CineMaven

May I ramble a little about "3:10 to Yuma" which was talked about in early July? Thanx! I'm not a Glenn Ford or Van Heflin fan. For years I had to endure and get passed Van before I could get to Lizabeth Scott and Barbara Stanwyck in "The Strange Love of Martha Ivers." For years, I had to endure and get passed Glenn Ford to get to Rita Hayworth in the wonderful "Gilda". So I've resisted "3:10 to Yuma." It came on last night and I watched it. I have not been able to stop thinking about it. Heflin and Ford were great in this movie. Van's the man; the underdog. The quiet rancher with a wife and two kids and senses shame in their eyes when he didn't stop a stagecoach robbery. They didn't really blame him but... I've never seen Glenn Ford like this. There was always something that bothered me about him (nah I can't put my finger on it becuz he was cute enough and hell, he was lucky enough to be married to the great Eleanor Powell) but here...he was great. He was in turns soooooooo seductive to Felicia Farr and Van Heflin, manipulative (I'll pay you to let me go) and intimidating (make your next shot good boys!) There was a modern feel to this movie. And I love it when westerns use a timeframe ("High Noon" or "Last Train to GunHill") and the clear delineation of sides. I loved Heflin's sensitivity. (I loved the actress who played his wife too. Not glamorous and very good). I loved Ford's oiliness and smarminess and hurt in knowing he'll never really have a long-lasting loving relationship. I cannot get this movie out of mind. And in large part it is due to Glenn Ford and Van Heflin. Hey...when I'm wrong I'm wrong.

Can there even be a violation of privacy if the voyeurism is unbeknownst to the person being viewed? If a tree falls in the woods and there was no one around to hear it does it make a sound? YES. Just because I don't know I'm being spied on in the ladies room by the late great Chuck Berry doesn't mean my privacy was not invaded. Ever notice that in PEEPING TOM, Mark's **** has one chair? A director's chair -- with his name on it (shiver). Doesn't everybody? Ooops.

<Huff!> <Puff!> Sorry I'm late Prof. ChiO. I had to...to...to go to the store for my Mom. If I may add my comments before we move deeper to your next point of discussion: Does use of a camera add any meaning and does the meaning vary among the films in which it is a factor? I believe the use of a camera adds meaning to voyeurism becuz it intensifies the experience for the voyeur, bringing the object of his desire closer to him, without any consequence or responsibility to him. It definitely makes things one-sided, especially since the person being viewed doesn't necessarily know she's being viewed (at first). The use of a camera or binoculars also serves as an immediate visual shorthand to the audience that this person (the voyeur) is doing something rather on the illicit side. Using an artificial device to LOOK at someone certainly raises the creep-out level on the barometer. Is there any significance to the type of camera used (for example, a photograph camera vs. a television or movie camera)? Does any meaning change by use of binoculars or telescope? I don't believe there's any significant difference which vehicle is employed to capture the image of the unsuspecting recipient of the gaze: binoculars... tele-scopes...movie camera, no matter. Okay...okay, on second thought, there just may be a difference; that difference could be that the device used to look depends on what mechanism the voyeur chooses to hide in plain sight. No one would think anything of a man with a camera but you up the ante with binoculars and a telescope...ooh boy. The binoculars used in "Rear Window" is no more powerful a vehicle than the telescope Brian DePalma has Craig Wasson uses in "Body Double" though the phallic imagery is quite obvious. Wanna up that ante out of the ballpark? Use a movie camera. The voyeur gets to replay to his heart's content is act of looking. Citing "Peeping Tom" (as done earlier) using the movie camera is the gift that keeps on giving. And in Mark's case (in "Peeping Tom") that's the height of voyeurism most foul. How does such meaning(s) differ, if at all, from that of a mirror, which is a common trope in many movies? Using a mirror seems very self-reflexive. Kinda kinky. YOU are the object of your affection. Guess I've got to see "The Unbearable Lightness of Being." (If Sabina is Lena Olin....I'm there!) P.S. I concede to FrankGrimes and Arkadin in their very well-written posts. I will be speaking from the peanut gallery. But I promise not to throw any shells off the balcony.

Miss Goddess...didn't you just knight him? You won't let him down, will ya?

Fred C. Dobbs: "I tried watching ?Sophie?s Choice? last night, but it was so filled with vulgarity and profanity that distracted from the movie. It is obvious that the vulgar language was basically thrown in for the 1982 audience, although it had absolutely nothing to do with the plot. It ruined the film for me." Fred brought up "Sophie's Choice" as a contrast to how the British expressed sexuality as opposed to "Sophie's Choice" vulgarity. Hopefully I didn't mis-characterize you Fred. I know you can speak for yourself.

At 5:00am, before the TCM screenings, PBS (ch. 13 here in NYC) showed "American Cinema" which was a 10-part series. This episode: "The Hollywood Style." I just LOVE this stuff. I just plain love classic films!!! Message was edited by: CineMaven--My error. I meant to say on CUNY-TV, NOT PBS.

B.G.: "But I wasn't upset at her, thanks to Claude Rains in NOW, VOYAGER, who taught me, like he did Charlotte, how to unemotionally stand up to this sort of passive aggressive undercutting; I replied, "It's too bad you and Dad's family never had the money to buy a nice home to hand down to your children." WoW!!! What a fantastic line. See, when we're little we can't fight back. When we come adults...look out mom, dad. B.G.: "I'm hoping this color will indeed bring a warm glow to not only my apartment, but make any dates I bring back here think I'm ten years younger." You probably don't need that. Just make sure you pick a nice mature man who knows who Barrymore, Fonda, Rossellini, Carradine are and I don't mean Drew, Peter, Isabella or Keith.

Oooh...I'm sorry :-( not to hear your views and read your writing. I hope before class ends, you'll join the fray.

If you watched the first five hours of TCM this morning (starting at 6:00AM) you got a nice overview of five of the great Hollywood directors on TCM's "The Men Who Made the Movies" series. Did anyone catch the documentaries on: (1.) King Vidor (2.) Howard Hawks (3.) Raoul Walsh (4.) Samuel Fuller and (5.) William Wellman

I probably am wrong...but TikiSoo, I'm going to go with "GUN CRAZY" with Peggy Cummins and John Dall. She has the getaway car as Dall comes out of the bank. The camera is in the back seat, and this wasn't a documentary. I might be clutching at straws, but could it be...

Holy Moley...I can't jump the bar you just set Arkadin. Excellent post!

BRONXGIRL: " 'Belgian Waffle ' -- a mellow, light amber-honey (Forever Amber!) that I hope will impart antiqueness, coziness, understated class, and will also in its own way compliment my coastal New England-ish decor. I just hope I'm not getting maple syrup and butter over the walls as well." FILM FATALE: "Well, that does it. I'm having some waffles for breakfast." Heck, never mind the breakfast...I need to see "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House" again!!

MISS GODDESS: "Henry Jones as "Leroy". How excellent! I'm laughing right now about the "stick bloodhounds"! LOL!! FrankGrimes needs to see The Bad Seed if he hasn't. That movie is just something out of the ordinary." I wanted to check the thread before I mentioned Henry Jones. Alas & alack, you have him on your list. You're good. I'm not looking at "The Bad Seed" but "3"10 to Yuma" and he has some gravitas as one of the men of the possee, though he dies a little squirrely when shot point blank in the back by Richard Jaeckel. D'ya remember him in "Vertigo." Even though he was reading the facts in Jimmy Stewart's inquisition...I'd say he was a little squirrely. How'd he do that. "The Bad Seed" was great. Will you be joining the Prof. ChiO's "Voyeur" class?

Class Rules & Guidelines: 1. Feel free to arrive and walk in and out at anytime. Okay...but I promise to tiptoe and not disturb the lesson. 2. Food and beverages must be shared (I like martinis up with an olive & salty snacks). I can share...as long as it's not my Kool-Aid. 3. Office hours are open ? except during Cubs games. I'm a late night bird. It's quieter and I think better. 4. Writing anything negative about "CITIZEN KANE", a cheaply made film noir, Samuel Fuller, John Cassavetes, Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Ryan, John Alton or ? and this is extremely important ? Timothy Carey is grounds for disciplinary action. I promise not to touch these sacred cows. Umm...by the way, just out of curiosity...what type of discipline would you administer? Anything involving being tied up? 5. Please try to stay on topic (though tangents that are on topic are encouraged). Don't worry, I can stay on point. 6. If films are cited as examples, please do not feel restricted to those examples in your post. YIKES!! THAT might invite tangents... 7. PLEASE BE RESPECTFUL OF EACH OTHER. Dissection is always better with a scalpel than an ax. I can be respectful, but I have a wicked sense of humor if that's okay. Well...here goes. Count me in. This should be interesting.

WHYADUCK: "See now...this simple thread turned political." Well that was the intention. HAM: "LOL, kinky, I think thats how Mel Brooks would handle it." Sense of humor is the only way. And I can hear Harvey Korman right now. MISS MUSICAL: "Whateverrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr..." Back at'cha. You got that right Toots!

Good luck Cutter. ;-)

Ahhhh...always Johnny-On-The-Spot. Thanx! Message was edited by CineMaven...and add Don Knotts!

FilmFatale...I must look for "White Banners." JACK: "The other movie was 'The Shining Hour' and Bainter was the sick and twisted sister of Melvyn Douglas! She must have relished the role, in which she had to go up against Joan Crawford." Sick and twisted....ooooh, my kinda gal!! Gotta see this flick. Lafitte...I'll send you my Hinds memoir!

Again, it looks like a missed a good one. Your writing is so vivid. But you say this: "Ah, but how those scenes would have lit him up like a firefly if he'd had Myrna opposite him." D'ya think fireflies would have lit up with a better looking (but still solidly talented) actor than Tracy???

Do you believe a squirrely cherub/fussbudget can cross-over? I'm not a "Little Women" fan, but Frances Dee is in it and I've fallen hard over her. Well, this time as I was watching, Spring Byington caught my eye. She wasn't flighty, flitty, Billie Burke-y. She was serious and grounded and had some gravitas as Marmee. It was such a pleasure to see her that way. Do you believe a squirrely cherub/fussbudget can cross-over? I now do.

CINEMAVEN: "Well, if you really want to know...it starts off in court. He's a judge in a long black robe. He bangs his gavel and..." LAFITTE: "And?...yes??go on?still waiting?it does get better than this, right?" CINEMAVEN: Hmmmm...Sammy. Sammy! ;-)

I'm glad you watched it Jack. Now...ask your mom about "Sissi" and ask her about Magda Schneider, Romy's mother. She was a big star in the 30's. I agree with you, she was remarkably beautiful.

Judy Judy Judy...Meryl is one of the greats... but I'd prefer to see Osborne talk to one of our classic film stars. I do like hearing Meryl's voice in the short film about Bette Davis, though.

Another dead - on lookalike SCSU. Though I might add Jiminy Cricket to the mix.

Molo: "Thanks for posting that clip here and Bronxie thanks for finding it! I loved it. There are a lot of images I haven't seen that were on there. Gloria with black hair? hmmm... CineMaven have you seen this clip? Tobitz I think you would like it too, and Lafitte." Hello Molo, I have, indeed, seen Bronxie's YouTube reference. It was great seeing Gloria. Sexy. Sexy. Lafitte: "But since being exposed to the 'rambles' of CineMaven, Molo, MissG, FrankGrimes, Jackie and others, all "tough acts to follow" to say the least, I feel that unless I've seen the film in question rather recently I am not able to respond in kind...You guys really keep me on my toes." You've included me in some pretty lofty company and I'm flattered. And to think, my mother used to argue with me about staying up late to watch those old black and white movies. Ha! FrankGrimes: " 'Laurel' will be under the gun with me more so than 'Dix'...When I read all of what was brilliantly said, I realized I could not just show up in the middle of the night and 'fake it.' " Wow...what an angle. Now remember Frank...no blaming the victim. But I guess Gloria did have options to leave instead of staying in this terrible predicament. Martha was a way out. I look forward to reading your perspective. And remember, women know when men are "faking it." ;-) Good to see Gloria's thread on top.