JackFavell

You bet! I only wish she liked to read as much as I do. Ah, well. There's still time. She thinks I'm crazy anyway, always watching black and white movies! That really seems weird to her! We do share a love of Tom and Jerry cartoons, though. I've gotten her to watch a couple of Margaret O'Brien flicks, and she watched Lassie with me and cried..... Boy, did I feel guilty about that! I told her "Here's a nice movie about a dog" and forgot all about the trauma that is "Lassie Come Home"...... She laughs at me all the time because I cry at EVERYTHING! It could be the end of The Wizard of Oz, or Kermit the Frog singing "It's Not Easy Bein' Green". "There goes Mommy!", she says with great humor and gusto, while staring up at me with a curious look on her face.....wondering why I'm such a sap. It's pretty funny.....

Yes, they each wrote a biography- Ronald Howard wrote *In Search of My Father: A Portrait of Leslie Howard* , and Leslie Ruth Howard wrote *A Quite Remarkable Father* . I have wanted to read both for some time, but I concentrate on getting books for my daughter when we go to the library. I haven't been able to focus on reading much for myself since being pregnant 7 years ago, I am afraid. They take your brain and never give it back!

gagman- Wow! I am amazed that you have all the series! But let me check with my sister first, before you go to all the trouble - she is a huge Keaton afficionado and may already have many of the series. I don't know if I have room for all the ones I want.... I loved Hollywood, and also the Chaplin series, but I have never seen Cinema Europe or British Cinema and would dearly love to. Message was edited by: JackFavell

I remember watching it way back when it was on originally.... Thanks!

That's funny. I've been longing to read the Brian Aherne book! I am going to the library soon and see if they have it, along with Paul Henreid's book, "Ladies Man" and I'd like to get Leslie Howard's biographies by his son and daughter, too.

Do they ever show the *Hollywood* series on TCM? I am pretty new - our area just got wired for the only cable system that has TCM this year.

I've only read one or two that left me feeling uncharitable, but maybe it was because they were too honest? One was Sir Michael Redgrave- He talked quite frankly of seeing other women while married.... It bothered me a lot when I read it, but I was pretty young then. He seemed quite full of himself. I think the very nature of autobiography (which I love, generally) makes people seem self centered. The best writers are the ones who focus on everyone else they met while climbing to the top (or sinking to the bottom) .... My beloved George Sanders wrote quite a nice little book about all the famous people he had encountered. Groucho and Harpo Marx both wrote excellent autobiographies, again, because they left out the horrific self revelations.......

The worst is when you really love someone on the screen. Then you read their autobiography and find out they were an ****.......pardon my language..... Message was edited by: JackFavell

I've never seen it! But I will definitely find it. I joined Netflix day before yesterday and have about 200 movies in my queue now.......I'm looking......OK. I just moved *The Doll* to the top of my list..... I don't know a thing about Lubitsch really. I kind of like it that way. That film clip just looked so ..... gay and carefree, like his movies......

I found this tantalizing shred of film on youtube just now..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vPw4i5P5Pk

Aw shucks, ma'am. You're makin' me blush......

With both men, it's more about power, isn't it?

MissG. - I read that line of Lubitsch's too! I agree about Paramount Paris.Sparkling is right. I'll take the make believe every time.....

Konway- thanks. I feel that Sturges is more an affront to the senses, and Lubitsch would never want to assault anyone in any way, even with the camera. I love both of them, but for very different reasons.

Thanks, MissG. If I could go into a movie, I would jump right into this one. Sadly, there was not enough of Zasu Pitts as Bertha, the ladies maid. She was so serious, I had time to notice that she looks like Lillian Gish! Luckily she got a couple of good lines in- Rudolph:"I know just what to do...." Bertha: "That isn't what counts. You must know what NOT to do. Don't ever tell stories, don't mention gambling, don't ever talk about money in any way, in fact don't talk at all." Bertha: "The Countess is very strict about this- don't flirt with chambermaids! " Rudolph: "Don't worry, I never do." Bertha: "Quite right. But to avoid any future misunderstandings, I am NOT a chambermaid."

I just watched *Monte Carlo* from 1930, the second of the Lubitsch box set musicals, and starring Jeanette MacDonald and British star Jack Buchanan. I had no expectations, since I had read that this was the weakest of the set. First of all, I must say that in less than one year, Lubitsch perfected his ability to create movement where no movement was possible. His skillful use of editing, montage, silent film footage, sound, and interesting camera angles make this movie really move. It is light years ahead of *The Love Parade* as far as mise en scene is concerned. I didn't feel the urge to get up and scream at the characters to run around or jump or do something! I almost forgot that the camera was there. Pretty good for 1930. The script is nothing - a retelling of Monsieur Beaucaire, but the merest trifle with no wit or sparkle to be seen. The story of a countess with no money, posing as a rich woman; and the wealthy count who poses as her hairdresser to be near her is, amazingly, pretty dull, as far as wordplay goes. It is the one drawback of this movie. But what Lubitsch does with an empty script..... oh my! All the wit and humor is literally between the lines.The camera is the comedian here. Lubitsch quietly adds what is not written in. A scene (with no words) in which MacDonald has to lock her room key in a drawer to keep from giving herself to Buchanan is irresistible. There is no spoken innuendo or charming gossip to enjoy, but as the movie progresses, there are lovely moments. The duet between McDonald and the train she is riding on is a high point. The scene where the camera moves outside the window and up the front of the hotel where Countess Mara (MacDonald) is dressing for her night on the town, and up, up, up to the room above where Count Rudolph is getting ready for their evening, too, is marvelous and easy. And the ending at the opera was very, very enjoyable. A glimpse into another world.... Jack Buchanan had trouble in the first closeups- his very pronounced facial features seemed quite tense and over made up in the beginning - maybe he was tense due to a lack of anything interesting to say. But by the end of the film, I was enjoying his jaunty manner, relaxed rapport with MacDonald, and blithe body language very much. I wish he had danced more, but such is life. And his voice - If Ronald Colman could sing, this would be the way he would sound. A very pleasing crooner. And the two actors sing beautifully together, and apart ( there are several instances in which Lubitsch places the two in different places, singing the same song, but either through the phone, or in different suites at the hotel- just delightful.) I was surprised in the last movie by Maurice Chevalier. In this one, the real surprise is Jeanette MacDonald(!?!). I am amazed that I am writing this, but I loved her(!!!!) She made me laugh so hard I still can't believe it. In the cold light of day, after a romantic evening with Rudolph the count/hairdresser, Countess Mara pulls a high handed act with Rudolph, treating him as less than a man. He leaves her (quite powerfully- cheers to Buchanan). She realizes she was wrong and tries to find the missing hairdresser. He discovers her search, and returns to her.... at which point she throws what may be the funniest temper tantrum I have ever seen. Certainly, I was not expecting solid, stoic Jeanette to muss up her hair (she really does) and cry like a 2 year old. A wonderful surprise. The music takes center stage in this movie, with lovely, really great songs (quite a few of them, too), by Leo Robin, Richard Whiting and W. Franke Harling, with uncredited music by Karl Hajos, Herman Hand, Sigmund Krumgold, and John Leipold. There is a section of operetta from Monsieur Beaucaire, that adds a lovely counterpoint to the story. The sets and costumes are rich and lavish again- evoking a European grown-up paradise. If I could only go there. Sigh. One of the things I like most about Lubitsch is his taste. His sets are redolent with sophisticated European ...je ne sais quois. They are very real, and very unreal at the same time. Like a remembrance of things past. I don't know if they were past when this movie was made, maybe they were very modern. But I get the feeling he knows the places better than any other director. He seems familiar with the casinos and the opera and the wealthy hot spots from the inside.... was he of high birth? I don't really know. But after seeing what he learned between these two movies, He's a King in my book.....

Oooh, I could go for a cup of Connery....I mean WITH Connery.

You are so lucky to see it for the first time, bronxgirl. I waited along time to see it and I wasn't disappointed- quite the contrary! Itwas worth the wait.

I think Mr. G. is like a storybook hero, but I imagine he might be very hard to live with, even if they had a storybook ending. How hard would it have been at that time for Angharad to leave her husband? And even if she was able to, would Mr. G. be able to get a job with a wife who had been divorvced or annulled? They certainly couldn't stay on there. I don't mean to be the downer here, but I don't see how they could surmount the obstacles in their way. It actually hurts to write this and it makes me want to cry..... Maybe they ran off together... where nobody knew them and they were blissfully happy.....maybe America?

*I have actually learned a lot from taking screen caps. A LOT. I also highly recommend watching a film you have seen before with subtitles on. It's amazing what you don't always catch.* I watch with the sound turned down all the way. Only movies I've already seen, of course! Sometimes I have to, if I have insomnia and everyone else in the house is asleep. I find it amazing (especially with Ford) how much is conveyed without words. You could watch a Ford talkie with no sound and know exactly what the plot is, or what the scene is about. Every detail is clear....

Thank you so much! The Hide-out is one of my favorites, but I missed it on TCM the other day. Now I can watch it.

Those were the most beautiful caps I've ever seen.

I'd definitely SAIL AWAY with that man! I THRILL looking at those technicolor posters- luscious! Thanks metsfan!

I was looking too. Wish I could see that moment, as they stare into each others eyes all too briefly.