ValentineXavier
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Posts posted by ValentineXavier
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> {quote:title=Kinokima wrote:}{quote}
> Captain Blood has Olivia & Basil but is missing Claude Rains
> The Sea Hawk has Claude Rains but is missing Olivia and Basil
>
> How do I decide between them? Everything else about the movies are pretty much equal to me.
*Captain Blood* is my favorite Flynn film, and my favorite swashbuckler, period. Flynn seems so fresh and energetic. It has loads of great character actors, like J. Carrol Naish, Guy Kibbie, Ross Alexander, Robert Barrat, and many more.
I love many elements of the film, like the fact that Dr. Blood is suspected of being a revolutionary, and isn't, but becomes one, because of his treatment.
I love his 'trial," where he is not allowed to produce witnesses, even though it is a capital case. To prove he is a doctor, he diagnoses the Lord who sits in judgment of him, thus making the judge a witness!
I love the pirate compact, with its payments for the loss of various body parts.
I love the two slave buying scenes, one where Blood is bought, and one where Arabella is 'bought,' and the sword fight that follows.
I love the ubiquitous Rev. Ogle who regularly interjects bits of scripture, as a timely warning.
I love the scene where Col. Bishop comes aboard the pirate ship, after Blood and his men have taken it.
I could go on and on, but you get the idea. *Captain Blood* is so alive, and so much fun, and has sort of a seat-of-the-pants feel to it.
*The Sea Hawk* is a fine film, but to me, pales by comparison. More of a historical epic, less fun.
*The Adventures of Robin Hood* is doubtless one of the best swashbucklers of all time, and I love it, too. But, it is a lavish color spectacle, very produced, while *Captain Blood* is gritty, which I prefer. But, hey, there is no reason at all not to see all three. And, add *The Adventures of Don Juan*. Even though it isn't as great as the other three, it's still an enjoyable Flynn swashbuckler.
Edited by: ValentineXavier on Jan 30, 2011 1:18 AM
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> {quote:title=TikiSoo wrote:}{quote}
> I was so happy to see a thread about Hale, my very favorite charactor actor. It seems Hale is in LOTS of pictures playing all sorts of different roles and believable in them all. I like the quality of himself he brings to these different roles, along with great humor.
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Whatever the role, he always seemed to have such enthusiasm! I liked him in pretty much everything, but I think he was at his best with Flynn.
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> {quote:title=kingrat wrote:}{quote}
>. ValX mentioned how good Marynell Santacroce is as the landlady, a part expanded for the film.
Credit where credit is due, it was Swithin who mentioned her. I would also mention Harry Dean Stanton, perfect to play Asa Hawks.
I was born, and partly raised, in Oklahoma, which is pretty religious, but not exactly Southern. Although lots of the characters seem familiar sorts, I'd say that Hazel himself would have faced some physical resistance for what would have been called his sacrilegious behavior. His character doesn't seem in the least bit familiar to me, and that is part of his charm.
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> {quote:title=mrroberts wrote:}{quote}
> Whoever is responsible for this should have to spend some time with "Fatso" in the stockade.
They should be assimilated by Borg-one.
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Elisha's crazed drumming looks like an outtake from Reefer Madness, and Ella Raines is one of my faves - so glad to see this film on TCM again!
One question - did anyone else notice that Ella followed up on all the witnesses, except the cab driver? They even state that there is no one else to be a witness, after two have died, and Estella has skipped town. I wonder if maybe they filmed a follow-up with the cabbie, and it got cut?
Also, it seems to me that once the hat maker's assistant admitted to making a duplicate hat, and who it was sold to, the actual hat wasn't that important as evidence.
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> {quote:title=finance wrote:}{quote}
> Allow me to correct the oversight of having Sophia as the only non-American on my list by adding Elke Sommer.
The oversight was yours. I had already mentioned Britt Ekland, Isabella Rosselini, Catherine Deneuve, Lupe Velez, Lena Olin, and Monica Bellucci.
OOPPS! I missed that you said *YOUR* list. I thought you meant everyone's lists... so sorry! my fault.
Edited by: ValentineXavier on Jan 29, 2011 11:12 PM
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> {quote:title=soniquemd21921 wrote:}{quote}
> I'm not homophobic at all, I'm just curious: why does Joan Crawford have such an enormous gay male following?
Because she acted like a guy, a sensitive guy...
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> {quote:title=MyFavoriteFilms wrote:}{quote}
> Let's say you can choose from three to five titles, silent or sound, from any year except 2011.
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> - A film that has great personal meaning to you
*O, Lucky Man* 1973 Malcolm McDowell, Helen Mirren, great Alan Price soundtrack, directed by Lindsay Anderson
> - A film that you think deserves a wider audience (either because it's obscure or not commercially available)
Ken Russell's *The Devils*, recently restored, but WHV refuses to release it on DVD. Excruciatingly powerful film about the forces of religious dogma vs enlightenment.
> - A film that is pure escapist entertainment, you just love it no matter how many times you've seen it
Richard Lester's *Help*, starring the Beatles, and greats Leo McKern, and Eleanor Bron.
> - A film that features your favorite artist in a standout role
Robert Mitchum in Raoul Walsh's great 1949 film noir western, *Pursued*.
> - A film that represents your favorite director's best work
Fellini's *Juliet of the Spirits*, his first color film, my favorite, and IMO, his best.
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With Comcast, DVS is enabled in the service menu of the cable box. Unless there is some odd problem, where DVS is going out w/o having to be activated, you should be able to turn it off in the service menu.
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Well, that brings to mind Audie Murphy, who surely plays himself in several films. Or was he mentioned already? I'd bet that some other actors who were in the service during WWII played characters not unlike themselves.
Addendum: No, he hadn't been mentioned. Of course *To Hell and Back* was his autobiography. So, he didn't almost play himself, he *did* play himself!
Edited by: ValentineXavier on Jan 25, 2011 1:12 AM
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You can't keep a good lizard down, I always say.
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Ummm... jumbo shrimp, my favorite oxymoron!
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They have shown both. Crab Monsters was a couple of years ago.
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Both are solid, enjoyable noirs. *Lucky Jordan* rises above it's rather obvious WWII propaganda messages. But, *Phantom Lady* is one of the best. Directed by Robert Siodmak, with Ella Raines, and lots of fine character actors, like Thomas Gomez and Regis Toomey. Neither film is available on DVD.
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No, it was Rosemary DeCamp.
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To me, *Wise Blood* is about how screwed up religion, and our society are, and about how hard it can be to fit in. It is both existential, and nihilistic. It is loaded with great lines that, to me, support my view. A couple: "I don't have to run away from anything, because I don't believe in anything." And: "...the church of Christ without Christ, where the blind can't see, the lame can't walk, and the dead stay that way." I saw it in the theater when it was released, and have loved it ever since. It does have some of the desolation and alienation of *The Grapes of Wrath*, but in a world that has not just lost its way, but doesn't realize it, and seems never to have had a way.
Oh, I would hardly call *The Maltese Falcon* formless. It doesn't aspire to be more than entertainment, but it is superb entertainment, of a very particular, even stylized, form. *Wise Blood*, OTOH, aspires to be much more. I believe it succeeds.
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As I said in another thread, I could definitely see a remake of *Citizen Kane*, called Citizen Rupert, about Rupert Murdoch. It would have the added element of his donations to Congress, to make him an American citizen, and to change our laws, so that he could own competing media in his media empire. I really wish someone would make the film!
I really can't see a remake of *Casablanca*, not just because of its iconic status, but because of the point in history of which it speaks, and when it was made. We just couldn't produce that atmosphere, and feeling, today.
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I spent three summers at camp, learning the meaning of camp...
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Forget, no. Know how to do it on a computer? Also no. But, thanks for adding it!
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I'd bet it's "Curacao," named after an island in the Caribbean, as Curacao is also the name of a liqueur from that island, and pronounced like your spelling. I don't know the recipe, but adding a dash of lemon, and a dash of hot sauce to some Curacao would be a start...
addendum: of course, it might be made with crushed ice, and soda too, I have no way of knowing. It should be pretty, though. IIRC, Curacao is as blue as the Caribbean.
Edited by: ValentineXavier on Jan 24, 2011 8:39 PM
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I'd say that Korda's *The Four Feathers* is a better film than any of the 'fours' on your list.
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*The Dead* is the only Huston film I can think of that I don't like. I've tried to watch it several times, and can never get more than halfway through. To me, it's deadly dull.
*Wise Blood*, on the other hand, is one of my favorites. It's almost as surreal as it is gothic. Doubtless one of Douriff's best roles, and a very unusual sort of a film, especially for Huston. Long unavailable, it was only released on DVD a year or so ago. I look forward to seeing it on TCMHD.
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Well, Jimmy Stewart was a Colonel in the Army Air Corps, Then played a Lt. Colonel in *Strategic Air Command*. Does that qualify?
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Not counting TV shows, the IMDb lists 13 films named Bliss, from 1917 to 2011. The 1985 Australian film *Bliss* is very good. Unfortunately, it isn't available on DVD in the US. My laser disc got laser rot, so I had to order it from Australia. I think that one is out of print now.
addendum: I doubt that any of these films are the same. At least the ones I've seen aren't.
Edited by: ValentineXavier on Jan 24, 2011 8:41 PM
A Walk on the Noir Side
in Film Noir--Gangster
Posted
> {quote:title=MissGoddess wrote:}{quote}
> I thought for a minute Gomez was on to him in that dressing room scene, when he kept going on and on about "paranoiacs". I kept waiting for the sly sideways look that would give away Gomez's game, but he was really unaware. That fooled me.
I thought the same thing, even though I'd seen it before, years ago. Fooled me, too.
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> And I agree, those statues were frightening. One looked like a squashed Chuck Connors, and the other like an exaggerated Basil Rathbone.
Probably the one you describe as a squashed Chuck Connors is one that I thought looked an awful lot like one in the original Star Trek series. In fact they all looked science-fictionish to me.