johnm001
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Posts posted by johnm001
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Yes, she was hilarious in that Seinfeld episode.....
Yes, she was hilarious in that Seinfeld episode.....
I like her, a lot, in KANSAS CITY BOMBER. I also saw her in WOMAN OF THE YEAR, on Broadway, and thought she was excellent in it.
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Not being funny here, I am agog and otherwise astonished beyond the pale to know that some of you can actually brain-play movies in their entirety. Dialogue too? Are some of you fudging, perhaps just a little. It's not an easy thing to do to get everything right ... is it? I'm not being cynical, I truly admire those who can do that.
The 3 I listed I can do, verbatim
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THE SOUND OF MUSIC
THE BIRDS
VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED (1960)
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Aside from "Officer Krupke", I can't think of many, unless you consider Marni Nixon's voice coming out of Natalie Wood's mouth to be funny.
Actually, her voice sounds almost exactly like Natalie Wood's singing voice, so, no. That laugh is saved for the ridiculousness of it coming our of Audrey Hepburn's mouth in MY FAIR LADY, where she sounds nothing like Hepburn's singing voice. But yes," Krupke", some of the lines between characters, "I Feel Pretty", "America", much of the dance at the gym, are all light moments. Of course, it is not a comedy, but a tragedy.
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In thinking about it, there are probably as many musical films that are basically non-comedic as those which are basically comedies. GIGI, e.g., is basically not a comedy.
Broadway-sourced musicals are generally a combination of some comedy and some drama. Even WSS has its light moments.
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It always amuses me when people comment on the 'artificiality' of musicals where people sing as part of the story, as opposed to the performances taking place as part of actual performances. This in a medium the entire object and craft of which is to distort reality to excessive degrees so that, when taken a picture of, will represent on a two dimensional surface something that will generally be viewed as an acceptable representation of the three dimensional world. The absurdity of people braking out into song in the middle of the action of a movie pales in comparison to the greater absurdity of the motion picture itself.
Exactly! Certainly no more absurd than people dancing, flattening tables in a saloon by falling on them, hitting someone over the head with a bottle and having it shatter, running from an earthquake on the fault line, a stewardess landing a plane, making a dress from drapes, having a dream in Technicolor; and, on and on and on and on.
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I'd say West Side Story is very much a comedy, even if it's a comedy of the unintentional variety.
There are two basic types of musicals: The ones where the actors break out in song at any point for no apparent reason (West Side Story; Singing in the Rain; etc.), and the ones that are basically dramas or comedies centered around the production of a show, with the musical numbers being openly a part of the show itself (42nd Street; A Star Is Born; etc.). Which type are you referring to?
The apparent reason someone breaks out into song is that it is a musical, which features songs as well as spoken dialog, to further the plot. That is the art form. That is the reason. The point isn't that they are breaking out in song, the point is the dialog continues.
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according to Wikipedia, Jerry Herman wrote the musical with Judy Garland in mind, but was persuaded by her management team that she would not be able to handle the stress of an 8 week Broadway run.
. I have to say I think her team was probably right. However had she been in top mental and physical shape, I'm sure Judy could have done something fabulous with it.
However- and this may sound nit-picky- but I wonder if she wasn't maybe too short for the role....Maybe this is influenced by the fact that the two actresses who personified the role, Roz Russell and Angela Lansbury, were I think something like 5 foot 8 & 5 foot 11 respectively.
. I don't know why, but the age isn't so much as important as the height of MAME. both MAME and Vera just need to be played by tall actresses in my mind.
Actually, Wiki is wrong about that. Jerry Herman wrote HELLO, DOLLY! for Ethel Merman and she turned it down. From that moment on, he never wrote a single song with and actor or actress in mind. He wrote all his songs only with the character in mind, and he believed this was the only way to write a musical. Once the show was written and the producers were talking casting, they wanted Mary Martin or someone as big as her. He would have been thrilled with her, but she declined. Jerry Herman wanted Angela Lansbury, who the producers felt wasn't a big enough draw, and even worked with her, without the producers' knowledge, and taught her a couple of songs from the score. When she auditioned, he accompanied her on the piano, and she blew everyone away. completely nailing the tunes. When she decided to leave the show, Judy Garland said she wanted to replace Lansbury, and Jerry Herman was thrilled at the prospect.. So much so, that even when the show's producers declined, because of her reputation of unreliability, Herman fought for her to do the show. He claimed that even if she only did one performance of it, it would be historical. They just weren't willing to entrust their investment to someone with her reputation. There's no question in my mind that she could have been remarkable in the role. Had she been healthy, and lived, she should have been in the film version of HELLO, DOLLY!, as well. Such a shame.
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You are welcome (though I'm sorry that it was an edited version and also that the link to the audio has been removed.) Wow, a dollar, that's incredible! Thanks again for sharing your memories of seeing Judy.
I went surfing the web and found this!
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I was completely unaware of that recording!! Although that recording is edited, it was exciting to hear it, after all these years. Much of what we said to her is not there, plus I believe a song or two is missing. Her talking about her dress isn't there, either. Still, I'm amazed it exists, at all! Thanks for the link. That concert was exactly $1.00, to attend. A bargin, even in 1968! It was sponsored by Schmidt's Beer, The City of Philadelphia, and a couple of others
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I love her. My favorite of her performances is in THE SNAKE PIT
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OMG, BLACK CHRISTMAS! My favorite, hands down!
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I don't know if I have a favorite Canadian movie, but there's several I like a lot. Also, I've noted the director of photography on a lot of Canadian films is Renè Verzier. He was a busy feller, at least for a while.
POSSESSION OF VIRGINIA, The (1972) Filmed in Montreal. D: Jean Beaudin. Starring Daniel Pilon, Louise Marleau, Danielle Ouimet and Rose-Rey Duzil as 'The Grandmother'. English-dubbed Tv print runs just over 82 minutes.
LE DIABLE EST PARMI NOUS (1972) This is the original French version of the movie. Runs 87 minutes and has an epilogue missing from the Tv version.
GAS (1981) I ♥ this movie even if no one else does.
FUNERAL HOME (1980) Released in the U.S. in '82, btw. I've seen this at least 7 times. Have 3 copies on Paragon Video.
RABID (1977) Fun with David Cronenberg and venereal horror!
THEY CAME FROM WITHIN (1975)
MY BLOODY VALENTINE (1981)
PYX, The (1973) Filmed in Montreal
PICK-UP SUMMER (1981) (Aka: "Pinball Summer") A low-grade teen-oriented comedy I saw when I was 9 or 10 on cable. Years later, I bought it on video having remembered it fondly. ► I think the movie's title was changed to "Pick-Up Summer" for it's American release so potential ticket-buyers wouldn't think the film was all about pinball. Note the groovy theme tune, tho, which has lyrics that say "pinball summer" throughout the song.
I like every one of these films, as well; and, would add 1978's THE SILENT PARTNER to this list.
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The same can be said of THE WIZ. Why didn't its producers cast a newcomer with the talent of a Garland, instead of forcing Diana Ross to play a grown woman with the mind of a child?
Up the point that I saw THE WIZ, it was the worst thing I had ever seen on a stage. I saw it during its Philadelphia try out, and have no idea what they did to it to make it a moderate hit on Broadway, but I thought it was lousy, beyond belief. I've seen worse, since, though. Never saw, nor will ever see, the movie.
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A horrible year for Broadway. Most everything flopped, especially musicals. Interestingly, the only hit musical that year was Jerry Herman's LA CAGE AUX FOLLES.
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1983 Broadway revival
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Guess we have to agree we disagree on this one. IMHO Jerry Herman Broadway style big is one thing on the stage (and even there, for me, numbers like the title numbe in Mame or "Put on Your Sunday Clothes" in Hello Dolly! go too far with every single chorus member finally belting to the baloney and things building to a level near hysteria) but are really way too much for some movies. How much more pleasant for me would have been those overscaled numbers in the film of Hello Dolly!, had they been toned way down. I have no prolems with Kidd's chorography (love "Seven Brides" , but would not have needed to see 100 of those guys stomping and junpimg around!) , but with the movie's (Kelly's?) need to make numbers like the title number and especially "Before the Parade Passes By" and again, "Put on Your Sunday Clothes" big, Big, BIG!!! - it becomes ridiculous and unpleasant and not awesome as intended. Let's say a couple dozen talented dancers joining in - not seemingly hundreds!
I am also, I'm afraid, in the camp that admires My Fair Lady on film, though admittedly have only seen the stage version in regional productions and not professionally done.The numbers with Eliza's father are the least of that show for me anyway and I have no problems with anything about the movie including Audrey Hepburn. I know there is much disagreement on that one, but it really is subjective isn't it?
Yes. We, apparently, want different things from movies.
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Lucy has her moments in Mame. For me the worst part of the film is the way they butchered Jerry Herman's songs. Lyrics were changed for no reason at all. Several songs are truncated, probably to shorten the running time of the film. But then they added in a new song for Robert Preston (which is quite good). Beatrice Arthur holds her own in the cast, but Jane Connell as **** gets shunted into a decidedly supporting role.
There's been word of a remake of Auntie Mame for the screen with Tilda Swinton in the starring role. Rosalind Russell was so totally perfect in the original, I can't imagine anyone else in the non-musical part.
I don't care who they cast, they'll stink by comparison to Russell. It is, simply, impossible to be better than she is, in the role. A musical remake has been rumored, for years. Many years ago, Jerry Hermann said that CBS was wanting to do a television film version and he wanted them to cast Julie Andrews. She was tied up with a Broadway show,, then lost her voice. So many people have been mentioned, since (the last being Cher); but I doubt we'll ever see it. The perfect person for Mame, at one time, was Michelle Lee. She possessed the acting, singing and dancing abilities for the role, and, was well-known enough to television audiences for a TV film version. It always makes me a little sad when opportunities like that are missed. Hollywood is littered with them. Ironically, I think there was a time when Lucie Arnaz would have made a good Mame.
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By the way, Carol Channing is remarkable as Dolly. There isn't a single line that doesn't make you smile or laugh out loud. I've seen many, many, many Dollys, and no one even comes close to how perfect she is, in the role.
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I have no problem with Michael Kidd's staging or how big the numnbers are. On stage, the numbers were big, and now we're using 70MM Todd-AO lenses. They have to be bigger! That's what makes it so great. In fact, production value-wise (sets, costumes, choreography), HELLO, DOLLY! is my favorite film musical. A film needs to be bigger than the stage show. That's one of my, myriad issues with MY FAIR LADY. The film doesn't come close to matching the excitement or scope of what I saw on stage. I sat, dumbstruck, in the Stanley Theater in Philadelphia, watching the dreary "Get Me to the Church on Time" number. It was a full-out, rocllicking, make you jump to your feet dance number on stage, with its own completely unique music to accompany the dance. On film, people merely pranced along an obvious set on an obvious studio stage, to the song's melody, just playing over and over. One in a series of devastatingly dull moments in the screen adaptation of the greatest show I ever saw on a stage. That film never, once, knows it's a movie. It's probably the most staid film musical, ever made. Even in 1964 it seemed dated and old fashioned. Movies had gone outside long before then. Simply nothing cinematic about it, at all. Back to DOLLY!, I think once they decided that bombastic Barbra Streisand was doing the role, they left the intimacy of the stage show behind, and tailored the entire film to her bombast. On that level, I think it works, remarkably well. Streisand and Matthau have zero chemistry, and the cast is directed to be cartoonish, rather than real. Odd, given that Ernest Lehman thought Carol Channing too much for film, and refused to cast her, even though 20th Century-Fox assumed she'd be Dolly.
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At the time of its release, Lucy was doing HERE'S LUCY on television. There is a truly horrific episode where Lucille Carter meets Lucille Ball. MAME was mentioned, and they even had photos from the film, in Miss Ball's dressing room. I barely remember it, except that it was cringe-worthy, to say the least, and that Lucy as Lucille Ball was as cold and steely as she is as MAME. Another Jerry Herman musical where the leady lady in the film, completely lacks warmth, is HELLO, DOLLY! However, the film is so spectacularly mounted, and, for once, Streisand is actually attempting to be someone other than Barbra Streisand (okay, so it's Mae West, but West is better than Streisand), that it hardly matters. You see every penny spent on it, and in 70MM Todd-AO and 6-track stereophonic sound, it is incredible, in spite of it's poor casting (I would have gone with Anne Bancroft as Dolly, Eddie Albert as Horace, Grover Dale as Corneilus, Ann-Margret as Irene - Barnaby and Minnie are fine).
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I have no issue with AUNTIE MAME, nor the musical MAME. In fact, when I saw it on Broadway, with its original cast, I thought it was right up there with MY FAIR LADY and HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING, and one of the greatest musicals ever produced. Like many Hollywood adaptations of Broadway musicals, the film bears little resemblance to what I saw on stage. Yes, most of the songs are there, and most of the same scenes are there; and in the case of MAME, properly opened-up and not studio-bound. It looks like a movie, which is a great thing. The problem is that the leading lady cannot sing, dance or act the role, and the kid is equally appalling. So, someone tell me how people who are supposed to be in the BUSINESS of talent, so often cast people WITHOUT the talent to do roles in musicals? I can count on one hand the film adaptations of Broadway musicals that I think are the equal of what I saw on stage. Less than one hand! MAME isn't even close to being the worst one, either!
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Oh no.
Now she's on roller skates.
Grandma's gonna break a hip.
MAME can really be any age. How about the proposed (ridiculous) notion of Barbra Streisand as Rose in GYPSY???!!!! Those girls are SUPPOSED to be her daughters!
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Damon Runyon Adaptations - Too Precious for Words?
in General Discussions
Posted
Technically, that should read: And in LITTLE MISS MARKER/SORROWFUL JONES/40 POUNDS OF TROUBLE/LITTLE MISS MARKER...