Film_Fatale
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Posts posted by Film_Fatale
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> {quote:title=Bronxgirl48 wrote:}{quote}
> Harry Langdon and Guilietta Massina
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> Message was edited by: Bronxgirl48
The resemblance is truly eerie... :0
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"The horror.... the horror!"
Hope you'll have pleasant dreams and forget all about *Skiddoo*, BG
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Thanks for the update, marcco! I'm looking forward both to that and to *$ (Dollars)*
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http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/12/movies/12conn.html?hp
July 12, 2008
An Appraisal
*An Artist of the Cutting-Room Floor*
By MANOHLA DARGIS
Bruce Conner's ecstatic films ? fabricated from bits of old documentaries and educational reels, from mass-cultural snips and snails and recycled movie tales ? were at once salvage projects and assertions of individuality in an increasingly anonymous age. In their modest way (modesty, in this case, being less a virtue than a worldview), they were acts of resistance, an aesthetic rejoinder to a world drowning in its own image. Just as important, they are generally a blast ? witty, exuberant, despairing, engaged, apocalyptic.
As it happens, a real blast figures large in his most famous film, ?A Movie,? which was also made under a (mushroom) cloud in 1958, the year a B-47 lost a hydrogen bomb off the coast of Georgia and a second B-47 accidentally dropped an atom bomb in South Carolina. (No one was killed, but yikes.) There are jokey sections in ?A Movie,? funny if sinister laughs, but mostly there are found-footage wipeouts and crashes, firing guns and dropping bodies and that very big bomb. An elephant dies, and Mussolini shows up dead. As a chronicle of the first half of the 20th century, the film takes you down, down, down, even as its kinetic editing brings you up, up, up.
Mr. Conner, who died on Monday at 74 after a long illness, made some two dozen films. Even if you think you?ve never seen any of them ? ?A Movie,? ?Cosmic Ray,? ?Report,? ?Mongoloid? ? you probably have, if only by proxy, because of their influence and cultural dispersion. (Generally short, they make for friendly viewing, if deeper thinking, which is why they show up in college courses.) Dennis Hopper has said that the editing of ?Easy Rider,? his wiggy 1969 generational cri de coeur, was directly influenced by Mr. Conner. For better and sometimes worse, scores of other filmmakers in both the avant-garde and the commercial mainstream have been influenced by Mr. Conner?s shocking juxtapositions and propulsive, rhythmically sophisticated montage. MTV should have paid him royalties.
Mr. Conner was already a critically recognized assemblage artist when he turned to cinema in his mid-20s. In his hands film became an extension of assemblage and, arguably, an elaboration. Where once he used physical detritus like scraps of lace and junk to make art, he now used old Hollywood movies, newsreels and stock footage. Where once his materials included nylon stockings, they now included a clip of Marilyn Monroe (or a lookalike). Mr. Conner used that Marilyn image early in ?A Movie? for a startling sequence that features a man peering through a periscope, a submarine discharging a torpedo, and an exploding nuclear bomb. With a few deft edits, he transformed innocuous cheesecake into a disquieting riff on annihilation.
Somewhat paradoxically, while Mr. Conner liked to say that an inspiration for ?A Movie? was the Marx Brothers? comedy ?Duck Soup,? even this teenage favorite had its dark lining. ?There?s a war going on,? he explained to an interviewer in 1976, ?and Groucho tells Harpo that we need help, and he runs out and puts a ?Help Wanted? sign on the front of the building. Then you start seeing all these tanks, and airplanes, and soldiers, and porpoises, and giraffes ? I don?t know ? all sorts of creatures and things rushing to help them.? He added, ?After that I started thinking about all the things I could stick together in a sequence like that: elephants running, trains blowing up, cars going, cars crashing, and so on and so forth.?
It wasn?t all crashes, wipeouts and dead presidents. (His 1963-67 film ?Report? explores the image-exploitation of John F. Kennedy?s assassination.) His 1966 ?Breakaway,? for instance, features his original footage of the singer and choreographer Antonia Christina Basilotta, a k a Toni Basil, dancing dressed and undressed, in forward and backward motion, to her rendition of the catchy song of the title. (?I?m gonna breakaway, breakaway from the everyday.?) On one level, the black-and-white film recalls Eadweard Muybridge?s early motion studies ? Ms. Basil?s joy in her own physicality is glorious ? but it?s particularly self-conscious and liberated. In contrast to Muybridge?s subjects, she looks as if she?s having the time of her life, her hair whipping and body thrashing in perfect harmony with Mr. Conner?s staccato and strobe-like editing. She?s a different kind of explosion.
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I may be in the minority here, I just think she looked just fine in b&w. B-)
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_*Turner Classic Movies pick for July 12, 2008: The Postman Always Rings Twice*_ B-)
?The Postman Always Rings Twice,? TCM, Saturday, July 12, 8 p.m. (EST)
James M. Cain, along with Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, was one of the big three of American crime fiction writers whose literary works inspired the film noir genre.
Cain?s 1934 novel ?The Postman Always Rings Twice? was his first major success. In 1946, after 12 years of arguing with the censors, MGM finally managed to get permission to make a film version. (The phenomenal box office success of Billy Wilder?s film of Cain?s ?Double Indemnity? helped pave the way for ?Postman.?)
The great John Garfield gives the most memorable performance of his movie career as Frank Chambers, a drifter who takes a job at the roadside diner owned by middle-aged Nick Smith (Cecil Kellaway) and his frustrated young wife Cora (Lana Turner, also doing her best work).
When Frank meets Cora, it?s lust at first sight. Eventually, they decide that their only chance at happiness is to kill Nick so they can inherit his insurance money and the diner. They literally get away with murder, but end up receiving retribution in the form of poetic justice.
Directed by the underrated Tay Garnett, ?The Postman Always Rings Twice? also features Leon Ames as the district attorney who prosecutes the lovers, Hume Cronyn as the wily shyster defending them, Alan Reed as a sleazy private eye and Audrey Totter as the flirt that Frank dallies with. The haunting music score was composed by George Bassman.
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Thank you for sharing that photo, MissG. B-)
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> {quote:title=CineSage_jr wrote:}{quote}
> I had a bunch, but they were all confiscated by some weird albino guy working for Opus Dei.
Don't tell me you also happen to look like Tom Hanks...
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> {quote:title=MovieFanLaura wrote:}{quote}
> This was right at the time the transition to widescreen was occurring and I'm really wondering if IMDb is in error.
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> Hopefully someone else can enlighten us!
I'd be very surprised if both imdb and the TCM database had incorrectly listed the aspect ratio as 1.75:1 if it had actually been Academy ratio (1.33:1)
Of course, it's a much smaller difference than you'd notice for movies actually filmed in widescreen (2.35:1) formats.
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080712/ap_on_en_mo/obit_keyes
*Actress Evelyn Keyes dies at 91 in California*
By BOB THOMAS
Associated Press Writer
LOS ANGELES - Evelyn Keyes, who played Scarlett O'Hara's younger sister Suellen in "Gone With the Wind" and counted director John Huston and bandleader Artie Shaw among her famous husbands, has died. She was 91.
The actress died July 4 of uterine cancer at her home in Montecito, near Santa Barbara, producer and close friend Allan Glaser said Friday.
Glaser said the news was withheld because lawyers wanted to wait until the death certificate was filed.
Keyes' personal life often overshadowed her acting career. Besides her often turbulent marriages to Shaw and directors Huston and Charles Vidor, she lived with the flamboyant producer Mike Todd for three years during his preparation and filming of "Around the World in 80 Days." She played a cameo role in the movie and helped on publicity.
Todd sent her to the premiere in Caracas, then called her abruptly from Paris with this message: "Listen, I have to tell you. I've fallen in love with Elizabeth (Taylor)."
"Oh well, nothing lasts forever," she philosophized in 1977. "The good part was that I invested all my money in `Around the World in 80 Days,' and that set me up for life."
Keyes gave a frank account of her romances and marriages in her 1977 autobiography, "Scarlett O'Hara's Younger Sister." Her role in the 1939 classic led to a contract at Columbia Pictures and stardom.
Among her notable roles: as Robert Montgomery's lover in "Here Comes Mr. Jordan" (1941), the Ruby Keeler role as Al Jolson's wife in "The Jolson Story" (1946), and as Dick Powell's wife in "Mrs. Mike" (1949).
She also starred in B pictures that were later praised by movie critics as prime examples of film noir: "Johnny O'Clock" (1947), "The Killer That Stalked New York" (1950), "The Prowler" (1951), "99 River Street" (1953) and "The Big Combo" (1955).
Keyes' marriages and divorces made her the darling of gossip columns and fan magazines. Her first marriage, to a handsome Englishman and heavy drinker named Barton Bainbridge, ended in headlines when he fatally shot himself during a separation.
Vidor, a handsome Hungarian who directed her first Columbia film, "The Lady in Question," became romantically involved with Keyes, though both were married at the time. When her husband committed suicide and Vidor's wife, actress Karen Morley, divorced him, Vidor and Keyes married. The marriage ended two years later when she discovered he was unfaithful to her as well.
Husband No. 3 was Huston. She was impressed when they met at a Hollywood dinner party, and more impressed when he took her afterward to his Tarzana horse ranch and made no effort to seduce her.
Their marriage in 1946 led to an adventurous life. Just one of the examples she recalled in 1971 involved Huston returning home from the 1949 film "We Were Strangers," with a gift from actress Jennifer Jones, a pet chimpanzee.
"The chimp fell in love with John, and he brought it home to live with us in our all-white apartment."
David Niven wrote in his memoir "Bring on the Empty Horses" that Keyes became exasperated at the non-housebroken animal and issued an ultimatum: "One of us has to go. It's the monkey or me."
According to Niven, Huston replied, "Honey, it's you." Keyes reported in her own memoir that it was the chimp that got the boot.
The Huston marriage did end in 1950, however, and Keyes sought analysis to recover from the failure. Her conclusion: "I was always looking for the same man ? a strong father figure."
Keyes' marriage to Shaw in 1957 seemed to follow the same pattern. He had given up his brilliant career as a clarinetist and bandleader and had been seeking intellectual challenges.
Shaw played Henry Higgins to her Eliza Doolittle, giving her a new name, Keri, introducing her to literature and leading her on his world travels. For a time they lived in Spain. After several years she tired of his dominance and they separated. They divorced in 1985.
After Shaw died in 2004 at age 94, she battled in court for a share of his estate, saying he had promised it to her. A jury backed her in 2006, but the executor of the estate vowed to appeal.
Keyes was born in Port Arthur, Texas, in 1916, according to state birth records; some references give a later year. She grew up fatherless and poor in Atlanta. A glowing blond beauty with an alluring figure, she danced in nightclubs and at 17 set out for Hollywood. Cecil B. DeMille signed her to a seven-year contract and cast her in "The Buccaneer."
After a few minor roles at Paramount, she appeared in "Gone With the Wind" and then moved to Columbia, where her career blossomed.
After her film career and marriages ended, she turned author, producing an autobiographical novel, "I Am a Billboard," two memoirs, "Scarlett O'Hara's Younger Sister" and "I'll Think About It Tomorrow," film scripts and articles.
Keyes took a frank view of her life and career in a 1999 interview:
"To become a big movie star like Joan Crawford you need to wear blinders and pay single-minded attention to your career. Nobody paid attention to me, including me. I was the original Cinderella girl, looking for the happy ending in the fairy story. But my fantasy prince never came."
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> {quote:title=lzcutter wrote:}{quote}
> I'm actually thinking I'll give Skidoo a try>>
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> FF,
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> Either have a strong drink in hand or blinders on for when Carol Channing does her strip tease.
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> My eyes, my eyes!!!!
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> It took many drinks to get that image out of my brain.
Thank you for the warning!
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> {quote:title=CineSage_jr wrote:}{quote}
> Shirtless...but still wearing a priest's collar. What an image that conjures up!
Got any stills you'd like to share?
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We're all here, and we're like an itch you can't scratch.
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You're on board now, Frank. You do know nobody gets off this train till the end of the line?
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So if you're watching *The Glass Slipper* right now, you know it's not letterboxed... should it have been?
True, it was not filmed in a widescreen format... but according to both tcmdb.com and imdb.com, the real aspect ratio is 1.75:1, and not Academy ratio...
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Happy b-day, Yul Brynner!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(July 11, 1920 - Oct. 10, 1985)
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> {quote:title=marcco44 wrote:}{quote}
> earlier in the week i found this link on the digitalbits website: an interview of SONY (can you believe it??) rep michael schlesinger on sony's upcoming releases and the release of their classic film catalog on dvd...... sounds hopeful, and at the end schlesinger gives his email address and encourages the public to contact him with any comments or requests ( you can bet i fired one off to him as soon as i read it!!)..........
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> http://hkfilmnews.blogspot.com/2008/07/return-of-classics-another-exclusive.html
That's a great bit of news, I'm actually really looking forward now to their first film noir set coming out next year.
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> {quote:title=mateo107 wrote:}{quote}
> FF, i think Celluloid Kid meant that he hopes that edition is released in the US market (ie: region 1). it's not uncommon for a DVD release to be announced in the UK market before the US release is announced.
Sorry, mateo, but in the case of this particular movie it's a bit unlikely, because different companies hold the rights on both sides of the Atlantic.
And I don't see why you have to get snippy about anything. If someone else doesn't understand a certain comment, why are you getting all riled up?
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Carole Lombard, SOTM?
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I watched both during their U.S. theatrical release, they're truly awesome movies.
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I don't know that there's a truly compelling reason to wish they'd been filmed in colour more often. Have you ever seen a classic b&w movie in a theater? Do you remember what colours looked like when the movie was over and you walked out of the theater?
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Why didn't you read that yourself before posting erroneous info?
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Billy Wilder FTW B-)
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> {quote:title=CelluloidKid wrote:}{quote}
> RG1 DVD is only for the USA....RG2 is for Over-Seas DVD Players.
And that is precisely why the only way you are going to get an R2 DVD here in the U.S. is if you special order it.
Contrary to your erroneous assumptions, R1 DVDs are also for Canada; R2 DVDs can be played in any multi-region player.
Skiddoo
in Hot Topics
Posted
Well, I TiVo'd it, didn't really watch it while it was recording, but I did see a few minutes here and there, so I have a pretty good idea of what you must have gone through, sweetie.
/conforts Bronxgirl