Swithin
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Posts posted by Swithin
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Edna Mae Oliver as the Red Queen in *Alice in Wonderland* (1933).
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Bette Davis as Empress Carlotta Von Hapsburg in *Juarez*; Laurence Olivier as Henry V.
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Well, I probably would have been disappointed if I were watching the film. I tried to watch Gandhi once and found it a noble bore. I don't think it's a masterpiece. The character of Gandhi was better acted (by Sam Dastor) in the TV miniseries *Mountbatten: The Last Viceroy* (1986).
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I'm so glad to hear that! Happy Birthday to him. I can just hear him utter those immortal lines, "Napoleon wants to throw up!"
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Thanks, Movie Professor, very interesting. In these crazy days, I think *Camino Real* would be particularly suited to filming -- great potential for a non-traditional director. By the way, I know Eli Wallach, who originated the role of Kilroy on stage. He had promised Cheryl Crawford (the producer) and Williams that he would be ready for *Camino* when they got the funding to produce it on Broadway. When that time finally came, because of his commitment to Crawford and Williams, Eli had to turn down the role in *From Here to Eternity* that went instead to Frank Sinatra.
The relationship between Eli and his wife Anne Jackson and Cheryl Crawford and Tennessee Williams is one of the most interesting and fulfilling collaborations in the theater. Eli was of course also the male lead in the Broadway premiere of *The Rose Tattoo*.
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I like Baby Doll, The Rose Tattoo, and The Fugitive Kind, in addition to the films already mentioned.
I wish someone would try to make a real film (as opposed to televised play) of Camino Real.
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I'm not sure what is meant by "most shocking ending," but if you mean a scene at or near the end of a mainstream Hollywood film that gives a real jolt, I would have to say that film is *The Day of the Locust*. The riot scene near the very end, from the taunting of Donald Sutherland, to the trampling of Jackie Haley, to the beating of Sutherland, is one of the great terrifyingly emotional finales in cinema history. The setting of the scene is the crowd waiting for the stars to arrive for the premiere of De Mille's *The Buccaneer*. Sutherland gave his best performance in *The Day of the Locust*, one of the great films of the 1970s and one of the best ever about Hollywood.
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A film focusing on the 25-year marriage of Eugene and Carlotta Monterey O'Neill, and on the period after O'Neill's death, when Carlotta managed his estate, would be fascinating.
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I absolutely agree with you. Although I like *The Wolf Man*, I think *Werewolf of London* is a much more complex and rewarding film. It has so many memorable scenes -- the opening in Tibet, the flower show ("I simply jitter to go to Java"), the two old ladies in the pub, the "mystery" of the Henry Hull/Warner Oland relationship, and the comic relief of a hysterical Spring Byington.
When I think of the Chaney, Jr. films, I think *Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman* is actually better than *The Wolf Man*.
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Much as I love David Lean's films -- particularly *A Passage to India* -- I sometimes think his *Great Expectations* is a wee bit overrated. Too much talk, too many words on the screen, more like a theater piece in some ways, though the cast is fine, particularly Finlay Currie. I would like to see the earlier version again, and all the other Stuart Walker films.
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There are several wonderful Dickens adaptations on TCM on Thursday. But two of my favorites -- both directed by Stuart Walker -- are missing: *The Mystery of Edwin Drood* (1935); and the early *Great Expectations* (1934). Why not have a festival of Stuart Walker's films? There aren't that many of them, and they're filled with wonderful actors with whom Walker worked several times. I believe Ethel Griffies was in six of his films!
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Or the "Orchids in the Moonlight" scene in *Flying Down to Rio*, which was originally shown in theaters in violet.
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I'm not a fan of colorization, but I think some films might be less harmed by it than others. But I think *Dream* would really look silly. The style of shooting and the nature of the light make *Dream* a particularly poor candidate.
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Mary Astor in *Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte*,
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Forgive me, Poinciana, I didn't mean that you were a fool. I just couldn't resist quoting Puck, who thinks we are all fools. But your name -- Poinciana -- means "flamboyant". Maybe that's why you think that colorization would enhance "Dream."
Here's one of my favorite quotes from the play:
"I know a bank where the wild thyme blows,
Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows,
Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine,
With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine."
That's color enough for me.
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Puck: "What fools these mortals be!"
The 1935 film shimmers magically in glorious black-and-white, it would look hideous in color. In fact, I think it's a film for which colorization would be particularly unsuited.
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*L'il Abner* has been mentioned. I think that's a very enjoyable musical film. My favorite Fellini film is *The White Sheik*, the first film feature Fellini made on his own. The plot concerns a group of real-life actors who pose for the "Fumetti," a kind of Italian comic strip. It's hilarious and touching.
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Lots of train horror films -- Night Train to Terror; Terror Train; etc. But the best horror train scene is, I think, the end of Night of the Demon (aka Curse of the Demon), when Dana Andrews secretly passes the runic symbols to Niall MacGuinness.
In more mainstream films, Reds has a lot of good train time, but the most horrifying train scene in a non-horror film comes in The Jewel and the Crown (actually a mini-series), right after the partition of India. Train cars carrying Moslems are marked with a crescent, so that when the train is stopped, Hindu radicals know whom to slaughter. After which they say cheerfully to the Brits in the car, "sorry to have disturbed your journey."
On a lighter note, don't forget Some Like It Hot.
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I know Scarlet Letter, Romola, and Enoch Arden are available, or at least were just over ten years ago. I produced a small Gish series and included them, as well as some of the better-known titles. The one I couldn't get at that time, which is now available, is Whales of August -- we showed The Comedians instead, not the best film but an interesting role for her.
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You say ee-ther, I say i-ther. BERN-ard is the Brit pronunciation. If the character had been a clerk, and Ben or or RO didn't pronounce it "clark," would that upset you as much?
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I think Estelle Parsons would be great in a film of *Golden Girls*. She can do anything, probably be best as Dorothy or Sophia.
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I think this movie, the best of the Quatermass films, is one of the most literature films in its genre. It successfully marries sci fi and horror, with a dose of the origin of religion and the devil thrown in. Best line, uttered by a shocked Barbara Shelley when she sees one of the bug/devil/gods for the first time: "Oh My God!" Which is perfect, because we later learn it is her God!
Another eerie scene: the man in the church talking about a purple sky. Check this film out, and "read" it carefully. It's really great.
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The daughter of George O'Brien and Marguerite Churchill has been a double bassist with The New York Philharmonic for decades. Robert Osborne should interview her -- her name is Orin O'Brien.
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I have always wanted to see *The Awful Story of the Nun of Monza*, primarily because it's such a great title. Sometimes the film is called *The Lady of Monza*.
Ryan's Daughter
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I saw *Ryan's Daughter* in London, in Leicester Square, in 1971, the day before leaving for Ireland. I didn't watch it on TCM -- I'll wait for TCM HD to do that, but I did like the film very much in its day, particularly John Mills, the beauty of Ireland, and the passion between Sarah Miles and Christopher Jones (where is he now?).
I actually prefer David Lean's late films and think his best film ever is *A Passage to India*. I think his *Great Expectations* is too theatrical and literary, compared to the earlier Hollywood version. I saw *A Passage to India* in NYC at the Ziegfeld and as a huge fan of the book I saw how Lean could remain true to the spirit of the book. It's one of the best transformations from page to screen ever, in my opinion.
By the way, some of Maurice Jarre's score for *A Passage to India* echoes his score for *Ryan's Daughter*.