Author Archives: James Higham

Mon Mat

 

“Richard Basehart has moved on from his womanizing days in the US to steadier waters in the UK with wife Faith Brooke and now works as a successful producer for his wife’s father Roger Livesey. During the production of his latest project, which stars one of his former flames Constance Cummings, he receives several letters from a person he doesn’t know, claiming they had an affair. Initially thinking it’s an attempt at blackmail, he shrugs it off. But when his wife also receives a letter, they decide enough is enough, and they visit the woman, Mary Murphy. When she persists in her story, even in front of the police, Basehart starts to have doubts. Could he really have forgotten?! Soon things start to fall apart for him, as Murphy’s story, fabricated or not, starts to threaten his marriage as well as his career.

Released in the UK as ‘The Intimate Stranger’ and ‘Finger Of Guilt’ in the US, this movie starts off as a marital drama (told in flashback by Basehart), and slowly moves into thriller territories before culminating in a pretty exciting final 20 minutes inside a studio set. Written and directed by 2 men blacklisted by Hollywood, Joseph Losey (‘The Prowler’) and Howard Koch (‘Casablanca’), the story can be easily seen as a metaphor for what they endured. But the movie never becomes self-righteous or preachy. Most of the movie is filmed in a matter-of-fact type of way, focusing squarely on Basehart (‘He Walked By Night’), leaving the viewer guessing about Murphy (‘The Desperate Hours’) and the truth. Basehart is solid as a man who’s confronted with a past he’s forgotten about, or has he? Murphy however is great, she manages to come off as both lying and telling the truth at the same time, shrugging of his questions with ease, which in turn confuses him even more. The rest of the cast are also good, thankfully, as the movie is dialogue-heavy and has a pretty slow pace, especially in the first half.

Visually the movie combines 2 opposites. The opening scene as well as the climax are shot imaginatively, appealing to noir heads. The rest of the movie however is shot in a mostly shadow-less, almost TV-like, manner. Having said that, DoP Gerald Gibbs (‘No Orchids For Miss Blandish’) does a nice job. The climax inside a studio set is beautifully shot, with some creative shots and angles, including a fist fight that moves in and out of a light illuminating a projection screen used for dailies, projecting a shadow fistfight. It stands in stark contrast with the rest of the movie but it also makes the climax more effective. All in all, it’s a good drama/thriller that skirts into noir territories.”

Monday [16 to 20]

(1113) Elevenses, folks. IYE, shall post your things in the afternoon. Racing to get this post and film up, then RL obligations at midday. (1132)

 

20. Mandelson


19. Moosh corner


18. Mandelson is also in the frame … more later


17. I say nuffink


16. This we’ll need to go into in more depth

… can’t this morning for time reasons.

Monday [11 to 15]

(0930)(0957)

 

15. More “iffy” tales

… iffy only because of the publications … this one Quora again:

“He came from a prominent political dynasty in Kentucky; his grandfather had led the antitrust investigations against U.S. Steel, had basically written the Clayton Act, and was not the only state governor in the family tree.

At age fifteen, the young man was a voluntary psychiatric patient in Washington, D.C. He went to the University of Virginia without graduating high school, then set to work engineering supersonic missiles for Rocketdyne and for the Air Force, without finishing his degree.

After that, he supported himself as a professional ballet dancer for a while.

Then he began manufacturing LSD in the SF Bay area, where, starting in 1965, he and his assistants became the suppliers to Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters, the Grateful Dead, the Beatles, Three Dog Night, Jefferson Airplane, and others.

His name was Augustus Owsley Stanley III, but everybody called him “Bear.” Steely Dan wrote a song about him. They called him “Kid Charlemagne.”

Owsley was closely associated with the Dead. He designed their famous skull logo, originally for the purpose of distinctively marking their road cases, and was their chief audio engineer in the early years, a damn fine one.

But from 1970–72 he was locked up in federal prison following an earlier conviction in which his lab had been raided and more than 300,000 doses confiscated.

Back out of jail, he returned to the Grateful Dead — his station now somewhat reduced — where in 1973 he led the design of the “Wall of Sound,” the band’s live PA, the largest and most powerful such system yet devised at the time.”

This one from me: During N.O. days, I accessed some sites of the garrulous type, one being, it turned out, a gay gossip site … it was about the 304 actresses, the worst of em, e.g. Grace of Monaco, Barbara Stanywick, Kim Novak … it went on.

One was supposed to have had so much semen in her from multiple men at a party, she went to hospital to have her stomach pumped. Two sites posted her name, but one may have been repeating the other. Her name according to them was Nicky Minaj.

14. Remember of course

… that the reposter is dyed-in-the-wool anti Israel:


13. Real Robert

12. Here’s a dilemma for DJT and anyone else too

Via one David Jack, on Quora:

Issue is less that Quora is a leftist normie Readers Digest type thing, nor that there is just his assertion, nor that there is no name nor corroboration … but the principle of vetting and employee off record behaviour is a constant issue.

Nor am I saying that only young women get drunk and shoot their mouth off … yet the lubricating effect of alcohol on the female is a (male) known-known:


“She repeated some things she almost certainly heard while working at the White House with Trump, along with what appears to have been “gossip.” Unfortunately for her, she did so drunk, in front of several reporters, one of whom leaked that she had done so. Whether or not she believed the conversation was “off the record,” or whether she could trust the reporters (which she clearly couldn’t), the fact remains that she could no longer be trusted in her sensitive role and was fired.

Given that she was earning $145,000 a year, it’s doubtful she left voluntarily, as there aren’t many jobs that pay that amount to someone with her skills and abilities. Even more unfortunate for Trump, unless she lands somewhere else, and for the same money or more, she’s likely to write a book to capitalize on her current notoriety. You can’t fire someone, regardless of the cause, and expect them not to be angry or hurt by it. Furthermore, she might have to testify before Congress, as she may be aware of a number of issues that various House committees might want to explore in more detail…”

11. Sarah Fields

Monday [7 to 10]

(0730)(0753)

 

10. Moosh corner


9. Report on the treasonous bstds


8. The Reform problem


The way I see it is … this is a traditionally safe Labour constituency, though more moneyed types have been filtering in, as have “guests from sunnier climes”. A vote for a proper candidate is usually wasted, a noble gesture. No matter. On the day, I’ll stroll up there, looking out for “guests with blades” along the way, look at the ballot paper, ignore the dross, leaving one or maybe two. I plan to decide there and then.

7. Two I noticed at The Daily Sceptic (blogrolls)

a. In parts of rural Ireland, there is a tradition that local men will come together to dig the grave, with an occasional pause for a tot of whiskey, of their departed neighbour. They might not even have known them well, but there is a deeply felt sense that, “This is me. This is the respect I would like.” I’ve never dug a grave, but I imagine that making a six-foot hole with a spade is back-breaking work. Few things could be less convenient. But here is service, duty and meaning in a life, whether well lived or not, that we should all aspire to. The idea that we should all just slip away quietly is inhuman. Every human society, in every time and place, has made a fuss when one of their number has died. I want a fuss. You can keep your Simple Send-off.

b. Although (our son) has been at the college for less than a year, he (and we as parents) have noticed extreme Left-wing agendas and beliefs being pushed onto the students. Many, if not most, of the students either swallow it unthinkingly – hook, line and sinker – or go along with it, simply going through the motions to (as they may hope) move on to other topics. For better or for worse (you decide), our son is in neither of those camps; instead, he highlights inconsistencies and failures in the belief systems being pushed, generally getting himself into a regular pickle because of it.

Monday [6]

(0604)(0641)

 

Nietspe Xposts via Steve

  • This release of Epstein files is getting to the darker truths. Many of us have been calling this out for years and were called conspiracy theorists, now the truth about the children and what the Satanists were doing to them is coming out. They were torturing children.
  • New Epstein documents confirm what many have been telling you over the years. They weren’t just sexually abusing and trafficking children. They were literally torturing them to death as well. The truth is darker than you could ever imagine.
  • This is old footage and far more than I’d show here, for reasons oft stated. The footage, then my comments:


JH: There it is. All right, I’ll describe it. It’s a girl in red t shirt … maybe Spanish, quite out of her brain, outside a building, in one spot, screaming that they’re torturing to death and eating humans in there. Other reports indicate these are children. She is about 17, possibly much younger. She was never seen after that night. When I looked at her t shirt, it had some drawing of a phallus or similar, with English words Yum Yum above it. On a kid.

  • Those who say it’s all theatre, that she was acting a part, that JFK was never killed, CK … well they will say that here. Those who buy the atrocities believe that all those people were offed … so what’s the next step?
  • @RealCraigSawyer was named in Jessie Czebotar’s affidavits as Hillary Clinton’s henchman who carried out her frazzledrip rituals. @gtDave1214 is a “Christian pastor”: he invited Sawyer to his Rev17 conference in June; says the affidavit isn’t true. @Lewisherms shared a stage with Sawyer; he had read the affidavit, yet said nothing. Crickets from @HGreen8385 @RealCathyOBrien @TheEmmapreneur Dan Duval believes Dave Bryan has “very good intentions,” even though he’s involved with a mass murderer.
  • Liz Crokin: “It truly does feel like October 2016 when the Podesta E-mails were released with one major difference: Instead of 1% of the masses being awake, lol, I’d like to think we’re at least at 60% — and thank God for that! Makes the job a hell of a lot easier.”
  • Wendy Patterson: “Hunter Biden doesn’t get charged with his sex crimes. Epstein was given a sweet deal on his sex charges. 29 people were given secret settlement deals for raping children who were Epstein’s clients. Congress has a sexual assault fund. Are we really surprised that Adults are mutilating children? Are we really surprised that men were allowed to compete in women’s sports? The United States Justice System didn’t even protect little girls from being raped.”

JH: If you connect that to Bohemian Grove and that shot with Reagan addressing the movers and shakers, then that owl ceremony, the burning of a victim … or to pizzagate here, Dolphin Square, others for whom there was no “summer holiday”, Harbag, Hewitt, Cyril Smith, Morning Cloud, PIE, Jersey carehome … it goes on and on … it’s been going on a long, long time. Then my post on the missing children, the high ups involved. …/END for now.

Monday [1 to 5]

(0533) Morning all, barely awake. (0559)

 

5. Clear what the end plan is

… and it’s anti-humanity. Those enabling it are anti-humanity.


4. Steve’s superlong five-parter at 1281

  • Kristen Welker Loses it Over Georgia Investigation and Trump Saying the 2020 Election was Stolen at Davos
  • GOP Senators (must) Pass the SAVE Act and Secure Elections or It’s Likely Republican Voters May Stay Home in November
  • Former Spanish Minister Celebrates Replacement Theory – Replacing Native Spaniards with “Migrant People”
  • Seven-Year-Old Girl Gets Hit with Pepper Spray After Irresponsible Parents Drag Her to Anti-ICE Riot
  • Leftists Said ‘Melania’ Film Would Bomb — Box Office Makes It the Top Documentary in Over a Decade!
  • Water Is A Luxury: Complete Water Cut In Kyiv Exposes Fragility of Critical Infrastructure
  • Iran Readies For Big War; Zelensky Dithers
  • Millions Of Documents Released Exposing Bill Gates’s STDs, Pedos In Government, Torture, Rape, Babies Dismembered, Murder & Other Depravities (explosive)
  • Panama boots China from Panama Canal in another victory for Trump’s Monroe Doctrine revival
  • NHS Reset for the Big Data Economy (2014-2019) Part 5
  • UK’s Shocking Dependence on Ultra-Processed Food Exposes a Dangerous System
  • Much more.

3. Poisoning pigeons in the park


2. DAD at 1281

a) Antoine Valentin (UDR), supported by the RN, was elected deputy for the 3rd constituency of Haute-Savoie on Sunday in the second round of a by-election, with nearly 59% of the votes cast. He had already come out on top in the first round….

b) Marion Maréchal tries to reunite the Right. “Excuse us, but French people of French origin do exist.
We have the right to talk about them, to respect them….

c) False indignation by the left. Capgemini bows to the pressure. France 2 reveals that the French IT giant Capgemini has a subsidiary in the US working for the ICE….

d) WATCH: Macron is finished – French police just dropped their shields in front of protesting firefighters….

1. Lord Toby’s first item at TDS today

“The recent Jobs Foundation ‘Cliff Edge’ report is a disturbing insight into the wilful economic and societal destruction of Britain’s oil capital Aberdeen. The standout quote comes from Louise Gilmour, the Scottish Secretary of the GMB union, who described the Labour Government’s “stricken, almost delusional” rush to Net Zero as, “arguably the most destructive industrial calamity in our nation’s history – a disaster risking untold jobs, communities, even higher bills and our energy security”. But the report is flawed – or rather much of the thinking revealed in its excellent local reporting is a delusional halfway mish mash. It is the pace of Net Zero that is often seen as problematic, rather than the actual need for the neo-Malthusian command-and-control fantasy. It reads in parts like the cry of the sinner down the ages: “Oh Lord, make me holy, but not just yet.””

Much “sternly worded prose” but no change in direction from this utter madness. And it IS madness … criminal madness.

Sunday [11 till close of play]

(1651) Almost evening all.

 

14. Chinatown


13. The reeded edge


12. The Bass crim


11. Steve at 1281 and war room

  • Ben Bergquam: The Left Uses Death, Misery, For Political Purposes And Then Disappear
  • Ben Bergquam: The Prelude Death Of Western Civilization, Every Major Metropolitan Has Fallen To Communist Jihadist
  • Cleo Paskal: Diego Garcia Deal “Could Be Dead”
  • Ava Chen: Coup Against Xi, Rumors In Beijing? “Breaking Point”

Sun Mat

 

“This film opens with this line and is one of the greatest opening hooks I’ve heard in film. These words are spoken as anonymous hands are clanging away on a typewriter. And so begins “Green for Danger”.

This is a great, quirky British mystery drama that I found quite entertaining. At times it’s tense and scary, then its humorous – and then its almost noir. I found this kept the film interesting and the pace was quite energetic. I will say the beginning is a little slow to start after the great opening hook. It starts out looking like it will be just another doctor/nurse soap opera. But hang with it and it gets rolling. 

I found the black and white cinematography to be quite accomplished and loved its great use of architectural shapes, shadows, and the mix of light and dark.

Alastair Sim as The Inspector was great. He has an unusual mug of a face and bulging eyes. He’s tall and somewhat clumsy. And more than a little goofy. He makes quite effective use of sarcasm. I loved his line when he said “My presence lay over the hospital like a pall.”

It was interesting to see some of the old hospital equipment. I noticed there was a coin meter for gas utilities in the kitchen – never saw one before. My only complaint during the film was having difficulty following some of the clipped British accents.

There is a nice twist at the end. The hapless inspector solves the crime, but causes harm in so doing. There is a clever closing line back on the typewriter – ” I offer my resignation, in the confident hope that you wont accept it.”

Quirky piece – loved it!”