Swithin
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Posts posted by Swithin
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I had said in an earlier post that it was great that Jack Conway is being given a tribute but that one of my favorite Conway films -- *A Tale of Two Cities* -- is not part of the tribute. But I've just noticed -- and how perfectly scheduled it is -- that the film is being shown on Bastille Day!
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I appeared in King of the Zombies (1941) and was the first African-American ever to sign a film contract. Who am I?
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Wow, didn't know Vaughan Williams wrote the score. That's perfect: a great British composer for a great British hero.
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jw -- I remember those early tv screenings of FMTW as well. I also have a soft spot for that film, I remember having nightmares as a child, of the scene where Talbot is lying in bed and the moon is full. Very atmospheric; and of course the great musical extravaganza!
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Might I say a word of praise for *Dracula's Daughter*, a fine film, the first horror film I ever saw, on the old Shock Theater on WABC in NYC, after the Ben Hecht Show. It is sometimes forgotten, when people speak of The Hunger, Daughters of Darkness, etc., that Dracula's Daughter was the first vampire film with a lesbian theme.It's a fine, atmospheric horror film all round. What do you all think of the extant prints? I have the Legacy Collection.
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Ever hear of William Shakespeare? Just about all of his plays are based on material from other sources. My favorite Mel Brooks film is The Twelve Chairs, which I believe is based on a novel. So what? But I'm actually not a fan of The Producers and Young Frankenstein*,* though I find parts of them amusing.
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I'm glad they are showing *Scott of the Antarctic*. Last month marked the centennial of his death, and, although he is one of my heroes, I've never seen the film. Saw the exhibition at the Natural History Museum in London a few weeks ago. So moving!
I wish they'd show the 1938 *Kidnapped* instead of the 1948 version. The 1938 version boasts Freddie Bartholomew as David Balfour, C. Aubrey Smith as the Duke of Argyll, and a great 1930s host of British character actors. Oh well, I guess they'll show it someday, but "it may be some time."
But there's alot to appreciate in July.
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You are correct!
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Yes, it looks a good week. Speaking of You'll Find Out, where has Prince Saliano been? You'll Find Out is his eponymous movie.
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A cursory glance at Calvin's list makes July look enticing. I love Stanley and Livingstone and don't think it's been on for quite some time. And the Jack Conway tribute is deserved. Two are my favorite Conway films -- A Tale of Two Cities and Too Hot to Handle are not part of the celebration, but they're been on fairly recently, I think.
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No parents and it's pouring.
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The Petrified Forest
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I agree with you, Hooray for Bollywood! I worked with Ismail Merchent some years ago, on a small festival of his own Indian-focused films and on some Bollywood films produced by Yash Raj Films.
I love Indian cinema, but have they ever done anything better than the Apu Trilogy, my favorite of which is Pather Panchali.
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Thelma,
Alot of the discussion on this interesting thread is a big new-agey for me, but I do enjoy your comments about Indian religion. However, I find that I disagree with a few of the assumptions. My degree is in history of religions, meaning the theology and development of all the world's religions and of man's spirituality in general. Although not RC, I went to a Jesuit University where I received, I think, a great education. One of my theology teachers was from India -- a Goanese, whose own Christian religion probably came from the Portuguese colonists. He was fascinating when discussing Hinduism or Buddhism; but when talking about Christianity, he was not so fascinating. The study of comparative religion/theology is perhaps the one study in which the people who teach it come with a great degree of indoctrination. Therefore, it's actually sometimes (often, in fact) best when the subjects are taught, not by a religion's practitioners, but by someone NOT a practitioner, so long as the teacher is a scholar. My advisor was actually a Passionist whose eloquence when teaching (and writing) about the religions of India was equalled by no teacher I ever met, in any subject.
Regarding the vastness of India, you should keep in mind that the great diversity of Hinduism transcends the great Mahabharata itself; there are more ancient works; and many tribes whose religion is totally different, but who are embraced by that great over-arching word, "Hinduism."
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Actually, the Mahabharata is not as ancient as many of the other Indian texts. The Upanishads was earlier and was not so much a body of myth as a complex spiritual thought system. The Vedas were even earlier, though to some extent they were influenced by peoples from the North, who journeyed down to India and had a major influence on Indian culture. But even earlier, the cultures of Mohenjo Daro and Harappa flourished. Not too much is known about those, perhaps Dravidian, cultures, but possibly certain religious practices of those cultures found there way into what is now called Hinduism. But the "scheduled" tribes of India are fascinating -- ancient, isolated peoples with very distinctive practices, to some extent discriminated against by the establishment, still trying to cling to their way of life in the face of encroaching "civilization." Hence the activities of the Naxalities.
Louis Malle's Phantom India is at times patronising and offensive, but it does give a cursory look at the incredible variety of India's diverse populations.
But in terms of science fiction films, a fascinating one is Quatermass and the Pit, aka Five Million Years to Earth, which tries to conflate early visitors from Mars with the creation of the horned devil.
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Hi Eugenia, You said "I think they just like her (BS) and acknowledge that she has talent." I can agree with that! I don't think I can go much beyond that, though.
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I love The Lady Eve, it's my favorite Stuges film. Stanwyck is very good, but not as good as Eric Blore, Eugene Pallette, Charles Coburn, William Demerest and that dinner guest who utters the immortal line: "The fish was a poem." I certainly don't dislike Stanwyck; I really like her performances in many of her films. It just amuses me that there are those around here who elevate her just a little too much.
This may not make much sense to all you Stanwyck worshippers, but I think of Stanwyck when I see Mia Farrow's hilarious diction lesson in Woody Allen's Radio Days: "Hark! I hear the cannons roar. Is that the king approaching?"
But yes, I did enjoy Eugenia's riposte. Wasn't it you, Eugenia, who similarly offered that splendid riposte in support of the Great Kate? I could say that I think Kate would have been better than Stanwyck in The Lady Eve, but can you imagine the responses that would come flowing in? So I won't say it. As Eric Blore says so memorably in The Lady Eve : "Sh!! Do you want to bring the walls tumbling down around our ears? Silence to the grave...and even beyond!"
But back to Roz, whom I adore. Looking forward to her little celebration on June 4.
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Yes, your Babs, sorry, the Queen of these boards, beloved by the [οἱ|http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/en:%E1%BD%81#Ancient_Greek|wikt:en:ὁ] [πολλοί|http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/en:%CF%80%CE%BF%CE%BB%CF%8D%CF%82#Ancient_Greek|wikt:en:πολύς], does a very good job in a variety of films but doesn't truly soar in anything, IMHO.
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I do.
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Forgive me for my subtlety. By "that overrated (albeit talented) actress from Brooklyn," I was referring, not to Joan Blondell or Mae West or Helen Westley, three great actresses from Brooklyn; but to an actress whom I like but who has seduced many on this board into thinking she is far greater than she is. In the interest of continued subtlety, I will give only her initials: BS.
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I agree with you and would add The Light that Failed to your list.
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Yes indeed, Carol! Your thread now.
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Temporarily removed to use again by Swithin.
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Andy, I'm so pleased that you are taking time out from your worship of that overrated (albeit talented) actress from Brooklyn to sing the praises of the great Roz. I love Roughly Speaking as well. Did you know that the son of the woman whom Roz portrays in that film won an Oscar for his screenplay for Dog Day Afternoon ? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Pierson
In addition to Roughly Speaking, my favorite Roz films include Auntie Mame, Gypsy, His Girl Friday, Sister Kenny, The Citadel, and many others. Check out this clip of Roz in one of her greatest hits, the Broadway musical Wonderful Town, which she reprised on television (based on My Sister Eileen ).
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*A Big Hand for the Little Lady*