HarryLong
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Posts posted by HarryLong
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*the similarities to the family in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I had to remind him that THAT story is a True Story*
The prologue to TCM ... er *T*EXAS *C*HAINSAW *M*ASSACRE, that is ... may claim it's based ona true story, but it's fiction. It is, however, inspired by the life of Ed Gein - same chap who inspired Robert Bloch to write PSYCHO.
Edited by: HarryLong on Oct 20, 2010 2:53 PM
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Denver, PA? I'm close by...
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Not to make light of this event, but it's ironic that an actor who spent much of his screen time swinging about in trees should die as a result of falling out of one.
I hope TCM does a day-long Bomba-thon.
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This may be the only board on which I participate that frowns on reviving old threads... at least those that are too old. Reviving an old thread can stimulate new conversation just as well as starting a new thread.
And on the other hand, we are encouraged (in a post above) to research for old threads rather than start new ones...????
I tend to react more to ongoing conversations that start new threads or hunt down old ones, so this really isn't a problem for me, but it does seem most peculiar.
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The new Hammer film is LET ME IN... a remake of LET THE RIGHT ONE IN. It's actually their third production. The first one was released to the internet & the second (THE WAKE WOOD) was sold off to another company... I'm not sure what's happened to it since then.
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Well, those two-sided Universal releases were big problems on some players according to reports from various buyers on various message boards. I had a problem with BLACK FRIDAY on the Lugosi set - it froze up completely. Luckily I already had a DVDR of the VHS.
Also double-sided discs are prone to getting scratched & becoming unplayayble.
I don't think the TCM Vault release of the Universal Cult Horrors is all that badly priced, really; it comes out to about $10 a film.
*Yes, that "marketing gimmick" was the result of Best Buy assuring a revenue stream by getting first dibs. Hence "guaranteed money" means "help with DVD production".*
Money from sales is hardly guaranteed (what if no one buys?). And coming after release it hardly helps with production.
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Nope. It's Amicus. They pinched a lot of Hammer stars (particularly Cushing & Lee) but they specialized in omnibus films like DR. TERROR'S...
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Lang disliked the film, too, CineMaven, so don't feel too badly.
And staunch Land & Dietrich afficionado that I am, even I can't defend the film. It has the typical Lang obsessions, but it just didn't work out.
However...
*I loved her turn in "Witness for the Prosecution" Ducky, or in "The Nuremburg Trial" and in "Touch of Evil." By the 1950's, surely the late 50's, her glamor was a hardened lacquer; her face...a kabuki mask.*
Rancho Notorious was made in 1952, Witness for the Prosecution in 1957, Touch of Evil in 1958 and Judgement at Nuremberg in 1961.
Your post seems to suggest that the last three predated Rancho, if I'm reading it correctly.
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*If you don't like El Brendel that's fine. But you shouldn't criticize those who do.*
*As far as I know there is no El Brendel Fan Club and probably hasn't been one since the early thirties, if even then. So you may be referring to the guy with the Brendel blog/website. How can you say he's an idiot? Do you know him? It happens that I do and consider him a very good friend. He is most certainly NOT an idiot, but caring and generous good guy and friend.*
You're certainly very good at jumping to conclusions & then berating me based on your assumptions. As it happens I was _not_ referring to the gentleman who has the El Brendel site. I was refrring to someone who posts on another board (& is a friend, by the way... so my description of him as an "idiot" was in jest) and claims to head up the El Brendel Fan Club - whose membership is limited to himself.
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*But after I heard Bob give his preview and his comments about Marrjorie Main's role being like the Ma Kettle movies I was turned off since that just isn't my cup of tea.*
*Fred did a lot of 'high brow' comedy in the 30s with Lombard and I was hoping this movie was along those lines*
R.O. also described the film as a farce, which should be a clue that the film wasn't going to be high-brow comedy.
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Certainly in JUST IMAGINE, THE SPIDER and THE SHE CREATURE.
A couple others as well whose titles I'm not recalling at the moment.
I'll admit he doesn't exactly sink JUST IMAGINE... that film is pretty much on its way to the bottom without his help.
EDIT:
Other titles: WINGS (at least that's a silent), THE BIG TRAIL, LITTLE MISS BROADWAY, WINGS OF FEAR.
Edited by: HarryLong on Oct 15, 2010 2:58 PM
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It certainly would have been different with Hope. Better or worse is debatable.
Weird question:
Does anyone know if the Revue lot was once a part of Paramount's property?
I'd swear that the interior of the house (particularly the entry hallway) is the same standing set that showed up in a couple of THRILLER episodes ("Pigeons from Hell" and "The Incredible Dr, Markesan" at least). That show was filmed on the Revue lot which, by 1960, was owned by Universal.
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*Mickey Rooney in "A Midsummer Night's Dream."*
I would so love that film except for him. His scenes bring visions of prolonged and exotic methods of child abuse to mind.
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*No, the film's flaw is that its resolution is utterly preposterous.*
Bravo!
And much of what you wrote applies to a good many other Capra films.
I'm not saying SMITH, WONDERFUL LIFE, etc., needed unhappy endings, but the 5 minutes before the end 180 degree turnarounds are indeed preposterous. And they often kill the films for me. WONDERFUL LIFE, for instance features some incredibly brave work from both Capra & Stewart as George breaks down over the missing money, screaming at his family & nearly hitting his daughter. And the portrait of the town as it would have been without him is grim & gritty. These scenes are amazing... and I'd say as much for the scenes of Smith's holding forth on the Senate floor. And then Capra just throws all this away with endings that come out of nowhere and are ... well ... preposterous.
And from a dramatic standpoint, it's lame that his heroes win not because they perservere or because brains or some ability carries them through. They just luck out.
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*In all seriousness, El Brendel is pretty awesome.*
No, he's painful. He single-handedly sinks every film I've seen him in.
*Nobody REALLY sits through "The General" and laughs once....AT ALL.*
I do.
So your theory is junk.
I think THE GENERAL is one of the Top Ten films of Hollywood's silent period.
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I've never "gotten" Hutton and this film didn't alter that. An interesting film, nonetheless. But isn't it odd that the film begins with Guinan's funeral, often refers to her short life (& her inuitions along that line) & then ends without dealing with it. I was taken by surprise when "The End" came up on the screen.
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You're right that there's more pathos for the scientist in the Paramount version (whatever Anton Differing's strengths as an actor, being sympathetic was not among them). On the other hand I do like Hammer's take that the guy who will murder just to preserve his own life just might not be worthy of sympathy.
Anyway, as I said, I don't find either version perfect.
And now... back to MURDER HE SAYS...
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>>I would like to see another Helen Walker rarity -- The Man in Half Moon Street. The best of the mad-scientist-wants-to-live-forever films.
I'm guessing you haven't seen this in a while...?
I got reaquainted with it a few years ago after not having seen it in ages & found it stodgy and disappointing. And - surprisingly for Paramount - dismally photographed. The Hammer remake has its own flaws, but it's the more exciting film. A perfect adaptation of the play would probably fall somewhere between the two.
I hadn't even registered that TCM's logo preceded the film, I'm so used to seeing it. But it does suggest that this has somehow become part of the TCM library. As a pre-1948 Paramount, it should be a Universal property... and indeed the VHS pre-record was on their MCA label.
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Sarris' AMERICAN CINEMA represents, I think, the first wave of discoveries. And it was written in the pre-home video days. Other names have been "discovered" since then, thanks in no small part to home video and cable services like TCM (and AMC when it was still worthwhile) trotting out some titles that haven't seen the light of day in ages. I often wish Sarris would put out a revised edition, just to see which directors he might have re-evaluated. (And yet, oddly, while I disagreed violently with some of his opinions back in college when I first read the book, I now find him spot-on more often than I don't.)
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Who was that masked man?
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Do you really hold these outrageous opinions or do you just post them to try stirring up trouble?
I thought the guy who heads up the El Brendel Fan Club was an idiot, but...
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*I don't know how unsung this movie is, when all here are singing its praises, that even those who've never seen it are aware of it.*
You might be right Arturo. It's always struck me as one of those films most people have never heard of.
It looks to be more the case it just hasn't been shown much of anywhere in years.
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I have no idea where the get their pricing from, but most of their newer releases are $24.95.
It looks like CYCLOPS, MACABRE, HYPNOTIC EYE and DISEMBODIED are currently 30% off, though.
And I don't really know why I'm carping, since I used to pay that kind of money to gray market purveyors of impossible-to-get-hold-of titles on VHS. And the quality was usually pretty bad, too. Yet coming from a legit company it seems like highway robbery.
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*Sorry I really wasn't trying to get all technical; I just wondered if there were an 'valid' listings.*
james, just ignore the snarky attempt at humor.
For actors, at least, there are no "valid listings" that I know of (for directors, however, there are thing slike Andrew Sarris' book). But I think just a general impression gleaned from this or other film comment boards gives one an idea of who is or isn't recognized by a majority of the participants. And one can also judge actors by the kind of assignments they received during their years making films, can't one?
Any listing or polling - as I commented earlier today in another thread - is merely going to be the opinion - or collective opinions - of thise involved. And critical evaluations change from year to year, so I'm not certain I'd consider any of them valid (or not valid for that matter). They just are. But I think we all know of actors and directors whose names aren't mentioned nearly as quickly in discussions as we think they ought to be even though they've contributed good, solid - even inspired work - in the course of their careers.
Cobra Woman
in Information, Please!
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"GIFF ME DA COBRA CHOOL!"
I don't know if Sattelite Video has an online site or not, but I picked up a copy from them at this past year's Monster Bash.