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CineMaven

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Posts posted by CineMaven

    Western Movie Rambles

    in Westerns

    Posted

    Now don't quote me on this...but I have a sneaking suspicion that many of today's filmmakers couldn't hold a conversation about film with any one of us...in any one of these forums on any

    genre.

     

    (I did see "Unstoppable" yesterday, and thought it was exciting).

     

    Want to say touche to you & Miss G. in Bronxie's threads. Didn't want to write over you.

    BRONXGIRL'S MOTHER, HENRY FONDA'S HIRSUTENESS, ETC.

    in Films and Filmmakers

    Posted

    "You are sure to be a very big hit. French woman is ordinary in France while you are exotic beauty. Everyone knows Imported is always better! " :-) - << (( SANS FIN )) >>

     

    IMPORT-A-MAVEN. Get 'er while she's hot! One exotic American-Maven, comin' right up, Monsieur.

     

    "Maven, I've seen you on television. You have nothing to worry about." -

    << (( BRONXGIRL )) >>

     

    You are too kind. Thank you.

     

    "Yes, put CM in black leather with a whip, there wouldn't be competition left standing. Craw-

    ling, kneeling, groveling, yes. Standing? Only against a wall, I suspect... 'Do you want a ciga-rette?' 'Any last wishes?'"- << (( OLLIE ))>>[/i]

     

    Dude, I can work the black leather, don't let me kid you. I just don't know if I can take the pat-down or the body scan at JFK (our bloody airport. I'll be facing that decision in a coupla weeks when I go to Texas). My next trip to Europe I may sell my American citizenship to the highest bidder and wash toilets in Provence. Our country is getting too whacky!! Who'll volunteers to mail me MAD magazines & Ava Gardner DVDs while I'm in exile?

     

    Call me Lady Brett, s'il vous plait. Merci.

    All About AVA

    in Your Favorites

    Posted

    Breathtaking post Marco. I think you've really hit the nail on the head about Ava Gardner:

     

    Her screen persona: ("all have the theme of ava bravely sacrificing her love for her man's greater good").

     

    Her marketing: ("she said that metro did not package her, did not buy film properties for her, constantly loaned her out").

     

    Her effect on fans: ("ava has a potency that shines thru all her films, that us fans still see and are attracted to...i sit thru many ava films just waiting for ava's scenes 'show boat', 'sun also rises', 'snows'....when she's off the screen, sheer boredom!")

     

    But Marco, don't you think this was served in "Pandora and the Flying Dutchman"? She is the Pandora of the title and she's got some glorious moments with only James Mason in the way.

     

    Moguls! HA! Whaddya gonna do about 'em? "i believe that. there were many beautiful women at mgm in the late 'forties/ early 'fifties, but the mgm brass did not seem to know what to do with them." They could run a monopoly though.

     

    As one Ava fan to another, would you also weigh in on what you think is the difference between Ava and Rita? Please this is open to all of you Ava fans.

    All About AVA

    in Your Favorites

    Posted

    "I am SOOO doomed. Jeepers... SHE WENT TO THE RACES (1945). Frances Gifford AND Ava? Where's John Hodiak when I might need him? I'm not sure James Craig gets outta this one. And I certainly don't know why he'd want to..."

     

    I watched it. It's an innocuous little comedy; predictable but cute. Frances Gifford's the scientist. They've got her duded up rather matronly...as any good scientist would be. But she's pretty and very charming.

     

    And then there's Ava. She had a couple of "WOW!" outfits in this early film of hers. You can see the dimple in her chin and hear that husky, raspy voice, and she's doing light comedy. She has

    a nice touch. They have her dressed up very very stylishly. And when Ava and Gifford square

    off for some girltalk to bet over the affections of Gable-wannabe James Craig, I think they're very evenly matched. There's no dramatic stretch required for either of them in "She Went to the Races", but they're both pleasant enough. I still wonder why Frances Gifford wasn't a bigger star. But I can sort of see from here (1944) why Ava was.

     

    Oooh, now to go from the dark to the light. Gloria DeHaven's a cute little package in "Two Girls and A Sailor." And so is boyishly handsome Van Johnson.

    All About AVA

    in Your Favorites

    Posted

    PUT THE BLAME ON MAME? NOT THIS TIME.

     

    Good morning Mighty Aphrodite. You?ve laid out some wonderful buffet of thoughts re: Ava and her screen persona for her fans here on Ye Olde Message Board.

     

    "i find it delightful that in both his films with Ava, Clark finds himself dancing to a phony tune for a woman, a ?lady?. Ava seems to represent the other kind of woman in his life, the honest, earthier kind. it's just a glimmer, but the ?Honey Bear? to come is there inside ?Jean Oglive?.?

     

    Aaah yes. She has a light touch in "The Hucksters" and doesn't va-va-va-voom him with her sen-suality. She's sort of a good-time, even though we see she wants more.

     

    What I marvel at, or forget, or wonder about is how she can dial it back. After all, the movie she did just before "The Hucksters" is "THE KILLERS." And she had 'It' exhuding from her pores.

     

    Wanting what we can?t have. Actually, that?s wrong, I?m mis-stating that. It?s a sort of being blind to the thing that?s really for us. A lot of times Gable wanted ?the lady? when he was really better suited for the more down-to-earth gal, as you wrote, Miss G. He wanted something better for himself, better than himself. I also like seeing this movie because though they have no scenes together, I know that twenty-odd years later, she would work with Deborah Kerr again in "Night of the Iguana." Some how, I bet these gals were great pals on the set. Leave Richard & Elizabeth to the paparazzi in Mexico, while Ava and Deborah laughed and talked and drank and dished about the various leading men they shared like Gable or Lancaster or Sinatra (a mini-trivia brain teaser for you since you're such a good movie buff) Peck, Granger, Taylor and Niven. Mmmmm, would that I could, I'd give all my cine-fantasy kingdom for just one pairing between Ava and Mitchum. Yeah, maybe he could handle Jane Russell...but AVA? I love her easy-breezy entrance in "The Huck-

    sters" when she greets Gable. When complimented by Menjou, she tells him she's wearing her hair differently. Now, that self-reference is something you talk about in your post, further down. In "The Killers" her hair was long and cascading. Here it's tight curls. I'm telling you, it's the hair that gets her in trouble.

     

    "Now don't be like that. You know you're not going to pick up anything better between now and tonight."

     

    I love when she says that. It's like she's got his number pegged already. She knows him.

     

    "Am I wrong or was this first time Ava played the character she would come to do over and over again...the woman rejected by the man she loved? (I shouldn't say ?rejected? but rather she is denied the happy ending with her loves).?

     

    I do believe you?re right, Miss G. I never noticed that. Why can?t she find happiness? I always had this thought...this hazy, unformed thought that it was a kind of punishment Movies meted out to its goddesses becuz of their beauty...("you think because you are beautiful you will have everything? Well, my pretty...you will have NOTHING!!!!!!") Perhaps some insecurity or anxiety on Man?s part /Moguls' part, or how vulnerable She makes Man feel that they wrote these tortured stories for our Ritas, Lanas...Avas, to over-compensate for some deep-seated anxiety. You know what I'm saying?? Aww man, I dunno what I'm saying. I'm no armchair psychiatrist. If I sound unclear it?s becuz I can?t put it into words. I?m hoping to get by with..."you know what I?m sayin??"

     

    You know what I'm sayin'?

     

    "I feel **** is a wonderful challenge for Ava and I think she acquits herself believably. the only problem is that i feel like she's really most torn over finding her place in terms of a woman, not as someone interested in the politics.?

     

    Yes I agree. Politics? I didn?t think her character cared too much about that, other than the fact that she didn?t want to see her people treated unfairly...harshly. I think of Merle Oberon who was bi-racial, no? I think Ava did a good job in this. I guess I am guilty. I was impatient waiting to see her romanced, waiting for the clinches with handsome Stewart Granger. It was a long time into the picture before Granger warmed up. Yes, in "Bhowani Junction" Ava had a role to sink her teeth into; happiness, sadness, fear, uncertainty...she had a lot to show.

     

    "she brings the epic struggle depicted in the film to a personal level, to how a woman feels being caught between two worlds. she can't help herself from loving the man who in many ways represent what she loathes, and she cannot force herself to love the man who treats her the best and who she admires.?

     

    For me, it?s tough to swallow the whole elephant of an epic...Sometimes I need it broken down to the personal level. We want what we want, don?t we? G0 AVA!!! She?ll hold out for what she wants even if she has to go through hell. That marriage ceremony scene was torturous waiting for her to break outta there. When she ran out, I don't even think any of the men noticed. And check out this sick twisted development, why didn't that nice, noble guy in the office find a nice Indian girl to mar-ry. His mother put down Ava, and then wanted her son to marry Ava. Hmmm...somebody's not being honest here. (I'm glad Ava got away. The prospect of that freedom-fighting harridan as a mother-in- law is enough to make me shake in my boots!)

     

    ?she is someone alive, real and earthy, even if her beauty is staggeringly "goddess like". but it's not untouchable. her feet are always bare and in the dirt. and she's good at reminding her men they are no better.?

     

    Excellent description, really. If you have any time or inclination, would you be able to tell me what you see as the difference between Ava and Rita? Why does Rita seems to be more in the con-sciousness of old movie buffs than Ava? I'm sure "Gilda" has something to do with it. I don't know if Ava is so hotly identified by one role. Or is there one definable Ava role?

     

    "i think she may have out-done Garbo as the queen of tragedy. Did any other actress die more onscreen or lose her lovers??

     

    Yikes! Paul Lukas just put a sheet over her head in "55 Days At Peking.? Yup, she?s a goner. How has this thought never crossed my mind with Ava. Again, you got something there, G.

     

    "it's funny how many of her films make oblique references to her previous works, to repeating motifs or to places and incidents that she became associated with over the course of her career and private life. this only happens rather rarely among performers, mostly with those that conjur a specific type of person in the imagination of the public, and usually only among the really biggest stars."

     

    Ava seems larger than life. I love the life imitates art imitates life imitates art aspect you bring up, one other thing I never thought of about her. What most amaaaaaaazes me, is how a little ol' gal from some hick town in North Cakalacky be sooooooooooo darned exotic?

     

    I truly only think Angelina Jolie comes a close distant light years to the Ava mystique. Do you see Ava in anyone working in films today other than Diane Lane?

     

    Edited by: CineMaven on Nov 19, 2010 5:27 AM...no no, just kidding. Wanted to see if you're paying attention.

    All About AVA

    in Your Favorites

    Posted

    Of all the lovely Ava's being shown tonite, the ones I look forward to seeing most will be these:

     

    10:00 PM On the Beach (1959)

    After a nuclear war, U.S. sailors stationed in Australia deal with the end of civilization. Cast: Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire. Dir: Stanley Kramer. BW-134 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

     

    5:00 AM Hucksters, The (1947)

    A war veteran fights for honesty in the advertising game. Cast: Clark Gable, Deborah Kerr, Ava Gardner. Dir: Jack Conway. BW-116 mins, TV-PG, CC (Keenan Wynn's great in this).

     

    19 Friday

    7:00 AM She Went To The Races (1945)

    A pretty scientist with a system for horse-race betting falls in love with a trainer. Cast: James Craig, Frances Gifford, Ava Gardner. Dir: Willis Goldbeck. BW-86 mins, TV-G

     

    In two of the films, she'll star with two actors whom she'll work with again. She's never girlish... she's always a Woman for a grown-up man to work opposite...maybe slightly reducing him to a schoolboy. But I always thought she was a great partner for a Man. Really want to see how Frances Gifford stacks up opposite Ava. Gifford managed to pull my attention away from Lana last month. Will early Ava be a force to be reckoned with in this little comedy? I wonder...I'll find out soon enough.

     

    I hadn't finished it yet (and thanxx to my cine-fairy godfathers I can watch it at my leisure on DVD) but I have been getting to "Pandora and the Flying Dutchman" slowly. Prolonging the experience, I guess. Aaaah, there she is: Ava as Circe asking men to prove their love for her with devastating results (which were probably worth it...ok, ohhhkkkkkkay, maybe they weren't). I enjoyed her in "Bhowani Junction" believing her struggle to find where she fits in in the world. I've never seen her look more beautiful in both those movies and...

     

    Who am I kidding...I can't fool you all out there...I can't write intelligently/intellectually about Ava b'cuz she's such a visceral force. But suffice to say, her beauty is just one of her assets and might have even gotten in the way of people appreciating her talent. She was fierce, she was vulnerable, she didn't take her self seriously...she was AVA.

     

    TCM, all I can humbly say is thank you for making Ava the star of the month. I am just one of her many, very happy fans. :D

    "Moguls and Movie Stars"

    in General Discussions

    Posted

    "You can't please everyone so..."

     

    I think Rick Nelson said it best when he sang his last hit song. You'll always find naysayers, J.F. Folks love to nitpick apart TCM. That's where they get their kicks from, they can have at it. To me

    it says more about the naysayers than it does about the documentary. Aaaah don't you love so-called "experts."

     

    Me...you...others, we're enjoying the "MOGULS AND MOVIE STARS" documentary. I daresay if Brownlow's documentary were to air, those same naysayers would pick that apart within an inch

    of its life, and that documentary is s'posed to be the Mt. Everest of documentaries about Hollywood.

    I guess that's 'human' nature. I guess.

     

    So far from what I've seen in these three parts of the "MOGULS..." documentary, there's a lot that

    I already know, but there's a helluva lot that I am learning.

     

    I'm having a great time with it.

    The Annual FrankGrimes Torture Thread

    in Your Favorites

    Posted

    "...you have to rely on the parent within yourself."

     

    You've crystallized that point wonderfully. That's what I've thought at various times when I sometime say to myself: "I've raised myself."

     

    I wish Thymian a lot of luck. I hope she finds real happiness and gets outta there.

     

    Ho boy! She's not a real person, is she.

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