JackFavell
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Posts posted by JackFavell
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FilmFatale- I was speaking in particular of the George Sanders tribute in which they picked some (to me, at least) questionable movies. In fact, I thought they were real losers! You are right, though, for many, these movies are just as interesting as the critically acclaimed movies that are always shown. They are a part of film history as well... I just would have liked to see some that are both good and never shown, like Moon and Sixpence or ANYTHING from this man's career that was worth watching. The man made 136 movies for goodness sake.... I just thought that anyone tuning in for the first time would see this selection as representative and assume he was a terrible actor......and I am very protective of the dear man......
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Beautiful Searchers pic, MG. That really cooled me off!
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I was sad that I couldn't sit all day in front of the tube - like Jean Harlow in Dinner at Eight, eating chocolates! That would have been my preferred position, but instead took my daughter swimming and then did housework and made dinner. I missed some of the most interesting programming TCM has shown for a while, or is likely to show within the next two months at least (I checked). Most disappointing was missing The Girl Said No and The Vagabond Lover. I tried to stay up for Emma and Min and Bill but it was just too late for my poor brain to make it and DVDR is not working.
Woke up still on the couch (no chocolates) to They Won't Forget...so that made up for it a bit.
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Jeff- It was indeed the first time I have ever seen Corrinne Griffith in anything but photos. Most of my limited knowledge comes from photos of silent stars or books about the silent era. I was quite happy to finally get to see Corinne in real life! Unfortunately, I had to leave in the middle of the movie, and my husband had turned off the machine for some reason, making DVD-r inoperative till we get it re-programmed.... I was sooo dissappointed to miss the movies I wanted to see, but my daughter is more important.....
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Metsy- I am feeling really bad about missing them. But I couldn't say to my daughter, "Hey. sorry. Mom's got to be a couch potato today, no swimming, no playdate, just leave mom alone while I watch twelve movies, OK?"
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Great article, Miss Gulch. It really makes me want to go get the book.
I really agree with this sentence from Kennedy about why Marie became such a huge star during the Depression-
Marie could be self-deprecating, bellicose, tender, cutting, goofy, and sentimental in the space of one sentence.
He also says she had an edge of sweetness and show of humanity that Polly Moran, her partner in several shorts, just didn't have.
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Of course the classic Dinner at Eight is a must see. One of those movies you watch 100 times.....I find it much more enjoyable than Grand Hotel, not that I should really make the comparison. I think the reason is the humor, much of which is directly attributed to Marie Dressler. No matter if you came in in the middle, no matter what you are busy doing, when Dressler is on screen you have to stop and watch..... Marie's scene with Madge Evans is a highlight:
"If there's one thing I know, it's men. I ought to. It's been my life's work."
and of course, Marie will always be shown over and over in the wonderful ending shot with Jean Harlow.....
I love the subtle way she keeps mentioning Madge's boyfriend's father- looking at the rings across her fingers so she can remember if she knew him (She knows the jewels better than the men)!
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What I have always noticed about Griffith's photos is her hands..... they are always in the picture. So I wondered, at the start of the movie, whether she would use them a lot, or if it would be distracting to me. I was not disappointed... her grace and poise were amazing. Her movements were so light and poetic, and yet she carried herself so well. I kept thinking a sort of Sunset Boulevardish thought- they had carriage back then, the silent stars. We know nothing of that these days.....
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At the funeral: Mary Pickford, Norma and Constance Talmadge.
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Miss Gulch, I just looked down the thread and saw your post- You are sure right about Bessie Love! I loved the color sequences too. And Singin' in the Rain ..... and......everything!
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Oh Laffite- that is a hoot! I picture you surrounded by VHS tapes and boxes in a tiny closet, running back and forth to the VCR to check each of the 312 tapes. It probably wasn't so funny for you, but I get a kick out of that story because I have been there.......I spent all of Sunday looking for a book full of silent film photos. I spent hours looking for it, in the basement, crouched over boxes, then realized that I had given it to my sister the last time she visited. Why I gave it to her, I have no idea!
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I missed that one- in fact, I missed a lot of today's films, and those were the ones I most wanted to see this month! I did see most of Hollywood Revue, half of The Divine Lady, and some of Reducing and Politics. But I was most looking forward to The Girl Said No and The Vagabond Lover. Oh well, maybe in another seven years they will show them again on TCM......
Dressler always seemed to know what was called for in a scene. She had great bearing, but used it in a comedic way. She would pull up her shoulders to full height, raise her eyebrows as if to say, "Don't mess with me", but then she would trip over something. There was one scene today in which she was a minor player, she was clearing dishes off a table. I don't remember exactly what happened to the main characters, buit her reaction was priceless. As she cleared that last dish off the table, her back was to the camera, and she shrugged. It was simple, but funny. She didn't pull focus, but she got her moment, and the movie was all the better for it.
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Thanks, metsfan. I am glad Marie is getting the recognition she deserves today!
Was that cartoon Fat Albert?
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I am so thrilled to see these movies! Marie Dressler has always been a favorite... I posted some early pics of Dressler in the silent film forum under the popular stars/films from1900-1919 thread.
http://forums.tcm.com/jive/tcm/thread.jspa?threadID=128774&tstart=0
Personally, I think Polly Moran is the sadly forgotten one....
Message was edited by: JackFavell
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ideal examples of classical
Hollywood cinema at it's finest
If that's the criteria, I am going to have to make a new list....
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Did you ever think "quite bland" would be a selling point?
Frank, you'd be the perfect man if only you liked spicy food......
and now, at last, I know how to torture you!
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Goddess, I saw the documentary on Chaplin. I really enjoyed it, especially the clips from the filmed rehearsals of "City Lights".
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Monta Bell also directed Gilbert in *Downstairs* from a story that Gilbert himself wrote. It is apparently one of the best movies Gilbert did during the sound era, and he plays completely against type. He got wonderful reviews. I keep reading reviews and recent blogs that say how great it is ("you really must see it"), but I am having a devil of a time finding it on VHS (it is not available on DVD of course).
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JeanMarie- I'm with you! Those pics of De Havilland are beautiful. I am especially fond of the Robin Hood costumes.....
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Thelma- Of course, we all want you to come back and post! I am fairly new here, but I have missed your posts a lot. I hope the situation improves, and things roll along smoothly from now on.
Wendy
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Marie Dressler was born Leila Marie Koerber in 1868. She started her acting career at age 14, thinking she would go into light opera, but gravitated to Vaudeville instead. In 1892, she made her Broadway debut, and later gave a friend of hers, Mack Sennett, his break in the theatre. They were fellow Canadians. She also did recordings for Edison, such as:
Here are two lovely pictures of Marie taken sometime between 1900 and 1906, I'm guessing(?)
When Sennett became owner of his own production company, he convinced Dressler to star in "Tillie's Punctured Romance". She made two other Tillie pictures as well.
These next two are of Marie and the Ziegfeld girls on strike in New York in 1919:
By 1919 she had made 8 quite popular films.
This is my favorite, from 1909:
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I wasn't sure "black and white" meant the format of the movie... I thought it might have been a part of the plot. Thanks! now I know...
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Topkapi?
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Laffite- your post was really interesting! I like how you described the emotional punch as you waited for each cap....
*It would almost be fun to come up with other great scenes from the movies where passionate women in love (real love) express themselves in such ways as this to win or hold on to their men. God love them.*
I think that's a new thread waiting to be born, Laffite... I love the idea....you could call it "Passionate Women" and everyone would look at your thread to see what kind of hot stuff was going on there...
new Garland bio
in Hot Topics
Posted
I find it hard to watch her from that time as well, but I like to keep an open mind and I hate it when books focus only on her addictions.
Message was edited by: JackFavell