NinadeL

William Riley Burnett may be the author of the foundation of the gangster genre, Little Caesar, but two decades later he made only a plain raw heist noir. Huston made The Asphalt Jungle as a routine dead movie full of sterile shots and lost existences. All the characters are black-and-white genre templates and their performances are completely devoid of emotion, which is why it is such a joy to watch the few scenes with MM, whose authenticity can wake the dead.

The culmination of the Marx Brothers' career, their last film together after 20 years. I expected nothing and got everything. An incredibly fresh, energetic spectacle from the laugh-out-loud genre. Great backstage evil deeds alternates with one another, with a necklace from the Romanov estate as a side plot. Of the actresses, Ilona Massey, Vera-Ellen and Marion Hutton originally dazzled, but in retrospect they were overshadowed in a single scene by the dazzling newcomer Marilyn Monroe (and as such she dominates the new posters). This is the last film produced by Mary Pickford.

A well-arranged documentary explaining the circumstances of the making of MM's last unfinished film. An unusually large amount of material from the film has survived, and some people believe that they can comment on the film itself, but mostly it is just an assessment of the appearance of the thirty-five-year-old star.

Don't Bother to Knock is one of the five MM films of 1952. Another noir after Lang's Clash by Night. It was based on the 1951 novel "Mischief" by Charlotte Armstrong. Perhaps the only thing I can say about the film is that MM never became the queen of noir, but critics appreciated her portrayal of the unstable anti-hero and she was better positioned among the faces of 20th Century Fox for years to come.

Another great episode. After the last excellent karaoke climax comes the part with the cloudburst. And the good tradition of TLW continues the way the fans love it. It's time to remember the episode Liquid Heat, in which Bette and Tina were stuck in an elevator.

River of No Return is a classic great western. The brilliant CinemaScope wonderfully frames the story through the breathtaking Canadian landscape, giving acting opportunities that were only minimally doled out at the time. Even MM's acting is excellent, as she understood her Kay Weston completely (thus her unrealistic hairstyle remains the only problem). Even the rear projection is not problematic and although according to the rules of the genre there is a purely happy ending at the end of the film, it is not kitsch. A pleasant surprise.

The year 1953 belonged fully to MM. She was lucky to have three films that did well. Niagara still clumsily offered mostly Marilyn's raw sex appeal (in addition to the great exteriors), but it was clear that for next time, her energy would not be wasted on supporting roles and cheap productions. After Niagara, MM was only a part of expensive, possibly color or CinemaScope productions. It’s no -movie. What did she do to deserve it? An ordinary suspense film about a woman who plans the murder of her husband with her lover. Hollywood has known many such stories. Once it was Barbara Stanwyck, another time it was Lana Turner, but this time it was the scandalous naked calendar girl who played up the gossip and her own ambitions.

Fully domesticated in Hollywood, Fritz Lang made one noir after another. This time, he used Clifford Odets' 1941 play, which then starred Tallulah Bankhead on Broadway. The neo-realistic style was in demand at the time and it was possible to get something perverse going among the sailors in the film. The most powerful scenes take place in the projectionist's booth. Stanwyck is brilliant, cold, and attractive all at the same time. With MM it's a bit worse because she only aroused Lang's desire for violence.

In the tradition of Hawks' crazy Cary Grant movies, Monkey Business doesn't particularly stand out. This time Grant's partner is Ginger Rogers and the stereotypical naive blonde secretary is Marilyn Monroe. The film has momentum, and an incredible pace, but slowly but surely, the staleness of the 50s comes to the surface.

So many climaxes in one karaoke party at Dana's. The joy of TLW is back. The relationship shenanigans make sense and they're not just empty scripted flourishes. I like the fact that even though the main characters are from a wide LGBT+ spectrum, it isn’t an issue to write them as believable individuals who, despite everything and everyone, are fighting for their place in the sun and find their place in society, their economic status, and some of them are full of petty-bourgeois prejudice at their core.