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A Movie A Week: HUSH… HUSH, SWEET CHARLOTTE (1964)
Murder starts in the heart and its first weapon is a vicious tongue

QUINT = AMERICA by DANNYGLOVERS_DICKBLOOD	May 12th, 2009 12:44:47 AM

Now Quint... by alynch3	May 12th, 2009 12:56:06 AM
This is the second time you've misspelled Joseph Cotten's name several times throughout a review. You gotta work on that.
EMPEROR OF THE NORTH is your favorite by thegreatwhatzit	May 12th, 2009 01:35:56 AM
Aldrich movie? Have you seen KISS ME DEADLY (both endings intact?); best film noir ever! Meeker's "Mike Hammer" is a kissin' cousin to Ian Fleming's 007 (his gleeful sadism, laughing as he crushes a larcenous doctor's hand in a desk drawer; then again, Hammer makes Bond look like a choirboy). CHARLOTTE is a hoot (I suspect that Joe Cotten imbibed lotsa Mint Julips between takes). Nice to see Aldrich's choice of vet character actors, e.g. Cecil Kellaway and William Campbell (notice that Campbell's sleazy tab reporter is homage to Mike Hammer?).
GREAT flick by Sulla	May 12th, 2009 01:40:41 AM
If you haven't seen this film, watch it. Personally, I think this makes a great double feature along with WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? This post had many films mentioned that are just fantastic, EMPEROR OF THE NORTH POLE is fn' kick ass! Any movie where Ernest Borgnine & Lee Marvin fight with axes & chains on top of a speeding train HAS to be cool.
Never saw the whole movie by caruso_stalker217	May 12th, 2009 02:06:51 AM
But I loved that whole opening sequence. It's like, what, fifteen minutes before the credits start? I don't think I've ever seen that in a movie this old.
HEY EMPEROR OF THE NORTH POLE by Continentalop	May 12th, 2009 02:07:43 AM
Is a great film thegreatwhatzit. No shame in Quint liking that film. Personally, my favorite is The Longest Yard (no his best, but my favorite). But, yes, Kiss Me Deadly is a great film too.
Favorite Davis/Crawford story by Continentalop	May 12th, 2009 02:09:17 AM
When Bette Davis heard that Joan Crawford had died, she said "I was always taught to speak good of the dead. Joan Crawford is dead - good."
Kiss Me Deadly by Quint	May 12th, 2009 02:24:51 AM
Is indeed great and I wouldn't argue that it's better filmmaking, but like Continentalop's preference for The Longest Yard... Emperor of the North Pole just presses all the right buttons for me. Many apologies for calling Mr. Cotten Cotton. I'll probably never remember to go with the e instead of the o.
Love the French title... by Shoegeezer	May 12th, 2009 02:40:37 AM
Chut...chut..chere Charlotte. Nice.
Oh no you didn't Prossor by Continentalop	May 12th, 2009 02:43:24 AM
You had to bring up The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed Up Zombies!!? Just when you think you'll never have that pop back in your head, someone has to name drop it. Well two can play that game. From 1975, I give you Thundercrack! (You know a movie is awesome if it has an exclamation point in the title).
Thundercrack… by blakindigo	May 12th, 2009 03:13:37 AM
No…No…no…I saw it projected back in the 80's. Continentalop, you just brought me back to a place that is…My god. I'll see you and raise …"The Beast" by Walerian Borowczyk. Uncut.
Hush hush sweet Charlotte by lonniebeale	May 12th, 2009 03:32:29 AM
Scared the hell out of me when I was a kid. I remember my mom watching it on tv and when Dern got axed it drove me out of the room.
Quint I'm surprised by Bloo	May 12th, 2009 05:10:47 AM
you haven't seen THE QUIET MAN, it was, in my dad's eyes, one of my film rite of passages. Every year on St. Patrick's Day it's usually one TNT, or TCM, or AMC or TBS or something and we sit down and watch it. It's my 2nd fav Wayne movie (after previous AMAD EL DORADO). great flick you're in for a treat HUSH HUSH, like caruso, I don't think I've ever seen the whole thing of, but just sounds great from beginning to end
This is why i love ths colum... by Boba Fat	May 12th, 2009 05:33:23 AM
I saw the headline on the front page and thought, nah. Then, bored, a little later, I clicked the link and started reading. Now, I'm heading over to Amazon. Keep up the good work Quint!
Incomprehensible by Fiulter	May 12th, 2009 07:16:10 AM
You got me to sign up just to tell you off for the hideous spelling. well done.
Quint....since you're watching Robert Aldrich films.... by Damned if I can login	May 12th, 2009 07:57:10 AM
Check out "Attack!", a WWII story with Jack Palance, Eddie Albert, Lee Marvin, and Buddy Ebson. Talk about gritty and intense...holy frag, this is a gripping film. Eddie Albert sends Jack Palance and his unit into a town that is heavily occupied by Nazi forces, and then in a wave of extreme cowardice he abandons them for dead with no reinforcements. Let's just say that this gets Jack Palance pissed. Man, Eddie Albert can play the simpering milksop like no one else. Jack Palance plays himself...and he ain't doin' it for laughs. Very realistic with none of the hollywood hero type schlock...just a buncha guys trying to make it out alive....and one guy wanting to get even.
Anybody like "Flight of the Phoenix"? by blakindigo	May 12th, 2009 08:42:05 AM
Aldrich and Jimmy Stewart. Desert vistas and some nice work all around.
blakindigo by kbass	May 12th, 2009 09:06:15 AM
I really liked "Flight of the Phoenix." The original puts the crappy remake to shame. Jimmy Stewart pulling off the impossible. How can you not enjoy that?
Never saw the remake kbass by blakindigo	May 12th, 2009 09:26:40 AM
I just couldn't do it. The original is such a well crafted movie. Really strong, emotional moments. And, Jimmy Stewart puts in one hell of a performance. Plus it's in Cinemascope! I also love "Kiss Me Deadly," that film is just psychotic! Almost in the realm of Sam Fuller craziness.
Best parts of "Hush Hush" by darthliquidator	May 12th, 2009 10:08:11 AM
The final revelation of the real killer...brilliant and so deeply ironic, given what transpires through the movie... Another plus: Aldrich had a great gift for casting and directing supporting actors and this is one of his best in that regard....William Campbell as the sleazy reporter, the ever-gentle, beloved Cecil Kelloway, tons-o-fun Victor Buono as Charlotte's father in the opening flashback. And the finale "coda" in this movie almost rivals "Sunset Boulevard" in its mixture of closure, bitter irony and profound melencholy.
blakindigo by Continentalop	May 12th, 2009 12:09:00 PM
Man, I never saw "The Beast", but if it is by Walerian Borowczyk, the man who directed Emmanuelle 5, I can only imagine myself lucky.
Attack by Continentalop	May 12th, 2009 12:10:11 PM
Great war movie. And the insane part is that the guy who plays a coward, Eddie Albert, was a real life war hero at Tarawa.
Nice call on the E.C. feel by SoylentMean	May 12th, 2009 04:23:32 PM
This movie creeped me the fuck out when I saw it because I have EMPATHY. If you have empathy and can imagine what Charlotte is going through, well then you know how Otto felt at the end of a Fish Called Wanda (minus the getting up and clinging to the wing of a plane). There is nothing, not one thing, better than catching an old movie, preferably in black & white, and getting schooled in terror and suspense. Night of the Demon did that for me. Holy shit is that movie scary. Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte works in the same way, because you don't expect its awesomeness to be so intensely awesome.
Aldrich is the fucking man by Stormin	May 12th, 2009 04:27:48 PM
He could do just about any genre and do it damn well. It's a travesty that he gets little to no attention these days, whereas back in his heyday he was considered one of the most boundary-pushing, "dangerous" directors working. Hell, Kiss Me Deadly was not only a great fucking movie, it was chosen by one 1950s tightass group as the #1 most subversive threat to America's youth that year.
Kiss Me Deadly is jaw droppingly awesome by SoylentMean	May 12th, 2009 04:28:49 PM
and bleak. That is a must see for people who like their Noir super dark, with no hope for redemption.
Fascinating is a great word for this movie by mponte10006	May 12th, 2009 06:36:09 PM
Excellent story. I was trying to do 2 things at once while this movie started, after 5 minutes, my "work" was put aside and I was engrossed by this film. On another note: Emperor of the North was one of the best train movies ever made. Borgnine was awesome, and Marvin using the chicken as a weapon was phenomenal
Check out IMDb on locations by MovieManStill	May 13th, 2009 12:23:23 AM
The plantation is still around - has a web site. Of course, OdH never filmed there...by the time she joined the production, they had recreated the house on a sound stage. A few long-distance shots are actually Crawford. The title song is fantastic, and I actually have the CD of Davis's only non-Broadway album, in which SHE sings it. "Miss Bette Davis" is the album title. WHEN they do remake this, it will be a no-brainer to use that recording - if they can get it.
Plus, the quotes are excellent by MovieManStill	May 13th, 2009 12:30:04 AM
"Public relations?? Sounds like somethin' pretty dirty, to me!" I love to screech at friends, "What do you think ah asked you here for? COMPANY????!!!!!!!"
The Quiet Man! by Ace of Wands	May 13th, 2009 02:23:18 AM
Quint, you honestly have never seen The Quiet Man?. The Quiet Man!. The Quiet Fucking Man!!. Hang your head in shame and contact Guiness.
Agree with you, Quint by thegreatwhatzit	May 13th, 2009 12:20:12 PM
I also think that Aldrich has been (very seriously) underestimated. THE LONGEST YARD is iconic, perhaps the best film of the 70s (that indelible, concluding image of Burt Reynolds and his elderly mentor voluntarily retreating to the prison [cutaway to Eddie Albert resigning himself to a certain forfeiture of authority and respect]. Compare to the fade-out image of the crummy remake: Tracy Morgan in drag. Why the hell did Reynolds conceded to be cast in a travesty of his own classic?). I have no doubt about the merits of EMPEROR; it's just that KISS ME DEADLY still kicks me in the ass. When I intially viewed the "alternate ending" on AMC--totally unprepared--I literally fell out of my chair. God, the film must have provoked one hell of a scandal during its original release (Cloris Leachman's off-screen agony is more disturbing than the carte blanche schlock, tossed like around like a rabid ape, in trash like HOSTEL). And, I admit it, I have a soft spot for THE DIRTY DOZEN (I only regret the personalities of the central players--exempting Telly Savalas--eroded during the final act. But all of the viscera notwithstanding, you gotta love the bonding (Clint Walker: "You're pretty good with the little fella. Ya want to try that on me?"). I sincerely hope that Aldrich earns the respect that he richly deserves.
SoylentMean, NIGHT (CURSE) OF THE DEMON by thegreatwhatzit	May 13th, 2009 12:32:38 PM
is near flawless, disputably the best horror film ever made. The script is thoroughly literate; the hero is smug and the villain (a Satanist saddled with an Oedipal complex) is ALMOST sympathetic. The modern Horror Cinema has forfeited the shadows and opted for non-negotiable slash n' trash; dialogue isn't necessary.
thegreatwhatzit by Ace of Wands	May 13th, 2009 12:54:15 PM
I bought Kiss Me Deadly because A): think it is a great example of Noir and B): it advertised the alternate ending on the disc except that it isn't on the disc I purchased, searched everyway possible and it's not there despite being advertised as an extra. Would have taken it back to where I purchased it but bought it when away from home so made it difficult and then I just gave up and forgot about it until now. Any chance of clueing me in as to the difference in the two endings?.
Original title was going to be... by TinkerTIW	May 13th, 2009 03:17:21 PM
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO SWEET CHARLOTTE? if Crawford had stayed with the movie -- at least, that's what I've heard. HH,SC scared the shit out of me as a kid. For years to come I could never walk around a darkened house without expecting to see a headless silhouette out the window. Love the cast of this movie - especially Cecil Kellaway. Between this, PORTRAIT OF JENNIE (also with Cotten) and BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS I was a Kellaway fan for life. I remember a 45rpm record of the HUSH HUSH, SWEET CHARLOTTE theme by Patti Paige coming out after the movie. (And THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX is Aldrich at his best!)
Deadly Scmedley...Emperor North Schmorf by Ace of Wands	May 13th, 2009 04:44:14 PM
what about Vera Cruz, Lancaster at his scuzzy best or Apache, awesome ( some one already mentioned the fucking brilliant Attack!!, damn them) and the frakkin fantastic Ulzanna's Raid with one of the greatest end freeze frames ever.
Ace of Wands by thegreatwhatzit	May 14th, 2009 12:34:44 AM
The routine ending (surfacing on TV for decades): it's really ambiguous whether or not that Mike and Velda survive the inferno (i.e. the atomic "genie" that has been extricated from Pandora's Box, aka "the great whatzit"). Bottom line: we never see them depart the oceanside house (the entire home is ablaze before an even more fatal explosion will likely sink LA). The uncut ending, however, offers some clarity: Mike and Velda exit the house and retreat to the ocean (another dawn of man, a regression to the "beginning"?). Will either of them survive the certain, more apocalyptic blast? They watch the detonation but how about the consequences of radiation? It's a very uncompromising climax. Further details are chronicled on http://www.imdb.com/title/tt00 48261/alternateversions
Ace of Wands by Continentalop	May 14th, 2009 02:18:46 AM
Ulzanna's Raid is a damn good movie. Good call. I always thought that and Chato's land would make a great double bill (West as Viet Nam).
NIGHT (CURSE) OF THE DEMON by Continentalop	May 14th, 2009 02:22:04 AM
SPOILERS (Quint, look away). Yeah, nearly flawless movie save for the fact the producers felt the need to show the demon. I don't mind them showing it at the end of the movie, but at the beginning nearly undermines what Jacques Tourneur was going for. In fact, I wish they never did show the demon, because then it would always be the question of "does magic exist or not?" which is what Tourneur had intended.
Fascinating film -- by rumble54daddyo	Jun 17th, 2009 08:25:27 AM
-- for its history alone. BUT -- I saw it second-run at our dinkville showhouse in Pudville, Wisconsin, in 1965. Made a huge impression on my pre-adolescent self. Which is why I've seen it at least a half-dozen times since. This is Gothic horror-mellerdrammer at its best. Every performance in it is slightly over-the-top, even that great Virginia gentleman, Joe Cotten -- except, of course, the incomparable Agnes Moorehead, who is WAY over-the-top, which is what her role called for and what she delivered. The consummate pro. It's a potboiler, but WHAT a potboiler. It's B-stuff given A-treatment, and it has never been done more beautifully. Aldrich made many fine films, but this one, "Kiss Me Deadly," and "Baby Jane" are all on a par -- his best. All studies in mad decadence. Aldrich doesn't slip, from start to finish. The performances are all Gothic-perfect -- and I'll be the first to say that De Havilland was a GENIUS replacement for Crawford. She hams just enough, as Joan would not have DARED to do, and it is pitch-perfect. Kudos to Mary Astor for playing a dying old woman when she was a dying old woman. That is fearless. That is acting. That is fiercely and poignantly professional. A special film -- especially for film geeks.

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A Movie A Week: HUSH… HUSH, SWEET CHARLOTTE (1964)
Murder starts in the heart and its first weapon is a vicious tongue

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A Movie A Week: HUSH… HUSH, SWEET CHARLOTTE (1964)Murder starts in the heart and its first weapon is a vicious tongue

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A Movie A Week: HUSH… HUSH, SWEET CHARLOTTE (1964)
Murder starts in the heart and its first weapon is a vicious tongue