faceinthecrowd
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Posts posted by faceinthecrowd
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"I do declare. . ." is from Simon and Garfunkel's "The Boxer." The next line is,
Lie-de-lie, . . .
And that's repeated umpteen times. There doesn't seem to be anywhere to go from there, so back to the main thread.
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I was thinking of THIS GUN FOR HIRE, but that may have been an aberration. I'm not saying she was bad in TGFH, just that she was kind of bland -- unless you were looking at her, in which case you would be too dazzled to critique her performance.
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If only Veronica Lake's talent had been equal to her looks.
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After you've seen the 1936 SHOW BOAT, the others are interesting only as curiosities. Helen Morgan shows why she was the ultimate torch singer -- her "Bill" is unforgettable.
Irene Dunne is very appealing, too. And Robeson's "Old Man River" is one of the greatest moments in film musicals.
In THE DARK CORNER there's another great line, this one from Mark Stevens:
"For six bits you'd hang your mother on a meat hook."
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Thank you for those pictures!
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Holly's plea to Anna reminds me of a line from ANGEL AND THE BADMAN, in which Gail Russell has fallen in love -- for the first time -- with John Wayne, who at that point isn't in love with her. She says, "I didn't know one could be in love, and not the other." A heart-rending line.
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BORDERTOWN is interesting. Part of the plot was reworked for THEY DRIVE BY NIGHT, in which Ida Lupino is terrific in the BD role as a woman whose passion leads her to commit a crime. And Paul Muni (in BORDERTOWN) is always good.
THE CORN IS GREEN is a must for BD fans. Bette is an independent woman who says, "I've never met a man I could talk to for five minutes without wanting to box his ears." Note: the role was created on Broadway by Ethel Barrymore, who made a memorable entrance riding a bicycle. Bette couldn't get the hang of it, so they had her enter walking her bike.
Message was edited by: faceinthecrowd
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18 AGAIN! is funny and moving, and Anita Morris is something to see.
Here's a line:
"Everything is addition and subtraction. The rest is conversation."
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THE DARK CORNER is terrific, with Clifton Webb in one of his patented waspish roles, and William Bendix as a thug (watch what happens when they meet in an office building). Lucille Ball is used to good advantage, and the plot is a doozy.
I've seen only the 1936 SHOWBOAT. Helen Morgan sings "Bill," and Paul Robeson sings "Ol' Man River." Enough said?
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That line sounded familiar to me, so I checked it, and found that it was said by that fun-loving scamp, Soren Kierkegaard. I hope I didn't sound too smart-alecky (or stupid); I was just wondering whether they gave credit to the real author of the line.
In THE HONEYMOON MACHINE, one of Steve McQueen's lesser efforts, he says, "A philosopher named Nietzsche said, 'Live dangerously! It's the only time you live at all.'" Sometimes you get intriguing quotes when you least expect them.
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I think that OF HUMAN BONDAGE is the one that really made Bette's career take off. When she died, a TV announcer said that she won an Oscar for it -- not true, of course; didn't the TV station have a research department? But it shows how memorable her performance was.
We could fill an entire thread with nothing but quotes from her movies, but I've always liked this one:
"I'd love to kiss ya, but I just washed my hair."
--from CABIN IN THE COTTON
Aw, don't let that stop you, Bette!
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To: randy and Belle
A couple of films I forgot to mention are:
GUILTY BYSTANDER -- here Scott is reunited with Faye Emerson (who gives such a good performance in DIMITRIOS). This is really noir: as I recall, the entire movie takes place at night, except for a very brief scene at the end.
RUTHLESS -- Scott is determined to become rich; when his friend, Louis Hayward, tells him he's made $750,000 in a business deal, Scott says, "You didn't make a fortune, you were just well paid for your work."
When you see this you'll know why Greenstreet pushed Scott down the stairs in FLAMINGO ROAD, which came out a year later -- here it's Scott who betrays Greenstreet. Well, they were both fun to watch, especially when they were being mean.
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To: Izcutter and JackFavell
Thank you for the kind words. It was like an itch that I had to scratch. When I thanked Ms. Rubin for the information, I told her that my website buddies would be impressed.
Wikipedia tells you when a statement requires a citation, and they and IMDb both invite corrections and additional information. I don't think I'll ever be able to learn Wiki's system; maybe I'll have better luck with IMDb.
What makes me feel better about the whole thing is knowing that Welles didn't plagiarize the speech; he said that he was quoting someone, although most people don't notice that.
And how many people still think that Bogart said, "Play it again, Sam"? Error dies hard.
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CUCKOO CLOCK UPDATE -- PART 2
After seeing the Churchill quote in Gretchen Rubin's book, "Forty Ways to Look at Winston Churchill," I e-mailed her to ask for the citation. She got back to me very quickly with the information that it was cited in "The Irrepressible Churchill," by Kay Halle, who knew the Churchills well (Winston's son Randolph proposed to her). Halle's book was published in 1938.
That satisfies me; but if you Google that quote, 99% of the sites you get will give Welles or the movie as the source. But the way Welles put it in the film, he was acknowledging that it was a quote.
Not exactly an earthshaking issue, but as my grandmother used to say, "Sometimes cake is more important than bread." And I wonder what the source of THAT quote is?
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"Life can only be understood looking backward. It must be lived forward."
That's a good one. I loved it when Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) said it, and I still do. Was he the screenwriter?
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To: All
When we see the word "best" as the subject of a thread, it might be helpful to mentally translate that as meaning "favorite." I can't prove that CITIZEN KANE is a "better" movie than GONE WITH THE WIND, or even the Adam Sandler remake of MR. DEEDS GOES TO TOWN. All I can say is that I like the first one better than the others. Let's not forget that very useful acronym, IMO.
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THE CAINE MUTINY is worth seeing even if the only scene you watch is the one where Bogart is on the witness stand.
Actually, I think it's ball bearings that he's clicking in his hands. So he's playing with his -- oh, never mind.
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Thank goodness Coop didn't have the mustache in the movie. Cooler heads must have prevailed. Here he looks like a poor man's George Sanders.
And what happened to Ann Sheridan? Did a magician saw her in two and forget to put her back together?
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There are still some films around that Helen Morgan was in, for those who've never seen her.
APPLAUSE was groundbreaking for its use of sound.
GO INTO YOUR DANCE starred Al Jolson. Morgan had a good role, and got to sing, sitting on the piano, which was her trademark.
GLORIFYING THE AMERICAN GIRL has a brief song by her late in the movie.
SHOW BOAT is a must. Here she sings "Bill," and it's one of the great moments in musicals. Paul Robeson sings "Ol' Man River" in the same film. It makes you wonder why they bothered to remake it.
Message was edited by: faceinthecrowd
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I'm tempted to put down CITIZEN KANE ten times (even though many people can't fathom what all the fuss is about, and some even say they can't sit through it). But there are other films:
DOUBLE INDEMNITY -- Neff doesn't die at the end, although the original screenplay showed him going to the gas chamber. He tells Keyes, "You couldn't see it because you were too close to me -- just across the desk." Keyes says, "Closer than that, Walter." And Neff says, "I love you, too."
HIGH NOON or SHANE
BIRTH OF A NATION
BODY AND SOUL or FORCE OF EVIL
PSYCHO
ALL ABOUT EVE
THE LADY EVE
ALL THE KING'S MEN
HOUSE OF STRANGERS
And an addendum for musicals:
One of the early Astaire/Rogers films
One of the early Busby Berkeley films
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CUCKOO CLOCK UPDATE:
Graham Greene disclaimed authorship of the cuckoo clock speech. It seems that Welles added it to Greene's screenplay.
That speech actually begins, "Remember what the fella said: In Italy, for thirty years under the Borgias . . . "
When Welles said, "Remember what the fella said," was he acknowledging that he was quoting someone? And was "the fella" Churchill?
P. S.: Many have pointed out that the cuckoo clock was invented in Germany, not Switzerland. But why let the facts get in the way of a good quote?
Message was edited by: faceinthecrowd
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Thank you for your post! I was beginning to think that I was the only person who appreciates what a good actor Scott was.
I was eager to get a copy of THE MASK OF DIMITRIOS. It doesn't seem to be available on DVD, but Amazon came through for me -- they located a VHS tape. I'm delighted to have it in any format.
In that film, in the scene where he meets Peter Lorre for the first time, he enters the room like an animal in a jungle, alert to every threat -- he seems to be able to smell danger. When I play the tape I like to rewind it for a few seconds just to watch his entrance again.
Since MILDRED PIERCE is so well remembered, I'm surprised that his wonderful portrayal of a heel doesn't get more attention. But some actors and actresses don't get the revival they deserve for a long time. Maybe Zachary Scott is about due for one.
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Laughton was a great actor, and his Bligh was perfect.
There's a scene where the native chief wants Franchot Tone to stay on the island -- which Tone, of course, cannot do. The chief tells him that he has no sons, and says, "Stay here. Be my son." That brings tears to my eyes, and there aren't many movies that can do that.
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In that literary meeting, he's asked what writers influenced him, and he says, "Well, Zane Grey, of course . . . " and the others look blankly at each other. Another funny moment.
I would have answered the question about "Mr. James Joyce" by saying that he was a good writer -- I really enjoy "Dubliners" -- who became more and more experimental until he became almost unreadable. I've read about a third of "Ulysses," and I don't think I'll go any further -- life is too short. And "Finnegans Wake"? Forget it.
But, back to THE THIRD MAN. It was Welles' expressive face that really made his famous entrance so memorable. That's what sticks in my mind about that scene.
And why did Anna reject Martins? Because he betrayed the man she loved. Never mind that Lime was a despicable person, and even betrayed HER -- he was the great love of her life.
It's been said that everyone loves only once in their life. And maybe it's so.
"Holly -- what a silly name."
The Third Man and Carol Reed
in Films and Filmmakers
Posted
I assume it means that parents or guardians should consider whether to allow 14-year- olds to watch.
Why is that considered an appropriate rating for THE THIRD MAN? Beats me, unless the powers that be are concerned about Harry Lime's speech on the Ferris wheel, beginning, "You see all those dots down there?" But if pre-teens are allowed to watch news programs on TV, Lime's cynicism shouldn't be a problem.