speedracer5
-
Posts
11,245 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
22
Posts posted by speedracer5
-
-
Don't forget the original wicked stepmother!
-
Fonda actually handles comedy pretty well...even when it's a funny line in the context of a drama. Like his line in ON GOLDEN POND: "I think the indians used a different grade of aluminum." when his daughter's boyfriend's son expresses his joy at seeing there's a canoe on the premises and says, "They have a CANOE! Just like the INDIANS used!"
A great example of Fonda's comic delivery and skill can be seen in both "The Rounders" with Glenn Ford, and "The Cheyenne Social Club" with old friend Jimmy Stewart.
Sepiatone
I guess he does do pretty good sarcastic one liners, he has quite a few in Yours Mine and Ours.
One of Arturo's suggestions was a screwball comedy co-starring Gene Tierney, titled Rings on Her Fingers. This sounds really interesting to me. Because of TCM, I've become more familar with Tierney and really enjoy her performances. She plays her more dramatic roles, like Leave Her to Heaven, Laura and The Ghost and Mrs. Muir very well. It'd be interesting to see her in a vastly different type of film, like screwball comedy. I've seen Fonda in The Lady Eve with Barbara Stanwyck. He plays the put upon foil Stanwyck's wackiness very well. I'll look out for 'Rings' on TCM and on FXM.
I don't know what it is about Fonda, I like him, I have nothing against him, but he doesn't standout to me. He doesn't have a distinct film persona that makes me want to seek him out. I suppose he's the everyman average Joe type, which I suppose is a persona in and of itself... I don't know what I'm trying to say. I suppose I just need to see the right Fonda film and it looks like I'll be on the right track with Arturo and Sepiatone's suggestions.
I really liked him in The Big Street with Lucille Ball. Even though this film is definitely Ball's film, Fonda played his part as the waiter who falls in love with the crippled singer very well. A very poignant moment of the film is the very end when Fonda carries Ball's body up the stairs so she can fulfill her dream of climbing the stairs and gazing at the ocean.
-
Sorry I didn't see this earlier Arturo. I really like Fonda. I'm most familiar with him in "12 Angry Men" and "Yours, Mine and Ours." I haven't seen a lot of his work. I haven't even seen the film he's most known for--"The Grapes of Wrath." His slapstick comedies would be interesting to watch, he's not someone I'd associate with being hilarious. "frank James" sounds interesting. I like Fritz Lang's films. I haven't seen 'Jesse James' either. I'd also like to see Linda Darnell in action. I don't think I could pick her out in a film if I tried.Henry Fonda has several iconic performances for which he is remembered. Imho, he should've won the Oscar for THE GRAPES OF WRATH, instead of his friend James Stewart; it was widely believed Jimmy got it as a consolation prize for not getting it for MR. SMITH the year before.
Anyway, Fonda always hated the fact that Darryl F. Zanuck got him to sign a long term contract with 20th Century Fox by dangling GRAPES in front of him; previously, he had worked often at that studio, but on a freelance basis. He felt he was forced to do a lot of c r a p p y movies under that 7 year indenture, and when compared with the roles he is best known during this period, the aforementioned TGOW, THE LADY EVE, THE OXBOW INCIDENT, or MY DARLING CLEMENTINE, they are.much less distinguished, definitely less celebrated. But none of them are that bad.
In 1940, Fonda.starred in two big budget Technicolor films: THE RETURN OF FRANK JAMES and CHAD HANNA. Both are very good, IMO. FRANK JAMES is a sequel to the previous year's huge hit, JESSE JAMES. This time, the surviving brother is hiding out, but recognized by newspaperwoman Gene Tierney (in her film debut). It is nearly as good as JJ, with Fritz Lang's direction as notable as Henry King's in the earlier film. King directed CHAD HANNA, where small town canal hand Chad follows circus rider Dorothy Lamour to the big top. Both he and Linda Darnell end up joining the small outfit traveling in 1840s Upstate New York. Colorful and leisurely, it is enjoyable even in it's deliberate pace.
He did two late screwball comedies: RINGS ON HER FINGERS, and THE MAGNIFICENT DOPE, both 1942. In the former, Gene Tierney is hired by Laird Cregar and Spring Byington to romance and fleece millionaire bachelor Fonda. In the latter, it is Don Ameche and Edward Everett Horton trying to get Fonda, as the winner of their "World's Laziest Man" contest to promote their "Be a Success" course, with Ameche's fiancée Lynn Bari as the bait. Both are very enjoyable romantic comedies.
Fonda didn't like these movies, usually because he resented always being cast as a small town rube. But they are all pleasurable in themselves, and I would recommend them to classic film fans wholeheartedly.
-
1
-
-
I could be wrong but I have a feeling that this coat check girl may be just that - a coat check girl, and not intended as a caricature of a star.
Perhaps. If we can't figure it out, I like your answer. That way, we have figured it out!
Or maybe Rita Hayworth?
-
Your last sentence is so on target. In fact when I wrote the post and said 'romance and comedy' I was going to say 'romance and comedy (from wacky to subdued),,,'. Many of her mid-30s films were in the screwball vein and your comment about 'how exasperating her kookiness might be,,,' hits the nail on the head. But overall when American comedies toned down the screwball element (especially after the start of the war in Europe) Jean went right with the flow and generally we see a more subdued Jean using more subdued facial expressions to get a laugh. But either way she always did it with charm (compare that to Jean Harlow, an actress we are both enjoying more and more now, but whose comic persona was much more centered on being brittle than charming).
Re: Arthur vs Harlow. I've only seen a couple of Arthur's films from the 30s, but noticed that her persona between The Ex Mrs. Bradford vs the one displayed in The More the Merrier was toned down, but the Jean Arthur personality was still intact. I like that she kept evolving and didn't become a one-note personality, I'm glad she didn't develop a shtick.
With Harlow, who is growing on me, once I've gotten over her screechiness just being her "thing," she is funny, but her funniess is due to her quips and tone of voice. I feel that if Harlow hadn't died in 1937, she would have also toned things down a bit when WWII started, and perhaps we would have seen a different side of her. I feel like Harlow would have done really well in a meaty dramatic role. Unfortunately, she never got the opportunity.
Jean Arthur's film personality is timeless. She's always a delight no matter what type of film she appears in. Jean Harlow, on the other hand, while funny, is very much a product of the 1930s.
-
1
-
-
Yeah. Looks a little frumpy in this pic - not the clearest photo.
I think we see it mostly from the waist up, so it's not too bad. Some time back, here on these boards, someone mentioned this dress was green striped - I always imagined it red.. don't know why. It wasn't to match her hair because I had not found out she was a redhead until many years after seeing this film for the first time. I think that poster mentioned the color was revealed in a biography - not sure if it was Myrna's or another actor's.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Some years ago, I had thought of something I hadn't realized before:We, the audience, see these films in b&w and have to imagine the colors, while (nearly) everyone involved in the making of them sees them in their true colors. Except for their personal prints, going to a screening, DVDs, or watching them on tv/cable, they may not see these films in b&w at all - ever.My whole perception of many b&w films is based in great part on the fact they are b&w, as it adds to the feeling and atmosphere. When I see still color shots of b&w films, I just can't imagine that film having been made in Technicolor (for example).The biggest shock I received was seeing a color still of Greer Garson for the first time. I had never imagined her hair to be red - I'm still not used to it. I want my Greer in b&w.I always pictured the dress being red striped too. Not a bright, vibrant red, but a more muted tone.
I didn't realize Loy was a redhead! I pictured her with light brown hair.
The dress is definitely wild, but completely in line with the wild fashions of the 1930s, but what I love about the dress is how it moves when she walks around the party tending to her guests. I bet it was a very comfortable dress to wear. Light with flowy fabric.
-
speedracer, I also love the caricatures of the "old" movie stars in the Looney Tunes/Merry Melodies cartoons.
Of course, they were current movie stars when the cartoons were made.
Can anyone identify all of the stars being caricatured?
1. Edward G. Robinson... I can't think of the woman
2. Peter Lorre
3. James Stewart and...
4. James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart and George Raft
5. Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland
6. Cary Grant and Greta Garbo
7. not sure... thinking possibly Bette Davis for the woman
8. Henry Fonda
9. Clark Gable
10. Ann Sheridan ?
Later in the cartoon, my boy Errol makes an appearance ;-) He cat-calls the pretty girl/Groucho.
-
I'm a sucker for sweet romantic moments in film. Not overly sappy or sentimental romance (often times, I find those types of moments insincere and not believable) but true (well at least "true" in the movie sense) romantic moments.
Of course, there's probably one of the most famous romantic scenes in film, the classic airport scene in Casablanca. Even though the ending isn't happy and Bogart and Bergman do not end up together--their goodbye scene is so romantic. Combine Bogart's classic dialogue and calm tone of voice, with Bergman's closeup complete with soft focus lens makes for a memorable scene. What puts it over the top for me though is the part where Bergman starts crying, Bogart tips her chin and says "here's looking at you kid."
Definitely not as memorable, but I love the scene in The Parent Trap when Brian Keith returns home after the disastrous camping trip and watches Maureen O'Hara look for dishes in his ridiculously high cupboards. There's a look on his face while he watches her, where he realizes how beautiful his first wife was and how much he misses her. After that, he decides to clean up, get wine, turn on the stereo and really set the mood.
In Breakfast at Tiffanys, Audrey Hepburn spends the entirety of the film being rather shallow and self absorbed, only caring about how she was going to marry someone with wealth. At the end of the film, after being dumped by her latest rich prospect, she announces to "Fred Baby" her intentions to follow through with her plan to go to Brazil. "Fred Baby," (I like calling him that over Paul Varjack) the only man who doesn't treat her like an object, tells her that she's nuts and tells her off for her selfish ways. Prior in that point, she had even cruelly thrown Cat out of the car, in the pouring rain, to fend for himself. When "Fred Baby" tells her off, he throws a jewelry box at her (the one containing the ring they had engraved at Tiffany's together) telling her he doesn't want it anymore. The indelible moment in the film is when she puts the ring on and realizes that she and "Fred Baby" are meant to be together and that she loves him.
-
Speaking of Charles Boyer I've seen at least two 'Tom & Jerry' cartoons where Tom does an impression of Boyer. One of them is 'ZOOT SUIT'.
Also, if the Looney Tunes character 'Pepe Le Pew' isn't based on Charles Boyer I'll be a monkey's uncle!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
WILLIAM HOLDEN: I never saw "Toward the Unknown" (1956) until I caught it on TCM, but I liked it a lot. When it came on again, I watched it again. I reckon you could say it's an underrated gem in my personal 'movie guide'.
I am a big fan of Holden and have never even heard of this film. I will look out for this film as well. I really like Holden's persona. He can be the romantic and he can be charming, but there's always that layer of cynicism and/or disillusionment with what's going on with/around him. He could be a romantic lead or he could be a tough guy. Great actor.
-
I highly recommend History Is Made at Night. Another underrated Arthur gem is If You Could Only Cook with Herbert Marshall. This is the film she made right before Mr. Deeds. I just love Jean. I feel she combines warmth, romance and comedy better than any other actress of the era.
Thank you for recommending another Arthur film. I've never heard of If You Could Only Cook, I'll definitely look out for that one as well. I hope that TCM as an Arthur SUTS day so I can see more of her work. I completely agree with your assessment of her persona. She's romantic, kooky but sweet so no matter how exasperating her kookiness might be, you can't help but be enamored of her.
-
Legendary actor Mickey Rooney in all his glory (almost)
Wow. This is a picture I could have gone without seeing (too bad some more hunky actors didn't take similar pictures
) I'm curious however how this picture came about and where it was originally printed.
-
You have to wonder, Dargo, old boy, just how many kids today are familiar with '40s musical hits strictly through hearing snatches of them in the Looney Tunes cartoons.
Isn't it ironic that Bugs and Daffy, among others, have greater familiarity (and probably future immortality) with many people today than do the vast majority of film stars of the Golden Era? Groucho is still pretty well remembered today but not nearly as much as Bugs.
I'm not sure I qualify as a "kid" at 30 (almost 31, eek), but I've found that my love of old movies helps immensely in identifying all the caricatures and political humor that is present in Looney Tunes cartoons. Someone who is unfamiliar with even who Edward G Robinson is, let alone be able to identify his caricature based on exaggerated facial features and voice, may not get as much from the cartoon. I've noticed that Edward G. Robinson is parodied a lot in Looney Tunes cartoons as the typical gangster, just like Peter Lorre shows up a lot as the typical mad scientist type or creeper that has a scary castle or something. Some of the Looney Tunes cartoons like Wile E. Coyote & The Roadrunner that don't use as many parodies of current events and people probably relate better to newer generations who are unfamiliar with studio era stars.
I've recognized a lot of 30s-40s standards in Looney Tunes cartoons, commercials, older and newer movies. I've also noticed that episodes of I Love Lucy use a lot of turn of the century music, like "Sweet Adeline," "Shine on Harvest Moon," just to name a couple. When I went to Disneyland a couple years ago, I noticed that Main Street was playing an instrumental version of "Has Anybody Seen My Gal?" (which I also remember from I Love Lucy). I started singing the song and my husband laughed at me and told me I was a nerd. I doubt many other people even noticed the music, they probably figured Disneyland made the music for the area of the park.
My co-worker (okay, he's like 50 something) and I will sometimes break out into the music from Michigan J. Frog's sole cartoon One Froggy Evening.
"...I'm just wild about Harry! And Harry's wild about me!"
"...Please don't talk about me when I'm gone..."
Thank goodness for the Looney Tunes. They're such fun. I'm glad they started releasing them on Blu Ray.
-
I think the Marx Brothers and Bugs Bunny are hysterical. I find them generally hilarious and always worthy of discussion.
I agree.
I love the Marx Brothers because they're so ridiculous and so random. I like that, unlike The Three Stooges (who, despite Moe being "the smart one," they're all bumbling), the Marx Brothers each have a distinct personality. Even if they're antics are ridiculous, they're often clever. Groucho's quips are hilarious.
Bugs Bunny stars in 99% of my favorite Looney Tunes cartoons. He's very much like all three Marx Brothers rolled into one. One of my favorite Bugs Bunny episodes is one where he wakes up after a late night carrot juice bender. He looks all hungover and haggard. He staggers around for awhile, leaves his rabbit hole and ends up walking onto Marvin the Martian's spaceship.
Another episode I love is this one where he's out of work and ends up sleeping on a park bench in Central Park with all the other out of work actors-- Bing Crosby, Jack Benny, Al Jolson and Eddie Cantor. Elmer Fudd, looking for a partner for his vaudeville act, sees Bugs and says to him "Why are you hanging around these guys? They'll never amount to anything."
Another one I love is one where Bugs Bunny doesn't even appear until the end. Daffy Duck is being terrorized by a sadistic animator who keeps erasing parts of his body and replacing them with crazy things like making his head part of a flower, flippers as feet and so on. The animator also keeps erasing the backgrounds and putting Daffy in all these ridiculous situations. Daffy Duck grows more and more irritated and threatens to walk out on his contract. At the very end of the cartoon, it turns out that the animator is none other than Bugs Bunny!
Thanks for starting such a great topic. It is a perfect conversation for the "General Discussion" boards :-)
-
1
-
-
I was just going to post about Flynn in The Sisters; then I saw your post. I agree -- it's an underrated film (an epic, really) with a great cast. It may be my favorite Flynn performance. And I think he looks better without his mustache!
Another lesser-known gem for me is History Is Made at Night, with Charles Boyer and Jean Arthur. Those two actors are much better known for other films; however, they are brilliant -- and have amazing chemistry -- in this underrated gem.
Re: the Boyer and Arthur film. I'll have to look out for this one. Like I said in another thread, I really enjoy Jean Arthur, probably best known for perhaps Mr. Deeds Goes to Town or maybe The More the Merrier. Charles Boyer is someone that I think it will take me awhile to warm up to. Everytime I hear him talk, I think of his episode of I Love Lucy where he guest stars as himself. Not wanting Boyer to get mixed up with Lucy, Ricky and Fred tell him to pretend he's just Boyer's lookalike. Lucy buys it and hires "fake Boyer" to play the real Boyer to make Ricky jealous. Lucy teaches Boyer how to do a Charles Boyer impression. For whatever reason, I think of Charles Boyer's Charles Boyer impression and start laughing. It's hard for me to take him seriously after that, lol.
LOO-CEE, I LOVE YOU (said in an exaggerated French accent).
-
One movie I don't recall anyone every mentioning is Three Wise Girls with Jean Harlow and Mae Clark. GET-TV had this movie on yesterday and I enjoyed it. This is a 1932 pre-code and while Harlow brings her sassy persona she also shows a subdued side of her persona, which I also like. So I call this an underrated gem since it isn't one of Harlow major pictures.
Thanks for the great recommendation James! I will look out for this film on TCM. Unfortunately, I don't think Dish carries GET-TV, so hopefully TCM will schedule this film in the near future. The more I've seen of Harlow, the more she's growing on me.
Mae Clark is the one who got a grapefruit shoved in her face by James Cagney in Public Enemy (I think it's that film), correct?
-
and Johnson was about the ONLY interesting character in Brigadoon
Unfortunately, I'll have to agree with you re: Van Johnson in Brigadoon. As much as I love Gene Kelly, Brigadoon is easily one of the low points in his filmography. While it's a great concept, the film wasn't special and there aren't any memorable dance numbers. I can't think of one dance number in Brigadoon.
...Speaking of Gene Kelly. While he's pretty much known for Don Lockwood in Singin' in the Rain, he has a lot of great films under his belt too. One of my favorites is his film debut, For Me and My Gal with Judy Garland. In this film, Kelly is more subdued and it is obvious that Garland is the star. However, Kelly is full of charm and he and Garland make a great pair. I loved their routines and songs and the romance as well. The scene where Kelly decides to purposely injure himself to avoid being drafted was a very emotional scene and Kelly, for being a newcomer to the movies, performed his role well.
-
1
-
-
I was just going to post about Flynn in The Sisters; then I saw your post. I agree -- it's an underrated film (an epic, really) with a great cast. It may be my favorite Flynn performance. And I think he looks better without his mustache!
Another lesser-known gem for me is History Is Made at Night, with Charles Boyer and Jean Arthur. Those two actors are much better known for other films; however, they are brilliant -- and have amazing chemistry -- in this underrated gem.
The Sisters is a great film. I think Flynn showed another side to his acting skills, I believe this film was either right before or right after The Adventures of Robin Hood. It must have been different for him to not have to swing a sword or wear some type of period costume for once. I like a majority of Flynn's films where he wears contemporary clothing. In The Sisters, he demonstrated a real knack for drama. I agree, I think he looks better without the mustache, although he makes the pencil mustache look pretty damn good. Lol. Not many men could carry off that look with as much panache as he did.
I also really enjoy his performances in the comedies Four's a Crowd and Footsteps in the Dark. While definitely not the greatest movies, I find them entertaining, although I find Olivia de Havilland and Patric Knowles' characters slightly annoying in the former. Anyway, in both of these films, Flynn demonstrated comedic skills as well. His impression of a "Texas accent" in Footsteps in the Dark is hilarious.
-
1
-
-
Song and Dance man Van Johnson in 1951's GO FOR BROKE.
Based on real events, he plays a WWII U.S. Army officer assigned against his will to train and command a unit of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team consisting of Japanese-American volunteers who have enlisted despite them and their families being relocated to camps and treated by their government as "suspect".
I always thought Johnson portrayed his role very well as a man who eventually comes around to respect and admire the men under his command.
(...as many of you may already know, the 442nd was the most highly decorated U.S. Army combat unit during that conflict...during my school years in the Los Angeles area in the 1960s, I had two classmates who's fathers fought in that unit)
This sounds like a really good movie! For some reason, I never take Van Johnson seriously. I really don't know why. Maybe it's the type of films he appeared in or the type of persona he seems to have. For example, in the remake of Libeled Lady, called Easy to Wed, Lucille Ball (in the Jean Harlow role) is easily the best thing about the film. Van Johnson is in the William Powell role, and he does not bring any of the charm Powell did to the role.
Maybe there's a different side to Johnson that I don't know about. I did like his appearance playing himself in an episode of I Love Lucy. He and Lucy must have been friends seeing that they appeared in many programs together during their respective careers.
-
He's a favorite of mine but he could be over the top on occasion. The films I like are
The Valiant (1929)
Scarface (1932)
I Was a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)
The World Changes (1933)
Hi, Nellie (1934)
Bordertown (1935)
Black Fury (1935)
The Good Earth (1937)
The Life of Emile Zola (1937)
Commados Strike at Dawn (1942)
He won an Oscar for The Story of Louis Pasteur but it's a pretty straight forward biography and I guess if you like stories about groundbreaking medical advances! it's okay. It's kind of boring to me. He's also in Juarez but even though he plays the title character! he's hardly in it. Bette Davis and John Garfield have the showier roles in that movie. Angel on my Shoulder is alright but not one of my favorites. He's downright hammy in A Song to Remember and I would never recommend that movie to anyone. It's pretty bad.
Thanks HelenBaby for the recommendations. I will definitely look out for some of these films, especially Bordertown. I've heard alot about it from the They Drive by Night thread. I would probably watch A Song to Remember just to see how bad it is. Lol.
-
Like classical music, I've also, due to local movie matinee TV shows, late shows and such, been exposed to classic movies for most of my life. TCM gave me the opportunity to discover the NAMES of many of the people I'd seen in many movies since early childhood, and a chance to see many MORE of their movies than ever presented on those other outlets I mentioned.
The classical music comparison fits in due to my HEARING much classical music from one source or another, but one day, in the mid 1970's, I scraped up some money and went to a record store(remember THEM?) to buy some albums and start discovering how much MORE to Beethoven's 5th there was beyond the familiar four note intro. Then, for ME, Detroit's classical radio station WQRS( sadly, gone since 1998) was my classical music version of TCM! Say, for instance; ONE example:
Through watching movies on TCM, I discovered that HAL WALLIS produced MUCH more than ELVIS PRESLEY movies. AND some disaster movies when they were the "fad".
Sepiatone
I'm happy that there's a market for showing old classics in the big theater. Even if it's only a 1-2 day run like with TCM's collaborations with Fathom events or even if a local theater gives the film a 1 week run. In my hometown in Salem, there's an old newly restored 1926 Gothic Tudor theater. It used to be a Warner Brothers theater. Every Wednesday night, they play an old movie. The weeks alternate between silent films and "talkies." During the silent film evenings, an organist accompanies the film on the original Wurlitzer organ that was used when the theater was showing new films.
Because of these theaters and a continued interest in classic film, new generations of people (provided these people are open minded about seeing a film not in color, or something more than 10 years old, sometimes that's more of an obstacle than making the films themselves available) are getting to see these great films in the way they were meant to see. In fact, I got my first exposure to Errol Flynn at one of these events. My family and I went and saw The Adventures of Robin Hood-- a beautiful film to see on the big screen.
I've noticed that at the Fathom Events at the more mainstream theaters, that there are many younger people at these events, which makes me happy. Suddenly, going out and spending the evening watching an old Hitchcock classic seems like something fun to do and not some film you're forced to watch in school or something.
Many of these film events that I've attended has led to me discovering new talents and then using TCM as a tool to see more of an actor's work.
-
I like a lot of Errol Fynn's performances: The Sisters, The Sun Also Rises, The Dawn Patrol. Another is in a film which wasn't very good - Thank Your Lucky Stars. He was very good at playing himself in that one.
I really liked The Sisters. It's another underrated film in not only Flynn's filmography, but co-star Bette Davis' too. While this is obviously Davis' film, Flynn really shines in his role as n'er do well Frank Medlin. Flynn got to show a more sensitive side. With his charm and good looks in full swing, it is obvious why Davis' character would initially be attracted to him, even though, financially, he couldn't do anything for her. While her sisters married for money and social status, Davis marries for love and for most of the film, is pitied by her family. I like the emotion that Flynn brings to his character through his pride when his wife goes to work to support the family, the drama when he's on the steamship leaving Davis and San Francisco behind and he hears about the Great Earthquake and is practically ready to swim across the ocean to get back to her. The end of the film, when he returns to Davis' hometown after two years and longingly watches her dance from up on the stairwell. It is a very sweet film and a nice departure for both Flynn and Davis.
Thank Your Lucky Stars is definitely not the best musical by any means, some of the performances are awful (de Havilland and Lupino, I'm looking at you) but Flynn's is one of the highlights. He showed a knack for comedy, singing and even some light dancing. While he was no Gene Kelly or Fred Astaire by any means, he showed that he could learn some choreography and handle singing an easy ditty. He even did it in a Cockney accent, which wasn't that bad.
-
Paul Muni is a guy probably best known for I Was A Fugitive from a Chain Gang and a lot of high profile films, but I really like him in The Last Angry Man his last role. He plays a doctor in a poor area of NYC who David Wayne tries to profile on a TV show, but Muni's character wants no part of it. It's a good film, very good. He was nominated for an Oscar for it but it rarely comes up when people talk about his roles.
I first heard of Muni last year during his SUTS day, but I didn't watch any of his films. I saw one of those little brief 2-minute spots that TCM creates in honor of someone and I did watch one on Muni. I believe it mostly focused on 'Chain Gang.' Would you recommend his "best" film? And it looks like I should check out The Last Angry Man, I like the title, it sounds interesting.
-
I believe that another Errol Flynn that clearly qualifies as underrated, Speedracer, is Silver River. In fact, it's a bit of a cousin to your choice of Uncertain Glory inamuch as both films have Flynn being directed by Raoul Walsh as he explores the darker side of a character. I think his French murderer scoundrel in Uncertain Glory was the darkest character of his career but Silver River is not far behind.
The film is also distinguished by a superior supporting cast, with both Ann Sheridan and Thomas Mitchell as standouts. If the film's ending is weak and seems rushed, that still doesn't detract from the film's previous strong;y written and olayed scenes about an ambitious empire builder trampling over everyone in his quest for riches and power in the American West.
It's a somewhat unique film in the Flynn canon, too, since it's one of the few films in which the actor played a man emotional vulnerable after a woman leaves him.
I agree. I really liked Silver River as well. Although I believe that the ending was a little lackluster. I wish that they had either started working toward that ending earlier in the film, or perhaps filmed a few extra scenes building up to the conclusion. Silver River was quite a departure from Flynn's earlier Westerns like Dodge City and Virginia City. He wasn't the young charmer fixing up the ruthless town. Flynn's character in Silver River was really not a nice guy, but he wasn't an awful person, he was just selfish and in the beginning, I believe he was just mad because he was kicked out of the army (or some branch of military). I really liked the casting of Ann Sheridan. While I like Olivia de Havilland and enjoyed the 9 films they made together, I really like when Flynn is cast against tougher women like Sheridan and Alexis Smith, just to name a couple. I think it makes his characters even more interesting when he has to "work for" the girl instead of having her just swoon at his feet.
It's a shame that audiences wouldn't accept Flynn outside his usual persona. I think starting with Uncertain Glory, then continuing with Silver River and That Forsyte Woman, Flynn was working toward expanding his versatility. Had he taken better care of himself and been able to continue acting into the 60s and 70s (and maybe had been able to have better roles in the 50s) I think Flynn could have really developed into an interesting character actor, or even a more distinguished leading man type like Sean Connery did later in his career.
-
Having had to get up at 5am to be at work at 6am to do Inventory Control, I've had a lot of free time this morning. Between working for money and spending said money on stuff to fix up my house, I haven't had much time to watch any movies lately. I may have some time this weekend to watch something, so I was thinking about what I wanted to watch.
...Which brings me to this thread topic that I thought would be fun for discussion:
Many actors (and directors for that matter and probably other credited behind the scenes movie personnel, hence the "someone" in my thread title) have their big hit(s), the role for which they'll forever be known for and no matter what else they did in their movie career, they'll always be known for that one role, for that one film (or in a few cases, multiple roles and films):
Humphrey Bogart as Rick Blaine in Casablanca
Ingrid Bergman as Ilsa Lund in Casablanca
Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind
...just to name a few examples.
However, many of these people have a ton of great films in their filmographies that have been overshadowed or overlooked as a result of their big role.
What are some of your favorite more underrated or lesser known films in someone's career? Something that would be worth watching, even for someone who might be unfamiliar with a person's work either entirely or outside of that one role?
I'll go with my two examples that I can think of right off the bat in my sleep deprived state:
Errol Flynn. Forever known as Robin Hood in The Adventures in Robin Hood and to a slightly lesser extent as Peter Blood in Captain Blood, he has a lot of great films on his roster. While frequently dismissed as a lightweight actor with a pretty face, he has a filmography that any actor would be proud to have. While I enjoy 'Robin Hood' and 'Captain Blood', there's another film of his that I think is worth a look and I believe is airing on TCM soon: Uncertain Glory.
In this film, Flynn plays a Frenchman, convicted of murder. Flynn manages to escape right before his execution. After seeking out the help of an acquaintance (to get new clothes, steal a few kisses with his friend's girl--Flynn moves fast, lol, and possibly leave town), he ends up being captured. Now handcuffed to Paul Lukas, enroute back to prison and certain death, he and Lukas learn that some saboteurs have blown up a bridge and that the Germans have taken 100 people hostage. Flynn offers to pose as one of the saboteurs in order to save the hostages.
This is a wonderful film. It's a departure for Flynn in the sense that he's playing a criminal, in the production code era, he's a "bad guy." However, his character is redeemed slightly in that he's willing to put himself on the line to save the 100 hostages. However, he plays his character with a great sense of ambiguity, that you're not sure if he's truly sincere in wanting to sacrifice himself to save the innocent hostages or whether this is all a ploy to escape. His usual charm is in full force, but it's a different type of role for him and a fun one to watch.
Another example I have is a film of Judy Garland's, The Clock.
Garland will forever be synonymous with Dorothy Gale from The Wizard of Oz, but she made a lot of great films, many of which are musicals. While I enjoy her big musicals like Meet Me in St. Louis and Easter Parade, Garland has proven time and time again, that she was more than just a great singing voice. She was a capable actress and could perform more than the sweet, singing teenager role.
We've spoken about The Clock quite a few times, but I'm going to bring it up again. Garland, primarily known for musicals, made this sweet romantic film about a marine on leave who meets a girl while exploring the city. They "click" and fall in love in a whirlwind relationship and decide to marry. Most of the film is a race against the clock trying to get through all the red tape to be able to marry or seeing who will waive the normal wait times and tests. Garland doesn't sing. There's no Technicolor or high production values. It's simply a sweet romantic black and white film. Directed by Vincente Minnelli, it's definitely among his and Garland's best film collaborations.
-
2
-
) 
Happy Mother's Day
in General Discussions
Posted
Bette Davis' mother in Now Voyager made me mad as well. She continually browbeats her daughter which has led to her complete lack of self-confidence. She's punishing her because Davis was an unwanted child. Even when Davis returns, a confident, happy woman, her mother continues to treat her like garbage. I was actually glad when she dies in the film.