Friday Fun: May Is National Military Appreciation Month

Friday Fun: 

May Is National 

Military Appreciation Month

Gee...

I would love to appreciate the military. 

I would love to appreciate the military the way they appear to appreciate each other.

Yes, I'd salute these boys... and something tells me they'd immediately stand at attention!

Here's hoping.

Hoping I get a chance to show my appreciation.

Maybe on my knees.

Or my back.

Gee... 

I now have a new appreciation for the men in uniform.

P.S. Line forms at the rear...

Yes, I would do my duty.

For my country.

Military service? It would be an honor!

- uptonking from Wonderland Burlesque

Attention - Charlie Puth

Attention - Omah Lay & Justin Bieber

Wonderland Burlesque's Let's Go To The Movies: Face Time - Part XVIII

Wonderland Burlesque's

Let's Go To The Movies: 

Face Time

Part XVIII

That look, that face...

It's all in the face. It can be read like a book. Or so these films would have us believe. 

The silver screen has been home to so many beautiful (and not-so-beautiful) faces, lighting up the dark, showing us the way, sharing celluloid dreams. It seems only fitting that we take them at their word and look a these films one face at a time.

Yes, these faces may belong to a bygone era, but in the movies?

A face lives forever.

--- ---

 The Face On The Bar-Room Floor

(1923)

In Paris, France, famous artist Robert Stevens falls in love with Mrs. Marion Trevor and follows her to the U.S., where they plan to marry. Marion's brother, Dick Van Vleck, becomes infatuated with Lottie, who is modeling for Robert. However, Dick returns to college and abandons Lottie, who then drowns herself in the ocean. Robert is accused of betraying the girl, prompting Marion to break their engagement. In addition, he is falsely accused of theft, resulting in a two-year prison term. The artist joins several inmates in a prison break and saves the life of the state governor before escaping. Afterward, Robert lands on an island, where he prevents a shipwreck and nurses an ailing lighthouse keeper back to health. Although he receives a pardon, the despondent artist becomes a drunkard. One day, Marion and the governor enter a barroom to find Robert painting her portrait on the floor. The lovers are reconciled and find happiness together.

Adapted from the poem of the same name by Hugh Antoine d'Arcy, this American drama was directed by John Ford and stars Henry B. Walthall, Ruth Clifford, Ralph Emerson, Frederick Sullivan, and Alma Bennett.

Ruth Clifford

It is considered to be a lost film. 

--- ---

Face On The Barroom Floor

(1932)

Bill Bronson is a likable young bank clerk, whose congenital thirst for liquor is kept under control until he joins his wife Mary at getting blotto at a company party. From there it is a downward spiral.

This pre-Code American crime film directed by Bertram Bracken and stars Dulcie Cooper, Bramwell Fletcher and Alice Ward.

--- ---

The Three Faces of Fear

(1963)

AKA: Black Sabbath,  Il tre volti della paura

A trio of atmospheric horror tales: A woman is terrorized in her apartment by phone calls from an escaped prisoner from her past; a Russian count in the early 1800s stumbles upon a family in the countryside trying to destroy a particularly vicious line of vampires; and a 1900-era nurse who makes a fateful decision while preparing the corpse of one of her patients; an elderly medium who died during a séance.

This Italian/French horror anthology was directed by Mario Bava and stars Boris Karloff, Mark Damon, Michèle Mercier, Suzy Anderson, Lydia Alfonsi, Glauco Onorato, and Jacqueline Pierreux.

There were additional scenes filmed with Boris Karloff introducing the segments, however AIP decided they were unnecessary and cut them from the film. Karloff would later say these introductions were some of the most fun he'd ever had on a film set.

While filming, Karloff contracted pneumonia, which led to him having to rely on oxygen tanks after production ended.

There are two very different versions of the film: Bava's original Italian cut and the American International Pictures cut. In order to make the film more marketable to western audiences, AIP changed Boris Karloff's introductions, re-arranged the order of the stories, gave the film a whole new score, and even re-edited several scenes. AIP made the most substantial changes to the plot of The Telephone by removing all implications of lesbianism and prostitution, replacing them with a supernatural element.

Les Baxter's musical score for the American release of the film, 52 minutes in all, was recorded in a single day.

The segment The Telephone was the first Italian thriller to be shot in color. It is also one of the earliest examples of giallo, a mystery/horror subgenre popularized by Mario Bava's next film, Blood and Black Lace (1964).

This film was a commercial failure upon release in Italy, and performed below expectations in America.

The Globe and Mail stated that The Drop of Water and The Telephone were "a good deal more sophisticated than usual horror fare" while The Wurdulak "bears no trace of [Bava's] manner of directing" and that the acting was "rudimentary". The Boston Globe gave the film a negative review, referring to it as "three short films botched together". The Monthly Film Bulletin stated that "the eeriest thing about the picture is its décor (especially the heavy, dusty interiors of [The Drop of Water]" while noting that the "acting is very unstylish and made worse by dubbing". The review also stated that Bava could "do better than this with less obvious material" and seemed "determined to spell everything out with a sudden zoom shots and shock cuts."

You can watch this film in its entirety for free on YouTube.

--- ---

The Devil With Seven Faces

(1971)

AKA: Il diavolo a sette facce, The Devil Has Seven Faces, 

Bloody Mary, Nights of Terror

The theft of jewels and mistaken identity complicate the life of Mary causing her to become the target of a vicious gang of criminals.

This Italian giallo/crime thriller was directed and co-written by Osvaldo Civirani and stars Carroll Baker, George Hilton, Stephen Boyd, and Luciano Pigozzi.

 
Carroll Baker plays a dual role in this film, two identical twins named Julie and Mary. Director Civirani had previously worked with Baker on 1968's The Sweet Body of Deborah.

You can watch this film in its entirety for free on YouTube.

--- ---

The Two Faces Of Fear

(1972)

AKA: Coartada en Disco Rojo, I Due Volti della Paura

A professor's wife falls in love with her husband's assistant. When she learns he's planning to move to another city, she does everything she can to avoid it, with no success. Soon afterwards, he's found dead, in obscure circumstances.

This Italian/Spanish crime thriller was directed by Tulio Demicheli and stars George Hilton, Fernando Rey, Luciana Paluzzi and Anita Strindberg.

David McGillivray for the Monthly Film Bulletin stated that "Apart from one taut and reasonably well played sequence in which a woman - convinced that her husband is about to murder her on the operating table - pleads for understanding as she succumbs to the anesthetic, this routine and underdeveloped thriller consists of little more than bits of badly tied wrapping." McGillivray also stated that the film had "expressionless dubbing".

 

You can watch this film in its entirety for free on YouTube.

--- ---

And that's all for now, folks!

Tune in next time...

Same channel, same place.

--- ---

The Devil With Seven Faces - Movie Trailer

(1971)