Swithin

Hint: When was 2011?

Lawrence Downes wrote an interesting piece about Flannery O'Connor for The New York Times about five years ago. This description perfectly encapsulates the milieu of Wise Blood: "O'Connor's short stories and novels are set in a rural South where people know their places, mind their manners and do horrible things to one another. It's a place that somehow hovers outside of time, where both the New Deal and the New Testament feel like recent history. It's soaked in violence and humor, in sin and in God. He may have fled the modern world, but in O'Connor's he sticks around, in the sun hanging over the tree line, in the trees and farm beasts, and in the characters who roost in the memory like gargoyles. It's a land haunted by Christ — not your friendly hug-me Jesus, but a ragged figure who moves from tree to tree in the back of the mind, pursuing the unwilling."

For me (as I've said endlessly), Wise Blood and The Dead are the two best Huston films. But I think I know why I like them so much: they could be John Ford films. Wise Blood opens like The Grapes of Wrath; The Dead is also very much in the style of John Ford.

Miss W., I love the opening credits, here they are. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xTlG9u3-dw

IMHO, John Huston's two best films were made rather late in his career: *Wise Blood*, based on Flannery O'Connor's novel; and *The Dead*, based on James Joyce's story. Wise Blood is on in the wee hours, after GWTW. Offbeat Southern gothic film, beautifully directed by Huston, who appears in it as well. The last time it was on there was something wrong with the transmission; hope it works later tonight. One of my favorite lines of all time comes from the film: when the main character Hazel Motes (Brad Dourif) is caught by his landlady (Mary Nell Santacroce) wrapping up his chest in barbed wire, she says, "what are you doin' that for?, that's the kind of thing that people have quit doin'!" Motes looks at her and says, "They ain't quit doin' it as long as I'm doin' it."

I agree with you. I hated Pulp Fiction. I think to those of us, particularly on this board, who know the real deal -- Pulp Fiction was a poor imitation. Regarding older filmmakers, as someone pointed out, John Huston's last film was The Dead, which is IMHO his best film, and a perfect coda to his career.

*FAIL SAFE IN HELL IS FOR HEROES OF TELEMARK OF THE VAMPIRE BAT* (my first time in this thread, I know I used part of Telemark for the next title, is that ok?)

2011: Miss Davies naughty

I would normally eschew the idea of TCM showing '70s and '80s movies, but I have to admit my two favorite *John Huston* films are *Wise Blood* (1979, on TCM this week), and *The Dead* (1987). I'm not a big fan of The Maltese Falcon and much of Huston's more famous, earlier works, though I like them well enough. I think he finally got it right with Wise Blood and The Dead, two truly great movies. It would have been nice to schedule The Dead on January 6, when it's set.

Post deleted. Edited by: Swithin on Nov 20, 2012 5:46 PM

*Broadway Bill* ?

Yes, Colman was a huge star, from the silent film days on. Just read that Colman got his big break when Henry King saw him on Broadway, then cast him in White Sister (with Gish).

Actually, I mis-wrote. Although Leslie Howard played those roles on Broadway, I think he played a few of them first in London. In any case, he took a few of his roles from London, to NY, to the screen. It's quite true, Howard was popular on both sides of the Atlantic. I don't think John Gielgud was as popular in 1936 as Howard was; maybe that's one of the reasons why Gielgud had Lillian Gish as his Ophelia.

Hamlet was Howard's last performance on Broadway. Several of his film roles began with his performances on Broadway: The Petrified Forest, Berkeley Square, The Animal Kingdom, and Outward Bound. Howard often produced and directed as well.

Yes indeed, Ms. Anderson was great! Not very nice to that kitten, though. OT: I was doing some research in the library today, looking at, among other things, photographs from a 1936 Broadway production of Hamlet. What a cast: John Gielgud (Hamlet); Lillian Gish (Ophelia); Judith Anderson (Gertrude); Arthur Byron (Polonius); also in the large cast were Whit Bissell and Murvyn Vye. Amazing to note that at the same time, at another Broadway theater, Leslie Howard was also playing Hamlet! Not with such a big-name cast as the Gielgud production, but Howard did have in his cast Aubrey Mather, O.Z. Whitehead, and Alexander Scourby. Can you imagine having two major productions of Hamlet on Broadway at the same time! The John Gielgud production was produced and directed by Guthrie McClintic; the Leslie Howard production was produced and directed by Howard.

Kiss Me Deadly... and Dark Passage The Mask of Dimitrios The Strange Love of Martha Ivers

The rights to her films are now owned by Macy's, and Donald Trump,who is a Macy's spokesperson at the moment, won't allow them to be shown until they can find her birth certificate. http://www.thewrap.com/tv/article/donald-trumps-ties-macys-spark-protest-new-york-store-65726

This is a difficult subject, and one that comes up again and again. Maybe because it's sort of a back-door way to almost discuss politics. I try not to let an actor's private life/politics influence my love of the movie. The one that comes closest to really revolting me is the virulent racism of Walter Brennan. But I like too many of his films, even though he's sometimes over the top as an actor. On the other hand, I worked with the actress Teresa Wright, and got to know her a little, back in the 1990s. Her talent, her compassion and decency actually enhance my enjoyment of her films for me now. So I guess that shows that actors private lives can influence feelings about their movies.

I know, whenever I say LY is a lousy actress, someone says, "you must see her in the pre-codes." I've seen her in the pre-codes and still think she's a lousy actress.

I haven't been following the Loretta Young thread. I think whatever she got up to in her private life was not really evil, as far as I know. I guess there could be a line beyond which there might be some concern, if an actor was really evil. I remember people picketing the South African building in Trafalgar Square in London, and encouraging sanctions. That helped end apartheid. But my issue is this: I think Loretta Young is a really BAD actress. And that means from the pre-codes to the late stuff. She ruins many movies for me.

I LOVE the film *We're Not Dressing*. One of the few times I can bear Bing Crosby. The movie is stolen by Burns and Allen, Ethel Merman, and Leon Errol. Merman and Errol sing a wild duet together; Gracie Allen plays "Aloha Oe" on the accordion and has one of the funniest lines in movie history. Has TCM shown the film? I saw a stage production of *The Admirable Crichton* in London, in 1988, at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. It starred Rex Harrison. Edward Fox played Crichton. The cast also included a very young Martin Clunes, now familiar to some as Doc Martin on television.

Bien sur. Great early film by Agnes Varda. Your thread.

Hint: Colbert/Taylor character, for short, during the cocktail hour.

So sorry to hear about Richard Robbins' passing. I particularly like his score for Maurice. Here is the main theme, it begins over the opening credits: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iD5TBJHJxC0

There are so many great films with so many different sorts of great climaxes/endings. But this one is right up there as one of the most powerful (I'm still waiting for TCM to show this movie, it's a perfect fit):