On Thursday, March 12, 2020 at 11:53:06 AM UTC-4, Jack Bohn wrote:   
   > evelynchim...@gmail.com wrote:   
   > > On Friday, February 28, 2020 at 12:09:16 PM UTC-5, Jack Bohn wrote:   
   > > > >    
   > > > There was a three-volume index of SF and fantasy films in my local   
   library in the early '70s...  A search shows it was _Reference Guide to   
   Fantastic Films: Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Horror_ by Walt Lee.  As you   
   might guess, to fill three volumes    
   in those pre-Star Wars days, he cast his net widely, including as fantastic   
   content dream sequences, superspy devices, including the macguffin device -one   
   searched for and fought over, but not used- speculative geography (made up   
   countries), even talking    
   animals in cartoon shorts.  He even included the fake haunting films, as, for   
   a portion of the running time, the possibility that they were real was   
   entertained.  I'm not sure where he would have drawn the line between madness   
   and simple murder as horror    
   films.  A long-winded way of saying that although I liked BLUEBEARD, I don't   
   feel it qualifies.  Nor MURDER IN THE BLUE ROOM if it is substantially similar   
   to the earlier SECRET OF THE BLUE ROOM.   
   > > >    
   > > Ah, yes--we have those volumes also.   
   > >    
   > > Basically, Mark included everything from Tom Weaver’s POVERTY ROW   
   HORRORS! and from UNIVERSAL HORRORS by John Brunas, Tom Brunas, and Tom   
   Weaver. People are of course free to say some of these are not SFF and not   
   nominate them.   
   > >    
   > > By the way, I will be adding an appendix/supplement with a half dozen or   
   so fantasy films that we missed.   
   >    
   > That would be interesting.  I don't have those books, but a secondary online   
   source: a fellow's reviews of as many of the movies listed as he can find, the   
   index of which is conveniently dated.  Well, almost.  Two additions I would   
   have made to 1944, I    
   see from IMDb, one was released in December of '43, the other January of '45.    
   This suggests I should also check for false negatives he lists as 1943 and   
   1945.   
      
   Here are my additions, as published in the MT VOID:   
      
   Comments on the 1944 Retro Hugo Nominations in the Dramatic    
   Presentation Category (Supplement) (comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)   
      
   After Mark published his overview of 1944 candidates for the Retro    
   Hugo for Best Dramatic Presentation, Cora Buhlert pointed us to a    
   spreadsheet that containing several presentations Mark missed; we    
   also had input from Nicholas Whyte.  Some are very short films    
   (e.g., Warner Brothers cartoons) or radio programs, and Mark was    
   concentrating on what were considered at the time feature films.   
      
   Mark is currently tied up on other projects, but I have decided to    
   jump in and comment on the new additions to the list (feature films    
   only).  And here they are.   
      
   Long Form:   
      
   BETWEEN TWO WORLDS: This is one of those English fantasy films so    
   popular in this period: not the high fantasy of elves and dragons,    
   but the "Twilight Zone" sort of fantasy where ordinary people end    
   up in a weird situation.  In fact, the "Twilight Zone" episode    
   "Passage on the 'Lady Anne'" bears more than a passing resemblance    
   to this one.  In this one, ten people find themselves on a    
   steamship--somehow--that is going ... somewhere.  They are    
   supposedly a cross-section of society (including Americans), and we    
   are given ample opportunity to like the likeable ones and dislike    
   the others.  Not *quite* as talky and preachy as THEY CAME TO A    
   CITY, but of the same ilk.   
      
   THE CANTERVILLE GHOST: Based on the Oscar Wilde story, this suffers    
   from too much "thee" and "thou" and "yea" and heavy under-cranking    
   in the first scene, and one wonders how the Allies won the war if    
   American soldiers were this wacky.  Then again, this is in keeping    
   with other American comedies during the war--the soldiers seem a    
   cross between Abbott and Costello, and the Marx Brothers.  (I    
   suppose the idea is to downplay the fact that these soldiers are    
   supposed to go out and kill people, and make them just like the    
   friendly neighbor back home.)  Charles Laughton is a bit over the    
   top (but he always is) and Una O'Conner is way over the top (but    
   she always is).  And while the curse will be lifted when a    
   Canterville has to do something brave while wearing the signet    
   ring, no one thinks to give the ring to Margaret O'Brien, who keeps    
   doing brave things.  Still it's more enjoyable than something like    
   THEY CAME TO A CITY or the many low-budget horror films Mark    
   covered in his article.   
      
   Short Form:   
      
   COBRA WOMAN: Maria Montez, Jon Hall, Sabu, Lon Chaney (Jr.), Jack    
   Pierce, Vera West, ... in Technicolor, no less.  Clearly designed    
   as a (low-budget) adventure romance, it has no real fantasy    
   elements--it doesn't even seem to be a lost race story.   
      
   THE HALFWAY HOUSE: (We were unable to find a copy of this.)   
      
   IT HAPPENED TOMORROW: Not quite along the lines of BETWEEN TWO    
   WORLDS and THEY CAME TO A CITY, this is another fantasy that is    
   similar to a "Twilight Zone" episode--in this case, "Printer's    
   Devil".  Larry Stevens is a reporter who gets copies of the next    
   day's newspapers, but when he tries to act on the advance    
   information, things don't turn out as he hoped.  (No surprise    
   there.)  There is also a romance, and a lot of comedy, but    
   altogether it is nothing special.   
      
   THE PHANTOM: (We were unable to find a copy of this.)   
      
   THEY CAME TO A CITY: Like BETWEEN TWO WORLDS, this is one of those    
   English "Twilight Zone" fantasy films of the period.  The best    
   known is probably DEAD OF NIGHT, but there are enough that someone    
   should write a book about them (and probably has).  In this one,    
   nine dissatisfied people are transported from their ordinary lives    
   to ... someplace, and someplace with very striking art direction    
   (by Michael Relph, who also did the art direction for DEAD OF    
   NIGHT).  The "Twilight Zone" episode this evoked for me was "Five    
   Characters in Search of an Exit".  THEY CAME TO A CITY is very    
   talky--Lord, is it talky!--being not much more than a filmed stage    
   play, and extremely heavy on its socialist message, but still worth    
   watching.  As noted above, very similar to BETWEEN TWO WORLDS, but    
   much more stylized and artificial.  (By the rules, this could be    
   relocated into Long Form.)   
      
   TIME FLIES: Though this is claimed by some to be the first film    
   with a time machine, there is apparently an earlier Hungarian film.     
   However, since the latter is basically unavailable, this should be    
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)