kingrat
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Posts posted by kingrat
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TCM just showed PURPLE NOON in their much-appreciated salute to Alain Delon. Apparently there's a restoration of PURPLE NOON which will be shown at the Cannes Film Festival this year. If an English-subtitled version is available, this would be a great choice for the 2014 festival.
Or the 2015 festival, or whenever it becomes available.
One of the most-requested films for TCM has been another Rene Clement film, THIS ANGRY AGE (aka THE SEA WALL, aka BARRAGE CONTRE LE PACIFIQUE) (1958). Jo Van Fleet as a possessive mother, Anthony Perkins and Silvana Mangano as her children, and with Richard Conte and Alida Valli also in the cast. Apparently rights issues have prevented release on VHS or DVD or a TCM showing. But if one of the cinematheques would loan a print, wouldn't this be a catch for the festival?
We can dream!
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The Ricardo Cortez version of THE MALTESE FALCON strongly suggests that Cairo, Gutman, and Wilmer are all homosexual. When Dudley Digges as Gutman says that Wilmer is like a son to him, this is clearly not what he means.
In OUT OF THE PAST the deaf kid played by Dickie Moore has a teenage crush on Mitchum. This is perhaps pre-sexual rather than sexual.
In THE KILLING the old man played by Jay C. Flippen has a crush on Sterling Hayden and suggests that after the loot is divided, the two of them go away together by themselves. When Hayden tells him he's going to marry his girlfriend, Flippen puts down women and marriage.
In ODDS AGAINST TOMORROW we see several African-American women making eyes at the handsome Harry Belafonte. Then Richard Bright also gives him the eye. Not a line for the censors to object to, but unmistakable if you're paying attention.
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Yes, he directed SEANCE ON A WET AFTERNOON, WHISTLE DOWN THE WIND, THE WRONG BOX, and THE WHISPERERS, among the other titles already mentioned.
TCM had already scheduled an evening of his films for the July schedule. Unfortunately, that will now be a memorial tribute.
Fedya, thanks very much for posting this. I would love for the TCM Film Festival to program KING RAT with some combination of Tom Courtenay, James Fox, George Segal, or perhaps Forbes' widow, Nanette Newman, in attendance. The recent film QUARTET showed that Tom Courtenay, at least, is in great shape for his age.
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{font:Calibri}Scarecrow (1973), a road film about two drifters played by Gene Hackman and Al Pacino, is a longtime favorite of Leonard Maltin, who introduced and interviewed its director, Jerry Schatzberg, at the 2013 TCM Film Festival. Maltin felt that the movie had held up 100% when the DVD came out a few years ago. The new restoration does justice to Vilmos Zsigmond’s outstanding cinematography, and this version will be shown later in the month at the Film Forum in New York.{font}
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{font:Calibri}Schatzberg was a fashion photographer who was struck by the way the fashion industry elevates a model to stardom for two or three years, then discards her. He interviewed a model (identified in other sources as Anne St. Marie) for three and a half hours, and this was the genesis for his first film, Puzzle of a Downfall Child, starring Faye Dunaway. He thought this would be his only film, and was especially upset that the last six minutes of his film had been scratched. Therefore, he turned down the opportunity to direct The Panic in Needle Park when this was offered to him.{font}
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{font:Calibri}However, he reconsidered when he learned that Al Pacino was interested in the script. Before he had ever directed, Schatzberg saw a play called The Indian Wants the Bronx, starring Pacino. At the play he turned to a friend and said, “This guy is so powerful, if I ever make a film, I want him.” Kitty Winn, who also stars in The Panic in Needle Park, was present at the showing of Scarecrow. Schatzberg introduced her, praised her, and wanted everyone to know that she had won the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival.{font}
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{font:Calibri}Gene Hackman was paranoid that Schatzberg and Pacino had worked together before, but that was something Schatzberg felt he could use in the film. During the first week of rehearsal, Hackman told Schatzberg he never got along with his directors, but they actually got along fine. Hackman liked the fact that Scarecrow was mostly shot in sequence, as the production moved from Bakersfield to Denver to Detroit like the characters in the story.{font}
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{font:Calibri}Vilmos Zsigmond told Schatzberg that the film was like a fairy tale. Leonard Maltin praised the opening shot of the film, a long-held shot of Gene Hackman walking down a hill to a two-lane road, which is intercut with two quick shots of Al Pacino staring (I would say lovingly) at Hackman. During the first take of this scene, Hackman walked a little bit, then waved his hand to end the take. He asked Schatzberg why he was walking down the hill. Schatzberg made up a story that Hackman had just gotten off a train and was walking into town for a meal, and this satisfied Hackman.{font}
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{font:Calibri}Schatzberg used a lot of non-professionals they cast along the way. In one bar scene they used a number of bar regulars and had to pay them not to drink during the filming that day.{font}
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{font:Calibri}In the scene where Hackman and Pacino get breakfast in a diner, Hackman didn’t like the actress who played the waitress. (She appears only briefly in the finished film.) Trying to use this, Schatzberg told her to switch the orders of the two characters. When she does, Hackman adlibs a sarcastic “This your first day?” Schatzberg said he never cut on Hackman, he just let the camera roll. In this scene, after it is supposedly over, Hackman says, “Give me a bottle of beer and a chocolate doughnut,” which cracks up Pacino. Schatzberg left this in.{font}
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{font:Calibri}Scarecrow opened well, then Warner Brothers opened The Exorcist and ignored Scarecrow. The film has just been rediscovered in England and received a fantastic response at the Lyons Film Festival, the European equivalent of the TCM festival.{font}
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{font:Calibri}Before The Killing was shown at the festival, Dennis Bartok interviewed Coleen Gray. She needed assistance getting on and off stage, but mentally was quite sharp and seemed very much like the sweet character she often played. Though it’s only hearsay, she has heard that Stanley Kubrick was looking for a “Coleen Gray type” and someone said, “What about Coleen Gray?” He did not interview her.{font}
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{font:Calibri}She had heard he was a brilliant up-and-comer, so she went to see Killer’s Kiss, which was playing in Inglewood on the lower half of a double bill with Summertime. [You have to love the way Hollywood marketed their films.] At the end of Killer’s Kiss, there was spontaneous applause, which hadn’t occurred for Summertime.{font}
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{font:Calibri}Sterling Hayden had been in the OSS. He was quiet and she was quiet; her code of conduct was not to interrupt another actor’s train of thought. Hayden was a gentleman who knew what he was supposed to do. She thought he was perfect in the movie. As she said, her scenes were “bookends” in the film, so she didn’t work with actors like Timothy Carey. She hadn’t met him before but had seen him baring his teeth in films.{font}
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{font:Calibri}Kubrick’s wife, Ruth Slobotka, was the art director. She remembers that Ruth Slobotka wanted the curtains to hang at a certain angle, then the set man later came by and straightened them, RS later came back on set and re-arranged them, etc. She said she wanted to watch the movie again to see how the curtains finally looked. (Darn it, I forgot to look for this.){font}
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{font:Calibri}She had imagined that this new genius would invest her with new qualities. In actuality, Kubrick didn’t give her notes. He just printed the scene. (My take is that Coleen Gray gave the qualities her character needed, so Kubrick didn’t interfere with something that worked.) Kubrick did do a good bit of work with Marie Windsor, who has, as Coleen Gray noted, the leading female role.{font}
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{font:Calibri}Coleen Gray suggested that a good story is the apex of the triangle with the director at the left of the base and the actors on the right. She was thrilled and delighted by the finished film—which was indeed the reaction of the audience at the festival.{font}
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{font:Calibri}Really, what’s not to like about The Killing? I could note that the ending is taken from a famous John Huston film, but it works well here, too. Sterling Hayden is at his best (he did not seem remarkable to me in Johnny Guitar or The Asphalt Jungle, or maybe he just got overshadowed by gifted co-stars in the latter film). Coleen Gray is right as the nice girl who’ll go along with her man even against her better judgment. The script is a well-oiled machine. Hey, someone has to play a wacko killer: how about Timothy Carey? The audience loved him, just as they loved Elisha Cook, Jr. and Marie Windsor as a less than perfect couple. We relished every line and every glance. People left the theater talking about Cook and Windsor. I also loved Kola Kariani as the combination chessmaster/thug. What a marvelous conception.{font}
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{font:Calibri}CineMaven and I chatted after the film about the Jay C. Flippen character. She asked if I thought he seemed to have a crush on Sterling Hayden when he suggests that the two of them go off together and disparages the idea of Hayden marrying. Yes, that’s exactly what I saw, and I have little doubt that’s what the actor and director intended. {font}
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{font:Calibri}Kubrick’s direction is outstanding. Notice, for instance, the way he introduces several characters with panning shots which carry them past places which will be significant in the story. Some of the scenes with Marie Windsor and Elisha Cook, Jr. are done in long takes, which you may not notice because the dialogue is so good. One woman who teaches film said that The Killing changed her view of Kubrick, and I agreed. This is definitely my favorite; I prefer the films before 2001: A Space Odyssey where actors and story are as important as directorial effects. Concepts become much more important than characters in his later films, but The Killing is one of those fortunate films where everything seems to have gone right.{font}
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{font:Calibri}Some things we learned at the “Meet TCM” panel:{font}
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{font:Calibri}--The network is working on streaming.{font}
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{font:Calibri}--We were told there would be a big announcement later in the weekend. This turned out to be that TCM is partnering with Disney for their cruise.{font}
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{font:Calibri}--In various cable markets TCM fights to be part of the basic cable package. The film festival and growing their brand are part of their argument to be included.{font}
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{font:Calibri}--They print out the suggestions from Suggest-a-Movie and read them. Sometimes there are hundreds a day.{font}
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{font:Calibri}--Charlie Tabesh, the chief programmer, said that Tyrone Power and Marilyn Monroe are Fox stars he’d like to be Stars of the Month. Marilyn Monroe is the biggest star not to have been SOTM.{font}
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{font:Calibri}Wouldn’t Maggie Smith be a great featured guest for next year’s festival? With Downtown Abbey a huge hit, and films like The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Quartet coming out in the last year or so, she has never been more popular. She made a recent list of the 10 most appealing celebrities. Perhaps she could have the Max von Sydow spot for next year—and what a great idea it was to invite him—two films and an interview. {font}
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{font:Calibri}Possible films could be her Oscar-winning roles in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and California Suite; her Desdemona opposite Laurence Olivier as Othello; Travels With My Aunt; her Brit noir Nowhere to Hide, which was popular when recently shown on the network; Young Cassidy, opposite Rod Taylor; or The Pumpkin Eater, although her role is relatively small.{font}
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{font:Calibri}Given Cher’s recent appearances on TCM, another option would be to have both Cher and Maggie Smith on stage for Tea With Mussolini. Doesn’t that sound like something that would draw a crowd?{font}
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I clicked on the link, but found no blogs. Would love to read what the bloggers had to say.
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Fred, I'm a big fan of this film. Glad to see that others appreciate it, too. The flashback structure is so elegant.
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{font:Calibri}What an inspired idea for TCM to invite Max von Sydow to the festival, show two of his films, and interview him. When he was introduced at the interview, he received a long ovation from the packed room. He began by saying, “It’s very moving to be here.” We thought so, too. [My notes combine the afternoon interview by Leonard Maltin and the introduction to The Seventh Seal by Ben Mankiewicz.]{font}
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{font:Calibri}Among the American film actors he admired were Spencer Tracy (he mentioned Captains Courageous), Gary Cooper, and later John Wayne. Leslie Howard was a great hero during the war because he had great lines to put down the Nazis.{font}
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{font:Calibri}MVS’ family had no interest in acting or theater, but not far away from where they lived in southern Sweden was a municipal theater. His high school took the students to the theater to see classic plays. Films seemed too far away, but theater was a possibility. After he had worked for a couple of years as an actor in southern Sweden, he came to the theater where Ingmar Bergman directed. He did two plays in one season, and then Bergman asked him to do The Seventh Seal. It was usual for Bergman to use some of his theater actors in the film he would make during the summer. Moving from theater to film was not a difficult transition for Max, but he said that recently he saw the film again and was aware of his more theatrical approach.{font}
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{font:Calibri}As a director, Bergman was no different in the theater or on film. He had a very solid cultural and musical upbringing. He made the actors come close to their characters; especially on stage, he helped the actors make the familiar characters of the classics human. Bergman said that he was married to Thalia, goddess of theater, but his mistress was the movies. He had a great ability to make his actors love and be enthusiastic about the story. Bergman was not somber during the making of The Seventh Seal, though “a little different from the average Mr. Sweden”—quick, a bit sarcastic at times, not at all demonic. He had a wonderful sense of humor, but was very strict about demanding total silence during rehearsals. Max was disappointed that Bergman never asked him to be in any of his comedies.{font}
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{font:Calibri}The Seventh Seal was based on an early play by Bergman, The Wood Paintings, a series of monologues based on the paintings found in medieval churches in southern Sweden. The paintings were very naïve, sometimes rather funny, and Bergman used that. Bergman’s play was not really that good. Originally, Bergman asked him to play the clown, whom he described as a Picasso blue period clown. This excited Max. [it was not clear to me if the clown would be Jos the young father or Swat the older actor or a character which existed in the original play.] Later Bergman said he had changed his mind and wanted Max to play the knight. Max was disappointed, because in the play the knight had had his tongue cut out during the Crusades. He commented wryly that if he’d had any idea how powerful a non-speaking character in a film could be, he wouldn’t have been so disappointed. Bergman was also inspired by Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana.{font}
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{font:Calibri}Next, he talked about The Greatest Story Ever Told (too much to suit my buddy lzcutter). George Stevens said he wanted the film to be about Jesus the man, and Max became very interested and excited about the possibilities of playing this Jesus. He said that he doesn’t now think that the film got that. At first he was not happy about the idea of doing the film, but a prominent agent named Paul Conyer (this may not be the right spelling) was insistent. He had had no agent in Sweden. He had to sign an agreement to do seven films in order to get the part.{font}
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{font:Calibri}Stevens invited him to visit for a week to discuss the project. It was February. California must have seemed very appealing after the Swedish winter. Stevens showed him sketches for sets and costumes. Max was impressed that the poet Carl Sandburg, a Swedish immigrant, would be working on the script; Stevens and Sandburg spoke on the phone while Max was there.{font}
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{font:Calibri}Stevens worked slowly and kept the rushes secret from the producers. Typically, Stevens would set up a long shot, then move somewhat closer for the next shot, and so on, until he had close-ups of everyone from everyone else’s point of view. Then would begin the process all over again with the same scene shot against a different background. Because the film was taking so long, David Lean was called in to shoot in the studio while Stevens was at work in the Utah desert. Max joked that he was “very proud of doing the lead with John Wayne in a little role.” As the production went on, he became worried because he had contracts with theaters back in Sweden.{font}
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{font:Calibri}As an actor, he wants to understand what the director wants from the character, and then he wants to have freedom. He directed one film and enjoyed it, but he’s really an actor. Maybe if he had been younger he would have tried again. The process of directing a film goes on so long.{font}
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{font:Calibri}It is partly true that he played Ming the Merciless in Flash Gordon to amuse his grandchild, but Flash Gordon had been a childhood cartoon hero. He had been offered the part of Dr. No but turned it down. Later he did play a villain in a James Bond movie, Blofeld in Never Say Never Again. Blofeld was a tough part. In the first scene he had to give complicated financial instructions to his villain colleagues, all the while stroking an Angora kitten, which was sweet but not interested in film acting. He was letter perfect on the first take, but not the cat. On take 26, “finally the cat was brilliant.” Most of this scene was cut.{font}
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{font:Calibri}The Exorcist was “a remarkable film.” When they sent him the book, he thought they wanted him to play the young priest. It took four hours of makeup every morning to turn him into the old priest. He joked that “Today it would be easier.” Richard Smith was a wonderful makeup man. William Friedkin was a wonderful director, imaginative, and he knew the value of publicity, like hinting that all kinds of strange things were happening on the set. {font}
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{font:Calibri}The screenplay of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly moved him so much that he immediately wrote a fan letter to Ronald Harwood, the author.{font}
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{font:Calibri}Working with Woody Allen on Hannah and Her Sisters was a joy. He greatly admires Woody Allen, whose camera work is always interesting. Woody was nervous about working with Max because Bergman is one of the filmmakers he admires most, and the first day on the set Max would start over to introduce himself, but Woody was so nervous, he would disappear.{font}
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{font:Calibri}Steven Spielberg is a master, really good, a monument, and MvS would love to work with him again. The same is true of Scorsese. The film which means the most to him, however, is Pelle the Conqueror. It’s rare that even a leading part gives an actor the opportunity to do so many things.{font}
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{font:Calibri}He wasn’t Sydney Pollack’s first choice to play the assassin in Three Days of the Condor. By the way, Condor is one of Ben Mankiewicz’s top ten favorite films. Ben asked if Max thought Robert Redford is an underrated actor, and he agreed. Max said that Redford had been so successful that people decided to take him down a bit in Condor.{font}
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I love STRAY DOG, which captures the whole sense of cultural dislocation after Japan lost the war and was subject to a military occupation. The pickpocket's accomplice used to ride the subway in a kimono, but now she wears Western clothes. There's a great variety of Western music on the soundtrack, and notice the African-American soldiers in one scene, whose presence would represent a huge cultural shock to the Japanese.
The final confrontation of policeman and criminal is shot in broad daylight, not at all what you would expect, with someone playing a beautiful piano sonata in a nearby house. This is an extraordinary film, which I hope TCM will show again.
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It's great to see the love for STRAY DOG, one of my favorites. TCM did recently show PORT OF SHADOWS, which was sublime, and with LES VISITEURS DU SOIR available on Criterion, that increases the chance it will turn up on TCM.
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{font:Calibri}I haven’t seen that many of Frank’s 1938 films, and I always struggle with numbering a list, but here goes:{font}
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{font:Calibri}Candidate for all-time favorites list:{font}
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{font:Calibri}1. Port of Shadows{font}
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{font:Calibri}Among the best of the year, in no real order:{font}
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{font:Calibri}2. Jezebel (Wyler’s great direction, Bette at her best){font}
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{font:Calibri}3. Alexander Nevsky (haven’t seen this in decades; it might fall on a second viewing){font}
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{font:Calibri}4. La bête humaine{font}
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{font:Calibri}5. The Lady Vanishes{font}
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{font:Calibri}6. Bringing Up Baby{font}
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{font:Calibri}7. The Adventures of Robin Hood{font}
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{font:Calibri}8. Pygmalion{font}
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{font:Calibri}Just a cut below:{font}
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{font:Calibri}9. Holiday (falls off in last 15-20 minutes when it has to resolve the plot){font}
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{font:Calibri}10. Algiers{font}
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{font:Calibri}11. Four Daughters{font}
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{font:Calibri}12. Three Comrades{font}
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{font:Calibri}13. The Dawn Patrol{font}
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{font:Calibri}A cut below, but none of these are bad:{font}
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{font:Calibri}14. The Citadel{font}
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{font:Calibri}15. You Can’t Take It With You{font}
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{font:Calibri}16. Alexander’s Ragtime Band{font}
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{font:Calibri}17. Of Human Hearts{font}
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{font:Calibri}18. Carefree{font}
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NORTH DALLAS FORTY
BADLANDS
DAYS OF HEAVEN
FOUL PLAY
DOG DAY AFTERNOON
CHINATOWN
THE ONION FIELD
Edited by: kingrat on Apr 22, 2013 12:47 PM
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Hi, Frank! I like MOROCCO for Dietrich and for some of the moments in the film, but to me Cooper is good-looking but not very expressive. LOVE IN THE AFTERNOON divides the crowd: some love it, and some like me are so turned off by Cooper, who looks old and sick, which he was, as a possible romantic partner for Audrey Hepburn, that they simply reject the film.
In BALL OF FIRE Cooper shows that he can actually act, and what's more, do comedy. This is also one of my favorite Barbara Stanwyck performances, and it can count as both a favorite Howard Hawks film and a favorite Billy Wilder film.
I think THESE THOUSAND HILLS is a Fox film, so it may turn up on the Fox Movie Channel if you get that. We don't.
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Barrie Chase is one of the presenters for MAD MAD WORLD. Do you suppose she might end up at CAPE FEAR as well?
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I am glad to see so much love for THEY CAME TO CORDURA, one of the films which caused me to revise my opinion of Cooper as an actor, and one of my favorite westerns. Perhaps TCM can show this sometime.
A non-Cooper western I recommend to those who like CORDURA is THESE THOUSAND HILLS, with Don Murray and Lee Remick. Different themes, but very well done. TCM has never shown it, either.
The first Cooper films I saw were MOROCCO and LOVE IN THE AFTERNOON, and I didn't (and don't) much like Cooper in either. BALL OF FIRE and THEY CAME TO CORDURA showed me there was a great deal more to his work.
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Too bad that Polly Bergen had to cancel. I was looking forward to her appearance. Let's hope this was not for health reasons.
THE BIG PARADE is also on my maybe list. That afternoon & evening have several tempting offerings. The Max von Sydow interview and THE SEVENTH SEAL would be fine, THE TRAIN would look great on the big screen, THE TALL TARGET is most enjoyable . . . what to choose.
Edited by: kingrat on Apr 19, 2013 5:56 PM
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{font:Calibri}A few months ago we discussed the botched night scenes in THE DEADLY COMPANIONS. FredCDobbs mentioned the day for night shooting, and lzcutter mentioned the possible use of new film stock which the filmmakers didn’t understand how to use. Some believed that the film also is in need of restoration.{font}
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{font:Calibri}COLT .45, just shown on TCM, offers an excellent example of how to use night scenes effectively in color in a western. There are several, and the climactic showdown occurs at night. The colors seem right, and the viewer has no problem following the action. I don’t know if these scenes were actually shot at night, or if this is a result of superior cinematography. SPRINGFIELD RIFLE’s night scenes were less effective. The day scenes looked good, but the night scenes were too dark and the action was not easy to follow, though this was still considerably better than THE DEADLY COMPANIONS. Given Fred’s comments, I’d guess that day for night shooting might be responsible.{font}
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The other Sunday morning I tuned to an LA/Orange County station which had a show of kinder, gentler oldies for Sunday morning, and one of the picks was "Season of the Witch," which made no sense for the theme, but I love the song.
One of my favorite Donovan songs is "Hampstead Incident," another is "Guinevere" with its raga rock sound, and the complex guitar riff that opens "House of Jansch" is pretty awesome.
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SueSue, I don't see CHICAGO on the schedule. Am I just overlooking it? Wonder when and where they will be adding it?
Real fans obsess over every detail of the schedule, don't we?
A couple of our friends are over the moon about John Boorman and Burt Reynolds joining Jon Voight for the presentation of DELIVERANCE.
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SueSue, I don't know if you noticed it in the Festival 101 FAQ which TCM sent out yesterday, but:
"There is also a new cafe conveniently located inside the Chinese 6 Multiplex that will be serving a special Festival inspired menu of salads, sandwiches and entrees where attendees can eat while waiting for their next movie."
I don't know if that means that half of the lobby will be turned into a cafe, but this is great for fans. Previously the multiplex has had little beyond popcorn, candy, and soda.
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If I remember correctly, Myrna Loy was Wyler and Goldwyn's first choice for the role, but because it was really a supporting part, they figured the only way they could get her would be to offer her top billing, which was what happened. Dana Andrews, Fredric March, Teresa Wright, and Harold Russell all have bigger roles.
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You didn't see the movie? As the title says, COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS. I once saw the first half and gave up, and I like the stars and the director. In other films.
Next Year's Festival
in General Discussion
Posted
Some of the liveliest discussion in months on these boards concerned THERE'S ALWAYS TOMORROW. The independent filmmaker Allison Anders, who did a fine job introducing THE SWIMMER at this year's festival, has done a documentary about THERE'S ALWAYS TOMORROW. Doesn't it make sense to have her introduce this film in 2014? I'd love to see Russell Metty's excellent black-and-white cinematography on the big screen.
Looking over the list of movies set for the day honoring Maggie Smith this August simply confirms my belief that she would be a perfect choice as one of the featured stars next year.