CaveGirl

If you are an inveterate movie follower of old and new gems, surely you are beginning to notice that many categories from the past, which needed the services of a performer are slowly fading away, just like General MacArthur once did. Think of the curmudgeon roles from the past with people like Claude Gillingwater or such, and now try to think of anyone now playing such a part. Often the curmudgeon might have been a somewhat wealthy man, possibly incapacitated a bit, in a wheelchair and barking out commands at the nearby or whoever was in his sight line. This type seems to be a thing of the past but if you can think of a role like this from a current movie, please share. Another possible part to be played would be the man or woman of oversized girth, most notably engendered by The Fat Man of Sydney Greenstreet fame. Others who could take on this kind of role, whether it be dastardly or of milder vintage were people like Laird Cregar and the early Ray Burr. Domestics too, seem to be an endangered species in films, since maybe they are in life too. Once it was such fun to see folks like Eily Malyon brusquely serving her masters with a shrug and smirk, or even someone like John Carradine in his early days, but Eric Blore was one of the best. The daffy but still likable rich guy in films could be played by someone like Roland Young to perfection, but now it would probably be hard to cast. I can't see one of the Wahlberg clan ever ascending to the level of skill that it would take to portray such a character on film. Matronly ladies with dowager humps are in short supply too. Mary Boland was one of my favorites but now I just can only possilby see someone like maybe Kathy Bates in that kind of role. I miss seeing the gum chewing chorines too with people like Marion Martin and Veda Ann Borg but Radio City Music Hall probably misses them too. Well, I'm done but curious what other phenotypes you see disappearing from films for good due to changing times and which ones you regret are not to be seen again in your lifetime?

These are wonderfully bizarre films that I enjoy too, TS. The Something Weird releases just boggle the imagination and I must have the same disc you do with the JM one, and the Labyrinth thingie. I so agree that these [as you call it profoundly] "Un-Hollywood" flicks definitely give way more "insights" about the society and state of things and other issues you mention, than the sanitized and upper echelon films of the time. I read once that some people who research actual furnishings of the times in the USA, always use exploitation and such films to see real mass produced stuff for their research efforts since most of these low budget winners didn't have the moola for interior items and clothing and decor that a big film did, which makes watching such films feel almost like you are watching a documentary of the times depicted. I totally dig "High School Caesar" as it is just volcanically entertaining. Another thing fun to watch in JD films is laughing at how old the high school students look, some like they are about 35 years old. Being a fan of people like Richard Bakalyan and others who always played bad boys, is another good reason to watch. I'll have to look for BANDH DARWAZA with PURANA MANDIR that you mentioned. Thanks for your insightful comments and sharing some of your collection titles, TikiSoo!

I've been to Rome and was hit on by a guy at the Fountain of Trevi. He offered me some champagne gelato at a joint nearby, but then his wife pulled him away by the ear, so our plans were changed. Those accents can be confusing. We were asking about what happened to our hotel desk person in Florence, and one of the guys behind the counter said what sounded like "He wenta to da b_tch [which put certain strange images in our minds] but we found out late he was at the beach, collecting seashells.

There are certain themes in movies to which I am addicted. Seances is one of them. If the film starts out with the premise of a potential seance...I'm hooked! One film I like for this reason is "The Amazing Mr. X" [aka "The Spiritualist] from the late 1940's. What sets it apart from other great movies with seances is that the eerie quality of the spirit renderings sequences are enhanced by the artistry of cinematographer, John Alton. It also is lucky to have the exotic Turhan Bey as the con man trying to bilk money out of grieving women mostly. I've never had the fun of going to a seance, and even after reading a book about Houdini's exposes of the medium and its medium, I'd still go just to see faked plasma materializing above a rocking table and with knocking sounds abounding. Any movies involving seances you would suggest?

I was hoping that it would be just you and me in the theater rewatching this classic, but now I am crushed, Sepia at your rejection. Time to get out the old Exacto blades...

What an incredibly moving movie [MWFT], TB! It will make even the most hard hearted person weep I bet. Thanks for reminding us it is on, so I can catch it again.

An Alice is an Alice is an Alice!!!

Wonderful exegesis of her career and life, Princess!

I don't think Frankie looked anything like Woody Allen! Just kidding. Being dense is so much fun. I will say I always hated Ethel Waters though, as she was so sanctimonious. I relished the fact that once someone asked Butterfly McQueen about the holy Ms. Waters and Butterfly said she was the meanest woman she ever knew. I would have cast Pearl Bailey in the role, but she was too young at the time. I also hate the song "My Eye is on the Sparrow" or whatever it is called. Personally I think Woody Allen in a blonde wig, would look a lot like Kim Richards from "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" who also looks a lot like one of the Bee Gees, Robin I think.

C'mon, Dargo...like I can't tell the dif between that handsome devil, Groucho and his less toothsome brother, Chico? I would pay good money NOT to see Chico unattired. Can you imagine him naked wearing only that horrid fruit vendor hat? I think you are just a paid shill for the Marx family. Are you still dating Melissa?

Oops! What in the heck is wrong with me? The names aren't even a bit alike. I will attribute it to sorrow over the loss of Peter and apologies to Swithin. Thanks for being my proofreader extraordinaire, Laffite!

Not so fast, Sepia! You never know if "everyone" knows MFL is based on Pygmalion. I was dating a guy about fifteen years younger than me once, and Jeopardy was on and the question was about a big nosed fellow, and I said "Oh, yeah...Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac" and my very attractive and erstwhile boyfriend of a month looked at me scornfully and said "What...no, silly that is from the movie "Roxanne" with Steve Martin." End of relationship but still amusing to remember.

Great to read what you thought, Stephan. I think one thing not talked about much for the film, is the usage by Bresson of sound. The beginning with little Balthazar's birth cry, the mean boys attempting to abuse him, Balthazar's response to his circus triumphs and so on. It is a really tough film to rewatch. I'd looked for it for years, finally found it, watched and then...put it away and have not been able to rewatch. Not for the squeamish but truly a masterpiece. Thanks for your post!

You recognized though, Laffite, which makes you great in my eyes!

I was never interested in the sports program there, even though my literature teacher, Professor Abdul Alhazred was the coach. Of course that ended when he convinced the team while on sabbatical to read the "Necronomicon" for pigskin inspiration, and the quarterback, Larry Pickman burnt his fingers when the eldritch volume started smoking and then poor old Larry erupted into a form of spontaneous human combustible material. Sad but true...

While living in the city of Arkham in New England while I attended Miskatonic University, I was introduced to the works of Japanese mystery writer, Edogawa Rampo [1894-1965]. His tales of the macabre, comprising elements of eros, grotesquerie and nonsensical themes were naturals for filming, resulting in movies like "Beast in the Shadows" and "House of Malformed Men" during the 1960's and 1970's. Books of his short stories like "Tales of Mystery and Imagination" combined Gothic styles with his own brand of deviant behaviours being depicted. I'm sure all have read and enjoyed his story "The Human Chair" while sitting in their Barcalounger, but if not, be sure not to be alone as you partake of the tale. Books like his "Hall of Mirrors", and "The Caterpillar" inspired much J-Horror yet to come, after some of his works were banned in Japan for being morally deviant. Japanese horror developed from such tales and also earlier writings which inspired movies like Kobayashi's "Kwaidan", Shindo's "Onibaba" and odd counterparts like "Woman in the Dunes", with later films like "Audition" and even "Ringu" visiting the genre. The Japanese seem to have a delicate underpinning that revels in the gaudy excesses of fear and then wallows without trepidation at exposing such psychological states to the general public. I find the Japanese to be masters of horror and even more possibly terror, if we follow the Ann Radcliffe definition of horror as something you see happening or know will happen, and terror as something that involves a fear of the unknown. Being that one can possibly see precursors in Rampo derived from the works of Poe, one can see why he chose his nom de plume aptly. I think the Japanese have a particular affinity for horror and terror, however you define it, and would like to know your favorites.

I gotta agree, Dargo that any movie with a scene with anyone dancing to the song "Tequila" has to be a winner!

You hate "MOTW"? Was this because Frankie's crust on her elbows turned you off? Or was it because she kept wanting to be called Jasmine? Or maybe because Brandon DeWilde kept discussing those pinheads he saw at the carnival?

I thought it won? I guess I just hoped it won? Sorry for perpetuating mistaken information, Swithin. I still think it should have won though I will admit "CMI" is a better song than something like "Talk to the Animals" from "Doctor Dolittle'...yccck!

You do know Lawrence that the only really proper setting to see a Russ Meyer flick is at the drive-in, don't you? By the way, I own "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" and it was quite a disappointment in the totemic oeuvre of Russ Meyer flicks being rather boring in spite of some bared epidermis.

Thanks, Lawrence! I only have a certificate of survival from "Homicidal" and an Odorama card from "Polyester" but if you hit block #3 you can still slightly smell the dirty socks odor.

Oh, so sad to hear! I love that guy. He was incredible in that film with Janet Blair, "Night of the Eagle" [aka "Burn, Witch, Burn] plus many others. Thanks for the update, Vautrin.

OMG, Vautrin! Being a fan of good old, D.H., I remember the first time I watched that film, I was almost embarrassed for that cutie Alan Bates during the [as you put it..."wrassling" scene] since it was incredibly revealing. Now I would expect Oliver Reed to relish such interplay but up to then Bates had been a bit more circumspect in films. Even the "firelight" was not disguising anything but just putting a warm, golden glow on all the proceedings. It made Glenda's scenes appear to be quite tame. I get a kick out of Lawrence's writing, since he has that same skill as Nabokov at getting sexual innuendoes into scenes which on the surface appear to only be talking about the usage of sporrans on one's kilt. Good show!

I meant to post this awhile back but forgot. Am I the only person viewing TCM offerings who caught this French short from Pierre Etaix? This proves the theory of serendipitous happenings being often better than what one might have desired. I don't remember what I had just watched on TCM but I was about to turn off the tv and all of a sudden this strange French short comes on. It started, and though I was a bit confused about the intent, I was soon laughing out loud. It was so amusing and clever and whimsical and almost boisterously depressing proving again that there is a thin line between comedy and tragedy that I was soon revelling in its excesses of morose hilarity. I can only say, that the series of mishaps beautifully choreographed, deserve to be praised in film journals. Perhaps they have been and I just have not been reading enough French reviews from places like Cahiers du Cinema. I can only hope that at least one other person here was privy to this delightful short. If not, all movie buffs should put it on the Buffet Bucket List. Here's the IMDB synopsis which hardly does this masterpiece justice: Rupture (1961) When picking up his mail, a man is excited to see a letter from his sweetheart. His excitement turns to sorrow when he gets home to his flat and sees that it is a Dear John letter. But that sorrow turns to anger as he figures that he will send her a Dear Jane letter in return. However, writing that letter isn't as easy as he hopes as he encounters one problem after another, from a broken fountain pen, to a temperamental ink well, to stuck stamps, to a broken desk.

Beth, I think there would always have been an audience for Judy. Witness her adoring reception by fans at the Palladium concerts. Now I realize that this was quite a few years before her demise and way after Sid Luft had helped restore her movie legend but with talent like she had, and the pathos she incurred in people while performing, she would have always been able to make a comeback. Unlike Whitney Houston, even if Judy's voice failed, I think the audience would have been behind her. Judy had an uncanny relationship with her fans who were adoring. Now would she have been starring in films. Probably not, but I think her singing career would have always been there for her. I remember her line in one later movie, about how she "sings for herself" and something about not being a "piece of meat" was a later comment. That somewhat pitiful, waif persona served her well and she would at least have been able to perform in Vegas I bet. Who knows, maybe she would have gone the route of older stars like Crawford and Davis in acting in some Grand Guignol type roles too.