film lover 293
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Posts posted by film lover 293
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A Garbo film that hasn't had a review written for it since 2011, among others: All times E.S.T.:
11:00 a.m. "Romance" (1930)--Garbo is an opera singer who loves a priest. Maltin gives this two stars. Garbo got a Best Actress nomination for this. Film should be surprisingly good, or a delight for fans of cinematic silliness.
8:00 p.m. "A Foreign Affair" (1948)--Director Billy Wilder and Marlene Dietrich at their best.
12:00 a.m. "Foreign Correspondent" (1940)--For those who can receive the film, it's worth staying up for.
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Am in the U.S., but a definite second recommendation to all who get Silver Screen Classics--Hitchcock's 1926 silent film is Excellent.
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I saw five movies last week, & one I couldn't make it through; First, the films I got through:
"Lord Love A Duck" (1966)--Wild satire of 1960's Southern California has more misses than hits, but boasts career best performances (arguably) from Tuesday Weld and Roddy McDowall. McDowall stars as a quirky high school valedictorian; Weld is a cheerleader who desires Material things. Among the hits in the George Axelrod script are drive-thru churches, hypocritical, pompous school principals (a jittery performance by Harvey Korman that fits his character perfectly), California homes that are designed like movie sets (and have the acoustics of them), Youth pastors, Beach Party movies, OverProtective Mothers (to be fair, that's not just a CA problem), Under-protective mothers. One "Tom Jones" (1963) inspired scene between Weld, (who is trying to get Material things) & her father is just plain creepy; maybe it worked in 1966, but it doesn't now, IMO. Ruth Gordon has film's best line and detonates it perfectly; "We don't Divorce husbands in my family, we Bury them!"
"Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (1912)--Twelve minute telling of the classic leaves out a Lot of plot, LOL. Stars future film director James Cruze in the title role; he does an good job, and the transformation scenes and makeup are effective. From a 1996 restoration seen on YouTube.
"Boom!" (1968)-- A miscast Elizabeth Taylor looks gloriously healthy and beautiful in this Joseph Losey adaptation of Tennessee Williams' "The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore"; its'1964 Broadway run lasted four performances. Taylor is cast as Flora Goforth, a woman dying of Tuberculosis; Richard Burton is The Angel of Death, or a gigolo, or maybe both; film leaves decision up to the viewer. Is last film before Taylor's weight gain became fodder for late night comedians and became subject for self-parody (For the nine people who saw "Secret Ceremony" (1969) "I am getting SO Fat!!").
"Frenchman's Creek" (1944)--Daphne DuMauriers romance, as filmed by director Mitchell Leisen. Print quality I saw on Comcast was Awful; I stuck with the film because I hadn't seen it before. Film was perfect fantasy until destroyed by The Production Code in the last minute; until then, was a fun costume romp that must have been beautiful just to look at on 1944 release.
"Kismet" (1944)--Ronald Colman as the beggar with a beautiful voice pretending to be royalty, and Marlene Dietrich with gold-painted legs got to do a dance with veils, sing a song or two, and the film's beautiful print lived Up to its' nominations (Best Cinematography, etc). Fine escapism.
Couldn't get through "Crimes of Passion" (1984), despite an Excellent performance by Kathleen Turner, and a very good one by Annie Potts. Film was directed by Ken Russell.
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Sunday, Feb. 21st--A Premiere??; All times E.S.T.:
6:00 p.m.--"The Four Musketeers" (aka "The Revenge of Milady")--(1975). There are no user reviews, a sketchy four sentence long full synopsis, and length of film, in minutes, reels,, and feet and other categories are blank. A premiere?
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I didn't get in on this thread until 1941, so I'll join everyone else in listing year by year. 1931 films:
1.) "M"
2.) "The Threepenny Opera"
3.) "Frankenstein"
4.) "Waterloo Bridge"
5.) "The Front Page"
6.) "Svengali"
7.) "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde"
8.) "Dracula"
9.) "Five and Ten"
10.) "Night Nurse"
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1932 films:
1.) "Grand Hotel"
2.) "The Mummy"
3.) "Tarzan the Ape Man"
4.) "Shanghai Express"
5.) "Blonde Venus"
6.) "I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang"
7.) "Red Dust"
8.) "Love Me Tonight"
9.) "The Old Dark House"
10.) "HorseFeathers"
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In order of preference:
1.) "Notorious"--Love this film; at once a melodrama, cynical Post WW II noir, and love story, Hitchcock style. Beautiful photography.
2.) "Rebecca"--An enjoyable watch, although Joan Fontaines' nameless heroine gets on my nerves: she's more than made up for by Judith Anderson as Mrs. Danvers.
3.) "The Paradine Case"--underrated Hitchcock, IMHO. Marvelous camerawork and supporting performances by Ethel Barrymore & Charles Laughton.
4.) "Spellbound"--The psychiatry aspect hasn't aged well. Salvador Dalis' dream sequence is the films' highlight.
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A case for "Essential" status could also be made for these two Linda Darnell films:
"Blood and Sand" (1941)--Stunningly beautiful film stars Darnell, Tyrone Power, and Rita Hayworth as The Other Woman--I saw a good print of this in my teens. If TCM would screen a Good print of this, it would be a present.
"Centennial Summer" (1946)--An enjoyable musical set during the Philadelphia Exposition of 1876.
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Good, cartoons are mentioned, & Bugs Bunny--Yes! Some favorites:
"Slick Hare" (1945)--Elmer Fudd is a waiter at Hollywoods' Mocrumbo Restaurant, where a ham sandwich costs only $600.00; Humphrey Bogart wants fried rabbit, & Fudd has 20 minutes to catch & serve Bogarts' dinner. Multiple Hollywood caricatures.
"Mississippi Hare" (1938?)--Bugs is a blonde Scarlett on a riverboat. Non PC.
"Transylvania 6-5000 (1963)--Bugs gets lost and asks directions from Dracula.
"Hillbilly Hare" (1949)--Bugs in the Ozarks--squaredance calling is Priceless.
"Rabbit of Seville" (1950)--I prefer Bugs' version of "The Barber of Seville" to the original.
"What's Opera, Doc?" (1957)--Oscar winning cartoon introduces opera to kids and spoofs several film stars and songs while doing so. Has this ever been on TCM?
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News From Tunisia: Donald Trump is "disgusted" with the critical reception of his latest screenplay: "1941: The Musical". He promises to be good and work With George Lucas in turning "Star Wars IV & 1/2: A New Pope..." into an experimental opera starring Harrison Ford, Jonathon Pryce, & Marisa Tomei; they are to sing all fifteen hours of the opera in German, English, and Japanese. Rand Paul & Britney Spears are the understudies.
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Feb. 19th--Happy Birthday Lee Marvin & Carson McCullers.
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Favorite films--Remarks only to defend films underrated by critics (Maltin, etc.):
"Captain Blood" (1935)
"The Adventures of Robin Hood" (1938)
"The Sea Hawk" (1940)
"They Died With Their Boots On" (1941)
"Cry Wolf" (1947)--Underrated teaming of Flynn and Stanwyck--a fun watch.
"Silver River" (1948)--Underrated Western with Flynn and Ann Sheridan. Worth a watch.
"That Forsyte Woman" (1949)--Greer Garson seems out of her depth in this adaptation of Galsworthy (No, I haven't read the book(s)), but Flynn seems right at home. MGM spent a boatload of money on this, and still made a profit (source: David Shipman's "The Great Movie Stars: The Golden Years".
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OK:
"Deep In My Heart" (1954)--In Ann Millers' Charleston number "It". A "Singing In The Rain" (1952) reunion is on view. Gene Kelly and his brother Fred Kelly did a song earlier in DIMH called " I Like To Go Swimmin' With Wimmin" in this biography of Sigmund Romberg. There are multiple extras in the song "It". Fred Kelly is dressed in an orange & white suit and dances with the Pola Negri style vamp who referred to talkies as "vulgar" in SITR. Ann Miller tosses a Long, Rattling string of pearls around Gene Kelly's neck at the bar. Rita Moreno (who played Zelda in SITR) is glimpsed chugging booze from a cheerleader's horn. Russ Tamblyn makes an unbilled cameo in this number for some reason. Jean Hagen can be glimpsed in an all pink outfit (including her fur) and her character Lina's squeaky voice is briefly heard in the background, among the chorus.
Song "It" is downloaded for view in the 'Star of the Month" forum (subforum). Check the "Merle Oberon as March 2016 SOTM" thread.
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Roger Ebert returns from the grave to review Donald Trump's screenplay and movie: Review is titled "Trumpster lands in the Dumpster".
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limey--Thank you for mentioning the documentary. I looked up "Thou Shalt Not" (2008) and recognized the photo on TSN's webpage on TCM. It's the cover photo from the book " Pre-Code Hollywood: Sex, Immorality, and Insurrection in American Cinema 1930-1934" by Thomas Doherty (1999, Columbia University Press). Book starts out as dry information, but quickly improves into a lively discussion of Pre-Code film. A fun read; highly recommended.
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I have to jump in and salute Ann Miller, The Queen of Tap Dancing (IMO)--she did the tapping on-set during her dance numbers and again in dubbing. Source is Millers' reminiscences in "That's Entertainment I, II, or III (1974, 1976, & 1994, respectively) and the interview(s) she did with Robert Osborne in 2010(?).
In "On The Town" (1949), which aired yesterday, in the number "Prehistoric Man", when Miller is whirling around the set and Betty Garrett is sitting down behind a drum, Watch Garrett's Eyes; they widen and nearly bug out for a moment, which invites the caption "How The He--Double Hockey Sticks Does She Do That??!!?
If an occasional tap Was missed, the dancers named before and Miller are still wondrous to see--they still did the actual dance moves regardless of whether the taps were caught on actual dance numbers or in dubbing. JMO.
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Bogie56 mentioned wanting feedback on this short film:
Darn good film. Wonderful music, a Bluesy rendition of "On The Sunny Side of The Street", a bit of dancing to the jazz--excellent film. Thank you, TCM for showing this film.
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Ralph Bates as Dr. Henry Jekyll/Jack the Ripper & Martine Beswick as Sister Hyde in:
"Doctor Jekyll and Sister Hyde" (1971).
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1960 Best Actress:
Shirley MacLaine for "The Apartment".
Elizabeth Taylor won for MGM's "Butterfield 8"; at the time, it was viewed as just a "sympathy" Oscar, as Taylor had nearly died from pneumonia. Looking at her performance fifty+ years later, she is the best thing in a bad film; Taylor had the brains to play a Bad melodramatic script for comedy, as did Betty Field in a supporting role. They are the only two actors in the film to get through the film with any credit. The ones who went for tears (Mildred Dunnock) or moralizing (Eddie Fisher & the rest of the cast) come off as unintentionally hilarious, terminal drips, or both. Taylor deserved the nomination.
In my alternate universe, Taylor and MacLaine would Both have won Oscars.
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"Peyton Place" (1957) is one of the 50's melodramas I like best. Director Mark Robson got Turner her only Best Actress nomination, and Russ Tamblyn & Diane Varsi were nominated in the Supporting categories. A beautiful Franz Waxman score also helps immeasurably.
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For Best Picture, 1952:
Stanley Kramer for United Artists--"High Noon"
John Ford & Merian C. Cooper for Republic--"The Quiet Man"
Pandro S. Berman for MGM--"Ivanhoe"
Cecil B. DeMille's "The Greatest Show On Earth" won as Best Picture. Is generally considered the Worst film to win "Best Picture". All three above films are better than TGSOE, IMO. All were robbed.
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"Boom!" (1968)--Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton star in Joseph Losey's film adaptation of Tennessee Williams' "The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore" (1964, Broadway). Taylor looks far too young and healthy to be dying of tuberculosis, but she does a fine job with Williams' poetry. Richard Burton is The Angel of Death or a gigolo; movie lets you decide. Noel Coward as The Witch of Capri injects some needed humor into the film. Critics savaged film in 1968, but it is better than its' reputation, IMHO. Also with Joanna Shimkus & Michael Dunn. Taylors' brother Howard has a cameo. 7.5/10 stars.
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SPOILERS SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Way to go Joanie--she killed the villainous Rockingham--more spunk than I'd Ever seen from her! Never would have expected that from her after her role in "The Women" (1939).
Nauseating ending--Courtesy of The Code, I assume. Still, both live--which was a victory for Paramount.
Good film, but a horrid print was shown--I assume this was the best TCM could get.
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Favorite Gregory Peck films in chronological order:
"Spellbound" (1945)
"The Paradine Case" (1947)
"Only the Valiant" (1951)
"Roman Holiday" (1953)
"On The Beach" (1959)
"The Guns of Navarone" (1961)
"To Kill A Mockingbird" (1962)
"The Stalking Moon" (1969)
"MacKenna's Gold" (1969)
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The Bad:
Agree with clore--Dreadful print--but am staying with the film as I've never seen it. Film must have been beautiful when first released. Vestiges of that beauty remain in the nighttime scenes, which were underlit (I Think).
Addition to TomJH's impressions--whoever played Harry the hubby--WHAT WAS/WERE the THINGS he threw on his head in the opening scenes??!?? Was it Bert Lahr's chopped up Cowardly Lion costume from "The Wizard of Oz" (1939)?? When he and Rathbone were in the same scene, it looked like dueling doggies!!! The men all wear ridiculous wigs, but the two I named are Worst--So Far.
The Good:
It's good to see Joan Fontaine playing a character with spirit, anger, and decisiveness.
Music by Victor Young is lovely.
Art direction is accurate seeming & very detailed.
Just When Fontaine looks to be reverting to wimpdom, she arches her eyebrows and smiles to the camera--she's been flirting, with a purpose.
Film is OK, so far, despite deficiencies.
Edit: Director Leisen knew the mens' wigs looked ridiculous--there is a bit where a sword lifts off a wig to show a bald head.
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Your Favourite Performances from 1929 to present are...
in Your Favorites
Posted
1932; Single winners marked by two asterisks, ties by four asterisks: Best Actor(s):
Paul Muni in I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang**
John Barrymore in Grand Hotel
The Marx Brothers in Horsefeathers
Boris Karloff in The Mummy
Warren William in The Dark Horse
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Best Actress:
Marlene Dietrich in Blonde Venus
Joan Crawford in Rain****
Ethel Barrymore in Rasputin and the Empress
Claudette Colbert in The Sign of The Cross****
Jeanette MacDonald in One Hour With You
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Best Supporting Actor:
Charles Laughton in The Old Dark House
Harry Earles in Freaks
Ernest Thesiger in The Old Dark House
Charles Laughton in The Sign of The Cross**
Lionel Barrymore in Grand Hotel
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Best Supporting Actress:
Mae West in Night After Night****
Lilian Bond in The Old Dark House
Eva Moore in The Old Dark House
Thelma Todd in HorseFeathers
Ann Dvorak in Scarface****