Answering some fun classic film preference questions for the Sunshine Blogger Award!

I'd like to thank Leah of Cary Grant Won't Eat You and Rachel of Hamlette's Soliloquy for nominating me for the "Sunshine Blogger Award"! Even if I'm a little late with this post, I hope you enjoy reading my answers to their great questions below. First, here are the rules:

1.     Thank the blogger who nominated you.

2.     Answer the 11 questions the blogger asked you.

3.     Nominate new blogs to receive the award and write them 11 new questions.

4.     List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award in you post.

5.     Notify the nominees about it by commenting on one of their blog posts.

Now, on to the questions!

Leah asked:

1. Which party you’ve seen on film would you want to join? 
   Oh my. There are so many fun and interesting parties in film. I'm a sucker for "oldies" rock and roll and I would love to hang out at a sock hop with the gang from American Graffiti or the gang from Back to the Future. (I'm trying to think of a movie *made* in the 1950s with a fun sock hop, but coming up empty! Anyone??) Putting on a poodle skirt and dancing to 1950s music played live sounds like a blast to me.
   
2. Which cinematic character would be the WORST party guest? I was just talking with my Mom the other day about A Clockwork Orange (1971). I'm not gonna lie, if violent gang-leader Alex (Malcolm McDowell) showed up to a party I was hosting I would be more than a bit stressed about the various illegal substances and the home clean-up I'd be required to do afterward!
   
3. Which Hitchcock scene do you find the creepiest? Is "all of them" an option? I'm going to go with the first one that popped into my head and stayed there -- it's the meeting between Guy  (Farley Granger) and Bruno (Robert Walker) in Strangers on a Train (1951). This scene starts like an innocent conversation and then you realize something is "off" about Bruno - at about the same time that Guy realizes it, too. Both actors are perfect here and just the way Hitchcock induces that creepy feeling in you in real-time is a stroke of genius.

4. Which film’s writing blows you away? I love absolutely everything about Trouble in Paradise (1932) directed by the great Ernst Lubitch. A sophisticated, double entendre-ridden European comedy of class and manners. The screenplay is credited to Samuel Raphaelson, adapted by Grover Jones from the play by Aladar Laszlo. Apparently Lubitsch himself contributed to the screenplay.

5. What actor (past/present) does the best job throwing a (funny or serious) tantrum onscreen? This one was hard for me. I finally decided this was the place to highlight Toshiro Mifune's unhinged and partially improvised performance as peasant-turned-samurai in Kurosawa's classic The Seven Samurai (1954). The scene where his character gets drunk and throws his body around threatening his comrades with violence to prove his mettle is about as intense as tantrums come. 

Don't mess with Mifune when he's mad

6. Who is your favorite movie sidekick? It was an acquired taste, but I absolutely love Una Merkel in the 1930s whenever she is cast as the 'best friend' of the movie's heroine. She always brought sweetness, sass, and common sense at exactly the right time. She was the best friend of such stars as Jean Harlow, Ginger Rogers, Irene Dunne, and Myrna Loy, just to name a few.

Una Merkel (IMdB)

7. What classic movie should become a TV series on Netflix/Hulu? One of my issues with the otherwise good film adaptation of Wuthering Heights (1939) is that the film ended about halfway through the novel. What about making a series that continues the stories of the occupants of the remote English moor through to and even past the novel's conclusion? I can imagine many more adventures, illicit romances, revenge plots, etc., to make at least one season on Netflix, Hulu or Amazon Prime!
8. Which of your go-to films is one others don’t appreciate? I absolutely adore Billy Crystal's made-for-HBO baseball movie 61* (2001). It chronicles the 1961 New York Yankees' season and the national and personal drama that was the home run race between Mickey Mantle (Thomas Jane) and Roger Maris (Barry Pepper) with equal parts nostalgia, humor, pathos, and irreverence. It's an absolute delight for film fans and baseball fans. I wrote about it HERE.
   
9. What is the best sports scene in a film? Building off my answer to #8, the scene in 61* in which Mickey Mantle (Jane) is at the plate trying to fight through injury to hit a home run to stay in the race is heart-pounding and uplifting. Crystal did a wonderful job recreating the old Yankee Stadium from the point of view of the batter.
   
10. What’s the funniest scene on film? So tough to narrow this down, but one of my favorites is in the underrated Buster Keaton silent feature Our Hospitality (1923). Buster is "stuck" as a guest inside in a house of his sweetheart in which her two brothers are looking to kill him for a perceived grievance. The only issue is that their social code says they cannot kill him while he is physically inside the house. The scene mid-way through the film in which Buster is trying every trick in the book to stay inside while his guests are trying to usher him out has me giggling every time.
    
11. What’s your favorite (or one of your favorite) one liners/small bits of dialogue? Going back to Trouble In Paradise, Fans of this film will no doubt cite the pickpocket games between the two leads or the "Tonsils! Positively tonsils!" line from Edward Everett Horton's character. I giggle when the 'Colet and Company' radio jingle is performed by Tyler Brooke: 
    "Cleopatra was a lovely tantalizer; But she did it with her little atomizer; We'll make you smell like a rose; Ev'ry nose in Paris knows Colet and Company"! 

Rachel asked:

1.  What movie house would you like to live in? It may be the 'recency effect' as I just watched the film for a film group discussion, but I adore 'Gull Cottage' in The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947). It's a beautiful traditional home impeccably kept, on the coast of England! If it's good enough for Gene Tierney, it's good enough for me! And if Rex Harrison wanted to visit from time to time I wouldn't mind ;-) 

"Gull Cottage": a screen grab from The Ghost and Mrs. Muir

"Gull Cottage": a screen grab from The Ghost and Mrs. Muir

2.  What movie pet would you like to own? Um, maybe "Baby" the leopard in BringingUp Baby (1938) if it would land Cary Grant for me like it did for Katharine Hepburn!

Katharine Hepburn and "Baby"

3.  What book do you wish your favorite actor or actress could have starred in an adaptation of? One of my favorites, Alan Ladd, was apparently tapped by director George Stevens to play Jett Rink, the role in Giant (1956) that went to James Dean. Ladd turned it down. The two were such different actors, but I would love to see what Ladd could have done with the role. 

4.  Are there any movies you like better than the book they were based on? This is a tough one! I recently watched The Heiress and concurrently read Henry James' novella Washington Square, from which the film was adapted. I can't fault the novella, but I thought the film adaptation was more taut and suspenseful. Certain plot points were altered slightly for effect, but in a good way. I also thought the character of the father, played by Ralph Richardson in the film, was more nuanced than in the book.

5.  What's your favorite movie that's set in the decade you were born in? Dr.Strangelove was made the year I was born - 1964- and it's a favorite of mine. I talked about it briefly in my post on my favorite films from the 1960s. There are so many others, but I'll go with this one. I love how the script and actors just pull out all the stops in this black comedy. 

6.  Do you collect movie memorabilia of any sort? Not really, although I pick up occasional books and photos when inspired (I have a signed photo of Herbert Marshall!--shown below). I wrote about my top Herbert Marshall performances here and reviewed a new bio here.

7.  What actor and actress have never made a movie together, but you wish would have? How about George Sanders and Maggie Smith? Two incredible English actors who could dish out the snark with the cleverest wit imaginable. Too bad Sanders wasn't around for a guest part on Downton Abbey!

8.  What director would you like to have direct a movie based on your life? It would probably be a pretty dull movie (!), but I would feel comfortable entrusting my life story to Ida Lupino, the classic era director who made sensitive, character-driven dramas, but could also handle noir, mystery, and comedy.

9.  Do you ever like a remake better than the original film? Another tough one, especially for me as I tend not to watch many remakes...but I did like the 2006 version of The Painted Veil better than the 1934version. Both were based on the Somerset Maugham novel of the same name. The former starred Greta Garbo, Herbert Marshall, and George Brent, and had its moments, but it rushed through many plot points and mangled the ending. The later version, with Naomi Watts, Edward Norton, and Liev Schriber in the same roles took its time, but was absolutely gorgeous to look at, and ultimately more tragic.

10. What's your least favorite movie genre?  My least favorite genre is probably film musicals, as I find them tedious at times and want to skip the musical numbers when I'm caught up in the narrative. Sacrilege, I know! On top of that the plots of these films are often thin or silly.

11.  Are there any movies in your least-favorite genre that you do like? I love The Sound of Music (ironically!). My Fair Lady is a close runner-up. Maybe also the 1930s Busby Berkeley musicals such as Golddiggers of 1933.

This was fun! Thanks again, Leah and Rachel.

I'd like to nominate the following bloggers:

Marianne of Make Mine Film Noir
Kellee of Outspoken & Freckled
Elise of the Film Perspective blog
Gabriela of Pale Writer
Julia of Cinema Crossroads

Here are my questions:

1. What is your favorite silent film?
2. How do you describe your love of classic movies (and/or your blog) when someone you just met asks you about your hobbies?
3. What film that many people love would you not bother to watch more than once?
4. What key plot point in a film would you alter to make the film more impactful, enjoyable, or just make more sense?
5. Time is short - what one question would you most like to ask of your favorite director?
6. Your favorite film score?
7. What TV series would you most like to see adapted into a film?
8. Who is your favorite film comedian or comic team?
9. What movie surprises you in how emotional you become when watching?
10. Favorite child actor performance in a classic era film?
11. This is a popular question - but what movie do you recommend to someone new to classic film?

Six favorite films from the '60s

I'm pleased to participate in the annual 'Classic Movie Day' Blogathon hosted by Rick at the Classic Film and TV Cafe. If you love lists, head to his site by clicking the image below, to get your fill of cinephiles' recommendations for this fabulous decade.

Similar to last year when I posted 5 favorites from the 1950s, my list spans genres and countries of origin. I selected what some may see as 'obvious' picks and then others that are lesser-known in hopes of raising their profile and getting some folks to check them out. Here they are, in chronological order of release date as reported in IMdB.com

These offspring don't seem like normal children to Mr. Sanders

Village of the Damned (1960) Kicking off my list is a quaint British sci-fi/horror/thriller set in a small town in England and made by MGM's British Studios and directed by Wolf Rilla. One of my all-time favorites, George Sanders, is the lead, a middle-aged schoolteacher about to become a father for the first time. Sanders usually played suave, cynical cads, but here is the hero and plays it completely straight. That's right--he may convince you he has a broader acting range than you may have thought.

It's the first of series of films that build from society's paranoia about a nuclear catastrophe that pervaded the fifties and reached into the early 1960s. In this fable, a supernatural phenomenon causes a new species of killer blonde children to come into the world all at the same time. Only some clever planning and quick acting can save the village -- but at what cost? With children being both victim and perpetrator, will society ever recover? It's filmed in glorious black-and-white and captures mid-century small town British life charmingly, while the menace is growing first in the background, and then the foreground. It will only consume 77 minutes of your time.

The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

Angela Lansbury and screen son Laurence Harvey

I came to this film rather late--but what an introduction. At the 2016 Turner Classic Movies Film Festival in Hollywood Angela Lansbury was there for this late-night screening. I nabbed one of the last seats in the sold-out Chinese Theater and I'll never forget the experience. (It was my second time seeing Dame Angela in person, and she is an inspiration.)

The communist menace is still front and center in this lauded surreal political thriller directed by John Frankenheimer. There is a deep malaise and cynicism in the USA of this film, which adds to its timeliness even if the circumstances are different. No one can be trusted, and our protagonists, played by Laurence Harvey and Frank Sinatra, seem at least a little complicit in their misadventures. Angela Lansbury is great as a Lady Macbeth-like character, and her husband is expertly played by James Gregory. Janet Leigh, a big star at the time, has a supporting role as a cipher who inserts herself into Frank Sinatra's character arc. At the end of the film, some issues are resolved, but the ending is far from a happy one. It's a trippy and enjoyable ride.

Dr. Strangelove (1964)

The "War Room" in Stanley Kubrick's satire

"Gentlemen! You can't fight in here! It's the war room."

What a biting piece of satire this film is, while being about as hilarious as any movie ever made. The irreverent take on diplomatic and military authority ushers in the transition from a simply cynical view of the post-nuclear societal order to a fully anti-establishment one that characterized much of the decade of the 60s. Renowned director Stanley Kubrick chooses, once again, a B&W palette to illuminate his bleak world.

Peter Sellers is at the top of his comic game playing multiple roles, from an ever-optimistic U.S. president trying to sweet-talk the Soviet ambassador to the title role of a truly mad scientist.  The parade of stars is impressive -- all of them terrific, from Sterling Hayden to George C. Scott and Keenan Wynn.

A match made in heaven?

The Sound of Music (1965) Now for something completely different...The 1960s saw a number of great classic musicals put on film, with long running times and huge budgets intended to bring TV-struck patrons back to cinemas. This film won the Best Picture Oscar in 1966, and I was a tad surprised to learn that it isn't universally appreciated among classic movie fans or even critics at the time (Pauline Kael had some harsh things to say about it). For me, though, it's really wonderful, and probably because I had two very different experiences of it separated by decades. My first experience was when I was taken to the theater in the 1970s to see it in a theatrical release. I was in grade-school at the time, and my recollection was having witnessed a children's adventure story with great music and scenery. As a 30-something adult I caught it on TV and found it wasn't that at all - it was a romance! Everything else was secondary.

And Christopher Plummer was extraordinarily dreamy. But the film has so much else going for it - Julie Andrews is just terrific, and, after all, we are talking Rodgers and Hammerstein here. Despite the nearly three hour running time, director Robert Wise keeps the pace swift and the production values are superb. Who wouldn't want to make a pilgrimage to old Salzburg after watching the film? And the 'true story' angle adds to the poignancy of what's on screen, even if details have been adjusted. Just put aside your skepticism and enjoy the spectacle of mid-century family-friendly Hollywood at its best.

Zbigniew Cybulski (left) and Iga Cembrzynska in an early
erotic adventure.

The Saragossa Manuscript (1965) Another bit of whiplash here - a film that couldn't be more different from The Sound of Music is this Polish cult classic. I saw this film at the Harvard Film Archive a few years ago as part of a retrospective of director Wojciech Has. I was blown away. It's a pseudo-historical surrealist epic starring Zbigniew Cybulski, that some may know from the 1950s films of Andrzej Wajda. He was in the top tier of Polish stars during that era.

Based on the 1847 novel by Polish author Jan Potocki, it's set in the middle ages and describes the adventures of a Spanish officer as written in an old manuscript found by the officer's grandson in Zaragoza many years later. And the adventures are told in 'frame-tale' style, with story embedded in story like the Russian nesting dolls. It's a fascinating and challenging narrative, but Has unfurls it onscreen with a heavy dose of surrealism. Into the various narratives come gypsies, thieves, Moorish princesses, and of course, soldiers of the Spanish Inquisition. Using black and white cinematography and outdoor locations, it's a visual treat but also an aural one, with a haunting, 'electroacoustic' soundtrack by Krzysztof Penderecki. The film has captivated new audiences from the restoration work started by the Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia and finished by Martin Scorcese. Scorcese included this film in his traveling exhibition 21 Masterpieces of Polish Cinema. Watch, and don't try to understand it, just experience it.

Le Samourai (1967) On a film podcast a few years back I heard the host say that in his opinion Jean-Pierre Melville is the best director ever. "Who??" I thought. I'd obviously missed something. Over the past few years I've been able to learn a bit more about this French director (who adopted his last name as a homage to the American author of Moby Dick)  through a few of his films. Known now as a precursor to the lauded 'French new wave' of film-making, his output was relatively small -- only 14 director credits from the late 1940s through the early 1970s. There isn't a better place to start exploring his work than through his neo-noir Le Samourai. It's rather a French This Gun for Hire, starring France's biggest, or at least handsomest, star, Alain Delon, who is still with us at the time of this writing. He radiates a coolness rather like Alan Ladd in his breakout role in TGFH. Melville films in color, though, and every shot is interesting, a window into mid-century French style that makes one wish to stop time in a series of freeze-frames that could be admired.

Honorable Mention: The Hustler, A Hard Day's Night

Answering fun film questions -- Liebster Award Edition!

If random but revealing observations from a movie fan will entertain you for fifteen minutes of your time, then please keep reading.  For anyone who is reading this I strongly encourage you to leave one or more comments in the comments section, and anyone who wishes, consider yourself tagged!

First, thank you!! to my new blogging friend Hamlette from Hamlette's Soliloquy for tagging me with the 'Liebster Award'.  This blogging award challenges me to answer 11 questions about my movie passions.  Alright, let's go!

1.  Is there a movie that has really yummy-looking food in it that you'd love to eat?
Well, I can eat anytime and anyplace, so there are very few movie meals that don't look good to me!  That said, I have to perhaps go with something obvious:  the meal in BABETTE'S FEAST (1987).  This is a lovely quiet Danish film about two unmarried sisters in a remote 19th century Danish village who take in a French expatriate down on her luck to be their servant. It turns out she is a gourmet chef and in the final scenes of the film, she prepares a meal that all the villagers will never forget.  The irony is that they have no idea what they're eating!

This is just the first course!

One of the most memorable scenes in the film for me was when a French opera singer comes to give lessons to one of the sisters in her younger years, and the two have a connection while singing Mozart's luscious duet 'La ci darem la mano' from Don Giovanni (in French).  The singer was portrayed by actual opera star Jean-Philippe Lafont. Below is the scene from the film .  I can remember when this film came out, rewinding and watching this scene over and over on my poor VHS tape.  

2.  What era do most of your favorite movies take place in?
Oh my gosh, this is a tough one, as my favorite films span many decades. If I think about those classic films that I recommend to people, probably more of them are set in the 1930s than any other single decade.  So much art deco loveliness, and class comedies, screwball comedies, and melodramas.  Think MY MAN GODFREY, TROUBLE IN PARADISE, UNION DEPOT.

3. What two actors/actresses have you always hoped would make a movie together, but didn't/haven't yet?
Maggie Smith as the Dowager Countess of Grantham in 'Downton Abbey' would give George Sanders as Addison DeWitt in ALL ABOUT EVE a run for his money in the snark department.  Both of these British actors dominated the big and small screen whenever they appeared and I would have loved to see them co-star in a film.

4.  If money, time, and supplies (and crafting ability) were not considerations, what movie character would you love to cosplay or dress up like for Halloween?
One rarely gets a chance to dress like a 18th century French queen, and so why not take the opportunity to be the center of attention by being Norma Shearer as Marie Antoinette in the lavish 1938 production?  If as a bonus Ty Power becomes infatuated with you, I would probably never take that outfit off.

Wondering how much that headdress weighs!

5.  Have you ever cosplayed or dressed up like a movie or TV character for Halloween?  
OK, once in graduate school I dressed up as Winnie the Pooh.  (Yeah, OK, it's lame.)  Dressing up isn't really my thing, and because Halloween usually falls during the World Series I've been known to impersonate my favorite baseball player.  This year it might have to be David Ortiz, aka Big Papi, the Red Sox slugger who is retiring after this season.

Good excuse to post a Big Papi pic, right here.

6.  What movie would your family/friends be surprised to learn you truly enjoyed?
My family and friends have been trained to expect any number of varied film recommendations from me.  From Russian silent films to modern Westerns, I enjoy so many.  I'm not a huge fan of Action/Sci Fi blend pictures, so perhaps it might be a surprise that I enjoyed BLADE RUNNER.  Then again, it's been seen as a Western in disguise, young Harrison Ford is in it (woo!), and now it's considered a classic of sorts, so I suppose wouldn't be a complete surprise that I loved it.  I probably can cite many more films that others loved and I didn't (I sense a new topic for a blog post!).

7.  What's one book you hope no one ever makes into a film?
I think most any good book, in the hands of the right director and production, could a good movie make.  I think the question is more about what book do I love so much that I would hate to have my own imagining of the tale ruined by assigning a real production to it.  As a child I adored the 'Little House' books and hated how the TV series distorted that universe.  The illustrator, Garth Williams, was so good in capturing the mood of Ingalls Wilder's text, that I would have a hard time appreciating a film version even if the story was not altered.  That said, I might enjoy a biopic about Laura Ingalls Wilder, or her daughter Rose Wilder Lane, both of whom had very interesting lives.

Garth Williams' illustration of 'Pa' fiddling for his daughters Laura and Mary
in Little House in the Big Woods.

8.  Do you know the Wilhelm Scream when you hear it?  Google is my friend.  The Wilhelm Scream is new to me.  So, the answer to this question WAS: no.  I'm feeling a little sheepish here.  However, believe me, I'll be sensitized to this for ever and ever, you can bet on it.  In the comments section, please let me know what your most memorable 'Wilhelm Scream' is -- I will learn from you!

9.  When a character onscreen has to hold their breath, do you try to hold your breath to match theirs?  I honestly can't remember ever doing this.  However, I suppose one can do it completely unawares!  I believe my breath was coming raggedly for the entire 92-minute running time of the ultra-suspenseful Western, the original 3:10 TO YUMA, and especially in the scene in the hotel where Glenn Ford and Van Heflin are holed up together.  If you've never seen it, watch watch watch!

Van Heflin tries to keep Glenn Ford at bay during 3:10 TO YUMA
I haven't yet seen the remake, but I can almost guarantee: it isn't better.

10.  What upcoming movies (or TV series) are you excited about?
Speaking about remakes, I just read in the Boston Globe here about the upcoming release of THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN -- a 2016 remake with Denzel Washington and other assorted modern stars.  While advance reviews have been mixed, I am excited about this for the sheer fact that it may make people who haven't watched the original film, or the earlier Japanese film it's based on (SEVEN SAMURAI by Kurosawa) discover these films and become classic film lovers themselves.   What may be most fascinating is Peter Sarsgaard as the villain.  Check out the trailer below.  (In the comments section -- who wants to see this, and who wants to avoid it like the proverbial plague??)

11.  What are your favorite movie blogs?  I've listed these in my 'Recommended sites and blogs' list on the lower right side of my blog home page, but I want to also call out the wonderful writers at two of my local cinemas: Brattle Blog and Harvard Film Archive series pages -- check out the latest here about Russian Silent cinema.

So, I will ask anyone who is interested to answer one or more of the questions below, either in the comments section or as a separate post.
1. Who was your first movie crush that you can remember?
2. Who is your current or most recent movie crush?
3. Is there a film you refuse to see?  If yes, why.
4. If you could travel back in time to visit the set of one of your favorite films and tell the director in real time to change something, what would it be?
5. What is a comedy that most everyone loves and that you don't find the least bit funny?
6. What is the classic film stereotype that you hate the most?
7.  How do you attempt to debunk said stereotype?
8. Provide a link to one blog post that you really enjoyed and think others would, too.
9. Name a film director that should be better known, and your favorite film of theirs.
10. What upcoming film or TV series are *you* most excited about?
11.  What keeps you motivated to continue blogging?

Classic Film Obsessions for 2015

I watched 178 movies that were new to me in 2015. I know this because I use icheckmovies.com to log what I've seen.  This site is linked to www.imdb.com so every movie or TV episode logged there will be 'checkable' on icheckmovies.com.  While there are some contemporary films among the 178 --I do try to get to see a few films in theaters--most were films made before 1960. This post highlights just a few of my new discoveries and obsessions over the past year.

Film Noir
When I care to admit my prodigious movie-watching to friends or family, I quickly follow up with "you know I took an online course in film noir this summer."  I feel I get a pass after this comment, because, after all, you have to watch lots of films if you're taking a course (!).  While I may not claim that I'm obsessed with film noir, I can say for a few months this summer, June-August, I was very nearly so, by necessity.  This course was run by Ball State University in a partnership with Turner Classic Movies (TCM), and I joined about 2000 other budding hardboiled dames and gents:
https://www.canvas.net/browse/bsu/tcm/courses/film-noir
 I'm proud to say I earned a 'certificate' for my troubles.

During this adventure I corrected some embarrassing outages in my list of watched classic films, including THE MALTESE FALCON, THE BIG SLEEP, and OUT OF THE PAST.  I also found I loved some lesser-known noir including 99 RIVER ST., DOA, TOO LATE FOR TEARS.

My adventures into film noir led me to one of my 2015 obsessions:

Alan Ladd

Handsome, magnetic Alan Ladd was a huge star in the 1940s and 1950s, and yet is rarely mentioned today in lists of the most popular stars of Old Hollywood. I could go into why that is, but all I'll say here is, that's a real shame.  His most famous noirs, which I watched for the course, were probably THIS GUN FOR HIRE, THE GLASS KEY, and THE BLUE DAHLIA.  All featured Ladd's classic noir 'tough but vulnerable' anti-hero.  Ladd is probably best known today (if at all) in the greater public consciousness as the titular SHANE in George Stevens' western classic.  However for this blog, I want to highlight another Ladd western that is definitely worth your time: BRANDED.  Made a couple years before SHANE, and while certainly not in the same league, it combines a taut story, exciting direction by Rudolph Mate (former cinematographer), a three-dimensional and exceptional performance by Ladd, and terrific support from Charles Bickford, Joseph Calleia, Mona Freeman, and Robert Keith.  The basic plot summary is Ladd, as Choya the gunfighter, is talked into posing as the long lost son of a rancher to gain himself and his partner a great fortune.  However, after a while he begins to regret what he's doing and has the opportunity to make everything right.   Below are some screenshots (minor spoilers alert):

Opening title

Ladd prepares to shoot his way out of a hostage situation. He explains his guns are his only friends

Ladd reluctantly submits himself to getting the telltale tattoo that will create his new identity.

Sparks fly early with Ladd's new found "sister" (lovely Mona Freeman)

After a staged confrontation, Charles Bickford discovers the tattoo identifying the new ranch hand as his long lost son. (A shirtless Ladd scene is a requirement for most of his films.  Eh, who's complaining?).

A bit of remorse showing as Ladd completes the deception.

Lovely family 'discovery' scene.

Ladd's evil partner (wonderful Robert Keith) and Mexican step dad (Joseph Calleia)

Trouble on the border

Final confrontation and resolution scene.

Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.

I was introduced to the famous son of the silent film superstar earlier this year in one of his most famous, and terrific roles as the swashbuckling villain of THE PRISONER OF ZENDA (1937).  I was instantly smitten, and was thrilled to learn that he had his own day of movies in TCM's Summer Under the Stars this past August.  One of the absolute gems of this day was the pre-code UNION DEPOT, co-starring comedienne Joan Blondell, here in a dramatic role.  Doug gets to play a hobo masquerading as a gentleman during one fateful day at the station, where he gets into major trouble with a counterfeiter, and saves Joan from a nasty stalker while assuring she makes her train to her future, after, of course, trying to pay for her services.  It's a wonderfully choreographed film, taut at only 67 minutes-- the timing of the actions within each scene are perfect, and must happen in such a way to propel the action forward. Additionally there are little touches with minor, unnamed characters that are brilliant in creating the atmosphere of the time at the station, and adding some comic relief to the proceedings. Fairbanks is utterly convincing as the vagrant turned hero, demonstrating quite a range of emotions.  There is also a generous helping of pre-code spiciness to keep things interesting and real at the same time.  This film is on DVD and I had to add it to my collection.  MUST see! Warning -- some spoilers below.

Part of the stellar opening sequence, an extended crane shot of the inside of the station.

Friends on the lam plot their next move at the station. Fairbanks with the wonderful Guy Kibbee.

With a 'borrowed' outfit, Doug decides he likes his new rakish look.  

Doug and Joan's early tense meeting, neither sure what the other is offering.

In trouble.

Look at that face!!  Saying a wistful goodbye to Joan.

Back where he started.

George Sanders

Finally, I spent many hours watching films with the suave British Sanders.  Of the same generation as Ladd and Fairbanks, if a few years older, Sanders had a long career mostly playing debonair cads, but ones that can't be resisted.  His deep resonant voice was a huge asset for this talented actor, and I've read a number of comments on social media from those willing to listen to him read the phone book for an evening's entertainment.  I would count myself among them,  His most famous role is probably in the fabulous ALL ABOUT EVE, but I'm highlighting a lesser known film where he gets to play a good guy; mind you, a somewhat rakish and self-satisfied good guy, but heroic just the same.  The film is FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT, an Alfred Hitchcock film from 1940.  Playing a supporting character curiously named Scott ffolliott, Sanders steals most of his scenes from the other actors (Herbert Marshall excepted) with his breezy line delivery and body language.  He could also be straight and serious as shown below.

We're introduced to Sanders as the driver of the getaway car with stars Laraine Day and Joel McCrea.

A typical Sanders pose.

Sanders and fellow British actor Herbert Marshall (my obsession with him will need its own post) have a terrific, tense confrontation scene that is Hitchcock at his best.  Two of the absolute best voices  of  20th century cinema enhance their duel of wits.

Sanders in a rare moment for him -- complete straight horror as he watches a brutal scene at gunpoint.

Sanders at the center of this brilliantly composed scene toward the end of the film.  Tension is building.

That's it for my first installment -- whew!  This highlights only 3 out of 178 films new to me in 2015, but hopefully gives a sense of the diversity of entertainment that made my year what it was.  Thanks for reading and stop back!