This being Thursday, it's time for another edition of Thursday Movie Picks, the blogathon run by Wandering Through the Shelves. This week's theme is private eyes. [clap]. They're watching you. [clap clap] They see your every move. OK, well not those private eyes. Just plain old detectives. Detective movies were very popular back in the 30s and 40s, so I picked a trio from the 30s:
After the Thin Man (1936). William Powell returns for a second go-round as Nick Charles, this time out in San Francisco visiting Nora's family. Nora's cousin Selma (Elissa Landi) is worried that her fiancé is missing, and when Nick investigates, murder ensues. I always have to recommend Elissa Landi movies since she's got a street named after her in my home town, and this one also has James Stewart before he was a star.
Private Detective 62 (1933). William Powell plays a disgraced diplomat who goes to work for a detective (Arthur Hohl) who gets the job from a casino owner (Gordon Westcott) to frame a beautiful lady (Margaret Lindsay) who's winning too much money. Powell gets the actual dirty work, but when he starts to do it, he finds himself falling in love with Lindsay. Double-crosses and murder ensue.
The Kennel Murder Case (1932). William Powell plays detective Philo Vance, who this time gets to investigate a locked-room murder (of Robert Barrat) among the dog-show set. The police, in the form of Eugene Pallette, consider it suicide, but Philo knows better, and investigates. More murders ensue.
Why do all these murders ensue when William Powell shows up, anyway?
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4 comments:
I found this topic kind of difficult because I kept thinking of police movies instead of actual PI's, but apparently there's a ton of classic films to choose from that I just haven't seen yet. Still working on that.
I always love to see a theme within the theme and William Powell is a great choice.
After the Thin Man isn't quite as good as the original but it's probably the closest of the sequels in quality to the first plus it has the extra attraction of a baby Jimmy Stewart. Elissa Landi has a street named after her in your town? I think that's great but surprising, I like her but she's so obscure for that sort of recognition. I'd love to hear the reasoning behind it.
The Kennel Murder Case is a bit creaky but has a great cast. Love both Mary Astor and Eugene Pallette-at least I love him on screen apparently off he was a crazy bigot.
Private Detective 62 is more run of the mill but thanks to Powell a decent watch.
I dipped into film noir for my choices this time.
The Maltese Falcon (1941)-Private eye Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) takes on the case of the beautiful, secretive Ruth Wonderly (Mary Astor). When Miss Wonderly is revealed to be Brigid O’Shaughnessy trouble begins. Sam's partner is murdered and he is accosted by Joel Cairo (Peter Lorre) who demands he locate a valuable statuette which is being pursued by others including the Fat Man (Sydney Greenstreet). Entangled in a dangerous web of crime and intrigue Sam soon realizes he must find the one thing they all seem to want: the bejeweled Maltese falcon. This fourth version of the story is proof that remakes aren’t necessarily bad things but you should stop once you get it right.
Murder, My Sweet (1944)-P.I. Philip Marlowe (Dick Powell) is working what he thinks are two minor cases but suddenly someone is dead and he discovers they are dangerously connected. As he is drawn deeper into a complex web of machinations by the mysterious Helen Grayle (Claire Trevor), Marlowe finds his own life in increasing jeopardy.
Harper (1966)-Struggling private eye Lew Harper (Paul Newman) takes a simple missing-person case that quickly spirals into something much more convoluted. Elaine Sampson (Lauren Bacall), recently paralyzed in a horse-riding accident, wants Harper to find her missing oil baron husband, but her stormy teenage stepdaughter Miranda (Pamela Tiffin) thinks Mrs. Sampson knows more than she's letting on. Fun detective film with Newman at his coolest and a loaded supporting cast-beside Bacall it includes Julie Harris, Shelley Winters, Janet Leigh and Robert Wagner.
Chinatown (1974)-When Los Angeles private eye J.J. "Jake" Gittes (Jack Nicholson) is hired by Evelyn Mulwray to investigate her husband's activities he believes it's a routine infidelity case. Jake's investigation soon becomes anything but routine when he meets the real Mrs. Mulwray (Faye Dunaway) and realizes he was hired by an imposter. Mr. Mulwray's sudden death sets Gittes on a tangled trail of corruption, deceit and sinister family secrets as Evelyn's father (John Huston) becomes a suspect in the case. Dark, complex and twisted with amazing performances and flawless direction by Roman Polanski this is a great film.
The answer is really quite simple: Elissa Landi died in Kingston, and some time later she got a street named after her. (As I understand it, she's actually buried somewhere in Massachusetts.) I was born in Kingston and live a bit further up in the Catskills.
Disco singer (and porn actress) Andrea True ("More, More, More") also died in Kingston. Woodstock, for understandable reasons, has rather more famous people associated with it, such as Levon Helm, who has a section of state highway after him as an honorary thing.
I love your theme within a theme and that you chose William Powell! I’m glad you chose one of the Thin Man series and this one is one of the best. I’m glad you showed some love for Elissa Landi whom no one know today since she was never a major star plus she died so young. I ambad because I haven’t seen the other 2 Powell movies but I plan t9 we them one day.
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