LornaHansonForbes
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Posts posted by LornaHansonForbes
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Barbara O'Neil as a *****? I'll have to watch that one. I only remember her from "Stella Dallas," where she's the very last word in ladylike, gentle kindness.
Have you not seen GONE WITH THE WIND? She plays Scarlett O'Hara's mother, and although her role is brief- she is exquisite. From something like two scenes and a dozen lines of dialogue, you totally get the sense of who the character is- a thoroughly decent and sensible lady and the very foundation on which the home is built.
The next year she did ALL THIS AND HEAVEN TOO, which- to me- is the great unsung Bette Davis film made during her home-run stretch from 1938-1945 at Warner's. It's like an exquisite little music box, just a charming film and thoroughly amusing high-fallutin' melodrama.
Barbara O'Neill, at all of 29 years of age, plays the vicious and vindictive wife of Charles Boyer and- while some may find her over the top- I think she is wonderful. She earned a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination in one of the strongest years for the category in the history of the awards, losing to Jane Darwell in THE GRAPES OF WRATH.
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I'm kind of surprised no one has ever done some sort of WIDE SARGASSO SEA-style fan fiction telling the story of Jerry's wife Isabelle.
It would be interesting to hear her side of the story.
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I've also heard the novel NOW VOYAGER had A LOT more backstory about the Vale family- but it was all dropped (to the author's dismay.)Very interesting information regarding Olive Prouty's books and point of view. Thanks.
in fact, I seem to recall hearing it was part of a trilogy of books about the Vales of Boston... Maybe I'm wrong about that last de tail.
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Since Finch won for the very film that supposedly has the four, that one should be tossed out.
I think following the letter of the qualification "a film that features four leading Oscar winners", NETWORK fits.
Ps- Dunaway too.
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NOW VOYAGER is a q u e e r* film. And I don't mean that in anything other than the original sense of the word, which is just unusual. It's a film that poses more questions than answers, and frankly is just a rabbit-in-the-pot away from becoming a taut psychological thriller in the second half (beginning with the "I love you so much I'm going to take your daughter out of a sanitarium for a camping trip" moment of the film.)
Also: why does everyone remark on how "fat" Bette is at the start of the film? What the hell? She weighs, like, 130 tops before she takes the padding off.
*sigh.
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God yes, FREAKS is wonderful.
DID YOU KNOW: that the actor playing Hans sexually harassed Olga Baklanova (sp?) endlessly on set. Apparently she makes a horrified face in some of the publicity stills they took during filming and it's because he kept saying really explicit things to her!*
*I recall seeing this in a featurette on the FREAKS DVD.
I've only seen one other Olga Baklanova film- DOWNSTAIRS (1932) and she's very, very good in it too.
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I watched THEODORA GOES WILD for personal reasons yesterday.
It's a loooooooooooooooooooooong hour and a half!
I have to really say, it's a brilliant premise that starts promisingly but is utterly squandered in the second part, although well-acted by all, but completely misdirected. And really not a screwball comedy, just barely a comedy at that. THEODORA BECOMES QUITE THE NUISANCE would be a better title. A VERY RARE instance were Irene Dunne grates me nerves, albeit just slightly. It's her only Oscar nomination I'm not on board 100% with.
However, I did come away quite impressed with the subplot of the two aunts, and how they come around from being pretty intolerant to downright open-minded as a result of small-town persecution. I especially liked the performance of Elizabeth Risdon, her facial reactions alone in one scene were utterly heartbreaking and easily the funniest part of the movie in another.
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Lorna, full disclosure, 't'was I who brought up Stanley Kubrick on this thread.
I might have known.
Congratulations, Pandora.
The sea of carnage ebbs at your door.
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I totally agree. TCM should have switched those two time slots. SMASH UP is essential Hayward, and merits a prime time slot, whereas BEAU GESTE is an asterisk in the Hayward filmography. I believe she referred to her role in it as, "I wave to the men at the beginning of the film as they march off, and I wave to them at the end when they return", or something to that effect.
it really is, in fact, I really prefer it altogether to I'LL CRY TOMORROW, although I know I'LL CRY TOMORROW is technically a better film.
SMASH-UP has the production values and script of a PRC film (it was independently made, yes?) but she is just so good in it. I think I recall reading her Best Actress nomination for it was a big deal- unexpected and very talked-about. Of the nominated actresses, she really is the best (although, sue me, I like Loretta Young in FARMER'S DAUGHTER.)
if SMASH-UP had been a bigger film she might well have won for it, and if I'LL CRY TOMORROW weren't so much like SMASH-UP, she might well've won for it...)
the only reason I can think of for SMASH UP not being given a prime slot in the Hayward festival would be, again, it's in the Public Domain and most prints of it are not in as good a quality as would be best to fully appreciate the movie. (it really makes a huge difference when you watch something in its best visual quality without all the hissing and popping on the soundtrack.)
it is a film that I think deserves to be restored.
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They might not have all been Oscar winners when the film was made, but Network features 4 Best Actor/Actress winners in the leading roles: (Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Peter Finch and Robert Duvall),
But it counts because none of the actors had won oscars when they did BEAU GESTE.
Oh thankyouso.
IN YOUR FACE DGF! (via proxy)
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Walter Wanger's guidance of Susan Hayward's career in the second half of the 40s, securing her such films.as.CANYON PASSAGE, SMASH UP and TULSA,.finally made Susan a star. At the end of the decade, Wanger's financial debacle with JOAN OF ARC led.him to sell her contract.to 20th Century Fox, where she would soon become one of the biggest stars of the 50s.
OMG, CAN YOU IMAGINE SUSAN AS JOAN OF ARC!!!!?????
JOAN d'ARC
(with cigarette dangling from her lip)
"Think ya' can just burn me?
Say I'm in league with the
devil? OH NO: not when I bailed your keester out
of the tightest bind it's been in since the
grape harvest went bad! Well all
the next wars are on you,Buster,
you ungrateful bunch of damn dirty frogs!"
(she looks to the men carrying torches)
"Now: whichever one of you sonsa'bitches
gets to wear the pair today: gimme a light.
I'm dyin' for a smoke."
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As mentioned by Ben, BEAU GESTE was the first (and may be the only film) to feature four Best Actor or Actress Oscar winners.,
I'm racking my brains to come up with one to prove you wrong, but coming up with bupkus.
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What is the flaw of THE KILLING?
see, i'm worried now that we're going to start fighting.
someone (I don't remember who, and it doesn't matter) planted the Kubrick seed- which works just like that pink slime in GHOSTBUSTERS 2: it somehow manages to amp up everyone and things turn violent fast.
Stanley comes up in a thread, and the next thing I know we're all at each others throats and lines are drawn, life-long vendettas and deadly alliances form, and Stanley- were he alive- would be making a hissing sound as he fed off the hate vibes coming from his computer screen.
At the risk of digging deeper into the tar baby, THE KILLING (1956) makes me VERY angry because I think the ending is awful. I've also read the book CLEAN BREAK by LIONEL WHITE (highly recommended) and it is darker, more complex (Johnny Clay (played by Sterling Hayden) is made to be too sympathetic in the film, everyone is bad in the book), and has a WAAAAAAY BETTER ending. and then there is also Timothy Carey....
However, THE KILLING does feature the best performance by Marie Windsor ever in maybe the best role she ever got.
I spoke too soon in what I said earlier- DR STRANGELOVE is a pretty flawless film although I think the glacial pacing of the first part dissuades some from liking it as much as it should be liked (even loved), that's just a personal nitpick and it is a film that DEMANDS repeat viewings.
And I think A CLOCKWORK ORANGE glorifies violence- which I will entertain debate on- and is about half an hour too ******* long (the second point I'm less inclined to budge from my opinion on....)
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the only Kubrick film that I have seen that does not have some sort of fatal flaw would be PATHS OF GLORY...although Timothy Carey tries awfully hard to be that fatal flaw, it's still pretty much a flawless movie.
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Just another day at the office for Our Gal Suzie!
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Susan, giving GRACE JONES realness in hooded, asymmetrical gold-sequins in SMASH UP!: THE STORY OF A WOMAN.
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....one thing I don't get: why did they hire Eddie Albert to play pretty much the exact same role in I'LL CRY TOMORROW that he does in SMASH-UP! ? It would seem like the producers of that movie would want to differentiate it from SMASH-UP! at least a little....
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I wonder why they had SMASH-UP!: STORY OF A WOMAN on at 6:00 am and BEAU GESTE, which she's in for, what? three? four minutes?, on at 8:00 pm.
At least the print they showed was decent (SMASH-UP is in the public domain and needs a restoration.)
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The only star who arguably combined beauty and acting ability to the degree that Hayward did was Ingrid Bergman.
I'd put Jennifer Jones on that short list too though. There's also Vivien Leigh- but her filmography is miniscule compared to Hayward's.
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Wow, Lorna! What did a trapezoid ever do to you to cause such vehement feelings here, HUH?!
There's just something about it that strikes me as being inherently tacky.
It's sixties modernism meets seventies ugliness: simple, yet hideous.
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Lorna - has the "announcer lady" been let go? I hadn't heard her for at least a couple of weeks (it's got to be the same person we are talking about - the one who did the month highlights) and I had hoped she was just on vacation or something nice. Has this been discussed on the boards elsewhere?
I am a little in shock - she was a big part of TCM. If she is gone, I will miss her.
I believe so, the thread has dropped off the first page though.
Not sure what her status is, but the fact that we've entered month 2 of silent "what's on next" segments makes it seem pretty permanent.
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"Let's Turner" would just lead to too many people saying "turn her where?"
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I could actually get on board with "let's classic," at least moreso than with "let's movie."
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That's a variation of the time when NBC shelled out several million bucks to design a new logo, only to wind up using the logo that some local Nebraska station had been using for many years.
Thank you. That is one of the most overwhelmingly 1970'siest things I have ever seen. Truly overwhelming in its simple ugliness.
I just don't get the ending of NOW, VOYAGER.....
in General Discussions
Posted
If EVER a movie character needed to be smacked but good, it is Bonita Granville's in NOW, VOYAGER.