film lover 293
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Posts posted by film lover 293
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Princess of Tap--Thanks for the thread.
Last guess--"The Two Mrs. Carrolls" (1947)--Barbara Stanwyck as the "damsel in distress". Humphrey Bogart as the artistic husband, and Nigel Bruce as the best friend doctor?
Next question--These three horror films all had a subtheme of saving the environment. Two were released the same year, one two years later. One was a botched opportunity, one wasn't bad, and one Just missed being really good. Name them, their year(s) of release and two of each films' stars.
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TikiSoo--Thanks for the recommendation (I have "A Song In The Dark"; are Barrios' other books on musicals good?)
Why 'Paint Your Wagon" (1969) failed me was at a basic level--Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood just aren't singers, and they weren't dubbed, for some reason. Lee Marvin's rendition of "I Was Born Under A Wanderin' Star" was on YouTube--I don't know if it's still there or not. Clint Eastwood wasn't a singer, and when he sings "I Talk to the Trees" in a taut tenor, I see him gunning trees down, not talking to them--he's in a world where he doesn't belong, if that makes sense. I liked when Harve Presnell sang "They Call The Wind Maria", because he could Sing and he looked and Sounded like he belonged in the film, not like he took a wrong turn while looking for the set of "Cat Ballou" (1965) or "Hang Em' High (1968).
"Finian's Rainbow" (1967)--Was filmed ten years too late, had too few memorable songs ("How Are Things in Glocca Morra?" and "That Old Devil Moon" are really good--the rest of the score I've forgotten) the plot is Way too Cute (something about stealing a leprechaun's gold), Tommy Steele as the leprechaun overacts appallingly, the "Susan The Silent" who Dances answers to questions is a routine that made me roll my eyes.
Having first time musical director Francis Ford Coppola take this film on without help was a mistake.
The good--Fred Astaire, Petula Clark, and Don Francks sing and dance memorably. But Finian's Rainbow is Way too Cutesy a film for me.
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EricJ--One method--In the search box on archivedotorg, enter a studio of your choice--you will get a list of between 20-100 films per studio, depending on the studio you search. Happy hunting for Real films .
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Hint--MGM.
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Negulesco, Jean--Director (1954's "Three Coins in the Fountain")
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La Cava, Gregory--Director (My Man Godfrey, 1936)
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"The Walls of Jericho" (1948).
Next--Pennsylvania.
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"Dial M For Murder' (1953)--Grace Kelly as the adulterous wife, Ray Milland as the bad guy, and John Williams as the British sounding Investigator?
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You're correct, Lawrence.
Your thread.
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"Wolfen" (1981)--Starring Albert Finney, Diane Venora, and Gregory Hines.
This horror/thriller has striking cinematography and sound, fine direction, and a good script, and very good Special Effects.
A series of seemingly unrelated murders are being committed in New York City, from the penthouses of the super-rich, to the bombed out appearing South Bronx. Burned out detective Dewey Wilson (Finney) and terrorism expert Rebecca Neff (Venora) are brought in to solve the case. Coroner Whittington (Hines) finds a common thread.
Wolfen is one of the rare cases where lots of people working on one element improved the film, instead of hurting it. Four people are credited with the photography, six for the script, and eleven people worked on the Visual Effects. James Horner did the score for the film; a theme heard in another film he scored can be heard here, in an understated form.
Finney is good as the burned out detective. Venora isn't believable as a terrorism expert, but very believable as someone who doesn't have the sense to stay away from odd noises in the South Bronx. Hines is cynically funny as the coroner.
"Wolfen"is strong on technique, fair on acting. This is one to watch in the dark. I saw it on archivedotorg. 2.9/4
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TikiSoo--I didn't mention musicals aimed at kids, like "Mary Poppins" and "Dr. Doolittle", because I consider them another category. You're right, with the exceptions of "Mary Poppins" (1964), and "Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" (1970), musicals aimed at children were generally disasters.
I'm assuming you mean financial And critical disasters.
Financial is the easier question to solve. Audiences tastes in music were changing. The musicals that accepted that fact generally succeeded (the "Beach" movies, the Elvis Presley musicals, the two Richard Lester did with The Beatles {"A Hard Days' Night (1964} & "Help! {1965}). Musicals usually made money through 1964, when old fashioned musicals like "Mary Poppins", "My Fair Lady", and "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" all made profits--just not as Much money as they were supposed to make, especially in the last two cases.
20th-Century Fox caught "lightning in a bottle" with "The Sound of Music" (1965)--an OK script with listenable songs, a New star( on film) Julie Andrews who could Sing the songs she was given And act. The studio made a killing at the box-office. And Hollywood executives figured that Big, Expensive musicals were what audiences wanted to see. With a few exceptions, they were proved wrong.
As to why they failed critically, the reasons differ with each film. A few things in common among the failures:
Stars hired to appear in picture(s) couldn't sing--Lee Marvin, Clint Eastwood, and Jean Seberg in "Paint Your Wagon (1969); Peter O'Toole in "Goodbye Mr. Chips" (1969); Vanessa Redgrave and Richard Harris in "Camelot" (1967) (although they do a marvelous job of Acting the songs); Rex Harrison in "Dr. Doolittle" (1967); etc.
Outdated material--"Finian's Rainbow was a socially conscious, timely Broadway musical in the 1940's; by the time of its 1967 filming, its' message (racial tolerance) was not controversial or special, and the whimsy of the stage original just grates onscreen.
Dumping part or all of the original Broadway score for inferior material--happened to "Paint Your Wagon" (1969) and others.
Why "Star!" flopped is a mystery to me.
"Thoroughly Modern Millie" is an agreeable musical parody of silent movie types that made a profit. I saw it on archivedotorg.
There's are two books on musicals that explain things in more depth than I can. The first is by Matthew Kennedy and it's called "Roadshow: The Fall of Film Musicals in the 1960's". Clive Hirschhorn's "The Hollywood Musical" is another excellent book that covers 1929-1976. Both are excellent books, although I don't know if Hirschhorn's is still in print.
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Trepidation re salad/ice cube servers
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double post--please delete.
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Just saw "In Glorious Technicolor" (1998), a TCM documentary about Technicolor that was on YouTube. Fascinating--and sad. According to the narration, prints of 1950's films shot in EastmanColor started within 5 years of production, and the negatives between 10-15 years--because of inferior quality. Hopefully that problem has been fixed since the documentary was made.
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This actress was usually dubbed in her musicals, but in this one, in one song, her real voice was used. Please name the actress, musical, song, and composer.
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Princess of Tap--You're exactly right!
The 1946 film had all three playing against type, with varying degrees of success, and Minnelli made his first attempt at the genre.
Your Thread, Princess.
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Hint: Director is Not associated with film noir.
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Kid Dabb--I assume you mean the 1969 musical version of "Goodbye, Mr. Chips". Well, This film is too dang* long. It's among the lower middle rungs on a ladder of 1960's "road show" musicals in terms of quality: it's nowhere near as bad as "Paint Your Wagon" (1969, songs destroyed by Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood--Jean Seberg was dubbed, and Harve Presnell could sing) and "Finian's Rainbow" ("That Old Devil Moon" and 2-3 other good songs, Fred Astaire in a small part, and Petula Clark's voice don't make up for the rest of the movie). "The Sound of Music/Money/Mucus (1965) and "Funny Girl" (1968) are probably the best of the 1960's road show musicals, with "Camelot" (1967), "Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967), and "Star!" (1968) close behind, the rest of the pack above PYW and FR.
Peter O'Toole did nab a "Best Actor" Oscar nomination which the TCM article on the film doesn't mention for some reason.
*--otto starred out my first choice of words.
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Beach Party (1963)?
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"Nightwing" (1979)--Starring Nick Mancuso, David Warner, and Kathryn Harrold.
Fantastic central idea, to mix American Indian mythology and science, is unevenly executed.
On an Indian reservation in the Southwest, something is killing animals and draining them of blood, baffling reservation cop Duran (Mancuso) and his girlfriend (Harrold). A biologist (Warner) figures the cause out and determines to get rid of the problem.
Mancuso is ok as the cop,but his looks are more impressive than his acting. Harrold is fair in the "damsel in distress' role. Warner gives the films' best performance; there is more than a hint of Van Helsing in his knowing the history of the species and his determination to eradicate them.
The beautiful cinematography is by Charles Rosher Jr. The understated, vaguely menacing score is by Henry Mancini. Four people were responsible for the script. Director Arthur Hiller only intermittently gets the needed dreamlike atmosphere.
Nightwing is not the bomb 1979 critics said it was. It's definitely worth a watch. I found the film on archivedotorg. 2.4/4.
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ALEXANDER HALL--Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941)
ROBERT HAMER--Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)
BYRON HASKIN--The Naked Jungle (1954)
HENRY HATHAWAY--Kiss of Death (1947)
HOWARD HAWKS--Rio Bravo (1959)
STUART HEISLER--The Glass Key (1942)
MONTE HELLMAN--The Shooting (1967)
GEORGE ROY HILL--The Sting (1973)
ARTHUR HILLER--The Americanization of Emily (1964)
ALFRED HITCHCOCK--North By Northwest (1959)
JOHN HUGHES--The Breakfast Club (1985)
JOHN HUSTON--Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1949)
NORMAN JEWISON--In The Heat of The Night (1967)
LAWRENCE KASDAN--Body Heat (1982)
PHILIP KAUFMAN--Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
ELIA KAZAN-- A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
BUSTER KEATON--The General (1927)
WILLIAM KEIGHLEY--The Prince and the Pauper (1937)
IRVIN KERSCHNER--The Return of A Man Called Horse (1976)
HENRY KING--In Old Chicago (1938)
ALEXANDER KORDA--The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933)
ZOLTAN KORDA--Sahara (1943)
HENRY KOSTER--Harvey (1950)
STANLEY KRAMER--On The Beach (1959)
STANLEY KUBRICK--The Killing (1956)
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DownGoesFrazier--The actors described fit the film you named, but the actress doesn't. This is the Last person you'd think of in a "damsel in distress" role.
Hint--MGM.
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"Corvette Summer" (1978)--Starring Mark Hamill, and Annie Potts.
Film was Hamill's followup to "Star Wars" (1977). Hamill plays Ken Dantley,a high school senior who falls in love with an old wreck of a car that happens to be a Corvette. He and his Auto Shop class restore the car to its' former glory--and the car's stolen. Dantley hears the car is in Las Vegas, and hitchhikes his way there. On the way he meets Vanessa (Potts) who is going to Vegas to find a "career". The plot goes from there.
Hamill is very good as a kid who's an expert on cars and is naive about everything else. Annie Potts is very funny as Vanessa, who goes through at least five jobs in one summer, and hides her brains and feelings behind an ever changing mask.
Film's soundtrack captures the disco era perfectly, senior prom and all. "Give Me The Night" is the film's theme, and is sung by Dusty Springfield.
Corvette Summer didn't find its' audience when it was released in 1978. The movie is powered by Annie Potts' and Mark Hamills' charm. Director Matthew Robbins seems to be in love with the characters and lets his stars develop them at a leisurely pace. Annie Potts was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance. Film is a fun watch--I saw it on archivedotorg. 3.3/4.
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CLINT EASTWOOD--Unforgiven (1992)
BLAKE EDWARDS--The Pink Panther (1964)
RAY ENRIGHT--
JOHN FARROW--Hondo (1953)
ROBERT FLAHERTY--Man of Aran (1934)
RICHARD FLEISCHER--The Narrow Margin (1952)
VICTOR FLEMING--Bombshell (1933)
JOHN FORD--The Searchers (1956)
MILOS FORMAN--One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
BOB FOSSE--Cabaret (1972)
NORMAN FOSTER--Rachel and the Stranger (1948)
JOHN FRANKENHEIMER--The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
SYDNEY FRANKLIN--The Good Earth (1937)
WILLIAM FRIEDKIN--The French Connection (1971)
SAMUEL FULLER--The Baron of Arizona (1950)
ABEL GANCE--Napoleon (1927)
TAY GARNETT--The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
TERRY GILLIAM--Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1974)
MICHAEL GORDON--I Can Get It For You Wholesale (1951)
EDMUND GOULDING--Nightmare Alley (1947)
ALFRED E. GREEN--Baby Face (1933)
D.W. GRIFFITH--Intolerance (1916)
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