MyFavoriteFilms
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She's not that bad in CHRISTY...though I do think it's a role more for a slapstick comedienne.
Maybe Parker was so effective in dramas that we have a hard time considering her in a comedy. She and Fred do have chemistry.
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Sometimes people lack common sense when listening to a rumor or reading a claim, such as the kind that Christina puts in print.
First, Bette Davis is no authority on what did or did not happen in Joan Crawford's home. I am sure Bette never stepped foot anywhere near Joan's property. There is no way Joan would've ever let her have a glimpse into any of that. Bette was supporting Christina's claims without any evidence because of her shared dislike for Joan. Of course, she didn't like it when her own daughter turned on her. As a mother, she should've had a bit of empathy. But her own bitterness towards Joan overruled her own judgment.
Next, as for the strapping of the child into the bed. There is NO way that Joan Crawford would've ever taken the time by herself to put a child to bed. She had round the clock maids, housekeepers, servants, nannies, etc. So if they did have to strap Christopher, it was probably because he was violent or had a sleepwalking problem and I am sure another adult on Joan's domestic staff helped her. Do you think a movie star that Hedda Hopper said would not venture to the store to buy an egg unless she was dressed to the teeth would've gotten her hair messed up trying to get a violent or misbehaving child to bed? No. She would've had her paid employees doing it for her.
As for Christina suing the estate, not only did she wind up going after money left to the twins, but she was going after money her mother left to special charities near and dear to Joan's heart. And Christina claims she did it to help her brother Christopher. No. She did it to get revenge against a parent that disowned her.
Finally, the comment about Cathy's son appearing on the TV program. They probably have to do damage control every time Christina speaks to the press. They have to present the other side of the story. And that's what the website is for, to help restore Joan Crawford's legacy.
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In the '65 version, the two killers that were 'innocent' have a confrontation outside the mansion. One of them seemingly shoots the other (the woman shoots the man). Then, when she goes inside, she sees the judge still alive and learns he is the mastermind/mass murderer. He says he is dying and to hurry things along, he drinks some poison. But before he dies, the man we thought dead outside comes into the room and announces he's still alive. He reunites with the woman, and we are led to believe they will live happily ever after.
According to the Hays Office in the 1940s, it was unacceptable to let the couple live happily ever after if they had been killers. Also, it had to be clear that the judge was not offing himself to avoid arrest. In the '65 version, it seems to be more that he is taking the easy way out, even if he is already dying.
The '65 film also has a rather steamy bedroom scene involving the couple earlier in the story. It's clear that the code is being dismantled and that the remake is allowed to take dramatic liberties that were denied the original version by Rene Claire.
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I did forget about the Lone Wolf...thank you!
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The 1950s were full of missed opportunities for RKO. Since Hughes had the finances, he should've taken risks and tried to do more epic kinds of films. Jane Russell should've been as big at RKO as Marilyn Monroe was at Fox and Liz Taylor was at MGM.
Or, if epics were not his style, then Hughes should've at least perfected high-concept filmmaking. This would've catapulted him into the big leagues with Zanuck and Mayer and the studio would've been a huge force in the 60s and 70s.
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I liked A MILLIONAIRE FOR CHRISTY.
But...it would've been vastly improved if:
1. Gig Young had played the Richard Carlson role.
2. Mitchell Leisen directed the picture.
and
3. Carole Lombard had still been alive to do the Eleanor Parker role. Or at least, they could've given the part to Lucille Ball.
In short, the script and Fred were great. But most of the elements were badly assembled. This could've been a classic that revived the screwball comedy format.
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I think the jury is still out on Howard Hughes. He was a very powerful man and could pretty much do what he wanted. RKO was his baby. And yes, some very good films were made during his time there...films that benefit from the Hughes touch.
RKO was mostly a B-film studio, though, when he came on the scene. RKO made very few A-budgeted movies in comparison to other large studios (the Ginger Rogers films were the exception).
They were specializing in film noir products because they were cheaper to make. And the studio's film noir output was seldom A-budget (OUT OF THE PAST is one of the rare examples). But even going back to the early 40s, before film noir was all the rage, RKO was known for turning out programmers (a lot of them) that reduced the studio's financial risk. Hardly any of their films were budgeted at over $500,000. By contrast, MGM and Fox were making many films that cost between 500 K and $1 million.
Although RKO had its share of profitable programmers, it was not considered a superior product. CITIZEN KANE gave the studio some prestige (years later) and so did Val Lewton's films (in retrospect). But RKO was the little engine that could. Howard Hughes could've turned it into a much more powerful studio. But he lacked the vision that Zanuck and Mayer had.
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THE UNTOUCHABLES television series ran for four seasons. It was on ABC, which did not have as many affiliates at the time as the other two major networks. It was a popular series, but it was also controversial. In his autobiography, Desi Arnaz mentions that some groups advocated boycotting the show due to its violent content.
The show was a personal favorite of Desi's. He attended school in Florida with boys who became real-life gangsters. And he claims to have known Al Capone.
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Yes...most of the time, films done in Technicolor and black-and-white are produced in distinct segments. The color segment is usually separate from the non-color segment. We do not usually see a merging of the two visual styles, like we find in PLEASANTVILLE.
About PLEASANTVILLE, what is the thematic purpose of having color and black-and-white in the same shot? Does this signify anything dramatically? Or is it just the director, cinematographer and special effects department showing off? See, to me, it has to serve the story...or else it draws too much attention to itself.
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Sometimes when I watch a film I can tell it has been heavily edited due to the production code (especially the ending). I think most people have experienced this. It looks like the story should end one way, then it abruptly goes in another direction at the last minute, so that we have a more morally-correct resolution.
I don't mind this, if there is something 'good' about it that I can accept. But there are times when I think the ending should be morally incorrect, because the story should function as a realistic depiction of what happens when people do go bad and life does go wrong. These can be powerful films that teach powerful lessons.
One of the problems that I have with many films after the erosion of the code (post 1968) is that remakes aren't produced for the 'right' reason. I think the freedom that comes after the code allows filmmakers to correct earlier versions that had phony endings.
Let me turn now to a film that I think does this 'correctly:'
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Have you seen AND THEN THERE WERE NONE? And its remake, TEN LITTLE INDIANS? The remake was actually produced before the code was abolished, in 1965 in Europe. The cast may seem a bit inferior to the group of actors in the original, but the story is filmed the way Agatha Christie wrote it. A couple of killers are allowed to live happily ever after...and a mass murderer is allowed to commit suicide to evade justice. These were things forbidden by the code in 1945 version.
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I hadn't thought about SINGIN' IN THE RAIN...excellent example!
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Thanks, Lynn, for bringing this to our attention. No wonder the original poster was in such a hurry to generate a response. Hedda would've not had nice things to say about that! LOL
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I missed BULLDOG DRUMMOND when it was aired in August as part of Walter Pidgeon's SUTS. I know there were earlier versions. I have not seen any. The great thing about this thread is that it can serve as a reference to viewers like myself looking for more detective stories.
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Thanks...and it was turned into a TV series in the 70s with Jim Hutton.
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I'd be happy to reply...but I don't know the answer. 'Kingpin' could apply to so many leading men in Hollywood. Clark Gable, Gary Cooper, Frank Sinatra...anyone.
I looked up her more famous quotes on her page at the internet movie database. She says a few wicked things about Joan Crawford, something very interesting about Elvis, and has nothing but praise for one of my favorites Claudette Colbert...but there isn't a shred about a kingpin.
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The one I mentioned is exactly in the format you have described.
It was released in the U.S. as STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN, then retitled A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH for its European release. It stars David Niven and Kim Hunter and will be on TCM next month.
It starts on Earth (in Technicolor), then it goes to a supernatural world in b&w, before returning to Earth and a final sequence in Technicolor at the end of the picture.
To read more about it, check the wiki page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Matter_of_Life_and_Death_(film)
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Yes, Republic does have its fans...and like you said, they had their own stars that became very famous.
What I have noticed about some of these studios on the periphery is that they tend to hire actors, producers and directors on the way up and on the way down. As a result, they go through rather interesting production cycles and do indeed turn out some real gems from time to time.
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TCM does air the '49 version of SECRET GARDEN. I think it was broadcast in August for Margaret O'Brien's SUTS...and it happened to fall on a day when John Lithgow introduced it as part of the Essentials Jr. programming block. I'm sure it will be scheduled again.
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After the Arnazes divorced in 1960, they continued to do business together for a few years. But in 1962, Desi stepped down as president and sold his shares to Lucy. He had been helping produce her new sitcom, The Lucy Show but by the end of the first season, he stopped working on that, too.
Ball and her new husband Gary Morton continued to oversee her business ventures, including her next sitcom, Here's Lucy which was formed when they sold Desilu to Paramount in 1968 and started Lucille Ball Productions. Meanwhile, Desi had begun his own independent production company called Desi Arnaz Productions, in association with United Artists Television. He was responsible for the sitcom The Mothers-in-Law which featured him as an occasional guest performer.
_These are the shows that Desilu produced:_
I Love Lucy: 1951?57
Our Miss Brooks: 1952?56
December Bride: 1954?59
Sheriff of Cochise: 1956?58
Whirlybirds: 1957?60
The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour: 1957?60
The Californians: 1957?59
The Texan: 1958?60
The Ann Sothern Show: 1958?61 (co-produced with Anso, Ann Sothern's company)
The Untouchables: 1959?63
Harrigan and Son: 1960?61
Here's Hollywood: 1960?62
Fair Exchange: 1962?63
The Lucy Show: 1962?68
You Don't Say! 1963?69
Star Trek: 1966?69
Mission: Impossible 1966?73
Mannix: 1967?75
Note: Some of these series do not seem to have aired long. But considering they usually produced between 30 and 40 episodes per season back then, a three year run would usually allow for reruns. Most of these programs aired on CBS; however, a few were in first-run syndication like Whirlybirds.
Special mention about Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse: 1958-1960...The pilots for The Twilight Zone & The Untouchables aired as part of this anthology series. Also, the Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour episodes aired in this time slot.
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I figured the wiki page was just the tip of the iceberg.
As for RKO distributing IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, yes...they did not exactly 'produce' it.
In the late 50s, when the studio was having trouble, some of its productions were distributed by Universal, but they have the RKO logo on them and are technically RKO pictures.
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On the wiki page for RKO, it says the company was formed in 1929, then went 'defunct' in 1959. However, we know that RKO still operates today.
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The 1949 version starring Margaret O'Brien and Dean Stockwell is almost entirely filmed in black-and-white. Only the last scene is in color.
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PLEASANTVILLE has shots that are in both black-and-white and color.
A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH/STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN is the opposite, visually, of THE WIZARD OF OZ. The supernatural scenes are in black-and-white, while the ones on Earth are in Technicolor.
Here are some other classic films that are in black-and-white and color:
BEN HUR
BLITHE SPIRIT
THE SECRET GARDEN (You mentioned this one.)
THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY
PORTRAIT OF JENNIE
SOLID GOLD CADILLAC
THE WOMEN
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You're right about the dogs. LOL
And how could I overlook The Whistler???
Eleanor Parker..No Actress for Comedy
in General Discussions
Posted
> Doesn't matter, I bet I can tell you how it ended. After various zany situations, in each one Parker trying to tell MacMurray about his inheritance, Fred realizes it is Eleanor Parker he loves, not his fiance, who ends up with the original best man who liked her in the first place. Fred and Eleanor get their 23 million pesos and live zanily ever after. Pul-eese !
Spoilers:
Well, we know from the billing that they are the romantic leads and will wind up together. But they do not get the money in the end...and when the final fade out occurs, they are on the run...which leads me to think that there was a probably the idea of doing a sequel.
I found it to be a very clever script. I loved the scene where he drags her into the phone booth in the diner. When they return to the car, reporters are all around and think they have just married. It has a fast pace and a lot of energy. The scenes where they wind up in a boxcar with a Mexican family were priceless.