JackFavell
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Posts posted by JackFavell
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I'm thinking of that clip TCM runs once in a while of Ann Rutherford talking about how the studio demolished antiques they had bought in Europe for the filming of *Pride and Prejudice*. I think she said that if she hadn't rescued some of that furniture, the studio would have just thrown it away....
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I imagine they are dust....
Unless some lucky prop person took a set home......
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Mae Marsh:
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and don't forget the shaker and glasses.....
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That was what it said in the article posted below. Raksin was "the interpreter" who took all of Chaplin's ideas and made them into a score- this is not to say that Chaplin didn't create music- he just didn't write it down. I think this is how it went (and I am paraphrasing from the Timothy Brock article for those of you who didn't have time to read it):
After an in depth discussion with Chaplin about what he wanted, Raksin went home and wrote down the score. A conductor's copy, and all the different instruments had their own copies made of the music as well. Raksin then sat by Chaplin's side while Chaplin listened to rehearsals. Chaplin was just as meticulous with music as he was with film. He would note his displeasure in the individual musicians copies- so if he thought the oboe part was not bright enough, or didn't capture his own description in some way, he would mark it in the oboe player's music. Raksin would then take all the music at the end of the day and go home, rewrite the entire score accordingly, and bring it back for the following rehearsal.
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Oh geez, Jeff. I thought I was all cried out after City Lights yesterday.... but no....I'm sitting here alone, crying over Renee in the dirt.......
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If you really want a good cry, listen to Judy Garland's version of *Smile*.
Maybe he was a megalomaniac, but you know what? He wrote the perfect music for his movies.
I can't believe he could do all that behind the camera and skate like a dream too.
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I noticed something I never noticed before in *The Great Dictator*. Just before the "Hannah look up" speech, Reginald Gardner tells Chaplin to speak, and he says "I can't". Gardner says, "You must. It's our only hope."
Now it is a very small moment, but I really felt like this was Chaplin arguing with himself about whether to say his piece.... He really felt he MUST say something about the horrors going on at this time, but he was scared, like everyone else.... somebody must be the first to speak- somebody must step out of line and go a different way.....I think "The Mortal Storm" was the only other movie to deal directly with such issues of intolerance at this early stage.
He took a risk because he felt he could help, even if his career suffered for it. The fact that he went ahead and made his movie, making the very brave speech at the end, and released it, says something about him. He felt he had a power to reach people. If Chaplin knew something of the horrors going on in Europe, then leaders across the world probably knew as well. No one else made a speech like this- not any one of the Allied leaders. Why not? I applaud this man, who spoke up for Jews and Gentiles, White and Black at a time when no one else wanted to acknowledge atrocities and hatred.....
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Absolutely. Bookend away! Great idea, CL. Sturges captured a part of war life that was very true- but that no one else even talked about....
Wonderful list, PK. I love 49th Parallel....
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Jeff- these are the best captures yet! Look at the changing faces of Adoree and Gilbert- this is why silents are so great, and The Big Parade in particular! Thanks for taking the time to post.....It is fascinating to see still shots of these fleeting scenes.....
I really am missing Thelma.... please don't let this problem with Photobucket get you down....and please hurry back.....
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The Moorish/Spanish style of the Donna Hill site was very much in vogue in twenties. I think Valentino would definitely have felt more at home with the masculine Moorish style than the feminine gilt and velvet look we saw at the Tony Duquette website, which was popular much later. Also, many, many other silent film stars were decorating in the Moorish style at the time we are discussing- John Gilbert had his home meticulously decorated in the Spanish style, including a spartan monk's cell for winding down after a hard day at the studio.... take a look- these rooms at Gilbert's home are very similar to the ones at the Donna Hill site....
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The funny thing is, I LOVED *The Gold Rush* when I was younger, it was close to my favorite, and now I don't find it satifying at all. Now I know why.....I wish I could remember the original better! I wonder if the Blackhawk copy still exists in some form... I thought they were absorbed by Kino or somebody a long time ago.... I can't remember. I could kick myself for getting rid of my super 8 films and projector.....though they would probably be disintegrating now.....
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Miss G-
I love The Kid (my favorite), missed Woman of Paris (the one I really wanted to see, it's next in my queue at Netflix now), and find The Great Dictator is fast becoming my second favorite......
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Hey, Jeff, this explains a lot for me, because you see, I also had seen the Blackhawk Films version long ago. I don't remember if I owned it, or checked it out of my local library ( yes, amazingly, my tiny library had 8 mm and super 8 films for loan out). But I do remember a significantly different film. For a long time scenes would flash in my head (that letter scene, for instance) and I would say to myself, no, I must be wrong, because this movie is very different.....
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I am really appreciating the effectiveness of silence in the movies lately. Also, the ability to keep it short and simple.....
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I think the dust on my monitor absorbed it all....
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I just read up on Tony Duquette, and he moved to Hollywood in 1935, and started designing in 1940 or so. I wonder if the interior was more Latin inspired when Valentino lived there.....There is one pic of Valentino on the net that looks to me like it could be a candid at Falcon Lair- he is sitting in a chair that could be one of the armchairs, but the fabric looks totally different, oh, wait no! It is not the same armchair at all! The wall covering in the Valentino pic is more Moroccan-Spanish looking to me than anything in the Duquette design. You probably know waaay more than I do, so you could probably say "That isn't Falcon Lair, it's the set of such and such picture" but hey, I am trying!
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I just shot soda out my nose reading that one ....
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Oh my gosh, you made me literally laugh out loud....Jf I had been drinking soda, my computer would have been covered... Your daughter is a scream.....I used to like that really bizarre commercial for some reason....
Earlier today, my daughter asked me if this was the same channel that played the fat one and the thin one..... I had to laugh because we watched "The Music Box" with Laurel and Hardy months ago and she has never forgotten. Chaplin must have reminded her of it, but she doesn't realize that I watch this station ALL THE TIME!
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This has been a really great, fun day. Chaplin is awesome! Even when I couldn't watch, the music drifted all through the house.....
I love the " Summer under the Stars" programming, anyway. It is my favorite format on TCM so far. I think it was one year ago this month that I first got TCM! My first day was all William Powell.... what a great way to start off......
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I had only seen the outside of it, so thanks for the links. I wonder though if those pictures reflect Doris Dukes style a little more than Valentino's? Though Duke may have wanted to keep it the way Valentino had it.....I wish I knew...
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Hey, I found this article just now and it seems pretty in depth about Chaplin's musical ability and the composers whose help he accepted... it's pretty interesting, but long.
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Freud - What a great question you posed! I am curious too. I just assumed he scored the films himself, but I really don't know the true story... I know that he went back at some point and added soundtracks to a lot of his films and re-released them with music added, and some voice overs, which is I think what we heard today.....
All I know is that after years of thinking that a lot of his themes were kind of sappy, I am getting a new appreciation of them today. The melodies are not at all sappy and there are many quite peppy numbers sprinkled through the films. I also have enjoyed some of the music that I would call balancing themes... in which he uses a sort of back and forth rhythm to denote tension or being caught between two evils... I have been enjoying the music all day and was just going to post on the subject in another thread.....The music is much better than I gave it credit for being, and fits so well into the movies that I have newfound admiration for Chaplin the composer.
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