Lame-Username-1234 Reviews

High Hat (1937)

Good 1930s Musical

[7/10 · 21 April 2010]

Not to be confused with "Top Hat", "High Hat" is a light-hearted 1930s musical about a pretentious female singer who wants a job at a radio station. She, however, ruins her first show with her rather cloyingly "high class" singing style. Meanwhile, she falls in love with the son of the station owner, and problems ensue when another woman who wants a job at the station hires some people to beat him up! The whole thing ends happily with a singer-songwriter friend of the singer convinces her to sing in a more accessible way. As such, the movie ends with several catchy 1930s song performances of various styles from jazz to crooner to novelty featuring a wide range of great talent. Though by no means a great movie, it's not bad for a B-musical and it's short running time, quick pacing help it a lot.

Michael Jackson's 'This Is It': The Gloved One (2010 Video)

OK, My Rating for this film is too high

[10/10 · 11 April 2010]

This is a really enjoyable short showing all the cool fashions that were to be used in the sadly never started "This is It" tour by the late Michael Jackson. The fashions are stunning and come from top designers. Over the top, in a glorious way. I can see Michael would have loved it all. Highlights include a costume featuring elements from fashion around the world that may have been used during "Heal the World". It's glorious, fabulous and should be sold in stores....even without all the jewels, many love to wear it, for good reason! We also see a military-like costume that is simply stunning, and other wonderful fashions. Not everything is brilliant, but overall this is a fun film that is kinda depressing in the sense that a glorious concert never had a chance to happen. Michael Jackson, we miss you!

The Johns Hopkins Science Review (1948–1958)

The Future was Exciting, and Still Is

[7/10 · 23 February 2010]

With almost certainly the largest number of surviving kinescope-reordings of any show telecast via DuMont, it's no surprise that a few episodes are online. I saw one recently, called "Man will Conquer Space", with special guest Wernher Von Braun speaking in his adorable German-accent detailing some ideas, some of which worked, some of which didn't, to send man into space and eventually the moon! The spacecraft shown was expected to have three stages to get into space to a space-station, to be used as the beginning-point to get a man to the moon, and the part that would land on the moon was called "ugly", though to me it looked retro-cool. Some parts are dated (like the idea of a wheel-like space station), some still sound worth of reviving, and some were so correct, it isn't surprising the space program was a fairly quick success all things considered (I am amazed that even then, they knew very small natural objects in space could be far more dangerous than large ones). The programme is dated, of course, sometimes in a silly manner, but it's so good-natured and so amazingly, unexpectedly correct (even with some goofs in both space science and in the production of the show), that it ends up being a whole lot of fun. Plus, the next episode (which was given a short promo) was about computers! Talk about ahead-of-it's-Time TV!

Front Page Detective (1951–1953)

Nothing Special, but not bad

[7/10 · 10 January 2010]

I recently viewed an episode of this series called "Alibi for suicide". Production values are fair but a bit lacking, the script is fun and most of the cast acted well. In the episode, a man's wife commits suicide and tries to make it seem that he and his girlfriend killed her. It seems the man had wanted a divorce but the wife wouldn't let him do it. The episode runs about 25 minutes. The method in which the detective proves their innocence is among the strangest I've ever seen in a crime-drama. Unrealistic, maybe, but that hardly hurts the show. I hope to see more episodes of this series. Who knew bad manners could prove someone innocent?

The Kids of Degrassi Street: Ida Makes a Movie (1979) Season 1, Episode 1

Low Budget Gem

[7/10 · 2 December 2009]

Been a while since I saw this short film. From what I remember, it was a low budget, very grainy but adorable short with lots of charm. Ida decides to make a movie using a 8mm (I think) camera to submit into a competition. While she is making it, a "friend", wearing a soldier-like hat for reasons I cannot quite remember, appeared in the home movie as a main character. Ida asks him to remove the hat, but he refuses. When it is submitted, the judges accept it, but because of the hat, they think it is a anti-war film, when the film is actually a protest-against large amount of garbage mankind throws away. If I remember right, the film ends with Ida telling the judge(s) what the film is actually about, and she is still given the award.

Occasionally included in the "The Kids of Digrassi Street" television syndication package, this is one 1979 short to look out for.

The Edsel Show (1957 TV Special)

TV Special Had Great Cast

[8/10 · 26 November 2009]

Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Rosemary Clooney and Louis Armstrong were the main stars of this special. Lindsay Crosby and Bob Hope also appeared but with much less screen time. The special was and still is highly entertaining. I do wish they had given Louis Armstrong more airtime though. Lots of great music, a little comedy and general star power. Still, this was a highly entertaining special with lots of great music and excellent, glossy production values. Even the kinescope looks stunning, and the videotape, judging by the clip I've seen, it even better! Though, Rosemary Clooney, who was certainly a great star, should have been given better material. She was sorta wasted here, which is a shame. In any case, the special was an all-round winner and decades later, it still holds much of the same appeal that made it such a huge hit in 1957. As for the commercials: There were a total of about three of them, each about 2 to 3 minutes long. The design of the "Edsel" car was an acquired taste, though I personally consider the admittedly unusual design to be underrated.

Where's Raymond? (1953– )

From what I've seen, a Decent 1950's Sitcom

[7/10 · 20 November 2009]

I recently viewed an episode of this unusual series. The episode was Christmas-themed and has the thinest of plots: Ray's character decides to give a few presents around, and on the way, meets a young female friend who tells Ray what life would be like if everybody was "Ray". This allows for a interesting dream sequence that includes Ray doing an amusing dance, a dance slightly ruined by his use of black-face. Ray manages to just-about pull-it-off. The lead character is a bit on the overly-happy side. The episodes ends with a musical performance by Bolger and a group of young male children. Judging by this episode (found on a old-time TV compilation), the show was acceptable and watchable, if a little weak in the writing department. My copy is incomplete but has fine picture and sound.

Cavalcade of America (1952–1957)

Review of Episode: "Chicago 2-1-2"

[8/10 · 15 September 2009]

This was one of many anthology series that aired in the 1950's. These series presented short stories with the plot, cast and characters changing with each episode. It is safe to presume that like most of them, the quality did vary from episode to episode. Nevertheless, I recently saw an episode of this series titled "Chicago 2-1-2", which I will review. In this episode, we are shown the operations of a Fire squad and it efforts to not only fight fire, but also stop arsonists from destroying property and lives. A string of fires in the same era leads to suspicion, and while at the scene of one of the fires, one of the fire department people asks a news reporter to film some footage of the crowd watching, hoping that the "fire bug" who started it may have stuck around to watch his "work". They notice that a young man that notices the camera, looks worried, and quickly gets out of view. A search though police records reveals a youth with a troubled history, and after finding out where he works, they get more suspicious from the reactions of his employer. The young man then starts another fire, being told by his employer that nobody was in the building. However, a young woman was in the place and calls the fire department, only to pass-out from the smoke (on a real-life side note, smoke inhalation is the biggest cause of death during a fire, as opposed to the flames). The crew find her, and the fire bug, still at the scene, notices one of the inspectors and runs away, but gets noticed and is eventually trapped and caught. At first says he is innocent, but after learning that a woman may die from his actions, breaks down and tells the whole story about him and his employer. Of note is that he reveals he doesn't yet shave, followed by a orchestral cue designed to draw emotion from the viewer.

Overall, it was an entertaining short drama (25 minutes) and can be found both online and on a budget DVD, as the copyright for the episode has expired. I'd be interested in seeing more episodes of this series.