The Shop Around the Corner

The Shop Around the Corner
1940


Starring:
James Stewart as Alfred Kralik
Margaret Sullavan as Klara Novak
Frank Morgan as Hugo Matsuchek
Lesser roles:
Joseph Schildkraut as Ferencz Vadas
Sara Haden as Flora Kaczek
Felix Bressart as Pirovitch
William Tracy as Pepi Katona
Inez Courtney as Ilona Novotny

length: about 100 minutes

Alfred Kralik is the head clerk at Matuschek and Company in Budapest, Hungary. While the employees are waiting for Mr. Matsuchek to arrive at the shop and unlock it, Alfred reveals to Pirovitch, a coworker, that he is corresponding by mail with a young lady whom he has never met and only knows as 'Dear Friend'.
The first thing Mr. Matsuchek does when he opens the shop that day is to show Alfred his latest purchase for the store: a cigarette box that plays "Otche Tchorniye" (Russian, perhaps? Translated, it means "Dark Eyes") when you open it. Mr. Matsuchek loves this little invention, but when he asks Alfred's opinion he's rather annoyed. Alfred thinks it's ugly and cheep and there's no way they'll be able to sell them all.
Several days pass, and they sell no cigarette boxes, when in walks Klara Novak, looking for a job as a clerk. The head clerk, Alfred, tells her there is no opening, but she won't take 'no' for an answer. When a customer walks in, Klara takes over and sells one of those difficult cigarette boxes in five minutes flat. Mr. Matsuchek sees that and hires her on the spot, to Alfred's dismay.
These things are hard to end: I'd much rather just tell you all about everything that happens in the movie! But that would spoil it, so I'm stopping here before I give it all away.
I enjoyed The Shop Around The Corner immensely. It's a slightly comedic, slightly romantic movie, and I always like Jimmy Stewart.

FOR SALE:
TCM has it available HERE and they are also playing it on January 28, at 2:00 pm.
HERE is the EBAY page with many DVDs and VHS recordings from $2.99 to $24.99.
AMAZON is selling it HERE starting as low as $13.07.

And NETFLIX also has The Shop Around the Corner HERE.

Enjoy the movie!
~Kiwifruit

The Prisoner of Zenda

Prisoner of Zenda
1937


Starring:
Ronald Colman as Major Rudolf Rassendyll and King Rudolf V
Madeleine Carroll as Princess Flavia
Douglas Fairbanks Jr. as Rupert of Hentzau
Raymond Massey as Duke Michael

Lesser roles:
C. Aubrey Smith as Colonel Zapt
David Niven as Captain Fritz von Tarlenheim
Mary Astor as Antoinette de Mauban


Length: about 100 minutes


Major Rudolf Rassendyll is vacationing in 'Ruritania' (a fictional country in Europe), when he meets the soon-to-be king, Rudolf the Fifth while fishing. They find that they are distantly related, which explains their strikingly similar appearances.
Rudolf the Fifth invites Major Rudolf back to his hunting lodge, where they drink, drink, and are merry for some time on into the night. Rudolf the Fifth [this is hard, writing about two people with the same name!] tells the Major about how he rather dreads the coronation on the following day. He's sure his (evil) stepbrother, Michael, is going to do his best to keep Rudolf from being crowned King of Ruritania. They drink and drink, until Rudolf (the Major), Captain Fritz von Tarlenheim and Colonel Zapt, the King's guards, finally fall asleep. Rudolf the Fifth takes one last drink from a new bottle, then drops to the floor.
The next morning--Coronation Day--Major Rudolf is rudely awakened by a pitcher of water in the face. Captain von Tarlenheim and Colonel Zapt have found the king lying on the floor and are sure Michael is behind all this....which, of course, he is.
So what do they do? The man who is to be crowned that day has been drugged, who knows when he'll wake up. If Rudolf the Fifth doesn't arrive, Duke Michael will find a way to crown himself king.
Hmmm. I wonder....


I enjoyed this movie. It has good acting and the plot is easy to follow, most of the time, except when the Rudolfs get mixed up. No mushy love scenes. A lot of action and sword fighting, a few deaths (nothing gruesome).

TCM: This movie is for sale on TCM.com, but you have to buy it either with the 1952 version here, $16.99, or with The Three Musketeers (1948), Captain Horatio Hornblower, The Prisoner of Zenda (1952), and Madame Bovary (1949) right HERE, for $50.99.

Netflix: available HERE.

Ebay: you can buy the double-sided DVD with both the 1937 and the 1952 versions on it for between $10.99 and $17.75. There are also the same two movies on laserdisc for $21.21 to $40.00.

Amazon: Once again, there are the two versions being sold together for from $8.78 to $39.99, or the same five-DVD set offered by TCM.

Aparently you can't get one movie without the other. I have not seen the 1952 movie, and so can not recommend it to you at all.

Happy movie watching!
~Kiwifruit

The Matchmaker

The Matchmaker
1958

Starring:
Shirley Booth as Dolly 'Gallagher' Levi
Anthony Perkins as Cornelius Hackl
Shirley MacLaine as Irene Molloy
Paul Ford as Horace Vandergelder

Lesser Roles:
Robert Morse as Barnaby Tucker
Perry Wilson as Minnie Fay

Length: 100 minutes

This movie takes place in Yonkers, NY and New York City, NY in 1884. Dolly Levi, an older widow, has decided to play matchmaker for an older man --Horace Vandergelder. Who just so happens to be rich. She finagles a way to get him into New York to meet two girls: Irene Molloy, a milliner and the lovely Ernestina Simple.
Before leaving, Mr. Vandergelder promotes his clerk, Cornelius, to the position of Head Clerk, which has the same perks as clerk. After Mr. Vandergelder leaves with Dolly, Cornelius and Barnaby, the other clerk, decide to have a 'day on the town' and just do whatever they please. But you have to have a good reason for closing the store. How do you do that? exploding cans of tomato sauce works.
The boys take off for New York City, spending their last dimes on the fare to get there. While sitting and talking about what to do next, Cornelius decides that they shouldn't leave until they've 'had a good meal, been in danger, almost been arrested and kissed a girl.' So what do they do? Go into a millinery shop in search of a girl or two.
Much more happens here, of course, including several near run-ins with Mr. Vandergelder.
I'm not sure where to end this short teaser, because I'd much rather tell you all about it than let you find out what happens, so I'll finish up right here.

I loved this movie. It's a romantic comedy, yet perfectly clean, and not really mushy like many other romances. I highly recommend watching it sometime, even if you're not a big fan of romances. It would be a good addition to your old movie library.

TCM: The Matchmaker is not on the play list, and not for sale.
Netflix: Available HERE.
Ebay: for sale in Laserdisc form HERE for the next eleven hours at $40.00, on DVD right HERE for $40.00 for the next day and a half. The next one is on VHS for $16.99 through December 17th. Lastly, there is another DVD for sale for only $25.00 until November 26th.
Amazon: 9 used from $2.79 to $19.95 and 6 collectible copies ranging in price from $14.95 to $59.99.

Enjoy!
~Kiwifruit

Boy of the Streets

Boy of the Streets
1938


Starring:
Jackie Cooper as Chuck Brennan
Maureen O'Connor as Norah
Kathleen Burke as Julie Stone
Bill Elliot as Dr. Allan


Lesser Roles:
Marjorie Main (Mrs. Mary Brennan)
Guy Usher (Fog Horn Brennan, aka 'Foggy')
Robert Emmett O'Connor (Police Officer Rourke)




Boy of the Streets takes place in the slums in New York (?) around 1938, when it was made.
Norah's mother is ill, and is sent away by the very nice Dr. Allan to recover in the country. Teenage Nora is afraid the child services will find her living alone and send her away from the place she has lived her whole life. Chuck (methinks he likes her ;-) tries to help her find a job, singing at a local cafe. She secures the job, but after the first song, the child protection services discover that she lied about her age and decide to send in an Investigator in the morning to talk to her parents and possibly take her away. But alas, Norah's father died years ago, and her mother's in the country!
In the mean time, Chuck finds that his father is not employed, like he said he was, and so falls in with bad company.
And now I'll leave it as a cliff hanger, as I always do. =D

I enjoyed this movie, except I thought the ending was rather...interesting. You had rising action, a great climax, and then I thought it fell rather flat at the end. But don't take my word for it. Go out and watch it! I think y'all'll like it.

This movie is available on tcm.com for $9.99 (link) or Ebay (link) for between $6.38 and $7.14. Netflix also has this movie.

Happy movie watching, peoples!

~Kiwifruit

Tomorrow We Live

Tomorrow We Live
1942

Starring:
Ricardo Cortez as The Ghost and Alexander Caesar Martin
Jean Parker as Julie Bronson

Lesser Roles:
Emmet Lynn (William 'Pop' Bronson)
William Marshall (Lt. Bob Lord)
Rose Anne Stevens (Melba)


At the beginning of this suspenseful romance, Julie Bronson, a college graduate, and her father, William Bronson, are arguing over the presence of 'The Ghost', a gangster who is renting some of Mr. Bronson's storage sheds for the purpose of storing stolen tires. Julie believes that The Ghost is no good and will only bring trouble.
Bent on the purpose of telling The Ghost what she thinks of him, Julie heads over to The Dunes, a dinner/dance club run by The Ghost. But she is warned beforehand by the hired help, who says that The Ghost is woman-crazy and it's a pretty stupid idea to go over there, as Julie is a beautiful girl.
Trouble ensues when Julie refuses to be kissed by him.
Later in the movie, Julie's old boyfriend, Bob, whom she hasn't seen in quite a while, re-appears in her life. Much happens between her, Bob, and The Ghost, but I won't tell you all of it. What would be the fun in that?

This movie is fairly well-done. I think it was a low-budget film (of course, it did come out during World War 2), as the film quality is really poor, but if you can ignore very dark outdoor scenes and blindingly bright faces when they're facing the sun, it's good. I watched it on good ol' TCM this morning. TCM is planning to play it again on December 5th at 8:15 am/7:15 central (? They didn't specify on the website whether the time listed was eastern, as it usually is, or central.)

You can buy it on DVD on tcm.com using this link for $8.99, but I'd like to warn you about the cover: it is rather indecent and I'm not sure why they chose that pic for it. There isn't anything like it in the movie! Or it's available in DVD form on Ebay for anything from $1.55 to $7.23.
This can be found on Netflix, also, if you use that service.

Happy movie watching!
~Kiwifruit

Day of the Jackal

Day of the Jackal
1973

Starring:
Edward Fox as Charles Caltrop, the Jackal, and several other aliases
Michael Lonsdale as Deputy Commissioner Claude Lebel (D.C.).

This movie takes place in France in 1962 or '63. An assassination attempt on France's president, Charles de Gaulle, has failed, and the leader executed. The accomplices consult to find a mercenary to kill the president, and choose and English man who only gives them his code name--the Jackal. They agree to pay him $25,000 ahead of time, then another quarter-million dollars after the deed is done.
The Jackal is a very crafty fellow. He has forged passports made, kills the forger, and orders a sneaky little single-shot gun.
After quite a while, the French police start to catch up to him, always just a few steps behind the Jackal.
Warning: Big Spoiler Alert!!
The Jackal is apprehended right after he shoots his one bullet at the President--and misses. The D.C. shoots and kills him just as he fits another bullet in the gun.
Spoiler Alert Ended!!

All in all, I did not like this movie. At all. It was confusing (I couldn't keep track of all the names), and boring. We watched it on TCM, and they said it would 'keep you on the edge of your seat'. It didn't. Not only was it confusing and boring, it had some language sprinkled through it (as in bad language) and four or five indecent scenes with badly-placed cameras and not-placed-at-all clothing, and several relationship problems. I do not recommend this movie for anyone under the ripe old age of 372 years. Or if you're blind and deaf, I suppose... Anywho, that is why I'm not posting any links to Ebay or Netflix or any other place you can find this movie. It's not worth it.

~Kiwifruit

Quality Street

Quality Street
1937

Starring:
Katharine Hepburn as Phoebe Throssel
Franchot Tone as Dr. Valentine Brown
And Fay Bainter as Susan Throssel

This movie could almost be considered the '30's version of a 'chick flick'.
At the beginning of the movie, Miss Phoebe Throssle is courting the handsome, dashing young Dr. Valentine Brown. A proposal is expected by everyone, but instead, Valentine joins the army and goes off to fight in the Napoleonic Wars (late 1700's to 1806 or so).
When he returns after ten years, he finds Phoebe an 'old maid' at thirty years old. She and her sister, Susan, now teach school at the Misses Throssle School for Boys and Girls. Dr. Valentine invites the sisters to the ball for home-coming troops, but they decline. Phoebe is convinced he can't still love her, because she's old, tired, and not pretty anymore.
On the night of the ball, Phoebe puts on an old ball gown, just to prove to herself that she is still pretty. In comes Dr. Brown to ask if the Throssle sisters had changed their minds. Phoebe, startled, pretends to be her niece, Livvy, and says that 'Aunt Phoebe' is in bed with a bad headache. Dr. Brown takes her to the ball, and over the next few weeks, 'Livvy' becomes a quite popular flirt with all the officers.
Meanwhile, three old spinster-neighbors get interested in this and start snooping around. They are convinced that there is no real Livvy, and Phoebe is the one playing her.

So what happens now? Do the nosey neighbors figure out her deception? What happens between Valentine Brown and Livvy? Do you really, honestly believe I would tell you? If you do, you don't know me. I watched this on Turner Classic Movies, but they do not have it scheduled to play for quite some time.
Usually when you see Katharine Hepburn in a movie, she plays a more outgoing character. In this one she is very timid and shy and quiet.
I really enjoyed it. If you like slightly romantic movies try this one.
This movie can be bought on Ebay for $13.81 for the next three and a half days (VHS). Not available on Netflix.

~Kiwifruit