Saw two excellent Hitchcock pictures this week: Strangers on a Train (1951) and Dial M for Murder (1954) — each of which concerns a tennis champion with an inconvenient wife.
In the latter, Grace Kelly’s accent is sometimes plummier than her character; I wonder whether she modelled it in part on Joan Greenwood (Kind Hearts and Coronets, The Man in the White Suit, The Importance of Being Earnest).

In Angel episode 4:8 “Habeas Corpses”, there’s a long scene where Our Heroes have to fight off a horde of zombies with nothing but their fists. It’s twice as tricky as it might be, because one hand is busy holding a sword or axe.

I guess it’s expensive to film multiple decapitations.

Mister Roberts (1955) is the dullest movie I’ve sat through in some time. I did not turn it off because the characters have enough potential that one keeps thinking something might happen.

I was mildly surprised to find that To Catch a Thief (1955) is in color; I must have seen part of it before 1981. — The phrase cat burglar is never used in the film; how old is it?

Samurai Trilogy (1954-6) might make more sense if the subtitles covered more than half of the dialogue.

Simple Men (1992), recommended on an INTP list. Extremely indie. I abandoned it, bored.

Les diaboliques (1955), a murder story with a twist. From a novel by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac; when they heard that Hitchcock had sought the rights, they wrote one with him in mind, and it became Vertigo.

Guys and Dolls (1955), a musical about gamblers, based on a story by Damon Runyon. The characters are quite engaging, and the songs amusing. Frank Sinatra sings, and as usual I wonder why.

Du rififi chez les hommes (1955). The title means either “Some violence among men” or “Of the violence in men”, I can’t say which. An impeccable suspense picture.

Funny Girl (1968). An unknown becomes a Ziegfeld Follies star through chutzpah; after that the plot gets boring, but the songs are still enjoyable.

It struck me today that Buffy fans ought to enjoy College Roomies from Hell!!!.

Saturday was Hayward’s hottest day this year, or so it seemed; so we went to a place where, for a fee, we could sit in coolth for a while. As a bonus, they showed us Hero (英雄), the most gorgeous piece of film we’ve seen in years.

Later: The following weekend was another scorcher, and we saw Vanity Fair, which stinks. Reese Witherspoon (who was so brilliant in Freeway) plays Becky Sharp on one note, and the plot is violently compressed for time. — Anachronism?: the regiment embarks for “Belgium” to meet Bonaparte. The kingdom of Belgium was created fifteen years after the battle of Waterloo; so what would the English have called that country at the time? Flanders, I guess, though Waterloo is not in Flanders proper.

Once in a while Netflix makes a booboo: this week they sent me Taxi Driver (1976), which I have already seen, in place of Taxi Driver (1954).

Tuesday: Make that twice in a while.

Wednesday: I imagine that some minimum-wage handler looked at the disc and the mailing sleeve, saw the title Taxi Driver on both, and concluded that the customer is bonkers.

Wednesday, Sep 15: What comes after “thrice”?