JackFavell
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Posts posted by JackFavell
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I agree that GWTW is not Leslie's finest hour- but I have come to terms with it. I think techincolor does him a disservice as well. His hair is not right somehow. But his arms are beautiful!
I love The Scarlet Pimpernel. Leslie is super in 49th Parallel as well, and I saw Spitfire once years ago and it was quite good too.
The Magic Box is the story of William Friese-Greene, who was an inventor of moving pictures, and died penniless and forgotten. Robert Donat plays him from youth to old age, and is splendid in that absent-minded way of his. The movie is full of cameos and supporting players like Laurence Olivier (he plays a constable in the best scene in the movie, and I'm not sure that it isn't the finest acting Olivier ever did on film, you might not even recognize him), Stanley Holloway, Margaret Rutherford, Richard Attenborough, and Peter Ustinov.
Dorothy Tutin played Cecily in The Importance of Being Earnest, and I just recently saw her in "The Cherry Orchard" from the BBC -1962. She was, I think, the highlight in a cast that included John Gielgud, Peggy Ashcroft, Judi Dench, Ian Holm and Roy Dotrice. She also played Lucie in the Dirk Bogarde version of A Tale of Two Cities, and she played Anne Boleyn in the famous 1970 TV production of The Six Wives of Henry VIII. I believe she was also in Olivier's King Lear.
I would love to see Alec Guinness as SOTM! The hard part would be picking the movies. He is good in just everything, whether he was playing an arab prince, or a lowly scientist. I saw the end of "The Swan" last year, and could have kicked myself for not watching because it had Grace kelly in it. What he did with the last few lines brought me to tears, and I didn't even see the movie. My favorites are the Ealing classics.
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Thanks for the warning, FF. I always delete e-mails from anyone I don't know.
Ebay and paypal have been targeted as well, and you have to be pretty careful not to be drawn in by them. I never follow links from emails anymore. I always go directly to the site to do any business.
I think The Big Trail, was my first Wayne experience in which I saw what made him a star. He just took my breathe away. He was so young and really beautiful. And kind of gawky. Very charming.
As to the book, I may have to stay away from it, like FF said. I don't want to get into that Green Berets era stuff. When I was growing up, John Wayne was representative of so many things. To the right, he was everything strong and American. You simply couldn't talk to anyone of a certain age who would even listen to anything else. To the left he was (in polite terms) deluded and prejudiced; stubborn, even hateful. I just don't want to go to either side right now, and if I read the book, I will be forced to confront the fact that he and I would be on opposite sides. Maybe in the future I can read it and not get emotional, but right now, I've got a nice equilibrium going......and I don't want to blow it.
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Wow. They can do that? It sems like it would be awfully complicated.
I am also an "arm" girl. I don't know why, but I am fascinated by wrists and arms on men. A delicate forearm on an otherwise macho man can make me swoon. I guess I have always thought that a sleek arm is an indicator of something tender in a man. I always thought I was the only person in the world to notice such things. But maybe I just need to seek help....
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Miss G- I am going to have to steal at least half your list! I am curious as to the British born actors title- does this mean we are limited to actors who came to the States to work? If so, please delete the bottom section of my list....
McLaglen, Leigh, Sanders, Colman, Martita Hunt, Garson, Trevor Howard, Daniell, Rathbone, McDowell, Olivier, and Owen are high on my list.
I also love Leslie Howard. My estimation of him has only gone up over the years, and especially after I saw Pygmalion. He is so wonderful in that movie that I can barely contain myself, and it is one of my top two favorite movies of all time. His performance is as fine an interpretation of a playwright's work as I have ever seen. I love him as Higgins because it is one of the few roles in which his "Miltonic mind" is on display throughout. He was brilliant, just brilliant.
Robert Donat ranks very high on my list- he is such a kindly soul, and is expressive and old fashioned, really not of the world at all. I love him especially in The Magic Box, and Goodbye Mr. Chips.
Another favorite is Alec Guinness. The man is an absolute genius. The mere flicker of an eyebrow can convey depth and meaning beyond any mere mortal actor's powers. And you still have no idea how he does it. A perfect film actor.
I have a few more, and will not go into why I like them, because I would be here all day.
Wendy Hiller
Dorothy Tutin
Joan Greenwood
Dennis Price
Dame Edith Evans
Margaret Rutherford
Dame May Whitty
Celia Johnson
Robert Newton
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Isn't he beautiful? I can't get over it. I must have been crazy not to like him when I was younger. I am more and more appreciative of Wayne. He really had a great personality, and I think I am able to separate him now from his political leanings, which I never could before. I like to be open-minded, and Wayne most definitely deserved star status. There is something about him that just makes you like him, and look at him, and want to see more of him. But that video actually makes me want to have known the real Wayne, not the star- because as interesting as the star was, the real guy in those pics looks even more interesting.
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I remember seeing Ceiling Zero on the late show years ago. I remember thinking it was much better than Torrid Zone, another Cagney/O'Brien movie of that time period, which seems to turn up much more often, and is on dvd. It's a shame this one for some reason isn't known anymore.
Not to digress too much, but I watched Lost Patrol again last night, and am voting for Reginald Denny as having the best looking arms in Hollywood.
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Bronxie- I have an Aunt Mildred too. Although she has never told me that she dropped her drawers.
Frankie- Thanks so much for the youtube post of Fordie and Wayne and the stunningly suave whoever that was (You know how much I like men with pencil-thin moustaches)! I liked the way he smoked. It's a shame, because he made it look REALLY cool.
Wayne looked so relaxed and flashed a dazzling smile that I wish he had shown more often in the movies. Ford looked like exactly what he was- an intellectual tub of mush masquerading as a tough guy....and the photography! Oh, it was beautiful. Thanks again.
Hey, I remember Cptn. Caveman! I didn't know what he was called until I watched the video. Scooby-Doo is still popular, can you believe it? It's huge! My daughter was begging to stay up Friday to watch a new one- Scooby Doo and the Goblin of something.
Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry were my faves, and Ralph the dog is my favorite muppet. I love the Alice Cooper episode (no, my daughter isn't named after him). because Robin frog sings "Over the Rainbow".
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Mon Chere Corsair "Bleu" - Don't be sad! I am sorry that L.A. upstaged you folks in San Diego. 90 sounds positively cool compared to 95.....
Perhaps this isn't the place for it, but I wanted to tell you that I rented "The Cherry Orchard" with John Gielgud and Peggy Ashcroft and it blew me away. Finally I understand Chekhov! It took me ten minutes to figure out who Judi Dench was, she was so young! Thanks for posting that picture of Ian Holm on the "who am I" thread. I would never have seen this wonderful play if you hadn't.
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Ro- I hope you cauhgt your movies! i finally got a copy of Little Women, now I have both the 35 version and the Winona Ryder version. Now all I need is the June Allyson....The only movie I have more copies of is Pride and Prejudce!
The daisies were actually from the site of The Quiet Man- I found the picture on the net. I wish I could send you a big bouquet from my garden, but daisies are impossible for me to grow! I must have tried 10 times. Even from seed. Evrey time I put them in the ground, something eats them as quick as a wink. I think it is a chipmunk that lives in my yard. I can't grow sunflowers either....I try and try, but these bright, sunflower yellow flies(they are really pretty) come and bore through the stem and kill them.
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Popcorn and dots- I love your list!
One movie I never seem to see anymore is "Something Wicked This Way Comes". I like it for the story-
A boy has lost faith in his father (played wonderfully by Jason Robards). It is autumn, and a carnival magically appears overnight in the small town. It's leader, a Mr Dark, seems to have the power to grant wishes through his rides- A merry-go-round can make you age or make you younger, depending on which direction it is turning! A fun house mirror can make you beautiful! Soon, all the simple townsfolk are "selling their souls" in order to gain their deepest desires at the carnival. But, is there a catch? The carnival has brought out all their inner demons.... Who is this Mr. Dark, really? Finally, there is a showdown between Mr. Dark and the boy's father who must save his son and redeem himself in the boy's eyes.
Mr. Dark is played by Jonathan Pryce and is at once scary and attractive. I really love this movie, and would recommend it for young teens and up....plus there are a couple of characters played by interesting actors, Dick Davalos (from East of Eden) plays Mr. Crosetti, and Pam Grier plays the Dust Witch. Royal Dano is also in the cast, and Arthur Hill narrates.
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Ro- I haven't actually used the babysitter.... we simply haven't had any reason to. We are pretty happy puttering around the house
Minya- Your home life as a kid sounds exactly like mine. Wistful sigh. NO wonder we get along- you are a muppet show kid like me!
Nowadays, things are a bit different. The 24 hour a day scheduling of cartoons on TV makes Saturday morning less special, and dvd's mean you can watch It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown any time of the year. As much as I love the invention of TCM and video, it is just less fun to me, than being surprised by an old movie on the late show, or waiting all year to see The Grinch for one time and one time only.
The main thing that makes scheduling the kids necessary is the loss of neighborhoods. In my area, we simply live too far apart to make it easy for kids to get together on their own. There is no corner store here, though we can walk downtown to the Emporium for candy and wind up toys. We are on a fairly busy street in summer. I have tried to get together with the kids near us, but they are scheduled already, or the parents simply never get back to me. Too busy, I guess. One little girl who lives at the end of our street we see about once a year!
It used to be a nice, family oriented neighborhood, but because of the ridiculous house prices of the last 10 years, no families have moved in, while quite a few have moved away. The only people who could afford to move to our area recently are stockbrokers from NYC who want a vacation home for one week out of the year. The rest of the time houses sit empty. I think we were lucky to get our home at the right time, while the market was at it's lowest, but the number of empty houses is rising. One good thing about this area is the number of elderly neighbors. Alice has a lot of experience with the older generation. Unfortunately, many of these people are sick or have died recently. I worry that our wonderful family neighborhood that I moved to because of the diversity of people has suffered irreparable damage due to the gluttony of a few housing lenders and real estate profiteers.
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Pssssst. Ro-
Here's a toast to you, then: May your days be long and full of happiness; may your children be many and full of health; and may they live in peace... and freedom.
Happy 1,000th from some of the boys:
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Great choices! The swinging door is a personal favorite of mine.
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It is ridiculous to accuse people of ripping off the big corporations. Prices being what they are, most of the stuff that I get copies of I would never buy in the first place.
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yeah it sucks. But luckily, the kids don't know it! For them, it is normal for mom to just be there.
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ILRM- I am so glad you took the initiative and checked out MHH! What great taste you have, and it sounds like you have a great sense of humor as well. I must try walking on the sides of my feet, it sounds like so much fun!
I am sorry you don't have TCM. I didn't get it until last year, after years of waiting for an alternative cable network to wire up my town. My dad still isn't able to get it, but he's hoping this year is the year.
Any favorite moments from Monsieur Hulot?
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That is the hardest part. Remembering how we used to roam the streets of our neighborhood, or go down to the store, or even take a walk in the woods- and you don't know how or when to let them stretch their wings nowadays.....
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I wonder if anyone thinks of talking to these people? I can't stand it knowing that there are people out there with loads of stories just waiting for someone to ask them......
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Now which movie do I bump up to number one in my queue? Breathless or Christmas in July? And when do I watch my Johnny Ford?
I picked Christmas in July....now at the number one slot....
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Nice to hear from you again, Miss Red.
Ro- I used to laugh and say I was going to get my daughter a cardboard box and some party hats for her next birthday, because that is what she got the most enjoyment out of!
I think you are a great mom. Ice cube trays were a stroke of genius! I don't want you to think that I just succumb to every want or wish that my daughter has, but for every toy don't get, I can't help feeling bad. That's my burden, and hopefully I shield that from Alice most of the time. Right now her favorite toys are a jumprope and a piece of string for playing Cat's Cradle and Jacob's Ladder, which I am proud to say I showed her how to do. She is also coming home and showing me "Miss Mary Mac" type rhyming, clapping games. She is stunned when I join in - "How do you KNOW that, Mom?"
OK. Enough about kids. I can think of nothing more torturous for Frank than listening to me rattle on about parenting.....so I will give him a break
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I would love to see people turning on the TV during Jour de Fete, saying "what the heck is this?", unable to look away, and then sitting there for the next 5 and a half hours, mesmerized by Tati....
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I finally found a decent thread! Awesome.
Frank- *SMACK*
I actually like The Sin of Harold Diddlebock, but I haven't seen it for years. They used to show a really bad print of it in Chicago on channel 32 when I was a kid. It certainly isn't up to the level of some of the great PS movies, but I'm noticing that people have very subjective views about his movies anyway. So what I'm saying is, go and watch it.
Now, Let's see. I don't like Unfaithfully Yours and Hail the Conquering Hero. (except for Bracken's speech insisting he is no hero, that's brilliant).
I love Miracle the best (it makes me cry, it's so good), then Palm Beach Story, then Sullivan (which also makes me cry).
I've never seen The BBfromBB or Christmas in July. I always fall asleep duringThe Great McGinty.
The Lady Eve is in a class by itself. Meaning I love it.
It's interesting, because each of us seems to have favorites, and others that we do not like at all. There seems to be no rhyme or reason as to who will like a particular Sturges film, though I suspect that men will like Unfaithfully Yours better than women, and women will like Palm Beach Story better than men.
Princess Centimillia: "You will care for me, though. I grow on people. Like moss."
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That's exactly what it is! And they did do a good job.... It is just one of those things that I feel ill thinking about how much money we spent on it-and it sits on a bookshelf.
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Thanks, Ro! on the *P2K* subject- I talk a lot, don't I? I am shocked, shocked to find that I have written that much....
Ro- that ET incident completely blew my mind, because up until then she had never shown any strong emotions at movies. I think during Winn Dixie she was worried about whether the dog would be OK, but no tears. And before that she only cried when she was tired. I was kind of relieved when she did cry, because I thought maybe she had no empathy, and it's an important trait. I had visions of Patty McCormack floating through my mind again! But when it actually happened, it was heart-wrenching. Especially since I was the instigator: "Oooh. Watch this movie, it's really cool...."
My daughter has a Fur Real kitty, and they are ok, but I find she doesn't play with it as much as regular stuffed animals. It is good for about a month or so. I think we bought it as a guilt offering. Alice wants a cat even more than a turtle, but she had settled on a turtle because we couldn't have cats. Of course, I felt guilty this summer because we didn't have a pool, too. or a Barbie jeep....Guilt guilt guilt......
Movie Rambles
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I like huge hands and arms as well....just not GUILTY HANDS.