JamesJazGuitar
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Posts posted by JamesJazGuitar
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15 minutes ago, Katie_G said:
His movies are always fun to watch. I'm enjoying seeing Bette Davis as a blonde too.
I assume you're talking about Fashions of 1934; Note that this was the film that made Bette push back at Jack Warner and producer Henry Blanke about how they were making her look phony and like a bimbo. I.e. Bette wished to be known for her acting chops and not her looks; she didn't wish to be another Harlow.
They listened and she had a more natural look after that. Hey, I find her attractive and I enjoy the overall look, but Bette had a solid point so I'm glad they listened.
The fashions in the film are great. I'm not really into fashion (that's my wife's territory) but we're friends with a fashion designer and we insisted he watch the film with us. He was impressed.
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14 minutes ago, sewhite2000 said:
I appreciate the clarification. I won't get into a semantics argument about what "boring" means. I'm quite sure I've heard my associates use that term to describe jazz on multiple occasions, but what they find boring clearly isn't the same thing you do. You rankled me a bit by not initially stating "I think is blues is boring" or "I find blues boring" but instead "blues is generally boring", as if that is all there was to say about the topic. But your follow-up post has much more nuance. I think there's value in all sorts of musical styles.
Yea, I'm sure there are many different POV of what "boring" means. For me it is mostly about repetition. Most rock\pop music is mostly repetition in structure; E.g. Take any 4 minute song - how many of the passages\sections are musically different (not lyrically)? Typically only 2, sometimes 3. George Martin knew this which is why he would record one section and then use that over and over instead of recording the entire song in one take; E.g. use the best recorded "A" section, and the best recorded "B" section, splice them into an A\A\B\A song (sometimes adding an intro or ending). Now I don't find The Beatles "boring" since the songs are so short.
When one improvises if the harmonic progression is very repetitive (same 3 chords), that limits the note choices and one ends up repeating themselves unless that have super technique (i.e. the ability to milk those same notes to keep it interesting \ different).
Note that even Clapton admitted that; E.g. the Live at Fillmore album with that very long version of Crossroads; He said he would just play the same thing over and over and still the audience loved it. (since I believe most people favor repetition).
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If never getting nominated for an Academy award is a way to "measure" if an actor is "underrated" than Eddie G. Robinson is at the top of the list.
As for Wayne Morris: just saw him last night in Kid Galahad, the Robinson\Davis\Bogart film that put Morris on the map.
I guess it is fair to assume Morris is likely "underrated" by even the folks at this forum, but after Kid Galahad, Morris was signed to a long term contract by Warner Bros. and featured in 26 films until 1941 when he joined the services. After the war he was in over 40 films. But if folks that are into studio-era movies are not aware of him, that would indeed label him as underrated.
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13 hours ago, sewhite2000 said:
Something of a controversial positioning statement from someone so in love with a genre of music that MANY, MANY, MANY people find boring! Not saying me, I've delved into both jazz and blues during the history of the existence of iTunes (still in existence, right?). I'm just sayin' ... Jazz and blues have common roots, I think. In the risk of sounding extremely overly simplistic, I think very early jazz was mostly blues with horns.
Viewing the blues harmonic progression (I7\IV7\V7) as "boring" is a fairly standard position of jazz musicians based on the jazz forum I go to.. Also are you sure others find jazz "boring"? What I have been told is that many find it too complex \ busy \ lacking melody \ consistency (repetition) \ , but not "boring". (or equate being non-danceable with "boring").
Note: the blues progression in the key of E would be E7, A7, G7: the same 3 chords used for the entire song. The solo would be based on the E blues scale for the entire song. I.e. the same key of E for the entire song.
Yes, early jazz was rooted in that standard blues harmonic progression, but jazz involved, even jazz-blues by adding extensions and alternate chords, and those different scales \ scale tone \ notes (other than just the blues scale). The same harmonic progression is NOT repeated the entire song, bar after bar after bar.
This very limited, simplistic blues harmonic progression is what that I find "boring" as a listener but really so as a musician.
Jazz uses harmonic progressions based on classical music; E.g. diminished chords, half-diminished chords, multiple key changes, etc....
Note that I don't find someone like Stevie Ray Vaughan "boring" even those he admits he only plays the blues scale and the minor pentatonic scale (which is only 5 notes).
This is because Vaughan has such great technique. I.e. he can do more with those 5 notes than I can with all 12.
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15 hours ago, Dargo said:
Have I missed it somehow, or have we been remiss in not mentioning this actress in this thread so far?...
(...can't recall a film in which Irene Dunne didn't play a "strong woman" in it, anyway)
Well in Theodora Goes Wild she didn't start out as a strong woman, but she clearly became one (helping the Douglas character become stronger as well).
But yea, good selection. Dunne's character and her screen persona were able to take-it and dish it out when necessary. (and still be loving, sweet and enjoyable, verses well, something a lot less attractive).
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Adding to the fine list of films already mentioned I would add;
Manhattan Melodrama (with Gable and Loy)
The Great Ziegfeld (with Luise Rainer
The Ex-Mrs Bradford (with Jean Arthur, their only film together and they make a fine pair)
The Last of Miss Cheney (with Joan Crawford)
Libeled Lady (with Loy, Tracy and Harlow)
The Girl that has Everything (with Liz Taylor as his daughter).
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13 hours ago, TopBilled said:
I would say it's an inference that one can make.
Isn't it an inference that others are clueless?
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1 minute ago, Dargo said:
Okay, and now HERE'S one I seem to be using A LOT lately when I run into someone who seems cocksure that their opinion about something in unshakebly "the truth", BUT which I know actually has no basis in any facts...
(...and yep, I even say it with a little lisp just like the guy up there did)
LOL
What film is that from? All Through the Night would be my guess (and he's talking to Conrad Veidt?).
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13 minutes ago, Dargo said:
So, I take it you didn't watch that documentary on Buddy Guy last night on PBS' American Masters series, eh James?
(...THAT "wasn't so boring", anyway...ahem...well, I liked it, anyway)
I have seen Buddy Guy; he is one of the few blues guitarist, along with Stevie Ray Vaughan, that I find interesting due to their technique.
Clapton has a great sound (tone), but I just don't find his playing that interesting.
I like music that uses more than the standard blue chord changes of I\IV\V.
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The 1938 The Dawn Patrol was a new adaptation (remake), of the 1930 pre-code Hawks directed film.
Warners had the rights to the source material film, so making the 1938 film with all of their contract players was cost friendly.
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Others have already posted that Bette Davis played a lot of strong female characters but the film that made me a fan, is Marked Women (1937).
Solid film made after Davis returned from England after her boycott of Warner Bros (because Jack put her in too many stinkers). This was his way of saying; forgive me, but giving her a solid script, tough of nails character and a high quality supporting cast (Bogart being the male lead).
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At the jazz guitar forum I just used my saying (listed under my avatar), of: Nothing is as bad as something not-so-bad.
Eric Clapton was being discussed (for his stance on Covid-19 and not playing in any venue that required one to be vaccinated), and someone posted that Eric's playing was boring.
Well someone else posted that the album Crossroad "ain't that boring". I posted back: not much of a complement. That album is only somewhat boring and then posted that what he wrote was similar to saying something is not-so-bad.
(and for the record, I do find Clapton to be somewhat boring since he plays mostly just the blues and the blues is generally boring).
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How does anyone at this forum know if an actor is underrated or not?
The term "underrated" is a measure of public opinion (verses one's own opinion).
Therefore with this understanding I say Olivia DeHavilland is "underrated" since she isn't on the AFI list of top 25 female screen legends from the so called golden era.
PS: and if we are talking the current general US public opinion; almost all of the actors we discuss at this forum are "underrated", since most are not known at all, and the few that are, are known more as cultural icons (Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, Dean), than they are for their acting or the films they were in.
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I assume the main reason not to cast Blair is to ensure no ties to the previous adaptation. I.e. the producers wish for their adaptation to stand-on-its-own.
Edit: Well after reading the link below my assumption above was bogus: the goal is to make sequels that are highly tied to the 1973 film.
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On 7/25/2021 at 2:41 PM, Bronxgirl48 said:
You're Louis B. Mayer?
Who was a Cancer btw.
According to Jean Arthur, it was Harry Cohn.
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5 hours ago, Det Jim McLeod said:
I thought I missed something too, maybe a line of dialogue where they explained what happened to her, but I don't think so.
An interesting thing about the film is I recall a clip of Vincent Price on the Tonight Show in the 1970s. Johnny Carson asks Price about a film he made, calling it a "western" for some reason where he played a feudal land baron. Price immediately says "Dragonwyck! Oh, a good picture".
I assume Carson was thinking about The Baron of Arizona while what came to Price's mind was Dragonwyck.
There are similarities in the plot as it relates to a governess and a child.
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11 hours ago, Dargo said:
Yes, but that relationship didn't last.
(...and she ended up marrying Chuck Cunningham)
Ah, you must be watching ME-TV! Right after I posted this joke about Best Years, (one that I knew you would get), I saw the ME-TV promo for Happy Days, and 'what happened to Chuck Cunningham'.
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Last I heard Katrine was with Rob Stephenson, the son who also disappeared from The Best Years of Our Lives.
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1 hour ago, Updyke said:
I always felt that legendary TV newsman John Facenda looked like Bela Lugosi.
Yea, those two did look alike. Facenda and his broadcast were mentioned in the film The Burglar (1957), with Dan Duryea, Jayne Mansfield, and Martha Vickers.
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1 minute ago, Shank Asu said:
Why's Wayne problematic? Or The Searchers?
The 1971 Playboy interview is viewed by some as problematic.
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Here is a strong female character. Olivia DeHaviland in The Strawberry Blonde.
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16 minutes ago, kingrat said:
The Light That Failed, with Ronald Colman as a painter going blind, is excellent. A favorite of some of the posters here.
The Light That Failed is a excellent choice. Movie that helped put Ida Lupino on the map and leading to her signing a long term contract with Warner Bros.
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1 hour ago, Joe Gillis said:
Well, first off, my initial problem with Cause For Alarm is that the producer or director (or Loretta herself) were clearly trying to make her look like she's ummm . . . 20something?? when she was really close to 40 in 1950. What is it with actresses of this era (Crawford comes to mind) that they refuse to update their look and the result is that they look like very odd, "pretend" 25 year olds when they could be terrific looking 40 year olds? Subtlety is not much in evidence in this noir. Barry Sullivan might as well be twirling a mustache since he is a way over-the-top-creep from the moment he appears on screen. In the annoyance pantheon he ranks only slightly above: The Kid, The Postman and The Aunt. The set designer for this film went way over the top with the "ivy-covered-cottage-with-a-picket-fence" look. God. Not even the Munchkins would live in a house this "precious."
Love Tay Garnett but this was not one of his best by any means.
As far as your questions about "what is it with actresses,,,"; I recommend All About Eve.
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Here is another movie about a painter. When he does your portrait like this, you better run for the hills.
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Dependable and underrated
in General Discussions
Posted
De Havilland was "underrated" by those that had a voted for that AFI poll. I assumed you knew I was a big fan of Olivia (my #3 favorite actress).
If I had a vote in that AFI poll, I would have placed her in the top 10.
As for how one defines "underrated": well isn't the basis when one uses this term, that they are saying: I believe this person (actor, director, musician, musical group, artist, etc..), should be more well known based on their talent (or artistic legacy), than I assumes they are, by XYZ. (I say XYZ since I don't know if that person means "underrated" by the general public, their peers, those that vote for awards, etc....
E.g. I could see a useful use of "underrated" as it relates to TCM programmers; They don't show this actor enough because they don't value their contribution to the film industry as much as I feel that actor deserves.
To me this type of usage is meaningful, since it list the two criteria I'm looking for; Who is responsible for underrating someone (TCM programmers), and the measure of why someone is underrated (TCM doesn't show their films enough).
Anyhow I'm sincerely interested in how you define "underrated".