JamesJazGuitar
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Posts posted by JamesJazGuitar
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3 hours ago, Bronxgirl48 said:
Must beg to differ about Kirk all grown up in TSLOMI -- I thought he did a brilliant job of "tamping" down his natural screen masculinity by showing us the inner Walter O'Neil; I was convinced through the subtleties of Douglas' performance that the "scared little boy" still lurked within. Van was also excellent in conveying an independent, rugged manliness that the O'Neil character lacked. I could definitely see why Martha kept longing for Sam!
I didn't say or even imply that Kirk didn't do a fine job of acting. Instead I admitted my own bias based on seeing so many Kirk films before this one. Thus the concept of "beg to differ" doesn't exist since I was just channeling my own experience.
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2 hours ago, Bronxgirl48 said:
Should make myself clear -- THE STRANGE LOVE OF MARTHA IVERS was Kirk's film debut, followed by OUT OF THE PAST. That he could essay in such believable fashion those two wildly disparate characters are a testament to the man's often overlooked (imo) talent.
Maybe I was just to used to the Kirk film persona to see him as being a good "fit" for Martha Ivers; E.g. we see the character as a teen; wimpy, geeky, clumsy, with glasses, etc.
We then see the character, Kirk, as an adult; I just don't see the same teen as reflected by Kirk. But like I said I have seen so many Kirk-the-man roles that it is hard for me to see Martha rejecting Kirk for Van Heflin (or Kirk not being able to handle himself physically with a man like Heflin). Kirk as a meek man wasn't very common after this first film (he is somewhat like that in A Letters to Three Wives).
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3 hours ago, Vidor said:
Me neither. She was a pretty terrible actress--certainly a formidable screen presence, but seriously, a bad actress--and personally I've never found that bleached blonde style attractive. I liked her in "Red-Headed Woman" precisely because she didn't have that hair.
I have never been much of a fan of Harlow. I really wonder if she had not died at such a young age what her legacy would be today; e.g. would she have grown as an actress and did some really fine work or would she have mostly disappeared in the 40s like so many other actors did who lacked the chops.
I do enjoy 4 - 6 films Harlow is in but my favorite are films like Libeled Lady, where Harlow is clearly the least competent actor of the 4 stars (Powell, Loy, Tracy being the others).
I also place Harlow in the middle of the pack in the looks department; e.g. Loy was beautiful,,,, Harlow,,,, not so much, but she did have a cheap looking sexuality, which did pair well with Gable.
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15 hours ago, TopBilled said:
I tend to forget that people still watch live television with commercials. I've been streaming for several years now.
I don't think the warnings should be a problem if they just appear at the beginning. People can live with that if they are watching "free" television.
Funny but I tend to forget that so many people now get their content mostly from streaming. Yea, if streaming, I don't see "they" (content providers), can impose OCD type messaging.
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12 minutes ago, TopBilled said:
I think they're past the point of caring. They've bowed to political pressure. And it's tied to the ad revenues. The advertisers don't want to be boycotted, so they are on board with this warning.
Everyone's afraid of controversy and being run out of business. So the best way to handle it is to use disclaimers. It has NOTHING to do with caring about what certain viewers want or don't want.
It is caring about what certain viewers want since these content providers don't wish to lose ad revenues and ad revenues are tied to viewers; I.e. those that would do the boycotting.
So like I said the challenge is to provide something to ensure one isn't boycotted, but not too-much, so one doesn't get a counter boycott.
This has always been the case with private companies providing content.
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3 minutes ago, Moe Howard said:
Do WE need it? No.
It's for the folks who need warning labels to NOT use the hair dryer while sleeping, or to NOT use the vanishing ink fabric pen to sign checks or legal documents.
Film has had blanket disclaimers for decades . . . . "The story, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this production are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased), places, buildings, and products is intended or should be inferred." Lots of TV shows run something similar.
I need to be told to wash, rinse and repeat! For me it all comes down to how intrusive the messaging is. E.g. if there is a 5 second OCD message at the start of a film or T.V. show I'm not going to get annoyed, since it gives me a few more seconds to make a sandwich.
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6 minutes ago, laffite said:
Okay, though I don't think he romanced the daughter expressly to irritate Louise. He had had quite enough for her to do that. Nor is there any indication that he married expressly for the money. This latter was more opportunism than rank calculation. It did not appear to me that he particularly was interested in marriage, at first anyway, there was no immediate calculation to that purpose ... was there? Didn't that come about incrementally? Maybe I'm being to easy on him. But even at the end he seemed genuine when urging her to return to her father, etc. He is a bit rough around the edges and perhaps insensitive and inconsiderate in some ways, but he is not an ogre. IMO. He did not deserve plugging. He was a sacrifice to the plot, the object of Louise's going over the top.
How one views such a character is a reflection on the individual doing the judging. I agree with your take here.
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47 minutes ago, ElCid said:
I think the point is do we really need warnings of this type before movies?
The point is that there is no such concept as "we" in this context. The OCDs are meant for a certain group of people. I don't need them and it appears you don't but obviously certain content providers believe certain people do. These content providers are just tying to provide what they believe is a service with the OCDs and hope that those that don't view it as a service (like us), will not be turned off enough to seek content elsewhere.
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5 hours ago, Moe Howard said:
It was one of those MGM TRAVELTALKS, this one titled OLD NATCHEZ ON THE MISSISSIPPI. Interesting portrayal of the area that "goes on as it did before the civil war". It's the annual reenactment by the Natchez Garden Club.
The "merry" slaves aren't part of the garden club festivities. A large family is shown enjoying themselves as the narrator says "This old mammy is an ex-slave and she reminds us no retrospect of the pre-war south would be complete without the colored folks who contributed a major part to the music, dancing and folklore of old dixie. Aunt Jenny, now in her late 80s tells us that in spite of sentimental stories to the contrary, no merrier people ever lived than the colored folks of the pre-war south. "
For what it's worth, many ex-slaves shared Aunt Jenny's point of view.
So I did see and hear this! I was watching two movies at once, The Long Hot Summer (TCM) and Laura (MOVIES-TV), since I have seen both multiple times and channel flipping between the two; I turn back to TCM and I just caught the comment of "no merrier people ever lived than the colored folks of the pre-war south.". I didn't catch any of the context this was in only that line.
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3 hours ago, Moe Howard said:
It's all so idiotic. Bonanza and Gunsmoke were "outdated" when they were produced, they were depictions of events some 100 years earlier.
Good point, but one can also look at these programs as being too progressive for the actual times they were covering (some 100 years ago).
E.g. most of the 50s westerns feature multiple episodes where there is a group of common-for-the-times non-progressive folks (e.g. racists, only-good-Indian-is-a-dead-one etc....) and in everyone of these episodes those group of people get put in their place, with most becoming enlighten in the last scene. I.e. the characters in these episodes that use a lot of "outdated-cultural-depictions" (but representiave of the times), clearly are made to look like the fools. So to me the bottom line of the ideals (love your fellow man, we are all born equal, we have common values related to family etc...), prevail.
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8 minutes ago, Thompson said:
I tell you what, Joan’s character frightened me. Van should have picked up on how dangerous she was and stayed in Canada. When Joan was at the piano concert I was surprised to see how attractive her shoulders were. I’m pretty sure men judge women by their shoulders.
Have you seen Humoresque (1946)? Here is a photo where the design of the dress stresses those shoulders.
This is a first rate movie about music and obsession.
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Elsa Lanchester was indeed a treat and a unique talent. She does leave an impression well beyond the few minutes of screen time she gets. Some of my favorite roles (other than those mentioned), are:
Ladies in Retirement, The Spiral Staircase, The Razor's Edge, The Bishop's Wife, Hell's Half Acre, and Bell, Books, and Candle.
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Cult of the Cobra had a cast of many fine actors, some like David Janssen that would go on to big careers.
The other guys were well known for films during the 50s like Marshall Thompson, Jack Kelly and soon to be T.V. star Richard Long.
Oh, and The Chief, Edward Platt, played another type of chief. Faith Domergue lacked energy, as she often did, but was adequate in the role.
Much better production then I expected to see on Svengoolie.
PS: And what a group of ugly Americans! What they did to that temple was beyond just being jerks. Frankly I was rooting for them to all be killed. I wish the plot would have explored that angle more; e.g. why the Cobra women was seeking revenge as ordered by the chief. Did she really fall for Thompson and didn't wish to have him killed?
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1 hour ago, Moe Howard said:
I'd agree The Man Who Knew Too Much would probably have been a heavy lift for Charisse. Call me crazy, but I think she could have pulled off Mrs Robinson. Only problem is she's too gorgeous!
How could an actress be "too gorgeous" for the part of Mrs. Robinson? E.g. such a middle-aged housewife wouldn't be interested in a young man like Ben?
I.e. what would have been the "problem" with casting someone like Charisse?
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15 minutes ago, LuckyDan said:
Have any of the murder theorists offered anything like evidence? If not, slight credibility problem, don't you think?
Hey, Frank believed it (well according to hearsay), isn't that enough evidence? (just pulling your leg of course).
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Here is a photo from the set of East Side - West Side. Two beauties relaxing between takes:
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I have always found Hayward to be somewhat hardened, and to a degree abrasive: I.e. I don't get the vibe that she is soft and huggable like I do many other actresses, but that is due to the characters she plays. She is a fine actress and when the role called for it would display the necessary amount of vulnerability. I really like how the characters she plays treat selfish men that believe she is a dame they can walk all over or take for granted. E.g. In House of Strangers, she makes it difficult for Richard Conte, but for most of the movie Conte deserves what she is giving him!
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3 hours ago, Roy Cronin said:
To me those who insist she was not murdered have no more credibility than those who believe she was.
As noted, we are all allowed to form our own opinions, scoldings aside.
I agree with this. All I can add is that we are all allowed to not form any opinion.
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2 minutes ago, CinemaInternational said:
I only base it on something Monroe said when she was still alive. The subject of suicide came up once, and she said if she did itt she would be in a long white gown and arrange herself perfectly before she passed, while the crime scene itself was unkept and she wasn't wearing the gown. It just seems too far from what she had said she would do had she done it.
John Huston would have said she committed suicide only if she was showing her breast when found dead. She really wanted Huston to show her breast in her final film, The Misfits, since she was really proud of them (according to the Huston book I'm reading). The point being her statement about the long white gown isn't enough for me to hang my hat on. I'm sure you also understand that someone's comments about committing suicide in a moment of relatively stable mental health, and what one might do when facing actual suicidal depression doesn't really say much.
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2 minutes ago, CinemaInternational said:
That's true. I think she was likely murdered, i just don't know by whom....
I'm surprised you would form an opinion based on such limited information.
Oh, well, that is what most people do. My goal is to be agnostic as possible about almost everything, but especially items I realize all I have is 3rd hand (at best), information on.
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1 hour ago, Shank Asu said:
🙄
FYI: I don't view "noir" as a genre but a style; therefor the question is never 'is this film a noir" but instead what noir elements (e.g. visuals, themes, character behavior), does a film have that fit the noir style. Of course this leads to the discussion of: does this film have enough noir elements to be classified as "noir"? I tend to ignore such discussions and instead focus on the actual noir elements instead of the binary classification, but will sometimes address it in this manner: if I was writing a book on American Film Noir would I include this film? With regards to The Lost Weekend, I wouldn't include it in the main section of the book, but instead in the appendix, as a film with noir elements but not enough to be included in the main section.
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32 minutes ago, Shank Asu said:
I just don't see how The Lost Weekend is noir.
To me this sentence if flawed. I.e. there is no such concept as "is noir".
Such a binary POV is limiting and thus flawed by design.
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20 hours ago, Dargo said:
Nope, as much as I've always had a GREAT attraction to Cyd and thought her one of the best dancers to ever grace the silver screen, I have to say with a few exceptions such as the film MissW mentioned above here, I've never thought of her as being a very good dramatic actress.
(...but even still AND even after all these years, I'm STILL jealous of Tony Martin...the lucky SOB)
There is nothing I disagree with here, but I do wonder how much opportunity Cyd was given to show if she had dramatic actress chops. The few films where she doesn't dance (Tension \ East Side - West Side), are early in her career. As you mention she did well in Tension, especially for a young actress. I think she is also good in East Side - West Side, especially given that she has to act along side Barbara Stanwyck.
But after these early film she had few non-dancing roles. So my overall point here is if given more opportunity would Cyd have meet the challenge? I just don't know.
Someone like Ginger Rogers showed that she was a triple threat and no Astaire was required.
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3 hours ago, NipkowDisc said:
tcm oughta show the flesh eaters with kosleck.
Yea, the movie, but please, not the rock band!
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Key Largo alternate ending.
in General Discussions
Posted
A better alternate ending would have had Bogie die as a result of taking-one-for-the-team. This would have been a very "noir" ending since the Bogie character escaped harm doing combat in the war (i.e. he didn't have a desk job), something that the gangster pointed out and mocked him for (live war hero, hey, like what Trump said about McCain).
This being a Bogie \ Bacall film we all knew it Jack Warner wasn't going to allow such an ending especially after the box office failure of Treasures of the Sierra Madre, released the same year (1948).
So we get that sappy ending with Bacall looking out into the sea, Bogie coming HOME to her, the light shinning into the window and that over loud music. (sappy yes, but it still gets me every time!).