MelissaW.

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is classified as a comedy?

I have to confess -- I love the film of Gypsy. I even prefer the dubbed voice of Russell to the recording of Merman. I love this film, too and also prefer this vocalist over Merman, whose voice I always found grating. I also think that if you pay attention to the film--particularly Rose's soliloquy at the end--you understand why the film is called Gypsy but yet was focused on Rose, as she was the driving force that created the persona her daughter adopted (at least, in the story if not in real life) and how closely Rose defined herself through her children. ("I fought all your life.") Also want to address a previous comment about the strippers being so homely. But that scene took place in a two-bit flea-bag burlesque house in the middle of nowhere. Those actresses were probably far more attractive than a dive like that would have boasted in real life. And on a side note, it always tickled me to see the real Gypsy Rose Lee appear on film with Rosalind Russell in The Trouble With Angels.

What exactly did women had that needed Lysol !? Let's just say that there's more than one floor a woman needs to keep clean. Ad also contains a veiled suggestion that the product is an effective contraceptive.

Here is an ad from the May 1938 issue of Modern Screen addressing a particular women's health issue:

Saw this article yesterday on a searchable database of film magazines from the "first part of the twentieth century." Looks fascinating: http://www.indiewire.com/article/film-history-nerds-rejoice-old-film-journals-and-mags-now-searchable-for-everyone#.UgrkRwNc2nY.facebook

> {quote:title=misswonderly wrote:}{quote} > > {quote:title=FlyBackTransformer wrote:}{quote}Yes, a great film. The actress who played Miss Faversham played vampire Baron Meinster's mother in Hammer's The Brides of Dracula... > I'm pretty sure it's "Miss Havisham". The actress's name is Martita Hunt. > > > > "Well...you can break his heart." > Martita Hunt was also magnificent as Baroness Livenbaum in Anastasia. Loved the very obvious crush she had on Yul Brynner's character. And her delivery of some wonderful lines: "Life with her majesty is one eternal glass of MILK."

> {quote:title=jamesjazzguitar wrote:}{quote}I know that scene well. They crash the party and Swan (O'Toole), gets too drunk and they leave the party by going off the roof with a fire hose. But after driving around there is a scene where they enter the home where the party is. SO if the scene of them crashing the party is missing, than something was cut (but I find that hard to believe). The scene where they crash the party comes after the roof scene. People on the balcony at the party haul Peter O'Toole up onto the balcony and then Mark Linn-Baker runs in (having gotten the door un-stuck.) I don't remember any transitional scene between the drive in the car and the rooftop, though the transition is a little choppy. But I love this movie! My favorite scene is where Peter O'Toole unthinkingly strolls into the ladies' room and Selma Diamond informs him "This is for ladies only!" to which he replies, unzipping his trousers, "So is this, ma'am. But every now and then, I have to run a little water through it." Her expression is priceless. A perfect little scene.

I'm torn on this one. The trailer almost had me with the clip of the Sherman brothers and I'm an unashamed fan of the original movie, on down to Dick VanDyck's ricidulous accent. But I've always had a hard time with the story of P. L. Travers throwing a hissy fit over the mistreatment of a fictional character when she insisted on separating infant twins in real life because she only wanted to adopt one of them (chosen on the advice of her astrologer.) So it's really hard to sympathize with her here.

> {quote:title=casablancalover2 wrote:}{quote} > > I confess, when it is about a girl and getting attention, it's all about the shoes. I can still be stopped in my tracks by a cute pair of slippers, preferable with 2" heel. :x Those pumps are to die for. The slippers I always drool over are the blue satin ribbon mules Gene Tierney wears when she takes her calculated spill down the steps in Leave Her to Heaven. We could probably do a whole thread about ravishing classic Hollywood shoes.

> {quote:title=traceyk65 wrote:}{quote} > > {quote:title=selimsa803 wrote:}{quote}I'm glad we didn't get to see that beauty parlor scene because the "reveal" of the new Charlotte on board the ship is such an iconic moment when she glances up from under that elegant, dashing hat. And yet you still feel her uncertainty, can see the waiting barriers, ready to be put back in place. And there are still moments where that uncertainty lingers, like when her sister-in-law invites her to play bridge and Charlotte hesitantly questions whether she will fit in. And when June asks if she can ever forgive her for being so horrible, Charlotte jokingly replies "Never!" with a fierce hug, but there's a real catch in her voice. It's a great performance. > I read somewhere (I'm always reading something somewhere and can never remember where ) that the butterfly cape Charlotte wears in the dining room scene was symbolic of her transformation. Any thoughts on that? Oh yes! That's a classic metaphor, isn't it? The butterfly emerging from its cocoon. (Which makes me think of the line from The Trouble With Angels: "Mr. Petrie said I was still crystalized and it wasn't time for me to come out of my cocoon.")

Juanita Moore makes the '59 version the winner for me, along with Susan Kohner's heartbreaking last scene of flinging herself on her mother's coffin. (Cry my contacts out every time.) But the death bed scene between Annie and Lora is beautifully done. When Annie tells Lora of how she sent their old landlord a Christmas card every year "in both our names," well my goodness. It's soapy and melodramatic but Juanita Moore gives it heart and warmth.

I'm glad we didn't get to see that beauty parlor scene because the "reveal" of the new Charlotte on board the ship is such an iconic moment when she glances up from under that elegant, dashing hat. And yet you still feel her uncertainty, can see the waiting barriers, ready to be put back in place. And there are still moments where that uncertainty lingers, like when her sister-in-law invites her to play bridge and Charlotte hesitantly questions whether she will fit in. And when June asks if she can ever forgive her for being so horrible, Charlotte jokingly replies "Never!" with a fierce hug, but there's a real catch in her voice. It's a great performance.

So many of these posts mention Scarlett's "great beauty" when the first line of the book is "Scarlett O'Hara was not beautiful, but men seldom realized it when caught by her charm as the Tarleton twins were." And then goes on to describe a rather sharp-faced woman. It's also interesting that Bette's Julie is most often compared to Scarlett when her Regina Giddens is more Scarlett's spiritual sister. Julie is an aristocrat through and through and operates as one. Scarlett and Regina come from more questionable backgrounds. Regina from a working class family on the make, while Scarlett's father was an immigrant who left his own country on the run from the law. Their gentility is only a thin veneer. While all three women have determination and drive, Julie's is based on a firmer footing and in the end, her breeding wins out over her natural tendencies. I actually think Regina almosts presents a portrait of what Scarlett would have become had she been able to cajole Ashley into marrying her. That said--as a huge Davis fan--I am still glad she wasn't cast as Scarlett because I think it would have become a "Bette Davis" film instead of the film it is. Not a bad thing, necessarily, but I do like the film it is, which isn't a Vivien Leigh film or a Clark Gable film, if that makes sense. And if you think the Rhett in the film is wimpy, oh lord, don't ever read Donald McCaig's Rhett Butler's People, kind of a combo retelling and sequel from Rhett's POV in which Rhett is an unrecognizable lovesick schoolboy, drenched in so much poetry and nobility, even Ashley Wilkes would have gone "Whoa, dude. Dial it back."

Short notice, but it's on H2 tonight at 10:00 PM Eastern.

In another thread, several posters related tidbits about how much Joan Fontaine enjoyed working with Charles Boyer because he was kind and professional. Would love to hear any more pretty things about him that anyone knows.

Want to add a shout out to Show Boat (1951.) For me, it's a musical valentine. When the film starts, it seems like a lovely old hand-colored post card is coming to life in front of you. I love the look of these candy box color films of the fifties and this one is full of sweet things, gorgeous music, the Champions dancing and Ava Gardner! It also has one of my favorite endings. I love a movie that can consistently make me cry after repeated viewings and Ava never fails to gut me at the end when she's standing on the docks and blows a kiss to Magnolia and Gay and then fades back into the shadows.

Would love to see Roger Vadim's Blood and Roses (1960), an adaptation of Carmilla, if only for the gorgeous score. http://youtu.be/hCn_MrYLshg

I distinctly remember *Mother Love*! Have never been able to look at a laburnum the same ever since. Someone has uploaded it on YouTube from an old video recording.

Ah, Lenore! He was never good enough for you. You were too much woman for him!

I love this, too. It's enormously entertaining. Eleanor Parker at her most beautiful. I especially like the cooperation between the two women in keeping Andre safe. They could so easily have been portrayed as stereotypes but they are distinct individuals. Janet Leigh's character in particular could have been a lifeless doll, but she's got spunk.

> {quote:title=johnm_001 wrote:}{quote}This movie was very widely touted as a vehicle for Julie Andrews, with Mike Nichols directing and Ross Hunter producing. Delays on the filming of HAWAII, made him unavailable, and her no longer interested. I'd also read that Taylor and Burton considered it as a project at one time. Can't really see that. I think the female lead needed to be a little quirky and a lot dreamy, so Farrow worked well. I wasn't as impressed with Jayston, but he was serviceable. Topol was the big surprise. I never expected to be melted by Topol! It's a shame it's faded into obscurity. Lots of obscure films are deservedly obscure, but this one merits some attention.

Oh! Another charming little detail was that the Mia Farrow character had a thing for Hammer horror films. At one point, the detective follows her in to a showing of Brides of Dracula. Later, when she's about to head in to another Hammer horror film, he gets her to change her mind and takes her to a showing of Zefferelli's Romeo and Juliet instead.

I stumbled across this movie on another channel this morning and was completely charmed by it--and surprised I'd never heard of it before. Michael Jayston plays a single-minded tax adviser who hires an eccentric private detective (a surprisingly dashing Topol) to follow his neglected wife (Mia Farrow) who he suspects of having an affair. But all she's really doing is wandering around London, visiting things she wishes she could share with her oblivious husband. She notices she is being followed right away but feels kindly towards the follower, who she believes must be even more lonely than she is. Over the course of ten days, they play a game of tag through London and develop a rather intimate relationship, though they never speak a word to each other, with the detective ultimately falling for her. There's a sweet and lovely twist to the ending, an intelligent screenplay (based on a stage play) by Peter Shaffer and a score by John Barry. Anyone else know this movie?

> {quote:title=Mr.Froy wrote:}{quote}I'm sure The American Society of Tailors, Haberdashers, > and Clotheshorses would be happy to explain his appeal. There's a great line in the episode of MASH where Henry gets his discharge papers and is going home. He is given a pin-striped suit as a going-away gift. Trapper John says "That suit is you." And Hawkeye says "Yeah, if you're Adolphe Menjou." (Lots of great old film references in MASH.)

> {quote:title=AddisonDeWitless wrote:}{quote} > > How inn-teresting that this film, directed (barely) by Henry King with its overall blandness outgrossed so many *much better* films in that year. > You've already put your finger on what I think are the two big reasons: a) Tyrone Power and gorgeous Technicolor. Ty was already a huge box office draw and this was the first opportunity for his fans to see him in color.