kingrat

Those who are grumbly about *The Sound of Music* will probably enjoy the *Forbidden Broadway* parody: a sequel after the Trapp Family arrived in Vermont. Imagine the title song beginning not with "The hills are alive . . . ." but "I go to the mall, when I'm in Montpelier."

Just a heads-up that the Lewis Gilbert films which were canceled a few months ago because of a memorial tribute will be shown on Thursday, Oct. 10. *The Seventh Dawn* (1964) has quite a few fans on these boards. At the time, American audiences weren't so interested in moral dilemmas in faraway Southeast Asia. William Holden and his Malayan friend work together to fight the Japanese in WWII, but then his friend goes to college in the Soviet Union and becomes a leader of the Communist insurgency. Susannah York and Capucine provide romantic complications. This movie holds up very well. I haven't seen the other films, but *The Good Die Young* is a heist film with Laurence Harvey, Gloria Grahame, and Richard Basehart, so that sounds interesting. *Loss of Innocence*, based on a Rumer Godden novel, stars Kenneth More, Susannah York, and Danielle Darrieux. For me, another must see. There's also *The Admirable Crichton*, based on the J.M. Barrie play and starring David Niven. Lewis Gilbert is best remembered, if at all, for directing Alfie. Another enjoyable film of his, *Cast a Dark Shadow*, will be shown on Oct. 22 during the Margaret Lockwood tribute. Lockwood, Dirk Bogarde, Mona Washbourne, and Kay Walsh are all terrific.

Big confession: I've never seen *The Sound of Music*. At one time, I must have been one of the few people on the planet who hadn't seen it.

There may be problems in getting the rights to his films. At one point TCM had announced showing all three of the Apu films in the same month, but then the schedule was changed. I'd love to see a month-long tribute to Satyajit Ray like the one for Truffaut.

Yet more evidence that too many people were taking too many drugs in the late 60s/early 70s. Kim Novak does her best, but no one could salvage this.

The Mark Cousins thread has been taken over by political wrangling, so I will post here. Chapter 4, on the 1930s, showed Cousins' love for Vigo, Renoir, and Carne. He made intelligent comments about Leni Riefenstahl. His clip of the new sound film, with Bing Crosby singing, was well chosen to show the new lighting, the two-camera system, and the less inventive camera work. Granted, he is a documentary filmmaker. Granted, as a director he's naturally inclined to talk more about directors than about actors or other film artists. Nonetheless, I could never have imagined even a cursory treatment of Hollywood in the 30s without a mention of Bette Davis, Barbara Stanwyck, the Marx Brothers, W.C. Fields, Mae West, or Spencer Tracy, none of whom, I believe, Cousins has mentioned at all so far. Cousins identified 6 Hollywood genres in the 30s: westerns, gangster movies, horror, musicals, comedy, and animation. No mention of drama outside of the first three genres. No mention of women's films. No mention of social issue films. No examples of any kind of comedy other than screwball. Take the series as notes and clips from a filmmaker's journal, and it's quite rewarding, and the films TCM has programmed around it are great. But some of the omissions are startling.

Good examples, lavender. How about Spencer Tracy as a cold-hearted villain in *Edward, My Son*? He may have been halfway to that role in *Sea of Grass*, just as Robert Walker's mixed-up kid in *Sea of Grass* may have suggested that he could play an out-and-out crazy like Bruno in *Strangers on a Train*.

In some parts of the South "water" is pronounced "wawter." In other parts, "wadder." In other parts, the final "r" is dropped. This may be the common word pronounced the most different ways in the US. And CaveGirl, I love it whenever I hear "Los Angle-lees" in old movies.

It's definitely worth watching, if only for the references to unfamiliar films and the splendid discussions of individual shots or sequences, like the Odessa Steps sequence from *Battleship Potemkin*. On the other hand, when he makes the interesting point that Mizoguchi used deep focus in a film a few years before *Citizen Kane*, does he mean to imply (I think he does) that *Citizen Kane* had the first use of deep focus in the US? Is this correct? And no mention of Gregg Toland. Because Ozu is his choice as the example of classicism, the antithesis to the romanticism of "Holly-wooed," it was surprising that he used rather goopy romantic music with harps and strings to introduce his segment about Ozu. And if classicism in any art is all about balance, clarity, proportion, and structure, Cousins' approach to filmmaking is not at all classical. He's impressionistic, quirky, personal, maybe even (gasp!) romantic. Edited by: kingrat on Sep 17, 2013 6:19 PM

Gerald, if you haven't yet seen Cousins' voiceover comments on the Odessa Steps sequence from *Battleship Potemkin*, I'm sure you'll enjoy it. I'd actually love to see a compilation of all his analyses of and comments on particular scenes and camera shots, because they are always informative and explained in language an ordinary viewer can understand.

I expected to hate Jean Eustache's *The Mother and the *****--an unappealing title, over three and a half hours long and mainly about a man and the two women he's sleeping with. Oh, and Cahiers du Cinema voted it the best film of the 1970s. Sounded like a film I was going to hate. And I loved it. The deadpan wit, the Zen nihilism. Because Jean-Pierre Leaud plays the main character just as he played leading roles for Truffaut and Godard, and the character is a shallow, narcissistic pseudo-intellectual who lives off an older woman while he pontificates and chases other women, the film seems to be a criticism--make that an evisceration--of Truffaut and Godard as well. In the theater this might seem a long slog, but it was perfect in two viewings on VHS. Yes, VHS, it's still not available on DVD. Yo, Criterion, get with the program!

Andy, if you grew up in the South, there were no Irish parades on St. Patrick's Day, either. No one knew or cared where their ancestors were from. Everything was literally a matter of black or white. The South is different now, because of Hispanic immigration, but in the early 80s I had only vaguely heard the term "Hispanic." Except for one classmate whose parents had escaped from Hungary, I didn't meet anyone who had close relatives in another country until I was in college or even older.

Tom, thank you for creating this thread. Because of the recommendations here, I watched and recorded *Abandon Ship* and liked it very much. Possibly Tyrone Power's best performance, with a taut script and good direction by Richard Sale, and an excellent cast. Without this thread, I would have passed it up. Richard Sale also directed *Suddenly*, another tight film. *Malaga* is a film of his I will look for. Oddly, *Abandon Ship* is the last film he directed. He and his wife created the TV series *Yancy Derringer*, but he never directed another movie, which seems like a real loss. He lived until 1993. (I had to look all this up, of course.)

Jake, I like your comparison of *Revenge* to *Batman*. And I agree that Season 1 was quite good, but the storyline for Season 2 got muddled. Revenge would have made an excellent mini-series, but figuring how to keep spinning out plotlines and delaying a final Emily vs. Victoria showdown is problematic. Madeleine Stowe is perfect as the snotty, corrupt (but extremely stylish) rich woman you want to see brought down. By the way, she's certainly passed her TCM audition with flying colors, and this is a tough crowd!

Unfortunately, when Kevin Brownlow obtained rights to show the film clips included in the HOLLYWOOD series, that did not include future media, which is why there is no DVD of the series. I would love to see his series on TCM, but do not know if there are legal impediments to prevent that. Kevin Brownlow is a great friend of the network and has appeared at the festival more than once. He's an excellent speaker if you get the chance to hear him.

If anyone is interested in reading more about the background of *The Graduate*, you will enjoy Mark Harris' *Pictures at a Revolution*, an in-depth look at the five Best Picture nominees for 1967. Doris Day and Robert Redford in *The Graduate*? Jean-Luc Godard directing Terence Stamp and Alexandra Stewart in *Bonnie and Clyde*? Just a few of the preliminary ideas in the evolution of these films. Edited by: kingrat on Sep 11, 2013 7:38 PM

Another perspective: my other half, who doesn't regard himself as a classic film fan, started watching episode 2 and got very interested in it. He only tuned out when Lars von Trier had trouble forming a coherent word about Dreyer. (Cousins really needed to edit, if not omit, that interview.) Yes, there are inaccuracies, and these need to be pointed out. Yes, the Christmas ornament was silly. Nonetheless, this can be an exciting introduction for some people. There was a great deal of skipping around in time in episode 2. Although this weakens *The Story of Film* as history, if you can accept it as a personal essay, this doesn't matter so much. Cousins is especially good at showing how the lighting and shot composition work, as several people have noted, and this is most valuable. "Classical" is a word with quite a few different meanings, as is "romantic," and Cousins should at least define how he wants to use his terms. Using "classical" to mean "realistic," or vice versa, is a huge stretch. On the plus side, Cousins has made people eager to see some of the films he mentioned, and that's definitely a good thing.

I'm another one who's hoping that *Act of Violence* will get one of the plum evening spots. Such a good film, with a terrific performance by Mary Astor. I hope that Mary's tribute will have 40-50 films rather than just a couple of dozen. In any event, she's a most worthy choice for Star of the Month.

*Accattone* and *Los Olvidados* are scheduled in the next few months, in conjunction with *The Story of Film*.

SueSue, this is great news. Concerning *Laura*: for some time it was believed that Fox would not license certain of those most famous titles, such as *Laura*. I now wonder if there are any Fox titles off limits, if they are letting TCM show *Laura*. RO interviewing Olivia. Mother Dolores Hart as a guest programmer. Mary Astor as January Star of the Month. Wow!

Mark, do not miss *One Week*. This is the Keaton film where the house falls down around him. There are other classic moments, too.

Bronislau Kaper's music for *A Life of Her Own* is great, and Ann Dvorak is unforgettable.

KonaRose, I don't believe *Mirage* has ever been shown on TCM. It's a well-made thriller with a strong cast. I hope that TCM can arrange to show it. It would also be a great choice for the TCM Film Festival, as Diane Baker is a good friend of Robert Osborne. When she attended the festival a couple of years ago, she seemed to be in excellent health. *Mirage* is available (or it used to be, anyway) in a package of Gregory Peck films if you'd like your own copy.

I started watching *Le Havre*, not intending to continue, but it was quite good, well acted and smartly directed. Although the plot revolves around a young immigrant from Gabon, the film is really about some interesting working class people in their 60s and how they react to various situations.

Gagman, like you I enjoyed the first episode of *The Story of Film* very much and am curious to see how the series unfolds. The clear examples of different kinds of editing would be very useful for students in an Intro to Film course. TCM festivalgoers had to love the shot of Grauman's Chinese and the attention to the Hollywood at Highland outdoor mall's recreation of some of the Babylon set of *Intolerance*. Edited by: kingrat on Sep 3, 2013 7:11 PM