Favorite Films (lists up to participating site members)

[Mayerling]

The original scarface is just incredible in fact it's damn perfect. Pacino does a good job of imitating muni. I love how Oliver stone is credited with writing scarface....the vital scenes are nearly exactly the same as the original all the day did was add a ton of filler, coke and cheesy 80s colors.

Larceny inc is great the idea of stuffing suitcases full of dirt from digging To the bank next door is just too funny. If you like little Caesar check out EGR as cobra collins in this gem: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IO4bYj85OK4

I love the original "Scarface", and still have not seen the remake with Pacino and "his leetle friend".

Two moments of comic joy stand out to me from "Larceny Inc." First Robinson and Crawford have gone for a discussion at a nearby greasy spoon where the counter man is a young Jackie Gleason. To get rid of him Robinson orders a cup of coffee. He and Crawford are discussing ways of getting the money for the purchase of the luggage shop, when Gleason returns smiling, and proudly puts down the cup in front of Robinson saying, "That gents is the best cup of coffee in town!!" Robinson and Crawford look at Gleason as though he's a simpleton, and poor Jackie walks away like "the poor soul".

The other moment is after Robinson has acquired the luggage shop and has a customer (something he really does not care about too much). The man has entered the shop, and asks the brilliant question, "Do you sell luggage here?" Robinson says (while pointing at the handbags and suitcases), "No, we keep all this stuff out for laughs!"

Jeff

[Mayerling]

Two more old British crime comedies : Crooks Anonymous - a thief addicted to crime seeks the help of an organization which claims it can reform him. And, The Big Job - a gang of crooks hide the loot from a bank robbery inside a hollow tree. When they come out of prison they find that the area has been developed and the tree is now a few feet inside the walls of the local police station.

Hi Robert,

There is also a pair of films "Make Mine Mink" with Terry-Thomas and Peggy Mount about the denizens of a boarding house who by accident become a successful fur gang. The other one (the name of which escapes me at this time) starred Robert Morley, as a clever but poor investment strategist, who discovers a way to great wealth through a bunch of charwomen who clean out the offices of various big businessmen. I wish I could recall that film, as it was clever, and Ron Moody had an early small but important role as a police officer who the charwomen manage to keep outmaneuvering.

Jeff

[GUT]

Hi Robert,

There is also a pair of films "Make Mine Mink" with Terry-Thomas and Peggy Mount about the denizens of a boarding house who by accident become a successful fur gang. The other one (the name of which escapes me at this time) starred Robert Morley, as a clever but poor investment strategist, who discovers a way to great wealth through a bunch of charwomen who clean out the offices of various big businessmen. I wish I could recall that film, as it was clever, and Ron Moody had an early small but important role as a police officer who the charwomen manage to keep outmaneuvering.

Jeff

I remember the Morley one, but not the name, I'll see if I can find it, pretty sure we have it on DVD or more likely VHS.

[Robert]

Hi Jeff and GUT

I think that one was called "Ladies Who Do." I re-watched it a couple of years ago. Good film, and a nice touch at the end when the now successful ladies have their waste-paper bins rummaged through by their charlady.

Ron Moody is a sheer delight, whatever he's in. I remember in one of the Margaret Rutherford Miss Marple films, where he plays the leader of a bunch of struggling actors, he dismisses Rutherford as having no future in the profession. Then she mentions that she has money, and he freezes in the act of donning his hat, his hat halfway en route to his head. In his final scene in the film, where he is in hospital with a broken leg, he greets Rutherford, makes a graceful gesture towards his plastered leg and says "You will forgive me if I do not rise."

[Mayerling]

Hi Robert and GUT,

It was "Ladies Who Do". A marvelous small scale comedy of big impact, that the British are so good at. The way the charwomen and Morley become a kind of investment group is wonderful, as is how they keep teaching one lesson after another to this bumptious millionaire who wants to turn them out of their flats for some building project - and manage to demolish his prized limousine.

Moody was (besides being Fagin in "Oliver") Count Mountjoy, Prime Minister of Grand Fenwick in "The Mouse on the Moon".

Jeff

[Steadmund Brand]

I feel so ripped off being an American that the smaller British films never make it over here.. and my all region DVD player has died.. so ordering many of these films is impossible for me... I feel like I miss out on some amazing stuff....if only we lived in a region free dvd world

Larceny Inc... wow... I have not seen that film in so many years I almost forgot about it (ok not almost.. I did) That I will be watching again very soon!!!

Mayerling... great call on The Killers.. another film I love that few seem to remember.. oh this thread brings back so many good memories.....

I just read that there is a remake in the works for the film Going In Style (with George Burns, Art Carney and Lee Strasberg) staring Dustin Hoffman, Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine.. three actors I really like, and a film that I love.. so I ask... WHY WHY WHY.. THIS REMAKE STUFF HAS TO STOP!!!! I just can't imagine this having the same heart as the first.. but I'm sure they will throw in all kinds of witty "I'm so old " jokes to make for a good 2 minute trailer... oh well.. what else is new..


Steadmund Brand

[sdreid]

My favorite caper movie, if you consider it such, would be 21 about the MIT Blackjack Team that gave Vegas fits counting cards back in the 80s.

[Mayerling]

I feel so ripped off being an American that the smaller British films never make it over here.. and my all region DVD player has died.. so ordering many of these films is impossible for me... I feel like I miss out on some amazing stuff....if only we lived in a region free dvd world

Larceny Inc... wow... I have not seen that film in so many years I almost forgot about it (ok not almost.. I did) That I will be watching again very soon!!!

Mayerling... great call on The Killers.. another film I love that few seem to remember.. oh this thread brings back so many good memories.....

I just read that there is a remake in the works for the film Going In Style (with George Burns, Art Carney and Lee Strasberg) staring Dustin Hoffman, Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine.. three actors I really like, and a film that I love.. so I ask... WHY WHY WHY.. THIS REMAKE STUFF HAS TO STOP!!!! I just can't imagine this having the same heart as the first.. but I'm sure they will throw in all kinds of witty "I'm so old " jokes to make for a good 2 minute trailer... oh well.. what else is new..


Steadmund Brand

Hi Steadmund,

The Killers is one of those multi-layered story tales where the kernel at the center is only revealed at the tail end when Edmond O'Brien finally learns why Lancaster was killed (which is like a final twist in the story the viewer is not totally prepared for). It was an excellent introduction for Lancaster on screen and had a wonderful cast (besides him and O'Brien, Ava Gardner, Albert Dekker, Sam Levine, Donald MacBride, William Conrad, Charles McGraw) and certainly kept the right down-beat mood to the end.

Frequently the Turner Classic Movie network shows it and other film noir movies (and other in general) that are not seen elsewhere. Last night they showcased Ann Southern (their star of the month) in "Nancy Goes to Rio", which I had never seen. And they have been showing a number of Disney films this month too - I finally saw "The Three Cabilleros" on Sunday night.

Jeff

[Mayerling]

My favorite caper movie, if you consider it such, would be 21 about the MIT Blackjack Team that gave Vegas fits counting cards back in the 80s.

Hi Stan,

One of my favorite caper films was the original "Ocean's Eleven" with Sinatra, Martin, Davis, Lawford, Conte, Romero, and a cameo by Shirley MacLaine. I have watched parts of the remake and sequels with Clooney and Pitt, but the original was just about perfect to me. For one thing, except for the business of Richard Conte's health, it did not take itself too seriously. Even "retired" elder Mob statesman Cesar Romero seems to be enjoying himself in his part.

Joey Bishop (as part of Sinatra's "Rat Pack") was in "Ocean's Eleven". Bishop was also in a cute comedy with Jim Hutton, Walter Brennan, Milton Berle, Jack Gilford, Bob Denver, Victor Buono, a young Jamie Farr, and I believe Dorothy Provine, called "Whose Minding the Mint" (1967) directed by Howard Morris (of "Your Show of Shows" fame). The plot dealt with Hutton, facing a possible investigation about his finances (he works for the U.S. Treasury Department's printing division), who discovers that he has accidentally caused one million dollars to be destroyed, and has to get together a band of men to print an unplanned million in currency to cover the loss. Initially he was thinking that one or two people might be sufficient, but the plan unfortunately mushrooms, and involves getting Gilford a hearing aid, using boats to transport everyone through a sewer, and using Denver to romance a young woman so she can't be at her window watching a courtyard where the gang has to enter and leave the sewer. It is not a great comedy but it is amusing.

Jeff

[GUT]

Hi Stan,

One of my favorite caper films was the original "Ocean's Eleven" with Sinatra, Martin, Davis, Lawford, Conte, Romero, and a cameo by Shirley MacLaine. I have watched parts of the remake and sequels with Clooney and Pitt, but the original was just about perfect to me. For one thing, except for the business of Richard Conte's health, it did not take itself too seriously. Even "retired" elder Mob statesman Cesar Romero seems to be enjoying himself in his part.

Joey Bishop (as part of Sinatra's "Rat Pack") was in "Ocean's Eleven". Bishop was also in a cute comedy with Jim Hutton, Walter Brennan, Milton Berle, Jack Gilford, Bob Denver, Victor Buono, a young Jamie Farr, and I believe Dorothy Provine, called "Whose Minding the Mint" (1967) directed by Howard Morris (of "Your Show of Shows" fame). The plot dealt with Hutton, facing a possible investigation about his finances (he works for the U.S. Treasury Department's printing division), who discovers that he has accidentally caused one million dollars to be destroyed, and has to get together a band of men to print an unplanned million in currency to cover the loss. Initially he was thinking that one or two people might be sufficient, but the plan unfortunately mushrooms, and involves getting Gilford a hearing aid, using boats to transport everyone through a sewer, and using Denver to romance a young woman so she can't be at her window watching a courtyard where the gang has to enter and leave the sewer. It is not a great comedy but it is amusing.

Jeff

G'day Jeff

Funny you mention Oceans 11, I only watched the original last weekend, it was on one of the lesser TV channels.Whilst I thought the remake was OK the original was brilliant.

[Mayerling]

G'day Jeff

Funny you mention Oceans 11, I only watched the original last weekend, it was on one of the lesser TV channels.Whilst I thought the remake was OK the original was brilliant.

G'Day GUT,

I think that it's because Sinatra and his pals were not taking themselves seriously through most of the picture. Clooney and his crew were - otherwise why did they bother making two sequels (and probably another is on the board somewhere).

Jeff

[GUT]

G'Day GUT,

I think that it's because Sinatra and his pals were not taking themselves seriously through most of the picture. Clooney and his crew were - otherwise why did they bother making two sequels (and probably another is on the board somewhere).

Jeff

I didn't mind 12 and 13 or even the remake of 11 but just as Smiths Chips, used to say in an ad here in Aus

"The Original and the Best"

[Mayerling]

List for "Perfect Murder"/Murder Plot films

I didn't mind 12 and 13 or even the remake of 11 but just as Smiths Chips, used to say in an ad here in Aus

"The Original and the Best"

G'Day GUT,

I'm guessing "Smiths Chips" are potato chips. My question now is are they the best?

I thought of a new list, given we just crime capers: Movies about murder plots or attempts at Perfect Murders. This can include assassination schemes.

Assassination Schemes:

The Tall Target
Prince of Players
The Conspirator
Prisoner of Shark Island
We Were Strangers
Julius Caesar (1950 version)
Cleopatra (1934)
Cleopatra (1963)
JFK
Suddenly
The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
Nine Hours to Rama
Gandhi
Hitler's Madman
Hangman Also Die
Guns of Zangara* [*Originally a two part television episode on "The Untouchables" but later released as a film]
The Day of the Jackel
The Three Musketeers (1948)
The Three Musketeers (1975)
Becket
Richard III (1955)
Malcolm X
Michael Collins
Beloved Enemy
The Assassination of Jesse James...By the Coward Bob Ford
Jesse James
Nicholas and Alexandra
Rasputin and the Empress
Viva Zapata
Macbeth (1949)
Macbeth (1969)
Caligula

"Perfect Murder" Schemes:

Woman of Straw
The Verdict (1948)
Man in a Cloak
The Lady From Shanghai
Experiment: Perilous
Return From the Ashes
And Then There Were None
The List of Adrian Messinger
The Naked Truth (Admittedly a comedy - but look at the plots planned against Dennis Price's blackmailer)
The Green Man
The Ladykillers (1955)
High Anxiety
The Wrong Box (Technically not a murder - but the disposal of unwanted bodies)
Weekend at Bernie's
The Trouble With Harry
Rear Window
Vertigo
Suspicion
Shadow of a Doubt
Strangers on a Train
Stage Fright
Gaslight
Mr. Denning Drives North
Love From a Stranger
Green is For Danger
Touch of Evil
The Three Cases of Murder ("Lord Mountdrago" section)
The Third Man

Jeff

[Robert]

Hi Jeff

Maybe add Dial 'M' for Murder to the list.

The Ladykillers isn't really a perfect murder scheme, is it, more like a perfect robbery leading to an extremely imperfect murder.

I see you have Green For Danger on the list. Wonderful performance by Sim, and a non-Harbottle appearance by Marriott. Also a great line about laughing gas - 'the laughter is caused by the impurities' - 'rather like our modern music halls.'

[Mayerling]

Hi Jeff

Maybe add Dial 'M' for Murder to the list.

The Ladykillers isn't really a perfect murder scheme, is it, more like a perfect robbery leading to an extremely imperfect murder.

I see you have Green For Danger on the list. Wonderful performance by Sim, and a non-Harbottle appearance by Marriott. Also a great line about laughing gas - 'the laughter is caused by the impurities' - 'rather like our modern music halls.'

Hi Robert,

I failed to recall several films, and "Dial 'M' for Murder" was one. Another Hitchcock film I can't recall the name of is with Gregory Peck and Ingrid Bergman about psychiatry and murder and Salvador Dali did some of the art backgrounds in it. It has a single word title, and I can't recall it. Such is memory.

The reason I did include "The Ladykillers" was that when the Professor and his gang start thinking of silencing the extremely moral Mrs. Wilberforce, Guinness says to the others, "It should look like an accident". Unfortunately the only one who could adequately get rid of her (Lom) is not all that keen on it as it turns out.

I do like many of Sim's films (and this goes far beyond his definitive Scrooge). "Green For Danger" is not his only film as a policeman or detective. Another good one, but not in the area of perfect crimes or planned crimes, is "An Inspector Calls" where he is that interesting Inspector Goole.

As for Marriott, it is interesting seeing him in a fairly straight (if brief) part in "Green For Danger", but his "Harbottle" against (it seems hardly fair to say "with") Will Hay is a marvel. There is a bit in the film "Ask A Policeman", where he is playing his own father, and Hay, trying to get some information from him, reassures him, "Don't you worry about this news from Balaclava." He is there to get the correct conclusion of a quadrain that will explain where a smuggler's lair is from centuries back. Marriott is reciting it in and "abab" rocking horse meter, and then blasts off with a final line explaining the location but it doesn't scan properly, and Hay starts forgetting his purpose and becomes a literary critic!

Jeff