Swithin

Olivia De Havilland may not exactly have played a tart, but she had an extra-marital affair in my all-time favorite movie, *Anthony Adverse*. She is married to Fredric March but has an affair with Napoleon! She deserts March and their son for Bonaparte. It's quite a complex story; no major criticism of her is implied in the film. It's basically about people during a tempestuous time who are buffeted by fate.

One of my top five films, The Dead, was directed by John Huston but looks in part like it was directed by John Ford.

I find LY so irritating, she ruined Midnight Mary for me.

Darb, I totally agree with you. Loretta Young is one of the very few leading actresses who really irritate me. She ruined Clive of India for me. In addition to her irritating manner, I don't think she was a good actress.

Dietrich is transcendent. She can play tarts, but there is something so special about her, it's not like other actresses playing tarts. Dietrich lifts her characters from tart to art!

Miss W., I was noticing in these many posts that actresses with deep voices (yes, I think we can call June and Kate's voice "deep") predominated in some of these posts. One of my faves -- Rosalind Russell, also with a "deep" voice -- came up a few times as well. It's a good thing Tallulah Bankhead didn't make too many movies -- she'd probably be here as well! Howard Hawks makes particularly effective use of Roz Russell's voice in His Girl Friday -- her overlapping conversations with Grant are almost like sung duets -- their voices are so similar. I love Kate. Regarding June, I like her, just don't think she was cast in many really good movies. If I had to choose one actress who really irritates me, I guess it would be Loretta Young.

You're right, it diminishes the character to call her a mere tart! Pretty kinky scene, though.

I think some people don't like women with deep voices. Get over it!

That's true, to paraphrase the old English song, "it's the man wots get the pleasure and the woman wot gets the pain." If Tom Jones were a woman, he would be considered a tart... etc., but in his wonderful film he's merely a dashing ladies' man. But there was an exception. In Blonde Venus, Marlene Dietrich plays a woman who has an affair (with Cary Grant) which is considered acceptable, because she needs money to pay for her husband's (Herbert Marshall) medical treatment. But her husband can't forgive her, until the end of the film. It's a great, strange film, from the "Hot Voodoo" number to Hattie McDaniel's "browsing" speech.

Myrna was sort of tart-like in the The Mask of Fu Manchu, when she played Boris Karloff's daughter and tried to seduce one of his victims.

Rosalind Russell. And of course the other side of the coin is that actresses like Jean Harlow never played society dames!

I think Belle in Ah, Wilderness! (played by Helen Flint) is a good example. She tries to seduce 17-year old Richard (played by Eric Linden) in the bar scene. "Give him a man's drink," she says to the bartender. She gets him drunk and tries to seduce him. He ultimately rebuffs her. She gets money for her rent, though. When the bartender discovers Richard is not only under age, he's also the son of the local newspaper publisher, he chides Belle, "Why didn't you tell me you dirty little..." He couldn't say tramp, which is in the play script, because the film was made in 1935.

Nice. Sounds like a sequel to Watchmen (the motion comic and the movie).

I seem to be finding alot to record lately. Just started to watch Of Human Hearts. Why have I never seen that before? Perfect Clarence Brown film -- possibly he got the assignment because of the good work he did directing the slightly similar Ah, Wilderness! a few years earlier.

I'd love to see the British version of *Witchfinder General*, which features one of Price's best performances. The U.S. version, retitled *The Conquerer Worm* has Price reading a Poe poem over the credits -- which I don't mind -- but it does not use the spectularly lush British music, which is so important to the plot.

I think the unifying theme in most, if not all, Ford films, is the sanctity of the "home." The worst thing that could happen in a Ford film is for the home to be destroyed -- either figuratively or literally. The loss of home in The Grapes of Wrath is connected to the importance of Maureen O'Hara's "things" which she must have to build her new home in The Quiet Man. The exquisite scene of Jane Darwell in Grapes going through belongings that she must ditch, to the tune of "Red River Valley," is the same as the scene in My Darling Clementine, when Doc Holliday's girlfriend is touring Doc's room, touching the objects that imbue the room with Doc's presence, to the tune of "My Darling Clementine." The house is threatened in The Searchers, in Drums Along the Mohawk, and in many other films. There is usually a dance representing community. Home is to Ford what work is to Hawks. To some extent, every Ford film has home as its focus -- even a film like The Prisoner of Shark Island. Ford is the cinema's poet of images. And don't overlook The Last Hurrah. There is a scene at a wake/memorial service in which many Ford actors, including Jane Darwell, are really mourning the fall of the old cinema and the rise of television.

When I think of the '60s and films of innocence, I think of *The Sterile Cuckoo*, a lovely little film with Liza Minnelli.

It's mentioned in several histories, biographies, etc. Check out this quote, one of many: "Unfortunately the more I learned about Walter Brennan the harder it got for me to truly enjoy his work. He was an unapologetic racist and had true hate in his blood for all minorities. Every time I see one of his movies all I can think of is his hate. He supported Wallace in 1964 and didn't support Nixon because he believed Nixon was too liberal". I can watch the movies and distance myself from the person, but if you do the research you'll find the evidence.

It's definitely true and has been documented by eyewitnesses. Of course you can't believe everything you read on the web, but this is one of those things that is common knowledge and that has been well documented. Really nasty, bigoted old fool. Liked his movies, though!

The other side of the accent issue is that in Out of Africa, in which Meryl Streep gives what I think is her best performance ever, as the Danish Karen Blixen, and almost all of the other characters are either African or English, Robert Redford plays an Englishman without trying to do the accent. He is the flaw in a brilliant film. I wish Ralph Fiennes were around then, he would have been perfect!

Val, wouldn't that make it South by Southeast? Just had an idea for a mini-series. Films with directions -- NBN, East of Eden, South (the Shackleton film), Ten North Frederick, Calling Northside 777 (great film, on Fox this week), West of Zanzibar (on TCM in August), etc. That would give them another excuse to show NBN! But the one I really want to see is South Sea Sinner, with Shelly Winters a la Sadie Thompson, with Liberace as her accompanist!

An actor whom I like alot is Victor Francen. He was Belgian. Played Chevalier's older brother in Fanny. Francen had a supporting role in The Mask of Dimitrious in which he gives one of my favorite performances ever on screen. He's brilliant, always gave excellent performances. I believe he was a friend of Charles Boyer.

Looks great! I'm looking forward to the Colman, particularly White Sister; and all the Blondell, Chaney, and Dvorak films. But, forgive me, I have to say it: NOT NORTH BY NORTHWEST AGAIN!!!! It's on next month (June) as well. I know, I know, I just have to say it!

I don't agree, I think Meryl Streep, particularly in Out of Africa, is extraordinary. I think it's part of acting to put on an accent, assuming you can do it well. Sometimes it doesn't really work -- like Spencer Tracy in Tortilla Flat. Like anything else, it depends upon the skill of the actor. Think of all the old films where they rounded up anyone with any kind of accent, which is really different from learning the required accent as Streep does. Two examples: In For Whom the Bell Tolls, these actors play Spaniards: Swedish Ingrid Bergman; Greek Katina Paxinou (won Oscar for that role); Russian-born Armenian Akim Tamiroff. In Juarez, Austro-Hungarian-born Paul Muni; New Yorker John Garfield; London-born Donald Crisp, etc., all play Mexicans. Traditionally, in films where Romans were the bad guys, they generally had English accents! Complicated reasons for that. These days, political correctness comes into play, e.g. the Miss Saigon situation. Probably couldn't have a Peter Lorre playing a Mr. Moto today.

Abel Gance's Napoleon, every minute of every version of it. The Black Pit of Dr. M, but only the version dubbed in English.