johnm001
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Posts posted by johnm001
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What made her so special, was her ability to sell a song. She commanded lyrics. Her acting was every bit as good, if not better, than her singing. She had an enormous ability to be sincere, without phoniness. She could deliver the most inane dialog, and make you believe it. She was that way until the end. I had the pleasure of seeing her in concert, twice. Once, less than a year before her death, and she still was able to hold the audience in the palm of her hand.
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I can't believe that I haven't see this film since it was in a re-release in theaters, back in the mid 60s! I'm really looking forward to seeing it, again.
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Jimmy Stewart is my favorite actor. My top 10 favorites:
It's A Wonderful Life
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Rope
The Shop Around the Corner
Call Northside 777
The Man Who Knew Too Much
The Stratton Story
Rear Window
How The West Was Won
No Highway In The Sky
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I'm not such a fan, but I did find ITALIANAMERICAN, interesting, AFTER HOURS, fun; and, TAXI DRIVER, amazingly realistic.
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It appears to have been filmed specifically for the promo. At any rate, it's not any film I recognize.
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The 1967re-release, was horrible. It was blown-up to 70MM, and you could actually see through the film! Heads and feet were chopped off. Natalie Kalmus, almost always refused to allow full color saturation, claiming that audiences would find the colors garish and sickening. Odd, for someone who had so much say (too much, imo) about the use of the process.
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She did get the part in AIP, she had to turn it down because she was pregnant.
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I agree that most of her singing isn't all that great.
Oh my! To me, she is one of the greatest vocalist who ever lived. Although, I could live the rest of my life without ever hearing "Que Sera Sera" again. Probably my least favorite Doris Day song.
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While Clint Eastwood was not a movie star, when he went off to make his Leone westerns, he was hardly an unknown. He was on a hit television series for seven years, which was seen by millions more people than saw all his films put together.
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Loren did her own vocals in MOLM.
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I like both versions, but like Hitchcock himself, I prefer his remade version. Both Stewart and Day are superior actors, and the changes in plot, are better suited to the overall story, imo. Having said that, I find THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH, a collection of some pretty good scenes, but not that great a film (either version), overall.
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THE TERMINATOR or JOHN CARPENTER'S THE THING (or is that horror?) would be my choice.
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1. Do you plan on watching the Oscars?
No.
2. If not, was there a time in your life when you did watch them?
I said on another thread, that I used to always watch them as a kid. Hard to believe they used to come on Monday nights at 10:00 PM EST! Back then, they were one of the rare chances to see movie stars, outside the movies. In more recent years, the movies stars aren't so special, anymore, mainly because you can see them, any day of the week, on television. And, the idea of award-giving is just not interesting to me. They seem to do it, endlessly.
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I agree singing in the rain highly overrated, my favs are South pacific, West Side Story, My fair lady. Clever catchy lyrics and melodies
Mr. Dash, I have major issues with SOUTH PACIFIC and, especially MY FAIR LADY. Without going into too much detail of what I dislike about them, I find both to suffer from being, painfully non-cinematic; and, in the case of SOUTH PACIFIC, they even went on location, which makes it worse! Also, they both suffer from miscastings of major roles. However, SOUTH PACIFIC, when compared to the wretched television remake, is a masterpiece! I saw MY FAIR LADY, in its original run in London and it changed my life. I became a professional stage actor and director, for the next 25 years, until I retired in 1983, because of the impact of that production on me. In almost 50 years of theater-going, it remains the greatest thing I've ever seen. My issues with the film, are just too many to overcome. Suffice it to say, that the film lacks the energy, excitement, spark and exhileration of the stage version; and, isn't even nearly as sweeping in its approach. It's just a plodding bore. For me, it had the wrong director and the wrong leading lady. But, the films you mention are all based on some of the greatest plays ever written, and do contain some of the finest music and lyrics, ever put to paper.
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Brian Stokes Mitchell came close to nailing the power of this song in the recent Broadway concert version of South Pacific.
For me, no one even touches his rendition of this incredible song. No one, not even close. It's peerless.
As for numbers that never get mentioned, "Not Since Ninevah", from KISMET, has always been a favorite of mine; and, "He's My Friend", from THE UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN, is my favorite number from an MGM musical. What Debbie Reynolds, Grover Dale (who I know), and Gus Trikonis are doing in that number, boggles the mind. And, Debbie's in heels!
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Something like '80 Days', was monumental, because of how incredible it looked on the enormous, curved Todd-AO screen. Believe me, that alone was enough to earn it a Best Picture Oscar. While OKLAHOMA! had already used it, it didn't do so, with the same intent, that '80 Days' did; which was to showcase Todd-AO. Techniques like Todd-AO and Cinerama, have no equal in today's cinema experience. Even IMAX (which is just 70MM VistaVision), pales by comparison. And, certainly, if you're experiencing a film like AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS, on your television, no matter how great a set-up you have, it can't begin to compare to the experience of seeing the film in a true Todd-AO equipped theater.
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Most people who love Fred Astaire find it odd that my favorite Astaire film is FINIAN'S RAINBOW. I just love him in that role. He was perfection in it. I think it's a unique film. Almost the entire film takes place outdoors; and, ecept for a couple of obvious studio scenes, much of it is filmed outdoors, which is so important to me. I want film to be cinematic, and true to its medium. Getting out of the studio, is always a good thing to me. Especially, for musicals when the action take place outdoors! Anyway, I love Fred Astaire in FINIAN'S RAINBOW. A lot of other films, as well.
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I think THE UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN, as a stage show, is rather mediocre, and the film version does as much with the material, as is humanly possible. The addition of "He's My Friend" (which just happens to be my favorite musical number ever done at MGM), helps elevate the film. The cast is fun (although, Debbie does tend to overdo it), and musical arrangements are first-rate. Location photography gives it a true cinematic feel. It's an extremely enjoyable film, but nothing near the masterwork that WEST SIDE STORY, THE SOUND OF MUSIC, THE MUSIC MAN or MARY POPPINS are. But, as cinema, it's directed better than MY FAIR LADY. I find most films are.
He also couldn't get an original musical "Say It WIth Music" off the ground.
I once did investigative work into SAY IT WITH MUSIC, and found some interesting tidbits about it. I'll share them, if you're interested.
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Well, the score IS readily available.
There have been worse musicals, like MAN OF LA MANCHA.
If they ever re-release it, they can use that as their tagline - SEE PORGY AND BESS, NOT AS BAD AS MAN OF LA MANCHA!
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I love IT'S A MAD MAD MAD MAD WORLD. I know many people who just hate the "noise" of it all. I saw it in its original road show presentation, and it was something to behold, on that massive screen. It was shown a our Cinerama theater, although, it was not a Cinerama film. All these years later, I still find it very amusing, and fun to watch. I just wish it would get a proper DVD release. So many DVD releases have been disappointments. My laserdisc is more complete, but neither includes the running police commentary that happened during Intermission. The fact that the AFI even makes lists, is stupid. They should be above such foolishness.
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As a screen musical, THE MUSIC MAN makes SINING' IN THE RAIN look like a nursery school play. One is a masterpiece of musical theater, translated to a masterpiece of cinema, the other is a fun, albeit clever piece of fluff.
Citing a film critic's take on a movie might be the surest way to get an individual to avoid that movie entirely! To paraphrase Forrest Gump, "critics is as critics do!"
True. Once someone starts talking about critics to me, I no longer pay attention. It seems that some people only have an opinion, if a critic can support it. I mean, is there anythig lower than a film critic? Perhaps a music critic; but either way, it has always struck me as a purposeless profession.
Your candidate for most over-rated movie?
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I'll second STAR WARS. Try as I may, and I've seen it many times, for one reason or other, since its original theatrical release (I fell asleep during it), I just find it a poorly made film, from almost every single perspective, that's important to me.