanks, Sergio. Now we know that at least there was a second film. Hope I can find it. Yvettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08919246184376538331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185294584889963228.post-30900174816654656652013-12-03T16:47:44.191-05:002013-12-03T16:47:44.191-05:00Thanks for the info, Mike. You are a treasure-hous...Thanks for the info, Mike. You are a treasure-house of film minutiae. :) I'm going to track down THE HIDDEN EYE. Actually, Duncan Maclain could easily be brought up to date for a modern day version. Don't you think? Yvettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08919246184376538331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185294584889963228.post-19583138186299101122013-12-03T16:29:36.167-05:002013-12-03T16:29:36.167-05:00Replying to myself?
I wrote that first one uner a...Replying to myself?<br /><br />I wrote that first one uner a lunch-hour gun.<br />It is now after lunch, which I spent at IMDb.<br /><br /><i>The Hidden Eye</i> (or <i>Duncan Maclain II</i>, if you like), was made three years after the first picture, in 1945.<br /><br />As noted above, Edward Arnold is back as Capt. Maclain, but Allen Jenkins and Mantan Moreland are replaced by William "Bill" Phillips and Leigh Whipper, respectively, signifying a slight reduction in budgetary status (even B movies had a pecking order of sorts).<br /> As it happens, I've got both movies at home on C2C DVDs; I'll give them a look when I get home tonight.<br />I'll also check some of my reference books to see if they can shed any light on why MGM bailed after only two movies - generally they would try to go to three (<i>Nick Carter, Joel & Garda Sloane,</i> etc.).<br />All that and more - <b>TOMORROW!</b><br />*If I remember ...*Mike Dorannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185294584889963228.post-62500573021128523472013-12-03T14:13:59.662-05:002013-12-03T14:13:59.662-05:00Great review Yvette - I really wished this had bee...Great review Yvette - I really wished this had been turned into a series!Sergio (Tipping My Fedora)http://bloodymurder.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185294584889963228.post-14275824581678932212013-12-03T13:47:02.021-05:002013-12-03T13:47:02.021-05:00Actually, MGM did try to turn Duncan Maclain into ...Actually, MGM <i>did</i> try to turn Duncan Maclain into a series.<br /><br />The second film was titled <i>The Hidden Eye</i>, also with Edward Arnold, made about a year after the first.<br /><br />I don't have my references here in the office with me, so I'll have to look up the details when I get home.<br />*and I got a buncha those...*<br /><br />Anyone else who wants to weigh in in the meantime, feel free.<br />Mike Dorannoreply@blogger.com