Arturo
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Posts posted by Arturo
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NO WAY OUT (1950), one of Linda Darnell's best movies, and containing some of her best acting, will be on TCM this Saturday evening, at 8 pm est. This is the slot usually reserved for the weekly Essential film. I don't know if the Essentials have started for the year, or if they play Essentials during this month, but this film would definitely qualify as one, imho. This racial drama is one of the best films of its kind, and is excellent in all categories: acting, directing and writing. Truly an essential.
If NWO is on this Saturday as an Essential, then this would be the third movie with Linda Darnell in it to be so spotlighted; the other two being A LETTER TO THREE WIVES (1949), and ANNA AND THE KING OF SIAM (1946). Other films with her that could.be so designated could.include the swashbuckler THE MARK OF ZORRO (1940), the bullfighter saga BLOOD AND SAND (1941), both with Tyrone Power and directed by Rouben Mammoulian, HANGOVER SQUARE (1944), with Laird Cregar's last performance, MY DARLING CLEMENTINE (1946), John Ford's pure poetic western, and UNFAITHFULLY YOURS (1948), although not.generally considered Essential Preston Sturges. Some others not quite in the Essential.category (although I could make a case for them) could include SUMMER STORM (1944), the early Douglas Sirk melodrama that gave Linda a new sexy image as she played the first of her scheming social-climbing roles, or the Otto Preminger noirs FALLEN.ANGEL (1945), or THE THIRTEENTH LETTER (1951), Preminger's compromised epic, FOREVER AMBER (1947), or Robert Wise's.cavalry western, TWO FLAGS WEST (1950). These aren't better known (except maybe FALLEN ANGEL), mainly due to their rarity. But all could.be selected as representative Essentials, as much as some of the ones that have been honored.
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So I sa the first half.of.FRENCHMAN'S CREEK late last.night. Yes the color was bad, very washed out, to the point where Joan Fontaine's face was sometimes just a white blur (reminds me.of some of the films.and.tv.shows I've bought online, either PD or uncertain provenance). The story remains as silly as the last.time.I saw.it, but.all the studio.departments.were.definitely top-notch.....except maybe the writing.dept. Even the men's wigs seemed right for the era, going by what I've seen of paintings from.that.period, and other movies taking.place.around that time. Hopefully, I'll see the second half tonight.
PS. Were I to find my old vhs copy of FC, I doubt the color would be any better by now.
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I missed the recent airing of FRENCHMAN'S CREEK, but I see that TCM is airing it again on March 8 as well as two times in April.
It would be nice.if TCM.airs a better print, but.even if that is not the case, it's good to see this film.get some exposure after.so long. One of the top hits that.year, and many people are unfamiliar with it. At.least TCM is showing it.
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So I've yet to see the recording on the DVR. Somewhere I have a copy of FRENCHMAN'S CREEK on VHS, which I recorded off of AMC ages.ago (I guess, since people here say this was a TCM premiere). Hopefully, I will get to watch the new recording tonight, poor color and all. I don't remember enough about the subsidiary characters played by Rathbone, Bruce, etc.
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It's disheartening to read here, that after.all this time, the print has some very poor.color. I guess I'll ses for myself when I get home (provided.ths dvr recorded it).
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Sorry, Arturo, I didn't mean to insult your namesake. I didn't know he was an international success. My mistake.
Whether the property was purchased with Goddard in mind or not, we are in clear agreement that she would have been far preferable casting for this film. I can see that feisty Paulette carrying an audience through the silliness, as opposed to Joan, who often looks to me as if her nose is a little up in the air.
No worries. I didn't take it as an insult,.only just wanting.to give him his due.
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It seems to me that Frenchman's Creek is very much designed as a star vehicle for Joan Fontaine, in 1944 at the peak of her Hollywood prestige. Perhaps that is the reason that a little known Mexican actor, Arturo de Cordova, was selected as her piratical leading man. It may well have been an attempt to make a star of him (which didn't happen) but, I suspect, it may have also served the purpose of Fontaine, who didn't want anyone else to potentially detract from her star lustre.
Somewhere I read that Fontaine alienated a number of people during the making of the film, very much acting "the star" on the set during production. Fontaine herself I believe was on record as disliking this film (someone can correct me about that if I'm wrong).
This is just a theory on my part, of course, regarding Arturo's casting. But the problem for me is that de Cordova is sorely lacking any kind of screen charisma in order to pull off the role of dashing costume rogue. He is supposed to be (SPOILER ALERT) the great love of Fontaine's life to whom she escapes from a dullard husband. But the two stars have, in my opinion, zero screen chemistry, which severely undercuts the romance (at least, for me - others may feel differently). I found their scenes together to be tedious, no matter how handsome the production that surrounds them.
PS-I think Fontaine personally chose to do this film, as it would make a good change of pace from her prevailing image. Don't recall what I've read about her difficulties on-set, other than the usual primadonna attitude once she achieved success. FRENCHMAN'S CREEK was.a huge success (cue Bernie Sanders..."HUGE"), one of the top grossers of the year.
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Imho it.would have made a better vehicle for Paulette Goddard, for.which it may have originally purchased by Paramount. But after the one-two punch of REBECCA and SUSPICION, Joan Fontaine's sudden prestige and cachet was sought after by all the studios, besides themselves to get the recent Oscar winner. That she had no home berth at a regular studio at this time made it easy for all. Projects originally intended for their own stars were offered to Joan. So, 20th starred her with biggest male, Tyrone Power, in THIS ABOVE ALL, in a role that would have been perfect for their own Gene Tierney. And Warners jettisoned the previously announced Joan Leslie from THE CONSTANT NYMPH. Likewise, this is what probably happened with Goddard and FC.It seems to me that Frenchman's Creek is very much designed as a star vehicle for Joan Fontaine, in 1944 at the peak of her Hollywood prestige. Perhaps that is the reason that a little known Mexican actor, Arturo de Cordova, was selected as her piratical leading man. It may well have been an attempt to make a star of him (which didn't happen) but, I suspect, it may have also served the purpose of Fontaine, who didn't want anyone else to potentially detract from her star lustre.
Somewhere I read that Fontaine alienated of a number of people during the making of the film, very much acting "the star" on the set during production. Fontaine herself I believe was on record as disliking this film (someone can correct me about that if I'm wrong).
This is just a theory on my part, of course, regarding Auturo's casting. But the problem for me is that de Cordova is sorely lacking any kind of screen charisma in order to pull off the role of dashing costume rogue. He is supposed to be (SPOILER ALERT) the great love of Fontaine's life to whom she escapes from a dullard husband. But the two stars have, in my opinion, zero screen chemistry, which severely undercuts the romance (at least, for me - others may feel differently). I found their scenes together to be tedious, no matter how handsome the production that surrounds them.
As for my tocayo (namesake), De Cordova was a huge international star, not just in his native Mexico, before and after this film. As with many of these stars, Hollywood beckoned, but obviously he didn't become a star here. This doesn't detract from his success elsewhere.
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I always thought this movie would have come out better if only Paulette Goddard had done it. She could get away with silliness better thanthe more staid Fontaine, and being one of Paramount's top stars then, she was a natural. Someone probably got the bright idea to star Joan due to her breakout role another Du Maurier story, REBECCA.
Good to see TCM finally showing it; it's been way too long since I'd last seen it. Let's get more Paramount classics. Thanks TCM.
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Linda Darnell WAS billed second in MY DARLING CLEMENTINE, but it was to Henry Fonda. Third billed was Victor Mature. Cathy Downs, new to the studio, was billed fourth, below the title.I assume this is mostly just the result of how the studio system treated any actress that wasn't a super star (e.g. a Davis, or Hepburn type). Most contracts required the studio to pay an actor regardless of if they were in a film or not. So why not use someone under contract as much as possible.
E.g. the same year, 1946 Linda had second female billing in My Darling Clementine (to Cathy Downs), as well as Jeanne Crain in Centennial Summer.
Of course I'm sure studio politics also applied in the cast of Linda. (e.g. why Ann Sheridan was given the minor role in Dodge City, since Warner found her to be difficult, or why DeHavilland was cast second to Davis in Essex to put her in her place after GWTW). But how much only the studio bosses know and they aren't telling!
Originally, Zanuck had wanted Crain for the part of Clementine Carter (played by Downs), but after her huge 1945 hit, STATE FAIR, he decided the role was not important enough for her; the interim LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN would be her last supporting role. So because of the hit SF, Zanuck gave bigger billing to Crain than Darnell, but their roles were about of equal size. Of course, the higher billed girl got the top-billed Cornel Wilde.
Who knows how it would have gone if another choice for Clementine, Anne ,Baxter as far as billing. But as another one to suffer Zanuck's whims, she would've probably gotten fourth billing, but above the title.
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ANNE OF THE THOUSAND THREADS
A film of beauty, wherein a newbie to a unwieldy online messageboard quickly becomes one of the most prolific posters, joining in many threads and establishing many of her own. Those threads not of her own starting she soon tries to make them over to her own view of how they should be. Soon, she aligns herself with the person she seems to be emulating, and who she assumes is the king of the site; at minimum, he is the self-styled "most influential" poster.
In no time flat, they are posting in each other's threads, and "liking" each other's posts. They keep each other's threads on Page One, and have swift retribution for those not in their party, who are then banished along with their "offending" work. It all.appears to be a perfect set-up, as the newbid feeds off the megalomania of the selected writings of the King. She continues to see her posts, threads and view counts rise quickly, and soon the King decrees there is cause for celebration and festivities, as she approaches an important milestone.
Alas, all fairy tales must end, and despite ample warning that she was just the latest hookup for the besotted king (this she took to be envy), soon there was a falling out. She wasn't sure when or where it started to change: a post about politics, a too-slow response to "like" a post or bump a thread, but soon the chill coming her way was like the polar express. Before she knew it, she was thrown into the online equivalent of the nether world of a tower imprisonment, followed by the pronouncement of "Off with her head!" And she was banished from the site for good!
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Never read the book, so I don't know how prominent Linda's character is in the book. But the film is quite long as.released, and studio boss Zanuck was not one to deal with talky scenes very well. He was also ruthless when editing, and might've cut out many of Darnell's scenes in order to make the main story move along faster. I think much of Darnell's part night've suffered due to this.I find it peculiar that Darnell would have such a small role in Anna and the King of Siam (a sign of faltering faith by Zanuck?), and yet get the lead in a major production like Forever Amber the following year. Were some kind of studio politics involved, I wonder, based on the mood of the studio boss.
Additionally, I have mentioned that AATKOS was the first epic made by Hollywood in the immediate postwar period. Nothing was spared in the making of the sets, costumes, etc., all the things in short supply or outright forbidden during the war. With this expensive venture, risk was involved, and as one of the two leads, Rex Harrison, was barely known in th U.S., the practice of boxoffice insurance was put into play; Darnell was cast to do boxoffice duty. Her name meant something to audiences, along with that of Irene Dunne, and could be counted on to bring in patrons. Linda's image in the exotic get-up was used prominently to advertise the film in the Fan magazines of the time.
Yes, Zanuck could be capricious in his decision-making. He did not care much for Linda, whatever the reason, and seldom gave her worthwhile assignments. But she did have a following, and a new image at this time. The studio did exploit this very salable image. Ironically, Linda.faced a similar situation shortly before, during the filming of Preminger's FALLEN ANGEL, except it was Alice Faye who had good chunks of her scenes cut out, ostensibly to build Linda's role.
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Surf Party is a wicked delight of mine and I catch it whenever I am able. It’snot a great movie, but a bit of fun in its own bizarro sort of way.The Routers perform "Crack Up". These guys have NO rhythm. The music is dated as is the dancing. I always keep my eyes on the boys dancing in these kinds offilms, because they are pretty bad at it and it makes for a good laugh.But my absolute favorite part of the picture is Ken Miller singing "PearlyShells". Wiki says that the part of Milo was fresh out of high school and thatKen Miller was 33 when he played the part. But I think he looks pretty good.He’s bad on the surf board though. Whew!
Lucky You! LOL, great write up. You should have many more opportunities to watch SURF PARTY, as often as FMC shows it (usually paired with WILD ON THE BEACH).
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Tonight, TCM will.air ANNA AND THE KING OF SIAM @ 10 pm.est. Linda Darnell's role as the tragic Tuptim is rather small, but she looks great as this exotic concubine. Her burning at the stake was one of three times she actually got burned slightly while filming. This is where she developed her lifelong fear of fire, ironic in light of her actual death.
On Saturday, 2/20 @ 8 pm, TCM will show the searing racial drama NO WAY OUT, in which she first helps start a race riot, and later is instrumental in saving Sidney Poitier's life. This powerful film is still relevant in today's America.-
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For some.reason, I had always thought she was Italian, and therefore, thought it would be pronounced thus (using English phonetics):
Cah-poo-CHEE-neh.
Later, through a biography of William Holden, and reinforced by TCM, I realized.she was.French.
Btw, the correct Italian pronunciation of Al's last name would be (again with English phonetics):
Cah-POH-neh.
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So.sorry to hear. She was a beauty, and her Prince-written and produced songs were fun and provocative. She was the first of his female protegees, if that's the word. I always thought she should have done the PURPLE RAIN movie, and I don't remember why she didn't. RIP lovely lady.
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On FMC (all times eastern):
Tuesday, 2/16:
4 am: CINDERELLA LIBERTY (1973)................................6 am: CALL ME MADAM (1953)................................8 am: THE IMMORTAL SERGEANT (1943)....................................9:45 am: CRASH FIVE (1943)..................................11:35 am: SEA WIFE (1957)...............................1 pm: CINDERELLA LIBERTY (1973).................
Wednesday, 2/17:
3:30 am: THE BLACK ROSE (1950)................................6 am: THE IMMORTAL SERGEANT (1943)................................7:45 am: CRASH DIVE (1943)................................9:40 am: PRINCE OF FOXES (1949)............................11:30 am: ANNE OF THE INDIES (1951)..............................12:55 pm: THE BLACK ROSE (1950)...................
Thursday, 2/18:
3:30 am: WILD ON THE BEACH (1965).................................4:50 am: SURF PARTY (1964).................................6 am: CAFÉ METROPOLE (1937)...............................7:25 am: PRINCE OF FOXES (1949)......................................9:15 am: ANNE OF THE INDIES (1951)..................................10:40 am: BOY ON A DOLPHIN (1957)......................................12:30 pm: SURF PARTY (1964)......................................1:40 pm: WILD ON THE BEACH (1965)....................
Friday, 2/19:
3 am: BOY ON A DOLPHIN (1957)...............................4:50 am: JUST OFF BROADWAY (1942)...................................6 am: THIS IS MY AFFAIR (1937)..................................7:45 am: HOUSE OF STRANGERS (1949).....................................9:30 am: WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS (1950)......................................11:15 am: FIVE FINGERS (1952).....................................1:15 pm: SEVEN THIEVES (1960).....................
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Scientists found a portal to a parallel universe. In this alternate.reality, Divine never died. She became a big mainstream.success in the tv show, "Married With Children", and starred in two more John Waters films, CRY BABY and SERIAL MOM. However, she decided that her mega success as America's Sweetheart meant she shouldn't work anymore for the somewhat sordid director. She also decided she couldn't stay away from the Atlantic Seaboard, but as she felt that Baltimore was too parochial for her cosmopolitan tastes,.she relocated.to Atlantic City. There she met none other than Chris Christie, and the two entered.into wedded.bliss. Together, she pushed him.to the Governor's Mansion, and in 2016, to the White House. The famous celebrity couple, known for their stylishness, were often compared to Jack and Jackie Kennedy. Camelot all over.again!
In the newly discovered alternate universe, worldwide headlines are made.when President Christie and First Lady Divine's daughter gets her own reality show, and Honey Boo Boo becomes well known in her own right, and not just as First Daughter.
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Two favorite noirs set in Quebec:
THE THIRTEENTH LETTER
I CONFESS
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TCM.announced it will produce and broadcast a reality show, to be named "The Inner Circle Purge". Contestants will be invited to participate based on their number of post counts on the TCM Messageboard, with 10,000 posts being the minimum. The participants will be taken aboard the next TCM Cruise, and be dropped off on a.deserted.atoll in the Caribbean Sea. There, the contestants will he required to continue to post online, despite the very poor internet reception. As a contestant.reaches the next 5,000 post.milestone, a party will be had that afternoon, where cases of wine, courtesy of the TCM Wine Club, will be imbibed by all. After sundown, there will be a 12 hour period where the contestants are.encouraged to attack each other with the empty wine bottles, in the hopes of taking out their rivals. This will continue for a minimum of 31 days, until there is only one man, or woman, standing. Viewership is expected to spike significantly.
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I don't know Love Is News, but I looked it up, and it sounds like fun! Great cast, apart from the fact that I find it very difficult to watch Loretta Young.
LOVE.IS NEWS.is a.fun.screwball.comedy with Tyrone Power, Loretta Young and Don Ameche. Loretta still is incredibly beautiful and fresh, not at all like the later Loretta (still very beautiful, but her face.now more mask-like). Th only problem I have is her playing, she tries too hard as.the daffy screwball heroine. She is much better in three other romantic/screwball comedies.she made.shortly thereafter,.CAFE.METROPOLE and SECOND HONEYMOON with Power,.and LOVE.UNDER.FIRE.with Ameche. All worthwhile,.and.worth watching for.
Btw,.LOVE.IS NEWS.is.followed.by its remake, THAT WONDERFUL.URGE, again with Power. This time.the heiress is Gene Tierney. That Power was a lucky guy when it came to the many beautiful actresses with whom he would.be paired. Another (partial) remake is the 1943 technicolor.musical SWEET ROSIE O'GRADY, the story now.retooled.as.a.Betty Grable.vehicle.
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You mean Fox Movie Channel, I'm sure...
Lol. Yes I did. Or.to be more exact, its.new moniker of FXM.Retro.
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On TCM (all times eastern):
Friday, 2/12:
4 am: ISLAND IN THE SUN (1957)................................6 am: DANGEROUS CROSSING (1953).................................7:20 am: THE BLUE BIRD (1940)................................8:45 am: THE MUDLARK (1950)................................10:25 am: ISLAND IN THE SUN (1957)................................12:25 pm: A FAREWELL TO ARMS (1957)................
Saturday, 2/13:
4 am: VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA (1961)............................6 am: HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY (1941)...................................8 am: A FAREWELL TO ARMS (1957)................................10:35 am: CAPTAIN FROM CASTILE (1947).....................................1 pm: VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA (1961)..................
Sunday, 2/14:
3:30 am: CAPTAIN FROM CASTILE (1947)...................................6 am: CLAUDIA (1943)...................................7:35 am: ELOPEMENT (1951)...................................9 am: YOU WERE MEANT FOR ME (1948)...................................10:35 am: LOVE IS NEWS (1937).............................................11:55.am: THAT WONDERFUL URGE (1948)..............................1:20 pm: MONKEY BUSINESS (1952)...................
Monday, 2/15:
3:30 am: CAN-CAN (1960)....................................6 am: YOU WERE MEANT FOR ME (1948)...................................7:35 am: MONKEY BUSINESS (1952)..................................9:15 am: SUN VALLEY SERENADE (1941)....................................10:45 am: CALL ME MADAM (1953).....................................12:45 pm: CAN-CAN (1960)..................
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SLEEPLESS AND STILL RATTLED
The story of a prodigious poster,.self-proclaimed.as.highly influential on a meesageboard. She is heartened by an invitation to be a part of a mysterious "Inner Circle", invitations also sent to other active posters. Perusing through the questionnaires' queries, she gleens that there is a path to becoming the innermost.of the inner.circle, in essence the leader. She begins an ongoing correspondence.via.text,.emails, and skype.with the corporate manager.in charge of this new program, hoping to get an edge in this contest. She is convinced that as the ultimate.winner, she will be hired to set policy and provramming, becoming the most influential.board member by far, not just in her own mind. The correspondence.with the suit led her to realize they were kindred.souls. They made a pact, that if in six months, she was still the front runner, they would.meet on the viewing platform of the tallest building in Atlanta, where she would be offered.the coveted job. This would lead to a hectic period, as she stayed up late trying to come up with ever more threads that would increase.her views and posts at a breakneck speed. She swiftly had the mods remove posts she felt were in the wrong forum, as.well as posts that veered from her carefully cultivated public face, or were somehow critical of her achievements. She grew.ever more frantic as the fateful day approached, as she.KNEW that the career commensurate with her vaunted film scholarship and selected writings would soon be a reality. On the designated day, her sleep deprivation and her general state of excitement and anxiety made her leave her house barefoot, and as she ran down the stairs barefoot, she stumbled on the shag carpet, and tumbled down; seriousl hurt, she was rushed to the hospital. She never met the corporate suit, who never got the chance to tell her that the Inner Circle was bunk, and she'd been punk'd.
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RICH'S MADE-UP TCM GENERAL DISCUSSION POLLS
in General Discussions
Posted
It's kinda hard to tell.from the graphics, but I take it the Yes category consists of one individual.