ABCs at the Movies: The Doubles Round!

[oilgun]

Synopsis: For over 250 years, Cowboys have ridden the plains of central Florida. This film captures the beauty of the old ways with the drama of encroaching civilization. We see cowboys on the range, at the rodeo and in the corrals in a beautiful and important film documenting America in the throes of change; revealing the loss of her heritage.

A clip can be found here:
www.victormilt.com/id1.html

==Comment==
Who knew that Florida is the state with the most cattle?

[Fran]

Plot synopsis from AllMovie.com:  After a promising start (not to mention a really good cast), this stylish society drama gets bogged down in overwrought melodrama. Powerful Wall Street financier Garth McBride (Lewis Stone) ruins his rival after a tough battle. To celebrate, he goes to Florida with his wife, Edith (Leatrice Joy), and some friends, including Ardrita Saneck (silent screen vamp Nita Naldi). McBride becomes infatuated with Ardrita, which doesn't go by Edith unnoticed. After a confrontation with Edith, McBride takes off for Miami with Ardrita and Edith heads back to New York alone and becomes a nurse. McBride's enemy, determined to get back at him, manipulates the stock market. McBride returns to New York and is attacked by thugs. He is taken to a hospital, which just happens to be run by Ardrita's husband, Dr. Konrad Saneck (Paul McAllister). Dr. Saneck, who has just discovered that his wife has been running around with McBride, prepares to give him an overdose of sedative, and Edith is called in to assist. Luckily for McBride, Ardrita shows up and swears that nothing untoward happened between them. Her husband, either wisely or naïvely, believes her and they reconcile. Edith and McBride reconcile too.

[memento]

From IMDB: Early Errol Morris documentary intersplices random chatter he captured on film of the genuinely eccentric residents of Vernon, Florida. A few examples? The preacher giving a sermon on the definition of the word "Therefore," and the obsessive turkey hunter who speaks reverentially of the "gobblers" he likes to track down and kill.

[memento]

The I Left My Heart In San Francisco Round!

[southendmd]

Plot:  Now back in San Francisco after their holiday in New York, Nick and Nora find themselves trying to solve another mystery. It's New Year's Eve and they are summoned to dinner at Nora's elderly, and very aristocratic, family. There they find that cousin Thelma's husband Charles has been missing for three days. Nick reluctantly agrees to look for him but the case takes a twist when Charles is shot and Thelma is accused of murder. Several other murders occur but eventually Nick gathers everyone into the same room to reveal the identity of the killer.

[Fran]

From IMDb:  Johnny Ross works for Chicago mobster Peter Ross, his brother. In April 1968 Johnny Ross escapes two attempts on his life and flees to San Francisco, where he is placed in protective custody by politician Walter Chalmers, who hopes to use Ross to further his own national aspirations. To protect Ross, Chalmers asks the SFPD to assign Detective Lieutenant Frank Bullitt and his partners, Sergeants Don Delgetti and Carl Stanton, to guard him at a flophouse near an overhead freeway. It looks like a simple assignment, but at 1 AM the next day it all goes awry in a blast of a shotgun, leaving Stanton and Ross fighting for life at San Francisco General. Bullitt gets what information he can, but breathing down his neck is the angered Chalmers who vows to ruin Bullitt's career should Ross die. Bullitt gets a break when the gunman appears at the hospital to finish off Ross, and Bullitt gets a good look at him; now Bullitt must smoke out the gunman and his backup man before Chalmers carries out his threat, leading to a high-speed pursuit, a fiery crash at a gas station, and a fingerprint check that leads to a stunning discovery about Ross, and about a couple staying at a swanky hotel in San Mateo.

[memento]

From IMDB: On New Year's Eve, 1969, a flamboyant ragtag troupe of genderbending hippies took the stage of San Francisco's Palace Theater and The Cockettes were born. For the next 2 1/2 years, these outrageous drag performers created 20 shows with titles like "A Crab on Uranus Means You're Loved" and "Tinsel Tarts in a Hot Coma," and were featured in four underground films. But when the Cockettes flew to New York City to appear Off Broadway^Å well, you'll just have to see what happened when New Yorkers took a look at them. Documentarians Weissman and Weber have expertly crafted a record of a wondrous time and a wild group in The Cockettes, and you won't want to miss a minute of it.

[southendmd]

Plot:  In San Francisco, the public relations Joe Clay drinks everyday to "socialize" with his clients. After an incidental meeting with the secretary Kirsten Arnesen, they date and sooner they get married. Soon the drinking catches up with them.

User comment:  Like standing on the edge of a black hole, this movie tantalizes the audience in the beginning, then plunges you into the dark, vast horror of alcoholism.

Jack Lemmon has always been a personal favorite of mine, especially for screwball comedy. But, just like Robin Williams, Lemmon is capable of turning heads w/ his dramatic roles. "The Days of Wine and Roses" is a showcase of that dramatic talent. And along with Lee Remick, this film's performances exceed all expectations. The direction and cinematography utilizes the black and white medium to it's fullest extent, while the script is earthy, human and most of all, believable.

This is a tour de force in the craft of modern filmmaking. And an absolutely essential requirement for aficionados of the dramatic genre. How Remick and Lemmon managed to be past up for the best actor/actress Oscar for their phenomenal performances never ceases to amaze me. Twenty years later, their performances are just as fresh, relevant and just as powerful.

There was no sugarcoated ended. This film sought to depict alcoholism as the demon it truly is, and that sometimes, people just don't get well, despite all the love and support that's offered to them.

If you've never seen it, rent it. Just be sure to rent it in letterbox, to maintain the movies original ratio. A film this beautiful needs to be seen in it's best form. Take someone you love along with you for the ride.

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J98aP1GuqFU[/youtube]

One of those longish (3:32) old-fashioned trailers.

[Fran]

From IMDb:  "EDtv" is about a normal San Francisco guy who becomes the star of a 24-hour reality soap opera but regrets his fame within a short time as he finds out that there is no space left for privacy, love, and personality.

[oilgun]

Plot: A shy San Francisco librarian and a bumbling cop fall in love as they solve a crime involving albinos, dwarves, and the Catholic Church.