rohanaka
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Posts posted by rohanaka
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I only think he would kill for one of two reasons... to get back at someone he felt "owed him" something... OR... to keep from being found out. And the cook did at least imply early on that the old gal wasn't really an invalid... I still say it would have been a "fun" twist for him to have caught her stretching or dancing a jig or something earlier on in the film... He could have even made it a game and set her up by placing her chair a little further out from the bed or something... just to see what happened... when he came back in a room later.. Ok.. now I"M starting to sound "coniving" ha.
You are right though... we do all have our own little "things". I imagine he was just extremely clever about finding the advantage in any situation and playing it for all it was worth.
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I wanted to bring up Mrs. Bramson's wheelchair for a moment. Do you think that they had her get up and walk so we would not feel as bad when she got killed? I mean, to show that Danny is sort of "right" when he talks about how two faced his victims are? It would be too awful for us to watch him murder a woman who was absolutely unable to get away.....and it also shows how lulled she was by him.... she basically let him kill her......and we sit and watch as he does it, fascinated
I think it may have been a part of the equation... I do think there is less sympathy for her plight in knowing how REALLY awful she was before she gets knocked off. (Sort of a deeper glimpse into ALL the ugly that was Mrs.
But I think... even if she had truly been disabled... she displayed enough ugly for at least my satisfaction that she was not as "pitiful' a vicitm as she might have seemed. She seemed to DESERVE what she got... though I never really think anyone deserves to be MURDERED. Still... I don't mind seeing 'nasty folks" get their comeuppance. I wonder... do you think he KNEW about her all along??? Even if he doesn't catch her walking around... do you think he knew she was faking? He seemed to know everything about her... But still.... I am not sure. He did not acknowledge either way if he wondered how she was on the couch... or even noticed or not that she'd gotten "from the chair to there". And HE put the chocolates on the mantle... be he never acknowledges that they somehow made it to the table.... I wonder if he knew... OR if he was so intent on doing her in... he just either didn't notice or didn't care.
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I find it hard to reconcile this Robert Montgomery with the one who played Brick in TWE.....it's like he was a completely different person. I know, I know. It's called ACTING
Ha. Miss Favell, you are so right... it is like they are polar opposites... Danny is only interested in what he wants for himself.. and of course Brick is after the common good in almost every moment we see him on screen.
It is really interesting getting to see NMF from a modern perspective... We get to see movies and even news reports about all the "clever young" psychos who are out there being made "famous" by the inner workings of their twisted and dangerous minds almost as a regular thing in the society we live in now... But I imagine in the day and age this film was made... it was WAY more shocking to see someone so cleverly insane and evil.
YET... even as jaded as we (or at least I) sometimes may feel about the latest homicidal nutjob movie... THIS one is far superior to many if not most of the modern day films I have seen or heard of. He really does draw you in a bit along with all the other "victims" he has in his site... (but Jackie.. I don't think I felt as Mom-ish toward him as you did.. Ha)
At one point he tells Roz something about how he is a "watcher". I think he really knew how to look for weakness and make it work for him. At the very least he knew how to give the people what they wanted... and I bet what he says at the end about putting on a show during his trial was no exaggeration. Wouldn't you like to have been in that courtroom? Now THAT could be a whole other movie in itself.
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but did she come back for the reason SHE said.. or the reason HE said...
Ok... Went back and looked at the ending again... and creeped myself out all over again!!
SHE DID come back for the reason he said.. and he tells her... "you don't know me"... and she admits... "I am seeing you now for the first time"... (going back to what I was saying about the whole translucent/transparent thing...)
Oh me... I may have to leave the hall light on tonight at bedtime! The QT sleeps like a rock.. He'd never wake up in time if Danny boy showed up with his hatbox!!! :-)
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MY FAN TESTIMONIAL
May I just say.... wow. And perhaps.. "MY GOSH! MY GOLLY!!!! WOW!!"
This whole thing just keeps getting better and better... Again.. picture me... "envy green" all over. :-)
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I've botched up a perfectly good conversation
Maybe sometime, somewhere... but not here now, young'un. :-) (And PS.... FINALLY... a movie you've seen that I have too. Ha)
Dame May Whitty...not her usual ditsy self a la "Gaslight." She was a cold imperious old lady. She excellently played the scene when she was left alone in the house. I totally put aside my editing and was glued to the screen. How could this be, I've never wanted to see this movie. I freaked when she got out of the chair.
Really?? See I remember watching this thing the first time... and I kept HOPING she would get out of that chair... I remembered the passing comment from the cook about her..."If SHE"S an invalid..something something blah blah blah" (I can't remember the end part of her comment) and all I could do from that moment on was sit and wonder and wait to see if she really was able to get up and just used that chair and her "palpitations" for manipulative purposes and to "get sympathy"... or maybe better... to "give guilt" to anyone who might think of leaving her or consider holding her accountable for any rude or outlandish thing she might say. Whe she stood up to go get her chocolates... I wanted to say... AH HAH!! Got you know you old buzzard". Ha.
In fact... I kept waiting for him to try and bait her by doing something like putting the chocolates out of reach and then sitting back and watching to see if she would take the bait. THAT would have been a fun twist in the story... but I digress.
Abnormal Psychology
THAT could be a "subtitle" for this film... It is a VERY interesting study. I like how you really seem to get an insight everybody's "true self"... in little way sometimes... but in loud screaming ways as well.
When Roz is standing by the window and tells the detective about her thoughts on what might be out in the woods... you get your first glimpse of the "real" her. And at first it wasn't as creepy (I am starting to love that word) to me as it probably should have been. I have often heard news stories about bodies that have been found for some time after they went missing and I get "poetic thoughts" about how the world around that scene bore silent witness to the crime as everyone else went about their daily lives... (but before you move one seat over to get further away from me.. I never went so far as picturing a bird resting on anybody's body's high heeled shoe. Ha)
Still, her very thorough description of the thoughts that were passing through her mind were a really good glimpse to the fact that she was possibly looking for some sort of excitement (as Miss G said)
And your comments about "Danny-boy" Montgomery and the cat are great. He told Roz that he could more or less have that old lady eating out of his hand and then he proceeded to show her. And it was only a matter of seconds until he knew what bait to use... and then the old girl was had... "hook, line, and sinker". And then so was Roz in a way. (but not the SAME way.)
And for a while, I think he liked that she saw through him... but not in a transparent way... He never really was "transparent" for her until the very end... maybe he was more "translucent". But it was enough of a glimpse for her to be able to see him for what he was and he liked the "private show" that he put on for her the whole time he was playing for the old woman and all the others too. (When she catches the price tag on the shawl... and then lets him "off the hook"... he realizes for sure that he has her on a bit of a hook now instead)
Miss Goddess wrote:
I thought the scene in the kitchen was one of the best. He was so smart, he could
read her like a book. The interesting thing is it really took Danny to show Rosalind
her true self. She is rather a superior prig and prideful at first. He makes her confront the fact
that she has somewhat baser desires like anyone else. And it really sticks in her craw!
That's exactly it... that was the attraction for her but it was also the "confusion" in her life as well... "WHY am I acting this way?? Is this really ME?" It took her getting to that "hat box moment' I think for her to really see how far she'd let herself go in this fantasy game... (Just the thought of her carrying that box in her hand across the room and putting it in her own room... No wonder Montgomery fainted... I almost did too) But I think that this is what it took for her to really take stock and see... Ok.. not just a fantasy anymore. Time to get out.
And yet... I am really wondering about her reason for leaving and coming back that night. I really do think she left because she just couldn't take it anymore.. she just could not stand herself being so caught up in the whole thing... but did she come back for the reason SHE said.. or the reason HE said... I just don't know. It was so late last night, and I was so tired by that time (and it's been so long since I saw it the first time), I may have missed some of what was being said... I need to watch the ending again to be sure.
But can I take being CREEPED out again??????? And so soon after all the creepiness of watching it last night?? I still need to watch London at Night... I don't know if my system can handle that much Creep in one week. Maybe I will just have to wonder about it and watch again later.
PS: Miss Goddess wrote:
After all, she already had an admirer, someone nice and steady so her life wasn't that awful, though she seemed to chafe under it. I know the old lady was a terrible drain to work for---I wonder if secretly Rosalind longed for her to be the next victim, lol!
April.. you are making a joke... and yet... I think maybe secretly... she might have wished for it. But maybe in more of a "I didn't really mean it" sort of way... I think she was needing to break out of the "mold' she was in... but I don' t really think she had any evil intentions. I think she was just willing to let herself be seduced by that "dark side" of things for a while. She needed to feel the excitement. But she DID have issues with that old bird... so maybe...
And everytime the dashing lawyer kept saying "come with me... I want to take you away from all of this" I kept yelling at the tv.. "SAY YES you idgit!" But... I guess she had a few things to work out first. :-)
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HAT BOX.......
eeeeeewwwwwwww!
My gosh, my golly that aint the half of it! :-)
I stayed up way too late watching this movie tonight... (and NOW I am still up way too late... I am sure I will be paying for all of this tomorrow. Blech!)
I really enjoyed Night Must Fall... I LOVED the way this film looks... It is eerie and beautiful all at the same time. But I have to confess, that after only the first 2 seconds of the film, I realized that I had already seen it. (but it was several years ago, and I never knew what it was called) And then after I realized I already knew what it was about... I was creeped out even more because I knew what was coming. But I still had to watch it all again though.... I didn't want to waste a good "creepout". Ha. :-)
That Robert Montgomery was SOMETHING!! And the old woman... UGH!! She was something ELSE! It would have been a creepy story just between her and poor Rosalind Russell....and the little "mind games".
And Roz had her own little issues too, didn't she???????? :-)
I really enjoyed all the little twists and turns in this story, and the way he is so obvious to Roz, but still so cunning and deceptive to everyone else. And he eventually more or less gives up all pretense with her... just to the brink of being flat out blatant. And she was almost drawn into it all enough to "embrace" his evil.... almost.
He was like "staring into a fire" for her, almost. She knew he was "dangerous" but as much as she seemed to detest him, she was still very fascinated by him... And yet... I don't think she realized she was really playing with fire... until...
It was a very interesting relationship.
(PS... hope the tile is TERRIFIC. I am SO jealous)
PSS.... HI Larry... thanks again for bringing up John Loves Mary... Jack Carson was hilarious... but they ALL were... The only one I thought could have maybe been better was Lily... but I don't think she took anything away from the film at all since she is funny enough just the way she fits in the story so well LONG before she ever really shows up. :-)
Thanks for the tip on Louisa. I will keep a look out for that one as well...
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Hiya Molo!
Okay so you want to delve into the dark side hey? Cynics!
Thanks for dipping you toes in "the dark side" for a moment. :-)
First of all... I should go on record as saying that I don't really think Harvey is a DARK film... but you are right... there are some darker "themes". I also read through some of the earlier posts including your original one and the one that Ms Cutter wrote, and I agree about the themes of "individualism" too.
Are you sure Harvey really exists?
AREN'T YOU??????? :-)
I think it IS more fun to "wonder" sometimes when watching a movie like this one... "IS he really seeing the rabbit?" to me would have had a lot of interesting possibilities. But finding out that there is a whole "supernatural species" of Pooka's roaming around out there in the world.... I just had too much on my mind wondering about what he was thinking and where he would lead the story next.... and it bugs me a little.
But this "creep factor" thing goes deeper than just that issue for me as I am finally putting it all together. ... Though I still really can't put it into words... I think it goes back more to what April and I were saying about Stewart's take on Elwood at times w/ the glassy eyed stare... etc.
I don't think Harvey really changes Elwood so much as Harvey was attracted to Elwood because he was already different.
There ya go.... And once we find out Harvey isn't really part of THAT equation... that 's when Elwood sort of starts to make me wonder. He seems so peaceful... and he has a "way about him" that is very relaxed in a lot of respects. All except for ONE thing .. and it is the way he seems to be so INTENT every time he is looking at anyone or speaking with them. He is practically staring them down... or at least that is the way it seems to me a lot of the time. It's like he is having one conversation with his words.. and yet I am wondering what he is thinking the whole time he is talking. Good eye contact is important in any worth while verbal conversation... but sometimes TOO much eye contact can be... "creepy". And THAT is to me what takes him from being such a laid back "pleasant guy" who has a few "quirks" to something I can't really describe but am just a little "uncomfortable" about .
Don't get me wrong.... I don't think he is at all "sinister". Elwood would not hurt a fly. I don't think even Harvey is sinister either (though I DO see him as you say.. "mischievous". But I was a lot more comfortable w/ Elwood's "quirks" until I found out Harvey wasn't one of them.
Ok.... now before you think I am "anti-Elwood" or "anti- Harvey" (the film or the bunny) I again want to repeat that I LOVE watching this film and have always enjoyed it. And honestly, I always have a smile on my face when this film is on that lasts until long after it is over... but it's only when I think just a LITTLE TOO MUCH about a few of those "things" I can't quite grasp... I get that "hair on the back of my neck" thing going on. And again... It's more of a general mood than it is anything I can explain in words. Maybe it's not "Harvey" or Elwood... Maybe this is one of those "it's not you, it's me" things. Ha.
That's a big laugh line for Wilson in the play
I remember reading that you got to play him in high school... I bet that role was a lot of fun... If I was going to be in that play... I would want to be.... hmmmm.... VETA. OF COURSE. Ha. (Except fot the "check in" at the sanitarium... I would have to have a "stunt double" Ha. :-)
I'd have to put the cart between us just to make myself feel better... Ha.
Now Kathy, he's just a harmless little bunny, for goodness sake.
RUN AWAY!!
Actually I was talking about putting the cart between me and ELWOOD. Ha. I am sure if everyone were to think hard enough... we have all met a few characters that we can stand and chat w/ here and there as we go about our day... but occassionally... you run into one that makes you want to put at least a shopping cart's length between you... (Hey... Larry... wait, come back... what are you doing with that shopping cart?) Ha. :-)
PS... MR GREY... interesting take w/ the whole IRENA screencaps...
I still have Belle on my mind
Of course you do...
My pointy tail isn't showing, is it?
NO tail... but what is that peach pie stain doing on your collar??????????
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the way they shot the "Where's the rest of me?" scene.
That was really interesting and it was a very well thought out plan to help him get in the right mindset.
I agree about Randy she was quite a gal... but it was funny how at least at the beginning... she started out to be more of a "snob" than he was... although he was the one from the"right side of the tracks".... I liked that twist in the story.
I'm not sure how much Drake would have grown without experiencing the adversities he underwent, but I think, more importantly, the friends that stood by him buoyed him up when he might have sunk. Some people, like Scarlett O'Hara, don't need anyone to draw inspiration from, others, like Drake, do.
Yep... but you know what I got out of it?? He was a shining example of the old saying... "to have a friend, be a friend."
He help Parris (even in ways Parris never knew) with regard to that whole "Cassie Mess" and he also stood up to what he THOUGHT was Randy's family's prejudices... because he really loved her... (I liked how that all played out). He was a guy who (although it might not seem like it...due to all his outward troubles) really did reap what he sowed... at least w/ regard to friends and loved ones standing by him when he needed them most. He found out who his real friends were in the end. LOTS of good lessons for a lot of folks in that.
Message was edited by: rohanaka
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HI Jackie... I just realized thanks to April... that I saw a different version than the one you did... but if it was half as creepy as the one I am remembering... CREEPY is definitley the right word... I am going to go pop in my tape for NMF right now... :-)
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Oh wait... Ethel Barrymore... THAT is the one I saw.. and isn't Angela Lansbury in it too???????
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RE: Kind Lady... I watched it some time ago when it aired before... SORRY I did not catch it this time (it's almost over now I am sure) but it IS very worth watching... I will keep a look out to catch it again sometime...
I am busy most of the rest of today, so am planning to tape Night Must Fall and the one following it this afternoon as well... I'll look forward to hearing everyone's take on them...
PS.. just a brief nod (as I don't want to steer away from all the "darker" tales that are already in play here) I watched John Loves Mary last night... stayed up WAY too late... Molo and I think it was Chris mentioned it a long while ago... VERY light and funny tale w/ lots of silly twists and turns..... And FINALLY a Patricia Neal film I can say.... "woo hoo" about. Ha.
Ok... back to the 'dark side".
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I almost passed this one up last night... but I am glad I didn't... there was a LOT of "melodramatic" overkill (at least for me) to wade through in this one... Mostly because a few of those ladies (and the not so good doctor) were a bit TOO "over the top" at times..even though they were supposed to be... over the top. The sadistic doctor seemed to be able to hide it the best. Although in the end, it seemed he was the towns best unkept secret... everybody knew... they just didn't want to believe it.
Still, there were plenty of "NOT whacko's" mixed in with all the "whacko's" in this story to make it a believable mix of humanity in the end.
thought Reagan's acting was the best I've seen in all his films so far. I really
+felt awful for what happened to Drake.
I thought he was the strongest part of this film (that and the way it LOOKED... very beautifully filmed). I have not seen enough of Reagan's films to compare this one w/ others, but I think he gave a very fine performance. And to me, (once they got passed the 3 kids in the beginning) If it had not been for his character I probably would have lost interest in this film.
I think Mr. Reagan did a great job of carrying off the WIDE range of emotions this guy ended up dealing with throughout the story. "Devil may care fun loving , loyalty to a friend, lost love, social prejudice, young love and eager anticipation for happiness and a future, huge personal losses... financially (and ALL the lifestyle changes that went with it) HORRIBLE physical suffering, self pity, resignation toward his situation, and then all that happened at the end of the film as well...
It was all very nicely played, ESPECIALLY at the END... and that is likely why I can't entirely share your "I feel awful for what happened Drake". YES... it was AWFUL what happened... and yes... he was a VICTIM. But ... (and if you haven't seen this one, _stop reading now_ ) He did not "stay down" in the dirt. Thanks to the patience of his wife and the help of his friend... and his OWN personal qualities that were in him all along... when he finally learned the truth, he was able to overcome what happened to him.
Sometimes it takes adversity to bring out who we really are as people, and I think this is where he shined the most... everytime the "chips were down". (first earlier on in the film, for Parris, and then later in the story, for himself) There were more than a couple of times he could have just "given in' or 'given up".. and in the end, he almost started to look like he would. But hearing the real reason for his situation gave him a chance to look beyond the randomness of I was in an accident and it ruined my life and get to a place of I won't let HIM get the better or me. I'm going to stand on "my own two feet" no matter WHAT this other man has done to prevent it.
And (at least in my imagination) after the story ended... and they started their new life together... he ended up completely self sufficiant and happier than he might have been had his money (OR anything else) never been stolen from him in the first place.
All in all, a very well written and well played character.
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April I have not seen the movie... but I googled around and found this... I have heard this song a gazillion times... never knew it was tied to the film before...
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hey what are those red shoes doing under here....
I think those pretty red shoes are just your size, little Dorothy.... just remember.... Keep tight inside them!.
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Looks like we're back in Kansas. Hi, Kathy
Hello Little Miss Glenda.... THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE HOME!! :-)
Yes.... Thank you oh Great and Poweful Oz... I mean Web Admin folks...
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Whew!!! Is it just me... or am I feeling a little "dizzy" after the whirlwind tour... Nothing like a traveling thread to keep you on your toes. :-) Ok... sorry...Back to The Bullfighter and the Lady
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Very nice ramble Miss Favell... I have never seen this one (in fact I have only even heard of it a couple of times) but it sounds like I need to pay it some attention...
"In Mexico, we say that she has STATURE."
That is a perfect way to describe Jurado... sometimes certain actors just seem to fit with certain movie characters... It sounds like this one may be a case where the movie character fit the actress as well.
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does anyone show up as "Harvey" or does he remain "invisible" the whole time?
Well, in the performance I saw, no one physically shows up... but you know he is there. Doors "magically" open and a few things get moved around or dropped. We took my youngest stepson to see this (it was about a 13 or 14 years ago so he was still pretty young at the time... I think he was in 2nd grade... and we kept teasing him when the doors would open or stuff would fall... He'd say... "where's Harvey?" and we'd tell him, "Didn't you see Harvey? We did." ha. :-)
I've got my own pookah-protector
TOO cute... :-)
("It's just a harmless little bunny...")
RUN AWAY!!
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I've heard the play is a little darker than the movie version
Believe it or not... I have seen this as a play... Ok... it was a high school performance in a school district where I used to work... I knew some of the kids. (The kid who played Elwood was SPOT on by the way... He could almost have been a "young Jimmy" playing an older Jimmy... Ha) But I digress... at any rate... I don't recall the play being much different from the film... BUT that may not be the best stage performance to judge it by...
I've always felt sad that he only seems to have one "true" friend and it's...it's...a Pookah!
And see... THAT is to me a possible explanation for the "creep factor".... it's almost like the Pookah comes in and ruins your chances to relate to anyone but him by the very fact that YOU are the only one who believes he exists.... So everyone else thinks you're whacko... I don't know. And there are times in that film where again... it is almost like Stewart is 'hypnotized:" or under a spell... Ok... that's maybe stretching it...
Anyway.... glad to hear I have not been alone all these years in thinking this... I STILL love the film... I just have always had this little "issue" with it, for whatever reason.
And PS... If Harvey IS looking over your shoulder... DON'T let him read this... I don't want him to come and play any mean tricks on me... Ha. :-)
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I can't quite put my finger on it. It pops up here and there. Jimmy
Stewart's character, the way he looks and acts when he's listening to the nurse or to Dr.
Chumley talk about his favorite fantasy. And the doctor, too, is a little strange
YES... and thank you for finally saying what I NEVER wanted to admit... there are times in that movie where it does almost feels "creepy".... and I NEVER have been able to understand it...
For me... I think it's the fact that the "mystery" is removed and the rabbit REALLY exists... I don't like it... I wish I never knew for sure...
"And how are you, Mr. Wilson?" Supposed to be funny... but ALWAYS creeps me out.. just a little bit too. :-)
Having him be a REAL character makes me wonder about what he's thinking... because we really only know if Elwood tells us. But at that same time... the effect he has on Elwood.... is almost "hypnotic" rather than pleasant and harmless...
If I ran into him and his invisible friend at the grocery store... and they wanted to "chat", I'd have to put the cart between us just to make myself feel better... Ha. :-)
And yes... I think there is also a commentary going on about how we are all "strange" in different ways.... the only two he dont' seem a bit "whacko" to me.. ok the only three... are the nurse, the young doctor, and the cab driver... EVERYONE else seems to have a few issues...
But then again... don't we all? :-)
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May I just say... Woo Hoo!. :-)
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I DO remember that thread... She likely made somebody's list... if not.... I should add her to mine! :-)
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Also from the Untouchables: (this is the 2nd movie I ever bought on VHS.... WAY back in the late 80's... Gee..I'm old.) :-)
Stone: "Where's Nitty?"
Ness: "He's in the car".
But I think... even if she had truly been disabled... she displayed enough ugly for at least my satisfaction that she was not as "pitiful' a vicitm as she might have seemed. She seemed to DESERVE what she got... though I never really think anyone deserves to be MURDERED. Still... I don't mind seeing 'nasty folks" get their comeuppance. 
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I was only following you and Jackie... but thanks for the kind words. PS... your check is in the mail... :-)