Three of a Kind (1936)
Heiress insists on marrying a gold digger her father knows is no good. Through circumstance she gets mixed up with a man who just quit working for her father after winning a large service award. Everyone ends up at a swanky resort. Romantic and criminal nonsense ensues. Good screwball style comedy is much better than it's forgotten B nature suggests. A funny film with good complications and witty lines this is a nice little trifle of a film. I think that the films only flaw, and it's kind of a big one is that everyone is ultimately unlikable. Our heroine is a bit of a twit, her father is shrill and the men in her life are money mad on some level or another. Still it's funny and enjoyable in spite of it all. Worth a look.
Minnesota Clay
Minnesota Clay is an unintentionally funny spaghetti western starring Cameron Mitchell as a gun man with the title name. He’s been sent to jail because the one witness who could prove his innocence never testified. Escaping from a work camp he heads off to find the witness and get vengeance… and oh yea Clay is going blind. He needs urgent medical care and to stay out of fights which might jar his sight into oblivion. Sergio Corbuci, a normally good director lays everything on thick and over blown in a film that appeared early in the Euro-western cycle. Even allowing the English dubbing is way too arch and silly, the physical performances are atrocious. Is this a western or a tear jerking soap opera? I’m not sure. It’s the sort of film that I started watching and after five minutes was sure I was going to be turning off or fast forwarding through, and then all of the over done elements came together into a package that is best described as unintentionally enjoyable. While not bad as such, you can’t believe that adults actually made the film. Sue me I liked it…but for all the wrong reasons. Worth searching out in the discount bin.
BOY! WHAT A GIRL
Harmless dress up comedy in the style of Tootsie or Mr Doubtfire
This is the story of a would be theatrical producer who somehow manages to arrange financing for a show despite barely having enough money for the rent. When one of the backers fails to show up, one of the producer's friends is forced to pretend to be the missing backer so that the show can go on.
Low key and funny, with some great music, this is a wonderful movie just to plop down in front of when you don't want to think. While the plot has been done to death by Hollywood there is something about this pass through the well worn territory that keeps it interesting. Perhaps its the fact that other than the actor who played the Kingfish on TV's Amos and Andy we probably haven't seen most of these actors before so we have no notion as to what anyone might do.
Definitely worth a bag of popcorn and a cup of soda for a slow night before the tube.
No comments:
Post a Comment