JackFavell
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Posts posted by JackFavell
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I'm looking forward to seeing that statue!
As for Lee, given what you say about his movies it seems doubly sad that he has been most vocal about denouncing Pappy's films as racist.
Very interesting. I didn't know that. But I still think Lee is a fine filmmaker. I especially like the two movies I mentioned. He has a right to his own opinion, but I bet you he learned a lot about film from watching Pappy's movies! I am sure he took every possible trick he could from Ford, no matter how he felt about his themes.
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I only saw the beginning 3rd of the interview, but I thought Mitchell was nice and quiet. He is far better than some interviewers at just letting the interviewee talk. I meant to watch again at ten, but must have doped off in the break between Annie Hall and the second showing. I was surprised at how much I liked Annie Hall, though. I haven't seen it in a few years, and it holds up much better than some other Woody Allen movies. It was like seeing a new movie!
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I think the problem with Ford is that people see what they want to see, depending on their circumstances. He is one of the few directors not to comment on his own work IN his own work. He never hits you over the head with his "theme" or "agenda". It's all about subtle shifts in viewpoint. His work remains open to subjective interpretation. The only director I can think of who has done this recently is Spike Lee in Do the Right Thing or maybe She's Gotta Have It. The ability to stand away from your work and let people figure it out for themselves, draw their own conclusions, is rare.
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Very interesting. Because we all love them so, I made a list, in order of liking from highest on down:
1. Victor McLaglen
2. John Qualen
3.Thomas Santschi
4.Ward Bond
5. Edmond O'Brien
6.Jane Darwell
7.Thomas Mitchell
8.Alan Mowbray
9.Mildred Natwick
10.Jack MacGowran
Bonus points to Rhys Williams and Edward Brophy
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That's funny. You have put into words my feelings exactly. I want to like Ann Harding.... her well modulated voice, her carriage, her rather intelligent reading of dialogue. But then she plays these .....well, saps. And something just bugs me about her. Maybe it's that I always feel like she is slumming in her pictures, or that she is so "holier than thou". I don't get her either. Did women actually identify with her? She is always such a victim. Probably her best roles that I have seen are in Animal Kingdom and Enchanted April, maybe Double Harness. I would love to see Holiday, because maybe she isn't so put upon in that one.
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Those are amazing. It really makes you realize how many of these types of photos, and other parts of history have been lost, or simply ignored. I suddenly realize that these silent and pre-code stars were as big as Angelina Jolie in their time. Now they are sadly forgotten or have all but faded from history. And only because no one cared enough to save the photos and articles.
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That was beautiful, Miss Gulch.
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He was so cute. Only about 3 inches long. My elderly neighbor was quite relieved to have him out of the house, too.
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Do you have a favorite from the Ford "company"?
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Ooooh! Those pics are so cool! I love bats! They are awesome.
We have some in our backyard. We have a bat house we put up about 8 years ago, though I am not sure they actually live there. We have never found any evidence (bat guano) under the little home. They fly around at night over our deck and it's amazing to watch them swoop and turn.
We actually rescued a bat from our neighbor's house - he had crawled in through a hole in her wall, and couldn't get out. So we got my daughter's giant homemade butterfly net (broom handle, old lampshade rim, and a nylon laundry bag) and my husband and brother in law, who's about 6' 7" rescued the poor thing. They brought it out of the house, and we looked at it for a minute in the net before releasing him. It's one of my daughter's favorite memories. The poor little guy was peeping, and so scared, but he was happy to fly off when we let him go.
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I remember now. I like that Ford brought him in for that scene- it's nice when old friends pop up like this. One of the reasons I enjoy Ford so much is that he gave each actor his moment, and then stood back for a minute to let them do their thing.
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I gotta go, I'm making "Bubble and Squeak" for dinner. n case nobody knows what that is, it's an English recipe for potatoes, meat (usually ham or sausage) and cabbage hash. I just love the name!
Then I am going to go see "Changeling" with Angelina Jolie. See ya!
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"Keep Austin weird!"
That explains so much. I was born in Austin.....
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Carol/Boris = Priceless!
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Thanks for mentioning him, Gus. I always think that too, when I see bio47's name on this thread. I certainly think that he would be very pleased that his thread is still going strong....that he was able to contribute something long lasting. I feel sad that he was going through a hard time, and got some flack for that. If he is still around somewhere, and was able to recover from his health problems, I hope he is happy.....
Here's to Robert Michael!
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Thanks for posting it.
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Wow!
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I forgot that Bright Leaf made a favorable impression on me,too. Again, haven't seen it for a while. I think I read somewhere that it wasn't too popular with the critics, but I still have a good feeling remembering it.
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Do you feel he was over the top in Rebecca ?
No. But I almost feel he is trapped in that role- kept from doing anything even remotely fun. George got the great part in that one.
*FF* - Now, I really like Olivier, so I hope I didn't give the impression otherwise. I also like over the top performances. I even like staginess. There are some movies that critics knock because they are stagy, or a "filmed play". I actually LIKE that feeling of watching a stage play on film. I also like being able to see what made Olivier the top stage performer of his day (not to mention Gielgud, Richardson, et al.)
*Bronxie* - I am glad you posted tht link to your writings. I finally got to see The Body Snatchers the other day. I liked it very much, mainly because the acting level was very high- even the male actors were extremely good, which isn't always the case in Lewton movies. I also like the sequence in the Leopard man with the little Mexican girl....
I wish they would show The Haunting at some time other than 3 in the afternoon - it never fails that I get into it and just as it's getting creepy, I have to turn it off because Alice is coming home from school! I have never seen the end- just the beginning about 4 times.....I like the part with Julie Harris and Claire Bloom getting scared out of their wits while trapped in their room and then laughing about it afterwards. That's about as far as I have ever gotten in the movie, and I know it's a setup- making you laugh, putting you at ease a little, then I'm sure they sock you with the real thing....
I have never seen Repulsion, but Knife in the Water was as unsettling a movie as I have seen. I turned it off because I couldn't stand the suspense.....He really spends a lot of time just setting up, creating the mood. It seems to me that Polanski was extremely good at getting "the unknown" in his films, not that I have seen many. The buildup is long and effective. Something is coming, and you can feel it, but you don't know what it is, or when it will happen......
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My list is from the most popular Coop pics, because I just don't have the knowledge you guys have. Many are movies I haven't seen for years, so I may not be able to say why I have a good or bad feeling about a movie. When I was younger, my specialty was movies from the thirties and forties, so I am sadly lacking in knowledge of the older Coop from the fifties.
*Favorites* :
Meet John Doe
Ball of Fire
The Westerner
Love in the Afternoon
Mr Deeds Goes to Town
High Noon
Beau Geste (not just for Coop, I just love the story and everything about it)
Lives of a Bengal Lancer
The Plainsman
Saratoga Trunk
Along Came Jones
Desire
*Movies I've never liked much but keep trying*
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Sergeant York
Everything else I either haven't seen, or can't remember.
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Those Renee pics are the best I've seen! I love all of them. Thanks for posting.
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I realize that Henry V is an historic movie, but I don't really like him in it. I've tried! I have seen many other actors play that part. I have no real reasoning behind my dislike of Olivier in this role, just a feeling that he is a bit cartoonish or unreal in the role, and I like a couple other, more modern actors better for the life they bring to it.
Hamlet is very fine. He is the best I've seen. It's as subtle as he can get. He gets at the psychology better and in a tighter way than anyone else. Derek Jacobi is the only other actor I've seen to come close.
But by far my favorite of the Olivier Shakespeare movies is Richard III. What a fun creepy portrayal he gives. I feel like he finally let go under that persona. And the movie itself is so entertaining, in a devilish way. I think he is superb in it. I also just love Gielgud in this one as the doomed and very romantic Clarence.
My other favorites are:
Wuthering Heights ( Ijust can't help it, he is so good looking and gloomy)
The Magic Box (another movie where Olivier lets go- he has only a small role, but he is so good I have to mention it. My ex husband watched it with me, and after Olivier's scene, I said, "do you know who that is?" and he hadn't even recognized him! He is understated and mild in this film, and to me it is perfect movie acting. He literally disappears into the character.
The Entertainer- He is great.
Sleuth - Another fun creepy one.
Now although I have said he is great and superb and all that- I still feel that he is a little over the top. I think he just doesn't have that subtlety that makes a great film actor - role after role after role. He is exciting, but there is always something stagy about him, and sometimes it fits the role he's given. But all in all, I am always waiting for the trick he will do with his voice, or the moment when he will leap forward, it all seems like tricks to me.
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FXreyman- I have to agree with you about Brian Keith- he was *exactly* what we think of as Teddy Roosevelt. It is a superb portrayal. One should watch the movie just to see him.... (and to enjoy the sheer fun of Sean Connery as an Arab)
I would like to add that William Daniels did a fantastic job as John Adams in 1776, though he was not president yet in the movie. I believe he played either Adams or JohnQuincy again in a TV show for PBS.
Lee Tracy gets my vote as well.
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Your list of faves and mine are quite similar.... I would say that Streetcar is higher on my list, but again, I have to be in the mood.
I have always thought that although Olivier was considered the best stage actor, I find him generally uncomfortable on film. There are exceptions, of course. Vivien was not considered a good stage actress (I think she may have been too delicate) but I think it's reasonable to consider her the best film actress of all time.
Who else is looking forward to Elvis Mitchell tonight?
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The parts I remembered were mostly comic, but the thing that impressed me was the overall deep theme of causing one's own alienation, and the painfully slow process of breaking up. He really showed how one person cannot live with another, but still may love; and the other may be able to live with a person, but maybe the love wasn't there in the first place. All covered over with the lightest of veneers. It was very enjoyable.