ChiO

[Arturo] -- what is the other DVD release?[i/] *With a Song in My Heart*

Dave Kehr reviewed two new Susan Hayward DVD releases today in the NY Times. Not only does he capture the attraction of Hayward, he name-checks a favorite actor of mine. No matter how low her character falls ? and ?I?ll Cry Tomorrow? goes so far as to imagine her having a one-night stand with Timothy Carey, the great, mad character actor of many of Stanley Kubrick?s films ? she remains the center of her own private universe, the brightest figure in a gray landscape. Many other actresses have gone on to play invalids and alcoholics and win armloads of Oscars for their efforts, but few if any have done it with Hayward?s panache. Agony was her business, and she knew it inside out.[i/]

Grace Kelly Spanky *or* Alfalfa?

Let's start a new channel -- TMM: Turner Mediocre Movies. Then nobody would be satisfied. Discuss.

Dear [MissG] and [FGrimes] -- I have now finally finished "Print the Legend". Of particular interest near the end was an interview of John Ford by Bernard Tavernier in 1966. In response to Tavernier's question of who his favorite directors were: Leo McCarey, Frank Capra, Raoul Walsh, Tay Garnett, Henry King and... *I like Sammy Fuller, too; he puts a little too much violence in his films, but unlike many others he doesn't do it for base commercial reasons -- he is an upright, honest guy.* If my hair were wavy & I smoked cigars, I'd pass as his twin. To begin my serious delving into Ford, I rented *The Fugitive* last night. I had no idea that in 1948 Harrison Fo...or, it that the wrong Ford movie? And, Mr. Grimes, did I see in the "Classic TV" thread that Kristy McNichol is another of your many obsessions? If so, Criterion is releasing *White Dog* in 2008. Start saving now. *Family* it ain't.

Paul Muni Howard Hawks *or* Raoul Walsh?

I guess there's no confusing MM with Dale Evans.

[CineMaven] -- *But he just never had a strong persona for me.* I, too, have seen few of his movies, but it seems like I've always known of him. Was his picture in alot of photoframes at Woolworth's in the '50's? What little I have seen makes me think there's no there there. Love *The Big Combo* , but others probably could have filled the role as well. Then there's *Passion* -- I was psyched for a Dwan western with Wilde, Raymond Burr, Yvonne DeCarlo (in two roles!), Lon Chaney, Jr., an uncredited Clayton Moore, and John Alton cinematography. Blah. Then a friend gave me a copy of *Hot Blood* -- it looked like it would turn me around on him, but then it started pixilating until it was unwatchable. So Cornel is doomed in my house...thusfar

*Wisconsin is, as everyone knows, on the Cheesed Coast.* Some may think that, but it's actually *Wurst by Bratwurst* .

[F-Crimes] -- *What's odd about Forty Guns to me is how Barbara acts at the end of the film. It doesn't seem like something a Barbara character would do. But I guess she really wanted Griff that bad.* I think we're thinking the same thing. Sure, she acts all gushy to get Griff, which does seem out of character, but...you just [know] that whip will come out later.

My favorite Garfield performance was not in a "John Garfield" movie: *Gentleman's Agreement* . To me, he was far and away the best part of the movie.

Huntz Hall Ray Dennis Steckler (aka Cash Flagg) [or] Mike Kannon?

*Ci ? soltanto un padrone che tutto altrimenti ? i suoi apprendisti.* Oh, yeah? Well, Gallia in tres partes divisio est.

*A high-ridin' woman with a whip.* There's nothing like a sweet love song to get a movie started. Yup, he is the f---ing "F" director. He wouldda had that Wayne guy cowering (but I suppose the other "F" director did, too), but not Stanwyck, the toughest hombre of them all.

*"Never be the innocent bystander. That's the guy that always gets hurt."* Few better lines in any movie. *By the way, I don't know Wilmington.* He was a film critic for the LA Times, then came to the Chicago Tribune to replace Dave Kehr, who had come from the Chicago Reader (the Chicago attempt at a Village Voice) to replace Gene Siskel and left the Trib for the NY Times (or was it a different NY paper? He's at the Times now.). And Kehr's replacement at the Reader? Jonathan Rosenbaum. Follow that? Wilmington has no books to my knowledge. He falls somewhere between Rosenbaum and Ebert (As an amateur shrink, I'd say he aspires to Rosenbaum's intellectualism and Ebert's popularity. But don't we all.). And, much like Kehr at the Times, he's now pretty much limited to writing about new releases on DVD of "classic" films and art house screenings. *The "Whirlpool" track is by Miss G's favorite, Richard Schickel.* Boy, did they diss him. Either Wilmington or Hirsch said that, not only did Schickel support the blacklist, he wishes it were still in effect. That came up in the context of Hirsch's book. He said that the only negative review was by Schickel and that he found it ironic that an editor would assign a book about a blacklist fighter to a blacklist supporter.

Film noir: Film noir is not a genre, but an attitude and approach to the material, which is often based on gangster or mystery genre elements. So, with film noir, I can often get one or both of those genres.

Ooooh -- one of my favorites. Isn't Sergio Leone the Italian translation of John F---ing Ford?

"I wanted a sympathetic heavy, a psycho with charm, manners, and the balls to disturb audiences. Zanuck and Adler went for him like a bullet. Adler called him up on the phone, Bob said 'Yes,' and we did the picture right after that." -- Samuel Fuller, on *House of Bamboo*

*Excuse My Dust* (1951), perhaps.

I went to our lovely Music Box Theater last night to see *Angel Face* and listen to a panel discussion (Foster Hirsch, Jonathan Rosenbaum, & Michael Wilmington) on the place of Preminger in American cinema. Wish I could have taped the discussion, though I assume that most of Hirsch's comments & anecdotes are in his book. As Hirsch noted, there are few films as dark as *Angel Face* -- aggressively unsentimental and with no hope for the redemption of any character. He asked JR & MW which four films they would recommend to an Otto newcomer. [Rosenbaum] -- "Based on his three periods, I'd recommend: *Laura* , *Angel Face* , *Anatomy of a Murder* and *Such Good Friends* " (I do believe that JR has an obsession with Elaine May). [Wilmington] -- "Based on his three periods, I'd recommend: *Laura* , *Angel Face* , *Anatomy of a Murder* and *In Harm's Way* , plus *Advise and Consent* and *Porgy and Bess* just to vary a little from Jonathan's recommendations." [Hirsch] -- Agreed with the above except for *Laura* , which he thinks is overrated. Much discussion of the ambiguity he built into his films, showing a respect for the audience to come to its own conclusions. Also discussed their sense of why his films (except, perhaps, for the earlier ones) often are not embraced: intellectuals didn't like his films based on best-selling books because that's middle-brow; perceived as a tyrant off-screen just because he was a tyrant behind the camera & in his acting roles, thereby confusing professional persona with real personality. Related anecdote -- Howard Hughes specifically asked to borrow Preminger to direct *Angel Face* because Jean Simmons' contract at RKO was about to run out and he wanted someone who would shoot quickly and punish Simmons. It worked -- Simmons would not discuss the film with Hirsch for his book because she so detests thinking about Preminger. And, God bless Mr. Rosenbaum, he worked in a positive comparison of Preminger's directing of actors to Cassavetes' (Hirsch conceded that similarity, but admitted he doesn't care for Cassavetes). Anecdote -- During the filming of *Exodus* , Newman was to stand behind two characters and eavesdrop. As a Method Actor, he asked Preminger what his character's motivation was and what he should think about. Response: "For god's sake, just stand there." Rosenbaum's point: Preminger and Cassavetes thought (1) the actors are professionals and should figure it out (though the irony with Preminger was that if it didn't look exactly like how it had looked in his mind, the retakes could go on and on) and (2) human nature is too variable and complex for the director to dictate and limit that nature, which would deprive the audience of working through the ambiguities. Much praise for his pioneering efforts in controlling his films, breaking the blacklist, making films starring black actors, and fighting censorship.

[CineMaven] -- *Gable & Colbert did "It Happened One Night." Gable & Lombard did "No Man of Her Own."* How embarassing. And I'm always doing that -- Claudette vs. Carole; play relationship vs. real relationship. Oh, well. I get so confused in my old age.

[3RiversFrank] -- *C -- Timothy Carey (this isn't contrarian; it's sincere) -- Sadly, I know.* Thanks for that picture. Whatta lovable hunk! As Fate would have it, not only did I receive my half-sheet of *God's Little Acre* yesterday, but I also received a half-sheet of: *Bold! Brutal! Barbaric!* Yes, *Bayou* (aka *Poor White Trash* ) with two -- count'em, [two] -- pictures of Timothy Carey. With those two posters, I now feel as if I'm "Back Home Again in Indiana" (the northernmost Southern state, no doubt). I can hear Hoagy singing and watch Dean & McQueen movies all night.

Here's a tidbit from "Robert Ryan: A Biography and Critical Filmography" (Jarlett, F.) that folks -- esp. [FrankG] -- may find interesting: "When the idea for *The Set-up* first circulated among the various screenwriters at RKO, some thought it would be difficult to cast the main character. Director Samuel Fuller had only glowing words for the poem by Joseph Moncure March, on which the story for *The Set-up* was based, and spoke of 'falling for the cadence of the black fighter called Candy Jones.' But when Fuller learned that Ryan was to play Jones, he had doubts about the casting of a white man in place of a black. "Seeing Ryan's performance, though, Fuller came away amazed, and lauded it with the flashy style he had learned as a newspaper crime reporter in the late 1920's and early 1930s: 'Ryan [was] that Black fighter. Under the skin, he [was] Candy Jones. Bob caught all the nuances of guts and shattered hopes, and small-time aspirations of a never-was beating the hell out of the desperation of being a club fighter.'"

*In the credits it said something about Shirley Temples Storybook--whatever that means.* -- From 1958 to 1961, there was a TV show called "Shirley Temple's Storybook." She was the host of, and sometimes actress in, the show, which consisted of one hour (or was it half-hour?) adaptations of fairy tales. As a faithful viewer at the time, I remember "Beauty and the Beast", "Rapunzel" and some others. At the time, there was also a book entitled "Shirley Temple's Storybook" (as I recall) that collected many of the fairy tales. I have a copy and just searched the house for it, but couldn't find it -- I hope it's at my parents' home or that I gave it to my older daughter when she was a youngster or (most likely) that it's squirreled away here to be found when my survivors are gathering stuff for my estate sale.

[MissG] -- Your choices for "F", "I", and "J" did not surprise me, but "U", "X" and "Y" did. Who is this man you refer to as "John Ford"? I'm finishing up "Print the Legend" and, as soon as I do, I promise to sit, watch and re-evaluate. But my favorite choice was for "A" -- I love Jack Arnold. *The Incredible Shrinking Man* is a masterpiece in my book. [cascabel] -- I wondered who'd be first to go with Powell & Pressburger. I almost went there myself. Your approach to the list is quite impressive. Message was edited by: ChiO