Harri85274 Reviews

The Housekeeper's Daughter (1939)

What a moronic movie

[3 June 2008]

I couldn't believe my eyes..one of the most stupid movies I got to watch. I mainly watched cause from reading of various forums on movies that Joan Bennett struck a startling resemble to the gorgeous Hedy Lamarr. True, there was that...but she lacked what Hedy had. It was suppose to be slapstick, but to me it was so annoying to watch a pro like Manjou and Gargan sunk so low...slapstick were not their forte. Only one, Victor Mature showed that there was more to come from this actor in the future. The lines were so stupid, that they were embarrassing. Hal Roach must of thought he had the cast of a Harold LLoyd or slapstick cops. Avoid this trash.

Big Eden (2000)

Utopia Baloney movie

[1/10 · 13 December 2007]

I caught this last night on the Logo channel and although it held my interest mildly, mainly because of the photography, I found it very disappointing. What Utopia city is this suppose to be? Obvious it was written most likely by a gay person, who was 'looking' for his 'wizard of oz"...a town where every male and female was so open minded towards the trials of a squeamish looking gay man, whom everyone loved...and wanted to make him stay and live happily ever after with a lover. Yes, Dorothy 'there is no place like home"...for certain people only. BTW, I probably slept through the part where they had mentioned how his best friend had 2 sons. Were they adopted? Was he a divorced man? I never saw his 'wife', and yet there were so many females in this movie, it all came down to 'whose who". No satisfactory way to introduce the characters, in my opinion.

My Favorite Spy (1951)

Funny Hope-Hedy comedy

[24 November 2007]

I read somewhere here in this forum a readers take on the Bob-Hedy friction. Let me settle this once and for all. Hedy was always Bob favorite...look at some of the old war newsreels with the stars getting involved in the war, in their own way. There's a clip where Bob is surprisingly sharing a bed with his crony, Bing Crosby and in his dreams, he keeps calling out for Hedy. Hedy was an MGM player, so odds were against them making a movie together, each under contract to different studios. It turned out that some of Hedy's best funny scenes were cut, because the studio head at Paramount, didn't want anyone to be more funnier than their bread and butter comedian. She resented it, after all she was in the midst of making a comeback, as they called it in those days, after her terrific success in Samson and Delilah for that same studio a year before. Its odd that in 1951, Bob and Hedy made a comedy radio stint on top of a U.S.Navy flattop, in front of the sailors, in San Diego port. They even made jokes about appearing together in that movie. So, if there was friction, it was short lived. As far as her role, she was suppose to be playing it straight to Bob's antics. To me,the funniest scenes involved Hedy, mainly because I was surprised at how well she did handle comedy. Her hitting Bob like a wildcat, after he 'punched' her. Her double take upon seeing "both" Bob's was priceless...and that ending, with her driving the fire truck.

Trade Winds (1938)

Hedy clone

[16 August 2007]

I must say Joan looked like Hedy Lamarr, and that is the ultimate compliment in this movie. In fact, the comics of the day, usually made jokes about her and Hedy...something like this..."Hedy so fair...why does she make Joan Bennett wear all her old hair". Years later, in an interview Joan said that she didn't think Hedy appreciated the joke..but I read otherwise, Hedy couldn't stop laughing..go figure. Anyhow, the movie was so-so, Ann Sothern, my favorite, had the usual barbs. I also read that since Joan did her Hedy turn, she got more popular than as a blond and apparently made movies that Hedy couldn't do because of her foreign accent and so Joan made a lot more movies and some pretty good ones...and yet, she never became the super star that Hedy became. Please take note..in 1950 she replaced Hedy in the "Father of the Bride". cause Hedy was too young to be Elizabeth's mother...Joan was 4 years older than Hedy.

Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall (1948–1967)

Hedy Lamarr as guest star

[12 April 2007]

In 1957, NBC was occasionally showing TV color on some of their shows. I remember seeing the ad for one particular color show that year where they headlined...Color TV and Hedy, too..or something to that effect. I searched high and low for a place that had color TV to view it, but the only ones that i did come across were in bars and I was not of the proper age..so I had to settle for the black and white version. It turned out that Hedy, according to the critics of that day, was 'the' show. She was in almost every scene, from a walk on as a cigarette girl, to an old lady with s slight hunchback and then at the finale, playing drums and singing with Perry the hit of that day..."Round and Round". It was really an excellent show and what really surprised me, was Hedy lamarr. I had never seen her this way and she was wonderful as the critics claimed. She must of been around 42 years old at that time. I would love to see that show again. Are any of his shows on DVD?

Woman Wanted (1935)

Are they kidding?

[19 September 2006]

I caught this garbage today and I don't know about the previous reviewers..one calling it a classic. I always found Marie O'Sullivan a plane Jane. No pun intended ( Jane in Tarzan ). One called her seductive....please. It might of passed the year it was made, 1935 as a "B" movie as a second feature for a double bill which was popular in those days. Great acting? I think not...the dialog even in the contest of the early '30's sounded ridiculous. Joel McCrea was completely wasted here, but obviously he had not arrived at his peak of his popularity as leading man. Robert Grieg, the butler was humorous and thats about it. My TV guide gave it 1 star out of 4...even that was being generous.