ABCs at the Movies: The Doubles Round!

[memento]

The I Left My Heart in San Francisco Round: Take 2

[memento]

IMDB: Really more of a remake than a sequel as the similarities between this installment and the original eight years earlier are mind-blowing. Once again Nick Nolte is a San Francisco cop who gets convict Eddie Murphy out of prison a little early so they can stop a deviant group of criminals. This time they are after a mysterious mastermind drug kingpin who has a staggering network of thugs (mainly motorcycle) who do his bidding. And of course none of the bad guys even know who their boss is. No creativity turns this into a sequel that was just made for monetary purposes. The idea was only somewhat successful as the box office business paled in comparison with its predecessor. Critically the picture is almost a total waste. 2 stars out of 5.

[Lynne]

From Wiki:

Barbary Coast (1935) is a period film directed by Howard Hawks. Shot in black-and-white and set in San Francisco during the Gold Rush era, the film combines elements of crime, Western, melodrama and adventure genres, features a wide range of actors, from good-guy Joel McCrea to bad-boy Edward G. Robinson, and stars Miriam Hopkins in the leading role as Mary 'Swan' Rutledge.

=aside=
Yes , Paul - I scored with letter 'W'! 

[southendmd]

IMDb user comment:  Robert Crumb must have had a bellyful of people calling him a genius, but that's exactly what he is. Having grown up a bullied, miserable child - and an anachronism almost from the start, with his interests in pop culture ephemera and old-time music - in a dysfunctional family (his father was an overbearing tyrant, his mother an amphetamine addict, his older brother so obsessed with comics that he forces his siblings to draw them), Crumb escaped this drudgery by fleeing to Cleveland, where he first became a staff artist for a greetings card company, then one of their most innovative and prolific designers, before relocating to San Fransisco. His initial impetus was to "get some of that free love stuff", but his pen ran away with his thoughts and he wound up virtually launching the underground comics movement. Between 1968 and 1993, Crumb produced some of the funniest, most outrageous, licentious and flat-out brilliant comic book work of all time, and this film is an invaluable insight into the man behind the madness and the mayhem. Turns out Crumb, despite his bizarre appearance (he's stick thin, wears Coke-bottle spectacles and dresses like a character actor from a 1930s comedy) and sexual deviance (he likes nothing more than hefty haunches and big, strong legs in a woman), is something of an everyman - he's married, dotes on his understanding wife and gifted daughter, and feels just as alienated from the 'evils' of modern living as the rest of us sensitive intellectuals! At first glance, of course, Crumb is as weird as they come, but the sight of the aforementioned older brother Charles (a reclusive crank who rarely leaves his squalid bedroom, let alone the house) and younger brother Maxon (a haunted, bedraggled amateur mystic, given to sitting on beds of nails and begging on the street with a wooden bowl) throws the relative sanity of Robert into stark relief. One gets the impression that if Robert had not escaped, he'd have wound up suffering just as much as Charles and Maxon, possibly even more. This isn't easy viewing and the subjects are undeniably resistable, but it does offer a unique and enlightening glimpse into the reality of the old cliché about genius and madness walking hand-in-hand. Recommended

[memento]

Plot: In the year 1971, San Francisco faces the terror of a maniac known as Scorpio- who snipes at innocent victims and demands ransom through notes left at the scene of the crime. Inspector Harry Callahan (known as Dirty Harry by his peers through his reputation handling of homicidal cases) is assigned to the case along with his newest partner Inspector Chico Gonzalez to track down Scorpio and stop him. Using humiliation and cat and mouse type of games against Callahan, Scorpio is put to the test with the cop with a dirty attitude.

[Lynne]

From Amazon:

Music by Merl Saunders & Jerry Garcia, appearances by Babatunde Olatunji, Merl Saunders, Wavy Gravy, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann

Written & Directed By: Brent Meeske For 30 years, Jerry Garcia played guitar and sang for the Grateful Dead, and by doing so, inspired a modern cultural phenomenon – the legions of nomadic fans that made a communal way of life out of following Jerry and the Dead – the Deadheads. "The End of the Road" began shooting just 3 months before Garcia’s Death in 1995 – documenting ‘life on the road’ with this family of bohemian wanderers – on what would be the final tour with Jerry and the Dead. That summer the road came to an end back where it all began – in San Francisco – where thousands gathered one last time for eulogies from bandmates, friends and family at the memorial for Jerry Garcia.

[southendmd]

Plot:  Arlene [Bette Davis] is involved with underworld types. Her society girl sister believes it is only innocent thrill seeking; her stepfather fears it may be more criminal than that. Kidnap and murder plots ensue.

User comment:  Bette Davis shoots ..... she scores I was amazed she was wickedly delicious as Arlene Bradford.She played it full throttle also, the twist and turns that the plot took were amazing. Great vehicle to demonstrate her range and her capabilities.Ms.Davis at moments seemed sincere but you knew that there was something sinister brewing about her.As the film unfolded i was a little confused, but everything seemed to gel and it took great shape.I had to watch a second time and I enjoyed it even more.Turner Classic Movies introduced me to this fantastic film and I have recommended this film to other classic movie film fans . To no surprise the loved it*** 10* out of 10* .

[Fran]

From IMDb:  Producer-director David Swift also co-adapted Jack Finney's novel about a suburban divorcée outside of San Francisco who involves her neighbors in a harebrained scheme to win a fifteen-million-dollar inheritance. She has to be happily married to receive the settlement, so she gets square, unassuming family man Jack Lemmon to pose as her spouse. Although far too long at 2 hours-15 minutes, the film takes a remarkably cogent approach to its slapstick merriment, and the grounded, terrific players allow the scenario to remain colorful while skillfully averting "wackiness."

[oilgun]

Plot:   At the end of the war a concentration camp inmate takes on the identity of her close friend who has just died. Eventually she is able to emigrate to San Francisco, claiming to be the mother of the child the other woman sent there shortly before the war. She discovers that the boy is heir to considerable wealth and that her arrival is not welcomed by some of those at his home on Telegraph Hill.

==Comment==
Has anyone seen this one?  It sounds really good.

[Lynne]

From Wiki:

Impact is a 1949 film noir starring Brian Donlevy and Ella Raines. It was filmed entirely in California and included scenes at San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf. The film was based on a story by film noir writer Jay Dratler.

Millionaire industrialist Walter Williams (Brian Donlevy) has a young wife (Helen Walker) who is trying to kill him with the help of her young lover, Jim Torrance (Tony Barrett). The plan falls apart when Williams survives a hit on the head from the would-be killer. When Torrance flees the scene, he dies in a head-on collision in William's car. At this point, it is believed that Williams was the driver.

Meanwhile, the dazed Williams ends up in a small town in Idaho, where he gets a job as a service station mechanic and falls in love with Marsha (Ella Raines), the station owner. Meanwhile the police arrest Williams' wife for his "murder". When Marsha eventually persuades Walter to go back to clear his wife, he is charged with the murder of the lover, leaving Marsha and a kindly police detective (Charles Coburn) scrambling to prove his innocence.