rosebette

> {quote:title=1968B2 wrote:}{quote}I know, I'm having fun w/it, too. At first, I didn't know what was going on w/the Brian Aherne; I was wondering if it was Lubitsch, but I knew it couldn't be. And then I researched. I love James Whale. > I agree, can't wait for INVISIBLE MAN. It's been ages for me, too. The reason you thought the director might be Lubitsch is that the same person who wrote the screen play also wrote the script for some of the Lubitsch films. It definitely had that feeling about it. Brian Aherne was terrific, really over the top. Olivia's naturalness really stood out against his performance as the actor's actor!

Just finished watching "The Great Garrick." What a delightful film! I've never seen it before. The entire cast is funny and charming. Aherne is a beautiful ham, and I don't think I've ever seen Olivia so lovely. It's also fun to try to spot Lana Turner.

I was watching Amy Poehler in Parks and Recreation the other night and noticed her resemblance to Carole Lombard in her more comic/less glamorous moments. While Poehler's a little heftier (she's had a few babies), the two actresses share the same coloring, bone structure, and kookie comic timing. I've made a couple of attempts to post pictures, but I guess I'm too technologically impaired to succeed at it! Edited by: rosebette on Jan 21, 2012 2:02 PM

I was watching Amy Poehler in Parks and Recreation the other night and noticed her resemblance to Carole Lombard in her more comic/less glamorous moments. !#! !#! While Poehler's a little heftier (she's had a few babies), the two actresses share the same coloring, bone structure, and kookie comic timing.

> {quote:title=LonesomePolecat wrote:}{quote}I would have to agree that The Court Jester is Danny's best. I would never have guessed he was 43! Where did he get all that energy? I love him being snapped in and out of being suave, especially when he's sword fighting. Love the songs, too. "I'm not loo loo loo-ing, sire, I'm willow willow wailing." What about Basil Rathbone, who was 63 when he fought that duel? Just think Rathbone's most famous dueling partners were 6 feet under by that age -- Errol Flynn (at 50) and Tyrone Power (at 45)! Edited by: rosebette on Jan 21, 2012 1:34 PM

Errol Flynn was born in 1909 and died at 50 in 1959. He would have been 43 or 44 when Master of Ballantrae was made, depending on how much later the release date was from the time it was filmed. I didn't catch the airing, or Osborne's talk before and after it, but if he said Flynn was 51, that would be a pretty major gaffe.

How about Hugh Jackman, who can sing, dance, and do action/stunt work? I think he's completely wasted under all the hair and claws in Wolverine. 50 years ago, he would have been a top musical-comedy and swashbuckling star, kind of like Gene Kelly in the The Pirate. "The Court Jester" is my favorite Danny Kaye movie. Another bonus besides Glynnis Johns and her delicious voice is the deliciously evil, but still skillfull swordsman Basil Rathbone. > {quote:title=Sepiatone wrote:}{quote}I don't know if it's Kaye's best either, but it IS Kaye AT his best! > > Which leaves me to wondering...IF you were to remake this movie, WHO could you possibly get to cast it? Considering you want to use all the same costumes, the same script, same music, sets and the like. > > WHO in this day and age could HANDLE Kaye's part? Robin Williams could possibly handle the rapid-fire delivery as well as Kaye, but doesn't LOOK the part. And probably doesn't carry a tune as well. > > Kaye was among those in the industry that marked an era that today has sadly long passed. there aren't many alive today that remain. Mickey Rooney, perhaps. But who these days are the "triple threats" that movie makers had back in the '30's, '40's and '50's? Garland's gone. Miller's gone. Astair is gone. Kelly's gone. Powell is gone. Keeler is gone. I have NO idea if either Ryan Gosling and Scarlette Johannson can sing and dance. PLUS act! That aspect of movie making died with those who made it great. Many genre's have been revived, like noir-type plotlines, and westerns keep popping up from time to time. Too sadly, movies made from today's crop of Broadway so-called "musicals" are too "cookie cutter" in their musical scores. "Rent" was a pretentious, vapid waste of time( and name ONE SONG besides that ridiculous "however many minutes" tune you can walk out humming from it?), and don't even GET me started on Andrew Viod Blather! Oh, but for another Harry Warren! > > I-I've said too much. Any dissenters? > Sepiatone

How about "Good Sam" which was on last night? Leonard Maltin gave it 2 stars, and my husband and I thought it was charming and delightful. Also, Ann Sheridan as an underrated actress -- she had great comic timing and also knew how to pull the heartstrings with her tough/tender characterization as Gary Cooper's wife.

Watch Flynn in Gentleman Jim, especially the scene with Ward Bond as John L. Sullivan as he hands him his boxing award, or the farewell scene with Olivia deHavilland in They Died with Their Boots on. Also, he's excellent in Dawn Patrol. All three are very fine performances.

My top 5 favorites are: Cary Grant Errol Flynn Gary Cooper Ronald Colman James Cagney I have many other favorites, too, but I can't resist a film with any of these 5 guys.

It's the best film of the year -- a magical experience for movie-lovers and kids at heart. I'm not a 3-D fan, but I felt it was used beautifully. Fine performances, too, by a good cast.

I think Flynn had marvelous comic sense in his film work, but the Flynn in the Abbot and Costello sketch is clearly Flynn in decline. I can scarcely bear to watch some of the TV clips of his work for that reason. Also, film and live TV or stage work are completely different. Rathbone was an experienced stage actor and probably ready for anything, even gaffes, fun, and mistakes. As an actor from the old British stage tradition, he probably had some experience watching the music halls; he did a great job masquerading as a music hall entertainer in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. I think he didn't do comedy on screen because he was bound by the screen persona of Holmes or the villain. But who knows, maybe he could have branched out into Monty Python if given the chance?

I didn't really care for the youtube of Errol on Abbot and Costello. He seemed forced and a bit slow in his deliviery. If you want to see some really great television with a classic Hollywood star, catch the youtube of Basil Rathbone on the Milton Berle show. It's a pirate sketch and is incredibly funny. It's obviously live TV, so lots of goofs, Milton and Basil cracking up, etc. It shows a whole different side of Rathbone.

I think this is one of the worst musicals of the 50s, with the bad plot and acting almost incapable of redemption by the great Berlin music. The great scripts and sophistication of the MGM product of this era -- American in Paris, The Bandwagon, and Singin in the Rain -- outshine this schlock. I can sit through those movies 3 or 4 times a year, but I can barely stand a half our of this one.

How about Coop? There's a scene in Mr. Deeds where all he does is just react to the guy who almost commits suicide. Cooper could communicate so much with just a look, yet always appear to be "underplaying."

I think silents can be an acquiredd taste. I actually prefer later silents, and my preference is also based on the director. Vidor's The Crowd and The Big Parade are both great films that hold up well today and present some timeless themes. Gilbert's acting in the latter is very natural. I find Garbo's acting in silents very natural as well. Murnau's Sunrise is also a beautiful film. In some ways, late silents (1925 and later) present tremendous advancement in cinematography, visual storytelling, and sheer beauty. Then, when talkies came, it seems as if the visual aspects of film took a step backward for a few years to accommodate the microphone. Some early talkies are actually much cruder than late silents. Some of the better early talkies, like All Quiet on the Western Front, have long stretches with no dialogue, letting the images tell the story.

I agree with the resemblance to Bing Crosby. I also noticed many similarities in voice and mannerisms. > {quote:title=Dmallon wrote:}{quote}tonite they are showing Platinum Blond . the male lead is a man by the name of Robert Williams. tragically he died just as this movie was being released. he is unknown today, but had he lived I think he would have been a major star. he has a great screen persona, but the way he talks and moves is so much like Bing Crosby down to his pipe, that you would think he was copying him, except for the fact that this movie is from 1931. Its almost as if Crosby borrowed his mannerisms from Williams.

Just so The Adventures of Robin Hood last week during the snowstorm. I never tire of that one. A few others: The Awful Truth An American in Paris Singin in the Rain Casablanca Baby Face Gold Diggers of 1935 Best Years of Our Lives Lost Horizon The Bandwagon

I love David Denby and Anthony Lane in The New Yorker. I especially like it when they give a bad review of a movie because their bad reviews are absolutely delicious to read. I remember one of them gave Sex in the City a bad review,calling it an overlong triviality focusing on shallow women in designer clothes, and comparing it negatively to the women's films of yesteryear. I recall the critic said the women in the films of the 30s were also fashion plates, but they were "thoroughbreds." The review of the remake of "The Women" was especially cruel.

I'm not too concerned about the sight of an occasional breast, or even plot appropriate nudity in "A Room with a View." When you think about it, that nude bathing scene is quite comical and innocent. I'm more disturbed by depictions of excessive violence. I had a friend who was a parent of a teen-age son who said that nudity didn't bother him because he felt that some day, in the natural course of events, his son would have a sexual relationship. However, this dad was more concerned about movies that depicted violent acts and car crashes because he knew his son would be driving a car, or even might end up with a "rough crowd," and so many films depict these events unrealisticly, with people even walking away from car crashes or violent incidents that would be fatal in real life.

After seeing Razor's Edge, I had to take a look at Anne's screen test for Rebecca. Although she's too young for the part, her acting was so instinctive and natural, the best of the lot, except for Joan Fontaine. In The Razor's Edge, Baxter brought me to tears at least twice. I hated Gene Tierney's character for what she did to her.

The actor I would most like to have a relationship with is Ronald Colman. I was haunted by his character in Lost Horizon from the time I was a little girl, and ultimately went to divinity school, searching for something, but never finding it. Later, I read that he felt that character and the one in Random Harvest were closest to his own -- introverted, and looking for peace and calm, as he was much affected by his WWI experiences. I think we would be a good match. My idea of a perfect dilemma is Talk of the Town, where Jean Arthur has to choose between Ronald Colman and Cary Grant. Gee, that's a problem I'd like to have. Despite my spiritual leanings, I don't think I'd turn down a one-night stand with Errol Flynn or Burt Lancasater -- what gorgeous creatures, but not my type emotionally!

I have just finished a terrific book by Robert Matzen, Errol and Olivia: Ego and Obsession, which I highly recommend. Matzen says that Olivia's supporting role in Elizabeth and Essex was "punishiment" for taking the role of Melanie in Gone with the Wind. JL didn't want her to think that just because she got this role at another studio that she was going to be regarded differently at Warner's. According to Matzen, the cast and crew, except for Flynn, were rather rude to her and were instructed to ignore her throughout production, so no wonder she turned in such a lackluster performance. No wonder DeHavilland eventually rebelled!

I just finished watching The Razor's Edge on TCM On Demand, and I couldn't help but noticing the resemblance between Ty Power and George Clooney; even the voices are a bit similar at times. I havene't been able to post images, though.

I just finished watching The Razor's Edge on TCM On Demand, and I couldn't help but noticing the resemblance between Ty Power and George Clooney; even the voices are a bit similar at times. I havene't been able to post images, though.