Sepiatone
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Posts posted by Sepiatone
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16 hours ago, Allhallowsday said:
Definitely the way I reacted to these long "motionless" films like LAWRENCE OF ARABIA or 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY... films I now love and find endlessly watchable... DEATH IN VENICE is like that too... a snooze-fest... now, all favorites of mine.
"Endlessly" being the operative word here.
Sepiatone
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Well, if I knew of a way, I'd send all the PIGEONS that crap on my car over your way.
Would THAT make you feel better? 
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21 hours ago, JamesJazGuitar said:
Uh, Perry Mason's creator was Eric Stanley Gardner.
Yep. Already admitted and apologized for my gaffe some 23 -4 hours ago.
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It was in syndication in the mid to late '60's on one of the local stations 'round here. Saw it on wintry Sat. afternoons.
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9 minutes ago, ElCid said:
Huh? Perry Mason was based on character created by Erle Stanley Gardner, who actually consulted to some extent on the show. As I recall he was present during tests for the role of PM and advised Raymond Burr over William Hopper (or maybe William Talman?). Seemed Burr's appearance better reflected Gardner's view of PM. In his books, PM and Paul Drake were both "darker" and more prone to nefarious activities. Burr was required to lose weight for the role.
Gardner's books are available again from different sources. I believe The American Bar Assoc. even published them a few years back at a reasonable price. Read a couple to get a better understanding of the "real" PM. Unlike Burr and William Warren versions.
Yep. Sorry, my mistake. (we really DO need that "blush" emoticon here. At least, I do!
)
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11 minutes ago, Allhallowsday said:
Yes, but that was hardly the only thing "remarkable" about it... many commented also on its length!
Well, as I dropped off long before it ended I had to look up it's running time.
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15 hours ago, Fausterlitz said:
I assume from the accompanying photo that this is a quote from Balzac. Did he mean that the French Revolution (as also arguably turned out to be true of the Russian Revolution) was really a product of citified intellectuals, who cynically used "the masses" for their own ends?
Could have just posed this-----
Anyway----Didn't see any of the post or pre movie "shtick" with Ben and this Cantone character. But did look in on that clip of Mario someone posted. My guess is that he's supposed to be(or has been) some kind of comedian? But I though comedians were supposed to be funny! I did see a between movie "filler" of Ben talking with Mario and my first impression was...
"Someone get this guy some DECAF!" And another guess is that TCM is trying to attract those who unfortunately grew up watching this guy's children's show. 😭
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MeTV still shows Perry Mason reruns on weeknights. My wife and I would watch them every night for a few years. I also watched it whenever possible as a kid. I guess some might see some "Noir" connection maybe because the Mason character was created by RAYMOND CHANDLER, who worked on a few screenplays of popular Noir movies and a few of his stories were adapted to the screen as Noir movies. But as far as "Noir" influenced TV---
What! No mention of...
THE NAKED CITY( '58-'63)
THE DETECTIVES('59-'61) Or
MANHUNT( '59-'61) ?
And; WELCOME to LILY and READY.
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Well, as COSTNER GOES, his over the top character in SILVERADO was the only time I could stomach much of him. And his OPEN RANGE was OK, but probably because most of the scenes he was in were with ROBERT DUVALL, And Duvall usually stole all those scenes.
And any movie in which he would narrate annoyed me because he always came off as.....
In high school, whenever a teacher wanted students to read something aloud, and would call on the worst reader in the class to stiffly bumble through a few chapters in a sleep inducing droning monotone. 😩
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I've never really considered THE APARTMENT as that much of a comedy. This isn't a slam. It does have it's moments, but I'd put it as more of a "farce".
But some that always get a laugh out of me...
THE COCONUTS
DUCK SOUP
DINNER AT EIGHT
TOPPER
THE MAN WHO COULD WORK MIRACLES
SONS OF THE DESERT
IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT
MY MAN GODFREY
LIFE WITH FATHER
HIS GIRL FRIDAY
THE LADYKILLERS
THE BELLBOY
THE PRODUCERS
GOOD NEIGHBOR SAM
THE ODD COUPLE
PAPER MOON
YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN
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I remember when it came out a big deal was made about Kubrick's use of "natural lighting", and not much else. And while I did find it visually striking, not much else about it was remarkable.
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Probably no important reason beyond just adding another element to his character. And didn't he also add a bit of slight comic relief in the act of turning the aid's volume down just before the guy jumped up from within the cake to blast George Raft and his hoods with a Tommy gun?
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I was also not ever that enamored of NORMA SHEARER. I don't "hate" her, but just an average, no big deal actress to me. And low on the "beauty" totem pole.
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17 hours ago, Mr. Gorman said:
@SEPIATONE: Here's a tidbit of info in regards to pre-release 'cuts' and on-screen credits; maybe you'll find it interesting + it was a popular movie at the time.
We have the psycho-sexual thriller SEA OF LOVE (1989). If you've seen the theatrical version you know Lorraine Bracco is not featured in the film even thought she filmed at least 2 scenes and so she does not get an on-screen credit in the theatrical version as her part was cut out in its entirety. Not even 5 seconds remained like Cyril Cusack in "Harold and Maude".
For an inexplicable reason, in the year 2000 . . . Universal released "Sea of Love" on VHS for the 3rd time under a heading that says 'UNIVERSAL THRILLERS' and this version of the movie featured Lorraine Bracco's name in the opening credits and her part was put back into the movie (along with an extra scene with William Hickey as 'Frank Sr.' and another scene involving Al Pacino's mid-life crisis where he gets paranoid on the street observing a potential suspect).
This particular VHS-issue puzzles me. Did someone working at Universal issue the 'pre-release version' complete with Lorraine Bracco's credit and part restored on purpose? Or was it just an odd mistake the company made? I'm not privy to the inner workings of movie studios "Homevideo" divisions, but I find this kind of stuff fascinating.
1990: SEA OF LOVE released on tape by 'MCA Home Video'.
1995: SEA OF LOVE re-released on tape by 'MCA/Universal Home Video'.
2000: SEA OF LOVE released again on VHS under the 'Universal Thrillers' heading with the pre-release version on the videocassette instead of the theatrical version. Except there is nothing on the video box or cassette label to indicate this is a different version of the movie but, sure enough, when I plunked this 2000-issue tape into my VCR it's not the theatrical version contained therein.
Y'know, I've seen other movies, even from the '30's and '40's(and can't recall which ones) that had a name in the opening credits but I haven't been able to spot anywhere in the flick. But putting in previously cut out scenes with people not originally credited is something I'm not familiar with.
5 hours ago, TikiSoo said:I never saw it when it first came out, but wanted to. I tried watching it in 2020 and couldn't get interested after the first half hour. I chalked it up to just being too old for the storyline.
Same for A CHRISTMAS STORY. I just found the charactors mean. The sight of a toddler in a snow suit (or bunny suit?) did not strike me as hilarious. The kids were really nasty to each other, the parents weren't the nicest either. Just didn't like it.
But I still say "Fra-gil-lé", thought that one line was cute.
I've liked this movie from jump, probably because of the history of me and some buddies scampering off with their Dad's copies of PLAYBOY and in my early adulthood subscribing to the mag and being entertained also by many of the humorous JEAN SHEPHERD "semiautobiographical" stories, including "A Christmas Story" 's amalgam of stories from Shepherd's "In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash".
1. There were NO "toddlers" in either a snowsuit or bunny suit. The snowsuit scene( hilarious in it's "I can't put my arms down!" protest) involves charactEr "Randy" younger brother of main protagonist RALPHIE, and as Randy was getting prepared for walking to school in a Cleveland, Ohio winter, a 1940's Mom might feel all that layering was necessary. And of course, Randy being school age meant he was WAY past being the age of a toddler. And it was older brother RALPHIE in the rabbit outfit, which as you might recall, was a bunny designed one piece PAJAMA, made by an Aunt of his that Ralphie explained, "Labored under the belief that I was not only a girl, but perpetually four years old."
2. The parents were as nice as most typical parents of 1940 probably were, with the Mother(you might have noticed) very nice in spite of Dad, who, like most Dads of the time, typically displayed a lot of bluster. But inside was just an old softie, as if you recall, it was HE that provided his son with the much coveted Daisy BB gun the Mother was all against, issuing her deadly "You'll shoot your eye out". protest( and one me, my brother and many other friends often heard as well). And her niceness came out in the form of coyly getting finicky Randy to eat his dinner, and never mentioning Ralphie's outburst of profanity when he was whipping the snot out of neighborhood bully SCUT FARKUS to Dad. And Scut was the only kid really nasty to the other kids, So I don't get that complaint.
And what kid DIDN'T, ever in their life, want some particular toy or whatever for Christmas SO bad, it totally consumed their thoughts the entire Christmas season?
And be honest... How many here actually ran the risk of getting "soap poisoning" for foolishly emitting some profanity at one time or another?
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As a big fan of HAZEL when I was a kid, I do have a soft spot for Shirley.
And my affinity for Vic goes to my Mother's "heartthrob" adoration of him. Plus his not taking himself so seriously( as many ego-driven yet talentless actors and actresses of his time did). As in his reasoning with the director of a country club the golf addicted Mature gave for why he should be granted membership in the club that had a "no actors" policy....
"I'm NOT an actor," asserted Vic, "And I've got 30 pictures under my belt that proves it!"
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Since the OP asks; "and others" I thought I'd chime in with the only version of the DRACULA story I like better, or as much as, the '31 version with BELA LUGOSI is the '77 COUNT DRACULA, the BBC television production shot on the video/film hybrid format. Starring LOUIS JOURDAN as the Count. PBS used to show it routinely, but hasn't shown it for many moons.
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In spite of any "cuts"(which the general public didn't know about until many years later) I liked H&M pretty much. But, as usual, I went into it without any expectations, so I had no expectations it failed to live up to.
I found the Maude character's personal philosophy a good one for a person of her character's age, and the quick flash of the sight of the serial number on her wrist certainly explained a lot of where that philosophy came from. And perhaps that cut that Dan asserts would have explained why Harold had slept with Maude was maybe cut because the reason was obvious without it. And perhaps Cusak was mentioned in the credits, despite his short appearance was due to his status in the acting community....?
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In the "classic" mode, I never saw the "charm" or appeal in ADOLPHE MENJOU . Never really cared much for CHARLEY CHASE. Or noticed much beauty in the ostrich faced MARLENE DIETRICH. And this may be considered blasphemous, but-----
RANDOLPH SCOTT always made me think of an encyclopedia salesman trying to play cowboy. And I'll gladly let GRETA GARBO be alone.
I agree with Dan that East Of Eden has problems beyond James Dean. One of my favorite novels, I find the wasting of two hours of film stock on only 1/3 of the story somewhat disappointing. especially when later someone would waste THREE hours of it on Dr. Zhivago. But all in all, I withhold judgement on Dean's acting since his output was tragically cut short and we've been denied the sight of his full potential.
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9 minutes ago, unwatchable said:
You some kinda Francophile or somethin'? 😛
WHAAAAAAA?
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Whether any comedy or plot idea is "tired" depends on who's watching. As with Blandings, my younger daughter, who's never seen it until a couple or so years ago, and had gone through the whole having a house built ordeal with her ex a decade earlier, said she found it "familiarly amusing". After all, some are capable of watching "classic" movies of an advanced age with consideration of WHEN it was made, and not compare anything about them with what the current culture is at the moment.
And funny is funny regardless of when it comes from. One example.... In the Laurel and Hardy short MEN O' WAR('29) there's a situation where the boys, both sailors and wanting to treat two girls they meet to sodas, find they only have 15 cents. Thinking the sodas are 5 cents a piece, Ollie cooks up the idea of ordering only three and having him and Stan split one of them. But when the sodas come, Ollie indicates to Stan to dink his half first. But When Ollie discovers Stan drank the whole thing and confronts him about it, Stan in his high-pitched whimper tells Ollie, "I couldn't HELP it. My half was on the BOTTOM!"
Now, THAT'S funny. In 1929 AND 2021!
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On 10/2/2021 at 10:35 AM, Sepiatone said:
Save for PAUL SAND and JOHN ASTIN, ( and a few others)most of the principal cast of EVERY LITTLE CROOK AND NANNY('72) are gone. Like...
LYNN REDGRAVE
VICTOR MATURE
PAT MORITA
DOM DeLUISE
MAGGIE BLYE
PAT MORITA
PHIL FOSTER
PAT HARRINGTON
Sepiatone
OOPS!
Seems in reality, PAT MORITA only died ONCE!
Huh.... we could sure use a "blush" emoticon 'round here.
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I didn't catch THE WHITE ZOMBIE, but I thought whomever was in charge of the technicolor version of DOCTOR X ('32) got way to heavy on the GREEN.
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I prefer the Tracy version of the movie. However, I think March's Jekyll is more convincing, but his "monkey-man" Hyde has always been a turn off.
But, the folks at TCM like the '31 version so much they showed it TWICE yesterday!
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Awww.... MISSED 'em this morning. Was up to my elbows( and almost literally
) dealing with a backed-up toilet. 🚽 Sepiatone
I found the Maude character's personal philosophy a good one for a person of her character's age, and the quick flash of the sight of the serial number on her wrist certainly explained a lot of where that philosophy came from. And perhaps that cut that Dan asserts would have explained why Harold had slept with Maude was maybe cut because the reason was obvious without it. 
WHAAAAAAA?
) dealing with a backed-up toilet.
The French Connection and other great film-making stories
in General Discussions
Posted
Yeah, I always remark I like the chase in THE SEVEN-UPS far better than the one in BULLIT, And "The French Connection" car chase still tops with me too.
Many "newer generation" guys I know don't like this one much due to the lack of unnecessary gun play which newer flicks of this type gratuitously throw in. But then too, some older than me disliked it because they felt it had TOO MUCH gun play!One of my favorite segments is when they're tearing up that Lincoln looking for the dope, and when the French actor goes to pick it up at the police garage it's put back together looking like it's never been touched.
But that's just one of the many great segments sewn together in one fantastic motion picture.
But, when it comes to chase scenes, I always bring up the "grand daddy " of 'em all!
Sepiatone