JackFavell

This is what I think of immediately when I hear "Beautiful Dreamer" : It is definitely a western movie....

That's very sad....

I agree about the soundtrack, and also about the two movies being a great double feature.

If I can ever catch up, *Oyster Princess* is not too far down on my list. I can't wait! If it is half as good as "The Doll" I will love it. I was not as favorably impressed by the silent historical epics.

Thanks! At least I got to watch it! possible *SPOILER* I thought Gilbert and Wolheim were quite effective, despite the initial weirdness about their looks. I enjoyed this movie very much, and mainly because of their back and forth banter. It suited Gilbert's style well, and although some of the plot was contrived, the movie moved along solidly. Both actors brought life to the most dated of lines, and I especially loved the dark side of Gilbert's character, shown best when he finds out his former girl has married someone else. Wolheim was, of course, most effective at the end - realizing how much he loves his brother, only too late. I enjoyed the time they took when acting opposite each other and Anita Page- adding tons of feeling to the script without using words.... Wolheim was a frustrated leading man, he felt typecast due to his gangster-like mug. He planned to have surgery to correct his broken nose and flatfaced look. Gilbert was a frustrated character actor, he desperately wanted to shed his lover persona, wisely realizing that the "type" would soon be out of fashion. They both wrote poetry, were erudite and educated gentlemen. Wolheim knew several languages, but none of this amazing talent was used by the studio. They were simply at a loss as to what to do with either Gilbert or Wolheim. Sad to say, if Wolheim had lived, he would probably have been stuck in gangster movies for most of his career. If only Gilbert and Wolheim could have changed places with each other, they might have been happy..... Isn't it odd that within two years, both Wolheim and Gilbert would be dead, and Anita Page and Marie Prevost would be stalled in careers that were unsatisfying? I am discovering that to be a star was to be an asset and at the same time a liability to the studio- even Crawford suffered once she started making huge sums of money. Once you made it to the top, the studio would do almost anything to edge you out of the picture in order to save money.

!@#$%^&* My dvr is not recording! Consarn it! Oh, man, I am so mad! Message was edited by: JackFavell

Goddess, I watched it with you in mind, knowing how highly you speak of it made me want to see it.

Franklin Pangborn

I've always thought that Gilbert made a huge mistake in clinging stubbornly to his contract with MGM - he could have gone on to write and direct with a lot of success.....he was so much more than "the great lover".....

It was a lot prettier movie than I thought it would be.... actually, the indoor sequences were quite ugly, so it made the outdoors that much more beautiful......

Dick Powell (and his son Norman)

I highly recommend it..... as if you couldn't tell...

Buster Keaton

I can't believe I put off seeing this film. I was afraid it would be one of those where you just spend the whole time looking at the actors because you know they died right after the movie was made..... I couldn't have been more wrong. I was captivated by the story, and of course, Gable and Monroe, who were perfect together. I didn't mean to give short shrift to Monroe, who is really great in this movie. She is so totally trusting, and yet, you can see that she has been taken advantage of over and over again.....

I have a friend who says Rock Band is sooo much fun!

awwwww...

She's a ray of sunshine!

I have not seen The Oyster Princess yet, but it looks great! Thanks FF! I can't wait, after that tantalizing little picture you posted! Wow, you guys reminded me that I wanted to ask something about *Wings of Eagles*. I am so curious, because it struck me strongly during the film. I watched it after reading the Scott Eyman bio of Ford, and the way Eyman describes Ford's study at home was EXACTLY like the study in the movie. I remember he talked about how Ford had all these "trophies" up on his walls- rustic pieces - a saddle, and such. Just curious if anyone knew if this was a replica of his real home? I watched *The Misfits* for the first time the other night, and I stayed awake- oh, boy and how. I had a hard time sleeping after this one, it kept me thinking all night. First of all, Clark Gable was superb. Is it blasphemy to say that it was completely HIS movie? At first, I was worried that he was going to play it all in a totally different style than the other actors, but his early screen persona fit perfectly the character he was playing. He started out as the same old "King" of movies. But as he was "broken in" by Marilyn, he became more and more deep, more and more shattered by the changes in the job and the things he loved. The scene in which they are at the bar after the rodeo, when he looks for his kids just broke my heart. There was nothing of the "leading man" or "king of Hollywood" in THAT scene, just a broken man. I am so impressed with this performance, I cannot even write without choking up about it. He was wise enough to see that the very thing he loved about his job, was the very thing that was being destroyed by his job. I keep wondering now, after the movie, what will this man do now that he can't go mustangin'? I loved Marilyn as well. But I guess from all the clips I've seen of this movie, I expected the performance she gave, whereas I had no idea Gable had this in him. I loved all the breaking and roping in metaphors. I loved that Gable ended up being the "horse whisperer" - the one who could finally get Marilyn tame. Thelma Ritter is on a level all by herself, setting the tone of the picture, although I would have liked to see her again later on. Clift really didn't have that much to do, but his presence was a good and quiet one, especially in balancing the horribly frightening Eli Wallach. From the minute he came onto the screen I was afraid of him, but I didn't know why. He was a ticking time bomb of a person, never fully realized. I think it was scarier of Huston to leave him out in the world than having him do something violent in the movie. I was convinced he would crash his plane or kill or rape someone. He was so dead.... I am glad that Huston did not take the easy route in this picture.... nothing ends the way you expect it to, it was a surprise all the way through. Learning afterwards that Gable did all his own stunts just made it a more poignant performance- the performance of a lifetime. It is the way he would have wished to go, I think, and though I feel sorry for his wife and son, I think he did the right thing- To see that stunt work on film is amazing- as amazing as the acting he does - it will live forever thanks to the power of film. Thanks for letting me ramble here about this movie that I wasn't sure I wanted to see.... Message was edited by: JackFavell

I haven't made it over there yet, Mica. It took me a while to read this thread, and then I got sidetracked by Anita Page, John Gilbert and Wallace Reid.... I'll go there next.....

Oh, of course he will, Abby.

Lovely piece (again), Moira. I have not seen any of the later Gilbert films, and your write up has spurred me to try to find as many as I can and watch them. Others on the boards know that I think of Gilbert as the quintessential silent film actor, underrated and unfortunately forgotten except by a few fans. *Downstairs* is the film I am most interested in seeing, and I am extremely excited that TCM will be showing it! I can't believe that after reading about this movie in Gilbert's biography, I will finally have a chance to see it, and even to record it. I am also glad that there are other movies from this time period in which Gilbert acquits himself well. I am looking forward to the showing today of *Gentlemen's Fate*. Thanks again, Moira, for posting, or I very possibly would have missed the two movies that I am so keen to see......

Frank Grimes wrote: "What am I, post-modernist or post-mortemist?" Post Mortimer. Now that you've tried my cookies, Frank, would you like some elderberry wine? Love, Aunt Martha

Oh, yeah! Good one.... he did deserve it, didn't he?