Lady From Shanghai

And this week's Friday night movie has been... The Lady From Shanghai!

Original image located here. Accessed 18th December 2020

Once again I am watching a movie from the pre-New-Hollywood era: in this case, from 1947. Nothing wrong with that - but in this case, I have been wanting to see this because there's a story attached.

You see apparently, this movie originally ran for three hours but the director, Orson Welles, was forced to cut it down to half that running time. The missing portion has since been lost to time and the movie has suffered for it.

With this in mind, watching The Lady From Shanghai is an odd experience. The narration is strongly placed, the flow is jarring and there are moments that may have required additional scenes. Welles have been attempting to do something different with film noir - admirable seeing as he was working with the limitations of what he had - but he doesn't quite pull it off successfully. Still it has it's moments: Not least of which is the final showdown in a hall of mirrors (oft-imitated but never bettered).

Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

And this week's Friday night movie has been... Miracle on 34th Street (1947)!

Original image located here. Accessed 13th December 2019

Well it's that time of year....
I think we all know this one: An elderly gentleman is hired as a store Santa and shows signs he genuinely believes he is the man himself - all of which leads to a court case.
For a movie over seventy years old this certainly holds up well. Sure there's some interest value in seeing a young Natalie Wood but really the movie itself rests on the shoulders of Edmund Gwenn.
Much like the character he plays, he shows Santa the way we expect him to: Kindly, empathetic towards children, multilingual, knowledgeable of toys and trying to see the best in everyone.
Indeed, there is a reason why this has been a beloved Christmas classic for many years. And now I know