JackFavell
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Posts posted by JackFavell
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Oh heavens, Miss Ro, I certainly don't mind that you don't enjoy all the whirlwind drama that (hurricane) Irene causes in MMG.... that's what makes the world go round.
I am disappointed because I wish everyone could see what I see in the movie and her character. I enjoy it the way I do, but I don't want you to feel "ex-communicated" or anything for a simple difference of opinion.
Now if you continually hated everything I liked, or were constantly on the opposite side, I might begin to feel slighted or that something was off in our relationship, but I probably would not take it too seriously, because you are kind and gentle in your presentation of opinions, and always couch them in terms of just that - your opinions. You never make pronouncements, like "You mean you actually LIKE that movie???" or "Irene Bullock is the worst character EVER!" or even, "You are the type who goes for ____enter genre here ____movies."
You never talk down to anyone here, even when some of us probably should be talked down to.
I just want you to like the things I like, and vice a versa, because I like you.
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I really loved what you wrote about Irene - you inspired me!
I especially liked what you said about those characters being oblivious of looking silly - they are free to do just as they please, to some extent, and help free the men in their lives from some of society's sillier imposed constraints.
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> {quote:title=CineMaven wrote:}{quote}Glad to see u back Jack. Earthquake...hurricanes...what next?! When locusts come we all oughta head West.
I hear ya! It's too creepy! We actually had these small black ants come into the house all day Tuesday.... I don't know if their home got flooded, or what... luckily, I haven't seen any of them since.
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Have a great trip, rey! You deserve a nice holiday. :x
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Hi All! My computer is finally up and running properly, and we are fine here, after the big blow. Molo, I can't tell you how glad I am that you and your family are OK! Ditto everyone on the east coast.
I am totally with MissGoddess about Irene Bullock. I tend to be an Irene myself, absent minded and prone to non sequitur. and what I respond to most in her is her warmth, genuineness, kindness and her inability to see class distinctions, or in fact differences of any kind. I don't find her annoying in the least, though I think with any other actress, I might.
Irene may appear ditzy, but she just has an untrained mind due to her upbringing. The more I watch the movie, the more I see her innate good sense and even a profound philosophical nature:
"She rambles on quite a bit, but then she never has anything to say."
"I've decided I don't want to play any more games with human beings as objects. It's kind of sordid when you think of it, when you think it over."
"Life is but an empty bubble..."
"....there's no sense in struggling against a thing when it's got you. It's got you and that's all there is to it - it's got you!"
She also shows a disarming lack of affectation (most of the time), a keen interest in bettering herself, though that could just be because Godfrey is offering the knowledge.
"You use such lovely big words. I like big words. What does it mean?"
Godfrey: "Do you think you could follow an intelligent conversation for a minute?"
Irene: "I'll try."
Her father throws money at problems and is never there, and her mother is a flibbertigibbet with little moral sense. Perhaps I am over thinking this, but I think maybe Irene got her personality from sitting back and watching the others? I get the distinct impression that she is left behind a lot.
In the speech at the beginning, she tells Godfrey that she is always beaten by Cornelia, who cares more for worldly things than Irene does, and always has to win at everything. As a younger sister, I _really_ empathize with that.
Irene, because she has had no mental or moral training, has really never fallen into bad habits that over-education or too much money can usually bring. She is not one to judge others, nor is she the type to bother with the more foolish notions of how people in society should behave, and I think this is a VERY good thing. She makes up her own mind and once she does, nothing can stop her from feeling the way she does.
She is miles ahead of her mother, her sister, and in fact any other woman (or most of the men) in the movie, with the possible exception of Molly the maid, who is a GREAT character, my second favorite after Irene herself.
So Irene has somehow retained the best qualities of the uneducated (childlike, unaffected), while picking up some very grown up intellectual qualities along the way. There are worse things than being like Irene, who has a good heart.
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I LOVE Carole's movie with Walter Connolly, the name escapes me - it was the only movie I got to see on her day. I find myself bawling like a baby at Walter Connolly's magfnificent performance every time I see it.
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As for Marlene, I find that as time goes by, I really LOVE her, she is so watchable... and her enormous efforts during the war for common soldiers deserved more than a medal. She also had an unerring instinct for knowing what is RIGHT - no prejudice or racial hatred in her nature.
*Shanghai Express* was fantastic! None of the kitsch so apparent in *The Scarlet Empress*, it was an exceptionally well directed movie - I'm beginning to think of Von Sternberg as a favorite, but of course without Marlene, the movie would be _nothing._ Her sacrifice might have been more sympathetic if Clive Brook had not been so stodgy.
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Bronxie- I think you mentioned some time ago that you don't like the movie *Stage Fright*, because you could not get around Jane Wyman - I think she's OK, and I find I really love the movie... but I imagined the whole thing with Glynis Johns in the main role and it was so much better!
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Oh how cute! Though I prefer him older.
Nighty night you guys, and take care.
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> {quote:title=MissGoddess wrote:}{quote}I hope Molo's okay down in Dixie.
I do too. He hasn't written back. tthe south always seems to get slammed with weather.
Edited by: JackFavell on Aug 27, 2011 11:22 PM
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>I'd add Dana Andrews to the list of actors who look better without the mooostash.
Ha, me too.
Bickford kind of carried the end for me....those gloves! I found him fascinating to watch.
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Oh I am a ditz tonight! I forgot *Laura*! Alright, make *Fallen Angel* third.
I haven't seen *Forever Amber* in an age... I wish they had shown it today.
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Oh, I agree about the music, it was very intense. I think this is my favorite Preminger, after Bonjour T.
That reminds me Maven, did they evacuate you there? I kept hearing about it, and was worried about you sticking it out at home.
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Love the Lon pics... and the blog!
Greta certainly was pretty.
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I feel the same way about Andrew's moustache I hate it when he shaves.
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We just got our first sign of real weather a nice rolling thunder clap...
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I agree they are two sides of a coin, and Dana finally discovered who was really worth his efforts.
I actually read your words about Dana as if you had said he WAS ice cream, and I was thinking how true he's yummy.
Dana MADE that movie. I can't think of anyone who could have played that part as well as he did. He had it all down, the obsession, the fear, the paranoid behavior, and then the back story of his life, where you feel tremendous sympathy for him.... Ah Dana. I'm in a mothering mood.
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Oooh, what spectacular John Gilbert photos, Jeff!
And Metsie, thanks thanks for the Veidt photos.... that Gwynplaine photo is so emotional.
Orlac was very expressionistic and Veidt was superb as always.
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I'm a mush cryer too.
I cried when I was a kid when my dad said he would shave his head. He had the bushiest head of hair, and I thought of it almost as a living being of it's own! Ha! So don't feel bad about your sweet story. I was just being selfish, because I couldn't imagine my dad without his hair. You on the other hand, are a sweetheart. -
> {quote:title=Bronxgirl48 wrote:}{quote}We have the same love of United Kingdom humor, so I know you'll appreciate THE MATCHMAKER. (however, you can forget SALT & PEPPER)
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> THE MATCHMAKER is on YouTube. Enjoy, when you get a chance, lol.
Ooh, this means I can watch on my computer, no TV involved! If we have power tomorrow, I'll watch it!
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Ty's good anyway you can get him!
But I agree with the rest of your 'no moustache' list....
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I missed almost all of Linda Darnell day today, we had doctor's appointments in New Haven then stopped for a late lunch on the way back. I would have loved to see Linda and Joseph Cotten together, and Jeff Chandler is a bit under rated I think.
I watched *Fallen Angel* for the first time, and was really caught up by it. it was filmed beautifully, with so many noir touches. I just wish it had a better ending.... the build up was great, suspenseful, making you think almost anyone was capable of the murder. I was actually expecting a bit more of a twist, but Dana, Linda Bickford, Revere and Faye were all great. Wouldn't it have been a TRIP if the murderer was Alice Faye?
Edited by: JackFavell on Aug 27, 2011 10:08 PM
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oop...there you are!
I thought so! Gable was close for me, but I can't help feeling so awful for Bogie, standing there in the rain.... a WOW ending, with the water washing the ink away.... he needs comforting.... and judging from his role in The Big Sleep, the rain brings out the best in him:
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I'm wondering if the girls in NY lost power already?
Or maybe they just went to bed.
I just got a copy of STAND IN yesterday, the funny thing is, I ordered it before all this talk of the movie started, and before TCM ran it... I didn't even know it was going to be on. I'm a big Leslie Howard fan, but I have never seen it before. I'll be watching in the next couple of days along with THE MATCHMAKER... as soon as I regain control.....
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It sounds like my cup of tea! I really like Garafolo, I've always liked her humor.
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Oooh, what a choice, mm! My goodness, I imagine you would never even notice the weather.....
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I agree about Life with Father - it's so charming, and William Powell is at his best here. Liz is really funny too. and Marty Milner is adorable!
RAMBLES Part II
in Films and Filmmakers
Posted
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You're in bigger trouble than you think. I'm not that big on Irene, too. But what I do like about her is what Miss G and Jackie mentioned. I do like her love for Godfrey. She just happens to be extremely childish in her ways of trying to "obtain" Godfrey's love. *Godfrey is basically a --doll-- to Irene. She wants her --dolly.--*
Pomeranian!
> What's funny with me is that I LOVE when Carole plays childish, selfish girls. I like it when she is angry. I like it when she's "kicking." I love when she has a scowl. Irene is childish but she's not angry. She's mostly in the clouds.
I really like that - Irene _is_ in the clouds, in the best way possible. She is off in her own little world. And it's a very nice dreamy world too. By the end, she manages to bring Godfrey into it, and a lot of other souls. It's a good thing, because he needs to dream again. She helps him to "loosen up" as Miss G says, and she also gives him a safe, non judgmental haven from which to figure himself out. It's all kind of an allegory of the Depression, if rich and poor came together, hand in hand, they could get a lot done.
I think with Irene's help, he can learn to rise above what is eating him and spend more time fixing things, for which he has a great talent. I think if he fell into bitterness again, she would snap him out of it, in the most kindly, deluded way. In this way, she would get him busy working on world problems, rather than wallowing in tragedy. She really believes he can do anything, and seems to be able to break barriers by not recognizing their existence in the first place. It's all easier with Irene there for inspiration. I can easily see her saying, "Well, why can't you?" Fix the world, clean up the dump, give the men a place to stay...or whatever needs doing. Much of the world's problems are exacerbated by those words, "I can't do anything about it." She simply steps around all that. And she is tenacious. She will never give up on an idea once she finally gets one.
He brings her some grounded reality that her floaty, kindly soul needs, some worldly knowledge that she has been grasping for, and an outlet for her compassion (the forgotten men). He literally "put her in the shower" - brought her down to earth. Rather than squandering all her love on a pomeranian, Irene will be able to go into the world and help Godfrey help real people.
And so they have the same aspirations, I believe. They complete one another. They are both in a much better place (both figuratively and literally) at the end of the movie.
Edited by: JackFavell on Sep 2, 2011 10:37 AM