Vautrin
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Posts posted by Vautrin
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I presumed that Hortense and Pops were married, and checking out the credits, Gladys
George is credited as Hortense Derry, so these folks are legal. I thought she was a nice
late middle aged lady doing her best. I seem to recall that Homer goes into the bank
and gets a nice wade of cash and says something like Look at this cabbage. So he doesn't
seem too concerned that he's getting a disability payment from Uncle Sam. I still get a
kick from Virginia Mayo going to the powder room with Peggy and saying something like
The sign on the door says Ladies, but I go in anyway. Good ol' Marie, what a dame.
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If the American Society for Rich Corinthian Leather hadn't disbanded in 1987 things
might have been different.
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I used to listen to WABC in the mid 1960s before switching over to WNEW-FM.
Sure they played the same several songs into the ground, but unless one listened
to WABC hour after hour it didn't make that much difference. You'd listen to it
on you car radio for a while when going somewhere, come out again and listen to
some of the same songs again. No biggie. Good old Cousin Bruceee.
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...they just complain endlessly, belt back a few drinks and then go about their business
as before. I knew the fix was in when the little kid, can't recall the tyke's name, was killed
in a car crash on his brand new high-quality bicycle. Oh, c'mon man, that thing has cobwebs
upon cobwebs on it. It was all downhill from there. There's something about David Brian, or
at least the characters he plays, that is off putting, but maybe that's the point. I was hoping
against hope that bad ol' Steve Cochran would knock him off instead of the other way around.
I think Edward had something when he mentioned that people were starting to wise up to the
sameness in many of these types of JC movies. As entertaining and visually appealing as it is,
TDDC is awfully familiar plot wise. But it is definitely a enjoyable piece of semi-camp.
(UPI) Lorna Hanson Forbes, born Lutie Mae Humdinger of Cornpone, Texas, has just returned
from a three month trip to Europe. Having a near encyclopedic knowledge of the Old Masters,
she enjoyed touring the museums of Europe and also meeting various royalty in different
countries. The high point of her trip was an extended audience with the Pope. She gave His
Holiness a special gift of matching Kiss Me, I'm Etruscan Coffee Mugs. Though she loved seeing
all the Old World had to offer, she said that she was happy to be back in the good old U.S.A.
and couldn't wait to get back to having oil derricks pumping up her backyard.
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6 hours ago, jamesjazzguitar said:
Douglas' lawyer had a notarized letter from Greer that indicated that Jeff (Mitchum), was the one that had killed his partner as well as his fingerprints all over the place of the dead accountant. So Jeff could have killed Greer but he would have still been in major legal trouble for crimes he didn't commit. This is why the book was titled Build My Gallows High.
Too bad Jeff was poor. A good lawyer would have had little trouble exposing Greer's habitual
lying and showing that her notarized letter wasn't worth the paper it was written on.
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4 hours ago, jamesjazzguitar said:
While the situations most noir protagonist are involved in are unlikely to happen in real-life the reaction of the protagonist is often very realistic. E.g. Jeff in Out of the Past; Joe in Side Street, etc...
Maybe 'go over to the dark side' was overstated since I meant that they do things that are 'wrong', and they know they are, but they are still basically decent folks. (Jeff lying to a gangster because he falls in love, or Joe taking money that doesn't belong to him, but instead illegal mob cash, because he is poor and his wife is pregnant).
Most of my favorite noirs feature such protagonist with the main plot line focused on if they can get back on the up-and-up (Jeff of course fails but Joe is successful).
Some of them try to do the right thing, even if it doesn't always work out that way.
If I was Jeff in OOTP I would have shot Greer, framed the already conveniently dead
Douglas and gone back to that sweet small-town girl, but that wouldn't be very noirish.
Funny how two guys who are trying to hide out, Jeff and Swede in The Killers, work as
gas station attendants. Good thinking boys.
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4 hours ago, jamesjazzguitar said:
Interesting. I have always viewed noir films as being more nuanced and presenting a more complex view of life. E.g. basically decent folks that, due to desires (sexual, greed, power), go over to the dark side.
Now basic crime drama are rather one-sided and therefore not very 'noir'.
I doubt very few average people go over to the dark side or that they are alienated and
the victims of fate, though it happens on occasion. But to think that this is the norm
doesn't make much sense to me. Of course it makes for good entertainment and folks
can watch all the angst and mayhem from the comfort of their cozy living rooms.
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9 hours ago, cigarjoe said:
I'm sure that transactive-transformo mogogo worked for the minions in Hayes office also. ?
The connotation of “film noir,” according to Film Noir In France: Before The Liberation is “unambiguously negative” and is described by the French and American critics in a litany that contains, “doomed to failure,” “long poems of discouragement,” “lament for the living,” “immoral and demoralizing film,” “indecent, immoral, sacrilegious,” full of “debauchery and crime” whose “effect on the public could only be harmful.”
Nobody in the US started out to make a Film Noir, it really can't be pigeonholed into any set recipe, for me it's more a films overall ambience that clicks. That Film Noir visual style (that got U.S. Film Noir re-noticed in the first place by the French Critics after WWII), combined with dark story lines that have obsessed or alienated individuals usually tips the scales to inclusion for me. It may not click for you.
Again what makes a Noir/Neo Noir is an individual internal factor. It's subjectivity. Noir is in all of us. Think of us all as having an internal tuning fork, these tuning forks are forged by our life experiences which are all unique. When we watch these films their degree of Noir-ness resonates with us differently, so we either "tune" to them or we don't. The amount of "tuning" (I'm appropriating this term from the Neo Noir Dark City (1998)) to certain films will vary between us all also."
There are a films that have the Noir-ish stories but not the stylistics those films I call NIPOs, Noir In Plot Only. I look at those as just mostly part of the Crime Genre films.
Well, the Hays Office was interested in making sure that naughty things and "immorality" didn't
make an appearance on the screen. That doesn't have much to do with the is it or ain't it a noir
argument. I agree it's highly subjective as to what each individual sees as a noir, though I
guess there is a rough consensus on the most famous examples of noir. As much as I enjoy
them, I've always thought many were on the simplistic side, presenting a rather one-sided view
of life. They are the negative opposite of the simplistic positive view of many studio era films,
especially the ain't life wonderful musicals. For modern middle class audiences it's a bit of
cinematic slumming, viewing an environment that most people wouldn't want to live in in real
life.
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Using my transactive-transformo mogogo on the mojo noir machine, I can turn any
film into a noir. The Maltese Falcon is easy, The Wizard of Oz a little more difficult,
but doable.
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I've seen it many times before, but I watched it again. Very entertaining flick.
I like the idea of some guys from the city going upstate to rob a bank in a
small hick town. And at night the small hick town is just as spooky and strange
as is the big city. The ending is a bit contrived, but that doesn't really effect
what has gone on before. All the lead actors are very good. And Ed Begley had
a pretty good plan. No one could know that a cop would just happen to see
Ed exit from the bank in his hunter's getup. The best plans, etc. And what's
the problem with Ed's phone? The most static of any one in the city. And Ed's
crummy apartment is just one aspect of the overall grimy NYC setting. Hope
he left enough food and water for his dog. And lots of newspapers.
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The first time I remember seeing Emerick's name was on the back cover of Abbey Road,
though it might have appeared before then. I remember reading that Paulie had a bit
of trouble with some of the drum parts in TBOJAY, though he finally got it. Enjoying the
Yes gossip. I had read before that Bruford quit because he got tired of all the elaborate
plans for the smallest bit of music during the Yes recording process and that the Close to
the Edge sessions was the last straw. That seems to be confirmed in articles on Yes and
Bruford. Not that Squires might have been part of that, but I don't think he was the main
reason that Bruford quit. You can only imagine what Bruford would have thought of doing
Yes' next album, TFTO. Yikes.
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The first hour or so was on the dull side with nothing outstanding about it. Your
typical gangster flick. The last twenty minutes or so picked up a bit as ol' Barry
tried to hightail it out of town. A bit on the pretentious side too, but I suppose
pretentious beats dull. It was enjoyable to see all the well-known noir actors
who popped up in small roles. I got an especial kick out of Elisha Cook, Jr with
a near rerun of his Wilmer role in The Maltese Falcon. The smaller the hood the
bigger the patter. And of course the more Cook mouthed off, the more you knew
that Barry was going to flatten him out. One part of the film had a William Saroyan
kind of vibe with the various characters coming together in an ice cream parlour
instead of a bar. And Harry Morgan was a gas as the "player." Right. It has its
moments, but overall it's not anything special.
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5 hours ago, CaveGirl said:
Of course, saying that Little Nell reminded me a bit of a storyline from "Little House on the Prairie" does not mean I negate Dickens' talent. For one thing, in his time period, such tales and attitudes were rampant so I forgive the somewhat icky sweet character, and I love all his serialization type sensational tales and have read most of them. So though I make fun of Little Nell, I also kind of like her, and envision her with long blonde braids and looking a bit like Patty McCormack.
Yes, so glad you remember too the great Basil Rathbone quest for those bank plates!
Thanks, Vautrin.
I don't think too many people would have mourned the death of Nellie from LHOTP. I'm guessing
that the overly sweet, somewhat naive girl or young woman was a Victorian stereotype which
Dickens was not the only author to use. To me it's a minor flaw and most great writers have
them. I do remember that film from the Universal series though I haven't seen it in a while.
Many of the Rathbone films are on YT in very good condition or at least they were a few months
ago.
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4 hours ago, CaveGirl said:
Yes, while in London I decided to make a visit to Baker Street, hoping to catch a glimpse of Mrs. Hudson, or Moriarity or at least Mycroft Holmes leaving the abode, but alas no such luck and no such exact address. Trying to assuage my sadness I then went on the trek to find the Olde Curiosity Shop, which though only called that after the novel, still was thought to be an inspiration for the antique shop. They say that when Dickens wrote Little Nell's death scene, he cried, since he often did not know in advance his characters' fates. Personally though, Little Nell was a bit too saccharine for my taste. After giving up on seeing Holmes' home, I thought the next best thing was to visit the home of Samuel Johnson, since there was that one Basil Rathbone movie, where they hid the bank plates there in his library. Didn't see Boswell though, so it was a bust.
The saccharine quality of some of Dickens' female characters is a criticism that is often made of
his novels and it's certainly true to some extent. Some of the Penguin editions of the novels
contain Dickens' outlines of the novel, which are fairly detailed, though I'm sure there was room
for changes to be made, especially considering the quick pace that serialization demanded. So
he could very well have not decided on the final fate of Little Nell until near the end. I do remember
the Holmes' movie about the bank plates hidden in Johnson's library. I think it was one of the last
of the series. Counterfeiting, the next to last refuge of a scoundrel. Maybe Boswell was up in Scotland
fooling around.
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3 hours ago, CaveGirl said:
It's funny, Vautrin I've seen that film many times, always enjoy it but only saw the bit in this latest showing where Loretta is dealing with the lady at the house, who drops down as if she is having a heart attack, preventing Loretta from going to the tower. I think I am prejudiced against Loretta, since her hysterics did start making me laugh. I always think she is gorgeous in films, but I'm not the biggest fan of her acting. But all in all, the film is a good one and Welles is always interesting as is Eddie G. so it is still worthy watching.
The act the old family retainer put on made Loretta seem downright stoic. I'm neutral on
Loretta Young. I did notice there were some shots where the lines around her mouth seemed
too obvious. When one watches these old studio era movies one expects the stars to look
perfect, whatever horrible predicament they are in.
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4 hours ago, Hibi said:
Yeah, that was a lucky break there. A perfect hit!
I guess the little Nazi man is too old to think about a career in the majors.
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10 hours ago, cigarjoe said:
You'd think Welles wearing jackboots to bed would have given her a clue.
Or him singing the Horst Wessel Song just before he brushes his teeth. Wake up lady.
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11 hours ago, sagebrush said:
I think that's what makes her performance good. She's trying to hide her gradual discovery of who her husband really is while also trying to convince herself and those trying to enlighten her that he isn't the man they are looking for.
Yes she obviously doesn't want to believe that the man she loves was a Nazi, but to me she
just seemed a bit over the top in that situation.
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14 hours ago, Dargo said:
Just one of the many "suspensions of disbelief" one must facilitate in order to appreciate this movie, I would say.
Others being:
1-Eddie is knocked out by that gym ring(as Vautrin here noted), but not only for a few minutes but for hours, as he awakens hours later and after the wedding.
2-Eddie then, and even after suffering this head injury which is later said to result in a knot on his head the size of a golf ball, then calmly indulges in a game of checkers with the store owner after purchasing a bottle of aspirin.
3-After Eddie calls D.C. and tells his department associate he doesn't think Welles is his guy, he suddenly awakes from his sleep that night remembering that Welles says during the evenings dinner party that "Marx was not German, but was a Jew'. One would think that THAT would have immediately registered with him that Welles very well might be the Nazi he's looking for.
4-This whole story takes place just a year after the end of WWII, and so how did Welles manage after fleeing Europe so shortly after the fall of Nazi Germany and to become not only employed as a member of the faculty of that boy's school, but also to become a respected member of the local community AND to woo and then wed who appears to be the most eligible bachelorette in town? And all this without, IMHO, being a particularly personable or even attractive sort.
(...still though, and even with these observations of mine, I, and like MissW here, found myself enjoying this film a little more than I remember previously enjoying it the first two times I'd watched it)
Number four is a good one that I never thought about. And all this also happens in a small town
where people are supposedly slow to take to outsiders. Hmmm. Three is one I have thought of before.
Considering what Eddie does for a living you'd think he'd give Orson the fish eye as soon as the remark
about Marx was out of his mouth and not suddenly hit on it many hours later. It's fun to find these
rather unrealistic things in movies, though it rarely spoils the movie itself.
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I've seen it a ton of times before and watched it last night mainly because I haven't seen
it in years. Loretta's character is too hysterical to take seriously. She always seems to
be on the edge of a nervous breakdown. The main story of Eddie unmasking Welles as
a Nazi is fairly interesting and done with some nice touches, but it's rather predictable.
What I most enjoy about the movie is the small town setting and especially the character
of Potter, the owner of the general store. Hey let's open up that little man's suitcase, shall
we? I just need a witness. Thanks. And when he puts on his eye shade during an especailly
tough game of checkers. Hilarious. One minor point is how the heck did the little Nazi guy
manage to knock out Eddie with just one lucky swing of that gym equipment. Hmmm.
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7 hours ago, CaveGirl said:
Yeah, those old country homes in England are super! As long as there is not too much chintz. Another library I'd like to visit would be on Baker Street in London. I tried to find it after I had explored Fleet Street and visited Whitechapel but alas...it was not to be found, alas. Thanks, Vautrin.
If I remember it correctly, there is a Baker Street, but not a 221B Baker Street. The Holmes-Watson
apartment in the Universal Holmes' series is pretty cozy with shelves full of books. Must be especially
comfy on a rainy afternoon. I always get a kick out of how quiet most apartments are in the movies.
No loud music, no arguments heard through thin walls, nobody heavy footing it on the ceiling. Sure.
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I just watched the original version of Sleuth a few days ago. Sir Larry's old pile of a
country house would be a great place to live. So much room. And lots of peace and
quiet. I probably would hold a yard sale to clear out some of the old knickknacks and
paddywhacks he kept around. Just a little too much.
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Hoppy Serves a Writ. Vastly underrated early Mitchum.
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I nominate Ava Gardner as Kitty Kat Collins in The Killers. Classy, sexy,
and deadly. What a dame.
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Another "Best Years" query....
in General Discussions
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Yes of course it is, it has four letters and wad only has three. I didn't watch it last Sunday, but
I enjoy seeing it every once in a while it's such a good movie. I also got a laugh out of the name
of the bank, the Corn Hole Trust or something like that. Teresa Wright didn't seem to
do very much in SOAD except mope around the house complaining how dull everything
was, at least until a serial killer came along to spice things up. She was kind of spoiled.
Okay, very spoiled.