Richard Kimble
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Posts posted by Richard Kimble
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W T F is this crap
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I've heard/read a lot of stories like this. The film was somewhat of a box office bomb during its first year of release, apart from its music being popular at the time. Basically many saw it as MGM trying to cash in on Disney's Snow White with a "live-action" big budget fantasy in color, much like Paramount with Fleischer's animated Gulliver's Travels and 20th Century Fox with The Blue Bird (i.e. Shirley Temple was initially supposed to be going to Oz). Folks in '39 just didn't "get" it.
A lot of people went to see it, just not enough to offset its enormous production cost.
It was color TV that made it popular, much like NBC's Bonanza.There is some truth to the claim that WOO was "manufactured" into a classic by its annual airing, similar to what TNT did more blatantly -- but apparently quite successfully -- with A Christmas Story.
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HoldenIsHere said : FORREST GUMP (in fact most any movie with Tom Hanks)Finally. A kindred spirit. Someone else who sees through this actor impostor.
At one message board I go to, populated mostly by college students and 20-somethings, there was a recent thread entitled "Is Tom Hanks the greatest actor of all time?". Many responses said yes, and IIRC none suggested it was not a legitimate question.
I think some movies are tied to age & time. GWCTD is very dated in that taboo of interracial marriage is such a thing of the past, it's not even understandable by anyone under 30. A curio.This was seen as old-fashioned liberal do-goodery even at the time. Perhaps by going to see it people felt they were making some sort of civil rights statement.
CITIZEN KANE alludes many of that same age group. I think it has much more impact on those who have been around the block a few times.A lot of the anti-Kane feeling comes from its GOAT ("greatest of all time", for you non-sports fans) rep. Sort of the same butcher-sacred-cows motivation that makes rock fans "hate" The Beatles, or makes me hate Seinfeld (the world's most overrated TV show).
THE GRADUATE appeals to that same under 30 crowd, I think once you grow up and are into the adult world, it just seems like a implausible story. Also a film of it's "time", the 60's.
I can understand why Bonnie and Clyde was hit. I can understand why In The Heat Of The Night was a hit. I can even almost understand why GWCTD was a hit. But The Graduate mystifies me. What was it about this film that struck such a chord? It isn't anywhere near as funny as the Universal sex comedies of the early '60s -- in fact most of the supporting cast is wasted. The hero isn't a rebel, but just a blank. Did it touch on some sort of Oedipal issue?
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benshi
Benshi were Japanese performers who provided live narration for silent films (not only Japanese films, but also Western films). Benshi are sometimes also called katsudō-benshi or katsuben.
Role of the benshi
During silent films, the benshi stood to the side of the movie screen and introduced and related the story to the audience. In theatrical style, benshi often spoke for the characters on-screen and played multiple roles. Stemming from the traditions of kabuki and Noh theaters, the benshi's narration and general commentary were an important part of the Japanese silent film experience. The benshi would also provide translation for foreign (mostly American) movies.
Much like in the West, Japanese silent films were often accompanied by live music (in addition to the benshi)—however, unlike Western films, which tended to have a theatre organ as accompaniment, Japanese films had a score which supported the traditional Japanese instruments one would find in a kabuki play. Since benshi performed without external amplification, they had to carefully coordinate with the orchestra in order to be heard. At that time theaters typically seated 1000, so a trademark of successful benshi was the ability to project their voices into these vast spaces.
Famous benshi active in the silent era include Musei Tokugawa (at the Aoikan and Musashinokan theaters), Saburō Somei (at the Denkikan), Rakuten Nishimura, Raiyū Ikoma (at the Teikokukan), Mitsugu Ōkura, and Shirō Ōtsuji.
In the 1995 film Picture Bride, Toshirō Mifune portrays one of the benshi who traveled to various sugar cane plantations in Hawaii during the early 20th century.
Influence of benshi on film aesthetic
As the film industry and art form developed in Japan, the presence of a benshi came to be part of the film. Benshi not only read the interstitials on silent films, and voiced all on-screen characters—perhaps most significantly for filmmakers, benshi would also add their own commentary, explaining what was happening in a shot or describing what had happened in confusing edits or sudden transitions. Some benshi were known to interpret and add to a script, for example reciting poetry to accompany a moving visual.
In addition, it was traditional for the benshi to introduce the film beforehand, even giving a brief lecture about the history of the setting. This meant that filmmakers could assume that a live narrator, accustomed to improvisation, would be present at the time of the showing to explain scenes, or even explain missing scenes or unfilmed action.
Perhaps because most early Japanese films were simply kabuki plays adapted to film, the characterization style benshi used to perform various roles was strongly influenced by the narrators in kabuki or a noh chorus—a grave and dramatic, exaggerated style. Also due to the influence of kabuki, audiences were not distracted by a single benshi voicing both male and female roles, regardless of the gender of the benshi.Influence of benshi on film industry
In 1927, there were 6,818 benshi, including 180 women. Many benshi were quite famous in their own right, and garnered great acclaim. The presence of a benshi was the aspect of the film presentation that drew in the audience, more so than the actors appearing in the film, and promotional posters would frequently include a photo of the benshi announcing the movie.
The silent film era lasted until the mid-1930s in Japan in part due to benshi, despite the introduction of sound in full-length films in the late 1920s. The adoption of this new technology was slowed by the popularity and influence of the benshi (in addition to the high costs to both the cinemas and production companies). Though the tradition has mostly faded, there are still a few remaining active benshi in Japan (e.g., Midori Sawato).-
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Oh, as one who is somewhat obsessed with Oscar Levant, that I'd love to see!
I'm not quite obsessed, but I am a Levant fan. Have you seen his TV episode with Fred Astaire? Supposedly it's all that survives of Levant's legendary local show in L.A. It can be found online.
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Holden,
I’m usually fascinated with information about alternate endings when they turn up, years later, about films we think are “perfect”, such as the totally un-needed scenes of Walter Neff, in Double Indemnity, going to the gas chamber.
Fred
The original ending of An American In Paris had a brief scene where freeloading overage prodigy Oscar Levant ironically hooks up with man-keeping Nina Foch (whom he had criticized earlier for her treatment of Gene Kelly).
This was cut for a variety of reasons: It blunted the impact of the final ballet, and took attention away from the main love story of Kelly-Caron.
Does anyone know if this footage survives?
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Anything with Katharine Hepburn, except STATE DOOR
That's the one where Kate competes for an Iowa School of Dramatic Art Blue Ribbon against Will Rogers' pet hog...
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Although "can't stand" is probably too strong, I can make a virtually endless list of popular movies that do nothing for me:
Dr Zhivago of Arabia on the River Kwai
Any Woody Allen movie after Annie Hall (and even his good movies with Diane Keaton lose points because of DK's presence). I do in fact HATE that these films were loved by the highbrows and took WA away from his field of genius (comedy) to be a 4th rate imitator of Ingmar Resnais.
Vertigo
The Graduate
Tom Jones
Anything by Tarantino or the Coen Bros
Anything by Kubrick after Dr Strangelove
Pretty much anything after Duel for Spielberg and American Graffiti for Lucas.
Actors and Actresses:
Meryl Streep (okay her I hate)
Albert Finney
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According to Yahoo Answers:
the priest was played by Jose Nieto, although many think it sounds like Burtonhttps://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110224142247AAYVuBM
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Brandon also appeared in a western that I've never seen on TV. As far as I'm aware it was never released in any video format either.
It's the 1971 Burt Kennedy film "The Deserter". Along with Brandon, it features Woody Strode, Slim Pickens, Richard Crenna, John Houston, Chuck Connors, Patrick Wayne, Albert Salmi and Ian Bannen. Not a classic in any sense of the term, but it's interesting for the cast alone. Besides, I haven't seen it since '71.
Aside from Bekim Fehmiu in the lead it's not that bad, and as you point out the non-Fehmiu cast is impressive.
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I would be so very happy if Brandon deWilde had a day devoted to him
They could show the classic Thiller episode "Pigeons From Hell" (cited as one of the great moments in TV horror by no less a figure than Stephen King). And the notorious Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode "The Sorcerer's Apprentice", which was not even aired during the original AHP network run.
Maybe even The Young Rebels episode where Brandon plays Nathan Hale.
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That is, music about movies.
And a question: can someone tell me anything about that piece of music heard at 1:25 and 1:42? The "diddle-liddle dum, diddle-liddle dum" associated with a tinkling piano, silent westerns, and damsels tied to railroad tracks. Title? Composer? Origin?
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The original cartoon by Leonard Dove (published in the June 22, 1957 issue of The New Yorker) which would inspire a well-known feature film over a decade later:
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Well how many actors intended their last movie to be their swan song?
Scott and McCrea apparently intended RTHC to be their adios, even if Joel later changed his mind.
According to Jack Lemmon, during the shooting of Mister Roberts William Powell said, "This is the one to go out on".
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I won't be back unless they fix it.
I find myself coming here less and less. I absolutely despise the newest-post-first format.
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WWII:
Radio-man/gunner Walter Matthau served under squadron leader Jimmy Stewart in the Air Corps.
Private Peter Ustinov served as Col. David Niven's batman (orderly).
Mickey Rooney would sometimes pay another soldier to take his KP -- Charles Durning.
Larry Storch served on a submarine and would often amuse his fellow sailors with imitations of the officers on board. Storch urged one of his crewmates to consider acting after the war -- Tony Curtis.
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I haven't seen AMCA since I was a teenager, but I recall it as being very funny, especially the dramatic scenes involving Frank Sinatra Jr.
I don't remember if Jr had any scenes with Peter Lawford -- that might have been awkward.
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Why go to that effort? It's a pain to read
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It's never been my experience that any movie has been better than the book (when the movie is an adaptation of the book)
The Godfather is certainly better than the book, as is (as I've posted) the original Cape Fear.
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Cape Fear (original!!!)
The film was based on the novel The Executioners by John D. McDonald (highly regarded for his Travis McGee detective series).
The book is not about two men facing off against one another. It's actually about the lawyer and his wife. The Max Cady villain character only appears once, very briefly.S
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And the book has virtually no action. It consists almost entirely of conversations between the lawyer and wife discussing what they should do. Even the big climax when Cady is killed happens "off screen", and the couple then goes to the scene to see what happened. -
So far as I have been reading, I am really enjoying Rebecca, Du Maurier's classic. The movie makes some sequences more prominent and, of course shortens some adventures of our unnamed heroine. But it is staying pretty true so far. I must admit I have not reached the novel's conclusion, and I won't go into that, but I have found movie's that end like the novel sometimes disappoint me. Maybe a little too much falling action after the climax. The movie has always been a favorite, and I will report if there is that great a departure.
Jane Eyre is one that seems to have been pretty faithfully done through the years. Loved the novel, but also loved the movie versions, the 1943 version is still my favorite. The characters ring true to me.
Why on Earth are you posting in Courier?
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"Weren't you a little **** The Beaver?"
Movies You Can't Stand That Everyone Else Loves
in General Discussions
Posted
Can you watch movies set in the present where the actors are wearing costumes from the past?