Topic: Addicted2DVD's Classic Movie Reviews

[addicted2dvd]

Addicted2DVD Classic Movie Reviews

Since I have threads for the '60s, '70s and '80s I thought I should have a place to review the movies in my collection for movies from the '50s and before. Especially now that I have so many in my collection I can watch. Many of which I have never seen before.

Below is the list of all the movies I have from '10s through the '50s. The movies in bold is ones I have never seen before. And there is a lot of those since I am still fairly new to anything older then the '80s. So if there is a movie you know and think I would enjoy please feel free to post here and give me your recommendation. Or if there is a movie you are curios about feel free to request a review. I won't make any promises to when... but I will do my best to get to it ASAP.

My Collection:

1910s
- Intolerance: Love's Struggle Through the Ages (1916)

1920s
- The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
- Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde (1920)
- The Golem (1920)
- Battleship Potemkin (1925)
- The Bat (1926)
- The General (1927)

1930s:

- Assassins of Youth (1937) - Blue Steel (1934) - The Bride of Frankenstein (1935) - Chloe, Love is Calling You (1934) - Condemned to Live (1935) - The Crimes of Stephen Hawke (1936) - Dracula (1931) - Dracula: Spanish Version (1931) - Dracula's Daughter (1936) - The Devil's Daughter (1939) - A Farewell to Arms (1932) - Frankenstein (1931) - The ghost Walks (1934) - Gone with the Wind (1939) - The Gorilla (1939) - House of Danger (1934) - House of Mystery (1934) - The House of Secrets (1936) - The Kennel Murder Case (1933) - The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934) - Midnight Shadow (1939)

- Midnight Phantom (1935) - The Midnight Warning (1932) - The Mummy (1932) - Murder in the Red Barn (1935) - Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933) - Never Too Late (1937) - One Frightened Night (1935) - The Phantom (1931) - The Phantom Creeps (1939) - The Phantom Express (1932) - Reefer Madness (1936) - Rogues Tavern (1936) - Sabotage (1936) - Scrooge  (1935) - The Son of Frankenstein (1939) - Strangers of the Evening (1932) - Torture Ship (1939) - Werewolf of London (1935) - White Zombie (1932) - Winds of the Wasteland (1936) - The Wizard of Oz (1939)

1940s:

- The Adventures of Tartu (1943) - Aerial Gunner (1943) - Africa Screams (1949) - Angel and the Bad Man (1947) - The Ape Man (1943) - Bedlam (1946) - Blood on the Sun (1945) - The Body Snatcher (1945) - Bowery at Midnight (1942) - British Intelligence (1940) - Casablanca (1942) - Cat People (1942) - Convoy (1940) - Crimes at the Dark House (1940) - Curse of the Cat People (1944) - Dawn Express (1942) - The Devil Bat (1941) - Devil Monster (1946) - Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome (1947) - Dressed to Kill (1946) - The Fighting Seabees (1944) - Flying Blind (1941) - Flying Tigers (1942) - Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man (1943) - Ghost of Frankenstein (1942) - The Ghost Ship (1943) - Gung Ho! (1943) - His Girl Friday (1940) - House of Dracula (1945) - House of Frankenstein (1944) - I Walked with a Zombie (1943)

- Identity Unknown (1945) - Isle of the Dead (1945) - It's a Wonderful Life (1946) - The Last Chance (1945) - The Leopard Man (1943) - Long Voyage Home (1940) - The Man with Two Lives (1942) - Meet John Doe (1941) - Minesweeper (1943) - Miracle on 34th Street (1947) - Nabonga (1944) - The Navy Way (1944) - One of Our Aircrafts is Missing (1941) - Phantom of the Opera (1943) - Private Buckaroo (1942) - Sands of Iwo Jima (1949) - Scared to Death (1946) - She Wolf of London (1946) - Sherlock Holmes and the Woman in Green (1945) - Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1942) - Shock (1946) - Son of Dracula (1943) - Song of Arizona (1946) - Spitfire (1942) - The Stranger (1946) - They Were Expendable (1945) - To the Last Man (1941) - A Walking Nightmare (1942) - The white Gorilla (1945) - White Pongo (1945) - The Wolf Man (1941)

1950

- At War with the Army (1950) - The Bat (1959) - Beast from Haunted Grave (1959) - Beat the Devil (1953) - The Big Lift (1950) - Blood Alley (1955) - Bride of the Gorilla (1951) - A Bucket of Blood (1959) - Cause for Alarm (1951) - Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) - Cyrano de Bergerac (1950) - Destination Moon (1950) - The Evil Brain from Outer Space (1956) - The Fly (1958) - Flying Leathernecks (1951) - Four in a Jeep (1951) - Forty Guns (1957) - Giant Gila Monster (1959) - The Head (1959) - House of Wax (1953) - The House on Haunted Hill (1958) - I Bury the Living (1958) - The Island Monster (1954)

- Killer Shrews (1959) - My Outlaw Brother (1951) - Night of the Blood Beast (1958) - Operation Pacific (1951) - The Pajama Game (1957) - A Passenger to Bali (1950) - Plan 9 from Outer Space (1958) - Rage at Dawn (1955) - Rear Window (1954) - Return of the Fly (1959) - Rio Bravo (1959) - Road to Bali (1952) - Robot Monster (1953) - The Sea Chase (1955) - She Gods of Shark Reef (1958) - The Snow Creature (1954) - A Strange Adventure (1956) - Suddenly (1954) - The Sundowners (1950) - Tales of Frankenstein (1958) - Teenage Zombies (1959) - The Tingler (1959) - The Wings of Eagles (1957)

[addicted2dvd]

typing too fast I posted this before my lists were even half done! 

[Rogmeister]

I'd like to see you review the copy I sent you of White Zombie.  I know you reviewed it once and didn't like it but part of that was probably because the copy you reviewed was not of very good condition.  The one I sent you has a much better picture quality I'd warrant so you might like it better if you watch that version.  I have a copy of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligary (mine is a Kino edition, I think) and I haven't watched it yet.  Who's in that 1926 version of The Bat?

[addicted2dvd]

Yeah... I been trying to push myself to watch White Zombie again... just haven't had any luck on it yet.

The Bat (1926)
George Beranger    ...    Gideon Bell
Charles Herzinger   ...    Courleigh Fleming
Emily Fitzroy   ...    Miss Cornelia Van Gorder
Louise Fazenda   ...    Lizzie Allen
Arthur Housman   ...    Richard Fleming (as Arthur Houseman)
Robert McKim   ...    Dr. Wells

Since I am still pretty new to this era of filmmaking.. none of the names look familiar to me.

[Najemikon]

You've watched all your Lewton's, haven't you? Though there's nothing wrong with giving The Body Snatcher another spin!

[Rogmeister]

Pete, back in the days before home video (yes, there was such a time!) I had a silly western comedy called Faro Nell where everyone overacted terribly.  Louise Fazenda was in that.  The name Robert McKim also sounds vaguely familiar to me.

[addicted2dvd]

You've watched all your Lewton's, haven't you? Though there's nothing wrong with giving The Body Snatcher another spin!

I watched all of them but the documentaries. yes The Body Snatchers are well worth another spin... as are several of them... I also really liked The Cat People.

[addicted2dvd]

Pete, back in the days before home video (yes, there was such a time!) I had a silly western comedy called Faro Nell where everyone overacted terribly.  Louise Fazenda was in that.  The name Robert McKim also sounds vaguely familiar to me.

Oh yeah... I remember those days. I don't know how we made it through it!  Hopefully  Louise Fazenda don't over act in this one... though I guess they pretty much had to for silent movies.

[addicted2dvd]

Title: Rear Window: Collector's Edition
Year: 1954
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Rating: PG
Length: 114 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.66:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: Mono, French: Dolby Digital: Mono
Subtitles: English, Spanish

Stars:
James Stewart
Grace Kelly
Wendell Corey
Thelma Ritter
Raymond Burr
Judith Evelyn

Plot:
None of Hitchcock's films has ever given a clearer view of his genius for suspense than Rear Window. When professional photographer J.B "Jeff" Jeffries (James Stewart) is confined to a wheelchair with a broken leg, he becomes obsessed with watching the private dramas of his neighbors play out across the courtyard. When he suspects a salesman may have murdered his nagging wife, Jeffries enlists the help of his glamorous socialite girlfriend (Grace Kelly) to investigate the highly suspicious chain of events...Events that ultimately lead to one of the most memorable and gripping endings in all of film history.

Extras:
Scene Access
Feature Trailers
Featurettes
Gallery
Production Notes
DVD-ROM Content

My Thoughts:
This is the second time I watched this movie within the 9 months that I owned it. Before buying it  I have never seen it before. Since I knew the ending this time I was afraid I wouldn't like it as much the second time around... but that just wasn't the case. I enjoyed this awesome movie just as much this time as last... if not more so. So I will just repeat here what I said the last time.

Being fairly new to the classics I am not too familiar with any of the people involved in making this movie. But from what I have seen so far I do enjoy the work of Alfred Hitchcock as well as Jimmy Stewert. But I am almost embarrassed to say that this is the first thing I ever seen Grace Kelly in. After watching it the first thing I want to say is Wow! that Grace Kelly was more then adorable. She was one gorgeous (and at least going by this movie talented) lady. Rear Window is a fantastic movie. It had me glued to my seat for the entire movie. Sure there was some scenes in it that was a little on the slow side... but you know... it worked for this movie. It may have had some slow scenes... but they were still interesting. I have seen this story told over and over again in different movies and TV show episodes. But this is the first (now second) time I ever seen the original movie. And I must say... I can see why it gets so much homage. The story is great... everyone involved did a wonderful job... this movie deserves the right to be called a true classic. If there is anyone else like me here that has never seen this movie before I highly recommend it.

My Rating:
Out of a Possible 5

[addicted2dvd]

Jimmy... this one is more detailed... so you can go ahead and replace the link. 

[Najemikon]

 

I think I'll have mentioned them before, but I think you would enjoy Grace Kelly's other Hitchcock's, Dial M for Murder or To Catch A Thief. Neither as good as Rear Window, but still worth seeing.