ValentineXavier
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Posts posted by ValentineXavier
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He has those characteristics in spades, in *Red Beard*. I've seen his modern roles too, and like them. But, as the star of The Samurai Trilogy, and many other samurai period pieces, with Kurosawa, and other directors, and him being best known for *Seven Samurai* and other such films, I tend to think of him primarily for his samurai parts.
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*Love is a Many-Splintered Thing*
News correspondent Pinocchio goes to Hong Kong to cover the end of the Communist Revolution. He meets and falls in love with a beautiful Eurasian doctor. But, his friends/relatives, and hers, tell them that it will never work, because he is made out of wood.
Edited by: ValentineXavier on Sep 5, 2010 11:27 PM
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Bob Amory is my favorite Ben Johnson role. He's bad, but only as bad as he thinks he needs to be, for his own interests.
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> {quote:title=lzcutter wrote:}{quote}
> 22 additional minutes of Ethel screaming or anyone else yelling and I would want to hurl the tv out the window.
That's the problem with these modern TVs. Even the big ones weigh less than the old CRTs. But, you would need a bigger window.
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That's *Where Eagles Dare*.
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> {quote:title=mrsl wrote:}{quote}
> I didn't know any college students at the time and I'm wondering just what special significance did *The Graduate* have for you? In 1967 a college education was not yet a mandatory thing to secure a good executive job. A high school diploma was definitely necessary, but not all that many people were going to college. Don't get me wrong, a lot were, but many average households could not afford the tuition, in our happy little middle economy. In fact, we were the last generation who were grown to be good wives and mothers, as well as housewives. So, what was the special significance?
> _____________________________
> *Anne*
Just to amplify Finance's reply, a college education WAS then mandatory to secure a good executive job, for a young person. The other route was a couple of decades of working your way up from the absolute bottom. And, back then, tuition was much less. In California, it was almost free, for instate. At U of Mich., where I went, instate tuition was $148/semester. Now, it is in the thousands.
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I wondered what the heck you were talking about, as I am on it today. Well, I usually just look up films, so I don't scroll down. I scrolled down, saw what you are talking about, and I don't like it either. If you haven't ever tried www.allmovie.com, try them, you might like it better. They don't have aspect ratios, but they usually have better descriptions and reviews.
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+1 I like Ben as much as I do Bob.
And, misswonderly, watch out for that yellow snow...
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> {quote:title=MyFavoriteFilms wrote:}{quote}
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> Recently I watched TOUCH OF EVIL and it did not hold up well for me. Dietrich's performance did hold up (it was probably the best part of the entire film)...but I got the sense that Welles was having a nervous breakdown, either while making it or editing it...it's very disjointed in parts...it tries to go the drug and rape angle, but because of the production code, it can't...then it tries to go the strangulation and murder route, but again, it can't go all the way with that, at least not on camera, so we have all these unfinished evil thoughts that don't get properly executed. Another problem I have with Welles is that he sets it up so that his character is really the lead, but because of billing, he has to put some of the focus on Heston and Leigh, which he does...but then it's right back to Welles and his ego trip again.
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Well, you and I have totally different perceptions of this film. I hope you have seen the restored version, based on a 50 page memo Welles wrote. I think it is THE best US film, for many reasons. Kane was an intellectual tour-de-force, but ToE+ is a punch in the gut. Many Welles scholars, including Jonathan Rosenbaum, and Gary Graver, whom I have met, consider it Welles' best film.
I don't agree with any of your conjecture about the production code causing it to be unfinished, and improperly executed. Certainly Welles had an ego, but his character, Hank Quinlan, IS the lead. It was that way in the novel. "Billing" has nothing to do with putting the focus on Heston and Leigh, that is absurd. It couldn't be anything like the film it is, without them playing strong parts.
I think all the acting is first rate, and from everything I have read the actors felt good about the film, and their parts in it. Sure, Dietrich's brief performance in the film is good. I think Welles' performance is about his best. But, to me, the stand-out performance is by Joseph Calleia, as Sgt. Menzies, Quinlan's right hand man. That is the performance of a lifetime.
Edited by: ValentineXavier on Sep 5, 2010 5:26 PM
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> {quote:title=ziggyelman wrote:}{quote}
> It's an interesting film, but it's lacking in heart, which in my very subjective way of looking at films, mean's it ain't numbero uno.
Interesting comment, given that the whole film is about how C. F. Kane had no heart, since it had been ripped out of him when he was separated from his parents. Everything he did after that was a futile attempt to make up for what he had lost, symbolized by his sled, "Rosebud."
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> {quote:title=bklynrose wrote:}{quote}
> My only question is how could he make such a great film like Kane and six years later make a terrible one called The Lady from Shanqhai?????????
> cat
*The Lady from Shanghai* is a great film, just not as great as some of Welles' films. Of course the mirror scene is the most noted, but there is much else that is great about the film, even if Welles didn't get final cut. My personal quibble is - Rita Hayworth, with short, blonde hair? UGH!
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Mark, do you know if broadcasters are still required to show a card, saying "Edited for Content," Edited for Time," or "Formatted to fit the screen?" I thought those were now required by law, but I rarely see them any more. Are the laws different for cable, and OTA?
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> {quote:title=finance wrote:}{quote}
> But THE GRADUATE had special significance to those who were college students at the time.
True, and I was one then. I think it also appealed to their (my) parents' generation, but to a lesser extent.
*Easy Rider* appealed to the entire younger generation, HS, college, and HS graduates.
*2001* seemed to have a wide appeal to the entire movie going audience.
*Midnight Cowboy* appealed to college students, young adults, and us 'arty' types...
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There were at least two other very significant and influential films of the 60s, *Midnight Cowboy*, and *2001: a Space Odyssey*.
I would say that *The Graduate* and *2001* found the widest audience, *Easy Rider* and *2001* were the most innovative and influential. My personal favorite is *Easy Rider*, but the film I think holds up best, even if it isn't as well remembered is *Midnight Cowboy*. It could have been made today.
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> {quote:title=johnm_001 wrote:}{quote}
> > {quote:title=ValentineXavier wrote:}{quote}
> > Well, just off the top of my head, *Gunga Din*, and *The Wizard of Oz* are way better films...
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> Care to elaborate on what possible way *Gunga Din* is a "way better film"? Or even *The Wizard of Oz*, for that matter?
To put it bluntly, I have a rather low opinion of GWTW. I find it over-acted, overly dramatic in too many places, stodgy, formulaic, and often just unintentionally silly. The only thing of note, to me, is the burning of Atlanta, which I think was well done for the tech of the time. I can, to some extent, overlook the overt racism, due to the time it depicts, and when it was made. But, as a whole, I find GWTW to be the most over-rated movie of all time.
There is, by far, more humanity in *Gunga Din*, and *The Wizard of Oz* too, for that mater. Even though I've been burnt out on TWoO since I was a kid.
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> {quote:title=fredbaetz wrote:}{quote}
> I remember a book was written years ago called "The Hollywood Posse" written by the daughter of a stuntman in the 1930's. There was a supposed plot by certain stuntmen to kill C.B. DeMille and make it look like an accident, because of the brutal treatment of animals especially horses by DeMille in his film "The Crusades", the men were irate by the fact that some stunt men were hurt and sent to the hospital and several horses killed....
Now there's a book that cries out to be made into a film!
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I haven't watched *Paid* yet, but I quite enjoyed *They Made Me a Fugitive*. It did have one digital glitch, which I think came from TCM, probably from a HDD. As Sally Gray is going to the closet, to get Trevor Howard a different coat, the film froze for a second, then jumped ahead just a bit.
I would have preferred just a few more hints as to what was to become of Trevor. The cop seemed sympathetic, and interested in the truth. But, I would have liked at least a hint that the police knew Trevor was innocent of an incidental crime that happened after he broke out. Those who have seen it will know what I mean. In that incidental crime, the woman involved acted as if she was blind, at least in the beginning. The friend who watched it with me thought so too.
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How did you forget Herschell Gordon Lewis? Fuad Ramses would like to have you for lunch...
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Part of what I like about *A Chump at Oxford* are the changes in Stan's persona. Also, there are the great scenes - L&H in the Dean's bed, and the maze scenes. I also like *Saps at Sea* a lot.
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Chuck Berry was in *Rock, Rock, Rock* in 1956, and *Go, Johnny, Go* in 1959. Not great films, but worth a watch for fans of the era/music. I believe both were shown on TCM this summer.
Addendum: as a Who fan, two of my favorite rock and roll films are *The Kids Are Alright*, and *Quadrophenia*. Frank Zappa made some good ones two, like *200 Motels*, and *Baby Snakes*.
Edited by: ValentineXavier on Sep 4, 2010 9:04 PM
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You really should see *Red Beard*. It is a fine film, and interesting, in part because Mifune isn't a samurai, but a doctor, and yet he takes out the bad guys easily, using his knowledge of anatomy. It's at once very unlike, but very like, a Mifune samurai character.
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This thread is just bobbin' along...
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*Citizen Kane* was a very innovative film, and one of the most influential films there is. It is a great film. But, I don't even believe it was Welles' best film. That, IMO, was *Touch of Evil*, and many Welles scholars agree with that.
As to the larger point, I think it is absurd to try and label any one film "The greatest ever made," but many do apply such labels.
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> {quote:title=ziggyelman wrote:}{quote}
> And I like The Gauntlet, unrealistic ending, but still a fun film...
If the ending had been realistic, it wouldn't have fit with the rest of the film, since it was totally unbelievably, unrealistic. The main reason I dislike it so much is that it is all so incredibly contrived.
Life, death and art on screen
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Wow! Those Arriflexes make it (literally) sound about as unromantic as can be! I think that increases my admiration for them, as actors.