Filmgoddess

The difference is, of course, that New York IS the center of the world And the people coming from Pasadena, Peoria, Dubuque, and Cucamonga know it and it makes them feel inferior. Afterall, there are people who come to "make it there" from all over the USA. I don't see too many people from New York running off to Indianapolis.

It's a tie for me with CHRISTMAS IN CONNECTICUT, which I'll write more about later. They're both perfect.

I don't get the sense that Fuller is THAT highly thought of. So I can't say he's that overrated. Overrated is someone like Kubrick. 2 or 3 early films then everything else, to me, is unwatchable. Fuller was capable of some really great stuff.

To claim that "there" not even in the same league is so ridiculous but, of course, it's one way to not have a discussion/argument. One can just make a comment like that and then you don't have to defend or present your point of view. Clever, but an old trick. But in one way you're right: Stanwyck never gave a bad performance while Davis gave bad performance after bad performance right up until her death. Just compare her with Gish in WHALES OF AUGUST. Lillian is a real character, Davis is Davis doing old, crotchety Davis. So, you're right in one respect. For the most part, Davis is not even in Stanwyck's league. Not by a long shot. 5 or 6 great performances vs. a body of great work that was 50 years long. I know which I'd take. Just imagine, if you will, Bette Davis in that scene feeling up Richard Chamberlain naked in THE THORN BIRDS. You'd laugh out loud. But Stanwyck, at 75, makes it work perfectly. That's a great actress.

Great story. Thanks for sharing. And I love the "Mr. Macy" bit. Of course, there was no Mr. Macy but I suppose audiences didn't know that. The whole thing is a delight from start to finish.

Copyright law. What a ridiculous infringement of our freedoms. Just a way to keep certain people and corporations rich, year after a year, while stifling creativity. Perfect example. The William Faulkner estate is suing Woody Allen for using one line in MIDNIGHT IN PARIS. Faulkner has been dead for 50 years. Completely insane. There are no US laws that need an overhaul more than copyright law.

Totally agree about Gwenn here. As for Bette, she was only very good when she stuck to that one line of performance she did best: the female melodrama. Get her outside of that, and forget it. Even some of those she did were awful. At her best, no one could touch her. But that's only a handful of performances. She became a caricature at some point. There's a reason she's a favorite of drag queens. She became so "unnatural." There's also a reason drag queens don't do Stanwyck. No mannerisms, no over-the-top stuff. Just natural authenticity. Imagine Bette in a noir? No way. In a comedy? Never. When she did them, she wasn't funny. Everyone else was. Can you imagine Bette in a western? Nope but Stanwyck did them all and was magnificent in them. I'd take Bette at her best anyday, but Stanwyck's library is much richer and, therefore, there is so much more to enjoy there.

Okay, whatever. As I said, yours is a decidely minority opinion. Very minority. Stanwyck is probably the least controversial actress of the golden age because 99.9% agree she's near the top. Let's not get started on Bette Davis. She gave some truly great performances but when she was bad, which sadly was very often, she was as bad as it gets. MR. SKEFFINGTON. It makes your skin crawl she's so awful. Name almost any film of hers from the 1950s and I'll show you a lesson in bad acting. She was always Bette Davis, just like all the great stars. My point about Gwenn was if your only exposure to him in MIRACLE and it makes you warm and cuddly, don't watch FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT as it will shatter your dream.

The Way We Were. Barbra Streisand. Boy, she sure could take a song and twist it out of all possible recognition, couldn't she? So overwrought. She makes Johnnie Ray look downright sedate.

That takes a lot of fortitude. I barely got through that bloated thing in my own home theater. Cut about an hour or and you might have a decent film.

THE MATRIX is not a digital film. Gary Cooper was capable of very good performances. But, boy, was he a great star. Great presence. Tom Hanks is none of those things. He's the kind of person I expect to encounter working the check-out line at Safeway. And not the likable type.

I have a film buff friend who believe the classic film era ended when sound came in. And another who thinks that film basically died once color started and widescreen!!!

I think I'd rather watch the FRANCIS THE TALKING MULE films. Nope, just kidding

I don't disagree about George Brent. He was a little wooden but I think that's the point. These very strong leading ladies need someone like to play against, often. And he worked in those kinds of roles. He never has to carry a film. It's always Davis and Stanwyck who do that. I think Davis played against less great leading men than any other big star. I love film in general but the standard westerns with Wayne, Rogers, Autry, less lights hold no interest for me. But films like SEARCHERS (all of the Ford 1940s and 50s westerns as well) and the Stewart/Mann westerns, and the Stanwyck westerns are a different breed of western. Those I love and I'm very interested in them. But it took me awhile. You're young, you may get there yet

Well, I haven't seen any of that either. If you can name the flaws, I'll address them. You say potato, and I say putato.

This is the time of year when I re-visit the various classic Christmas/Holiday movies made during the golden age of film. I've done A CHRISTMAS CAROL ... and now this one. When they say "they don't make 'em like that anymore" this is the kind of film they are referring to. Maureen O'Hara, John Payne (impossibly handsome), Natalie Wood, Edmund Gwenn. There's a few things that strike me: 1. The perfect balance between sentimentality and some fairly biting humor. George Seaton is unfairly underrated in my opinion. 2. This must have been the biggest commercial advertisement for a department store ever made! 3. Everything just clicks in this film. It's certainly one of the most perfect holiday films ever made. I must admit the first time I tear up is when Kris is introduced to the little Dutch orphan girl who doesn't seem to speak and they begin to converse and sing in Dutch. You have to be a rock, not to tear up at that moment. And it goes from there but also alternates with some funny set pieces and funny lines. I love when Kris says to Susan "I bet you're in the 1st grade." "No, I'm in the 2nd grade. It's a progressive school." Those of us of a certain age, will laugh out loud because we get what that meant back then. The performances are all spot on. Seeing the young Natalie Wood is heart-breaking now but she gives one of the best child acting performances of the 1940s. Gwenn, who won the Best Supporting Actor prize, is actually the lead in the film. He's perfection. A perfect blending came together in that role. Don't watch him as the assassin in FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT! Maureen O'Hara, not the world's greatest actress but a fine star, is lovely and John Payne -- who never became a big star -- is so handsome ... well, let's not go there. This is easily in my top 5 favorite holiday films (Holiday Inn, Wonderful Life, Christmas Carol, Christmas in Connecticut) and it's always fun to revisit it at this time of year.

"Temper hagiography?" Okay, at least I know where you're coming from. I haven't seen a single example of "hagiography" but ... to each his own.

You can't just say it. Prove it. How was she always the same? On the other hand, I think Barbara Stanwyck's reputation will survive the disdain of 1 or 2 film queens on an internet board

Sorry but that post sounds like it was written by a 12 year old with absolutely no knowledge of film or even television

Cirque is like Quentin Tarantino or Tim Burton. They've been making the same film for 20 years. Over and over and over again. I'm bored.

Colm Wilkinson plays the Bishop .....

About 2 months ago, I saw rough cuts of a number of the "contenders" for awards this year. Then I got my SAG screeners and Oscar screeners. So I saw everything at home first and then of the ones I really liked I saw them in theater. These are my favorites among the "contenders": LINCOLN ARGO THE IMPOSSIBLE SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK SKYFALL LES MISERABLES HYDE PARK ON THE HUDSON AMOUR A ROYAL AFFAIR BERNIE These are the ones I had mixed feelings about or hated: DJANGO UNCHAINED (my hands down choice for worst film of the year) HITCHCOCK

I get everything by downloading from the various torrent and film sites. It's the only way to go. Try torrentz.se. You'll find anything you want there.

No, I just think he's a terrible actor and I can think of any number of good actors today who would have done much more with those parts. As Dorothy Parker said, his emotional range runs the gamut from A to B.

The NFR doesn't actually "preserve" films. Read their charter. It says that even though a film is on their list "it doesn't guarantee that the film will be preserved." I'm not sure what that says about their need to exist.