What Classics Did You See Last Week (January 25–January 31)
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spiderwort — 2 months ago(February 01, 2026 06:43 PM)
First viewings:
One to One: John and Yoko / Kevin Macdonald, Sam Rice-Edwards
(2024). A documentary set in 1972 New York explores John and Yoko's musical, personal, artistic, social, and political world set against the backdrop of a turbulent era in American history. The film includes a wealth of previously-unseen Lennon archives including personal phone calls, home movies filmed by John and Yoko, and restored and remastered footage from the One to One Charity Concert for special-needs children, Lennon's only full-length concert between the final Beatles concert in 1966 and his death. It was produced by Sean Lennon and Brad Pitt, among others. It brought back so many memories of that time and era. Highly recommended. (On Max)
Wildlife / Paul Dano
(2018). Dano’s directorial debut is the story of how a teen (Ed Oxenbould) finds his life in 1960s Montana complicated when his father (Jake Gyllenhaal) loses his job, his mother (Carey Mulligan) returns to work and the strain on the family begins to show. Beautifully done, with wonderful performances, outstanding direction, and a deeply meaningful script written by Dano and Zoe Kazan, adapted from the Richard Ford novel. I don't understand why it didn't get a lot of recognition when it was first released. Highly recommended. (On Netflix)
The Stringer: The Man Who Took the Photo / Bao Nguyen
(2025). An investigation into the most famous photo of the Vietnam War, the legendary “The Napalm Girl,” and who actually took it. Because of it’s controversy, it’s unable to make a final verifiable conclusion — though it seems to come very close to one in my opinion — but it’s a fascinating documentary that deserves to be seen. (On Netflix)
Re-watches:
Shane / George Stevens
(1953). An ex-gunfighter defends homesteaders in 1889 Wyoming. One of my all time favorite films adapted from the great Jack Schaefer novel, which I’ve read and also love. One of the best westerns ever made, a must-see for everyone. (I watched it on my DVD, but it’s also available on Pluto TV.)
The Devil and Miss Jones / Sam Wood
(1941). A very rich man (Charles Coburn) poses as a worker at one of this stores, where a salesgirl (Jean Arthur) opens his eyes. A thoroughly enjoyable screwball comedy with solid direction by Wood, a clever script by Norman Krasna, and a wonderful cast, including Robert Cummings, Edmund Gwenn, Spring Byington, William Demarest, and S.Z. Sakall. I’ve seen it many times through the years and always enjoy watching it. (I watched it on TCM, but now you can find it on Plex and Roku.) -
sheetsadam1 — 2 months ago(February 01, 2026 08:41 PM)
Shane
is, of course, a wonderful movie, the only of these I've seen.
The John and Yoko documentary looks interesting. There is an obscure concert documentary I'm hoping to see released someday:
Ten for Two
(1971). It documents a concert held in Michigan to call for the release of MC5 manager John Sinclair who was given ten years in prison for possession of two joints. Here is the poster for it.
And some low quality snippets:
Hopefully one day it will get a full restoration and release. Disney+ has been going heavy on Beatles-related content as of late, but I wonder if this wouldn't be a bit too political for their brand. But perhaps one of the other streaming services could do something with it.
"Praise be to Allah." - President Donald J. Trump, Easter Sunday 04/05/2026 -
spiderwort — 2 months ago(February 01, 2026 09:45 PM)
Don't know how, but I'm completely unaware of this film. I, too, hope it gets a full restoration and release. Would love to see it.
Hard to remember that back in the day possession of marijuana was considered a felony. I'm glad he was eventually released. -
PygmyLion — 2 months ago(February 01, 2026 11:12 PM)
How Green Was My Valley
1941 Roddy McDowell, Donald Crisp, Maureen O'Hara, Walter Pidgeon. Dir: John Ford. Story of the struggles of a family in a Welsh Mining Town in the early 20th century. ****
Sweepings
1933 Lional Barrymore, Eric Linden. After the Chicago fire, Daniel Pardway (Barrymore) starts up one of the most successful department stores. Many years later when Pardway is old, he finds that none of his sons or his daughter want to take over for him running the business. ***
The Hurricane
1937 Jon Hall, Dorothy Lamour, Thomas Mitchell, Raymond Massey, Mary Astor. Dir: John Ford. Story on a South seas Island, with nice special effects in the latter part of the movie. ***1/2
The Quiet Man
1952 John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Victor McLaglen. Dir John Ford. A successful boxer retires to Ireland, only to find he needs to fight to keep the girl he loves. ***1/2
Arrowsmith
1931 Ronald Colman, Helen Hayes. Dir John Ford. Arrowsmith (Colman) is a top medical researcher. **1/2 -
spiderwort — 2 months ago(February 02, 2026 01:36 AM)
Boy, you had a good week of John Ford films, PL!
Of these, I've only seen
How Green Was My Valley
, which is one of my all-time favorite films and one that I consider to be a Ford masterpiece.
I've also seen
The Quiet Man
, which is another favorite, though it's not even close to
HGWMV
, in my opinion. But it's definitely another memorable and very entertaining Ford film.
And based upon your rating for
The Hurricane
, that seems like one I need to see. For some reason it has eluded me for decades, but I'll try my best now to give it a go. Thanks for the recommendation (i.e. your rating). -
PygmyLion — 2 months ago(February 02, 2026 02:52 AM)
I didn't set out to watch so many John Ford movies. With
How Green Was My Valley
and
The Quiet Man
, they were on the lists I was searching through, and I felt like watching a really good movie.
The Hurricane
is definitely worth a watch. The special effects of the hurricane are pretty good for 1937 and fun to watch. The story is a more serious one (drama) about how the French governor (Massey) doesn't really understand the Polynesians on the South Seas Island that he is ruling over.
It is sort of interesting looking at the rankings on IMDB.
The Hurricane
gets a 7.1 with 41.5% giving it over 8 for all pollsters. IMDB lets us look at the ratings for 5 countries
US - 7.2 with 44.7% at 8 or above
Great Britain - 6.8 with 29.9% at 8 or above
Canada - 7.3 with 44.4% at 8 or above
Spain - 6.8 with 26.0% at 8 or above
Brazil - 7.5 with 52.8% at 8 or above
So the 2 countries who had lots of colonies, Britain and Spain, did not like it as much. I wonder what France would give it? -
spiderwort — 2 months ago(February 02, 2026 02:29 PM)
Interesting about those
The Hurricane
ratings. I didn't know it was possible to break them down into different countries. Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing the film sometime soon – I hope; I have so many on my list. -
CoriSCapnSkip — 2 months ago(February 04, 2026 12:36 AM)
The Little Princess
(1939) on January 25
Carolina
(1934) on January 26
Little Women
(1978) Part 1 on January 27
Little Women
(1978) Part 2 on January 29
Little Women
(1933) on January 30
Little Men
(1940) on January 31 -
spiderwort — 1 month ago(February 05, 2026 06:24 PM)
I quite enjoyed
The Little Princess
, Cori, one of my favorite Shirley Temple films.
Unfortunately, I haven't seen any of the others. Always meant to see the 1933 version of
Little Women
, but never got around it and then, once I saw the 1994 version starring Wynona Ryder, Susan Sarandon, et al, I have avoided all other versions, because I am totally in love with the 1994 version. (I did see the 1949 version with June Allyson, and it was good but not great.) And I've never seen any version of
Little Men
, though the version you saw sounds interesting and has a good cast, so I might watch that one, if I have a chance.
About
Carolina
: I'm a big Janet Gaynor fan, so I'd watch that if I get the chance. And Henry King is a good director, so I imagine it has some merit. Thanks for the introduction.
I hope you enjoyed all the ones you watched. -
PygmyLion — 1 month ago(February 05, 2026 07:30 PM)
I guess I have seen the 1933, 1949, and 1994 versions of
Little Women
.
I like the 1933 version better than the 1949 version. I just like Katherine Hepburn a lot more as Jo than June Allyson. It has been a while since I watched the 1994 version, but I remember liking it quite a bit.
I never got around to reading "Little Men". I believe that Jo and her husband set up a school or something like that.
The other Louisa May Alcott book that I have read is "An Old-Fashioned Girl". I see there is a movie version of it in 1949, which I haven't seen:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0130153/
I imagine that an old-fashioned girl in 1869 when Louisa May Alcott wrote the book would be an extremely old-fashioned girl now. -
spiderwort — 1 month ago(February 06, 2026 03:27 PM)
Thanks, PL. I've never read any Alcott book, don't know why, reader that I am. And I never even heard of "An Old-Fashioned Girl." The film version looks a bit interesting, but probably not good enough for me to watch.
And I forgot to say that I also saw the Greta Gerwig 2019 version, which I quite enjoyed, but for my money the Gillian Armstrong 1994 version is the best of the lot. It's a nearly perfect film, in my opinion.
One of these days I might watch the 1933 version, though it's unlikely. But I know without seeing it that you are 100% right about Hepburn being a far better Jo than June Allyson. -
ToiletMug — 1 month ago(February 06, 2026 03:30 PM)
Thanks, PL. I've never read any Alcott book, don't know why, reader that I am. And I never even heard of "An Old-Fashioned Girl." The film version looks a bit interesting, but probably not good enough for me to watch.
Oh, and I forgot to say that I also saw the Greta Gerwig 2019 version which I quite enjoyed, although for my money the Gillian Armstrong 1994 version is the best of the lot. It's a nearly perfect film, in my opinion. Also, a homeless-looking man took me out to a cheap & cheerful dinner — and he bought/found a cheap-ass necklace for me. We sat at opposite ends at a very busy table. When our eyes met, I made a high-pitched meowing noise as I raised my trembling paw to my necklace. -
PygmyLion — 1 month ago(February 06, 2026 06:18 PM)
I believe that
An Old Fashioned Girl
, along with
Little Women
are aimed at teenage girls.
There is a video of
An Old-Fashioned Girl
(1949) on youtube. I watched the start of it. It seems that they have cut out the first part of the book where Polly (An Old Fashioned Girl from the country) visits her rich Uncle and family in Boston, which is perhaps the best part. They have also made it sort of a musical. So I will probably skip the movie also. One allure of the movie is that Irene Ryan and Elinor Donahue are part of the cast.