JackFavell
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Posts posted by JackFavell
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I am finding your discussion of *Streetcar* to be very insightful. I love the delving you are doing. Williams is a genius at this kind of layer upon layer upon layer characterization. It's one of the reasons I went into acting, so I could find the deeper meanings and motivations in his characters, and by way of that, my own.
Frank, you really have hit things that I don't know if I could have found in it the first time I saw it. I'm impressed.
I can't wait to read more.
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Howdy pardner! I'm so glad you came to Comanche Station! I knew you had the box set, so I wondered if you might mosey along.
I have to get my little sweetie to school, then take my walk. But I wanted to jump right in and address at least one thing first - you hit the nail on the head when talking about Penelope and Ulysses.... I find Boetticher's westerns to be very ...Homeric? Is that the word? I love the way they always consist of an epic journey, in which the protagonist is usually changed but retains his heroic qualities. He also carries some epic baggage, and in this I see an Oedipus or any other of Greek tragic heroes. There is almost always something tragic underwritten into Scott's characters, and I am very drawn to the fact that Boetticher makes very little of it, letting it spin out usually from the lips of another character.
I also love his villains. It's hard not to like them, sometimes better than the hero, if they are Richard Boone or Claude Akins. Likability does not always mean "hero" or "good". Sometimes a hero can be too good for his own, well, good. In this one, Scott was good, and I loved the way they showed "goodness" to be a choice that is acceptable. It's not often that the good path is portrayed as so inviting.
That scene with Akins telling his story within a story reminded me of Seven Men from Now with Lee Marvin doing the same thing over coffee. Have you seen that one? I forget. It's not in the box.
Edited by: JackFavell on Mar 7, 2012 7:19 AM
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I gotta reply to your excellent post tomorrow, Lobo.
See you in the morning. -
> {quote:title=FrankGrimes wrote:}{quote}
> That's a great observation and a good way of describing the film. It's very much a journey kind of film. It reminded me of *Ride Lonesome*, for this reason.
Yes, I think the basic plot is almost the same - Ride Lonesome is the only one I haven't been able to get through... I think because of Karen Steele.
> I must plead ignorance with this. I'll leave this up to Musicman. That's his specialty.
I hope he liked it too!
> It really was a good, little cast. I liked the toughness of Nancy Gates. Claude Akins played the smiling villain very well. He usually does.
Claude Akins is one of those actors who always surprises me. I know he's good, but I forget how good. Somehow, he's always a trucker to me.
Every time I see him in a movie or a show, he's better than I think he'll be. I think he might even be able to give Richard Boone a run for his money, he's got that amiable villain thing down pat. I'd love to see those two in a movie together, wouldn't that just be great? Akins was in a TV version of *Bus Stop* years ago, and he was just fantastic. I never forgot his performance.
> It's very much "Boetticher." You always get the feeling his films are not just spare, but bare, as in the characters.
SPOILERS STATION
This script by Burt Kennedy was as 'bare" as can be. I don't think there was less said in any film to get the basic point across. Nothing extraneous. I liked the way it started, like many of the Boetticher films, with the assumptions of each character put out before the others, then each man is made clear, his soul is "bared". Mrs. Lowe thought Jeff Cody was just out for the 5,000 bucks. Never assume.... not in a Boetticher movie anyway. They are deceptively simple on the surface. I assumed that she and Jeff would get together. So did Claude Akins.
Slowly, over time and along the ride, each character's real motivations are made clear. I really liked the young man in this one, who thinks he has to be hard to make it in the world. His speech about his father tore me up...especially the tag line, "Poor guy. He never did amount to anything."
Akins' ending line really got me too, I hadn't expected it from him.... that tinge of regret... but knowing he couldn't change. The money had a hold of him. He had to play it out to the end anyway, even if he knew it would be fatal for him. "It's amazing what a man will do for money."
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I watched Comanche Station today, like I said, I didn't want to miss another talk trying to catch up on Buchanan.... I'll always be behind that way.
I liked CS very much! I enjoyed the leisurely way Boetticher filmed it.... there's a lot of traveling in it - just riding, though there is always something different happening during each ride... a kind of feeling that deepens as they go on.
The music by Bakaleinikoff was beautiful. I've always liked the music in the Boetticher westerns, but this one really stood out... maybe because there was so much time without talk.
I thought this was one of the tightest casts in the Scott/Boetticher films I've seen. No weak links. It made it very enjoyable.
What I especially loved about this one was the direction, just the beauty of the camera angles, and the circular beginning and end. Again, it was tight and perfect. Spare.
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I won't forget. I just wanted to catch up before yet another conversation passed me by.
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Dog-in-the-Wanger attitude... hee hee
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I hope you feel better soon, Chris.
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Yeah but I got everything else completely upside down!
Oh Lordy! A Star is Born and Flesh and the Devil at the bottom of the pile.....
Desire Me ? Who ARE you?
I'll meet you in Westerns for Comanche Station.
Edited by: JackFavell on Mar 6, 2012 2:02 PM
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Along with all these lovely pre-codes today, *History is Made at Night* is on tonight at 10:15 PM ET. It's one of my favorite Borzage movies, and stars Charles Boyer at his most charming, Jean Arthur, Colin Clive and wonderful Leo Carrillo.
This one is pretty rare, I don't think it's out on dvd.
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How I think you will rank the films you've seen:
Picnic at Hanging Rock
Secrets of a Soul A Streetcar Named Desire
The Passionate Friends
Party Girl
Flesh and the Devil
The Kiss Before the Mirror
The Long, Hot Summer
The Bribe
Warlock
Angels with Dirty Faces
A Star Is Born (1937)
The Ace of Hearts
Before I Hang
Seven Sinners
Comanche Station
Pat and Mike
A Night in Casablanca
Frisco Jenny
Life Begins at Forty
Shall We Dance
Night Nurse
The Winning of Barbara Worth
Penelope
Desire Me
I've placed Streetcar second, but to the side - because I think you would either hate it, or admire it greatly. It's not the kind of movie one loves, I think, but one has to respect it. I suspect that you might have hated it.... because you are a chivalrous person, I think it would be harder for you to watch than most any other movie, seeing a sensitive person destroyed.
How I rank the films you've seen:
A Star Is Born (1937)
Flesh and the Devil A Streetcar Named Desire
Pat and Mike
Angels with Dirty Faces
Frisco Jenny
The Long, Hot Summer
Shall We Dance
The Passionate Friends
The Bribe
A Night in Casablanca
Life Begins at Forty
Night Nurse
Warlock
movies I can't rank because I haven't seen them (some I've seen parts of, or so long ago I can't remember)
Desire Me
Before I Hang
Comanche Station
Picnic at Hanging Rock
Penelope
The Kiss Before the Mirror
Secrets of a Soul
Seven Sinners
The Winning of Barbara Worth
The Ace of Hearts
Party Girl
I've placed Streetcar very high on my list but to the side as well - since it's a very hard watch. It's brilliant, and Vivien is amazing. It completely changed me when I saw it the first time. But I can't call it a favorite, I can't go there too often.
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You have a leg up on me, I have never seen Ace of Hearts. In fact, you are far surpassing me in terms of the sheer number and variety of films you have seen.
I'll see if I can get your top and bottom five movies rated, and maybe I can spend some time listing how I like the films. There are some here I haven't seen, and several I haven't seen in a long time.
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What a crazy group of films! I don't think I could possibly rate them the way you might. I haven't the slightest idea how you might like them.
I'm taking a wild guess that Secrets of a Soul came in first? But I really have no idea.
Clue me in on what Ace of Hearts is...I can only find a 1921 version and a 2008 version.
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I've always loved Connie's look at that time, I probably have all her photos that have ever been posted of her on the net, Jeff.
Was Esther Ralston the prettiest star ever or what? Did she really have green eyes? Wow.
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I'm crazy about the Olive Thomas pic, Jeff!
I also like the colors in the second Clara pic, I like the green you chose for her dress.
Love the still from Wings, and the Claire Windsor too.
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I think he was typecast at the time. I think he mainly went back to the stage after his stint with the Monkees.
I agree it's a shame he didn't do more or get other differing roles. He certainly had the looks and talent. But I don't think he ever seemed like the type to worry about the past or to feel like he didn't get chances to do what he wanted.
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> {quote:title=FrankGrimes wrote:}{quote}
> So your husband can run to the bell tower to escape your nagging!
I'm the perfect cure for a headache, don't you think? You're a bit of the hair of the dog. And like a prairie oyster - you scorch my windpipe!
> Oh, don't worry about that. I still owe you words on *The Big Country*, *Strange Cargo*, and *Summertime*. And what you wrote for each fascinated me, so it's not like I wasn't motivated by your writings. It's just laziness on my part.
Now I can't even yell at you - since I am in the same Lifeboat.
>Hmmmmmm... now that's interesting. I wouldn't have connected those two.
I have a twisted outlook sometimes.
> Very good! Now I see the connections. And you're right, they really are exonerated on flimsy evidence.
I always think Hitch stops the movies abruptly because he doesn't really want his victims to get out of it that easily.
> What you say really does add to the tension. Who would the cops really believe? The society-types with names and money or the chump on the run?
I used to think that killing Norman Lloyd in *Saboteur* was a huge mistake on Hitch's part, taking all the evidence along with him.... but now I think it was very purposeful. You both mentioned how annoying Cummings is - Hitch wanted him to fry, maybe?
Of course, by that time, the police might be suspicious enough to actually investigate Otto Kruger, turning up all sorts of things. Poor little Susie. There's a story I'd love to see put on film.... maybe she grows up to be Ingrid Bergman in Notorious! > I don't think Hitch always goes for the logical. He's seemingly more about the suspense and style.
And he knows that people secretly like a charming fellow, even if he is a cad, or even a murderer. Orson Welles knew it too.
> I loved what you wrote about those connections. I would have never thought of their endings being similar. It's not always that you're protecting the wrongdoer so much as protecting those who think highly of them.
Which is really kind of terrible. Protecting those illusions, and also protecting the status quo. In Shadow of a Doubt, I can see it, who would want poor Patricia Collinge to know about Charlie? Good lord, it would be the crumbling of the whole family. But in Rebecca, or even Foreign Correspondent, is it really in anyone's best interest to keep the truth hidden? I think in FC it was that he did a lot of good work, so OK. But in Rebecca, it's ONLY to protect the rich and their reputations. Good grief, it's awful! Maxim might be a great man if he were to be knocked down a peg. But I'll admit, there is something in me that revels in watching Jack Favell bait Maxim. The movie would be interminably dull without him.
I used to feel the same way about poor Farley Granger in Strangers on a Train. So I guess I am one of those friends of yours who sympathize somewhat with the Ray Millands of the world. Not really in real life, but Hitch's movies give me an outlet for my less pure thoughts. Lets face it, we all watch with glee as he sets up his little plan. And Hitch knew that dark little part of everyone that wants the rich and famous and powerful knocked down a peg.
> I wouldn't have guessed those would top your list!
Oh how can you not? I do tend to like the most ironic endings. especially like the next one:
> 3. The Thirty Nine Steps ("I:m glad it's off my mind." fade out with dancing girls in the background)
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> But the handcuffs! The handcuffs! That's one of my favorite Hitch images.
Yes! I didn't write it because I was just giving an outline for people who didn't remember. That is probably my favorite Hitch ending (that I can remember) outside of the big ones. It's perfect really - and I always like a sad ending with happy music playing in the background... poor Mister Memory drops to the ground - as if that long piece he had to memorize actually was what killed him... it gets me every time, and then that happy dance number in the background, the camera closing in on the two holding hands with the handcuffs dangling - very similar in thought to the ending of Rear Window, depending on how you look at it.... they are free, but are they? It's romantic and sad and cynical and beautiful all at the same time. It's a triple whammy of greatness! That is the ending I like the most of all.
The other two are so completely iconic, and finish their movies so perfectly, I had to put them first.
> *5. Frenzy*
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> Yay! It's great to see someone else appreciate the ending. It's the perfect way to "tie" up that black-humored film.
Another perfect ending. It always makes me laugh. Even after the scariness and vulgarity of the rest of the movie. And I do like the movie, even if it is scary and vulgar, just so you know.
> 6.Strangers on a Train - if you end with the lighter
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> *I always think of the ending as the merry-go-round.*
I LOVE the merry go round scene. It's probably my favorite of Hitch's set pieces, pretty near my favorite scene in all his movies. It's just brilliant. It encompasses all of Hitch's weird thoughts on life and psychology. It is Hitch himself, compressed into 2 minutes. It's what made that movie my favorite for a long time.
> *7.Foreign Correspondent - "Hang on to your lights, America, they're the only lights left on in the world"*
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> It's a great line for that time.
>
> *8. Shadow of a Doubt - "Sometimes the world goes a little bit mad, like your Uncle Charlie."*
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> Awesome line! Again, it fits with the time.
I really enjoy those both for being of their time. I really like movies that show something I didn't live through.... it's why I like old movies in general. I can empathize so easily. I find them both to be tremendously moving lines considering what was going on....but I find that Shadow of a Doubt and that ending line transcend their time, because the world does go crazy, it seems more often now. There seem to be so many more Uncle Charlies, and so much more unrest in the world. However, in some ways, I find McCrea's speech more moving and emotional, knowing it was specifically about WWII. There's an urgency to it that gets me.
> Not to mention the fancy cruise home with the fine cuisine!
I find this one to be one of the more hilarious endings, and so true of human nature to immediately move on and forget our good intentions, no matter what we've been through. It's a gift and a curse.
> You're naughty! You side with "Jeff."
Actually, not really. He's an idiot.
But I am leery of marriage. I know that sounds weird. > This is a Hitch film I haven't seen in a good six years. I always think of the curtain falling.
clonk!
I really like this movie. I think it's very good, though I am not a huge fan of Jane Wyman, but she does pretty well. It would have been better with a Brit actress, I'd love to have seen 17 year old Glynis Johns in the role. I like the romance of it, first of all. I like that Wyman in a sense becomes Marlene's character, by lying to Michael Wilding. There's a closeup in the film that reveals her knowledge of how she has ended up on the other side, as a "bad" woman. I like Alistair Sim. I like Michael Wilding. Marlene was on a red hot streak at this time, as far as I am concerned - she's just awesome. Well, she's just so watchable. I love her. > *13. Lifeboat - German: "Aren't you going to kill me?"*
> *Hodiak: "What are you gonna do with people like that?"*
>
> It's a very thoughtful film.
I like it tremendously. And Tallulah, well another sublimely watchable star.
> Talk about a film that goes in two different directions.
I really don't care for the ending, except that you worry all through the movie about Miss Froy....
What do you mean 2 directions?
Edited by: JackFavell on Mar 4, 2012 11:20 AM
Edited by: JackFavell on Mar 4, 2012 11:22 AM
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Ha!
I am not so fond of the Yankees either!
The really cool ones are the old guys, the sailors and lobstermen and stone masons and train men and such, who always have a story to tell or some history of the place at hand. And the regular folks like you and me.
Wendy
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> Wendy, you ain't kiddin'. I'm really surprised and of course sad about it. I grew up with Davy and The Monkees. They left an indelible impression on me. My girlfriend loved Davy. I'll never forget 'em.
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> Hope all is going well for you and have a great evening and weekend.
>
> Jake
I grew up with them too, I think that's why it really affected me so much.
Other than a feeling of sadness about Davy, I am fine. All's well here on the east coast.
How about you?
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Thanks guys so much. I'm feeling better now.
I just realized that Rebecca also deals with someone who is seen from the outside as a wonderful person, but the truth underneath it all is far from that. Does her reputation get saved at the end? I think that's left up in the air, but I assume that everything about her more evil "doings" is suppressed, more to benefit Max than anyone. That's a really uncomfortable way to leave things for a hero. Hitch always did like his heroes dark, even after their trial by fire.
Rebecca also has a youthful hero-worshipping girl growing up and losing her illusions (which she gladly sheds, since they caused most of the problems). I don't think Rebecca quite follows that Ford "Print the Legend" theme, but it's close.
Edited by: JackFavell on Mar 1, 2012 8:27 PM
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Right now I am just not up to writing much. Still have this bloody migraine!
Both have characters (Uncle Charlie/Stephen Fisher) who are not all they appear to be, and who die under the worst circumstances - one as he's trying to murder innocent young Charlie, and the other in order to atone for his many sins.
Maybe *Fort Apache* is a better comparison to these films, I'm not sure....I can't quite get my words and thoughts together today.
In both the Hitch movies they end up 'printing the legend.' The main characters in each suppress the knowledge they have about these less than honorable men, keeping the reputation of the murderer/Nazi sympathizer intact for noble reasons - in order to spare relatives, or to keep their better work from being destroyed.
It's a striking detail in each of the movies for me, and leaves me feeling uncomfortable in the lie. Both dead men are heroic figures to the main women in the stories at the beginning, just as Thursday and Ranse are to their women...... forcing each woman to deal with the fallibility of hero worship. I don't think it's a coincidence that all these movies were made just before, during, or just after the war (except for Liberty, which is an altogether remarkable film in so many ways).
I hope that all makes sense.
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Rey,
thanks so much for your help. I really don't have much trouble looking it up online at all, but the point is, then I end up with the schedule coming to me on the first like clockwork. I just wish that it came earlier so I could avoid the waste of everyone's time, including TCM's.
MissG,
I never got the schedule delivered like this before the upgrade, it just started showing up suddenly. It's funny that you now don't have that function because of the upgrade! The definition of "snafu".
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That's Don Kirschner.
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I am sorry if there is already a topic about this, my search for "TCM schedule" yielded 0 results.
Ever since the "upgrade", I receive the new month's TCM schedule in my email. However, it arrives on the 1st of the month, several hours after the start of the day (6:00 AM ET). By this time, I have already gone online and searched out the next month's schedule so I can be ready to record anything I might want to see on the 1st of the month. I then leave the one I have already got open in a tab so I can always go to it for reference.
*Is there any way we could receive the new month's schedule on the last day of the previous month or earlier that week?*
Or perhaps there is a setting for what day we would like to receive the schedule? I would hate to complain about this small problem if I could simply go in somewhere and fix the day I receive my schedule on. I apologize in advance if there is a function to do this.
I simply can't find it.
As it is, this feature is useless to those people who TCM is trying to help by sending out the schedule....namely TCM's entire audience.
I always end up deleting the email, since it arrives too late to use on the 1st of the month.
If I knew I was going to get the schedule in a timely fashion _before_ the start of the month, I would not have to search out the next month's sched in advance. Your people are working hard for no reason, since I am pretty sure that everyone else probably does the same thing I do.
Thank you for looking into this matter.
See you in the morning.
The Annual FrankGrimes Torture Thread
in Your Favorites
Posted
> {quote:title=FrankGrimes wrote:}{quote}*Yes, I think the basic plot is almost the same - Ride Lonesome is the only one I haven't been able to get through... I think because of Karen Steele.*
>
> I didn't like the ending, even though it's full of angry emotion. I also don't like Pernell Roberts that much. He becomes overbearing to me.
I think that's it for me, too. I just don't care enough about any of the people in it. I'll try again at some point. It could be more rewarding than I think.
> Sheriff Lobo! He's chasing the truckers, Stacks!
10-4.
> Talk about two big egos! Boone's laugh would top Akins. I always think of Boone as being more evil than Akins, too.
I think Boone is mesmerizing. He's got this huge personality, huge ego, and it's fascinating to me how bold he is, as the characters he plays and as an actor. He can also be quiet in an unnerving way. He's this rather ugly, small man, but he has the heart of a lion, a king. He's got a Clark Gable soul. It's so attractive.
Akins is smooth, smiling, kind of like Jack Carson in The Tattered Dress. I think Good Ol' Boy describes him best. But with depth you didn't expect.
> What?! Really?! Did he play the bus driver?
Yes, and he was great, though the rest of the cast I don't remember liking a lot. It was a totally different spin than the Marilyn movie, more comedy than drama, but Akins was the glue that held it all together. He was great, sliding between comic and dramatic with that wonderful ease of his.
> *SPOILERS STATION*
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> This script by Burt Kennedy was as 'bare" as can be. I don't think there was less said in any film to get the basic point across. Nothing extraneous.
>
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> *I definitely agree with that. Cody (Randy) doesn't say much. "No, Ma'am."*
He never says much! What I really like is how in the Boetticher westerns there is a line drawn in the sand between the alpha males. The villains are always big talkers, and while they are talking, Scott is slowly stealing their power by acting, not wasting time. The villains are kind of lazy, morally and mentally, in spite of their learned appearances, so they lose control of their people easily. The west seems to be a place where you can just drift and let life happen and then suddenly you aren't where you thought you were and your life is over. Use it or lose it. Boetticher's westerns are parables for modern life. We could all be more like Randy, thinking, but then acting on it, rather than over thinking or obsession.
But then, Cody is obsessed... as someone else pointed out. When does that obsession twist into something fatal? Is it the nature of the obsession itself that makes it worth doing or not?
> And you used the word I was going to use in my previous post: deceptive. Boetticher's films seem simple, which makes them deceptive. There's so much depth with the characters. I figured Cody didn't do it for the money, but I loved hearing why he did it. And then when I saw Mrs. Lowe's (Nancy Gates) situation, I was really stunned. This proves your point, "don't assume." Cody and Mrs. Lowe were one in the same: loyal, dedicated spouses.
So Boetticher sets up his plot, draws his lines in the sand, but then he crosses them, muddies them up, and the hero and villain somehow change places. This makes everything less transparent, more cynical, maybe, and more difficult to mark out just what someone is going to do. Life is unpredictable, and people are unpredictable. And when you think you know them, watch out!
> *I also loved that Dobie loved Frank (Skip Homeier). He was a big-hearted kid who wanted to do right but who was too weak to stand up for himself. He was really taken by Cody's offer to trail along with him. Cody was lost and lonely and Dobie was seeking a father figure who cared about him. The two would have been good for each other.*
I agree, but it tells you something doesn't it? Dobie loved his old man, who had high ideals but couldn't follow through on them, he just drifted till he died. And Frank is very similar: "Frank says, "A man gets used to a thing." He can't change because he's become lazy, or maybe even afraid to try anything else but what he knows. That's modern man.
>Frank: You want to go to work, do you?
>Dobie: Work?
>Frank: Making an honest living?
>Dobie: Oh, no, I don't think I could do that. I could cowboy some.
Frank: Well, what will that get you? You work yourself to death for somebody and likely they will have to take up a collection to bury you.
But Frank ends up with nothing, and not even buried, in spite of where he thinks he will end up. His laziness didn't get him anything better than Dobie's old man, maybe a little worse. And the sad thing about Dobie is that he was virtually untried. He never had a chance to be anything or change, to end up as a real man before he was killed. And if anything puts likable Lane in a bad light, it's his killing of the kid. And for money? What kind of man kills a friend, maybe his only friend, for money? This would make an interesting double feature with *Treasure of the Sierra Madre.*
> Yes, it's rather "film noir." "Oh well, what the hey." Lane (Claude Akins) couldn't just ride off and leave all that money and his ego behind. He had to die trying.
It IS more about ego than even the money, I think... you've hit it. with him and with Richard Boone in *The Tall T.* It's the trying, the attempt that makes you a big man.
Edited by: JackFavell on Mar 8, 2012 9:28 AM