GordonCole

Nip, you make a very astute judgment concerning the future of films. Any form of art is unfortunately dogged with the natural state of decline. In all art forms, we find during its genesis a rise in quality, and then during its apotheosis stages it will often reach the stratosphere of excellence, and an apex of standards that are hard to maintain though for some it may last for years. Finally after the rise, and germination period, and then the zenith we have the fall. This sadly recurrent state can also affect companies, governments and people. Film is just one more victim of the natural state of decline.

Hi, Cigar Joe. I bought Inland Empire when it was first released on dvd and am really curious what you think of it, since I've never met anyone as yet who has even seen it. I will tell you it is more abstruse and disconnected than any Lynch work I've ever seen and I've seen them all, but I plan to rewatch it soon and see if I finally get all the pieces in place like a jigsaw puzzle should be worked. I too liked the film follow-up to Twin Peaks, Fire Walk with Me. I own the music from the series too, on cd with Julee Cruise [sp?] and I think those small details also add to the Lynch allure. I love too that he uses actors who have either been forgotten, or misused by Hollywood like Michael Parks and Russ Tamblyn and others. Just my take but Lynch does only appeal to some viewers so caveat emptor to anyone asking for advice on watching Lynch works.

Well, regardless of the overall Lynch oeuvre I'd have to say he is one of my favorite filmmakers of all time. This is mostly because he is so unique, takes risks and I would run home every night the original Twin Peaks was on tv in fear of missing an episode even though I was taping it with my timer. I agree with Cigar Joe that Season One was probably the best but I still enjoyed the whole series immensely. I own all his movies on dvd and even own the original release of Inland Empire which goes beyond even the off the wall escapades of things like Mulholland Drive. I was thrilled to hear that Lynch was coming back to do this show so am in anticipation of what it will entail but for those who are real film lovers and perhaps of the more perverse milieu who enjoy things by people like Luis Bunuel, then I think they would also be a Lynch devotee.

Marsha, you are so right about the quality of the tv drama, Queen of the Stardust Ballroom. It was a wonderful, heartwarming and emotional story that sadly is not known to much of the public. The dance scenes with Stapleton and Durning were magnificent and the storyline so tender and complex. Too bad it is not shown on TCM or maybe it has been. I too love the films of the 1930's and 1940's just to see some of the famous and not so famous big band giants like Jimmy or Tommy or others. I think some might think the song Tangerine is from Led Zeppelin but we know it is really the Helen O'Connell version with I think Bob Eberle maybe also? I'm sure you will know and correct me if I am wrong. Thanks for your fine post.

I think it was Bette Davis who once called Lukas, "That old N_z_!" I could be wrong as I'm getting senile so I'm sure someone will correct me but I don't think he was well liked much by a lot in Hollywood, and even my friend Dan had a run-in with him once. As for Watch on the Rhine, one thinks that Lillian Hellmann might have been later living in some of her stories in her reminiscences but who knows. Lukas can be effective in films but he's not my cup of tea either, so I agree with your overall consensus, Lorna.

Though wonderful as always, Colman probably had other roles he should have won an AA for first but this one with the Othello theme is engrossing. I once had to watch The Story of Mankind on a ten-inch tv set and I still remember not being able to figure out who was who in the gigantic crowd scenes but Colman is fun to watch in anything. Isn't Groucho Marx also in this legendary film? Always enjoy your heads up reviews, Film Lover.

Slayton, your post with the historical notes on the song Poinciana is the type of movie knowledge that I really enjoy reading. It's those little things that a movie fan starts noticing after watching a favorite film more than a few times which makes the film come alive again. I thank you for your fine exegesis of the origins of the song and its background in recorded versions and for bringing it to our attention. After reading your notes I wondered who else had sung it since it is so recognizable and noticed on a Google search that even Caterina Valente had a version, which made me laugh and assume if she had done it maybe Sergio Franchi's was not far behind so far alas no luck. He was kind of the Italian version of Englebert Humperdinck if anyone remembers him, but since Hump's real name was Jerry Dorsey I think that might be a bad comparison. Great post and thanks for your minute attention to detail in a film I've seen about 24 times but never noticed that bit. By the way, I've seen Ahmad Jamal perform in person but don't remember now if he played that song for our small jazz club audience sadly.

Apologies, Hibi. I did not see your post when I posted my mini-review of these films, or I would have added it to your original thread, but I agree, Hot Rods to Hell would have added to the package. I have a photo of Jeanne Crain in her underthings and she was quite a dish!

What would be really great would be for the boat to make it back with King Kong in tow.

What a wild and wanton ride it was last night to see the hot rod medley of movies comprising 1950’s Hot Rod, 1955’s The Fast and the Furious, 1956’s Hot Cars and 1958’s, Hot Rod Gang. I had already seen The Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow from 1959 and even though one of college football’s greats, Jack Ging was in it, I used that time to check the spark plugs on my Ferrari in the garage so I am not including it in the boxed set. The opener, Hot Rod starred perennial teenager, Henry Aldrich otherwise known as Jimmy Lydon. It was mostly enjoyable due to seeing the vintage cars, although Art Baker as usual was the sound-minded and straight-laced dad but being from 1950 this film predates the rock and roll craze of the two later flicks, which made it a lot less wild and wacky. The Fast and Furious, with always frightening John Ireland, pulled no punches and his ride with vampish, Dorothy Malone in a nice Jag, accompanied by the music of Chet Baker was enjoyable. Adding to the squalor of the story was Iris Adrian in her usual hash slinging type role. Great views of atmospheric vistas and racing vehicles plus the spectacle of Malone in an early blonde phase role being coquettish made it a winner. Also I never miss any movie with Bruno VeSota of Dementia fame so that was a plus. My favorite had to be the underrated Hot Cars, which starred John Bromfield, the lovely yet kitschy, Joi Lansing, who was so good as one of Bob Cummings models on tv, and actor, Ralph Clanton who had totally elevated his family’s breeding and sophistication from the time of the Clanton gang days. Clanton who would be recognizable to anyone who watched Alfred Hitchcock Presents and other shows, resembles author Alexander King and was suitably sinister under the veneer of respectability as usual. Bromfield, who is kind of a cross between Richard Egan and Peter Breck breaks out of his honest and moral ways when his son is taken ill, resorting to chop shop tendencies and illegal sales of stolen autos in this potboiler. The usage of real settings like Big John’s and Johnny O’Toole’s car lots propels the story on to an exciting conclusion on a roller coaster that I’m surprised Hitchcock did not steal. All in all with music by mid-century modern stylist, Les Baxter the film was a hot ticket. Lastly, Hot Rod Gang starred John Ashley and the typical teens who look around thirty years old, in a fun fest with able assistance from Dub Taylor and a surprising acting turn by rockabilly favorite, Gene Vincent with musical supervision by Jerry Capehart, friend and co-writer with Eddie Cochran of songs like Summertime Blues et cetera. I would have sworn that Ashley's vehicle was the one used in American Graffiti and looked in black and white like it might be yellow, but who knows, probably not. The bit with Ashley as a beatnik was lame but that’s how many films from A-I were so why sweat it? All in all, a great night for vintage car enthusiasts in the TCM crowd.

I would say that is revisionist history concerning Peggy only being replaced due to looking too young to play the part. The real reason as I've heard from people like my childhood friend, Dan who used to hang out with his artist friends in Hollywood like Lyle Wheeler, was that it was common knowledge that Linda Darnell had the proper "ooomph" a la the style of Ann Sheridan but with more extant sex appeal and panache, and was more earthy by far than Cummins, hence she was needed for the part on that basis. This is why she took over the part and even though she'd had her problems with Preminger, the studio knew it was the best choice for the film. Dan's wife Jean, knew all the principal players from the art group's party circuits, like Lyle who worked on many of the studio's films, and he said Darnell would always have been the final choice due to her more sultry on-camera style that photographed in a lush and more comely way particularly for the part of Amber. Cummins just didn't have the proper look for the role even though she would later perform well in films like Curse of the Demon and the minor Gun Crazy. And by the way, many people remember Forever Amber, if they know film and its history of costume dramas. All the many films Darnell was in were graced by her unique and photogenic presence yet she had a down to earth quality that trumped other beauties in Hollywood.

Of course it is not Jeff Chandler. He had no time to spend writing anything since most of his time was spent shaving off all his excessive body hair. Not Ray either, who was attending to his ancient wife, Cissy or Sissy or whatever her name was. Forget Travers too, and it is not Bill Travers as your final guess. I'd like to say good tries, but how can I? Sad but true but do try again, dear boy.

There is absolutely no way Boat Trip could compete with the great film Cabin Boy. I will say Celine and Julie Go Boating with Jean-Claude Van Damme as an extra is a trip though.

Loved reading your very honest and insightful reaction to Rear Window and Stewart's connection. He is smug in the film and personally I find Grace annoying but the mystery element with the voyeuristic bit of watching one's neighbors still holds my interest. My personal favorite in the film is Miss Lonelyhearts who is played I think by Judith Evelyn, who was the victim of Vincent Price in The Tingler. Yes, that poor, mute woman who is confronted with the red blood in the sink in a black and whife film. I think Richard Widmark would have walloped Jimmy and possibly thrown him down the stairs while in his wheelchair for treating you badly, Lorna and justifiably. I think it was better Thorwald did not die at the end since we need some wrapping up of loose ends like where the body is, the head and other things. I guess he lost weight in jail before he got into taking those law courses and I don't even think it was because Ray/Thorwald was in love with Natalie Wood either. Enjoy your posts, Lorna. PS I've had a videotape of Vertigo for many years but not sure when it first came out.

3. Beau Maverick Rides Again

They forgot to film that the puppies were pitbull babies and trained to kill all high school students who took courses in astronomy to the exclusion of all other subjects. They were called the Griffith Park Pit Bull Gang and people were glad they died miserable deaths which led to Plato being given a light sentence.

Anyone notice that there is a lot of falling in these Hitchcock films with Jimmy Stewart? Falling out of the window in RW and falling off a roof possibly in Vertigo. I see some definite symbolism here. Personally I think he died in Vertigo and just dreamed up the Madeleine scenario as he fell to his death in an Ambrose Bierce kind of way.

Supposedly Colman was invalided out of WWI, but I don't know the what or where of his injuries, but I think they contributed to his laxity in the three point play in pickup basketall games.

I would guess that a major portion of the public might think Athos, Porthos and Aramis worked for Disney Studios and wore Mickey Ears as kids, but maybe I'm just too cynical.

She was definitely more entertaining than Victor Borge.

I make no conscious effort to be tough or hard-boiled or grim or any of the things I am usually called. I merely try to write as the character would write and I never forget that the average man from the fields, the streets, the bars, the offices and even the gutters of his country has acquired a vividness of speech that goes beyond anything I could invent and that if I stick to this heritage, this logos of the American countryside, I shall attain a maximum of effectiveness with very little effort.

Thanks so much, Lawrence for the tutorial. I will use it for my next mistake here since I'm starting to like the name Josef von Sternbert.

Great choice in Laird Cregar, another poor guy like Mario Lanza that Hollywood tried to slim down, which resulted in disaster. I always wished he and Ray Burr had been cast as brothers in something, as they were two heavies who could really control the scene. At least Burr chose on his own to slim down, hibernating in an apartment for months to lose weight. Celia Johnson is also masterful in Brief Encounter, and who can argue with your choices of Fitzgerald or Dunn. Interesting topic.

Decided to watch just a bit of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof last night to enjoy the cinematography of Billy Daniels, not to be confused with the better known singer Billy Daniels, who recorded That Old Black Magic. As I recall William [billy] Daniels the cinematographer was born in the late 1890's and initially worked for people like Erich von Stroheim which must have been interesting. I remember hearing a story that Stroheim had them film birds for hours trying to see if they would accidentally assemble themselves into a certain flight pattern that he was hoping for to no avail. Back to Daniels, he had the ability to master and be an innovator in all time periods of film, which shows by the fact that he lensed films as diverse as Grand Hotel to Dassin's The Naked City and later things like Some Came Running. He lived till around 1970 I think, and was known as Garbo's cameraman for his work on her films like Mata Hari, Ninotchka and others. John Barrymore often requested him saying his day after face from carousing could be made to look handsome again if Billy was at the helm. Daniels worked at MGM from the late 1920's through the 1930's and early 1940's and then later worked for Universal. He was co-photographer on Greed and How the West Was Won, both of which were instrumental in forging new standards on film. As I recall he was also a favorite of Lubitsch with his work on The Shop Around the Corner. Seeing his lush work on Cat on a Hot Tin Roof again last night, where he was able to show pastel 1950's Americana with its trendy convertible cars, faux French Provincial furnishings and decor, to illustrate a theme perhaps of the Nouveau Riche, which again shows his camera mastery. Daniels always brought to films more than just a photo of the proceedings but an understanding of how something was lit and filmed could add more to the story line. His last films were things like In Like Flint, Oceans 11 and Valley of the Dolls as I recall.

For fans of this director, Josef von Sternberg, his last film "Anatahan" is being released on dvd and Blu-ray from Kino Lorber. The dvd is sale priced at around $17.97 I think and Blu-ray around $20.97 maybe with shipping of course extra. Anyone who enjoys seeing his lushly photographed pictorials with veiled settings and such might enjoy seeing this hard to find feature. Check it out on the IMDB listing online. Postscript: Apologies for my typo in the header line, as Sternbert and not Sternberg! It won't let me correct it.