15. Julie
Julie is probably Doris Day's worst movie (although I should qualify this by saying that I haven't seen that many of her films, although twelve out of forty isn't too bad!), and a relict of its time -- 1956. Julie also features Louis Jourdan as her husband Lyle (although I totally thought his name was Lionel!) and Barry Sullivan (who I hadn't heard of before, but he was in Grounds for Marriage with Van Johnson and Kathryn Grayson) as Julie's dead husband's friend.
Julie starts out with a bang -- Julie is running out on a party with Lyle following close behind. Lyle gets jealous easily, and when Julie was talking to a man for a little bit, he made some kind of scene. They both get into the car, with Julie driving. Their argument continues, and escalates to the point where Julie threatens to leave Lyle. Lyle won't take these kinds of idle threats, and he jams his foot onto the accelerator and the car takes off like a shot, careening around the bends of the highway as Julie frantically tries to keep the car on the road. Eventually the car spins out, and Julie takes back her threat.
Lyle's jealous continues to escalate, and eventually Julie ends up talking to Cliff, her dead husband's friend, about how odd Lyle has been acting. Cliff brings up his suspicions that Lyle may have caused her dead husband's suicide -- the dead husband had just gotten a loan, which disproved the police's theory that he killed himself because of bad finances. Julie becomes suspicious herself, and decides to talk to Lyle about that very evening.
So she brings up the jealous issues with Lyle, and while he doesn't admit to killing her first husband, he doesn't rule it out. Why she decided to ask him as they were going to bed, I don't know, but Julie has to spend the night with him rather terrified that he's going to kill her.
The next morning she pretends that she's out of eggs and cream, so she has to make a trip to town. Eventually Julie ends up sending Lyle over to the neighbor's to borrow the supplies -- she thinks that this will give her enough time to pack a bag and hit the road. Lyle, like any good psychotic person, anticipates this and takes something out of the car. The car won't start, so Julie hitchhikes into town.
She runs away into the town and tells the police all about how she suspects her new husband may have killed her first husband. They can't do anything -- there's the whole problem of a wife testifying against a husband (which I totally saw coming from watching lots of Law & Order). Eventually Julie manages to get out of town with the help of Cliff, and she checks into a hotel under an assumed name. Lyle continues to track her down -- he's crazy like a fox! The police aren't much help for Julie -- they suggest changing her name and running away. One of them even says that a lot of these lovesick guys would rather kill their wives than let them go -- what comfort is that!
Julie gets back her old job as an airline stewardess and begins flying cross country. Lyle figures this out and gets on one of her flights with a revolver! She finally realizes that he's on the flight (she recognizes the back of his head) and ends up conferencing with the pilots up front. Lyle breaks into the cockpit and winds up shooting the pilot, who shoots back. "You made a mistake, Julie. I told you you made a mistake." Then Lyle shoots the co-pilot and dies. This is when the movie goes from being a stalker film into an airline thriller.
Will Julie be able to land the plane? She has to follow the orders but manages to fly the plane back to San Francisco where they have precision radar! (Unlike the other airports with their unprecise radar.) She lands the plane, and everyone rushes out to meet her. The end.
Julie is definitely a film to avoid. I love Louis Jourdan, even if he isn't the best actor, but this was a definite low for him and Day! The best part is the movie's tag line (according to the IMDb) -- "Run JULIE Run, Run For Your Life!"
FILE UNDER: Classic Film ; 31 Films in 31 Days Challenge
Julie starts out with a bang -- Julie is running out on a party with Lyle following close behind. Lyle gets jealous easily, and when Julie was talking to a man for a little bit, he made some kind of scene. They both get into the car, with Julie driving. Their argument continues, and escalates to the point where Julie threatens to leave Lyle. Lyle won't take these kinds of idle threats, and he jams his foot onto the accelerator and the car takes off like a shot, careening around the bends of the highway as Julie frantically tries to keep the car on the road. Eventually the car spins out, and Julie takes back her threat.
Lyle's jealous continues to escalate, and eventually Julie ends up talking to Cliff, her dead husband's friend, about how odd Lyle has been acting. Cliff brings up his suspicions that Lyle may have caused her dead husband's suicide -- the dead husband had just gotten a loan, which disproved the police's theory that he killed himself because of bad finances. Julie becomes suspicious herself, and decides to talk to Lyle about that very evening.
So she brings up the jealous issues with Lyle, and while he doesn't admit to killing her first husband, he doesn't rule it out. Why she decided to ask him as they were going to bed, I don't know, but Julie has to spend the night with him rather terrified that he's going to kill her.
The next morning she pretends that she's out of eggs and cream, so she has to make a trip to town. Eventually Julie ends up sending Lyle over to the neighbor's to borrow the supplies -- she thinks that this will give her enough time to pack a bag and hit the road. Lyle, like any good psychotic person, anticipates this and takes something out of the car. The car won't start, so Julie hitchhikes into town.
She runs away into the town and tells the police all about how she suspects her new husband may have killed her first husband. They can't do anything -- there's the whole problem of a wife testifying against a husband (which I totally saw coming from watching lots of Law & Order). Eventually Julie manages to get out of town with the help of Cliff, and she checks into a hotel under an assumed name. Lyle continues to track her down -- he's crazy like a fox! The police aren't much help for Julie -- they suggest changing her name and running away. One of them even says that a lot of these lovesick guys would rather kill their wives than let them go -- what comfort is that!
Julie gets back her old job as an airline stewardess and begins flying cross country. Lyle figures this out and gets on one of her flights with a revolver! She finally realizes that he's on the flight (she recognizes the back of his head) and ends up conferencing with the pilots up front. Lyle breaks into the cockpit and winds up shooting the pilot, who shoots back. "You made a mistake, Julie. I told you you made a mistake." Then Lyle shoots the co-pilot and dies. This is when the movie goes from being a stalker film into an airline thriller.
Will Julie be able to land the plane? She has to follow the orders but manages to fly the plane back to San Francisco where they have precision radar! (Unlike the other airports with their unprecise radar.) She lands the plane, and everyone rushes out to meet her. The end.
Julie is definitely a film to avoid. I love Louis Jourdan, even if he isn't the best actor, but this was a definite low for him and Day! The best part is the movie's tag line (according to the IMDb) -- "Run JULIE Run, Run For Your Life!"
FILE UNDER: Classic Film ; 31 Films in 31 Days Challenge
posted by Rebecca at 9:36 PM
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