professorecho
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Posts posted by professorecho
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One more, on the same subject as my last post here:
"No time is wasted that makes two people friends."
Wendell Corey
in HOLIDAY AFFAIR
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"I may not amount to much in some ways, but I can be a friend."
Clark Gable to Marilyn Monroe
in THE MISFITS,
written by Arthur Miller
(Oh, if I had a dime for every woman I've used that line on in an effort, of course, to be more than just a friend!)
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Kirk Douglas in ACE IN THE HOLE, probably the most cynical movie ever made. And don't forget Fred MacMurray in THE CAINE MUTINY, the worst kind of cynic, a know-it-all coward.
Van Johnson in BRIGADOON, so unhappy and so negative,that when what happens to him happens to him you can't help but be moved. Gene Hackman in THE CONVERSATION, a paranoid cynic blinded by his own skills at intruding upon dark thoughts. George Sanders in ALL ABOUT EVE or Clifton Webb in LAURA, both masked by a veneer of pomposity and rhetoric. The list goes on and on....
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Happy Anniversary to the best network in the history of television.
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Ms. Stella, if you're wondering what that big black monolith is doing in front of you, it's because you just reached post number 2001.
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GORT from THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL?
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I don't know, Nick. Though it worked for you, I'm not sure that FORCING anyone is ever the right answer, but you are right about school being an appropriate venue. Whether they like it or not, the students pretty much have no choice but to sit and watch. I hope others in your class were as similarly inspired as you were. Curiosity is a fickle emotion, but you can exploit it at just the right time and help enhance someone's imagination with art they didn't even know existed.
I'm glad to hear you liked SUNRISE, which I feel is one of the greatest films of all time and holds an honored place in my top 10 favorites, for whatever that's worth.
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The Wolf Man would never have it so good again after Evelyn Ankers. OMG, what about Ella Raines in a pre-code?! With the massage of those cat's eyes atop a flow of silk and lace? Be still my beating heart, and all my other organs! Mmmmmm. Here's one from left field: Dale Evans. LOL. No, wait, wait, I'm onto something here.... There's something about someone so wholesome and pious all negligee'ed up and waiting by the bed, with or without her spurs. Another pre-code supporting player who never got to shine was Margaret Lindsey, who had a couple of nice attributes, but little opportunity to display them. The list goes on and on.... Keep 'em coming!
As for the men, well, I'm fairly clueless on that end of the spectrum. It's not homophobia, but bewilderment; I do not have any idea what makes a man attractive. I can see it with Cary Grant and Sean Connery, I guess, but I'm at a loss to explain why. Paty, based on your name, I've assumed you are a female, and if so, feel free to provide further elucidation on this subject, while I continue to fantasize over the pulchritude of Hollywood's sweeter sex.
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Okay, TCM decides (and I truly wish they would!) to have a spin-off Channel, TCM 2 and they put you in charge of establishing its format and programming it. What would you do?
Conveniently, I'll go first: I would program it exclusively with silent films, foreign films and documentaries. Now it's your turn....
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Yes, I agree, it's time to drop all the explaining and just forge ahead. Although.... LOL. Just this last thing: There are many people who, for whatever reason, invest a lot of their lives in Message Boards and immediately assume a newcomer has to be "regulated" to some degree, showing little patience for non-conformists. It's happened to me before and since I love talking film so much, I thought I'd should clear up some things before everyone begins to hate me! That's it. I'm done; take me or leave me as you see fit!
I have worked as a professional film historian and teacher, though it's not what I'm doing now and I would never say I know more about ANY subject than anyone else. In my encounters I have never met one person who didn't know more about at least one subject than I do and, appearances to the contrary, I love to listen and learn.
Thanks for the advice, Path and your welcome wishes, both of which I appreciate. Back to film talk! I'm just about to start a new thread which I think will be interesting and I hope a lot of people will contribute to it.
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Stella, I love you just the way you are and am, in fact, singing that song for you right this very minute.
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Stella, I would have indeed done more research prior to my original posting, which I don't think was all that offensively worded or insulting, but I had already stumbled upon TWO different endings being revealed and wanted to avoid it in the future, if at all possible. I don't think you are attacking me here, but I also don't want to feel that this is some exclusive club I'm being initiated into and must follow an inordinate number of rules in order to be accepted. Everyone should be welcome here no matter what they post, regardless if it riles the feathers of the "regulars" or not. However, as I've stated before, if it's done simply to incite or contains personal attacks, I usually just ignore it and move on. Even those folks have a right to express their opinions, such as they are. I have A LOT of PASSION in my views and in my approach to life, as if you couldn't already tell, but I do try to make room for other people's points of view and am very often swayed by their own passion. I refuse to be a slave to my principles in the face of an intelligent, contrary argument. Politely requesting people to hesitate before ruining a potential work of art for them is something I am very passionate about and I don't see how anyone could be insulted by what I said, but if so, I apologize and hope they know that it was not my intention to vilify anyone personally.
I hope to continue posting here and I appreciate all your comments about my efforts thus far. Yes, it was extreme to consider withdrawing from the process, but it's always a bit intimidating to enter a new forum and start being told "that isn't the way we do things around here." Outside of common courtesies, such as a SPOILER warning, and a minimum of respect for others, there should not be any reason to restrict what someone has to say about anything. Freedom of speech and all that. However, I hasten to add that I have NOT been made to feel unwelcome here and I hope people will continue to be inspired by my posts, no matter how intense their reaction might be one way or the other. Also, if I ever am less than civil, I hope people will clearly indicate that to me for it is not my intention to belittle anyone, even if I vehemently disagree with them.
And I have been trying to lighten up, even though that too has been misinterpreted! Though it's true that nowadays, with everyone seemingly so sensitive, myself included obviously, it is hard to tell when someone is joking. To prove I have a sense of humor, here's an old joke:
The Pope arrives in NYC for a very important meeting and hails a cab. He tells the cabbie he is running very late and would he drive as fast as he can to get him to his meeting? The cabbie says he is too nervous to drive fast with the Pope in the car, so the Pope tells him to move over and that he himself will drive. Speeding through the city, a police officer stops the cab and peers inside. He excuses himself and goes to his radio to call his Captain. He tells the Captain:
"I just stopped someone for speeding, but I don't think I can give him a ticket."
The Captain replies: "Why not?"
"Because this guy is really really big."
"Well, like who, Frank Sinatra?"
"No, no."
"You mean the President Of The United States?"
"No, no, no."
"Well, then who is it?!!?!"
"I don't know, Captain, but he's got the Pope driving him around town!"
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Classics, if you're interested, I shared some of my success with introducing kids to vintage films on the Silents board. It can't be said enough, you have to SELL them on watching old films and you have to do it on their turf, not yours. If time and desire permit, check out what I wrote there as I would be interested in hearing your thoughts regarding same. I'm trying not to be so redundant in my posting or I would have reiterated my thoughts here.
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Speaking of milking gags, I wouldn't want to be the one to count them, but oh how I wish I had a dime for everytime someone in a Chaplin picture gets kicked in the ****! Did that never grow tiresome in those days?
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Greer did indeed have a build that was wasted in all those bomb cellars.
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Stella, you could give Buster Keaton's COLLEGE a try since it has some pretty funny sports scenes in it. I'm wondering if at 13 he's going through his Horror film phase, yet? NOSFERATU might prove successful, but no matter what film you choose, you really have to know how to sell it before they watch it. At 13 he's going to be a lot more savvy about the pitch than if he were younger, but be creative, use your imagination, try to tie something about the film to his everyday life. For example, if he is into watching horror films, promote NOSFERATU not as a boring classic that has stood the test of time, blah, blah, blah, dull, dull, dull.... Talk about it in terms he might be familiar with, like this is where Freddy Kruger got his start or this movie reportedly made people die in the theatre when it first came out they were so scared, etc. Something that he's going to want to brag to his friends about having seen and they haven't. You gotta sell it on his turf, not on yours.
My friend's other daughter is 6 years old and she confided in me that she hates to watch anything in black and white. So I told her that everyone her age hates black and white and if she wanted to be really cool, she would like black and white. Then I proposed to her a SECRET, which kids of that age really love; they enjoy it when they think you are taking them into your confidence and it's something you aren't sharing with their parents or siblings. I told her that she and I should love black and white, but not tell anyone we do, that we would watch a lot of black and white movies and love it, but it would be a secret. Now the only movies she wants to watch with me are black and white ones.
You have to be a huckster, a pimp, a teller of tall tales, an out and out liar, but in the end you will have encouraged another well-rounded film buff to take his honored place in this world we so adore.
Can you tell I used to work as a film school teacher?
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Classics, you are right and I am standing in the corner with my head down. You warned us it was all going to be fun and games until someone got their eye poked out and then it wouldn't be so funny anymore, but did we listen?
Everybody: LIGHTEN UP! (but don't give away endings!)
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No, I don't feel I jumped the gun on it; I think it's a valid subject and should be discussed. If I am guilty of anything it's responding without more of a sense of humor to the tongue-in-cheek replies it may generate. Now here I go again, unless Nick is kidding about a film's age being a free pass to just automatically divulge an ending when the mood strikes. None of the examples cited on the Warren William board were in any serious discussions of the films, they were arbitrarily given as though everyone was already familiar with them. To make such an assumption, and trying to justify it with the excuse that an old or classic title must have been seen by everyone, is out and out ridiculous.
The majority of non-classic, pre-code films have had their broadcast premieres on TCM and otherwise have not played in any venue at least since the 1960's. So outside of watching TCM 24/7/365 since they signed on, where was the opportunity for all of us under the age of 50 to have seen these 70 year old films? You can't equate age with accessibility.
I think to reveal a film's ending without a warning SPOILER, no matter when the film was made, is lazy and rude, even in the most intensely scholarly discussions. How hard is it to type SPOILER at the beginning of a thread? Really, is it just too humorless of me to request such a simple, common courtesy? If so, I don't think I'm long for these particular boards nor the people who post in them.
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Bansi, I'm the one who has to take the two aspirins if you can't recognize blatant, though admittedly not great satire when you see it! Incidentally, I forgot about the L & H BABES IN TOYLAND and was only referring to the Disney version. Now I'm offended all over again! Go take your aspirin.
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Give me a break, Nick, I just got to the party!
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The trend for over twenty years has been thus: If you're hip and in the know, you prefer Keaton over Chaplin. Well, it isn't always so that the trendies are right, but in this case I believe they are. I've been watching Chaplin features and shorts of late, some of which I've never seen before, others not since I was a teenager, and it has reminded me why I stayed away from him for so long. It certainly is not awful filmmaking and at the very least a lot of his films are entertaining, but there is something forced and phony about so much of it. The comedy, the pathos, the un-inspired slaptstick, which I admit were all innovative in their time, but I don't think date well.
In addition, when you watch silent films on a consistent basis, as I do because I love them, you begin to notice how an actor's mere PRESENCE on screen can dominate a scene or an entire film. This is rarely evident in talkies because the sound tends to distract from such concentrated observation. It is amazing to me how little command Chaplin has on my attention. I am constantly looking at other things in a scene as he goes about his bits of business. In fact, this was how I discovered the exceptional beauty and talent of Edna Purviance. In one scene in one short, where she is silently forgiving her alcoholic husband, her sad gaze at him was so powerful, it brought me to tears. Had that of been Keaton playing the scene with her, I never would have given her a second glance.
Even more interesting, I find the opposite is true of Chaplin's talkies, where his beautiful speaking voice enhances every scene. It's a shame that they are each flawed in their own way, though, like any Chaplin or Keaton or Lloyd, still worth watching.
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Well, Paty, you've already taken it in a different direction, i.e. established pre-code stars who didn't do enough SPICY pre-code! Of course, Fay Wray is incredibly sexy in KONG, all disheveled and exhausted after being "fondled" by the big guy (what would Freud have made of that?).
In this category I name my own pre-code fave, Ann Dvorak, who had strikingly original beauty, but never a lot of opportunities to strut it, given Warner's delegation of her to second tier status. Still, she is so very good and somewhat erotic as the selfish, drunk and drug addicted bad mommy in THREE ON A MATCH. Though please don't judge me too harshly by finding such a blatant tramp somewhat enticing! Sleazy or not, her eyes remain as lovely as ever. Speaking of which, THREE ON A MATCH has got to be the best showcase for doe-eyed actresses in the history of cinema, what with Ann, Joan Blondell and Bette Davis all blinking away in heavenly fashion. In case you can't tell, I'm an "eye man."
I do take issue with your dismissing latter day actresses as pre-code material. You can't tell me that Linda Darnell wasn't voluptuous!
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This makes me so mad. It is not BABES IN ARMS that is so offensive, but BABES IN TOYLAND. How long is Walt Disney going to subject us to such hateful, blatant stereotyping of toy soldiers? It is EXTREMELY offensive to see these wooden troops be paraded around in such a fashion which gives the impression they are nothing more than animatronic special effects! Why is this stuff still allowed on tv?!
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A cursory check on the web did not confirm this, but I'm almost sure that actress Kitty Winn died in 2003. I would appreciate further information on this if anyone has it.
Your Favorite Movie Lines
in Your Favorites
Posted
littletramplover, I'd be a lot richer than if I had a dime for every woman the line worked on.