Day #21,470

Walk km 5823-5835: to and around Stanley Park

Lost Lagoon
aprox km 5833 Stanley Park

Movie #1397 (#208 this year): Cisco Pike(1972, B L Norton)

This one was pretty crappy. But it was kinda nostalgic. It has Kris Kristofferson as the title character, Karen Black as his love interest, and Harry Dean Stanton as his partner. Viva, Antonio Fargas and Doug Sahm are in there too. This is the kind of picture I'd go to the movies to see in my late teens. Not sure how I missed this one at the time. It's groovy. Groovy crap.


Movie #1398 (#209 this year): Buchanan Rides Alone(1958,Budd Boetticher)

I thought I'd seen all the Scott/Boetticher westerns. Thanks to Crackle I've filled in another missing piece of the puzzle. As usual, a superior western from this team as Scott rides into a town that's owned lock stock and barrel by the Agry family. Trouble ensues.

Day #21,469

Walk km 5805-5810: Meetup group walk around 20th & Main
Walk km 5810-5823: Meetup group walk from Science World to Kitsilano Beach & return

their favourite Beatles record?
their favourite Jam record?
their favourite Larry Williams record?
aprox km 5807 around 20th Ave

Movie #1395 (#206 this year): The Man Inside (John Gilling, 1958)

Detective hops across Europe in pursuit of a jewel thief. Interesting in that this is a black&white Cinemascope picture. The movie is played strickly for laughs. Produced by Albert Broccoli who a few years later produced another picture where he brought the same "just for laughs" approach to the spy yarn and launched James Bond.
This movie is available on the "Crackle" website which is owned by Sony. They have quite a few free movies on that sight. The catch: you have to put up with a few commercials. However, they come on one at a time and only last 30 seconds. A small price to pay considering the picture quality is better than TCM.

Movie #1396 (#207 this year): Crazy Joe (Carlo Lizzani, 1974)

Mafia pic with Peter "Everybody Loves Raymond" Boyle in the title character. Lotsa fun with Peter, Eli Wallach, Rip Torn and Fred Williamson as they murder their way to the top.
And just to make it authentic, they bring in a director from the old country!
This is another movie from Crackle.

Day #21,468

Walk km 5801-5805: Robson/Georgia/Cambie/Dunsmuir/Abbott/Pender/Cambie/Pacific/Davie

Olympic countdown clock stuck on zero
aprox km 5804 Georgia Street

Movie #1393 (#205 this year): Un Monde Presque Paisible(2002, Michel Deville)

This movie is almost identical to Caramel from a few nights ago. Both movies are ensemble pieces where the common thread is that all characters work in the same shop. In Caramel it was a beauty parlour and here it's a tailor shop.
I'm not too crazy about either movie because there is no plot. However, in this movie the characters are much more life-like so I was able to generate enough interest in their day-to-day activities to make watching enjoyable.

Day #21,467

Walk km 5792-5798: Robson/Hamilton/Smithe/seawalk/Beach/Bidwell/(bus)/Davie/Bute/Nelson/Burrard
Walk km 5798-5801: Thurlow/Alberni/Bute/seawalk/Denman

somethingorother
aprox km 5799 Bute Street

Movie #1392 (#204 this year): The Life Of Jimmy Dolan(1933, Archie Mayo)

Archie Mayo doesn't often disappoint and this one is no exception. Oh, some of that orphan kid sweetness and light stuff is not my cuppa tea but otherwise it's OK.
Cast is a real who's who with Douglas Fairbanks, Loretta Young, Aline MacMahon, John Wayne, Mickey Rooney, Clarence Muse, Lyle "Plan 9" Talbot and Edward Arnold.
And you can tell that it's pre-code because Fairbanks commits murder and gets away with it.
Best lines:
"You shoulda lived during the time of George Washington, Jefferson Davis and Sherlock Holmes"
"Why?"
"Because then you'd be dead"

Day #21,466

Walk km 5769-5772: to Safeway
Walk km 5772-5779: to Yaletown Station/(skytrain)/Broadway/Scotia/6th/Prince Edward/5th/Main/Terminal/Quebec/Columbia/Hastings/Carrall/Keefer
Walk km 5779-5792: to Stanley Park and around it on the seawall

Movie #1391 (#203 this year): Caramel (2007, Nadine Labaki)

Horrid. No plot but a character study of half a dozen women each of whom has some sort of problem. Instead of facing the problem and fighting back, they all buckle under. Yech! Well, all except a secondary character who, in the last scene, gets a haircut! Wow! A bit more depth than a soap opera but not much.

Day #21,465

Walk km 5755-5767: Burrard/Georgia/Cambie/Dunsmuir/Main/Alexander/Railroad/Dunlevy/Pender/Gore/Keefer/Columbia/Quebec/seawalk to Kitsilano Beach
Walk km 5767-5769 (15,696 to go): to Denman & Davie

Day #21,464

Walk km 5733-5737: Thurlow/Hastings/Bayview/seawalk/Stanley Park/Alberni/Denman
Walk km 5737-5755 (15,709 to go): to Stanley Park/seawall around Stanley Park/seawalk along False Creek/Quebec/Columbia/Pender/(bus)/Pender/Granville/Dunsmuir/Hornby/Georgia/Burrard

bird on a rock
aprox km 5744 along the seawall

Day #21,463

Walk km 5725-5727: running errands
Walk km 5727-5733: Robson/Denman/Pacific/seawalk/Granville/Beach/Richards/Smithe

Movie #1387 (#202 this year): Son Of Paleface(Frank Tashlin, 1952)

This must have been quite a treat for folks back in 1952. I don't think they would have seen anything quite like it. Frank Tashlin throws everything but the kitchen sink at this one. Bright colours abound and there are endless sight gags. It's a live-action cartoon.
A few too many songs though. And Bob Hope tries his best to be Jerry Lewis but it would have been smarter just to use the real Jerry Lewis.

Kitsilano Beach

Day #21,462
Walk km 5700-5711: Robson/Denman/Alberni/Lost Lagoon/2nd Beach/seawall/Ravine trail/Beaver Lake trail/South Creek trail/rose garden/Lost Lagoon/Alberni/Denman
Walk km 5711-5725: to Science World then with Meetup Group to Kitsilano Beach and back

Meetup members
aprox km 5719 Kitsilano Beach

Movie #1386 (#201 this year): I Killed That Man(1945, Phil Rosen)

Routine whodunit from Monogram. Yawn.

Day #21,461

Walk km 5676-5678: to Safeway
Walk km 5678-5698: Thurlow/Burrard Pl/Howe/Cordoba/Water/Powell/Columbia/Quebec/seawalk to English Bay/seawall around Stanley Park/seawalk to Canada Place/Burrard Pl/Burrard/Cordova
Walk km 5698-5700 (15,761 to go): to the library

trees on a cliff
aprox km 5688 Stanley Park seawall

Book #332 (#34 this year): Every Bet's A Sure Thing (1953, Thomas B Dewey)

there is no picture of this book (or of Dewey) so here's another "Mac" book

Dewy's written a few stinkers in his time but when he feels like giving his best effort, not many are better. This is one of the good ones. "Mac" is hired by the International Detective Agency to tail a woman and her two children as they go by train from Chicago to Las Angeles. The people on the train ain't all that friendly but the folks in sunny California are pure evil.
This one's been out-of-print for 57 years so good luck finding a copy.

Movie #1385 (#200 this year): Mr Boggs Steps Out (Gordon Wiles,1938)

Helen Chandler (the poor man's Carole Lombard)

Another Wiles. Although this one has nothing in common with "Prison Train", it's just as enjoyable. Stuart Erwin is quite the dopey Mr Boggs and Helen Chandler is quite perky as the only employee of the local barrel company that he purchases using money he won in a bean counting contest. Yup, it's goofy.
Best hit of dialogue:
Erwin: "But I'm a man"
Chandler: "You just think you are because you own a pair of pants"
Goofy.

Day #21,460

Walk km 5651-5664: Robson/Denman/seawall around Stanley Park/Georgia/Gilford/Alberni/Denman
Walk km 5664-5676 (15,785 to go): Robson/Denman/seawall around Stanley Park/Alberni/Denman

sunshine!
aprox km 5668 Stanley Park

Movie #1384 (#199 this year): Prison Train(1938, Gordon Wiles)

Clarence Muse as "Sam" may look like a waiter but he's really undercover and up to no good

The best movie Equity Pictures ever made? The plot and dialogue are atrocious and the acting is abysmal. But I liked it. Director Gordon Wiles throws everything at this that he can on his showstring budget. Lots of fancy lighting works wonders.
Also, there is even a black character that actually has a role in the film (instead of just playing a domestic, an entertainer or supplying comedic relief).

Day #21,459

Walk km 5635-5644: Robson/Denman/seawalk/(skytrain)/Dunsmuir/Melville/Pender/Broughton/Hastings/Nicola/Pender/Georgia/Denman
Walk km 5644-5651: Granville/33rd/Pine/Marpole/15th/Spruce/6th

Day #21,458

Walk km 5618-5633: to Science World then with Meetup group through Shaunessey to Granville Island then to Olympic Village Station
Walk km 5633-5635 (15,823): Robson/Denman/(bus)/Robson

Movie #1383 (#198 this year): Woman On The Run (1950, Norman Foster)

Sometimes when you're fishing down at the bottom-of-the-barrel you can catch a whale of a movie. This is the one. Top notch all around. Great acting. Great direction. And my favourite type of move: the film noir. A woman finds out more about her husband during one day of searching for him than she knew from four years of marriage. A classic.

Day #21,457

Walk km 5602-5610: Kootenay/Yale/Boundary/Edinburgh/Boundary/Fellowes/Skeena/Adanac/Pender/(bus)/Hastings/Garden/Venables/Templeton/6th/Lakewood/Broadway
Walk km 5610-5618 (15,839 to go): Robson/Denman/seawalk/Quebec/Columbia/Pender

Movie #1382 (#197 this year): Mr. Reckless (Frank McDonald, 1948)

I'm fishing down at the bottom-of-the-barrel again. This time we have an offering from Medallion Pictures. Well, ya see there's this Greek restaurant owner and he's got this young bride. Then there's this young guy who's crazy about the Greek's bride and so he ends up killing the Greek. It ain't exactly the same plot as The Postman Always Rings Twice but I believe the clowns that wrote this one did see that picture. They've also thrown in a lot of goofy comedy routines too. It don't help.

Day #21,456

Walk km 5589-5595: Burrard/Georgia/Howe/Pender/(bus)/35th/Colloden/45th/Commercial/47th/Gladstone/47th/Nanaimo/49th/Wales/51st/Dawson
Walk km 5595-5602 (15,854 to go): to Stadium Station/(skytrain)/Commercial/5th/Garden/Venables/Clark/Powell

Movie #1381 (#196 this year): Souvenirs Intimes(1999, Jean Beaudin)

A likely story. A teenage girl who is raped by 5 boys plots revenge. But she waits 20 years. Why? She plots revenge on only two of them. Why? Dunno. Doesn't make much sense.
However, the plot is interesting if not very plausible. And we get to see Pascale Bussieres at work. That's enough to give it a passing grade.

Book #312 (#33 this year): Kill Him Twice (1965, Richard S Prather)

This is a book I picked up in an antique store in Winnipeg. This is one of the Shell Scott series and the cover proclaims "over 40,000,000 Shell Scott books sold". I guess that guarantees that it won't be a classic. What we have here is about 1/3 hard-boiled detective story and 2/3 comedy. Prather isn't a good enough writer to make the detective story interesting so the plot is useless. And the comedy isn't much better. There are some clever word plays here and there but not nearly enough to make up for the time spent. At least I won't have to read another one.

Day #21,455

Walk km 5568-5576: to Yaletown Station/(skytrain)/King Edward/Yukon/26th/Peveril/Ontario/28th/Main/walk with Meetup Walking group/Main
Walk km 5576-5589 (15,866 to go): from Science World to Kitsilano Beach with Meetup Walking group

Movie #1380 (#195 this year): King Of The Roaring 20s(1961, JosephM Newman)

Biopic of gang boss Arnold Rothstein. Told without any pizazz. A yawner.

Day #21,454

Walk km 5559-5566: to Yaletown Station/(skytrain & bus)/49th/Wales/50th/Vivian/51st/Doman/52nd/Toderick/53rd/Tyne/54th/Doman/Mount Royal Sq./54th/Lancaster/49th
Walk km 5566-5568: to Safeway

Movie #1378 (#193 this year): Forever(2006, Heddy Honigmann)

Documentary about people visiting the grave of famous artists in Paris. Some of the episodes look natural but some look faked. A real hogdepodge.

Movie #1379 (#194 this year): Le Role De Sa Vie(Francois Favrat, 2004)

Is this a remake of "The Apartment"? Remember Jack Lemmon as the spineless doormat who helps his boss carry on an affair with the woman he (Lemmon) loves? Here we have Karin Viard pretty much acting the same way in the same situation. Except now I like this character - I hated the Lemmon character. Am I sexist? Maybe.

Day #21,453

Walk km 5541-5553: Vanness/Moss/Dundee/40th/Earles/41st/Wales/48th/Elliott/49th/Wales/56th/Kempton/56th/Ashburn/Upland/Prestwick/Jasper/61st/Manitoba/62nd/Cambie/(skytrain)/Georgia/Burrard/Robson
Walk km 5553-5559 (15,894 to go): to Stadium Station/(sktrain)/Commercial/6th/Woodland/3rd/McLean/Grandview/Clark/Terminal/Columbia/walking path/Terminal

Movie #1377 (#192 this year): The Border(1982, Tony Richardson)

Not too crazy about this one. Not too sure why. I guess it was kind of predictable. Once Charlie goes to El Paso/Juarez you know he's gonna be in over his head. No suprises. A bunch of cookie cutter characters.

Day #21,452

Walk km 5530-5533: to Sunrise Market
Walk km 5533-5541: Granville/Devonshire/Oak/Connaught/Granville/32nd/Oak/33rd/Oster/King Edward/Hudson/Connaught/29th/30th/Valley

Day #21,451

NOTE: camera USB cable has gone AWOL - won't be able to update photos til it returns

Walk km 5523-5530 (15,921 to go): Dunbar/34th/Carnarvon/Marine/49th/Balaclava/51st/Blenheim/48th/Marine/49th

Movie #1376 (#191 this year): Escapade In Japan(1957, Arthur Lubin)

Appears to be some sort of goodwill movie between the USA and Japan. Half drama of an American boy lost in Japan and half travelogue. The travelogue part was OK because it showed the sights of Kyoto and Nara and I could compare how I remember those places to what they looked like in 1957. The drama part was horrid. I'm afraid the little boy could not act and the reason behind the plot was all too obvious.
Poor Arthur Lubin: from top of the world with Impact (1949) to this and then hitting bottom in 1966 when he had to direct Herman's Hermits in "Hold On".
The reason that TCM showed this one: 5 seconds of screen time for Clint Eastwood.

Day #21,450

Walk km 5517-5519: to Safeway
Walk km 5519-5523: to T&T Supermarket via seawalk along False Creek

Movie #1374 (#189 this year): Night Alarm(1934, Spencer Gordon Bennet)

Judith Allen and an x-ray of her back (from Modern Mechanix magazine, 1933)


and the front of her didn't look too bad either (Judith Allen with Bruce Cabot)

Yet another Judith Allen. This time she's over at Majestic Pictures. Did she ever make a movie for a real movie studio? Routine story of star reporter (Bruce Cabot) tracking down the big story. Allen is the co-worker and love interest. Of historical interest but not much else.

Movie #1375 (#190 this year): Hollywood & Vine(1945, Alexis Thurn-Taxis)

History of Hollywood: Hollywood and Vine DVD (1945) @ Yahoo! Video

This is one perky movie. I'm gonna give the music of Marvin Hatley primary credit for that but director Thurn-Taxis may be due kudos as well. A giant step up from the usual dreary productions of PRC.

Day #21,449

Walk km 5507-5509: running errands
Walk km 5509-5517 (15,932 to go): Arbutus/34th/Arbutus/35th/W Blvd/Arbutus/Angus/64th/Cambie

Movie #1373 (#188 this year): Telephone Operator(1937, Scott Pembroke)

I've certainly wandered well off the beaten track here as I explore the Monogram pictures of Judith Allen. This one was originally 70 minutes but there is only 52 minutes left on this print. I reckon someone took the scissors to it in order for it to fit into a 1 hour TV slot.
Judith Allen has a much better role here than in "Port Of Missing Girls". A real charmer. And the movie ain't bad either.

Day #21,448

Book #311 (#32 this year): Hastings And Main(1987, various)

picture of the Carnegie Library I took on April 16th 2009

A book of oral histories from people who live in the skid row area of Vancouver. This project was put together by the folks at the Carnegie Library which is smack dab in the center of skid row at the corner of Hastings & Main. They asked people who visited the library to tell their life story and then transcribed it from the tape recording. Very interesting. For some reason, they called the place where they lived "skid road" rather than "skid row": a Canadian variation?

Day #21,447

Movie #1371 (#187 this year): Port Of Missing Girls(1938, Karl Brown)

Its amateur hour over at Monogram Pictures today. A curvacious night club singer (Judith Allen) stowing away on a freighter bound for Hong Kong with a woman hating captain (Harry Carey). The plot here is the best and worst part of this movie. It makes no sense but it keeps the action moving along nicely. A pleasant hour spent.

Day #21,446

Walk km 5501-5507: Lundar, Canada and environs

signpost in the middle of nowhere
aprox km 5504 north-east of Lundar, Canada

a close-up of the same signpost

Movie #1370 (#186 this year): Eyes In the Night(1942, Fred Zinnemann)

I guess it was a long road for Fred Zinnemann from this movie to High Noon. In a rush to join the war effort, this one blames the Nazis in a routine whodunit starring a blind detective and his faithful dog. Crap.

Day #21,445

Walk km 5497-5501: Deerwood Bay/Harmes Road/Deerwood Bay (rural Manitoba)

Day #21,444

Walk km 5485-5497 (15,947 to go): Through Osborne Village and to Assiniboine Park (Winnipeg)

Day #21,443

Walk km 5478-5485 (15,958 to go): around Steinbach

walking path
aprox km 5483 off Loweven Street, Steinbach

Day #21,441

Movie #1368 (#184 this year): L'Argent De Poche(1976, Francois Truffaut)

A charming movie about children. But not that charming. There is no plot so these kids have to make it on charm alone. Nice try.

Day #21,442

Walk km 5470-5478: around Steinbach

boxes, little boxes...and they're all made of ticky-tacky and they all look just the same
aprox km 5475 Ashford Lane, Steinbach, Canada

Movie #1369 (#185 this year): Nue Propriete(2006,Joachim Lafosse)
Another example of great craftsmanship resulting in nothing. There must be a purpose for making amovie. I can't see this one.