Vautrin

Yeah, but Whistler's mother was no lady.

Hard to figure out which are larger--the wolf's eyes or Scarlett's boobs.

Maybe he should have asked his contemporary and acquaintance James McNeill Whistler to do it.

Somehow I can't see Henry James as a barker at a Nebraska fair whose balloon developed a mind of its own. Yes there is a the at the beginning of the title, as there are in a number of James' novels, though that is not unusual. I'm not sure James thought about the significance of leaving the the off, but being such a meticulous craftsman, perhaps he did. There would certainly be a difference between the and a, the latter signifying this is one portrait among many possible ones, the former that it is something of a definitive portrait. Since James invented the character I guess he has some say in the matter. I agree that some titles without the at the beginning "sound" better, though that's a matter of each person's individual taste. To me the song Concrete Jungle sounds better than if it was called The Concrete Jungle.

If you're looking for lots of explicit nudidity, in my viewing experience Tarantino is not your man, but I might see it anyway. When I fist heard the title I thought it might be a flick about the Wonderland murders and Johnny Wadd, though I think that one has already done. Every time I go to the Bing Image feed I keep seeing this photo of Scarlett Johansson.

I've read The Portrait of a Lady, 100 Years of Solitude, and Look Homeward, Angel and liked each, though to differing degrees. I've also read Moby Dick and, I'm sorry to add, more than once. Even if one has little interest in whales and whaling Melville's style is so unusual that it's one of the best things in the book. Okay, I'll throw in Martin Chuzzlewit and The Life of Samuel Johnson just for the heck of it.

I am the great and powerful Henry of James. Who are you? Leave my presence or I will write a twenty-five page minute psychological analysis of a supporting character. Just to hew to Jamesian exactitude, the title of the novel is The Portrait of a Lady.

That was a good one. As March keeps on talking Ray Collins looks like he thinks a bomb might go off at any minute. And Myrna Loy counting the drinks Al has had with a fork on the tablecloth. IRL, Al would likely have gotten his pink slip next morning.

A large part of it takes place in Italy, though I don't know the ratio of Italian to English scenes. Maybe I recall the English scenes better because they seem so stereotypically English. Parts of the Italian plot remind me of the movie My Cousin Rachel. Yes, Isabel Archer is another of those Americans to be introduced into the older, more manipulative European world.

Well, you know what a bleeding heart softie old man Milton was. You can find his descendants in most banks today.

Just as long as no one speaks ill of the Cornbelt Loan and Trust Company. We are a forward looking progressive institution interested to helping our returning veterans adjust to their new life. To obtain a loan, we only ask that you undergo a background check only a little more rigorous than that of an F.B.I. agent.

Yep, get used to the sound of croquet balls being hit and servings of various beverages. At least that's how I recall it, though I can't say for sure how many separate scenes there are like this in the novel.

I have mixed feelings about VTTBOTS. It was on Sunday night just as the haven't done my homework for Monday blues set in. Sunday nights have been so much better since.

I read One Hundred Years of Solitude a long time ago, though not 100 years ago. I give it a thumbs up and nothing more because I don't remember much of the details of the book. I should get a new copy because I have a cheap paperback copy complete with the slightly erotic cover drawing. It's been a while since I've read The Portrait of a Lady. It is one of the easier to read novels of the master. Lots of discussions taking place on expansive, well maintained English lawns. I remember that my mother used to make me go on shopping trips with her and while she was shopping I would read a book. Portrait was one of the books I recall reading this way, another was a volume of The Gulag Archipelago. Some of those shopping trips definitely had echoes of the latter.

I've never been bothered by the fact that a noir has a happy ending. I would say most don't, but the few that do are okay. Of course sometimes the endings are ambiguous, hard to classify as a happy or a sad ending. I would say WTCS is a noir, though a fairly middling example of one with a lot of soap operish elements in it too. I certainly wouldn't put it on my list of top noirs though it's entertaining enough. The good old neighborhood bar where dad can go and get a little tipsy with no one the worse for wear. Hopefully the steps are few, making them easier to navigate on the way out.

There was so much to unpack it's hard to remember everything. Yeah, daddy was a sportswriter. For the umpteenth time, we get it.

In one way it wasn't random at all since he said one of the reasons, maybe the main one, he showed it was because it included two of his favorite subjects--newspapers and comic books. While it's no big deal, it is kind of silly. What if he also likes Silly Putty and Snuffy Smith? Not that it matters that much, but most people could likely make the case for WTCS being a film noir, comic books or not.

Rhonda Fleming always looked hot. She would look hot in a Hazmat suit. Whereas Ida was helped by that somewhat low cut dress. I wouldn't consider this a star studded film. Outside of Dana Andrews and Ida and to a lesser degree Price, most of the actors were second leads or character actors. They handle their roles well, but I wouldn't call them major stars. Why was Junior such a ham? Ask Mommy? He didn't get much help from what was a stereotypical role and with a script that doesn't give him much to do except skulk around the big city during the day. I've seen Junior on a few TV shows where he gave a much better performance in part because he had a developed character and a better script. Here's a way to solve the Vincent Price Herbert Marshall cuckold question. Divide it into wood leg actors and non- wood leg actors. Price wins the latter and ol' Herb wins the former. Just because someone likes newspapers and old comic books doesn't seem enough of a reason to screen a particular movie. What if someone liked asparagus and Felix the Cat? C'mon, man.

Interesting. I'll have to take a look at it one of these days when I have some spare time. Of course lists like this one are somewhat subjective, though there is likely a general consensus among the list makers.

Never read Appointment in Samara, but whenever I've seen the title mentioned it is in a very laudatory way. Guess there's only one way to find out. I notice that Hammett and Cain made the list but Chandler didn't. I can't go for that.

There are a lot of these best of lists out there so it's easy to get confused. The book I have which has the list is at least fifteen years old so there may have been some changes of position in the hit parade.

I was reminded a bit of The Last Hurrah with an old, near the end of his career attorney taking the place of an old, near the end of his career politician. And I couldn't believe Spence would be dumb enough to write a check to bribe a witness. Of course it was easier for Hodiak to tear up a check than a big roll of bills.

I'll keep that in mind if I ever get around to reading it. In laffite's original post I skimmed over the part that said Nostromo is number 47 on the Modern Library's list of American novels, but how is Nostromo an American novel? I have a Modern Library edition of The Magnificent Ambersons that has the list of the Hundred Best Novels of the Twentieth Century where Nostromo is number 46. Whatever. I made it through Molloy, Malone Dies, and The Unnamable by Beckett, so I can make it through just about anything. The Penguin Classics edition of Moby Dick has a commentary that is almost as half as long as the novel itself. Talk about a great white whale.

I haven't read Nostromo, but I have read some of Conrad's other novels. I find that for the most part the prose is relatively straightforward and easy to read.

So true. I usually watch one or two studio era films a week on YT and you can depend that each one will have one or more of those were the good old days comments. Back then they knew how to make movies without cussing or nudity not like the garbage they put out now. And they all do sound like the same person, though I think it's just the same mindset. I've also noticed that films that are okay but nothing special are often lauded as some of the greatest movies that were ever made. The comments are certainly an entertaining part of the YT experience.