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MissGoddess

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Posts posted by MissGoddess

  1. Oh, I have to jump in with my own 'pinion. ;)

     

    I think the movies in the last 10-15 are much too explicit and violent to show to kids---I wouldn't let mine watch them that's for sure. John Ford's westerns were pure entertainment but were most accurate depictions of human nature as it was, is and always has been and that would make them valid to show. I can't imagine movies about the west being shown without John Ford.

     

    Just my 'pinion, folks.

  2. Maybe because there were just only so many leading roles he would have been suitable for, whereas back home in Mexico he was a Giant star and could be the central star of stories made just for him. At least John Ford loved him and gave him these memorable roles that will live on.

     

    I have a dear friend from South America, where he was also famous, and she was shocked to know he even had a career here! :)

     

    Miss G

  3. Have you seen any of the Thin Man movies, with Bill Powell and Myrna Loy? They are a real delight. Exciting mysteries and bouyant comedy all in one.

     

    As for Spence, he's all over the place in terms of genres but among his best I consider: Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, Fury (directed by Fritz Lang), Captain's Courageous (Oscar #2), Test Pilot (with Gable), Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (his last), Inherit the Wind, Bad Day at Black Rock and Boy's Town (Oscar #1).

     

    You might like Gregory Peck, too---he is somewhat similar in style to Cooper, in that he says much with few words and most always was a hero: The Big Country, Yellow Sky and The Gunfighter are among his good westerns, and others excellent movies: To Kill a Mockingbird, Roman Holiday (with Audrey Hepburn), Twelve O'Clock High and an early one by Hitchcock, Spellbound.

  4. Hi John----I have Season I and II as well---I watch them over and over. I think they are wonderful examples of screenwriting and I study them.

     

    My favorites so far (I haven't seen the other seasons in so long) include:

     

    The very first episode, with Vera Miles and Ralph Meeker, called "Revenge." After I saw it I was completely shocked by the ending. Maybe I'm just bad at figuring out mysteries but his shows invariably surprise me with their endings.

     

    "The Case of Mr. Pellham" starring Tommy Ewell. This later inspired a movie starring Roger Moore but to me the Hitchcock half-hour version is the superior.

     

    "Breakdown", starring Joseph Cotten as a hard-driven, difficult businessman who suffers a car wreck---everyone thinks he's dead but in fact he is only paralyzed and it's truly frightening how you see everyting that's happening to him through his eyes (Cotten narrates his thoughts).

     

    "One More Mile to Go" - Starring David Wayne and Steve Brodie. Boy, this sure shows you the importance of getting your brakelights checked regularly!

     

    It's interesting that all my choices have one thing in common: they are all episodes directed by the Master himself.

     

    Miss G

  5. I think he was one of the greats of the classic era, definitely. My favorites are his more romantic films: Sabrina, Love is a Many Splendored Thing, The World of Suzy Wong, as well as his westerns like The Horse Soldiers, The Man from Colorado and Escape from Fort Bravo. He was brilliant in Sunset Blvd., but it's not as much a favorite of mine.

     

    Oh, and I thought he was really cute in An Apartment for Peggy with Jeanne Craine.

     

    Miss G

  6. It would be tough but just going off the top of my head:

     

    Trouble in Paradise - Lubitsch making the kind of movie that captured a spirt and time which may never have really existed, but oh! how he makes you wish it had.

     

    Algiers - An exotic location, two beautiful people with the law ruthlessly separating them, combine for a very unconventional but classic love story.

     

    How Green Was My Valley - Love, betrayal, economic upheaval and changing values put a close-knit Welsh family into turmoil---but never was such a family so lovingly and humanly portrayed as by John Ford's sensitive and sure hand. See why he is one of the greatest artists in Hollywood history.

     

    Man of the West - It was so hard for me to choose one Gary Cooper movie and I had to have one no matter what. ;) I also wanted a western. I also wanted to pick a performance which would make the strongest possible impact on an audience unfamiliar with his work, and that narrowed it to High Noon or this one. I prefer this one but either would have been fine to show the world that westerns, and Gary Cooper westerns---could be more than just cowboys and indians.

     

     

    It was so hard not to include a Garbo, Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable or Errol Flynn movie, not to mention William Powell and Spencer Tracy.

  7. > And before anyone categorizes him under the often

    > narrow heading of Charactor Actor, I'd happily advise

    > them to take in the gem that is "You Can't Take it

    > With You", in which EA repeatedly wedges in between

    > co-stars Lionel Barrymore and James Stewart, and

    > quietly steals every scene he graces.

     

    I quite agree Klondike, well said. And that's why I say he's one of my favorite actors of all time! What a talent and what majestic presence he had. He should have played Henry VIII --- did he, ever?

  8. Hi Dan---thanks for your post. I have to say I feel the same way about the kind of heroes actors portray, meaning that I prefer them to be able to conquer the evil with the good, at least by the end of the picture. Though I love the look and acting in many films noir, the ones that are more nihilistic in tone tend to turn me off, and they have heavily influenced who filmmakers see the "hero" today.

     

    Unfortunately, it's been so long since I saw Casanova Brown that I wouldn't know what to say in a review except along general lines, but I'll look into what Amazon is posting about his other films.

     

    I agree that Cooper, more than any other star, remained consistent to the heroic mold throughout his career. He was smart to do that and I for one am grateful.

     

    If I could recommend anyone else's films of the thirties and forties, I'd recommend Spencer Tracy, who very rarely played out and out villains. His characters were more thoughtful than action oriented, but he never gave a bad performance and seemed to be such a positive force for justice in many of them.

     

    Or if you want something more lighthearted, William Powell also never gave a bad performance and had an inimitable grace to his style, quite unmatched by any except Cary Grant (another not too shabby performer whose comedies are pure joy to watch, especially The Awful Truth and My Favorite Wife, both with Irene Dunne).

     

    Ciao,

     

    Miss G

  9. I like Basil, too. He always delivered a first rater performance. His work in Garbo's ANNA KARENINNA is to me on par with Sir Ralph Richardson's in the later version with Vivien Leigh.

     

    I wish I had taped those Lone Wolf movies. They sound like they're a lot of fun.

  10. Thanks---I think I've seen The Big Combo but would like to again, as well as the others. I like Conte in House of Strangers, Call Northside 777, Whirlpool, They Came to Codura, Somewhere in the Night (he surprised me in this one!) and The Blue Gardenia.

     

    I even liked him in the "Tony Rome" movies. ;)

     

    Miss G

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