Overlooked films

Forgotten over time, released at the wrong time, neglected by DVD distributors, or obscure little niche films you discovered by chance. For whatever reason, these are the films you hold close to your chest because you were the first one to discover them in your circle of friends... in fact, you hold them with a sort of jealous admiration - you'd hate for other people to share their odd magnificence.

It's all relative, of course; you might find a circle of friends who love these films, but more often than not, you take pleasure in nobody else having seen them. Fish them out in your collection, and post about them here.

(I just made a list of ten):

Medium Cool (1969)
dir. Haskell Wexler - Wexler made a name for himself through innovative cinematography, but here he directs a docu-drama which captures the social and political chaos of late sixties America.

Wesele / The Wedding (2004)
dir. Wojciech Smarzowski - a wittily black Polish comedy which piles on upheaval after upheaval in an almost surrealist fashion; it is the kind of film Godard may have once made, in which the protagonist, a charming and despisable millionaire, solves all his problems with money, of which he has an endless supply.

Kongekabale / King's Game (2004)
dir. Nikolaj Arcel - a moody political thriller in the vein of All the President's Men which I saw on the big screen back in 2005 after seeing three average films back-to-back-to-back before it.

Crossfire (1947)
dir. Edward Dmytryk - visually gorgeous, excellently acted film on racial tensions; very daring masterpiece.

Build My Gallows High / Out of the Past (1947)
dir. Jacques Tourneur - one of the fastest, wittiest and cleverly structured noir films I've seen. I suspect older members have seen it - and love it.

The Window (1949)
dir. Ted Tetzlaff - gripping, tense B-movie thriller which must be praised for visual superiority and brevity of storytelling.

The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964)
dir. Anthony Mann - Mann's known more for his Westerns, and for some reason, this epic never gained the cultural or historical momentum of others made in the fifties and sixties. See it, for its outstanding cinematography, production values and a story from which Gladiator derives much.

Westworld (1973)
dir. Michael Crichton - Everyone knows Yul Brynner from The King and I and perhaps The Magnificent Seven, but as a kid who saw neither of those films (and still hasn't), Brynner was always the face of "Westworld", the holiday resort which takes people back to the Wild West, with murderous malfunctions to boot. It's a great film rich in allegory.

The Outfit (1974)
dir. John Flynn - A wonderful, tough-talking machismo thriller with Robert "Tom Hagen" Duvall, who made a career of stealing films from brief scenes and bit parts - here he carries the film alone.

Paradise Alley (1978)
dir. Sylvester Stallone - Two years following Rocky comes Stallone's directorial debut (a year prior to the first Rocky sequel), an odd little tale of Little Italy's Hell's Kitchen, brotherly friendship and wrestling. One of the most memorable, rain-drenched climaxes I can think of.

^^ If any of these take your fancy, definitely check them out.

Good idea for a thread, Mick.

I have two that immediately come to mind:

1. "The Devil and Daniel Webster" - made in 1941 this wonderful fantasy tells of a farmer who is having a tough time and makes a deal with the devil (to do better). He does do better and when it comes time to pay the devil he wants "out". He's defended (in a fantasy court trial) by Daniel Webster, a wondeful orator of the day, excellently portrayed by Edward Arnold. The movie has an awesome cast of character actors (including Walter Huston and H.B. Warner) and the camera work adds wonderfully to the surreal feeling of the film. Its only available on (hard-to-find) VHS; one of my "prized possessions".

2. "The Next Voice You Hear" - stars James Whitmore (the old librarian in "Shawshank Redemption") and Nancy Davis (later better known as Nancy Reagan, wife of Ronald Reagan) in this 1950 "fantasy". It tells of an average American family and how they respond to the spectacle of God speaking to them (and EVERYONE else in the world) on the radio. Its a great "what if" film and addresses some interesting questions about our faith. Another "only VHS" release, and its hard to come by, but its worth the hunt.

There's an absolute boatload of forgotten masterpieces made in the backlot of the Hollywood studios - they made films left, right and centre (a lot of them were bad, too), essentially assembly-line productions. I get a headache just thinking about how many brilliant films have been lost into obscurity.

I love WESTWORLD and PARADISE ALLEY!

Capo, you love WESTWORLD? Thats awesome.

Then again, that was back when Michael Crichton was a decent director, and not the author who wrote the same book over and over again.

Another good Crichton cinema ride, THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY.

Just a few:
Seconds (dir. John Frankenheimer). Middle aged businessman gets second chance at life from a mysterious outfit that makes him a "reborn"; discovers it's not what it was supposed to be. Absolutely fascinating from start to finish. Great performances from John Randolph, Wesley Addy, Jeff Corey. Salome Jens and (yes) Rock Hudson.
True Confessions (dir. Ulu Grosbard). Probably the least well-known great film of recent years. Robert Duvall's greatest performance (saying a lot for him), but everyone else in the film (starting with DeNiro and [yes, Mick] Charles Durning) are just as fine. The novel, by John Gregory Dunne, is one of my top ten.

Paradise Alley was definitely overlooked and Fall of the Roman Empire is an historical epic for sure.

But what about The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh?

You all might laugh when I say this movie, but it's one that nobody I know has ever seen and I absolutely love it. It's full of odd offbeat humor that most people don't get or think is funny. On IMDB it has a horrible rating of 5.3, but then again it only has 5,142 votes so I guess that proves this movie is overlooked.

The movie is Drowning Mona. I'm actually very surprised to see the low rating. I think it's because of the fact that most people don't understand that sort of humor, the kind of dark strange humor that Danny Devito is usually apart of. The writing is very well done. Everything from the little character quirks, situations, etc... and the actors playing the parts are great! When I watch it with my friends and family who ask "What is this movie??" they almost always get a good laugh out of it.

I hope there is someone else on here who shares my love for this movie.

Great topic Capo.

Funny this topic came up today because I completely stumbled upon THE LORDS OF FLATBUSH in the $5 dvd bin at K-Mart yesterday. I love that movie.

The guy who played Mike Mambo (the guy from Avenue J who was playing pool) was my brother's best friend. I hadda laugh when I saw him in the movie because he was really like that in real life.

I've always liked the movie. Stallone was pretty good in it (as was Henry Winkler) but I thought Perry King stole the movie. I'm surprised he didn't make a bigger name for himself.

There were quite a few big names who came out of that movie.

The Vitelli Archives are pretty much overflowing with films, many of which might be considered "overlooked". Some are just obscure ones that I happen to have a soft spot for, some were shown quite often on TV years ago, but have seldom been seen recently.

Here are a few off the top of my pointed little head:

The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941) Here, I'll agree with SC's earlier post. This film turns up on TCM occasionally, and much of the missing footage (censored for re-release) has been restored. A true gem.

The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1935) Claude Rains stars in this one, and it hasn't been shown on television in a good twenty years (that I'm aware of). I taped it years ago.

The Power and the Glory (1933) Stars Spencer Tracy and silent-film actress Colleen Moore. Arguably, in some ways, an inspiration for Citizen Kane, it has a pre-Code frankness and excellent performances. The "courtship" scene is quite memorable.

Beast of Morocco (1965) A British film who's original title (The Hand of Night) was a better one. Not a great film - acting was a little uneven and it could've used a bigger budget - but there was just something about the story that I found interesting. (Or, maybe I'm one of the few people left who remembers Diane Clare.) Hasn't been shown in many years.

Probably more films will come to mind when I'm not quite so tired. As Jimmy Durante used to say, "I got a million of 'em!"

Signor V.

I considered these, but figured you'd post them. Seconds has one of the most gripping openings ever, I think. The ending is a knockout too. True Confessions (which Plaw would have surely praised in this thread, too) is a quiet, subtle, excellently-acted film.

I'd add three more, all from the same year, for now (more to come as I think of them)...

It (1927)
dir. Clarence Badger - amazingly sophisticated film in both film language and the way in which its in-film romance unfolds. Gains much from the star of its day, Clara Bow (what a knockout she is, too), who embodies the girl who has "it", an elusive something which attracts men.

Shooting Stars (1927)
dir. Anthony Asquith / A.V. Bramble - Charles Barr, a renowned authority on British silent film, called this the "mature silent cinema that speaks for itself". And it does, too. Innovate film grammar, deep self-reflexivity, and complex moral solution. A must-see, for definite.

The Unknown (1927)
dir. Tod Browning - Browning is probably noted most for Freaks (1932), but here he and Lon Chaney create an absolute masterpiece which I rarely (if ever) see in top 100 lists of American films. It's impeccable, in acting, lighting, and the dark, perverse narrative and the Freudian imagery. Unforgettable, once seen.

Mute Witness (1994)
dir. Anthony Waller - a mute make-up artist gets locked in the studio and becomes witness to a snuff film shoot, and thus is pursued through the building by the killers; a suspenseful film with international (British, German and Russian) funding that somehow nobody else seems to have seen. Very good, though, from what I can remember from the one, late-night, by-chance TV screening I caught.

Westworld is most definitely, in my opinion, a very underated movie. It's concept was way ahead of it's time. It was a very well written and well acted movie. Action packed, witty at times, and suspenseful. The writer has a way of making the viewer relax with the way the movie starts out and then it slowly begins to instill a suspensful feeling as it progresses.



Paradise Alley is also a very underated movie. While it's in no way a classic in the sense that it was suberbly made in all aspects, it did have a very good storyline. The Carboni brothers draw you into each of their worlds and you begin to relate to what each of them are feeling in their own way. Armand Assante was excellent in his role as Lenny. It succeeds in that it also gives you the feel of what the era of the depression was really like for some.

The original Resurrection with Ellen Burstyn and Sam Shephard. That was a poignant movie that ended up covering several topics.

Many authentic, gemlike touches in that film, PB. Most authentic touch was the use of creative threats ("You're gonna be just a memory, Chico!") instead of violence--hallmark of '50's "hard guys." The two girls were the real stars, though everyone else was good. But why did they use that dumb musical score when real doo-wop would have carried the day?
SC: I think Perry King starred in "The Wanderers," another little gem, and he was very good there, too.

I think that you may be mixing him up with Ken Wahl, who I believe starred in The Wanderers. Which by the way is another film that has been overlooked over the years.

You're right about that being underrated, too. The Wanderers was released unfavourably in the same year as The Warriors, but I think it's just as good.

I think its better.

The soundtrack was absolutely wonderful!

What ever happened to Perry King? I thought he had alot of potential, but he seemed to fall to B or C movie status.

Love is the Devil - Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon (1998)
dir. John Maybury - biopic of my favourite painter, Francis Bacon, starring Derek Jacobi and Daniel Craig as thief-cum-lover George Dyer - in the absence of Bacon's paintings, Maybury constructs a visual texture akin to his work, claustrophobic and haunting.

Dolph Sweet's shirt was incredible too!

The Galasso Brothers!

"Leave da kid alone!"

I believe that Danny Aiello's son played one of the Fordham Baldies.

Classic movie.

I think that his claim to fame was the television series "Riptide."

I rewatched it yesterday... it REALLY is a wonderful movie.

It touches on the changing times (very appropriate that Dylan is dinging "The Times They Are a Changin'" near the end) of the 60's. The Ducky Boys represent the chaos and anarchy seen in the end of the decade; the coming together of the neighborhood gangs to fight them (the Ducky Boys) represented the political alliances we saw born then to fight a common enemy; the scene in which Joey's father (accidentally) knocks Joey out in the fight scene represented the "passion" that some reached in the decade that pitted father against son. Ken Wahl's last scene in which he follows Karen Allen to the coffehouse (in which Dylan was singing) and then walked back to his party was telling as he realized his "fate" and he accepted his responsibilities.

A wonderful movie!!

You're right--my bad.

Yes. It speaks to those of us Of A Certain Age, of New York background, who relate to it personally. But it stands on its own, and discerning younger observers like our friend Mick recognize it for its honesty and high quality.

I was just checking IMDb's page for "The Wanderers" and I saw that the gal that played Ken Wahl's girlfriend (Dolph Sweet's daughter) is the same actress who played Angie Bompensiro on "The Sopranos".

I never knew that before.

The Man in the Moon with Reese Witherspoon. A chick movie for sure, but with five daughters I'm attuned to such movies. It was sensitive and revealing.

Is this the one with Sam Waterston as the father?

Yes.

Yeah, that's a chick flick, and a little hillbillish. And I've been accused of being a hillbilly myself..haha. If I was Reese I would have kicked her sister's a$$.

As you guys can guess, I absolutely love THE WANDERERS, having grown up around Fordham, and having heard my Dad and my uncles talk about the "Baldies" since I was a kid (Dion was a member but got thrown out because he wouldn't shave his head!). The ending is classic. I played alot of ball in that park as a kid.

Sidebar on Perry King- On the ROCKY dvd, with the commentary on, Stallone says that when the powers that be at UA finally gave the nod to make the movie, it was beacause one of the producers had just seen "The Lords," and mistook Perry King for Stallone. He liked his look!

What a twist of fate if you're Perry King, huh?

Thunder Road with Robert Mitchum.

Yes, the girl that Richie (Ken Wahl) winds up marrying. The only reason that I remembered who she was the first time that I saw her on Sopranos is because she annoyed me till no end in The Wanderers. Whining little bitch!

Another underrated gem:

"SUDDENLY" (1954), dir. Lewis Allen.
This taut (75 minute) suspenser circulates around a well-thought-out plan by a psychotic thug posing as a Secret Service agent(Frank Sinatra) to assassinate the President when his train makes a brief stop in a small California town. He comes up against the small town sheriff (Sterling Hayden in one of his best roles), his ladyfriend, her father (ironically a retired Secret Service agent--the plot thickens!) and the ladyfriend's 10-year-old son. Despite some obligatory (for the era) sappy dialog, this film is surprisingly tense and harrowing. IMO, Sinatra gives his best performance as the thug--alternately calm, competent and convincing, and then vicious, violent and psycho. Well worth watching!

I always loved The Guys, starring Anthony LaPaglia and Sigourney Weaver, adapted from a Broadway play. It was the first film (that I know of) to deal with the aftermath of September 11th. Although it is slow-moving at times, you are more than compensated by LaPaglia's superb performance as the fire chief at a loss as to how to deal with the deaths of so many of his "guys". Often touching, without being melodramatic, it perfectly captures how overwhelmed we ALL were in the aftermath of the attacks.

I never understood how LaPaglia was ignored come Oscar time.

The Guys was a great movie, I'm glad a very intelligent and beautiful woman recommended it to me....

29TH STREET (1991)

Danny Aiello's best role ever, imho. Anthony LaPaglia was brilliant, Lainie Kazan made me believe she was Italian and the supporting "bit players" were extraordinary (Frank Pesce included). What could have easily become a "B" film is now a cult classic.

Great feel good christmas time stuff, even though Frank didn't really win in real life. Hey, what kind of ending would that have been?

But I recommended that movie to you! Oh...

I just wrote a short article on this film for The Big Picture, a UK film mag: click.

Hi, It's really nice to meet you all here. Your are comment show that you have great craze to watch the movies. Actually I am also here for getting some website for downloading and watching movies. so please suggest me.

"The Cool World" (1964) by Shirley Clarke (Music by Dizzy Gillespie) (I'm still waiting for the day when this film is available on dvd.)

I've watched 1999's The Messenger with Milla Jovovich about Joan of Arc several times. Milla gives a passionate and convincing portrayal of the french maid's 15th century military rescue of France during the Hundred Years' War.

However, I also watched 1948's Joan of Arc starring Ingrid Bergman. She is one of the all time greats, but her portrayal of Joan pales by comparison with Milla's. Part of the problem may be the film's overall inferior production quality and the lack of a strong supporting cast. The dialogue seems rather amateurish and Ingrid seems almost bored.

ten benny http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114008/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

before adrian got famous

love this movie