Change Your Image
Rangerick-1
Reviews
The Howards of Virginia (1940)
Stay with it. It's worth it.
When I first started to play this, I was afraid I had erred. The acting seemed second-rate and rather silly. But I realized we hadn't seen the main actors, yet. And even when they came on, they hit their stride later in the movie.
The funny thing for me was that the best performances often came from the child actors. Buster Phelps as the young Thomas Jefferson was especially good. The adult Jefferson was good in general, but did not hold a candle to the portrayal in the HBO John Adams series.
Cary Grant is fun to watch. His accent never quite sounds as rough as it should, but his gruff mannerisms make him convincing enough, so long as you're willing to suspend disbelief.
The best element for me was how Cary Grant's character was developed in relation to his family.
Morozko (1965)
Glad I saw it when I did
I give it eight stars based on movies I had seen up to that point (around 1975?) when I first saw it.
I saw it on TV, and it was given an introduction by some girl wrapping her Christmas presents during the showing. Her description of the fairy tale elements such as the house on legs perked my interest.
Another friend mentioned this movie to me many years later. He remembered how early in the movie some clubs had been thrown in the air, which fell on the bad guys later. I remembered this scene, too. When I bought the VHS, I was surprised at the film quality. Not very well produced. But that hadn't gotten in the way at the time. My mind had re-filmed it and shown it to me like I was watching it live. They had captured a compelling image, though.
I also remember some of the scenes with the sleigh, and falling in love with the idea of being that far north.
Nastenka also captured my heart.
The storytelling is delightful.