feaito
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Posts posted by feaito
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I presume this RKO Radio film, must belong to TCM's Library. I do not know if it has been aired, but it should be, it's quite magnificent in its own way. I bought Criterion's DVD edition sometime ago and I watched it again yesterday, especially because of the Joel McCrea chatting that has been going on in Frances Dee's Thread.
BTW, now there's another very cheap edition of the film (7 bucks I believe) from Gotham-Alpha, which is said to be excellent too.
I've just wrote this review on another website:
Very amusing horror-adventure film
?The Most Dangerous Game? (1932) aka (in Britain) as ?The Hounds of Zaroff? was filmed simultaneously-and using some of the same sets and actors (Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong and Noble Johnson)-with ?King Kong? (1933), although the latter?s shooting took much longer, being a grade ?A? Super production with a huge budget and awesome special effects (for its time).
At only 62 or 63 minutes of complete running-time, the film is obviously fastly paced & non-stop entertainment. It tells the story of the sole survivor from a shipwreck, hunting-expert Bob Rainsford (Joel McCrea), who manages to arrive to a nearby mysterious island, which is only inhabited by Russian Nobleman, Count Zaroff (expertly played by british actor Leslie Banks in his talkie-film d?but) and his exotic servants, among them a very scary Noble Johnson, impersonating a Cossack. The Count lives in an intimidating fortress, built centuries ago by Portuguese navigators, where he meets the Trowbridge brothers (Fay Wray and Robert Armstrong), survivors from yet another shipwreck.
Leslie Banks gives the most notorious performance of the movie and is most effective as the villain of the story; Fay Wray confirms why she was the beautiful ?queen of the screaming victims? during the early 1930s (other films include ?Dr. X?, ?The Mystery of the Wax Museum? and the aforementioned ?King Kong?); Joel McCrea is great (& youthful) as the the good-natured hero and Robert Armstrong (wearing a moustache) is quite annoying as Wray?s drunken brother.
The film was released during the Pre-Code era, so there are aspects not to be found on horror or adventure films produced during the enforcement of the Production Code, especially related to Zaroff?s somewhat indirect allusions to the effects of hunting in a man?s sexual libido. I won?t tell anymore about the story or these aspects in order not to spoil the surprises.
The film has a very good score by Max Steiner, which wasn?t usual (film scores) in those days.
The Criterion Edition?s transfer is excellent, beautiful, sharp and crisp, and the featured commentary is highly informative.
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Keep the excellent job Dan! What a "Tour de Force"!
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Nope..hi Ken
Clue N? 4: A socialit? fianc?e
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Charles Laughton
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Nope Loly...would like to see that one...
Clue N?3: Alaska
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Ok then, Debbie...
Great anecdotes on "Becky Sharp", which is a film I've always wanted to see, being the first film feature in three-strip-technicolor. BTW, there's another version of Thackeray's "Vanity Fair" filmed in 1932. Any info about that one? I guess the best version is the 1935 one.
Debbie, ever seen Paramount's 1933 "The Story of Temple Drake" with Miriam. Just wonder.
When I watch both "Playboy of Paris" and "The Big Pond", I'll post here. OK?
BTW, great photo of Frances and Joel together for Paramount's 75th Anniversary, the one you sent Susan & she included in her Site's Gallery. She looks just great for being 79 years old, unbelievable! And she must be one of the few actresses of any Era, one can realize had no plastic surgery at all. She was a real beauty and had so much class!
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Great story Debbie (can I call you that way?), so good indeed, that upon your recommendation of John Kobal's "People Will Talk", I went immediately to Amazon.com's website and bought it used (hardcover) for U$ 2.15!!!! to a seller with the highest rating! There were over 50 for sale.
I always prefer buying at amazon.com, especially when I want to buy second hand/used stuff, 'cos I've never had a problem and their guarantee works. I hate E-Bay and going through pay-pal and all the bidding stuff. Besides in Amazon you also have auctions, if you want.
BTW, I read on Bette's Biography that another reasons for not getting along with Miriam, were that both had strong characters-egos, when they acted together for the first time (1939-"The Old Maid") Miriam's popularity was waning while Bette was a superstar, who had already won two Oscars. Above all Miriam was jealous of Bette 'cos she supposedly had an affair with her husband Anatole Litvak, while filming "The Sisters"; I do not recall if they resumed it when making "All this and Heaven Too". I read Bette's Bio long time ago.
Well gettin' back to the object of this thread: Frances Dee.
Yesterday I received my long awaited DVD copies (from analog sources) of 10 movies:
The best copies are those of "One Hour With You" and "Wonder Bar".
"Vivacious Lady", "She Done Him Wrong" and "The Love Parade" are OK.
The copies for "Playboy of Paris", "Cuban Love Song" and "Monte Carlo" are so-so.
Sadly, "The Big Pond's" copy is rather awful, well but at least I'll have the chance to watch it.
"Moulin Rouge's" (1934) copy is so-so, but the DVD disc is flawed! Well, such is life.
Well Debbie and Susan, see you.
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Nope...
Clue N? 2: A hard-boiled woman
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Hi Lorrekarloff (great handle!), welcome to the boards, and you are right, sadly the Genre Forums aren't much "alive". I used to talk to myself a lot when a was a teenager. I still do a little bit
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Deborah,
I'll be waiting for THAT story!
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I get it Deborah, Billie Dove was very pretty, but she was not as classy a Frances Dee.
I'm not particularly fond of Oscar Shows, 'cos they are overlong, tedious and because of the hour difference, transmissions begin too late here (at 10:30 pm!). Besides, not enough homages to classic actors/directors are included.
Talking about Miriam Hopkins, since Joel McCrea starred five times opposite her, have you any feedback or anecdotes on her, or something that McCrea may have said about her. I've heard she was difficult to work with, she had feuds with Bette Davis in the two films they made together. I've read that her favorite director was Lubitsch.
Yes, I am a lawyer, but what I meant is since you are a paralegal and I a lawyer, we both work in the same "area". Sorry for the confusion.
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The Day the Earth Stood still?
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Deborah,
I didn't know anything about Joel McCrea's relationships with Evelyn Brent and Dorothy Mackaill, two forgotten lesser-magnitude stars from the late silent period and the early sound period. Evelyn did some excellent silents with Von Sternberg and Lubitsch (I saw her in "The Last Command") and Mackaill acted in very notorious Pre-Code I'd like to see, "Safe in Hell".
Your posts are always so amusing & informative.
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I waited too for the "In Memoriam" Tribute last night, and was sad that Frances Dee was not named, a pity. Yo-Yo Ma's background music was fine.
Deborah, Here in Chile paralegals also assist lawyers, I meant we work in the same "area".
People do not tell me I should like newer movies or younger actors, 'cos since I was a small kid, I always loved classic Hollywood. They're used to it and I also watch some of the current films, if not so passionately.
The movies produced in South America are of different qualities & styles (independent productions, period dramas, commercial-oriented films, etc.) but of course they tend to be explicit (language & sex).
Frances Dee was much prettier than Pola Negri, Vilma Banky and Billie Burke...Negri was alluring and exotic-looking, Banky had a pretty face & figure and Burke was charming.
Yes, you are right, Frances Dee could have played Vivien Leigh's sister, perfectly, they resembled each other...what could've been if she had played Melanie? We'll never know. I did not know she was considered for it, it would be excellent info for Susan to add to her Site.
I'd Love to see "Becky Sharp", 'cos Miriam Hopkins too is a fave of mine.
Susan, sorry that I did not post anything on Frances last weekend, but I was too lazy (sleeping most of the day, because of the horrible heat here in Santiago). I promise to do it in the days to come
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You mean the florist lady? Her name was Mary Young, I've seen her in other films, but always in small roles. Maybe you can search more info at us.imdb.com.
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Robert Wise and Mark Robson?
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Sorry for the mistake. Correction, Gloria Stuart was nominated for her role of "old" Rose in the 1997 "Titanic" but lost to Kim Basinger for her role in another fave of mine, the great "L.A. Confidential", who impersonated a "Veronica Lake"-alike in that movie. I wanted Mrs. Stuart to win, although Kim Basinger was a favourite too, and won her well-deserved Oscar.
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Since TCM has scheduled some of Universal's Horror Classics, like "Frankenstein", "Dracula" and "Bride of Frankenstein", it would be fantastic if they could obtain this film for scheduling.
I bought the DVD edition three or four years ago, a great buy by all means, and it's became a favourite film.
It seems that the rights were sold to Columbia pictures, 'cos they made an (inferior) remake in 1963, directed by William Castle (another favourite of mine). The film was issued on DVD by KINO.
It's one of director James Whale's most offbeat films along with "Bride of Frankenstein" (IMHO his masterpiece). It's based on the J.B. Priestley novel and it was filmed during the Pre-Code Era.
I'd say it's a mixture of horror film, spoof and black comedy...in some aspects it's related to "Arsenic and Old Lace", although it has a "darker mood". BTW, both Raymond Massey and Boris Karloff act in the film; Karloff played the role of Jonathan Brewster (from "Arsenic and Old Lace") on the Stage and Massey played it on-screen.
In a very stormy night, a group of travelers find shelter in an eerie and scary welsh manor, inhabited by the "weird" Femm family, and there begins a quick chain of events (the film lasts only 72 minutes) until the film's conclusion.
The weary and wet travelers include Raymond Massey and Gloria Stuart (who won an Oscar for the 1997 "Titanic" and looks ravishing in this film) as a married couple who are traveling through the country with happy-go-lucky friend Mr. Penderel, played by Melvyn Douglas.
Other travelers who arrive to this Huge House, are Charles Laughton, playing a rich businessman of humble origins with his lover, Lillian Bond, who's great and very sexy in her role of a joyous chorus-girl.
Then we have the Femms: Religion fanatic Rebecca Femm, who has an obsession with "sinners", expertly played by sinister-looking Eva Moore; her wishy-washy brother Horace Femm, played by the great Ernest Thesiger, who impersonated "Dr. Pretorius" in "Bride of Frankenstein"; 102 years old Sir Roderick Femm, who is played by actress Elspeth Dudgeon, who's listed in the cast as "John" Dudgeon (creepy character!) and "seemingly harmless" psychopath and pyromaniac Saul Femm, played by Brember Wills.
Mention apart deserves Boris Karloff, who impersonates the scarred butler, Morgan, who lusts after Mrs. Waverton (Gloria Stuart), perhaps because she gets to wear a sexy 1930s low-cut dress, the type which used to wear Pre-Code Jean Harlow.
TCM Programmer, it would be fantastic if you could schedule this one!!!
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Welcome pals!
And Stoney, I bet March was a happy man throughout his life. He was married to the same woman for most of his life, actress Florence Eldridge, with whom she co-starred frequently: "Mary of Scotland", "Christopher Columbus", etc.
He seemed to be a very conservative man, at least regarding marriage, although I've read from other sources that he was a notorious womanizer.
What is true about him is that he was one of the most talented actors ever...He starred in such excellent films as "Dr. Jekyll and Mr.Hyde", "The Barretts of Wimpole Street", "The Sign of the Cross", "The Affairs of Cellini", "Les Miser?bles", "Anna Karenina", "Best years of Our Lives", etc.
I could try checking anything in particular you'd like to know Stoney, in my book "The Films of Fredric March"
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Of course Susan, I'll post whatever useful comes up. Thank you for your compliments.
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Since I read a post in which my pals Path and Stoneyburke were talking about this film, I wanted to alert my fellow-buffs, especially the 1930s fans, about this wonderful movie, which is scheduled on the following dates (EASTERN time):
03/06/2005 01:30 AM
03/29/2005 08:00 PM
I had the luck of buying this unique movie in the year 2001 (now it's out of print). It is also included in the special DVD edition of "Meet Joe Black", because both are based in Alberto Casella's play, although it's really not proper to say the Brad Pitt film is a remake of "Death Takes a Holiday" and IMHO, the latter is far the superior adaptation of the play.
"Death Takes a Holiday" tells the story of Death coming to earth "on vacation", in human form, as Prince Sirki (Fredric March). He arrives to a Villa or Palace in Italy, where he meets people from the highest ranking nobility, dukes, counts and among them, Grazia (Evelyn Venable).
The acting, especially by March, who carries the film all the way, is excellent. Venable as Grazia is ethereal and beautiful, and the rest of the cast is equally perfect: Sir Guy Standing, Gail Patrick, Henry Travers et al.
A most unusual and unique film.
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That's why I LOVE this site, getting to talk to nice, cultured, considerate, urbane, well-intentioned, modest people like you Deborah, like Susan, Mary Lou, Lolite, both Joes, Dan, Path, etc...Before 2003, I never thought such a place could exist.
Imagine if you people, who live in USA have felt sometimes that there's no people to talk about classic cinema, what I've felt all my life here in South America, where the last people who spoke passionately about Hollywood's Golden Era, were my late grandparents, ...hmmm and yes, my father-in-law, who is 77 (I'm 37) and LOVES MGM musicals.
Thank you for those nice words Deborah. I've also "surfed" through the net, searching ancestry information, but regarding other issues, my ancestors and Royalty and nobility genealogy, both of which have always been favourite subjects of mine too.
For sure I'll post tomorrow or on Monday, some stuff from the Chevalier book (which is vintage by now, a 1970s edition) and from the other ones I own
.I always thought that Frances Dee was one of the classiest and prettiest actresses from the 1930s and although I did not know details of their lives together, I always believed she and Joel McCrea were one of the greatest couples in Hollywood, in all the sense of the word "greatest". Frances Dee was a truly original a very- dark-black-raven haired slim beauty, when the trend were fair haired/blonde actresses with more "rounded" forms (with the exception of Kate Hepburn).
And McCrea has always been a fave of mine, he was great in "Ride the High Country" with Randolph Scott and Mariette Hartley, and in all those 1950's westerns like "Stars in my Crow" et al.
But my favourites pics of his are the 1930s and 1940s films: "The More the Merrier", "Sullivan's Travels", "Palm Beach Story", "Barbary Coast", "The Richest Girl in the World","Come and Get it", "Dead End", "Union Pacific", "These Three", "Bed of Roses", "The Most Dangerous Game"...in fact I was thinking of watching tomorrow my glorious Criterion Copy of the latter, with the gorgeous Fay Wray. I have the luck of having most of the aforementioned movies on DVD and the others on VHS. I've been able to collect some early goodies of Joel like "Kept Husbands" with the sadly forgotten Dorothy Mackaill and the highly amusing "The Silver Horde", about the salmon business in Alaska?, opposite the beautiful Evelyn Brent (who resembled Frances Dee, but was not as pretty as Frances), a young-ingenu? Jean Arthur (pre-Mr.Deeds), Blanche Sweet..."Bird of Paradise" with Dolores del R?o, the 1929 "Dynamite"...
BTW, still haven't received my Movie-Cargo; I fear they've been detained at Customs (in my country), hope there will be no problems since they're copied DVDs (but from analog sources).
P.S. Deborah, since you talked in some of your posts, about your teachers, I thought you were a High School or College Student, sorry if I got it wrong. I'm also in the Law "Area", I'm a lawyer and would also love to work in anything related to Classic Hollywood Cinema.-And who knows with all the research you've made, maybe in the future you could write the "Frances Dee" book in colaboration with Susan
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Me too! I want to buy the Marx Brothers' set featuring all of their early '30s Paramounts.
I have to go to sleep (it's 2:15 am here)...one clue for tomorrow
Clue N?1: Salmons
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One of my favourites "Duck Soup"!!!!
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Frances Dee Fans
in Your Favorites
Posted
Hi Debbie, Hi Susan,
I believe there was a silent version of Vanity Fair, filmed around 1922, only seen stills of it.
Thanks for the feedback on Witherspoon's remake, it will refrain me from watching it.
I have the double DVD edition featuring both versions of "Dr. Jekyll..." (1932 and 1941) and although I liked them both, Fredric March's is better, especially since it's a Pre-Code.
Sorry about the mistake I made with the 75th Anniversary photo featuring Joel and Frances. Anyway it's gorgeous, and it's true, although Joel looks great for his age, he certainly looks more his age than Frances, it's unbelievable how well she aged! I agree that it shows they both had very quiet, peaceful and healthy lives.
Thanks for the tip on "Life" magazine, it's not easy to find here, but I'll try. You tell some amusing facts, indeed!
BTW, with all the chatting goin' on here about the McCreas I had an urge to watch Joel's "The Most Dangerous Game", and you know what I liked it much more than the first time I saw it some years ago. Great movie.