Quarterly Cinema Scan - Volume VIII

On April 1 I posted my Quarterly Cinema Scan ("Quarterly Cinema Scan - Volume VII") for the first three months of 2012, and wrote about the genesis of such an undertaking.  There is no need to reinvent the proverbial wheel here, other than to state that the QCSs are capsule summaries of flicks I have seen on the TV screen.

Here is what I've seen in the comfort of The Quentin Estates during the second quarter of 2012:

1. The Caine Mutiny (1954 drama; Humphrey Bogart is the eccentric Navy captain of a World War II mine sweeper, but is his mental instability endangering the safety of his ship and crew?) B+  

2. The Cincinnati Kid (1965 drama; Steve McQueen is the ace card shark of the younger generation in New Orleans, but veteran Edward G. Robinson comes into town looking for a game) A-

3. Dog Day Afternoon (1975 drama; Al Pacino and John Cazele hold up a small bank in Brooklyn, and keep the employees as hostages while Pacino negotiates with the NYC police and the FBI) B

4. Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939 drama; Robert Donat is the beloved Mr. Chips, who spent sixty-three years as a molder of young boys at a prep school in England) B- 

5. In The Heat Of The Night (1967 drama; Sidney Poitier is a black Pennsylvania homicide detective who, against his better judgment, helps white Mississippi sheriff Rod Steiger solve a murder in a racially divided town) A

6. The Last Picture Show (1971 drama; Timothy Bottoms is a high school senior in a small Texas town (Anarene) where everyone's life intertwines with fellow townsfolk, and there are no secrets) A

7. Last Summer (1969 drama; Teenagers Barbara Hershey, Richard Thomas and Bruce Davison hang out on Fire Island and pretend to strike a friendship with an introverted girl) B+

8. Mr. Deeds Goes To Town (1936 drama; Gary Cooper is a hick who inherits $20 million, and hooks up with Jean Arthur who he doesn't realize is a scandal-seeking reporter) B-

9. Mrs. Miniver (1942 drama; Greer Garson is a mother in a small town in England at the very beginning of World War II, and she worries for the safety of her college age son who enlists in the Royal Air Force) B+

10. Peyton Place (1957 drama; Lana Turner is a single mom raising high school senior daughter Diane Varsi in a small New England town, where everyone knows and meddles in everyone's affairs) C+

11. 7 Brides For 7 Brothers (1954 musical; Howard Keel, the oldest of seven brothers who live on a ranch in the mountains, goes into town to talk Jane Powell into marriage, and his younger siblings think they should follow suit) B-

12. The Third Man (1949 drama; Joseph Cotton arrives in post-war Vienna, only to learn that the friend who invited him has died under mysterious circumstances and was a key player in alleged racketeering) B+

13. Summertime (1955 drama; Katharine Hepburn travels by herself to Venice, gets bummed when she sees couples strolling through the romantic city, then meets the dashing store owner Rossano Brazzi) B-

14. You Can't Take It With You (1938 comedy; Lionel Barrymore is the patriarch of a multigeneration, extremely eccentric family, and his granddaughter, Jean Arthur, becomes engaged to Jimmy Stewart, the son of ruthless banking baron Edward Arnold) B+