Swithin

Perhaps Richard Brooks and Jean Simmons? He wrote -- and won an Oscar for -- the screenplay for Elmer Gantry; she appeared in my favorite epic, The Egyptian.

Notes on a Scandal (2006) Next: Sickeningly sweet

I saw a musical version of Moby Dick, many years ago (1992) in London. It was hilarious! The conceit was that a girls' school needed to raise funds, so they decided to put on a musical version of Moby Dick. The girls all played the sailors. The headmistress, played by a man, played Captain Ahab, so it was a man playing a woman playing a man. It had a pretty good score, and there were some good lines: "Two years at sea and still no sign of Dick!" "Obsession is not just a perfume!" The show was Cameron Mackintosh's first flop, but I thought it was a lot of fun. https://andrewlec.wordpress.com/2010/06/07/movy-dick-a-whale-of-a-musical/

The Sterile Cuckoo (1969) Next: Another film with a type of bird in the title

"Sunbonnet Sue" sung by Jack Albertson in The Subject Was Roses (1968) Next: Sung in Paris

The Film Forum in NYC is presenting a series focusing on the films of 1962-1963-1964. A few of the films mentioned in this thread are being shown as part of the 1962 portion of the series. https://filmforum.org/series/1962-1963-1964-series#trailer

Did you like it?

I forgot about The Age of Innocence, one of the top literary adaptions ever made and certainly on my top ten list.

The odd thing is: Assuming it was dubbed, the dubbing seems quite good, meaning synched to mouth movements. Of course the primitive nature of the filming lends to the surreal effect. The director (Miguel Madrid) and the actors for the most part have Anglo names -- not Spanish ones. The director uses the name Michael Skaife.

He is a brilliant actor. I would recommend one of his early triumphs: My Left Foot. I saw him play Hamlet at the National Theatre, London, many years ago. Gertrude (his mother) was played by Judi Dench. Magnificent production, though it was so exhausting for him that he had a breakdown during the run of the production. My Left Foot (1989) Hamlet (National Theatre, 1989)

Dr. No Gypsy How the West Was Won In Search of the Castaways The L-Shaped Room Lawrence of Arabia The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner To Kill a Mockingbird What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? Winter Light Cicely Courtneidge as Mavis in The L-Shaped Room.

Always nice to see The Dungeon of Harrow on a list.

Over the last few weeks, I have binged on Peaky Blinders (2013-2022), watching all six seasons (36 episodes). I liked it very much and look forward to the movie, currently in production. The series starts out sort of like The Roaring Twenties (1939), with a group of young men home from World War I, who are trying to make their way in the post-war world. Cillian Murphy is brilliant as Tommy Shelby, who becomes an Irish/Gypsy mob boss in Birmingham, England. Shelby is a violent, but generally lovable anti-hero who rules his empire with an iron fist. The finance manager of the operation is his Aunt Polly, played to perfection by Helen McCrory. In the early seasons, the escapades of the Peaky Blinders are fairly local to Birmingham. As the seasons progress, it becomes involved with national and international politics, such as the IRA, the Russian Revolution, and the Fascist movement in England (Oswald Mosley turns up in the later seasons). Winston Churchill turns up a number of times. Fascinating supporting characters turn up. The most impressive is Tom Hardy as Alfie Solomons, a Jewish gang leader in London. His appearances weave through the series and have become beloved by audiences. There is a Passover seder scene like nothing I've ever seen. Another great supporting character is a New York mafioso, played by Adrian Brody, who is obviously channeling Marlon Brando in The Godfather. Peaky Blinders is loaded with sex (including an ****) and violence, very bloody at times. A younger member of the family, at first too timid to perform acts of violence, acquires a taste for it after he is instructed to gouge someone's eyes out with his thumbs. Much as I loved the series, I have a few criticisms. Some of the characters are annoyingly over the top, particularly Tommy's brother Arthur, played by Paul Anderson. The female characters are problematic as well, always criticizing the men and trying to psychoanalyze and reform them, perhaps as a sop to today's world. I think the series would have benefitted from a few Mama Corleone types, who don't interfere with men's business. An exception is Aunt Polly, who is shrewd and capable, although she makes a couple of mistakes. Sadly, Helen McCrory died and does not appear in the final season. Another criticism is the way the lead characters' war experiences haunt their dreams. War -- and particularly World War I -- may have been hell, but I think that's overdone. The production values are amazing, as is the music. The use of Nick Cave's "Red Right Hand" as the primary theme is brilliant. The Gypsy angle, including the occasional use of the Romani language, is fascinating. Tommy Shelby may be an atheist, but he is deeply superstitious. A Gypsy curse is something to be feared! The actors are all terrific, although there is one actress who turns up in the later seasons whom I don't think is very good: Anya Taylor-Joy. I highly recommend Peaky Blinders, but it's not for everyone. Cillian Murphy Helen McCrory Tom Hardy Adrian Brody The Peaky Blinders are always well dressed, even as they go into bloody battle. Season One trailer:

Eduardo Ciannelli was in The Creeper with Onslow Stevens.

Melville Cooper was in Pride and Prejudice with E.E. Clive.

Much as we love The Little Shop of Horrors, I think I have a preference for the feeding scene in The Spider Woman Strikes Back. The way Zenobia (Gale Sondergaard) talks to her Drochonima is so much more poetic.

I always enjoy the very odd Graveyard of Horror, which I've seen on television, and more recently on Dailymotion. I love the Psychotronic's description: "A man cares for his hairy ghoul brother by tending his grave and feeding him fresh corpses. A strange feature best viewed at 5:30 a.m. on television." (Actually, that quote isn't entirely accurate. It isn't the brother who tends the grave and feeds him.) I think I first saw it on television in the '70s, at around 2 a.m. It's kind of insane and surreal, but there's one thing I've never quite understood: Near the start of the film, Michael Sherrington is going home to his family castle to see his wife and newborn child. On the train, an elderly woman enters his compartment. Michael helps her put her suitcase up on the rack. The woman sits quietly, reading her magazine, as Michael takes out his harmonica and plays the movie's rather catchy theme music. Suddenly, something that looks like blood drips from the woman's suitcase onto her magazine. Michael takes the suitcase down, opens it, and sees something odd inside. To me, it looks like a dead bloody piglet, but I can't tell. For nearly 50 years, I've wondered what is in that suitcase. Not to mention what it has to do with the movie's insane plot! Here's a good description of the film from a couple of horror websites. One of them says: "If you want bizarre surrealism, Graveyard of Horror has it." I agree. http://bleedingskull.com/graveyard-of-horror-1971/ https://fantasyliterature.com/reviews/graveyard-of-horror/ Here's a trailer for the movie: https://bandsaboutmovies.com/2019/09/24/graveyard-of-horror-1971 "A repeat viewing revealed that the film does indeed cohere very nicely, with all the many character motivations interacting clearly (and lemme tell you, those three sisters-in-law are one complicated bunch of senoritas!). This really is a film that benefits from another look!"

Anita Louise was in Anthony Adverse with Mathilde Comont.

No, it was last on in November 2021.

Clara Blandick was in Anthony Adverse with Eily Malyon.

Movies in which "God Bless America" is sung: This Is the Army (1943) The Deer Hunter (1978) Once Upon a Time in America (1984)

Maybe Kubrick was reacting to Tom Jones (1963), which showed the 18th century was a jolly romp, a view that I'm inclined to accept. Just read Humphry Clinker.

Louis Jourdan was in Can-Can with Ann Codee.

"O God Our Help in Ages Past" -- Tom Jones (1963) Next: Another hymn from an Oscar-winning movie

Barry Lyndon looks stunning. I can't take my eyes off it. The great Frank Middlemass just had his big scene. And now, Intermission.