TomJH
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Posts posted by TomJH
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25 minutes ago, chaya bat woof woof said:
On Vertigo and the nun comment, I once heard something about Hitchcock and hating Catholic School.
That nun probably scared Hitchcock as much as she did Kim Novak.
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5 minutes ago, midwestan said:
Of Stewart's four Hitchcock films, I think I like his performance in 'Rope' the best, followed by 'Vertigo', 'Rear Window', and 'The Man Who Knew Too Much'. You're right though, it was a complex role he played in 'Vertigo'. I felt sorry for Barbara Bel Geddes' character too. She deserved better than she got from him, even though she's the one who broke off their engagement many years prior to the story taking place.
I agree. Midge is a good person who just didn't get the romantic breaks.
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14 minutes ago, midwestan said:
Yeah, he was a hot mess after the second trauma. Even though they had short scenes in it, I really enjoyed Ellen Corby's and Henry Jones' performances. Along with Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart starred in 4 Alfred Hitchcock movies, and while his performance here is good, I think he was too old to play Kim Novak's love interest. And I still say the nun, who played a pivotal role at the end of the picture could have been charged as an accessory to manslaughter! 😉
Well, Jimmy may appear a little old for Kim on screen (though, not to be too catty, not in real life, apparently) but I think his casting is highly effective in Vertigo. To see an actor known for his all American regular guy persona become obsessed with a woman adds to the chilling effect. Stewart, of course, had been stretching his screen persona by portraying characters with darker streaks, particularly in his westerns, but he raised it to even a greater level, I think, in this Hitchcock film.
This is one of my very favourite Jimmy Stewart performances, reaching a peak in intensity in the film's final ten minutes. Stewart actually appears dangerous as he drags Kim up those stairs but moments later he reveals Scotty's emotional vulnerability when he calls Judy "Madeleine" and tells her how much he had loved her. Stewart, so obsessively dangerous just seconds before, now effectively portrays a man in great emotional pain. I think it's a great performance in a complex characterization.
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Just now, midwestan said:
Thanks TomJH for your post. I thought I was going nuts for a minute! The last time I saw 'Vertigo' was with the ending you described as the 'Foreign Censorship Ending'.
I think it may be poor Scotty who goes nuts after that fade out.
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48 minutes ago, midwestan said:
I watched 'Vertigo' Thursday night on TCM. I love the restoration of the film. The colors really popped, and the musical score to the movie is top-notch. I have a question though, and I apologize if it's redundant, because I keep thinking it was discussed on this message board (but not on this thread) several years ago. The question is this: Did the Thursday showing of this film end abruptly? Jimmy Stewart is standing on the roof outside the bell tower after Kim Novak was literally scared to death by a local nun, then THE END pops up on the screen. Something tells me there was a different, slightly longer ending where the deception and death of Gavin Elster's wife is tied up neatly and the husband, implicated in the woman's death, is arrested and in custody. You don't see the arrest of the guy, but rather, you hear about it on a radio newscast. I also thought this longer ending involved Jimmy Stewart getting back together with Barbara Bel Geddes. How wrong am I on this? It's been several years since I've seen 'Vertigo'. Thanks for any responses to help set me straight.
I have the DVD of Vertigo in which the film ends with a fade out as Stewart stands outside the bell tower looking down after Kim has fallen to her death.
There is an extra on the DVD, though, of the "Foreign Censorship Ending" Hithcock shot, coming right after the above scene's fade out, which shows Midge (Bel Geddes) listening to a radio reporting that Ester, last seen in France, will be extradited once he is caught. Stewart then returns to her apartment looking glum. She hands him a drink, they say nothing to one another and the film ends.
It's a limp tag on designed to wrap up the story with Elster and Scotty and Midge together but who knows where, if anywhere, their relationship is headed. IMO it lacks the haunting quality of seeing Stewart's stunned reaction to having lost Madeliene/Judy a second time.
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The Wind and the Lion (1975)
Terrific old fashioned adventure film, set in 1904, about a renegade Berber and his followers in Morocco who kidnap an American woman and her two children for internal political reasons. This puts them in opposition to Teddy Roosevelt, then up for election, determined to use U.S. troops to set the Americans free.
Director John Milius's gift for outstanding action scenes is on full display in the film's opening sequence depicting the kidnapping of the Americans from their Tangier home. Horses will smash through walls and ride through the home, as Arab warriors with swords drawn ride towards the woman and her fleeing son and daughter. Later in the film Milius will stage an Arab attack on horseback towards a town, with cannons blasting and horses falling (the director later said that no animal was injured during the making of this film).
But, arguably best of all, will be a scene in which the Berber chief will rescue the woman from some scavenger Arabs who have her. This will be on horseback with sword drawn in a film that honours the ancient tradition of a warrior proving his courage mano a mano with a sword.
Forget the Scottish brogue coming from an Arab. Sean Connery is in magnificent form as the Raisuli, Milius gives his character a great introductory closeup as the camera barrels in upon his face as he sits with his back turned to the camera then half turns to face it. Connery is as dominant a masculine force as you will see on screen in this film but matching him in effectiveness, in many ways, is Candice Bergen as his kidnapped victim. Bergen is feisty, at one point riding up to him on horseback telling him she is no coward, that if he tries to touch her she will kill him and with her last breath curse him to God. To her outburst Connery simply asks, "Do you play checkers?" "No, chess," she replies. "Better," he says.
Bergen, who may have never looked more beautiful and whose role might have been played by Maureen O'Hara a couple of decades earlier, and Connery have great rapport.
Brian Keith has great fun in the role of Teddy Roosevelt, openly imperialistic and not much concerned about the illegalities of sending U.S. troops uninvited into a foreign land.
Towards the film's end the writing becomes weaker, in fact, even silly, when American troops take a chance on a major international incident by challenging German military that has captured the Raisuli but why nit pick? Milius's film is a solid romantic adventure throwback, with two great lead actors both in peak form. Jerry Goldsmith, by the way, contributes a rousing musical score to the film.
3 out of 4
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55 minutes ago, TikiSoo said:
Never thought of that, but you're right. Flynn certainly was one-of-a-kind.
Absolutely. A lot of actors can look a bit silly in costume attire. But that kind of costume never compromised Errol Flynn's masculinity. As an action screen hero, who could also play westerners (along with WWII military men), Flynn was unique.
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12 hours ago, Vidor said:
I liked "Footsteps in the Dark" as well. It was fun seeing Errol Flynn solving a mystery "Thin Man" style. Funny how Flynn worked for Warners for so many years and they never really capitalized on his abilities. They tried him in screwball comedy with "Four's a Crowd" which was terrible, and they gave up. They tried making him a "Thin Man" detective with this movie, and it was good but apparently didn't do well, and they gave up. They never even tried to give him a big meaty dramatic part, so that had to wait until he was old and sick with "Too Much, Too Soon". (That film isn't very good but Flynn is terrific.)
No one ever played the costume hero better in the movies than Errol Flynn. He had the looks, charm as well as insolence and light hearted attitude that was perfect for such films, plus he could wear costume attire without looking effeminate. He had enough versatility as an actor that he also could play both westerns and war dramas highly effectively. Name another actor in the history of movies who was as effective as Flynn in westerns, war dramas AND swashbucklers. That makes Flynn unique among action genre actors.
But Warners wasn't too interested in experimenting with Flynn's acting ability, for the most part, and when did they cast him in some comedies, while you can see the actor's potential, the weak material he was given generally defeated him. Flynn's most successful occasions when his flare for playing humour came off well was when it supplemented dramatic (or, at least, light heartedly dramatic) material, such as in Gentleman Jim and Adventures of Don Juan.
As an actor, though, Flynn, sadly, never had the opportunity to achieve his full potential, though he was poignant when he was playing variations of his later alcoholic self in Sun Also Rises and Too Much Too Soon. Having said that, take a look at a couple of interesting darker portrayals that he had when Raoul Walsh directed him in Uncertain Glory and Silver River. Flynn's real life cynicism adds considerably to the effectiveness of those anti-hero portraits.
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I watched Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade last night by way of paying tribute to Sean Connery. I hadn't seen the film in a few years. It's a better than average action film, with some cute bits of humour, but Connery doesn't enter the film until about 45 minutes in. I was struck by how much he added to a film that, until then, had had a creeping feeling of deja vu after having seen the first two films in the series. Connery and Harrison Ford had great chemistry as they often banter with one another and I love the fact that Sean plays Indy's archeologist Dad as a being bit naive and staid, and certainly never having had the action lifestyle of his son.
When Indy and his father are confronted by some German soldiers Indy reacts, much to the shock of his father, by immediately blowing them all away with a machine gun. As father and son then start to run from the room, Connery looks down at the bodies and says, incredulously, "Look what you just did." I loved that touch, almost as if to say, "Where did you learn to do this kind of thing?"
There's later a rather typical action scene, for this series, in which Indy is driving a motorycle with his father in the passenger seat beside him as they try to escape Germans pursuing them. There's a spectacular stunt in which Indy drives the Germans off the road then looks with a smile of satisfaction on his face for an approving smile from his father. Connery responds with an "I'm not impressed" dirty look, which wipes the smile off Indy's face. He just can't please Pop. I laughed out loud.
Connery is wonderful in this film, his performance a real highlight in the production for me.
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It's inconceivable to me that TCM will not have a tribute to Sean Connery. I don't know if the channel still has access to the Bond films but, even if they don't, I'm sure they will be able to put enough of his films together to do honour to one of the great stars of the movies.
I would love it if sometime TCM could show a rare Connery film, The Red Tent, in which he plays Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen. I've never seen this one.
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They had a touch of film immorality together. Now they've left us just months apart.
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2 hours ago, Det Jim McLeod said:
I just re watched this on TCM On Demand, for the first time in decades. I was always a big fan of Universal horrors like the Frankensteins, Draculas and Wolf Man ones. The Mummy was never a favorite of mine. Watching it now, I felt the scenes without Karloff are very dull. We only get to see the bandaged Mummy at the beginning, the scene where the guy watches it "go for a little walk" is both eerie and hilarious. But I liked the flashback scenes and things really pick up at the end. And I did hear the very loud hissing sound whenever there was silence.
That suffocating claustrophobia inducing moment when a bandaged Karloff, his tongue cut out, is buried alive can give me nightmares. Yes, the film is slow but it remains one of the most atmospheric of the Universal horror films. Photographically the film is a marvel. Bramwell Fletcher might not be anybody's idea of a good actor but his giddiness as he goes mad stays in the memory.
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Perhaps the young boy who came to hero worship Sean Connery's brigand character in THE WIND AND THE LION summarized much of the appeal of this legendary actor for international film audiences over the past half century with one line of dialogue . . .
"He has the way about him."
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1 minute ago, Polly of the Precodes said:
Coming to blu-ray in 2021...
Good to know. I can't get enough ape meets girl films.
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A fine actor, an incredibly charismatic screen presence and the definitive James Bond, Sean Connery will always have a special place in the hearts of millions of film fans.
RIP, Sir Sean
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5 minutes ago, Lori Ann said:
I haven't seen that one yet. But I want to. I love Shirley Temple! My favorite actress, tied with Doris Day. I know all the early Shirley movies except 4. Her only adult movie I know is "Fort Apache".
Lori
Don't hold your breath for this Paramount film to come on TCM, Lori Ann. It is available as part of the Universal Vault series of DVDs.
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Now and Forever (1934)
Entertaining, handsomely produced comedy drama from Paramount, with the unexpected casting of Gary Cooper as a con artist living by his wits who travels around the world while fleecing people. Accompanying him is girl friend Carole Lombard, who starts to have cravings to settle down to a more normal life. Cooper then comes up with a plan to sell his daughter (Shirley Temple) for $75,000 to his wealthy brother-in-law. Those plans change when he meets his daughter for the first time in years and she wins him over with her precocious charms.
Please note that this is not a Shirley Temple vehicle. She has a prominent supporting role in a film which centers upon Cooper's con man and that, for me, is one of the saving graces of this production. I can handle Shirley in support better than I can when she is the star of the show. The film benefits from the surprising chemistry between Cooper and Temple, a reflection, apparently, of the off camera affection that the two had for one another.
Cooper, cast in a Gable-like role, as a charmer with a larcenous streak, is remarkably good in his role. He captures the charm of a superficial man who admits he's not a particularly nice person but, later in the film, when he reforms and feels regret for some of his past behaviour, he is most convincing. The actor doesn't make it seem like an artificial contrivance, predictable as the writing may be. And I must admit that Temple, a child actress I have always found quite easy to resist, has a number of scenes in this film in which I was surprised at how really good she was.
Lombard has a largely decorative role as the "conscience" in the film wanting Cooper to reform his ways. It is also interesting to see Sir Guy Standing, he of the often regal British aristocracy bearing, playing a fellow con artist who is on to Cooper. Standing shows charm in his role for a character who turns out to be surprisingly ruthless.
Now and Forever is a little remembered, if minor, film, that will please Cooper fans for the skill of his performance. As for female viewers, as well as some male, Coop was 33 when he made this film and arguably at the peak of his male beauty.
2.5 out of 4
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19 hours ago, filmnoirguy said:
How about Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein? Maltin writes: "All-time great horror-comedy still works beautifully, mainly because the monster's play it straight."
One of my favourite films but there aren't any ghosts in it.
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THE HAUNTING (1963) gets my nomination as probably the scariest ghost film I've seen. I have, however, not seen a few of the film suggestions on this thread, in particular any of the Japanese films. I appreciate the fact that director Robert Wise, using amplified sound effects and one creepy effect (a door seeming to pulsate as something is pushing against it from the other side) primarily leaves the horror to the audience's imagination.
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29 minutes ago, Lori Ann said:
Not spooky or scary, but if you enjoy the Bowery Boys, I would recommend "Ghost Chasers" from 1951.
Lori
Thanks, Lori Ann, but I'm in more of a mood for a serious ghost film.
The reason I created this thread is because I can't come up with the titles of really good ghost films, outside of the three I mentioned in my OP. I'm starting to wonder if a good ghost film is as rare a sighting as a real ghost.
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6 minutes ago, jakeem said:
Have you seen "The Others," starring Nicole Kidman? It was released in 2001 -- the same year of the actress' triumph in "Moulin Rouge" and a year before she won a Best Actress Oscar for "The Hours."
Yes, I did. I liked it enough to watch it a second time.
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9 minutes ago, sewhite2000 said:
House on Haunted Hill
The Phantom Carriage
Carnival of Souls
Thanks. I've seen two of those and found House fun and Carnival eerie.
The Phantom Carriage I've yet to see.
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I've been in a mood for a spooky thrill lately but, outside of THE UNINVITED (1944), THE INNOCENTS (1961) and THE HAUNTING (1963) I can't really think of any to watch.
Any suggestions?
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Is anyone else as in love with the villains in Hitchcock films as I am?
Was it Hitch who once said that evil is at its most effective when it comes in an attractive package? Possibly it wasn't Hitch. It might have been Charles Laughton in reference to Night of the Hunter.
Nevertheless, even if Sir Alfred didn't actually say it many of his films reflect it.
There was chatty little Cockney assassin Edmund Gwenn in Foreign Correspondent, suave, sophisticated Herbert Marshall in the same film, as well as Otto Kruger in Saboteur. James Mason was admirably performing the same cultured enemy agent role in North By Northwest. There was also cultured, mother dominated Claude Rains, actually quite sympathetic, in Notorious (you really do feel sorry for him at the end, don't you?).
Back in Hitch's British filmmaking days he did much the same thing with some of his cultured villains, too, such as missing the tip of his baby finger Godfrey Tearle in The 39 Steps and Paul Lukas in The Lady Vanishes. I always like that final scene that Lukas has in that film. As he watches the hero and heroine on board the train escape his deadly grasp he turns to an associate and, with a smile, wishes them "Jolly good luck." Now how can you really hate a villain like that?
And, when it comes to Hitchcock's British period, who can forget Peter Lorre in The Man Who Knew Too Much, not to mention (SPOILER ALERT AS IT'S A SURPRISE) Robert Young in Secret Agent. Young shows considerably more charm in that film than does sexless stiff leading man John Gielgud.
Then, of course, there were the Hitchcock psychopaths to consider. Momma's boy Robert Walker in Strangers on a Train and, another momma's boy, but of a decidedly more twitchy, neurotic nature, Anthony Perkins in Psycho.
But I save, for me, the best for last: Joseph Cotten as Uncle Charlie in Shadow of a Doubt. We know from his first scene in the film, with his monotone voice and deadpan expression, that something is deeply disturbed with this character, as he is also on the run from police. But then, when he arrives in that small Americana sunshine town where his sister's family resides, as his niece, who adores him, approaches him, after he departs from the train, we see that deadpan expression suddenly replaced, almost as if someone had flipped a switch, with a warm smile and the gracious manner of a gentleman. Here he is, on the run from police, dubbed by the papers the Merry Widow Murderer, now showing a charm and sophistication that will win over members of his family from which he now seeks a much needed refuge from a nation-wide police hunt.
Later, of course, in that memorable dinner table scene, Cotten once again resorts to that monotone voice as he disparages the "silliness" and "uselessness" of wealthy widows he has seen.
Hitchcock's camera slowly moves in on Cotten's head in profile as he speaks, telling us, in essence, forget the charm, THIS (!!!) IS THE REAL UNCLE CHARLIE, as Cotten speaks about "faded, fat, greedy women."
"They're alive," his niece suddenly speaks up, "They're human beings!"
Cotten then turns his head towards the camera and, in one of the most chilling closeup moments you will find in any Hitchcock film, simply says, "Are they?"
Joseph Cotten has always been a favourite of mine but his portrayal of Charlie Oakley is one of the defining moments of his career, as well as Hitchcock villainy. And, just to point out the obvious, the skill and versatility of this actor, contrast Cotten's charming psycho in Shadow of a Doubt with his wonderful bumbling everyman Holly Martins in The Third Man. What a wonderful actor.
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I Just Watched...
in General Discussions
Posted
The Russia House (1990)
Low key spy drama, based on a novel by John le Carre, with Sean Connery as a British publisher recruited by British intelligence for espionage work during his frequent trips to Russia. It's interesting to see an actor remembered for playing the flashiest spy of them all as James Bond now appearing in a realistic spy drama without gun play, explosions or squealing tires. Adding to the film's credibility is its on location shooting in Russia. The problem for me is that I found the story quite confusing much of the time and had difficulty keeping up with what was happening.
In a late '90s interview Sean Connery expressed affection for this film and I can understand why inasmuch as he delivers an excellent performance as the gruff, plain speaking publisher recruited into a world of espionage so foreign to him. Michelle Pfeiffer, adopting a credible Russian accent, delivers a fine performance, as well. James Fox is Connery's primary British intelligence contact, with Roy Scheider working for the CIA and Klaus Maria Brandauer a Russian with nuclear secrets he is trying to get out of his country.
Despite the quality performances and the overall admirably realistic presentation this film is a significant disappointment for me due to the complicated story. Someone brighter than me who can better follow the plot may enjoy this film more. I found it all a bit tedious.
2.5 out of 4