LornaHansonForbes

thank you for the correction.

yes. Again to you and to everyone: check it out, it's a really interesting listen.

yep you nailed it. For those of you interested in checking out the shadow of a doubt DVD, it's got a lot of extras and one of those extras is a documentary about the making of the film where in Pat Hitchcock makes her ludicrous claim.

Boom. You nailed it. ...And for the record, I think Pat Hitchcock was good in PSYCHO, but 2 minutes of her is ALL any movie needs. Also for the record, I dislike Pat Hitchcock in good part because every time I have seen her in an interview or documentary on her father she comes off as the most pompous and full of herself person I have ever seen in my life. She makes one claim about "coaching" Teresa Wright on the set of SHADOW of A DOUBT that is SUCH obvious horse pucky it would be funny if not for the mind blowing audacity of it. Yeah Pat, I'm sure someone who had just won an Oscar and been nominated three times for their first three films was taking acting lessons from a novice who hadn't even made a film yet. did you also help FDR with the framing of the New Deal Pat? I mean of course when you weren't negotiating the conference at Yalta and helping with the invention of the fusion bomb. I also blame her for the fact that five of Hitchcock's films - including VERTIGO and maybe REAR WINDOW were unavailable to the viewing public for years because she had the rights to them and wouldn't allow them to be released. The last time I brought this topic up someone who fancies herself to be the Elder Statesperson of this website barged in and clucked her tongue at me, but I stand by my comments. she heffah and I can't stand her.

I think "Alec." "Ja quelle in" is my favorite. I think they made about 3 or 4 videos dedicated to the substitute teacher motif. Al are pretty highly recommended.

you keep making me think of the substitute teacher reading roll call on the immortal Key and Peele bit. I can't post YouTube videos, but go there and look it up if you're not familiar. YouTube: Key and Peele substitute teacher.

maybe they were trying to show how out of touch Massey's charactrr was.

HAH! In the dept. of coincidences: I ran an errand a few minutes ago and the radio version of STRANGERS ON A TRAIN starring Ray Milland was just wrapping up on the old time radio channel on sirius (which I listen to all the time.) Apparently today is Alfred Hitchcock's birthday. It's also worth noting that they invited some HOLLYWOOD producer/writer to talk about the film version of STRANGERS after the radio play ended and he- characteristically- got the plot all wrong after gushing over how many times he'd seen the film; "it's about two guys who both agree to commit a murder for the other after meeting on a train." Sigh.

Yeah, I read that on the film's wikipedia page (which is worth checking out.) According to Granger, Hitchcock was very unkind and dismissive to Roman while filming. I'm kind of 50/50 on Roman's role in this, because she is a good actress (check her out in THE WINDOW, which is the total opposite of her role in STRANGERS...) maybe it's because she was a better actress than the rather small, unimportant role demanded.

Major props to both of you for mentioning Marion Lorne (aka Aunt Clara on BEWITCHED), yes, she is EXCELLENT in her role- quite frankly, my favorite performance in the film (although I know Walker's work is for the ages.) Her work as Bruno's mother is a prime example of an actor latching on to a tiny part and running with it all the way to a touchdown. Love every minute she is on screen.

Yes. And I just looked it up and read the extensive page entry for it on wikipedia, there's all sorts of stuff going on beneath the surface with the light and dark, Bruno's lobster-claw necktie, the name of the boat Bruno rides into the tunnel of love (Pluto- God of the Underworld), the homoerotic stuff between Bruno and Guy (I think the only part of Granger's performance that is successful is in the opening scene, where you can watch his eyes and tell that he's checking out Bruno the same way Bruno is checking out him)...it's a four star film, but one that is four-star because of Hitchcock and Walker and in spite of Granger, Pat Hitchcock, the clunky dialogue (in parts), and the somewhat questionable casting of Ruth Roman (who was a good actress, but I'm just not sure she's the best fit for the role.)

For me, the Hitchcock movie everyone-seems-to-love-but-I-have-issues-with would be STRANGERS ON A TRAIN. And to be fair, I think it's a great movie, but it is great in spite of some serious faults: namely Farley Granger (I get a kick out of seeing that addendum to his name in the credits "Mr. Granger appears courtesy of David O. Selznick"- oh please David, can we please borrow Farley, oh pleeeease?" ) He is so pretty, but not good at all in his part- maybe that's what Hitch was going for though, since he seems to want us to root for Robert Walker's Bruno instead. The other serious fault would be Patricia Hitchcock, who until Sofia Coppola in GODFATHER III, wins the tiara and sash for "worst case scenario of a directorial offspring given waaaaay too much free rein in their part, who in turn comes thisclose to destroying said director's film." She is awful and I hate her.

...as for Crawford's day today, the only pre-prime time title i really recommend (besides THE WOMEN, because WE'VE ALL SEEN IT ALREADY) would be SADIE MCKEE (1934)- a really charming film where she is at her most lovely and playing a spirited chorine role wonderfully. it is also the film for which the popular (and lovely) standard ALL I DO (IS DREAM OF YOU) was introduced. The story of pre-MILDRED Joan Crawford is, to me, a story of real wasted potential, because she was as good an actress then as she was after winning the Oscar, but also her looks were at their peak: as Ann Blyth says in that tribute to Joan "people forget how beautiful she really was." I can understand Joan's frustrastions with MGM because a good 85% of the films she was forced to do there were junk- LOVE ON THE RUN, THE GORGEOUS HUSSY, all the musicals and everything she did for the studio post-THE WOMEN. Sometimes she rises above the junk, such as I LIVE MY LIFE where she really gives her all to the standard pretentiously-in-love-with-its-own-writing script by Mankiewicz, sometimes there's nothing she can do to salvage it. But it actually makes me a little sad when I see one of her good movies, like SADIE MCKEE or DANCE, FOOLS, DANCE (not airing today) or one of her good performances in a bad movie like RAIN (also not airing today), because there was SUCH UNTAPPED POTENTIAL in her early days. Tonight though, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND the glorious triumverate of post-MILDRED films, POSSESSED (the 47 version), THE DAMNED DON'T CRY and especially FLAMINGO ROAD- which is a film that I just ABSOLUTELY love to PIECES. ....

Both the Masseys married their lawyers, and in the case of Raymond- it took. He stayed married to wife #3 until her death in the early eighties and passed away a short time later.

+1.

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.

With all questions and mysterys connected to HOLLYWOOD, cocaine is usually the explanation.

"Sister, sister Oh so fair, don't you think you're a little old for that hair?"

I imdb'd PATRICIA COLLINGE yesterday and you know what? She was Irish. Born in Ireland and did stage work (and trained, I think) in England. Would any of you have guessed? You know, sometimes you think you can't love a person any more and, and then you find out something and you're all "nope, I love them even more."

Gene Tierney is more of "a guy's guy" than Gene Kelly.

as much as I like Ida Lupino, I would have loved to see Olivia as Charlotte and Joan as Emily Bronte in DEVOTION.

their voices are very similar though.

For a change? Pssht. I been objectifiying men all my life. ps- I bet he could crack walnuts with those things.

Thank you, as always, for the engouragment, Frau Wunderbar. Hope we see more of you around here, you've been somewhat MIA of late....