CineMaven
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Posts posted by CineMaven
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Thank you so much Molo. I do appreciate that.
I'll take that spaghetti dinner and give Gloria advice on how to pick better guys out there for her than Vince (Lee Marvin).
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No ma'am. Robert O. just gave the dates. He gave no schedule or any details. But he did say go to www.tcm.com/festival for any updates.
I just called the Roosevelt and was told the Festival rates for their rooms is $209 a nite for a room with one king size bed or two queen-size.
No other details yet Miss Goddess. Maybe others have more information...
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Ollie, Miss G., Jackaaaaaaay and Grimesy me boy...I am totally flattered by your acknowledge- ment of my 10K status here on the Message Board. Plus seeing you've included Janis Carter &
Irene Dunne and the queen, Bette Davis...three of my favorites, well...
I hope I've been informative, humorous, camaraderiel and never boring. Thanxxx for reading and your congratulations.
Edited by: CineMaven on Sep 21, 2010 8:29 PM...yup, I'm still making up words.
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The next TCM Film Fest will be April 28 - May 1st, 2011. Oh boy, get ready fans.
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Yes. Please. Thank you.
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"Some interesting camera work, Joan looked great, never a big fan of Michael Redgrave, he left me cold. The film also left me cold, a mish mash, awful dialogue, a poor mans 'Rebecca' Joan Bennett referred to it as 'An unqualified disaster' and Lang though it was 'A poor film'.
I think this ended Lang's and Bennetts and her husband Walter Wanger's working relation-ship....."
Wow-weeee.
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Looking forward to reading comments on Lang's "SECRET BEYOND THE DOOR." I had a real Mercury in retrograde moment when I rewound the tape in my vcr, had my snacks at the rea-
dy and found the videotape jammed up in my vcr. Why am I using a vcr in this day and age...
Don't ask.
:-( < ( Sigh! ) > :-(
Ugh.
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Great, Molo. Now...where did I put those darned tassels?
Oh you kill me!
Ha ha. :-)
Perhaps Maggie should have read Nietzsche. On second thought...oh...never mind.
Why girls are reading ?Sex & the Single Girl? and ?COSMO? I?ll never know.
Most people I know do love his (Joseph Wiseman) performance, but superficial as I am, I just wanted someone to bash him over the head with a nightstick. I don't know what's wrong with me! I'm definitely in the minority on that one.
No, you?re not in the minority Mo?. There are lots of characters that annoy the heck outta people.
Then there is jittery Lee Grant, bursting on the scene like a young Thelma Ritter; minus the cynical wisecracks. There is a lot to take in with that film. I've only seen it once, maybe a second viewing would change my mind. I've grown since then.
Now Lee's character annoys me. Say, that movie might be worth a ramble if it hasn?t been done, and imitators don?t usurp the idea. I like the film. I thought Kirk Douglas was riveting. He couldn?t...
could not let go! And it cost him.
Alright it's on! I'll get in touch with you about what, when and where.
I?ll be waitin?.
ME: Oooh, (Randolph) Scott had a beautiful body, didn?t he?
YOU: I don't know. He's no Edward Everett Horton!
You?ve got to be kidding. E.E.Horton?s no Samuel S. Hinds.
I'm now convinced that 'The Awful Truth' is the better film. They are both superior comedies. The only weakness with both films is the overly cute final few minutes. I think 'My Favorite Wife' is a little better on that one point.
Now I confess to being superficial. ?THE AWFUL TRUTH? is my personal barometer for who likes classic film. (Isn't Gail Patrick stunning looking?) You?re so right about the overly cute finale. Those moments where she and Cary do the double talk are not great for me. The only thing that redeems it (for me) is that laugh of Dunne?s as she's under the covers.
Pull yourself together CineMaven. The crowd is restless with anticipation!
Well a girl?s got to practice, doesn?t she? That's how you get to Carnegie Hall.
An aside: Checking out the new "Hawaii Five-O." I'm enjoying it.
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I always thought Richard Crenna truly grew more handsome and held more gravitas as he got older. First so boyish looking on "Our Miss Brooks" and an episode of "I Love Lucy" when he had a crush on Lucy. Then as that devilishly cute Luke McCoy. But you know...(forget the Stallone movie he did), I really liked Crenna in "Body Heat" as Kathleen Turner's husband.
I haven't seen Hepburn's "Wait Until Dark" since Radio City Music Hall. Guess I'm imprinted with Lee Remick's performance. And a little aside about Lee...I was fast-forwarding through my tape of "Wheeler Dealer" and "Experiment in Terror" and it was striking to me how different her appearance and sensuality is from "Anatomy of a Murder" or seeing her in "...Murder" is a jolt after seeing her in "The Omen."
I guess I'm just fascinated by Acting. How the same person can look and sound and be so different from role to role.
Okay...I'm addicted to this site. I'm typing this from TEK SERVE in Chelsea while waiting for my iPOD to charge after its repair.
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Hi there. Yes, "WAIT UNTIL DARK" with Lee Remick is the first play I ever saw. But I saw that play as a graduation present for graduating from junior high school. I was no critic waaaay back then, but I do recall being quite taken by Remick's performance and having liked her ever since.
I do remember the man leaping onto the stage in the theatre and the audience's screams.
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Thanxxx so much!
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Aww, schmaltz is good! Any woman worth her salt would rather spend her last day with Samuel than Woody. (Strode is another matter, however)
Hmmm...yes indeedy, he is...Strode, not Allen.
I couldn't! Egg creams have to be made FRESH, on the spot, and drunk down IMMEDIATELY to retain the great chocolaty flavor! (using only U-Bet syrup) You and your friends would have to come up to 190th Street.
Great. That?s just swell! Some cyber-pal you turned out to be. It?s the end of the world...and now I?ve got to travel up to the Bronx...to the Grand Concourse with Toody & Muldoon? I?ll settle for some bubbly. I don?t think I?ll have much time at the end for traveling.
Hiya Jackaaaaay - Schmaltz is good, and I think I want some at the end, to have on bread with salt. If I am gonna die anyway, I am gonna die fat and happy.
Ha! That made me LOL!
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Now, I second that!
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She's not very good at it. I thought it was a telling comment. She'd never make it if she had to live by stealing. She'd have more than likely been pinched if she hadn't had Peter's help.
Wasn?t that one reason why she hated the shoelace factory job. Wasn?t she getting pinched there too?
?All tough guy actor-y? makes me think along the lines of Joseph Wiseman in ?Detective Story?, but I see your point. I liked the smacks too. They seemed to have put him in his place. Once again Peter feels that he is causing too much trouble and skips out.
You know, I LOVED Joseph Wiseman?s loose-y goose-y hopped up character in that movie.
She doesn't steal the coat because she needs it. She says she was just fed up, I guess. As has been said, the sexuality has been tamped down. She's a hardened character, at least externally. She just seems so beaten down by life, but she's not particularly tough either.
Didn?t you think she made a very fetching Florence Nightingale as she sat on the bed with Peter, doctoring up his ribs... Methinks our Gloria can?t help but be sexy. Awwwww, she's not so tough.
I liked your screen cap of Double G with those two ?dead-end? kids. She looked bemused by their toughness. But then her demeanor getting those two dimes...all the while knowing Peter is watching her...(Gloria?s a heartbreaker when she?s vulnerable).
Okay you're on! Just let me know when you are ready. Now I consider ?The Professionals? and ?Sergeant Rutledge? (hey, two I've actually seen) pretty dark, but at least you are out there on the trail. I watched Scott drive Cary Grant to hallucinogenic fits of jealousy last night in ?My Favorite Wife.?
Dude, I?m ready. You just name the time, the place, the thread. Oh, and the film too. (But nothing silent, please). I'm already going out on the limb laying claim to being the Fluff Queen.
Oooh, Scott had a beautiful body, didn?t he? But my favorite pairing with Cary & Irene remains: ?THE AWFUL TRUTH.?
Hey, I'll be there!
Great, Molo. Now...where did I put those darned tassels?
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I'm a lousy drinker, though. I get a migraine just thinking about alcohol, but occasionally it goes down with no ill effects, if I only have one {small) glass of spirits. Now you've got me thinking of Alexander's Department Store in the Bronx...
Wait! You're writing all these quips SOBER??!!! Aye yi yi, Bronxie. If THAT?s the Alexander?s you?re thinking about...you might as well hook up with crazy Woody Harrelson in ?2012.?
(P.S. My Alexander?s was on 58th & Lex next to Bloomingdale?s).
In the meantime, I'll put out a question for everyone -- what would you all do if it was your last day on Earth?
Well...at the risk of sounding schmaltzy, I guess I?d want to be with that one special person, watching a bunch of my favorite classic films, (romantic...comedic and noir) and having some bubbly. Uhmmmm...one of the movies would surely contain Samuel S. Hinds. (The ?S? must be for < Sigh! > )
...And send over a bottle of egg cream, please.
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"I watched A FACE IN THE CROWD again last week and had a nightmare that Andy Griffith took Vitajex and was chasing me around the apartment. I woke up in a sweat."
You're running from Andy? Tsk! Tsk! You woke up too soon.
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I don't know Weber's Bread though.
"Yes, and I was shocked to read about Maggie McNamara...."
Died a typist??
"Probably, although I've actually never seen it! (if you're a fan of the outrageous Mario Cantone, check out his V. Monologues on YouTube -- HILARIOUS, especially when he
does Barbara Stanwyck from "The Thornbirds"! He also does Kate Hepburn, Julia Child,
and others...oh, mama!"
I'll put your queen up against mine. I'm loving Steve Hayes:
(Barbara Stanwyck) -
(Eve Arden) -
"(...btw, you know who really does an uncanny Missy? The security guard in my favorite
Philip Marlowe movie, THE LONG GOODBYE. ("I don't understand, Walter, why I don't
understand..." Brilliant, lol!)"
Well then THIS I gotta see.
"...So I went to Brandsmart this afternoon to buy another and schlepped it home. My joints ached so I took two Advil, when what I really wanted was a Brandy Alexander."
Girl, you're grown...or at the very least, you don't live with your mother. Have that brandy. And then call Alexander and have him too.
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Great CharacterActor
My Favorites
1Stage Door(1937)
2The Raven(1935)
3Man Made Monster(1944)
4Jungle Woman(1944)
5Cobra Woman(1944)
White hair, great voice.
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Wonderfully said, Mr. Dobbs.
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D'OH! Not simultaneously. (1...2...3...4...5...) You won't get the ASPCA after me.
Think Gypsy Rose Lee or Blaze Starr, Lili St. Cyr...Tempest Storm.
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I love it when you guys illustrate your points with the screen caps. Sigh! In my next life...
Hi Molo! - ?...Ironically though my biggest beef with this film, and I'm such a Gloriaphile that I can't be unbiased about it, is that they are not given more time together. Gloria is essentially removed from the story halfway through. Peter has other journeys, other meetings ahead, but I would have shucked all that, to see these two characters given more back and forth time while on the run.?
I fear that. I fear it for two reasons:
1. It would change the trajectory of the story from an immigrant's tale to lovers-on-the-run. (And not that there's anything wrong with that).
2. Who knows WHAT Gloria might have to resort, to get money to keep them on the run. It?d be more than stealing coats and dimes. And if I know men...(at least men in the movies), he?d be upset at ?how? she got the money. But you know Molo, hey, anythng for more screen time for Gloria.
That?s a great screen cap you chose of Nancy...her eyes all dewy. I liked how the camera dollied into her in the movie. She reminded me slightly of Jean Peters. Not in the screen cap, but when the scene actually played out in the film. Timing is everything, isn?t it.
?Well,you know, if you two would step out of the darkness once in a while you might have been reminded of the startling similar 'Romance in Manhattan' from 1936. (Yes! Fluff finally pays off for Molo!)? :-)
Hey no fair Molo. I step out...I just rode the range with that handsome tall drink o? water Randolph Scott. I was as far west of the Pecos (film noir) as I could be. I even wrote about "The Profes-sionals" and "Sergeant Rutledge." I tell ya, with Woody as an incentive...sigh!) Fluff? I?ll show you fluff...let?s ramble about an out-and-out comedy sometime. I can fluff with the best of ?em.
And now, I must pick up some feather boas for my dance for Grimesy. Oh...you?re welcome to sit in the audience as well.
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"So when are you doing to dance for us?"
Haha, you Grimesy devil, you!!! I'll send you a PM with my showtimes. I'll have fans, snakes, be in a bubble bath, and have five veils. The economy is rough right now, so I can't afford the whole seven.
More later...I'm going to head out into life, see if I can't pick up a hunky Hungarian/Italian to help me while away my time at the Apple SoHo store.
Salo'Maven.
:-)
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?Yeah, but the same can be said of the laws in ?Devil's Doorway? and many other laws and former laws. The law is the law, right? We're to always accept them and never challenge them, right??
No, you?re right. (Can?t sit at the lunch counter...Jean Valjean in ?Les Miserables?). Just b?cuz it?s
a law, doesn?t make it right.
?Remember, I'm not ?black and white.? I believe life is grey. I feel that if we view everything as ?black and white,? we lose our humanity.?
Yes, you?re right again, Grimesy. Ofttimes there are mitigating circumstances that warrant a bending and easing of the rules.
> ?Sometimes Peter's exploits struck me as little far-fetched, ?convenient? and that took me out of the pix in spurts.? - < ( C.M?Ava ) >[/b]
Such as...
* How he winds up looking out of the wings while the Stripper?s onstage (no Stage Manager saw this?)
* How he happens to be practically thrown into the Stripper (Tanya?s) cab.
* To be put in bed with the kids? (Yikes! Unseemly and plot convenient b?cuz you couldn?t let Tanya?s brother find him immediately.
* When Peter finally gets to Oz, Uhmmm...I mean the United Nations, the schmaltzy music got to me.
* No security at the U.N. (What the...) Even for that year, the one cop at the door couldn?t stop a man whose bleeding with broken ribs?
"Ironically, I just finished watching John Ford's 'The Hurricane', last night, and this entire dilemma was the film's focus. There are laws and then there are laws, if you will. And it was fascinating to see the law of man trumped by the law of nature. Do we ever bend or give?
Are we to be nothing but book-followers?"
I love...LOVE Nature trumping ManKind; show us who?s The Boss. We shouldn?t be book-follo-
wers. We should fight against unjust laws...I?m just not in favor of breaking laws and rules and
Codes of Conduct just for the mere sake of breaking laws, rules and Codes of Conduct. And
for those circumnavigators... I say tighten the laws around their necks. (I am NOT talking of
our Hungarian Italian Peter Kuban).
"When is a burlesque dancer ever called a 'fine lady'? That would be like a guy calling Miss G 'sweet.'
Uhmmmm...you do love to live cyber-dangerously, don?cha big guy.
Great screen cap you chose for Tanya. Doesn?t it say it all?
"Yet another important character, despite a very small amount of screen time. Does he think of anyone but himself? I sometimes wonder about the rest of us. Lots of 'don't tread on me's' in our country. Such humility. It's as if we own everything."
I agree. I just wished the actor had played it a little more subtle.
"So why doesn't it classify as a film noir?"
Why do you think it does?
Those two couples were out having a good time and here's a guy who is completely frightened by this world he's found himself in. They have a laugh at his expense. He's caught in a night-
mare, an urban nightmare."
"The irony is that they might very well have been on their first visit to New York, as well. -
< ( Miss Goddess ) >
Tourists often look and act like that. Haven?t you noticed?
Grimesy, the Bilko screencap you posted of that tourist was as frightening as ?The Bad Seed? cap I?ve seen around the board.
"Of course, if a strange guy dragged me into the bushes in Central Park and told me to get down on my belly I think I'd probably take my chances with the cops.? - < ( Miss Goddess ) >
Ha!! :-) LOL!!!
Grahame?s hesitancy was interesting. It was like she thought she was too good to do that, when we just saw her filch half-eaten food and a coat three sizes too big. With Kathleen Freeman screeching at her heels, I say...crawl, girl...crawwwwwwwl!
Hi there Jackaaaay -"I was really drawn to the movie, though I thought Peter's speech at the UN was a little forced. It was over the top as far as writing was concerned, but Vittorio really pulled it off...?
I liked Vittorio throughout the movie, but his speech and acting in that scene made me cringe. I think I might?ve liked it better if he were speaking Italian.
"I've discovered this morning that I really like suspense, especially if there is a good buildup - watching 'The Big Clock' which is another flawed 'maybe noir' made me realize that I will forgive a lot if the characters are interesting and the movie has a lot of suspense."
Please check out Steve Hayes? review of ?THE BIG CLOCK? here:
"George MacReady can really sweat. He's so subtle, the twitch of a nostril can mean everything!"
MacReady can do more with his little finger or the inflection in his voice, than many of today?s actors can do with their entire screen persona. (?Gilda? ?Paths of Glory? etc for Macready examples).
"And how often do you see George MacCready and Charles Laughton in the same film." -
< ( Miss Goddess ) >
Separated at birth??
MacReady, Laughton, Georgie Sanders, Claude Rains...so many good second bananas who are great. Why, there oughta be a thread...
Now...calling or Moloes. Calling all Glo-lo MadHatted Moloes!
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"Don?t forget, your dead father was a lousy foreigner!?
I saw ?The Glass Wall? last nite and I?m afraid I wasn?t so crazy about it, sorry to say. It was a wonderful vehicle for our glorious Double G., though. She tamped down her sexuality big-time
allowing the audience to see that she?s more than just what we know she can be. It killed me to see her being in such a furtive survival mode... living in that squallid little rooming house...stealing coats and money from kids. (But when she ran INTO Central Park with the rep it would have, it made me say ?Yikes, you?re running in THERE?? Her acting out the description of the mundane tedious-ness of her job made me think, "Did you just learn mime at the Actors Studio?? She lives this hand-to-mouth existence and fights off her landlady?s son (go to IMDB and check out Richard Reeves. Now there?s a working actor!) and actually does not trade on her looks which she could in a minute. As I always do, I just love watching Gloria Grahame and am happy to get another one of her performances under my cinematic belt.
?The Glass Wall? is Vittorio Gassman's picture all the way and it's also a message about the perils of trying immigrate to the United States...unlawfully. I usually suspend my disbelief in a New York minute with the movies; even the dastardly gets a break in my Maven's head. But something just kept gnawing in the back of my mind about the fact that he stowed away, that he was trying to circumvent the law. The U.S. is welcoming, if you come in the front door. The back door is another story.
But 'less you think I?m an uncompassionate meanie, I?ll tell you I did feel for the vital...virile...
Vittorio. (Hey them?s ain?t my words. That?s what the trailer said. And what a wild misleading trailer that was. Loved by three women?? I counted one...and a half). He did go through some harrowing experiences to survive, and that was touching.
Desperation is the operative word here, a veritable ?Immigrant?s Excellent (Harrowing) Adventure.? He was like Alice in Wonderland meeting up with all these people in his quest to find Tommy and stay in America. The film also put me to mind a bit of ?They Live By Night.? Always running, never safe, always trying to stay one step ahead, but Cathy O'Donnell is certainly no Gloria Grahame. Sometimes Peter's exploits struck me as a little far-fetched, ?convenient? and that took me out of the pix in spurts.
I liked that the officiousness of the Immigration cop changed once Peter?s story was corroborated. He was just following the rules, and maybe his hands were tied in the beginning. Loved the bemused look on the face of his partner as he listened to Peter?s (Gassman) story. But Peter was adorable and scared...and so very very desperate and I did feel that.
Robin Raymond made me think of Constance Bennett. And her whole appearance in the film was quite a lesson in acceptance and assimilation. She is the daughter of immigrants. And though she does the bump-and-grind, she has two adorable little blonde haired kids that she has to feed, and allows a stranger to share their bed. (HUH?!) Her mom who I thought at first was going to play your typical movie immigrant mother ("The Public Enemy"), wound up being a very strong matriarch. Her son comes bustin? home all tough guy actor-y. (His performance had my head shaking). He is unequivocally American and wants nothing to do with the old language and culture. Mom puts him in his place when she tells him "Don?t forget, your dead father was a lousy foreigner.? I loved the smack in the face she gave him.
So now we believe Peter and there?s a race against time for him to be captured for his own good, and there's some running in place on treadmills. We finally face the glass wall of the United Na-
tions and Peter?s plea for understanding. I winced a bit at his speech, but the message was clear and poignant. Besides, he?s vital and virile and I believe he?ll get his citizenship and the girl, and that's a lucky man, indeed.
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"I loved seeing the NYC night, with all the flashing signs and the like.? - < ( Frank Grimes ) >
It was great seeing the Times Square I remember as a kid. Teeming, vibrant, dangerous. Now it?s teeming...with tourists, and pretty antiseptic. Meh! As an indie filmmaker, to find out that they filmed this movie guerilla style was GREAT!!!!
?I'm surrounded by those lights through my windows on two sides.? - < ( Miss Goddess ) >
Yikes.
Edited by: CineMaven on Sep 17, 2010 8:28 AM - I would not classify this as film noir. But it could go under the umbrella of other films that talk of the Immigrant experience...and there's many of those.
RE-Edited by: CineMaven on Sep 17, 2010 8:34 AM...and P.S., look at the credits again and see how the great character actress Kathleen Freeman is billed. Oh my!!!
Robert O's 2011 Film Festival announcement Tues, 9/21,at 5 pm PST/8 East
in Hot Topics
Posted
Thanxx Madame Cutter.
I am literally going over all the threads that you and filmlover (and others) wrote relative to this year's film festival.