MyFavoriteFilms
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Posts posted by MyFavoriteFilms
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I agree, NUREMBERG is almost in a category by itself.
ANATOMY OF A MURDER was made around the same time, but its scope is much different...yet just as riveting.
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One that came to my mind after the original post was REVERSAL OF FORTUNE...I tend to like stories that are based on real-life court cases.
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I think RJ said on the audio interview that it was a six month contract with an option for up to seven years. By 1950, his contract had been extended. He said he was at Fox for 12 years.
He said that the studio had the option of renewing the contract even if the performer did not want it extended. He said Bette Davis helped change that...but I think he meant to say Olivia de Havilland because it was her attorney that challenged studio peonage and won.
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You're funny. Go get a happy meal and smile. LOL
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That's a good post, Lynn.
I was going to mention that. Empirical "evidence" may be tainted. Judy Garland is said to have made up many stories about her life. Charlie Chaplin and Paulette Goddard acted as if they were married for several years.
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There isn't a forum for this (sub)genre.
Obviously, we will be spouting opinions about this...but my question is rather uncomplicated. For someone who enjoys a film like TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD or A TIME TO KILL, what are some other great legal dramas worth recommending?
I happen to like Hitchcock's THE PARADINE CASE very much (tho I would agree that Peck is slightly miscast).
I have not seen THE PEOPLE AGAINST O'HARA...but I've heard good things about it...
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I notice there are some Ann-Margret flicks on TCM tonight...who would've thought she would have such a long career?
She was definitely no flash in the pan. Great actress.
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You can always send an email to Robert Wagner and correct him. LOL
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That's interesting, and I guess it makes sense. There's a scene from IT HAPPENED IN BROOKLYN where he goes into a record store and a group of girls swoon while he croons. This was a good ten years before Elvis.
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While listening to an audio commentary by Robert Wagner yesterday, he described himself as a 'bobby soxer' in the early 50s. He said that is how Fox packaged and sold him to audiences in the beginning.
He also went on to say there were four major bobby soxer types in motion pictures at the time: himself (at Fox), Tony Curtis (Universal & MGM), Tab Hunter (at Warners) and Rock Hudson (Universal). I suppose every studio did have one of these.
Maybe we could add Van Johnson (early on at MGM). And I think John Derek should be included (at Columbia).
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What I really liked about this film was the dialogue. Especially that dinner table scene near the end. Like when they are talking about him going away but not knowing he's going to prison. It's a good example of dramatic irony and had a bit of humor to it.
I also liked the scenes involving Emma. Poor Emma.
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Yes, thanks...I love the idea of all those great gentlemen character actors getting together and forming their own sort of MGM fraternity on the weekends.
I think Stone's most lasting quality probably is that warm, comforting voice of his. He's one of my favorite MGM stars.
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Thanks for the tip. That's a great way to find this information quickly.
I always thought Zsa Zsa Gabor played herself the most...I guess Orson Welles gives her a run for her money in this category!
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> I have never seen as much mis-information or under-information as I have seen posted on the internet. Wiki is the worst offender, in my opinion.
I discovered a perfect example of this yesterday. I watched a DVD copy of LET'S MAKE IT LEGAL, a Fox classic from 1951. One of the special features was an audio commentary by Robert Wagner who plays a supporting part at the beginning of his career.
It was great fun to listen to RJ describe how the film was made, what it was like to work with Claudette Colbert, Macdonald Carey, Zachary Scott and Marilyn Monroe. He obviously had first-handed information and could tell a lot about the production of LET'S MAKE IT LEGAL. Plus, he added many anecdotes about his early career at Fox and mentioned several things about other pictures Zanuck put him in at this time.
One thing RJ said at least twice on this audio track was that Zanuck signed him in 1949. Later, when I went to the Wiki page on Robert Wagner, it said that he did uncredited bit parts at Fox and after his work in THE HALLS OF MONTEZUMA and LET'S MAKE IT LEGAL, Zanuck was impressed and offered him a long-term contract. Not true at all! He had already been under contract to Fox for two years by this point, and they were grooming him for stardom by using him in these supporting roles.
It makes me wonder who wrote the information on his wiki page. It also makes me wonder why the actor himself or one of his own family doesn't go on there and revise it.
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helen,
Please stop. Enough.
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Well, it does not matter to me how you approach it and I'm saying it nicely. You will inevitably deal with people who want to take issues with some of your comments and you can handle that on an individual case by case basis.
I know that I am going to be citing more facts and reference materials in my posts. I will be doing this as a means of documenting my own research and my own interpretations of theories and audience reactions.
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Oh, never mind.
Oh, never mind again.
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I reviewed a text I have on MGM.
Robert Taylor made 55 motion pictures for the studio. This includes two that he did as a freelance artist after his last contract ended with Mayer. During his tenure with the lion, he was loaned out four times.
He would've made a few more for MGM if he had not spent time serving in WWII. He made no pictures in 1944 or 1945. He only made one in 1946 and only one in 1947. Then, he was back on track in '48, appearing in the usual number of projects for Mayer and company.
One thing that helps his overall total is that he was never put on suspension. He did every film the studio assigned him, including the notorious SONG OF RUSSIA.
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Thanks for your comments. Your life with your wife seems like a cute sitcom to me...I am sure your friends and your wife's friends find you an interesting conversation starter, especially when the topic of classic films comes up.
We can keep challenging ourselves to learn more about classic Hollywood. And we should not accept the old conventional attitudes about star-making and motion picture production.
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Nobody is forcing you to participate in more academic-type conversations about film.
Recently, I rented the original IMITATION OF LIFE starring Claudette Colbert. There is an audio track by an African American cultural scholar named Avery Clayton. I do think fans and students of film need a more academic dissertation on the way some films are made and their impact upon society. Obviously, the companies that release these discs agree or they would not include such commentary by such experts. If we are choosing to ignore these resources, then we are choosing to remain ignorant and lazy.
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It can be a chore, if you don't enjoy it. I am sure that if you asked any of those guest critics on TCM this month, they might feel like it's a huge job to carefully watch and analyze five to seven films per week (if they do just one a day). But it's the passion of the movies, the desire to share observations with others that makes it fun.
This said, I think we do need to rely on more academic source information when mentioning our likes and dislikes. We cannot just say things without qualifying them. Invariably, someone will question us on it and force us to justify those likes and dislikes, especially if they happen to disagree with us.
Again, my concern is that there is a lazy passing down of classics from one generation to the next. We should not be fans of a particular star just because it was our grandmother's favorite star and we remember watching those films with her. It has to be about why, how does this actor and this performance strike a chord with the viewer, what are the more timeless aspects of the film, or will the film and the performance, and inevitably, the star fade out?
Another reason we should inquire more about films and research these artistic products more is because it is ignorance not to know who the cinematographer is. It is ignorance not to know more about the score or background music. You cannot just sit there and say yeah that's good, now please pass the popcorn; you are called to a greater appreciation of this artform and to help preserve it for generations to come.
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> Hollywood makes all kinds of films that appeal to different people... Even today, with less films being produced, there's something for just about everyone.
I do agree with this assessment. However, I don't think people have a casual relationship with film..in fact, it's a deeply embedded aspect of our culture...film gets into the psyche...this is because it reflects our lives, our hopes, our ambitions, our fears, basically all our emotions. And it not only conveys our dreams, it causes us to dream some more.
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I don't see the connection between pre-emptions and Robert Mitchum. Is he the antidote to the end of the world? In an apocalyptic moment, will TCM start playing Bob Mitchum until the earth is no longer? I know they screened Mitchum flicks in August when Thelma Todd's day was pre-empted in Canada.
Why are Alec Guinness films not allowed to be seen north of the border? Does this happen not only with Hal Roach titles but with titles from the Rank Organisation, too?
I sympathize. It doesn't seem right that all those Canadian viewers will be cheated out of seeing the great Celia Johnson tonight in this charming comedy with Alec Guinness.
I guess it's time to have a glass of Guinness and exhale.
The best LEGAL DRAMAS...?
in General Discussions
Posted
There are a lot of films that are not legal dramas per se, but they do build up to a third act courtroom sequence.
PEYTON PLACE is one. FRIED GREEN TOMATOES is another. The Disney film SMITH! with Glenn Ford also culminates in a trial at the end of the movie.
The entire impetus of TIGHT SPOT is that Ginger's character will succeed in helping bring the mob to justice. There is a great little courtroom scene before the final fade out.