AddisonDeWitless

Osborne has hosted the last several Sunday nights. Maybe the Welsh theme was cobbled together impromptu because someone spilled some Pineapple Shasta on something; Ben was called in to pinch-hit because he's like Dorothy Zbonrnak on a Saturday night (highly available.) I've been to Wales. *No one* in The Corn is Green sounded even remotely Welsh. Edited by: AddisonDeWitless on Apr 5, 2013 9:40 AM

> {quote:title=Mr.Froy wrote:}{quote} > > Larry and his wife at the time Joan Plowright. > > > > > > Last and least, Brando was a friend of Larry's. He (Marlon) thought Vivien Leigh > had a "superior posterior," but didn't try to sleep with her because Larry was his > buddy. What a guy. That's the Hollywood Merry-Go-Round for today. > > > > > > > > > > His wife at the time and up until his death. *I wonder why there has been no new narrated SOTM tribute to Olivier* as there were for Greer Garson and Loretta Young and Stanwyck? I'm thinking Joan is still with us, surely she'd be happy to wax about Larry for a coupla' minutes. If not her, why not Branagh? *Or is there one and I've not seen it yet?* *ps-* according to David Niven, he saw Brando and Olivier making out in a swimming pool, Hollywood, circa. 1951. Edited by: AddisonDeWitless on Apr 5, 2013 9:04 AM

Yup. I'm worried now that I'm getting someone else's thread on a path to lockdown, so I feel like I ought to *genuinely* shift the topic back to the OP... You know: one issue I have with the 1956 Ten Commandments and Ben-Hur *are some of the sets.* To me, they look inauthentic. *Too-bright, too colorful.* Now, that's not to say some of the sets aren't terrific- esp. the sea scenes in both and the grand-scale sets- but the small-scale, less-opulent sets don't work for me..although they do have a certain Children's Illustrated Bible/ Little Golden Book/ Viewmaster slide kitsch quality that is not without appeal. ps- non sequitor- you know, Edward G. Robinson does look good in eyeliner. Edited by: AddisonDeWitless on Apr 4, 2013 11:42 AM

> {quote:title=dpompper wrote:}{quote} > <Sersely, it is the *unfunniest thing Jim Carrey has ever done* and I have been forced to watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas by my friend's kids.> > > Methinks Jim Carrey has done MANY unfunny things. > > > > Oh Honey, we could be here all day. As a kid, I enjoyed Vera deMilo on In Living Color, but everything else...eesh. *But really, did you watch the clip?* (Man does have one hell of a singing voice though.)

No...actually I meant something else...but it was something bad. I'll try to watch myself, it's not one to toss about lightly.

*WHOA!* By sheer coincidence I am watching Hamlet right now and did anyone else watch and notice that Hamlet and Gertrude (son and mother) *LIKE TOTALLY MAKE OUT FOR A MINUTE* DURING THEIR FIRST SCENE TOGETHER *!!!!?????* And I mean "make out" make out, as in: "get a room, you two...preferably one with only uncomfortable chairs and a therapist in it" making out. Continuous, lascivious kissing. Like, the lewdist thing I've seen in ANYTHING pre-1968. Everything but tongues, for real, *in 1948.* Edited by: AddisonDeWitless on Apr 3, 2013 10:54 PM

I'm enjoying the off-trackedness meself, but I'll try to bring it somewhat closer to the doorstep of the OP (and at the same time kinda sorta run the risk of getting a padlock slapped on it, which if I do- *all apologies*.) Poor Chuck Heston is *still getting no love from Hollywood*, this is a link to an article on Jezebel.com- a left-leaning feminist website, and *even they* take issue (somewhat) with a cruel and extremely ham-fisted and unbelievably unfunny "Funny or Die" web video parody Jim Carrey did wherein he BADLY impersonates and mocks Heston and claims that the actor didn't get into heaven because he refused to drop the rifle from his "cold dead hand." Sersely, it is the *unfunniest thing Jim Carrey has ever done* and I have been forced to watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas by my friend's kids. There is a link to the video in the article. http://jezebel.com/5993511/jim-carrey-mocks-gun-fanatics-then-kinda-loses-it-when-gun-fanatics-respond all apologies if this tosses any gas on the flames, gets ye Masterlocke snapped on a very engaging and entertaining thread. PS- There is a banner blocking Carrey's face for a lot of it- which, as one poster in the comments noted most aptly, is good because "Jim Carrey is more funny when you can't see his face." PSS- On re-reading this, I think I'm only derailing the thread more. Sorry.

> {quote:title=Swithin wrote:}{quote} > > I'm not fond of Olivier's *Richard III*, partly because I'm not wild about the play and partly because he cut out the very dramatic role of Queen Margaret, *who has one of the best scenes in the play.* I know me too! Except I like the play very much- in fact, it may be my favorite Shakespeare. Re: Queen Margaret's best scene: do you mean (I paraphrase); "bloody be your means and bloody be your end"? Maggie Smith plays the role in the excellent 1995 update and she (of course) knocks it out of the park.

I just *really* wish they were showing the rarely aired Othello *at 8:00, and not 4:00 in the GD morning.* And they've been airing the trailer for it for the past week too.

I am sorry to hear that. I know she won an Oscar for adapting Howard's End...maybe one for A Passage to India too. Seriously, taking the lifeless prose of EM Forster and spinning it into something even moderately watchable is a real achievement in itself.

In a double dose of deadly news: *Lorne "Dr. Evil" Michaels* will take over as the producer of The Tonight Show when it moves to NYC and Fallon picks up the torch...only to drop it on his foot and immolate himself while not getting a single laugh in the process. Seriously: you can start *not laughing* now.

> {quote:title=finance wrote:}{quote}John Derek as Broderick Crawford's son? Has any movie son ever looked so little like his movie father? Well, there's Karl Malden as the father of Warren Beatty and Brandon DeWilde in All Fall Down, there must be a recessive gene or two in that family. I also toss in that all four sisters in the 1949 version of Little Women resemble one another in no way, shape, sound, or form- nor do they look like their onscreen mother Mary Astor.

I'm surprised no one has brought this up: In 1946, convinced that there was going to be a "world blow-up" by atom bombs, Pallette received considerable publicity when he set up a "mountain fortress" on a 3,500-acre ranch near [imnaha, Oregon|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imnaha,_Oregon|Imnaha, Oregon], as a hideaway from universal catastrophe. The "fortress" reportedly was stocked with a sizable herd of prize cattle, enormous supplies of food, and had its own canning plant and lumber mill. (copy-and-pasted from wikipedia.org)

well, at least they didn't claim that they had discovered a pristine version of London After Midnight and were airing it at 8:00 pm tonight and then shown Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny instead. That would've peeved some of us something wicked.

oh sure, Brynner was a wonderful actor and he's good (as I recall) in the rest of the film, but his reaction shot esp- *body language* (which I'm sure was dictated entirely by DeMille) is the stuff of silent film/stage theatrics. I understand why DeMille wanted it that way, it would've been right thirty years earlier, but it's not right here. (to me at least) Edited by: AddisonDeWitless on Apr 1, 2013 8:45 PM

actually, you know what: I just re-watched the scene, and yes: you do make a good point. That first shot of the sea closing is marred by the fact that the Egyptians are just sort of hanging around. Blame it on DeMille's advancing age or the second unit director or the visual effects guys or the fact that the scene was such a *massive* undertaking, it's easy to see how some i's and t's missed the dots and crosses. ps- the dry, dusty sea floor bothers me more though. pss- the animated film The Prince of Egypt did a great job with the sequence. I still recall the shot of the shark gliding along the wall of the parted sea. Edited by: AddisonDeWitless on Apr 1, 2013 8:47 PM

this is the last quarter of the film on youtube. Skip ahead to 59:00 into it to see the whole sequence (there is a seperate clip of just the parting of the Red Sea, but it doesn't feature the closing.) ps- I think the special effects are pretty damn good.

> {quote:title=Hibi wrote:}{quote}I wound up watching part of the BIG 10 Sat night (nothing else was on). Boring in parts, but entertaining in others. (WHO wrote that dialogue???) *Does anyone ever notice when the Sea falls back again. The chariots and Egyptians are just standing around and not advancing on the Hebrews???? Why are they just waiting around for the water to fall on them??* Okay, all 72 hours of the film are available on youtube and I finally tracked down the sequence sos I could check it out. I dunno, I don't think it's as glaringly obvious as you do, I can see what you mean, but- I dunno, it doesn't really bug me...or at least not as much as the fact that the horses kick up a lot of *dust* when crossing the path *where the sea was moments ago*...or Yul Brynner's horribly hammy reaction shot when the sea closes on the troops...or the fact that the Hebrews apparently travelled with a gaggle of free-range ducks as part of their entourage. Seriously, nothing undercuts the drama/tension of a scene like a bunch of quacking ducks- who seem slightly confused about the whole undertaking (which is perfectly understandable.) Edited by: AddisonDeWitless on Apr 1, 2013 8:26 PM Edited by: AddisonDeWitless on Apr 1, 2013 8:32 PM came up with better title for post in the shower.

Yes, and I've decided that I really, really like and admire Ben Mankiewicz and his insightful, always accurate commentaries and brilliant comedic input.

> {quote:title=ValentineXavier wrote:}{quote} > I've long thought that Ben-Hur should be remade as a comedy, a la *The Producers*. I'd love to see the leaping lepers' dance... It's Springtime for Jesus at Galilee...

My favorite Heston moment out of all his films is the scene where he hurls the spear at Massala in the first quarter of Ben-Hur. Most actors would've just chunked it forcefully, but Heston accompanies the pitch with a *"YEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!"* that a lot of other, more subtle performers wouldn't have gone for. It's like the director told him, "okay, Chuck, when you throw the spear, imagine you're also giving yourself an incredibly painful abdominal hernia as you let it fly..." Lucky for Heston, I think Wyler was taking Stephen Boyd aside and telling him "okay, you've got to make Chuck look subtle, so I want you to give the most outrageously over-the-top performance *ever*. I mean, something that on a scale of one to ten is an Anne Baxter. You got me Steve?" And Boyd delivers. ps- Seriously, I see the first (and least painful) quarter of Ben-Hur as an outrageous comedy.

> {quote:title=Dothery wrote:}{quote}That wasn't me, Addison ... I wrote the line about Fraser Heston. But I did notice when I viewed the statue of Moses in Rome that *it looked a lot like Chuck ...* Sorry, musta' been Dobbsey. I can see what you mean by your last line, Heston had very statuesque features (to go with his acting ability.) Ba-Boom! Sorry, I kid Chuck. I've read he was a *super nice* guy and a forerunner in the Civil Rights movement, he even marched with MLK and he's the one responsible for getting Orson Welles to direct Touch of Evil and I thought it was tacky the way Michael Moore set him up at the end of Bowling for Columbine. ...but in the words of Aldo Ray: "yikes, what a hamola!!" Edited by: AddisonDeWitless on Mar 31, 2013 8:19 PM

> {quote:title=Dothery wrote:}{quote} > > Whenever I'm reading the account of Moses in the Bible, instantly a picture of Charlton Heston comes to mind. Waving the air-rifle over his head, or not?

and while we're on corrections: according to imdb, the full title is Sudden Fear! with an exclamation mark. so, you know, if it was 1952 and you were at the box office and it was time to get your ticket you'd say: "yes, two please for *SUDDEN FEAR!!!!"* (replete with frantic hand-gestures.)

Is Supernatural any good? I know there's no way it can possibly be as good as the poster, but with Carole Lombard in an unusual role and a supporting performance by Vivienne Osborne (very good actress in gobs and gobs of B-list titles) there's got to be something to it. Sometimes though, when you finally get the chance to see something, there's that little twinge of disappointment.