What movies have you seen recently?

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The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923)

I know The Miracle Man made Lon Chaney an actor of note, but The Hunchback of Notre Dame elevated his status. He went to Irving Thalberg with the rights to make the film and together they got the project off the ground. It was a big budget film estimated at a cost of over a million dollars (in 1920s money) and brought in a couple hundred shy of triple that in profits. Carl Laemmle got credit as the producer, but Irving and Lon where also producers. Irving got credit for Universal making The Hunchback, but it was Lon's idea. This was film Lon Chaney wanted to make. Furthermore, Wallace Worsley directed the film, but according to people there, such as Patsy Ruth Miller, Lon directed it with Wallace.


Behind the scene photo of Lon on the steps of the Notre Dame façade.


Acting. Isn't that the most beautiful 1923 era make up you ever saw?

Happy Birthday Lon Chaney - April 1, 1883

For some reason ^Easter my bride wanted to watch movies with rabbits yesterday. We'd recently watched Night of the Lepus so it was not a candidate and she declined my suggestion: Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

She chose:

The Secret Life of Pets [2016]
<=>"Wonder what they do all day?"





The Secret Life of Pets 2 [2019]
<=>"They still have their secrets."



OK. I admit it. They're fun.
And I'll gladly watch The Secret Life of Pets 3 when it comes out.

The Shock (1923) watched on DVD

The film Lon Chaney made just before The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

In it, he plays a crippled crook, needing a wheel chair or crutches to get around.
The photoplay ends with Lon's character is pleading with the underworld criminals to release the woman he loves. All looks hopeless, and then San Francisco earthquake hits, destroying the Culver City set with collapse buildings and fire. The floor to the building opens up and he falls in, trapped by rubble.
But it has a happy ending.
Lon is in a wheelchair, and the woman he loves, who has inspired him with hope and goodness, comes to him. He gets out of the chair and they walk a bit, looking out over the ocean. Fade to black. The End.

Is this the only film I've seen where there is no unrequited love for him? It is the only one I can think of.

Happy Birthday Lon Chaney - April 1, 1883




Internet Archive: The Shock

https://youtu.be/LtWQ428GaoQ?si=FFfqTDiodFJiOoL5



HELP! (The Beatles)

I'd never seen it before.
It was hilarious.

The 60s vibe was like James Bond meets Flintstones and Gilligan's Island.

He Who Gets Slapped (1924) on DVD

This is one of my favorite Lon Chaney films. I first saw on in Minneapolis at 11pm on public broadcasting in 1976. It was one of the saddest films I'd ever seen. We were on a family vacation. The only family vacation I went on. It was torture.
My family was tolerant of my Lon Chaney interests. They allowed me to stay up and watch this with the lights off and the sound off (I get it). They also allowed me to go to the library to look up newspaper articles when we were in Colorado Springs. When we visited Pikes Peak, I asked if they had anything about Lon Chaney. The answer was a short two letter word (no). I was amazed that they did not seem to realize that one of the great actors of the screen was born right there and worked at Pikes Peak. Towns were fighting to claim they were the birthplace of Ronald Reagan. Colorado Springs has since seen the light and have at least have a theater dedicated to him.

It was MGM's first production, though not the first one they released.
Victor Seastrom directed and co-wrote it.
Lon Chaney, Norma Shear, and John Gilbert starred in it.
Ford Sterling, of Keystone Cops fame, is in it as well.

https://youtu.be/s4DHo7SLvhs?si=t7sHXNzGIR1issMx


The Walrus (Haven Films, 2016)

Full movie attached
Viewer Discretion is Advised

We had an annoying day at two appointments for my bride so I gave her a list of comedy/science fiction movies in our collection...and last night we watched:

Attack of the Killer Donuts [2016]
<=>"We've eaten them for years, now it's their turn!"



Killer Donuts?! ^{Just as serious a film as you probably expect—and we enjoyed it}

Another annoying day for my bride so I once again gave her a list of comedy/science fiction movies in our collection...and last night we watched:

The Munsters [2022]



It's OK.

Unless you are a familiar with the the old TV show, The Munsters [1964–1966], in which case you might enjoy this movie and see it is a carefully constructed prequel for the TV show. And there are a some allusions to other horror works you might also recognize.

But I think if you look even closer you'll see it as a faithful love letter to the TV show.

Kung Fu Panda 4

Last night we watched:

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter [2012]
<=>"Are you a patriot or a vampire?"



Neither of us thinks it is a "great" movie but we both enjoyed it. We both think it is a "good" movie.

Payment On Demand (1951)

A film about a somewhat abrasive divorce tussle, and how could it be otherwise if Bette Davis is involved? The ending though seems a bit of a cop out, almost as if it was rewritten (which apparently it was). Very old fashioned, but quite watchable, I don't think I've ever seen a really poor Bette Davis film.