LornaHansonForbes
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Posts posted by LornaHansonForbes
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Has anyone ever figured out what drives Leonard Maltin's ratings other than the size of a movie's budget?
Maltin has a double standard for judging films- he is a lot more lenient with B-pics and low budget trash than he is on films that aim high; see his countless inexplicable-to-fathom glowing reviews for the oeuvre of Roger Corman. Also keep in mind, many times it is not Maltin writing the review, but one of his "researchers"- who get no credit (at least on the byline.)
I no longer am surprised, but I have noticed on several occasions that the elements of a film that he singles out for praise are often the weakest; and the elements that he is dismissive of are the best.
At least Maltin doesn't fancy himself the genius that Roger Ebert did, and his reviews don't have as many glaring innacuracies (and as far as I know, he wasn't as, um, succeptable to giving a good review as part of a quid pro quo arrangement as ole' Roger was.)
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Lorna: I think the actor from 'WICKED STEPMOTHER' you're thinking of is Lionel Stander (1908-94).
yes! Thank you.
I hope you are at least a fraction as ashamed to know that as I am to know the full details of the plot of "Wicked Stepmother."
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I know this one could be debateable, but I would nominate SERENADE by James M. Cain.
Okay, yes I know it was "the basis" for the 1956(?) Lanza/Fontaine film, but for those of you who have read it and seen the movie, you know that the title and the fact that they're about guys who can sing are literally all they share in common (and I literally mean literally.)
I thought for the longest time that the only books Cain wrote were MILDRED PIERCE, INDEMNITY and POSTMAN, because those were the three available from Black Lizard (a great nineties republisher of noir fiction.) Then I discovered the existance of SERENADE, which has been reprinted in a gorgeously covered paperback edition. (yay! it attached)
It is one hell of a read and highly recommended, and the real story Cain puts out is one hell of a book and would make- if done right and chances are good it would be done wrong- one hell of a film.
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Was Carol drunk when she applied her lipstick???
Probably.
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I don't even think that -- for me Lorelei Lee will always be Carol Channing on the soundtrack of the original Broadway cast, not MM in that second-rate bastardized movie!
your knowledge on this is deeper than mine and I respect that. You also made me realize that I misspelled Lorelei. Which- in my defense- is not an easy one to spell.
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all the damn time. Local hipster record stores see me coming and they lock the door.....Break any 45 RPM records lately?
in fact, I will go full on Ralph Meeker on some forty fives.
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Marilyn in the Bella Darvi role would just be LORELAI LEE GOES TO ANCIENT EGYPT...
Edit: which, I don't know, might actually have been fun.
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I just don't see Marilyn in the Bella Darvi role.
I can maybe see Gene Tierney in the Bella Darvi role and Marilyn in the Gene Tierney role...
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There aren't too many children that arrange murders.
I think he means her childish lack of impulse control. Her childish sense of reasoning even.
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Oh and....
I have never seen TROG!, but I am willing to venture that "Wicked Stepmother" is AT THE VERY LEAST as bad.
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"oh honey, we gotta stay in tonight. There's a precode on TCM that Maltin gave two stars."
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Excellent point.
just remember it next time.
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Once again do not trust the negative Maltin review on this one.
editing suggestion: insert " as always" for "once again."
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sigh.
I have never been more ashamed to know anything....
but:
Bette is in about 20 minutes of "Wicked Stepmother." She plays a woman who marries the 70-something widower father of a middle-aged hausfrau with a husband and one son living in some idyllic town somewhere. the housewife character is super **** retentive and hates cigarettes and is a vegetarian. I cannot remember who plays the older gentleman, its some Robert Prosky type. if I recall correctly Colleen Camp plays the housewife. Some blonde dude plays her husband. I think the character also hates cats and Bette Davis's character of course has a cat. she also eats lots of meat, and since it is Bette, chain smokes (duh.)
So anyhow Bette casts a spell and becomes Barbara Carrera, and the movie proceeds to crash and burn in front of us.
growing up in the 1980's, we had HBO in our home. And people forget, but back then HBO was like 90% crap horrible movies that they could show for next to nothing in broadcast fees. So, if its some trainwreck moviemade some time in the seventies, eighties, and even early nineties, chances are I- due to my wasted childhood- know a little something about it.
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I see that BURNT OFFERINGS has been bumped from the TCM schedule.
Damn.
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He played a shady attorney in one, was it Counselor at Law? TCM played it once or twice
I thought that was Warren William.
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LOL. Before he moved to MGM and became Nick, Powell did play some heavy roles. i could see him being effective in this role...
Such as?
(I'm curious, and would enjoy seeing some of them.)
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William Powell also had a face that was perfect for radio.
Homeboy bagged Harlow and Lombard (the former was allegedly desperately in love with him until her death)- so something was on point.
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http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2015/08/11/kate_mara_s_fantastic_four_wig_a_tribute.html
this was a pretty funny article on slate about the really awful wig they slapped on the female lead who had to return for extensive reshoots after she had cut her hair. it's pretty funny.
ps- any of you who have seen the film: is it true that Jamie Bell and Michael B. Jordan have almost no lines in the movie?!
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shamelessly bumping up the link.Hopefully attached successfully to this post is a link to the radio version of SHADOW OF A DOUBT with Teresa Wright reprising her part and WILLIAM POWELL (!) playing Uncle Charlie, and quite well might I add.
It works well when condensed (often film-to-radio transitions suffer from this) and- again- it's fasciniating to hear Powell recite the "people are swine" speech.
HIGHLY RECOMENDED, as SHADOW OF A DOUBT is a film I've seen 20+ times, listening to this was like discovering new rooms in a house I thought I knew every inch of.
Edit: I see where Mr. Dobbs also posted a link to the radio program. Thank you for that.
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LOL.
Case in point.
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Thank you!
No problem. Actually, if it wasn't for you, nobody would laugh at my jokes.
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DownGoesFrazier--Director Jean Negulesco used Patricia Hitchcock as a bit player in "The Mudlark" (1950)--she also had a small role in C.B. DeMilles'"The Ten Commandments".also according to Wikipedia.
I bet she coached Charlton Heston on how to play Moses.
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Sorry, Lorna, but I LOVE Pat Hitchcock in SOAT. Almost every line of hers has me doubling up with laughter no matter how many times I see it...........
S'alright, it's a free country. I'll allow you to live... For now.
November Schedule -- Norma Shearer as SotM!
in General Discussions
Posted
some interesting facts about SUMMER OF '42 from wiki:
The film became a blockbuster upon its release, grossing over $32 million, making it the sixth highest-grossing film of 1971 and one of the most successful films in history, with an expense-to-profit ratio of 1:32;[8] beyond that, it is estimated video rentals and purchases in the United States since the 1980s have produced an additional $20.5 million.[9] On this point, Raucher said in May 2002 that his ten percent of the gross, in addition to royalties from book sales, "has paid bills ever since."[3]
As well as being a commercial success, Summer of '42 also received rave critical reviews. It went on to be nominated for over a dozen awards, including Golden Globe Awards for "Best Motion Picture – Drama" and "Best Director", and five Academy Award nominations for Best Original Music Score, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Writing-Story and Best Screenplay.[10] Ultimately, the film won two awards: the 1972 44th Academy Awards Oscar for Original Dramatic Score, and the 1971 BAFTA Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music, both to Michel Legrand. It counted among its fans Stanley Kubrick, who had the film play on a television in a scene in The Shining.