mrroberts

James Stewart seemed to work well with most of his directors. A lot of that had to do with Stewart's nature. A very affable man. But Stewart was no push over either, he demanded respect in return. I don't believe he took any nonsense from a guy like John Ford . And given Stewart's talent as an actor it was hard not to respect him. It was probably Stewart's good fortune that early in his career he got to work with a man like Capra. Edited by: mrroberts on Sep 19, 2013 3:22 PM

There are some people out there (the fortunate few) who have and can spend stupid amounts of money on trivial items, like a few million on a comic book or one of Elvis' used Kleenex boxes, etc. So why not spend it on something of real cultural, historical value like a classic film, and let the rest of us share in the benefit of it.

Now that we have all of this cleared up (I think ) its appears that its only a question of motivation (and money) to get this thing done. A proper restoration of the film, and in some fashion, reinserting the additional footage into the film. This film is truly a great film and it deserves the effort.

I have been rereading parts of my copy of "All My Yesterdays" , an autobiography of Edward G Robinson, researched and written in the later days of his life. The book was released soon after his death in 1973. Robinson talked very candidly about the events in his professional and personal life. He was a rather modest man and not overly judgmental about others, but on occasion he does speak his mind. He mentions little about Cagney, they only did that one film together, but Eddie greatly admired Cagney and always considered him a friend. It seems surprising that they didn't work together in the later years. Eddie talks more about Bogart, of course in the late 30's they did several films together, Robinson the lead, Bogie in support. Again they got along well on the sets. Years later when Bogart was the big star and Robinson was more of a supporting player they made *Key Largo* . Eddie readily states that Bogart insisted that he (Robinson) be treated as an equal costar (watch the way the titles list the names) and that the Rocco character drives most of the action in the film. Both Robinson and Bogart also treated Lionel Barrymore with the highest respect. Sounds like a very smooth production in making this film. Robinson credits Bogart for that. Edited by: mrroberts on Sep 19, 2013 1:48 PM

Anyone think that Hitchcock had a strong identification with Scottie? A little too obsessed with the woman's looks , hair , wardrobe, manners, etc. "Madeleine" was Hitch's ultimate woman.

That Alfred Hitchcock episode "Revenge" was one of those that was redone in the 80's series (remember those, they used the old Hitch intros and colorized them). I remember the new version as well as the original, I believe they used the same titles and much of the same storyline.

I'll have to ask my good buddy "Doc" (William Powell) to make up another bottle of Scotch

*It Started With Eve* is a great Charles Laughton comedy, I've been waiting to see this one again for a long time. He and Deanna Durbin worked well together, Robert Cummings was pretty good as well.

While everyone will remember Wally Cox as a comedic actor he did occasionally play a serious role. Just watch him as the sonar operator in Richard Widmark's great Cold War film, *The Bedford Incident*

Constructive criticism; man that is a tough read, can someone translate please?

So I guess I have to start making plans for a little trip to England ?

I have always doubted Scottie's intentions about "love". Let's be honest here. Scottie is really a very vain guy. He is only attracted to this very superficial idea of his perfect woman. When he first sees Madeleine he is aroused only by her looks, he knows nothing about what kind of person she is. We all are like that to a degree about appearances , but he takes it to the extreme. Further proof is when he first sees Judy. She is absolutely nothing like Madeleine , except for the look. I know, Judy is made up very differently but Scottie, unconsciously or not, sees that Judy can be a new Madeleine. And that's exactly what he does, he gives Judy the complete make over to recreate Madeleine in appearance. Its all about the look. And to top things off he has, anytime he wants, a perfectly fine girl named Midge to call on. Midge may be that perfect "girl next door" and she loves him completely, but poor Midge doesn't have the "look". Midge isn't good enough. So when Judy /Madeleine takes that final fall (the second time) all Scottie has really lost is the look. He'll be in a daze again for a while, but one day he'll be walking down the street and he'll see another woman with "the look" and start buying her clothes, getting her hair colored/styled , etc.

It seems very clear that the film *Vertigo* has a wide range of supporters and detractors. Some hail it as a masterwork, others think it is just nonsense and then there's every opinion in between. But I have noticed over the years that a great number of film makers have cited it as a powerful influence on them. Maybe not the picture in its entirety but different bits and pieces that they have studied and then imitated in their own work. I believe that Hitchcock put as much effort , maybe more, into this film as any other he ever did. That is reason enough for watching it.

In the "Road" pictures Hope and Crosby talk to the audience almost as much as to each other.

As much as I like both James Stewart and Kim Novak and I like both of the 1958 films they costarred in I do think the age difference between the two takes a little something out of the films. Of course this kind of casting was rather routine in Hollywood, like with Grace Kelly and some of her male costars.

Seriously (not surely or Shirley), I remember watching *Vertigo* on the big screen (first time I ever saw the film) and found it to be a very hypnotic experience. Its hard to explain but this movie really pulled me in. I don't think seeing it on a small tv screen does it much justice. and yes, the music score really fits the film here. But the music is very similar to Herrmann's work on *The Day The Earth Stood Still* Edited by: mrroberts on Sep 15, 2013 8:09 PM

This idea of the editing out of 10 minutes or so because of "political" content is new news to me. Is this just one whole scene that was removed or bits and pieces that total out to about 10 minutes? What was "unacceptable" in the 40's may not be judged the same today. I believe a proper restoration should include the removed scenes or with the modern technology available on DVDs today we could have both versions available (like The Big Sleep).

Finance, you remind me of that juror played by Jack Warden in *Twelve Angry Men* . Another juror demands "you changed your vote, tell me why?"

Believe it or not, Janet Leigh did play a psychotic killer in a tv episode/ movie. The 2 part episode of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. series titled "The Concrete Overcoat Affair" (edited into a movie "The Spy with the Green Hat" ). Janet is the assistant to villain Jack Palance and she is very, very nasty and she likes to play with knives. Its a shame Tony Perkins wasn't in this, he could have been one of her victims.

Did you ever notice how Hitch is always dressing Grace up really pretty and then trying to brutally kill her? What a great sense of humor ! I always wondered, IF Grace had kept her acting career going and Hitch was preparing to do *Psycho* , which female lead (sister) part would he have given her?

Sorry for getting off track, this is supposed to be about *Rear Window* , right. I love this movie a lot. The moment when Jimmy picks up the phone and starts blabbing , without knowing who's on the other end. And just silence, and then Stewart knows who's on the other end. Its the killer, and I just let him know who I am and what I know, and now the killer is coming to pay me a visit.!

His performance as "Arnie" supposedly got Jerry Mathers the "Beaver" tv gig. And Hitchcock personally saw Shirley MacLaine on the stage and cast her in this , her first film. I think "Harry" does tend to drag on a little too long, its like telling a joke over and over and it loses some of its effect. Everyone involved has some connection to the dead guy, but everyone is totally focused on how this event affects only themselves. Is this a little personal observation by Hitchcock about how we all are a little self centered? "Harry's dead and he never paid me back that 20 bucks I lent him" kind of thing.

I will say that the film that TCM aired on Saturday was kind of rough in spots, again if that's all that's available to show what else can be done?. If this film needs restoration and there are additional scenes that can be reinserted I'm all for it. I'll write the check myself , that's how highly I value this film. Edited by: mrroberts on Sep 15, 2013 10:57 AM

How can anyone NOT like Arnie?

I agree, the bad guys were just using "the Church" as a cover for their operation. Hitch may have had some subtle purpose in using that in the storyline. I think he did a lot of little things in his work for his own personal amusement.