January 11, 2006

Llama Movie Blegging

I'm scouting around for Movie Night With The Missus ideas. We tend to enjoy older romantic comedies, although we're not inflexible (I'm currently preaching the virtues of the classic western, for example).

Several times now I've considered picking up Bell, Book and Candle.

Anybody seen this? Opinions?

Thankee.

UPDATE: Oh, and I'm open to nominations for some good Clark Gable movies. Don't say It Happened One Night because we already own it. And don't say The Misfits, because I dislike Marylin Monroe.

Yip! Yip!

UPDATE DEUX: I forgot to mention that Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House is on its way from Netflix. I checked it out once before but the DVD was cracked so I didn't get to watch it. The Missus is balking, I'm not totally sure why. Any positive reviews would bolster my hand in convincing her to give it a try.

Posted by Robert at January 11, 2006 02:10 PM | TrackBack
Comments

As Jimmy Stewart vehicles go, I much preferred "Strategic Air Command."

Posted by: The Colossus at January 11, 2006 02:17 PM

Yeah, but it's got KIM NOVAK!

Posted by: mojo at January 11, 2006 02:21 PM

What was that one movie Gable did with Spencer Tracy? San Francisco? That's a good one. Anything with Gable in it is good for me...

Posted by: GroovyVic at January 11, 2006 02:47 PM

I just saw it this weekend. It's solid, not outstanding, a fine way to spend an hour and a half.

Posted by: DAn at January 11, 2006 02:59 PM

Run Silent, Run Deep. It was one of Gable's last movies, but it was one of his best.

Posted by: Kathy at January 11, 2006 04:09 PM

FWIW, Robert, Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House is terrific. Vastly superior to The Money Pit remake, which suffered from Spielberg's overkill notions of slapstick comedy. I was going to recommend it when I first saw this thread, but I assumed you'd probably already seen it.

Posted by: utron at January 11, 2006 04:33 PM

If it's a romantic comedy in B&W, I am your woman. I love Mr. Blandings. Also try any Myrna Loy/Dick Powell Thin Man movies; Palm Beach Story, starring Claudette Colbert; My Man Godfrey; The Lady Eve or The Awful Truth. And that's just for starters.

Bell, Book and Candle is good, too.

Posted by: Rachel at January 11, 2006 06:42 PM

Classic westerns? I've got a soft spot for "The Big Country" and "Warlock" myself. "Mr. Blandings" is an excellent choice. "Bell, Book and Candle"? It's been years since I've seen it, but I'd give it a thumbs up from memory.

Posted by: Russ from Winterset at January 11, 2006 08:12 PM

I dunno, I'd have to ask my grandmother.

Posted by: Vinnie at January 11, 2006 10:13 PM

Also starring Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy: "Boomtown", from 1939, a drama about two highly competitive friends in the oil business (very good; with Hedy Lamar - rroowrr!).

If you like screwball comedy, practically anything directed by Preston Sturges is good (Miracle of Morgan's Creek; Hail, the Conqueroring Hero). Rachel up there has covered some of the best of the romantic comedies.

Posted by: D. Carter at January 12, 2006 01:00 PM

Oh, yeah; westerns. Try "The Three Godfathers" - not the 1948 version with John Wayne, but the earlier film made, I believe, in 1935; it's a darker, less sentimental version (can't remember the name of the star, but I know that Walter Brennan's in it). And you can't go wrong with "The Man from Laramie" (nobody - and I mean NOBODY - conveys barely-restrained rage better than Jimmy Stewart). And completely off-topic, but if you haven't seen Robert Mitchum and Kirk Douglas in "Out of the Past" (1947), you're missing the greatest film noir classic of all time.

Posted by: D. Carter at January 12, 2006 01:07 PM

I ran off Man from Laramie just the other day. I liked it, although I think I prefer Bend of the River and The Far Country.

Posted by: Robbo the LB at January 12, 2006 01:30 PM

Here's a meme/game idea: post your Netflix queue. Indicate which ones you haven't seen and which ones you are seeing again.

I'll do it tonight, but consider yourself tagged in advance...

Posted by: JohnL at January 12, 2006 02:07 PM

Good idea. I'll wait for you to go first and then tag along.

Posted by: Robbo the LB at January 12, 2006 04:34 PM