By Walker Joyce
For years, the Cinema has been dying from a lack of imagination and good scripts, the mainstreaming of violence, pornography, and lately, the infection of Wokeness.
Did you watch the Academy Awards? Neither did I. The only Best Picture nominees I saw were the ultimately ridiculous CONCLAVE, a Vatican thriller with an SNL ending, and the Bob Dylan biopic, A COMPLETE UNKNOWN. That might’ve been the name of the rest on the inflated list of nine. I literally never heard of THE SUBSTANCE, NICKLE BOYS, or the eventual winner, ANORA.
As to the nominated actors, they were almost all newcomers with virtually no name recognition. I knew NONE of the Best Directors, and the only winner I knew was Adrian Brody, of whom I’m not a fan. It was his second Oscar, but I can’t remember his first.
I’m betting most of you readers will agree that the Movies are now as dead as Restoration Comedy. The studios expired decades ago, and even before the fires, L.A. lost its film capital title to Atlanta and Vancouver. The big theaters are all but gone, as the Silver Screen is now the size of a bedsheet. Streaming Services now rule.
So what is a passionate film fan to do? I’ll answer with the title of a great flick from the 90’s: BACK TO THE FUTURE.
Lately, I’ve been feasting on the Turner Classic cable channel, where products of the Golden Age can still be seen—for free if you don’t count the monthly subscription price, which includes my phone and internet. I’ve seen lots of old favorites, but best of all I’ve found scores of vintage pics I’ve never seen before. I usually zero in on a cherished star or a preferred genre and pick accordingly from the daily schedules posted on the ‘net.
Here are a few gems I’ve enjoyed recently:
ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT, 1942—This one is a feast. It is a cross-generic piece with comic and dramatic elements, pairing a gangster pic with a spy thriller and a love story. It even tops off as a WW II propaganda movie, one of the first to take on Hitler when the studios were still wary of losing their foreign markets. Humphrey Bogard stars, along with Conrad Veidt and a leading lady I’d never seen before, Kaaren Verne. The supporting cast includes Jackie Gleason and Phil Silvers in early cameos.
LARCENY, INC.,1942—Another mixed grill from the same year and shop: Warner Brothers, who perceived the mid-war audience’s desire for some dramady fun. This one is headlined by another of their tough guy stars, the great Edward G. Robinson spoofing his screen persona and prior hoodlum hits. He’s a parolee using a luggage store as a front to rob a bank. Anthony Quinn adds menace, Broderick Crawford is a great buffoon and a young Jane Wyman shines as Eddy’s innocent daughter—a charming hoot.
CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON, 1954—Somehow, despite my childhood love of monster movies, I missed this classic B-picture once it hit TV. (It was released the year I was born.) A riff on the old Beauty & the Beast story, originally shot in 3-D, it’s about a motley crew sailing an Amazon river in search of a missing link. The gorgeous Julie Adams in a white bathing suit became an iconic image.
And more to come!
