She Blogged By Night

Recently Watched: Two Thrillers

2009-11-13T02:08:00.004-06:00

October -- for me, anyway -- was a big month for horror films and thrillers, and now that I have some time on my hands (as I mentioned over on technoknob, although I got the impression said post went over like the proverbial lead balloon) I can finally blog about a few films I watched.

Wait Until Dark (1967):

This is a film I first saw back before there was such a thing as TCM and, knowing how much my husband loves Alan Arkin, decided to rent it so he could see it, too. Boy, had I forgotten a lot about this film! A tense, engaging thriller, it features criminals who spend their time screwing with a blind woman just because they can. It would have been easier for them to tie her up and search the apartment for the missing MacGuffin, but that's not their style.

Hepburn plays Suzy Hendrix, a woman who has been blind for about a year after a fiery car accident. After her accident she met Sam (Ephram Zimbalist, Jr.) and married him, despite the little fact that he's a huge raving asshole. While he shows sympathy for the girl next door who has to wear glasses, he scolds and cajoles and manipulates Suzy into being "the World's Champion Blind Woman." Suzy, we find, is a lot stronger on her own than Sam gives her credit for, as is the troubled girl next door.

Sam, on the other hand, is so dim as to take a doll offered to him by a hussied-up strange lady in an airport -- you don't hear the dialogue, but it might as well be "Here, naive idiot, hold this doll for me, wink wink." The doll contains drugs, so of course Sam brings it home and immediately loses it. Harry Roat (Alan Arkin) wants those drugs back but can't find the doll during a search of the apartment. He hatches an elaborate scheme along with recently released criminals Mike (Richard Crenna) and Carlino (Jack Weston) to pretend to be other people in an attempt to get Suzy to reveal the location of the doll.

This movie is a thriller that puts you ill at ease from the very beginning and doesn't let up, even when you think it has. Everything is just a tad off kilter and the tension is almost impossible to endure. There's a surprise at the end that, even though I knew it was coming, literally had me screaming. Hell, I thought I was gonna have an infarction.

P.S. Alan Arkin doesn't get enough love in the filmblogosphere. Please rectify this.

***

Foul Play (1978):

Having loved "Seems Like Old Times" for years (Charles Grodin! Chicken pepperoni!) I decided to watch "Foul Play", the first Goldie Hawn-Chevy Chase pairing that "Seems Like Old Times" was a sort of sequel to. Man, does "Foul Play" stink. Chevy Chase can't act worth a damn in the film. How did that happen? He is great in so many movies he did after "Foul Play" that I was positively stunned at how horrible he was in this film. He can't read lines, he smiles constantly, and the editing is obviously covering for Chase's difficulty reacting to the lines of others as though he was engaged in genuine conversation.

The Hitchcock homages are all so blatant that they're no fun to watch for. There are lots of little pokes in the film to remind you this is a spoof of a classic thriller, such as the posters in the lobby below. The plot is convoluted and confused, and I feel really sorry for Marie Kenney, the script manager, who must have wanted to just pound and pound this script with a shovel.

And the movie is one of those embarrassingly outdated types where the heroes are white Americans while everyone else is considered stupid and/or freakish. The people the film makes fun of are all over the spectrum, too, from the religious to those who want to tax religions in the same way corporations are taxed, to an albino, a little person, Asians, Turks, Britons, and the obligatory dead black cop or two.

Goldie Hawn is adorable, professional, and one of the few saving graces of the film. No, wait, I'm willing to state for the record that she is the only saving grace of this film. Seriously, skip this film and watch "Seems Like Old Times" instead.

The Marie Prevost Project #1

2009-11-08T06:51:00.000-06:00

Happy Birthday to Marie Prevost, born November 8, 1898. Maybe. Some sources say 1895, some say 1893. Since she was born in some crazy place called Canadia, I suppose we'll never know.

As I hinted ~~a few months ago~~ nearly a year ago during the Twenty Actresses Meme, one of my new obsessions is actress Marie Prevost. Since I'm a glutton for punishment, I've decided to do a similar project with Marie as I'm doing with Bette.

Truthfully, the Marie Prevost project was my first idea and the Bette project was second. The Marie Prevost project quickly got shelved because it is impossible to find many of her films. Hell, I can't even find out if some of these even exist or not. For a year I've been working on a list of her films to determine what exists, what doesn't what can be obtained by the average film blogger, etc. The list is here, it's still not complete but it's what I've got right now. I owe a lot of thanks to plenty of people who helped me determine which of Marie's films are available: Derek Boothroyd, Thomas Hamilton, Sunrise Silents, and various posts on alt.movies.silent, Nitrateville, and some film collecting forums.

Note: If you know of the existence of any of those films listed as "unknown" in my list, please tell me!

Because of the status of Marie's movies, this project is going to differ from the Bette project in a few ways. It's going to go slower, first of all. Let's be honest, I'm going to have to wait until a lot of these movies come on TCM, if ever. Secondly, even if some films are available in "collector's copies", I reserve the right to skip them if I'm just not able or willing to go to those lengths to see the film. Also, I will be posting photos of films I can either not find or are lost, so even films I haven't technically seen will end up in the project.

But I will be honest with you: I think I'm going to be blogging about films that most of you have never seen, perhaps a few films most people think are lost. Very exciting! Does that get me cool points? I could use some cool points.

So, yes, we're gonna be talkin' about Marie here on SBBN, and I can't wait to get started. Information, suggestions, anything you've got about Marie that isn't already widely known would be appreciated. With a caveat.

This is your only warning:

I will delete any and all jokes, comments, or cracks made about Marie and dogs. None of that Hollywood Babylon bullshit here, capisce? I'm not joking. When I finally get around to writing a post about Marie's life, then we can discuss it fully and you can say all you want, within reason. Meanwhile, I am going to bring down the banhammer of righteous indignation on anything I find inappropriate, simply because I can.

On to my first Marie Prevost Project movie, "The Locked Door". This is easy: She's not in the damn movie. She's listed as "roomate" [sic] on the IMDb, but back when I started this nearly a year ago she wasn't. Someone has added her as "roomate" after TCM showed the movie and I don't feel like registering to correct their error. Other sites have passed on this information as true, but it simply isn't. There is no roommate in the film at all, let alone one that looks like Marie Prevost.

But I did, for a brief moment, think I stumbled across Marie in "Union Depot", the 1932 stinker that even Joan Blondell and Guy Kibbee can't save. The cashier in the depot cafe where Chick Miller (Douglas Fairbanks, Jr) gets his food about 19 minutes into the film looks and sounds so much like Marie that it took a long time to convince me it wasn't. Yet the movie was filmed in 1931 and released in 1932, the same years Marie had notable co-starring roles in several films such as "The Sin of Madelon Claudet" and "Three Wise Girls", so she can't have been the cashier. That was a single-line, hidden-behind-a-prop role, and those sorts of roles didn't go to Marie until later in the 30s.

Well, that's all I got for today. And remember, if the women don't find you handsome... er, I mean, here's your moment of... no, that's not right. Uhm. Wait, I got it: Let's be careful out there.

Set Your Recorders: Putney Swope (1969)

2009-11-05T05:40:00.004-06:00

TCM is showing "Putney Swope" Friday night on their Underground segment. It's on at 2:00 AM Eastern on Saturday morning (that's late Friday night). Last I knew the DVD was discontinued, but while looking it up on TCM I discovered it's still available at Movies Unlimited. So this isn't a huge Set Your Recorders emergency, but it's still something I think a lot of you will be interested in.

Another Robert Downey Sr. movie is being shown the same night: "Greasers Palace" from 1972. So that's neat.

Also, I'd like to mention that SBBN just reached 100,000 hits since it first opened a little over 2 years ago. Thank you all!

Halloween (1978)

2009-10-31T01:00:00.003-06:00

The house used in "Halloween" (1978), located at 1350 N. Orange Grove Ave. in Hollywood. Photo originally found here.

The Michael Meyers House, located at 1000 Mission St, South Pasadena, CA. Photo originally found here. It can be seen via Google Street View here, a lone house in the midst of a business district. The user photos at the Google page are particularly nice.

Happy Halloween, everyone!

For everyone who was just gritting their teeth through this month -- and I know there were a few of you -- don't fret. SBBN will go back to its regular schedule starting now.

The Innocents (1961)

2009-10-30T03:33:00.002-06:00

Sheffield Park Manor.

Rosemary's Baby (1968)

2009-10-29T02:21:00.003-06:00

The Dakota, New York City.

Village of the Damned (1960)

2009-10-28T02:17:00.003-06:00

Love this movie. It was on TCM tonight and I again marveled at how terrific Martin Stephens is in it. Such a short acting career, but an amazing one.

Comparisons of how the filming locations look now versus during filming at a neat site here.

Suspiria (1977)

2009-10-27T02:42:00.004-06:00

Haus zum Walfisch in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)

2009-10-26T05:19:00.003-06:00

Located at 172 N McCadden Place, Los Angeles.

Shadow of a Doubt (1943)

2009-10-25T05:18:00.003-06:00

Located at 904 McDonald Ave in Santa Rosa. According to about.com, Hitch would sit on the porch of a nearby judge's home and drink and chat during breaks in filming. The judge's house was later used as the exteriors for Tatum's house in "Scream" (1996).

The Green Man (1990, miniseries)

2009-10-24T05:56:00.003-05:00

Upcerne Manor, used as The Green Man Hotel in the series. From dorsetshire.com:

The manor granted to Sir Walter Raleigh, he sold it to Sir Robert Mellor who built the house in the early 17th century. The fine interior of the house was largely destroyed in the early 19th century. Subsequently held by the Whites then the Battens. Used stone from the ruins of Cerne Abbey.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

2009-10-23T06:25:00.004-05:00

The location used as the Sawyer family house is now a field that shows no signs of a house ever being there. The house itself was relocated to the grounds of the Antlers Hotel at 1010 King Street in Kingsland, Texas (pictured). It was fully restored and used as the Junction House Restaurant. More here.

The House on Haunted Hill (1959)

2009-10-22T04:35:00.007-05:00

The House on Haunted Hill (1959) residence, the Ennis-Brown House by Frank Lloyd Wright. Located at 2655 Glendower Avenue, Los Feliz District in Los Angeles, CA. It is apparently for sale. More here.

P.S. I am adding new pictures to The Birds and Amityville Horror entries, because I forgot to add them when I originally posted. Oops.

Vampyr (1932)

2009-10-21T05:46:00.004-05:00

Castle from "Vampyr", located in Courtempierre, France.

Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens (1922)

2009-10-20T06:17:00.000-05:00

Orava Castle, Slovakia

The Omen (1976)

2009-10-19T03:40:00.000-05:00

The mansion home of the Ambassador and family from "The Omen". Courtesy a satellite view via Virtual Globetrotting.

The Exorcist (1973)

2009-10-18T04:55:00.002-05:00

3600 Prospect Ave, Georgetown, Washington DC. I've been told the stairs outside the apartment that we so famously see in the film aren't near the building, but they are somewhere nearby on the same street.

UPDATE: This pic is from an excellent flickr feed here with several Exorcist-related photos here.

Poltergeist (1982) and Poltergeist II (1986)

2009-10-17T06:14:00.004-05:00

The house from Poltergeist, located at 4267 Roxbury St. in Simi Valley. Picture originally found here.

The apartment building in Poltergeist II. Photo from here.

Hellraiser (1987)

2009-10-16T04:31:00.002-05:00

The house in "Hellraiser", 187 Dollis Lane, London. This is the only photo I could find, courtesy movie-locations. The house was apparently for rent sometime in the recent past. The house is at the top of a hill overlooking Cricklewood Lane, where Production Village Studios -- where interiors were filmed -- is located.

Evil Dead (1981)

2009-10-15T04:11:00.003-05:00

The cabin from "Evil Dead" and "Evil Dead 2". It's long since been burned down but you can see a great blog entry with pictures from 2006 of the site here. "Evil Dead" was released 28 years ago today, on October 15, 1981.

Peeping Tom (1960)

2009-10-14T04:29:00.000-05:00

Michael Powell's home at #8 Melbury Road, W14, London, used as Mark's childhood home as seen in the home movies in "Peeping Tom". Nearby #5 Melbury Road was used for Mark's adult home, but #5 has since been torn down. Original photo found here.

Caffe V. The building was used as the news agent's office.

The Newman Arms in Fitzrovia, the pub below Dora's flat. Directly to the left under the red arch is Newman Passage, also used prominently in the film. You can see the passage from the inside here.

The Munsters (1964)

2009-10-13T03:36:00.004-05:00

The Munster house, at fictional address 1313 Mockingbird Lane. The house was built on the aforementioned Colonial Street and is now 4351 Wisteria Lane on "Desperate Housewives."

Colonial Street houses were first built for "So Goes My Love" (1946), but then stored for a few years until 1950 when they were reassembled for "Harvey" (1950) on what was then called River Road. The road ended with the huge colonial mansion first built for the 1927 "Uncle Tom's Cabin". In 1960 the Psycho house was built near there, as mentioned in yesterday's post.

In 1981 this version of Colonial Street was dismantled and moved. (Maybe this is when the original Bates Motel was torn down?) Many homes ended up nearby on Universal's Elm Street, although many went to a new street that they still called Colonial Street. The Munster house was moved to this new Colonial Street and remains there, but over the years other famous homes have been torn down, such as the original "Leave it to Beaver" house which was taken down for "The Burbs" and the Uncle Tom's Cabin mansion taken down for "Desperate Housewives."

Psycho (1960)

2009-10-12T04:45:00.003-05:00

Oh, the Psycho house and the Bates Motel. It's... it's a long story.

The house was built on a hill at the Universal backlot near what was called Singapore Lake and is now known as Jaws Lake. Wikipedia slightly misstates things when they say the house and motel were built on the same stage that 1925 "Phantom of the Opera" was filmed on. Actually, the interior scenes in "Psycho" were filmed on the same stage, Stage 28, which was constructed for Phantom. However, Stage 28 was near the hill where the 1923 "Hunchback of Notre Dame" outdoor sets were, and Phantom did use these outdoor sets left over from Hunchback. Is the hill that the 1923 Hunchback sets were on the same hill the Psycho house was built on? I can't find any photographic evidence to suggest this is the case, but I suppose it's possible.

Originally, the Psycho house was just a facade of 2 walls built from a plan heavily based on the Allison house on Universal's famous Colonial Street. (The Allison house is now used as 4349 Wisteria Lane on "Desperate Housewives", but previously was used in films such as "Harvey" and "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken.") The Psycho house is also said to purposely resemble Edward Hopper's "The House by the Railroad."

The Psycho facade stayed on the hill behind Colonial Street/Wisteria Lane for many years and was seen in dozens of TV shows and movies. Eventually a 3rd wall was added so it could be filmed from different angles. The Bates Motel was also seen in some films, including "The Killers" (1964). (Please ignore the fact that the website calls "The Killers" a western.) By the early 1980s the motel was completely taken down, and apparently no one knows why or exactly when.

As mentioned in The Chicken Ranch entry, the Psycho facade was moved in 1982 for the filming of the sequel. The reason given at the time was that the studio tour was built around the house and it was easier to move the house than move the tour. The house ended up near Falls Lake on the backlot and was given a 4th wall. The Bates Motel was partially rebuilt for "Psycho II" using original plans, then completely rebuilt for "Psycho III." By 1986 the house and motel had been moved again to another part of Falls Lake, where they sit today as part of the studio tour. Right in the middle of Whoville. As Count Floyd says, Ooh, scary.

Night of the Living Dead (1968 and 1990)

2009-10-11T04:28:00.003-05:00

Original farm house from "Night of the Living Dead" (1962) from a screencap. It was a farmhouse near the Monongahela River which I believe was torn down and nothing but a few pieces of siding exist. But a couple of years ago a place was offering Halloween tours through the farmhouse. (Scroll down to George A Romero's Fright Nights here.) I wish I knew where you really went on that Halloween tour. A mock-up?

House from the 1990 remake, in West Middletown, PA. I love this house as much as I love The Chicken Ranch.

Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

2009-10-10T05:56:00.000-05:00

"Nightmare on Elm Street" house, located at 1428 North Genesee, Los Angeles, CA.

Genesee Street, where "Halloween" (1978) and "Nightmare on Elm Street" were filmed.