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Post by rmichaelpyle on Feb 26, 2015 22:21:00 GMT
I watched "Alias French Gertie" (1930) with Bebe Daniels and Ben Lyon. Also in the cast were Robert Emmett O'Connor, Betty Pierce, Daisy Belmore, John Ince, Maude Turner Gordon, and Nella Walker, among others. This is a film where each actress and actor, from the stars down to the smallest part, far and away rose way, way above the matter at hand. It was a fun film to watch, and it was well done, but overall, when the finish occurred, I felt as if I had watched what would have been better served in a sermon or a philosophical speech! Go straight, don't be a criminal; you'll have a better life.
The film began as a Pre-Code, with Pre-Code characters and an atmosphere that portended fun and sassiness and trouble that only came in those early Pre-Code films. BUT - when Gertie - a famously infamous safecracker and jewel thief - waits a year for her new lover (Ben Lyon) to get out of prison because he took the rap for a job both he and she were involved with - all of a sudden she's done with looting, thieving, safecracking, being a French maid when she's not, etc., and now she's going straight, and now she wants Ben Lyon to do the same. THEN, they can marry, settle down, do the right thing, etc., etc., etc. Well, they've collectively got $30,000 between them (a LOT of money in 1930!!), and they invest with a couple who seem to trust them, and now Lyon and the other man are partners. Well, they've been scammed themselves!! Like I said, it's a good film with good performances, if not great performances, and a couple of interesting character studies besides, but it's certainly not a great movie by any means. Just fun to watch. I'd watch it again. Recently bought this from Grapevine for about $7.98. It's in very fine condition, and worth the purchase just to see the two lovebirds acting together just before they were married in real life. By the way, that's Bebe Daniels' real ability to speak French - perfect in all respects!! - and she's marvelous portraying the false French maid to three different people.
Later, Lyon and Daniels moved to England where they were a famous radio couple, then even later a TV couple. Daniels began acting professionally at age 4, and her hundred or more shorts she made with Harold Lloyd are legion to silent film comedienne buffs. Great career for one of Hollywood's most famous actresses from the late teens to the middle 30's. Today you'd be hard pressed to find one in ten thousand who'd ever even heard of her. As for Ben Lyon, try to find someone under fifty who's heard of him outside of Britain. Or try Britain and see what you get!
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Post by moderator on Feb 26, 2015 22:40:40 GMT
This film sounds like a hoot! I'd love to watch it myself - especially to see Bebe and Ben together.
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Post by rmichaelpyle on Feb 27, 2015 15:19:32 GMT
I watched "A House Divided" (1931) with Walter Huston, Helen Chandler, and Douglass Montgomery (shown in credits as Kent Douglass). I've wanted to see this picture for years, and only recently found a source for a print (this one is only fair at best and comes from Loving the Classics, but it's most watchable anyway). Among bit parts, you may spot Walter Brennan, Mary Foy, Gibson Gowland, Mary Gordon, Vivien Oakland, and Marjorie Main. This one opens with the funeral of Walter Huston's wife, a woman who was also Douglass Montgomery's mother. Huston's incredibly strong performance as the fisherman father with little sympathy for anybody or anything but fishing, staying alive, and drinking at the local bar is riveting. He orders a mail-order bride through a magazine - to do the housework, cook, mend the nets - you get the drift; she arrives, but she's another who's taken the place of the original girl who had already married. She's also much prettier. Only 19 and one of six daughters to a Montana wheat farmer, the girl marries Huston. BUT, she falls in love with his son, Montgomery, a man his father thinks is weak. The action in the film is strong, the fluidity of the camera for the year really good. The final scene is spectacular, the camera work really magnificent, as Huston straps himself into a boat to go rescue his wife, who had gone out on the fishing boat, and which boat breaks away during a tremendous storm. You ask, why was Huston strapped to the boat? Because he's now crippled, without the use of his legs, thanks to a knock-down, drag-out fight with his son where he falls down a flight of stairs. Another reviewer of the film on the IMDb says that the part is an audition for next year's "Kongo". YES! It certainly is. Far better film, this one, though. You can probably guess the ending. There's little that redeems the character played by Huston, but the performance is superlative. Helen Chandler gives what may be her best performance. Montgomery was never better. With William Wyler's direction in one of his earliest sound films, this is really a knock-out. You may remember that Wyler made "Dodsworth" with Huston later. He also made "Come and Get It" in 1936, a film that resonates with the same kind of theme and a strong performance from Edward Arnold. "A House Divided" is well worth seeking out!
I also watched a cute British film, "The Midshipmaid" (1932) with Jessie Matthews. Among the other cast members are Frederick Kerr (as Matthews' father), Basil Sydney, Claud Allister, Anthony Bushell, Nigel Bruce, George Zucco, and John Mills (in his film debut!). Several at-the-time-well-known comedic acts also appear, for example, the Condo brothers who play both ends of a horse! Plot really doesn't matter in this one. Just watch it for the absolutely over-the-top comedy routines, music, and crazy situations. I kept thinking, "How marvelous, this fluff!" And that's all it is. Fluff. And wonderful to watch. Never once boring, never. And now I've got 13 of Jessie Matthews' films. This is one of her earliest sound films, certainly not her best, but anything with Matthews in it is worth the watch. She's so superlative that words just don't do her justice. Only a view by the film watcher...
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Post by rmichaelpyle on Feb 27, 2015 15:52:47 GMT
I watched a half-way decent silent Western called "Sandy Burke of the U-Bar-U" (1919) starring Louis Bennison, Virginia Lee, Alphonse Ethier, and others. I'd never heard of Louis Bennison, but he turned out to be a competent Western star for the period. It's the same kind of story that played out literally countless times in early and middle 30's "B" Westerns. Louis Bennison, who plays Sandy Burke, saves a little girl from the baddie after he's killed her father. Then he saves a girl at the ranch from the same baddie about three times, and eventually ends up with her. This is not really an adult Western of the type William S. Hart was making. It's not as sophisticated as the Tom Mix Westerns. It's no where near as serious a Western as the Fred Thomson's. Still, this release from Grapevine studios in a quality print with some tints is much better than most, and the fluidity of the action is great! A serial that was released the same year, "Lightning Bryce", has the same kind of camera fluidity which led to great action and wonderful spectacle. The cinematographer for this film is David Calcagni, and he only made a few films, but he must have been well trained by others. He was already 40 years old when he made this film. If you've never heard of Louis Bennison, join the crowd. This production was made by Betzwood Film Company, with the additional moniker "Louis Bennison Star Series", and they released two more of these Westerns during a two year period. They were distributed by Sam Goldwyn, interestingly enough, with the additional moniker of "Bennison Star Series" attached to Goldwyn! Evidently, there was a close connection. But with only three or so releases, there must not have been the money-making potential... Still, a fairly good film if you're into Westerns. This release from Grapevine has an organ score by David Knudtson, and it's really, really good! Kudos to Mr. Knudtson. I usually abhor organ scores. This one was spot on and really helped the film. For the record, I knew I'd heard of Virginia Lee somewhere, and it turned out I had her in a couple of other films. She didn't make many, but it also turns out that this Mexico City born beauty was also the 1921 Miss New York in the very first Miss America contest. You just never know, do you?!
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Post by dash on Feb 27, 2015 16:19:31 GMT
Hi, R Michael. Really glad to see you here with these great reviews!
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Post by rmichaelpyle on Feb 28, 2015 14:33:18 GMT
I watched "Midnight at Madame Tussaud's" (1936) with James Carew, Charles Oliver, Lucille Lisle, Kim Peacock, Patrick Barr, William Hartnell, Lydia Sherwood, and Bernard Miles. In some respects a cheap rip-off of "Mystery of the Wax Museum", this British-made wonder has one redeeming value: a lot of it was actually filmed at Madame Tussaud's wax museum! The story is grade "B" or even "C" at times; the film is obviously made on the cheap; the actors, except for William Hartnell, are basically lifeless as their wax effigies. Still, somewhat watchable, though it would better serve a midnight sleepover of teenage girls who've broken into daddy's case of cold beer...(make sure, girls, it's after midnight!)
Then I watched a wonderful British comedy that has redeeming value after redeeming value! During the early days of cinema, but especially during the twenties and thirties, a large number of ethnic comedies were made that seemingly have dropped off the planet. Few are ever watched, talked about, or made readily available for viewing to an unsuspecting public. In Britain, the Scots and the Irish were made fun of by the English ad nauseum. A fun film that pits the Irish against the Scots is "Said O'Reilly to McNab" (1937) with Will Mahoney and Will Fyffe. The talents of these two alone fill more than a single movie together! Also in the cast are Ellis Drake, Jean Winstanley, James Carney, Sandy McDougal, Marianne Davis, Lillian Urquhart, Percy Parsons, and Robert Gall. Directed by none other than William Beaudine (!), this is an attempt to make both the Irish and the Scots look wily to the point of conceited deceit! AND - it's pretty obvious that John Ford had seen this at some point or other: there are moments in this film - some of them musical - that will put one into certain situations of "The Quiet Man" to such an extent that one feels like that is what one's watching. The sword dance performed by old music hall performer Fyffe was a wonder, but the follow-up Irish dance by Mahoney was a wonder. It'll make your jaw drop! You think Cagney was something in "Yankee Doodle Dandy"? Y'ain't seen nottin' yet! Mahoney is fabulous! Take my word for it: few have seen this film, but a lot would not only appreciate it, but go crazy over it. Both of these films are available on DVD from Loving the Classics, and both are in good condition, "Midnight at Madame Tussaud's" being the weaker of the two condition-wise, the latter film actually very clean. One last coda: NO! that's not Eve Arden as Mahoney's partner. She looks, acts, and sounds so much like her you'll think she's Arden - or at least her double...
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Post by dash on Feb 28, 2015 17:38:40 GMT
I watched "Midnight at Madame Tussaud's" (1936) with James Carew, Charles Oliver, Lucille Lisle, Kim Peacock, Patrick Barr, William Hartnell, Lydia Sherwood, and Bernard Miles. In some respects a cheap rip-off of "Mystery of the Wax Museum", this British-made wonder has one redeeming value: a lot of it was actually filmed at Madame Tussaud's wax museum! The story is grade "B" or even "C" at times; the film is obviously made on the cheap; the actors, except for William Hartnell, are basically lifeless as their wax effigies. Still, somewhat watchable, though it would better serve a midnight sleepover of teenage girls who've broken into daddy's case of cold beer...(make sure, girls, it's after midnight!) Lol. This is the same William Hartnell, I presume, that later created the role of the Doctor? "Said O'Reilly to McNab" sounds interesting. I had not heard of Loving the Classics before. Is it along the lines of Grapevine in terms of quality?
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Post by rmichaelpyle on Feb 28, 2015 18:48:29 GMT
Lol. This is the same William Hartnell, I presume, that later created the role of the Doctor? "Said O'Reilly to McNab" sounds interesting. I had not heard of Loving the Classics before. Is it along the lines of Grapevine in terms of quality? Yes, same William Hartnell who was the first Dr. Who. Loving the Classics runs from abysmal quality to once-in-a-blue-moon superb. When they say that the print from which they take the film is "B" - and that's often with 30's films - they mean it! Grapevine in the last year and a half has gone from C to A- in terms of quality, a constant upgrade in everything they do - and I mean a serious, serious upgrade. Now - that doesn't mean that the earlier product they had and which they still have has improved. But the new releases have been quite good. Sometimes the sound films are inferior, but at $5.98 to $8.98 you get what you pay for, and sometimes that can be surprisingly good from Grapevine, as in the "Alias French Gertie" (1930) which I reviewed earlier - superb quality picture wise and sound wise.
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Post by rmichaelpyle on Mar 1, 2015 13:37:54 GMT
Went to the movies yesterday and saw "Mr. Turner" (2014) - our city's so culture laden (yeah, uh-huh...) it only took three months beyond everybody else to get a theater to show this gem - with Timothy Spall, Dorothy Atkinson, Paul Jesson, Marion Bailey, Karl Johnson, Ruth Sheen, Martin Savage, and so many other wonderful British actors and actresses. I have three observations. First, if one speaks of "local color" in movies, the sense of in situ and character reality of period and place, this is without question the finest example I've ever watched. The only thing I've ever seen that was as close was a Franco-Italian production simply called "Moliere" - and about the French writer - (1978) that was shown on American television in 1980 in 6 parts. Secondly, I think, too, that this is without question the finest character study I've ever seen in a film - but - especially the first hour. Thirdly, the film is about a half-hour too long. As fine as the direction is, nevertheless, a better editor could have taken away at least a half hour. At a tad past the first hour the characterization of Turner has a few redundancies that, while adding to the study, also add bulk that could have been trimmed without losing any effect and which would have tightened the ropes. Timothy Spall was robbed. Of the Oscar, I mean. I've seen several of the films up for this year's Oscar, and so many of them (mostly British actors!) are superb, but this is beyond that. And Ruth Atkinson equals any Best Supporting performance given this year, too, much of the time without uttering a word. The photography is so stupendous as to be breathtaking. And the loan by so many people, places, and museums of the works of Turner and others so that the works could be in the film is beyond belief! I also think that this is a film that will not be for everyone. If all you want to see is fast action, gun play, cars that out act the rest of the cast, with little to think about - then stay away from "Mr. Turner". Otherwise, don't miss it. It's a truly majestic masterpiece - an experience.
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Post by rmichaelpyle on Mar 1, 2015 14:05:02 GMT
Wanted to re-visit the short films of William S. Hart. Have watched two again. First off, I watched "Mr. 'Silent' Haskins" (1915) with Hart, Rhea Mitchell, and J. Barney Sherry. Mitchell arrives in town with a letter that says she's the rightful inheritor of something or other, but discovers the 'something or other' is a saloon. She's mortified by what she sees in it and closes it down. Also, in very short order, both Hart and Sherry want to make her a wife. Sherry's a bad one in this, a card shark who's more shark than the dangerous water type. Who do you think wins out? Yep, you're right. By the way, best thing about this film is the opening introductory scene of Hart rolling a cigarette. Talk about history on film! Okay, you try it!
Next, I watched "The Taking of Luke McVane" (1915) with Hart, Enid Markey, Clifford Smith, and Ernest Swallow. For the time, the plot is well drawn for the amount of film time (about 20 minutes). Hart kills a man in self defense in a bar, but not wanting to risk being hanged, runs. Sheriff and posse take out after him. Sheriff catches up to him, listens to his story, tells him to come back with him to town and all will be sorted out, but by this time a group of renegade Apache Indians is after the two of them. Watch to find out the outcome. It's a well done oater that has been seen before, but this is one of the seminal examples, and it's extremely well done in all respects. The 'local color' is tremendous, from the barroom to the desert to the costumes to the filmography itself.
These are both on a recent release from Grapevine called "Films of William S. Hart", volume 2. Four films and two unidentified fragments are on this release, and the quality of the prints is better than a lot of the public domain examples available in the past or still on the market.
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Post by dash on Mar 1, 2015 20:45:15 GMT
Thanks for the reviews. I've always been interested in Turner's work. I wonder how much of the movie is based on fact? Wouldn't mind seeing the Hart films, especially Luke McVane. Re rolling the cigarettes: my grandfather could roll one from Prince Albert papers and tobacco quick as a wink. I tried it as a kid; didn't have much luck. Ah, that old-time craftsmanship.
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Post by rmichaelpyle on Mar 1, 2015 21:18:33 GMT
Thanks for the reviews. I've always been interested in Turner's work. I wonder how much of the movie is based on fact? Most of it.
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Post by rmichaelpyle on Mar 2, 2015 15:18:37 GMT
I watched some more short films of William S. Hart. First up was "Bad Buck of Santa Ynez" (1915) with Hart, Robert Kortman, Fanny Midgley, and Thelma Salter. This is a particularly good film, with Hart beginning the film with a mean nastiness shown toward the sheriff, Robert Kortman. Kortman is in hundreds of these early Westerns with everybody you can think of. He's normally not on the right side of the law as he is here, but you certainly can't miss him. His eyebrows are a dead giveaway. Eventually, Hart shoots the sheriff, not fatally, and a posse and the sheriff take out after Hart. Meanwhile, while all this is going on, a lady and her daughter are coming out west in a wagon with their very sick husband and father, and that man dies. The lady is left to bury him. Hart shows up, eventually buries the man, and is struck with the young girl and her situation. He takes both of the women to his shack, where he leaves them momentarily so that he won't be there when the posse shows up to take him. He comes back and discovers that the very young girl has been bitten by a rattlesnake; he's now caught up in the situation, goes back into town for the doctor, gets him and meanwhile is shot by a member of the posse now back in town; gets back to the shack with the doctor; the doctor saves the young girl, but Hart dies. Sounds melodramatic, and it is, but it's very well done for the just over twenty minutes only that it takes up. Pretty good print, this one from Grapevine on the new release "Films of William S. Hart", volume 2.
Next up was "Tools of Providence" (1915) with Hart, Rhea Mitchell, Walt Whitman (no, not the poet!), and Frank Borzage (yes, the same guy who became a well-known director). This was the first time I'd ever seen this one. Only 11 minutes remain of what was originally a longer two reeler, probably at least 20 minutes, maybe longer. Hart promises the preacher's daughter, to whom he's engaged, that he'll swear off fighting, but in a barroom brawl over the preacher's daughter - with Frank Borzage - he breaks his promise. Actually, he was defending her, but the point's moot. Anyway, eventually, he saves the girl from rape by Borzage and kills Borzage. The preacher's daughter is glad of escape, but mortified by all the events, and it's her father (Walt Whitman) who steps in and saves the day with a rightful explanation and vindication.
I also watched two fragments remaining of Hart's films. The first was entitled "The Border Sheriff" (1917), but that is a re-entitlement of a longer work called "The Gun Fighter". Whether or not this is a shortened version of the longer work I don't know, but only 9 minutes are left. Hart, a gun fighter who kills other gun fighters, is finally given a deputation by a sheriff to go after a mean hombre. First he kills a man who killed a friend of his; then he goes after and gets the mean hombre who's a border thief and murderer, and who's been causing all the trouble.
Lastly, I watched 2 minutes of a fragment which has been entitled "The New Boss". Who gave this title to the fragment I can't say. The original title is unknown.
Fun evening for me. I'm a huge Hart fan. He's my favorite of all Western stars. I've now got all of, or fragments of, 26 of his films. There are several others still available that I've never seen which I'd love to see. Maybe some day...
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Post by rmichaelpyle on Mar 4, 2015 13:07:42 GMT
I watched "Someone at the Door" (1936), a British film with Aileen Marson, Billy Milton, Noah Beery, Sr., Edward Chapman, and others. Look closely, you'll see a very young Hermione Gingold. This was a fun outing for the most part, but as someone said on the IMDb, every cliché in the 'old dark house' formula that ever was is here. The acting is almost second rate. What was a disappointment was the direction. Oscar nominated director Herbert Brenon was the director here, and the direction is second, or even third, rate! The mise-en-scene is fabulous, especially if you like the 'old dark house' style of films, but there are scenes of dialogue delivered with camera on two people head on which goes on and on with no movement, almost like a play on a very small stage, and the actors just deliver lines. NOT GOOD. Still, this quick moving mystery/thriller is fun. Noah Beery, Sr. is a hoot to watch, but I realized this morning when I woke up and thought about it that, had the director made this into strictly a comedy, and not a comedy/drama, this would have worked much better. With someone like Terry-Thomas as the baddie of the piece, and a much quicker pace throughout - a comedy timing from the 1960's with Jack Lemmon - this would have been classic film. As it is, it's a curiosity of British film of the 1930's, and that's all. Newly fixed up and released by Network in Britain.
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Post by rmichaelpyle on Mar 5, 2015 13:22:30 GMT
I watched several last night. First was "Millions" (1937), a rather lumbering, but still cute, comedy made in Britain starring Gordon Harker, Frank Pettingell, Richard Hearne, Stuart Robertson, Queenie Leonard, Jane Carr, Anthony Holles, and others. Harker is a self-made millionaire who now intends to corner the market in cloves. He has a problematic son, too, one who just doesn't like to do anything but have fun, go to parties, etc., and make his father upset. Meanwhile, he also has another on most of the boards on which he serves who is jealous of his success and would like to undermine him, and who has a daughter whom his son really likes. Of course his competitor doesn't want his son dating his daughter. The show isn't written very well, unfortunately. Instead, it plods along at a rather leisurely pace. Sometimes it seems as if it weren't going anywhere. Still, it's satisfying in the end. I enjoyed the show after all, I think because the overlying themes were somewhat sophisticated. If only it had been written better it would be much more memorable. The son's "music writing" and all that has to do with that mess is what is also the mess in the show. It's also the method of operation that stirs the broth along, and that should have been funnier. It wasn't.
Next up was "Scandal Sheet" (1939) with Otto Kruger, Ona Munson, Richard Norris, John Dilson, Don Beddoe, Dorothy Comingore, and many others. Produced by Columbia Pictures, this is a combination/re-hash of two films made in 1931, the eponymous "Scandal Sheet" and "Five Star Final", the first originally a Paramount Production and the second a First National/Warner Brothers Production. In other words, Harry Cohn stole those works and made his own. Imagine that... The finished product is a fast moving, well-made programmer that never is dull and keeps you watching. You can't really like Otto Kruger. He runs a rag of a paper that slinks to any depth for a story, no matter who it hurts. He also has an illegitimate son who was eventually adopted by his real mother and her eventual husband. The son grows up not knowing he's Kruger's son, but still wants to become a newspaperman. He graduates from college, and guess who hires him?! Yep. Well, he's off and running and runs into the truth of what a rag Kruger's newspaper is! Eventually, he quits the paper and goes to another. Then a scandal erupts with Kruger for which the son uncovers the facts for the district attorney. Will he also discover the truth about his birth? Watch the show and find out what happens. It's really good! Definitely watchable and recommended.
Lastly, I wanted to see "Poor Little Peppina" (1916), a silent I'd never seen, with Mary Pickford, Jack Pickford, Eugene O'Brien, Antonio Maiori, Ernest Torti, Cesare Gravina, Edwin Mordant, Edith Shayne, and others, but I had to watch a print without a sound track to see it. Late at night that's not as much of a problem. The print was better than fair, so... The premise to this one is really fascinating! A little girl (say, two, three, or so) is kidnapped in southern Italy (probably Sicily) by the mafia in retaliation for a man's having turned in a mobster to the police. They take the girl to Naples where she's raised with a family. Here she meets Jack Pickford. Eventually, Jack helps Mary escape before she is forced to marry a genuine creep. She gets on a boat to America. We see all the trials and tribulations she is forced to go through in America. Eventually, she inadvertently becomes involved in a counterfeiting problem she doesn't know anything about, but that leads to the solving of her genuine identity, her being re-united with her parents, and true love besides. This was directed by Sidney Olcott. Although not typical of the later vehicles that Mary Pickford turned out, this is good movie making, and Mary really shines. This was her first six reel film, and though there are a number of coincidences that are just too much, even so, for 1916 this must all have been a wonder to view. Reviews of the time say that the audience applauded when the film finished. Even though future critics have labeled this as lesser Mary, it's a treat to view again, and for the period it was made is wonderful movie-making! I thought the handling of the theme was extremely deft, and interesting in and of itself. The Italian sets were well handled, including the Italian-American sets here in America. If you've never seen this before, and you have an interest in Mary Pickford as a seminal actress in American cinema, seek this one out!
All three films are available through Loving the Classics. Prints are all quite serviceable, though "Poor Little Peppina" is totally silent and has no soundtrack of any sort, not even a cheap addition of a classical overlay. Buyer beware.
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