EugeniaH

Absolutely without question one of my all-time favorites (second to Stanwyck). VP, by the way, I love your Lombard site. I cruise by it frequently.

I just noticed the new blog posted at Movie Morlocks, and the opening lines are intriguing: *"Some actors have great talent but little charisma. Charisma, that intangible quality so difficult to explain but so easy to spot, is something only the greatest performers possess and most of them, in the history of cinema, have fallen into the character actor/supporting player role."* So I'm curious who people think have great charisma, or great talent but little charisma.

Gloria Swanson in "Sunset Boulevard" was so hard to watch (for me). I understand why the character needed to be played that way but she was so over the top she was like a cartoon character. I was nearly distracted from the plot, watching her... As an offshoot of the idea of "hamminess", with some actors in films you are absorbed by the character they are playing, but with other actors in films, you never forget that it is the star playing the role. Sometimes the latter is like that for me with Bette Davis, but not all the time. As I said elsewhere she was wonderful in All About Eve, and I also liked her in Deception. She and Claude Rains had incredible chemistry.

Roman Polanski - now there's a controversial figure!

I haven't seen either of these movies. Refering to finance's comment and my earlier comment on *The Wizard of Oz*, I've read that the midgets on the set of TWOZ were quite the carousers or "troublemakers" (though I don't remember if I read it in a 'good' movie book, or some tabloid shlock)

"Well it a good thing that the personal life of an artist (e.g. actor, musician, singer, painter etc..) doesn't impact how I view their art unless they inject their personal life or views into their art." I guess it would depend on the case in question. It's hard for some people to separate Joan's work from her private life because what Joan did was pretty extreme (horrific child abuse). In another case, like say, John Barrymore's alcoholism, it may be a little easier to "forget" this when watching him in a role. Plus, in Joan's case, Mommy Dearest was hyped over and over again to the point where people who didn't know her would never forget her (in one slanted pointed of view).

Thanks! Well, I'm nothing if not opinionated! I just need to warm up here more...

"Can anyone think of an example of "bad acting" in a classic film..." Uh, oh, another loaded gun. But I'm feeling brave this morning, so I'll put my head on the chopping block... I didn't care for Bette Davis in *Mr. Skeffington*. I felt that she was overacting a tad bit and I had the sense of her trying to say, "Look at me, everyone, here I am!"

Mongo, I've been following your thread pretty much every day for the last year and a half, and I'm just amazed how you've been able to have access to all these great/rare pictures. Are you a Hollywood insider? Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks for all your hard work on this thread. I know you've been doing it for years...

I saw Mommie Dearest long before I saw any of Joan Crawford's films, and I have to say that I think it tainted me in seeing JC objectively. I've watched a fair amount of her films, but I can't seem to get beyond this perception of her as "strange". Mommie Dearest became such a cult classic that her reputation was as good as trashed after that. It's too bad... I thought Mildred Pierce was okay but I wouldn't reach for Joan's movies first on a given night.

I agree. And sometimes if you have two actors together in a scene with one who is mediocre, your attention is drawn to the better actor - that is, his/her reactions and body language.

That would have been interesting casting, sarcastic Joan and sweet, staid Joel. I could see them together in a screwball comedy.

I have a friend that lives in Sonoma County and she took me to the schoolhouse where they filmed THE BIRDS. Pretty cool.

misswonderly, you'll have to make up a new cheer with both Joel and Joan's names in it.

In continuing with the theme of all films Borzage, last night I watched Street Angel. A very different film from Lazybones and Sunrise, as it is set in Italy, and the direction seems to be a lot more fast-paced. I first saw Janet Gaynor in "A Star is Born" (and Sunrise, of course), but here I think she shows a broader range in her acting, her moods alternating from sad to angry, etc. A few scenes I liked: 1) where the circus man was caught by the street vendor and being accused of stealing his sausage, and there is a quick shot of the monkey dressed in a circus outfit staring with his mouth open, almost mocking, 2) The scene where Janet Gaynor is brought before the judge and you can only see her eyes beyond the judge's point of view (she looks so tiny among the men), 3) the shadows on the wall of the workhouse, 4) the bear that keeps chewing at Charles Farrell's ear (the second instance, I thought, of Borzage using animals for comic effect, along with the monkey I mentioned before). I think I enjoyed Lazybones more (it appealed to me more on the heart level) but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Jonas, thanks. I can kind of see what you mean by the music jarring with the austerity of the direction. I guess I think of the soundtrack matching more with Joan's story - of hearing God's voice, of confronting the English, where she's just a teenage peasant girl on a divine mission, etc. I definitely want to try and watch it in complete darkness and silence. It will be interesting to see if my viewing of it changes. On another note, I don't know that I've ever seen an Eisenstein film. Can you recommend one?

Hi Scott, The Parson's Widow is on my list (though I keep pushing it back in favor of "talkies" of late).

For me it would be THE OMEN. I wouldn't want to see this one without one of three things - a strong guy with me, a security blanket, or a priest! LOL

Wow, I hadn't realized how many movies she'd done. I liked the films of hers I did see. She definitely deserves to be a SOTM (er, that is, the month after Joel McCrea...)

I love Fields. He was brilliant. I don't know if everyone would agree that he was a genius but he was (and is) certainly iconic.

{font:Times New Roman} {font} {font:Calibri}Carl Dreyer is my personal favorite of the silent film directors. I first saw The Passion of Joan of Arc one late night and it haunted me so much that I had trouble getting to sleep… Sometime later I finally got a friend, who isn’t into classic movies, to watch it. She said that in the middle of the film she realized she had things to do but she couldn’t tear herself away from watching it. I think this illustrates Dreyer’s grip – he reaches in and takes you on the visceral level. {font} {font:Times New Roman} {font} {font:Calibri}The sets are, for the most part, bare. The viewer is nearly assaulted by the closeups of the faces and the disorienting camera angles (as when Joan is in the torture chamber and the room is spinning, and the scenes in the village on the day Joan is to be burned). The scene of the burning is so realistic it nearly causes anguish. I know the word “masterpiece” is so overused, but I can’t think of another one to describe it. The soundtrack is incredible and fits the film perfectly. I listen to it on my iPod. {font} {font:Times New Roman} {font} {font:Calibri}On the other hand (purely subjective opinion, of course), I found Day of Wrath to be emotionally disturbing. I realize it’s a metaphor for the occupation of Denmark by the Nazis, but I found it difficult to watch (the torture of the old woman in particular. To hear her loud screams, to see her eyes as she pleads with her tormentors, and in one scene she is naked from the waist up with a giant hook hanging near her. I nearly turned off the movie when they finally put her to death!). I can’t help but wonder what Dreyer was like as a person to make such intense films (there is also Vampyr, etc.). I always like to know the “how” and “why” behind the brilliance. {font} {font:Calibri} {font} {font:Times New Roman} {font}I’m interested to hear the comments of others on him. Edited by: EugeniaH on Aug 20, 2011 2:35 PM Edited by: EugeniaH on Aug 20, 2011 2:37 PM

I found out about Anousheh Khalili completely by accident while browsing on iTunes. Another song she's done, "Sleep", isn't on You Tube but it's a great song as well.

Thanks so much. I missed this one so I've also added this to my Netflix queue. I'm looking forward to seeing these other ones next and will hopefully revisit here to write about them.

If you could be there to watch the making of a film, which would you choose? Assume you could also interact with cast and crew if you wanted to (between takes!). My four for starters: 1. Any comedy with Carole Lombard - watching Lombard at work in anything would guarantee a good time with a lot of laughs (from what I read of her, anyway) 2. *All About Eve* - I'm not a huge Davis fan but she was stellar in this. The whole cast was great, in fact. I would love to hang out with Thelma Ritter 3. I'd love to be on the set of an early Frank Capra picture (e.g. *Ladies of Leisure*, *The Miracle Woman*, *Forbidden*). I love his direction of these three in particular. 4. Would love to see the making of Dreyer's *The Passion of Joan of Arc*. I don't know if this topic has already been done to death elsewhere, so apologies in advance, if so... Edited by: EugeniaH on Aug 19, 2011 10:44 AM

Oh yeah, I love *Sunrise* and own it! (Wouldn't it be great to see a movie like that on the big screen!) That's too bad about the poor quality of *Street Angel*. Well, I guess it's better than not being able to see it at all. I would love to own that Murnau/Borzage set but the price is too high for me. Gagman, I don't have a region 2 player, unfortunately. I should consider investing in one.