Day #21,734

Walk km 7766-7775: Kings/Merritt/Richfield/Alcoa/Rye/Sahara/San Bernardino/Arville/Sahara/Arville/Tara/Valley View/Sirius/Rigel/Mead/Rancho

a Rolls-Royce
approx km 7773 Rigel Street

Movie #1717: Sis Hopkins (1941, Joseph Santley)

This is the second Judy Canova vehicle I've seen and although it's an improvement over the first, it's still no great shakes. The problem is they just don't dare to let Judy loose. Some of her numbers are just by-the-numbers crooning. Speaking of crooning, Bob (brother of Bing) Crosby is on board to also sing a few lacklustre numbers. However, his band does throw in a few excellent swing numbers.
I wonder if there are any good Canova films out there?

Movie #1718: The Fearmakers (1958, Jacques Tourneur)

Dana Andrews on a plane with a commie (all commies in this picture are ugly and have bad manners)

This was certainly interesting. Dana Andrews has a scoop: lobbyists in Washington are using phony organizations who distort the facts to swing public opinion in their favour for their own nefarious purposes. Pretty old hat today but maybe a revelation in 1958. But now for the big surprise: it's the commies that are behind all this! Gee, imagine that: today it's the extreme right but then it was the extreme left. How times have changed. And this movie drags out all the cliches about patriotism to seal the deal (final fist fight with the head commie takes place before the statue of Abraham Lincoln). Disgusting propaganda.

Movie #1719: The Naked Street (1955, Maxwell Shane)

My kinda movie. Anthony Quinn is head of organized crime in New York but has a soft spot for his family. Family troubles cause his downfall. It's a noir!

Day #21,733

Walk km 7754-7766 (13,967 to go): To the Golden Nugget and return

Movie #1716: The Party Crashers (1958, Bernard Girard)

This one is a little weird. Teens get their kicks by crashing parties. Then they crash a party that has middle aged partyers instead of teens. They freak out! I'm not sure why.
The whole thing is blamed on their parents/society.
One of the more bizarre scenes is where they outdo Rebel Without A Cause by having one of the teen's father being purse-whipped by his wife!
The other is where it appears that the same wife makes advances towards her son.
A little weird.

Day #21,732

Walk km 7749-7754: to the laundromat

Movie #1712: Edge Of Fury (1953, Gurney & Lerner)

Psychological thriller made on a shoestring budget. And they don't attempt anything easy either. The lead character's condition is relayed by all kinds of small quirks that he has until we realize just how sick he is. Of course we realize this before the other characters in the movie do so we have a rooting interest in the safety of Richard's "friends". An excellent attempt that maybe isn't totally successful but is much better than one should expect from a no-name cast and crew.

Movie #1713: Juvenile Jungle (1958, William Witney)

Netflix screwed up with this one. This is a 1.85/1 ratio movie but they chopped off the ends of the picture to make it "full screen". However, I can't complain too much since it was free.
Witney does it again. Not sure how he does it but so far all of his movies have been great without there being any obvious reason. Quentin Tarantino is a big fan so I'm sure his reasons can be found on the web somewhere.
This one has a gang of juveniles (looking a little old for the part) scheming to kidnap the daughter of the owner of the local drug store. Everyone is in fine form and the action just rolls right along.

Movie #1715: Santa Fe Passage (1955, William Witney)

We continue with the William Witney/Netflix movie festival. However, with this one I have a problem. Most of the characters in this movie are racists. John Payne is racist as concerns Indians. The half-breed is a racist against half-breeds and the Indians are racist against Indians. Sees pretty one-sided to me.
Sure is a pretty movie though (gorgeous colour).

Day #21,731

Walk km 7735-7743 (13,988 to go): Kings/Merritt/Rye/Sahara/Bronco/Laredo/Tenaya
Walk km 7743-7749 (13,982 to go): Eastern/Exley/Burnham/St Louis/Maryland/Sahara

a sidewalk for drunks?
approx km 7742 Laredo Street

Movie #1708: Confidence Girl (1952, Andrew L Stone)

Definitely a lesser Stone. It was "written, produced and directed" by Stone so he can't blame anyone else. Lightweight account of scam artists at work. The picking of Tom Conway (debonair lead of many '40s whodunits) as his lead actor was probably his first mistake.

Movie #1709: Pressure Point (1962, Hubert Cornfield)

the tic tac toe scene

I had quite a bit of trouble with "Confidence Girl" (picture breakup and freezing) but this one was better. A pleasure to watch mostly due to the performances of Poitier and Darin. The psychology seemed a little shaky (but then, what do I know?).

Movie #1710: The Girls On The Beach (1965, William Witney)

This one had to be embarrassing for The Beach Boys. A Beach Boys movie where the whole plot concerns all the kids on the beach being crazy about the Beatles. Ouch!
However, I really enjoyed it but I'm not sure why. It's the same inane plot as all the other teen movies of the 60s. Just a quick knock off to cash in on the current trends of the day (although by '65 the beach was kinda old hat). Lesley Gore did sing three songs. There was Brian Wilson singing "The Lonely Sea" by a bonfire on the beach. Lotsa girls in bikinis. I guess that was enough for me.
Also, I used to have a 6-sheet poster of this movie on my wall. I didn't think I'd ever get to see it. Thanks Netflix.

Movie #1711: Hot Cars (1956, Don MacDougall)

Just another enjoyable 50s B-flick until that doozie of a roller coaster ending. And that Joi Lansing.............she's a regular Alison Hayes.

Day #21,730

Walk km 7727-7735 (13,995 to go): Rancho/Meade/Penwood/Edmonds/Tara/Mohawk/Eldora/El Camino/Sahara

a couple of trees
approx km 7732 Eldora @ Westwind


flowers in the desert
approx km 7733 Eldora Ave

Movie #1706: Undertow (2004, David Gordon Green)

Thriller about some folks with family troubles. Plenty of talent went into this one. Not sure what it lacks but it's just not very compelling.

Movie #1707: Plunder Road (1957, Hubert Cornfield)

I may have hit the motherload. I've joined Netflix here in the States. I should have access to their whole catalogue until I cross back into Canada. The first was this Hubert "Night Of The Following Day" Cornfield B-flick about transporting stolen gold across country with roadblocks everywhere. Neat.