faceinthecrowd
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Posts posted by faceinthecrowd
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I never heard that quip of Levant's (I had to figure out what the missing letters were, but I finally got it). I think I'm going to have to buy either the biography or, better yet, his autobiography, "Memoirs of an Amnesiac."
Without Levant the picture wouldn't have been nearly as memorable.
And let's not forget, as a curious footnote, that Paul as a child was played by Bobby Blake.
As to the director, Jean Negulesco also directed THREE STRANGERS, ROAD HOUSE, and, to get back to Zachary Scott (yay!), THE MASK OF DIMITRIOS.
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Your answer is definitely correct. I don't think you need to wait for further confirmation.
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Since Levant was a noted wit -- Google "Oscar Levant quotes" for a sampling -- my guess is that practically everything he said in HUMORESQUE was his own.
There is some controversy in this thread about whether Garfield was actually flanked by two violinists, but every reference I've seen appears to confirm that he was. It must have been a hilarious sight.
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Speaking of make-up Oscars, just think of Paul Newman getting his first (was it his only one?) for THE COLOR OF MONEY. That was obviously a case of belated recognition, when you consider what he did before that. It would be easy to name half a dozen he should have been honored for.
I see that Zack was born and died in Austin, Texas -- that doesn't automatically make him a cowboy, of course, but I remember SOUTH OF ST. LOUIS, in which he was convincing as one of three partners in a ranch called Three Bell. Since he's the one who turns bad, he has to die at the end, saying to Joel McCrea, "Don't go changin' the brand on me, will you?" McCrea answers, "It'll always be Three Bell."
I haven't seen
TREASURE OF RUBY HILLS, but when I start using Netflix I'll try to catch up on the movies I've missed.
There are many stars who weren't appreciated for long after their death, but Scott's time will come -- eventually.
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I saw ANGEL HEART a few months ago, and I just finished watching YEAR OF THE DRAGON -- I own both. Rourke is a fascinating actor to watch -- he never plays it safe, and for that reason he's in the "love him or hate him" category.
I could understand it if someone said, "I can't stand the guy!" But I would never say that.
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It's useful to get the point of view of someone who actually knows something about musicianship. IMDb repeats the account of the two violinists flanking Garfield, but some stories pass into legend. "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." -- THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE.
Clifford Odets was co-screenwriter, and no one could write dialogue the way he did.
Some of the lines have to be credited to Oscar Levant, who presumably knew whereof he spoke when he told Garfield what was necessary for making his debut:
"Who goes to debuts? Relatives and enemies. . . What are you going to play on, that fifty-buck fiddle? . . . You have to have some first-string critics there, that's important."
Garfield: "What about my playing, doesn't that count for anything?"
Levant: "Sure, you fill the lull between intermissions."
Message was edited by: faceinthecrowd
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The Jimmy Carter line -- no idea.
The Social Security line -- just a guess:
George Burns in 18 AGAIN!
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"Remember the Maine" is good, scsu1975, but even on this site there may be some who don't get the reference to Fredric March, and I was going to mention that anyway, so:
In the original version of A STAR IS BORN, with March as Norman Maine and Janet Gaynor as Vicki Lester, March commits suicide by walking into the ocean, as Joan Crawford does in HUMORESQUE -- which is one of my favorite movies.
As a previous poster pointed out, Garfield had two violinists standing next to him, one doing the bowing and the other the fingering. Meanwhile, Isaac Stern was playing, and in some scenes Oscar Levant was accompanying on piano. Levant quipped that the five of them should go on tour.
Most of Levant's wisecracks -- many of them bitter in tone -- were original, such as, "I didn't make the world -- I barely live in it."
At least one, however, was lifted. When Paul Boray's childhood sweetheart asks Sid Jeffers what Helen Wright is like, Jeffers says, "She has a large alumni association." This was first said by Edmund Wilson about his lover, Edna St. Vincent Millay.
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John Garfield: "What about my playing, doesn't that count for anything?"
Oscar Levant: "Sure, you fill the lull between intermissions."
HUMORESQUE
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That line from NOW, VOYAGER reminds me of what I think -- I'm not positive -- is the last line of MORNING GLORY (1933):
"I'm not afraid -- I'm not afraid -- why should I be afraid?"
--Katharine Hepburn
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Doris Dowling was a good actress, and very attractive. She deserved to have a bigger career; she's not even listed in Ephraim Katz's Film Encyclopedia. She had a good role in THE LOST WEEKEND, but aside from that, the only film I remember her in was a western, the title of which eludes me.
I liked Will Wright's line when a cop tells him, "Your umbrella must have gotten wet." Will replies, "That's what I bought it for."
The name Dickie may have been influenced by the child star Dickie Moore. It still sounds like something you wear, rather than something you name a child.
A good movie, and good work by all concerned.
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Lewis Stone: "Your majesty, you cannot die an old maid."
Greta Garbo: "I have no intention to, Chancellor. I shall die a bachelor!"
--QUEEN CHRISTINA
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Interviewer: "What is your goal?"
Celebrity: "To become immortal -- and then die."
--BREATHLESS (1960)
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BRIT.: Crisps
AMER.: Potato chips
BRIT.: Are you having me on?
AMER.: Are you putting me on?
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My previous clue was kind of vague, so I'll add that death scenes were involved.
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After I watch the DVDs I bought recently (there are quite a few of them) I'm going to subscribe to Netflix, and I'll put some of the movies you mentioned on my list.
I want to check some Lake films that I haven't seen for a while. Watching a beautiful blonde? It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it.
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Thank you for the link. I read the whole thing, and it was very interesting.
Like almost everyone else, I believed that story, and I was especially interested because I listened to Uncle Don in New York. I'm glad I didn't claim that I heard the non-existent broadcast.
As to why A FACE IN THE CROWD didn't win any Oscars (or even nominations), well, there are a lot of strange omissions in the history of the Oscar. I've heard that Edward G. Robinson and Joseph Cotten were never nominated, so what does that tell you?
And the critics' reaction? Pauline Kael gave it a mixed review -- she praised the first half -- but Andrew Sarris called it "liberal propaganda," which I think tells us more about Sarris than about the film. What "liberal" or "conservative" has to do with this movie is beyond me.
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The winner, by unanimous decision: mr6666!
That was indeed BODY AND SOUL, a must for Garfield fans. Roberts was played by Lloyd Goff (Gough).
Your turn . . .
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Sorry, no -- KEY LARGO, which is a terrific picture, was directed by John Huston, the son of Walter and the father of Anjelica (lots of talent in that family!)
BTW, one of the Oceola Indians was played by Jay Silverheels (real name: Harold J. Smith), who played Tonto on TV, and possibly on the radio also.
Here's another hint about Robinson and W. Huston: it has to do with movies in which they appeared as actors toward the end of their careers.
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Barbara Stanwyck has a great name in BALL OF FIRE: Sugarpuss O'Shea. That's one of my two favorite character names, the other being Snake Plissken in ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK.
Cooper and his cohorts are hilariously drawn -- when one of them gets a package, he says, "It must be the statistics on saltpeter production in San Salvador! I had it sent air express." Exciting news, indeed.
And when Stanwyck throws Coop out of her dressing room at the theater, she says something like, "Scree, scraw, scram!"
"A complete conjugation!" cries Coop happily. "All right, I'll, er, scraw."
ROTFL!
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About: "If you don't have anything good to say about someone, come and sit by me." -- or words to that effect -- I've seen that attributed to Dorothy Parker.
A lot of movies use lines without giving credit to the real authors. Well, whoever said it first, it's a good one.
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Thank you, Sandy K. I guess that's why emoticons were invented -- on the Web you don't hear a person's tone of voice, or see their facial expression or their body language.
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Yes, some movies are worth watching even if the print is only so-so.
Actually, I didn't take my user name from the movie, but FACE IN THE CROWD is a good one. Andy Griffith is perfect for his role, and Patricia Neal is great -- I haven't seen it for a long time, but I'll never forget the crazed look on her face when she's holding on to the control panel so the audience will hear what Rhodes is saying. "Hell hath no music like a woman playing second fiddle."
I'm old enough to remember listening to Uncle Don, though I don't think I was listening the day he became part of radio history -- or infamy.
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Very good, Dan! I love that line.
Everyone in that movie is good -- Elisha Cook, and Timothy Carey, even Vince Edwards -- he showed he could do more than be Ben Casey.
Your turn . . .
My All Time Favorite Cary Grant Movie
in Your Favorites
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Have you seen AMAZING ADVENTURE? Grant can make even a trivial picture like that one worth watching.
In HIS GIRL FRIDAY, I love the way Grant whinnies like a horse when he's frustrated. And he and Roz Russell bounce lines off each other as though they'd been working together all their lives.
Grant: "Want my fingerprints?"
Russell: "No thanks, I've still got those."