kingrat
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Posts posted by kingrat
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Trials of Oscar Wilde (1960, dir. Ken Hughes), viewed online. Two of the reels had German subtitles, but that wasn't too distracting. Oscar Wilde (dir. Gregory Ratoff) was released the same year, which probably killed the box office for both. Those interested in Wilde may want to search out both. Ratoff's picture is in black and white and has a low budget; Trials has beautiful color cinematography and enough money for gorgeous sets and costumes.
If Robert Morley (Ratoff) is too old and too heavy to play Oscar--he had made a name for himself in the late 30s playing Wilde, and he must have been perfect for the role then--Peter Finch (Hughes) doesn't look like Wilde at all, despite the makeup. However, although Finch is hardly ideal casting, he is a good actor who does his considerable best, and I came to enjoy his work a good bit. John Fraser is just about perfect as the shallow, manipulative, emotionally volatile Bosie to Finch's Oscar. James Mason is a fine choice to play Sir Edward Carson, who represented the Marquess of Queensbury in the first trial. (Ralph Richardson is also first-rate as Carson in the Ratoff film.)
Lionel Jeffries probably gives the best performance of all as Queensbury, close to mania yet not without moments where we can sympathize with him. Astonishingly, Jeffries was only 33 when he made the film, about six years older than John Fraser, who played his son.
Given the mores of 1960, Trials spares us from the explicit nature of some of the testimony, and shows us only one of the men with whom Wilde was accused of having "indecent relations."
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The most remarkable aspect of Teresa Wright's career was that she went from playing an ingenue in The Best Years of Our Lives to playing the mother of an ingenue in The Actress in only seven years.
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Tom, I have always thought that those who expect boxing to be honest are like Charlie Brown believing that this time Lucy won't pull away the football.
Thank you for supplying the background to The Harder They Fall. That makes me want to see this movie. Primo Carnera appears as a wrestler called The Python in A Kid for Two Farthings.
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Sherry Lansing the sexiest studio exec? Louis B. Mayer will be SO offended!
William Wyler's Counsellor-at-Law gives us a look at two future directors: Vincent Sherman as the Communist agitator who's been arrested and Richard Quine as John Barrymore's snotty stepson.
Sidney Lumet was a child star on Broadway.
Bryan Forbes has supporting roles in a ton of British WWII movies. For instance, he's the only prisoner short enough to try a particular escape route in The Colditz Story. He plays William Holden's second in command in The Key. Another good role is the gigolo in The League of Gentlemen. His friend Richard Attenborough turned to directing after a long career as an actor.
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Although he had some solid TV credits before his first movie, Splendor in the Grass was a smashing film debut for Warren Beatty. (I'm not sure he ever equaled that performance, but that's another story.)
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I love Kon Ichikawa. I bought a copy of The Burmese Harp on ebay quite a while ago and it is still waiting for me.
I also love Kon Ichikawa and wish that more of his films were readily available. The Burmese Harp is wonderful, as Lawrence says.
The Red Balloon also gets the highest recommendation. One of the greatest short films ever.
Death of a Scoundrel is one of those surprisingly good films with a really obscure director. Charles Martin: who?? George Sanders is always well cast as a scoundrel. His brother Tom Conway is in this one, too, and Zsa Zsa Gabor. If you like noir or George Sanders, check it out. TCM does show it from time to time.
Patterns is another entry in the 1950s genre of films about big business--Executive Suite, The Power and the Prize, Woman's World, etc. Script by Rod Serling, good cast.
There's Always Tomorrow is another strong film from Douglas Sirk. Barbara Stanwyck, now a powerful businesswoman, looks up her old love, Fred MacMurray, who has a wife (Joan Bennett) and two adolescent children. Fred's wife is clearly not interested in sex any more, and he's tempted to ignite an affair with Stanwyck. The story moves along familiar lines, but Sirk and his three stars make something more of it than you would expect.
Diane stars Lana Turner as the famous courtesan Diane de Poitiers. The real star of the movie, however, is Walter Plunkett, who designed Lana's costumes. Lana wears a different gown in each scene, each one gorgeous, and each one flattering to Lana. The final black and silver stunner is the greatest of all. Watching Marisa Pavan as Catherine de Medici, I can't imagine that she wouldn't become a big star. There's also the young and hunkalicious Roger Moore as the man who truly loves Lana.
Miracle in the Rain is not for all tastes, but if you like 1940s romantic dramas, this is the last of them, set appropriately during WWII in New York City. Jane Wyman works as a secretary and looks after her demanding mother (Josephine Hutchinson) when she isn't working. Van Johnson is the GI she meets by accident; he falls for her and pursues her. The fantasy or supernatural element of the ending is left open to interpretation; I can accept it because of the unflinching realism of Wyman's workplace and the difficulty of her life at home. To see Jane Wyman in films like The Yearling, Johnny Belinda, The Blue Veil, All That Heaven Allows, and Miracle in the Rain is to understand what a fine actress she was.
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Concerning three outstanding French films from 1956:
La Traversee de Paris (The Crossing of Paris, aka Four Bags Full, aka A Pig Across Paris): It's not surprising that Bourvil and Jean Gabin received various awards or nominations for this film. Truffaut did everything he could to wreck Claude Autant-Lara's reputation, but even Truffaut considered this film a masterpiece. Paris is under Nazi occupation, and the locals are starving. Bourvil acquires four suitcases full of pork, which would be worth a lot of money on the black market. Of course, if the Nazis catch him, he'll be shot. Unfortunately, he must rely on a stranger (Jean Gabin) to carry the other two suitcases across Paris. Imagine a French Billy Wilder comedy and you'll have a good idea of what this film is like. About three years ago Bruce Goldstein was supposed to bring out a restored version to be called A Pig Across Paris, but I'm not sure if that ever happened.
Gervaise: Maria Schell received much acclaim and a Venice Film Festival award for her performance in the title role. Adapted from Zola's novel L'Assommoir and very well directed by Rene Clement. Gervaise and her husband, hard-working blue collar types, are getting by until the husband is injured in a fall. Things begin to go bad, and Gervaise slips into alcoholism. One of the most memorable scenes is a fight between Maria Schell and Suzy Delair. Less depressing than it sounds, mainly because of Clement's direction. This is available from Criterion.
Voici le temps des assassins: This Julien Duvivier film noir has been praised by Truffaut, Chabrol, and Bertrand Tavernier, among others. Strongly recommended to noir enthusiasts. The film opens with an extended scene set in Les Halles, which is now a mostly underground shopping area of no particular distinction. Jean Gabin owns a restaurant nearby. Who should turn up looking for work but the daughter of his ex-wife, an attractive young woman played by Daniele Delorme (she had starred in the non-musical film of Gigi). She says that her mother (Lucienne Bogaert) has died. A young medical student played by Gerard Blain (Le Beau Serge, Les Cousins) falls for her, but she seems to be more interested in her former stepfather. Things develop from there. I like the way we can't be sure early in the film what direction it will take. Great performances by Gabin, Delorme, Bogaert, and Gabrielle Fontan as a cranky old lady known as Madame Jules who works for Gabin. I'm getting to be a big fan of Duvivier. This film was seen online.
By the way, I don't understand why Gerard Blain didn't become a big international star. He had the looks and the talent.
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Do you consider Sidney Poitier a lead in Something of Value along with Rock Hudson?
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God WILD RIVER was beautiful!
I'm glad you liked it so much. I couldn't agree more. The autumnal cinematography is beautiful, and the scene on the raft as Lee Remick and Monty drift across the river while she sings "The Garden" is one of my favorites in all cinema.
This is one of the few classic Hollywood films about the South that rings true. It's historically accurate that TVA was an important force for integration to parts of the South.
I also love that the main conflict is good vs. good--the need to save lives by damming the river vs. Ella Garth's natural desire to keep her home.
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Paul Newman is not very good in The Silver Chalice. He would like to have bought up all the copies and destroyed them. Fortunately, he quickly learned a lot as an actor and made the most of his opportunities.
The Silver Chalice is one of my guilty pleasures. Jack Palance and Virginia Mayo are quite entertaining, and the set design is very good.
It took a long time for Jane Wyman and Ellen Burstyn to achieve star status.
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When I saw The Ten Commandments this March on the big screen as part of the series TCM is showing across the country, I was surprised at how good a film it is. It held my attention consistently through nearly four hours. The actors are mostly good, the color cinematography of Loyal Griggs is outstanding, the parting of the Red Sea is one of the memorable special effects, and DeMille knows how to mix romance, religion, showmanship, politics, and a little comedy.
In some ways, the screenplay was the biggest surprise. Perhaps because of the immense significance of Moses to both Judaism and Christianity, and the dangers involved in favoring certain religious interpretations of the story over others, the film foregrounds political matters. What makes a good leader? The Pharoah Seti (Cedric Hardwicke) has been an effective and well-liked ruler, and he must decide on his successor: Ramses (Yul Brynner) or Moses (Charlton Heston). Seti refrains from choosing too early. The portrayal of Ramses is a surprisingly subtle and penetrating study of an ambitious man with plenty of charisma, one who wants to rule and can inspire people to follow him, but who is ruled by his emotions and his natural bent for cruelty.
According to some sources, the studio pushed Yvonne DeCarlo, Debra Paget, and John Derek for Oscar nominations--to my mind, the handsome Derek gives the weakest performance in the film--rather than Nina Foch, Martha Scott, Cedric Hardwicke, or Edward G. Robinson.
Anne Baxter's Nefretiri is the Lizabeth Scott of ancient Egypt, falling for the good Moses, but when spurned by him, ready to use some femme fatale wiles. She has the ripest--overripe--dialogue.
In some ways The Ten Commandments is the Biblical version of Gone With the Wind, and like its predecessor it gives us lots of memorable characters. Watching this in bits and pieces on television does not do it justice.
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I need to re-visit both The Bad Seed and The King and I for various acting categories. I'll agree that the lead actress category is a bit sketchy this year. The supporting categories are strong, however. The King and I is scheduled on the big screen later this month in various cities in TCM's ongoing series.
Best Actor for 1956:
James Mason, BIGGER THAN LIFE****
Jean Gabin, VOICI LE TEMPS DES ASSASSINS
Yul Brynner, THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
Yul Brynner, THE KING AND I
John Wayne, THE SEARCHERS
George Sanders, DEATH OF A SCOUNDREL
Honorable mention: Bourvil, LA TRAVERSEE DE PARIS; Kirk Douglas, LUST FOR LIFE; Jean Gabin, LA TRAVERSEE DE PARIS; Fred MacMurray, THERE'S ALWAYS TOMORROW
Best Actress for 1956:
Jane Wyman, MIRACLE IN THE RAIN****
Maria Schell, GERVAISE
Deborah Kerr, THE KING AND I
Audrey Hepburn, WAR AND PEACE
Ingrid Bergman, ANASTASIA
Honorable mention: Daniele Delorme, VOICI LE TEMPS DES ASSASSINS; Nancy Kelly, THE BAD SEED; Vera Miles, THE WRONG MAN; Barbara Stanwyck, THERE'S ALWAYS TOMORROW
Best Supporting Actor for 1956:
Elisha Cook, Jr., THE KILLING****
Mark Rydell, CRIME IN THE STREETS
Timothy Carey, THE KILLING
Cedric Hardwicke, THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
Jay C. Flippen, THE KILLING
Honorable mention: Ed Begley, PATTERNS; Lee Marvin, SEVEN MEN FROM NOW; Anthony Quinn, LUST FOR LIFE; Edward G. Robinson, THE TEN COMMANDMENTS; Robert Stack, WRITTEN ON THE WIND
Best Supporting Actress for 1956:
Marie Windsor, THE KILLING****
Marisa Pavan, DIANE
Brenda de Banzie, THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
Nina Foch, THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
Helen Hayes, ANASTASIA
Honorable mention: Lucienne Bogaert, VOICI LE TEMPS DES ASSASSINS; Gabrielle Fontan, VOICI LE TEMPS DES ASSASSINS; Eileen Heckart, THE BAD SEED; Celeste Holm, HIGH SOCIETY; Keiko Kishi, EARLY SPRING; Dorothy Malone, WRITTEN ON THE WIND; Mercedes McCambridge, GIANT; Martha Scott, THE TEN COMMANDMENTS; Jane Withers, GIANT
Couple of the Year: Elisha Cook, Jr. and Marie Windsor in THE KILLING
Star of the Year: Yul Brynner
Juvenile Performance: Patty McCormack, THE BAD SEED
Best Costumes: Walter Plunkett, DIANE
Tightest Costumes: TRAPEZE
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Lorna, I had never thought about Jean Harlow and Art Deco, but it does make sense.
Hope you enjoy Wild River. It's a favorite.
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The only problem I have with profanity in movies or TV is that it's a crutch for weak writers. When you can get some kind of reaction from the audience by using profanity (and feel like the baddest kid in middle school by using those words), why bother to write better dialogue? I get extremely bored when each episode of Suits has to have the requisite uses of s***. On the other hand, I love the line in Fat City when a character says that his messed-up girlfriend "had an unhappy childhood and s*** like that." A good writer like Huston knows when to use profanity and when not to use it.
I do not want to see violent movies. The quick outbursts of violence in Anthony Mann noirs and westerns are about my limit. If you identify with the victims, horror movies and violent action films are not enjoyable.
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I see the argument for Dean as supporting in Giant because Hudson and Taylor have more screen time, but it seems more like a lead.
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TOP TEN FILMS OF 1956:
THE SEARCHERS
THE KILLING
A MAN ESCAPED
THE BURMESE HARP
VOICI LE TEMPS DES ASSASSINS
BIGGER THAN LIFE
DEATH OF A SCOUNDREL
GERVAISE
SEVEN MEN FROM NOW
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
Alternate: LA TRAVERSEE DE PARIS
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Notes on a few 1955 films:
Few filmmakers make a debut as dazzling as Welles with Citizen Kane, but Satyajit Ray certainly comes close with Pather Panchali. Inspired by Rossellini, but far surpassing him in the fidelity to ordinary life and without his ideological concerns, and at the same time so perfectly storyboarded that each shot looks like perfection.
Death of a Cyclist is an excellent Spanish noir, which TCM has shown and may well show again. Lucia Bose is particularly notable in the leading role.
June Allyson would not ordinarily come close to making my top five for Best Actress, but she and Jose Ferrer are both top-notch in The Shrike. He's a theater director who ends up in a mental institution. June Allyson, as usual, plays a 1950s perfect wife, but has she been undermining him all along? A critique of the 50s as well as a well-made melodrama.
Marianne de ma jeunesse (Marianne of My Youth) is yet another outstanding film from Julien Duvivier. If you like Cocteau, this is especially recommended. A young man of 18 from Argentina arrives at a boys' school in the mountains. In a chateau, said to be haunted, at the other end of the lake, he meets and falls for a mysterious young woman (Marianne Hold). Duvivier catches the perfect blend of realism and fable. He also made a German version, Marianne meine Jugendliebe, which launched the career of Horst Buchholz.
Cast a Dark Shadow is obviously based on a play, but that doesn't seem to matter, given the great cast and firm direction from Lewis Gilbert. Dirk Bogarde plays a young man bent on marrying for money, with little concern for how long his wife survives. Mona Washbourne is the much older woman he has married; his attentions later turn to Margaret Lockwood; and then Kay Walsh turns up on the scene. All four are terrific.
Possibly the best directed scene in any 1955 scene is the biggest scene of East of Eden, when Cal (James Dean) confronts his mother Cathy (Jo Van Fleet) at her office in the brothel. If you look at the lighting and camera placement in each shot, you'll see how it changes with every emotional change (every "beat," as actors would say) of the scene. In the first shot we see Cathy and her mirrored image, with Cal only a small image in a mirror as he enters the room. At the one moment of the scene where Cathy comes close to maternal feelings for Cal, she is finally in as much light as he is. This doesn't last, however. Dean and Van Fleet are both great in the scene, and this is where she earned her Oscar, but the direction and lighting do their part to assist.
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Slayton, I completely agree about The Light in the Piazza. And about George Hamilton giving a perfectly respectable performance. (He's good in Home from the Hill, too.)
Some of the credit must go to the underlying strength of Elizabeth Spencer's novella, which has also been turned into a successful opera. Some of the credit has to go to Guy Green, for getting such good work from his cast. His films from this period (e.g., The Angry Silence) are generally pretty good.
Some of the credit goes to Olivia, who still knows how to carry a film.
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1955 shows us how much Oscar and the voters of the time were impressed by Broadway hits: Picnic, Mister Roberts and The Rose Tattoo were all nominated for best picture. (I need to see the last two again.) In 1958 movies based on plays will claim four of the five best picture nominations.
Best Actor for 1955:
James Dean, EAST OF EDEN****
Robert Mitchum, NIGHT OF THE HUNTER
Laurence Olivier, RICHARD III
Spencer Tracy, BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK
Ernest Borgnine, MARTY
Honorable mention: Gunnar Bjornstrand, SMILES OF A SUMMER NIGHT; Dirk Bogarde, CAST A DARK SHADOW; James Dean, REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE; Jose Ferrer, THE SHRIKE; Cary Grant, TO CATCH A THIEF; Alec Guinness, THE LADYKILLERS; Jean Servais, RIFIFI; Frank Sinatra, THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM
Best Actress for 1955:
Julie Harris, EAST OF EDEN****
Katharine Hepburn, SUMMERTIME
Anna Magnani, THE ROSE TATTOO
Jane Wyman, ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS
Shirley MacLaine, THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY
Honorable mention: June Allyson, THE SHRIKE; Eva Dahlbeck, SMILES OF A SUMMER NIGHT; Lucia Bose, DEATH OF A CYCLIST; Bette Davis, THE VIRGIN QUEEN; Susan Hayward, I'LL CRY TOMORROW; Celia Johnson, A KID FOR TWO FARTHINGS; Jennifer Jones, GOOD MORNING, MISS DOVE; Jennifer Jones, LOVE IS A MANY-SPLENDORED THING; Grace Kelly, TO CATCH A THIEF; Deborah Kerr, THE END OF THE AFFAIR; Marianne Hold, MARIANNE DE MA JEUNESSE; Simone Signoret, DIABOLIQUE; Jean Simmons, GUYS AND DOLLS
Best Supporting Actor for 1955:
Sal Mineo, REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE****
Raymond Massey, EAST OF EDEN
Arthur Kennedy, THE MAN FROM LARAMIE
David Kossoff, A KID FOR TWO FARTHINGS
Richard Conte, I'LL CRY TOMORROW
Honorable mention: Ernest Borgnine, BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK; Carlos Casaravilla, DEATH OF A CYCLIST; Donald Crisp, THE MAN FROM LARAMIE; John Gielgud, RICHARD III; Edmund Gwenn, THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY; Stubby Kaye, GUYS AND DOLLS; Robert Ryan, BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK; Peter Ustinov, LOLA MONTES; Oskar Werner, LOLA MONTES
Best Supporting Actress for 1955:
Jo Van Fleet, EAST OF EDEN****
Aline MacMahon, THE MAN FROM LARAMIE
Jessie Royce Landis, TO CATCH A THIEF
Charlotte Greenwood, OKLAHOMA!
Kay Walsh, CAST A DARK SHADOW
Honorable mention: Margit Carlquist, SMILES OF A SUMMER NIGHT; Dolores Gray, IT'S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER; Mildred Natwick, THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY; Jo Van Fleet, I'LL CRY TOMORROW; Mona Washbourne, CAST A DARK SHADOW
Guilty Pleasure Award: (tied) QUEEN BEE and SINCERELY YOURS
Draped in Despair Award for Biggest Waste of a Great Cast: In most years THE BIG KNIFE would win easily, but THE COBWEB put curtains to that notion.
Least Likely Triangle Award: Joanne Dru and Dorothy Malone competing for the favors of Liberace in SINCERELY YOURS
Best Line of the Year: Jessie Royce Landis in TO CATCH A THIEF (at a champagne gala): Avez-vous BOURBON?"
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Cora, I definitely see Julie Harris as a lead. Hadn't thought about Katie Johnson, but you can certainly make a case for her as a lead.
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I forgot to mention my guilty pleasure of 1953, A Lion Is in the Streets. Jimmy Cagney as a Cajun politician who calls everyone "folkses" ('cause that's how us Suthun folkses talk) is nothing compared to the delights of the scene where Anne Francis as the swamp gal Flamingo tries to feed Barbara Hale to the alligators.
Favorite line of dialogue: Anne Francis (when she catches sight of Barbara Hale): "Who all's that?"
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Did we ever decide whether Betsy Blair has a leading role in Marty? It seems that way to me.
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Although TCM has shown A Kid for Two Farthings, it isn't well known, even if it is directed by Carol Reed. Although Reed is best known, understandably, for his wonderful films of the 1940s, both A Kid for Two Farthings and The Key (1958) seem to me to have a greater emotional depth than his earlier films.
A Kid for Two Farthings is a kind of fable, set in the very specific location of the East End of London, which had a large Jewish population. A boy (played by Rosalie Crutchley's son) misses his father, who is missing in WWII. Celia Johnson plays the sympathetic mother. When the boy sees a one-horned goat, he believes it's a unicorn. Some of the characters he comes in contact with include Diana Dors, who looks smashing, and Primo Carnera as a wrestler called The Python. The film mixes drama, comedy, tears, and a lament for the losses suffered by the Jews. The excellent script is by Wolf Mankowitz. Reed does a fine job of balancing the different elements. People who like this film will probably like it a lot.
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TOP TEN FILMS OF 1955:
PATHER PANCHALI
RIFIFI
SMILES OF A SUMMER NIGHT
ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS
EAST OF EDEN
SUMMERTIME
A KID FOR TWO FARTHINGS
THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER
BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK
TO CATCH A THIEF
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Top Ten Films of...
in Your Favorites
Posted
Hollywood made some fine films in 1957, but this was an incredible year for foreign films.
TOP TEN FILMS FOR 1957:
THE SEVENTH SEAL
NIGHTS OF CABIRIA
IL GRIDO
THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI
KANAL
THRONE OF BLOOD
WILD STRAWBERRIES
A FACE IN THE CROWD
12 ANGRY MEN
THE CRANES ARE FLYING