therealfuster
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Posts posted by therealfuster
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I forgot Lubitsch!
Shame on me. He could comprise a category all himself.
The Lubitsch touch is not an urban legend. His films really do have something a bit different, in sophistication and continental lightly seasoned humor.
I like all your choices for fave directors but Ernst is special!
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this devotchka is very impressed with your take on the droogie chatspeak.
Yes, Kubrick did have a good eye for spotting a brilliant novel and translating it to the screen.
Though Nabokov may have been a teensy bit displeased, Kubrick still caught the heart of Lolita and Humbert Humbert on film. The Jeremy Irons' version was true to the book but a bit less entertaining.
I'm enjoying reading everyone's picks here for fave directors and thanks all who participated!
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Alice in Wonderland (1966) (TV)
Directed by
Jonathan Miller ?
List Price: ? $29.95
Product Details
* Director: Jonathan Miller
* Encoding: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. This DVD will probably NOT be viewable in other countries. Read more about DVD formats.)
* Format: Black & White
* Aspect Ratio(s): 1.33:1
* Audio Encoding: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
* Rated: NR
* Studio: Home Vision Entertainment
* DVD Release Date: November 18, 2003
* Run Time: 72
* DVD Features:
* Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
* Director's commentary track
* Behind-the-scenes stills gallery by world renowned photographer Terence Spencer
* Cecel Hepworth's 1903 film of Alice in Wonderland
* Essay by author and critic Wheeler Winston Dixon
* Music specially composed by Ravi Shankar
* ASIN: B0000CG8I8
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Fans of Lewis Carroll's classic novel for children will be fascinated by this startling 1966 interpretation by Jonathan Miller, a noted British theater director. Influenced by surrealism and Victorian architecture, Miller's black-and-white version of Wonderland is a dour and creepy place, not the frenetic and charming bustle usually depicted. A brunette Alice (Anne-Marie Mallik) wanders like a sleepwalker, rarely looking anyone in the eye, and has fractured conversations with the likes of the Mad Hatter (Peter Cook, Bedazzled), the Caterpillar (Sir Michael Redgrave, The Lady Vanishes), the Duchess (Leo McKern, Rumpole of the Bailey), and the Mock Turtle (Sir John Gielgud, Brideshead Revisited, Arthur). The result is probably an accurate picture of the adult world seen through a child's eyes--an unsettling and intriguing vision. Also featuring Peter Sellers as the King of Hearts and music by Ravi Shankar. --Bret Fetzer
From the Back Cover
A subversive and haunting retelling of the classic children's story featuring legendary actors Sir Michael Redgrave, Sir John Gielgud, Leo McKern, and satirists Peter Sellers, Peter Cook, and Alan Bennett. This surreal masterpiece was filmed for the BBC by stage and screen director Jonathan Miller. Miller's Victorian Gothic version of "Alice in Wonderland" captures the menacing undertones of Lewis Carroll's story while poking fun at middle-class England.
Anne-Marie Mallik .... Alice
Freda Dowie .... Nurse
Jo Maxwell Muller .... Alice's Sister (as Jo Maxwell-Muller)
Wilfrid Brambell .... White Rabbit
Alan Bennett .... Mouse
Finlay Currie .... Dodo
Geoffrey Dunn .... Lory
Mark Allington .... Duck
Nicholas Evans .... Eaglet
Julian Jebb .... Young Crab
Michael Redgrave .... Caterpillar (as Sir Michael Redgrave)
John Bird .... Frog Footman
Anthony Trent .... Fish Footman/2nd Gardener (as Tony Trent)
Leo McKern .... Duchess
Avril Elgar .... Peppercook
Peter Cook .... Mad Hatter
Michael Gough .... March Hare
Wilfrid Lawson .... Dormouse (as Wilfred Lawson)
Gordon Gostelow .... 1st Gardener
Peter Eyre .... Knave of Hearts
Alison Leggatt .... Queen of Hearts
Peter Sellers .... King of Hearts
John Gielgud .... Mock Turtle (as Sir John Gielgud)
Malcolm Muggeridge .... Gryphon
David Battley .... Executioner
Charles Lewsen .... Foreman of the Jury (as Charles Lewson)
rest of cast listed alphabetically
Eric Idle .... (uncredited)
Angelo Muscat ....
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the BBc production of Lewis Carroll's classic, which is in black and white, glorious black and white beautifully executed.
I just bought a dvd of this esteemed television production, which I had never seen. Being that I am American, I think it did play here on PBS but I must have missed it.
Let my check online to get your all the particulars on the version I just bought a few months back at Borders.
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cinematographers, where would films be?
Being that it is a visual medium, how many films owe their fame and prestige to the men or women who put the images on film.
There are so many great cinematographers, that I'd like to mention a few of my favorites. With these people if I see their name mentioned in the credits of any other film, I will usually watch it just to see their handiwork.
A few favorites with a particularly special film they worked on, in no special order, are:
Jack Cardiff for "Black Narcissus", Gabriel Figeroa for Bunuel's "Los Olvidados" and others, Leonce-Henri Burel for Gance's "Napoleon", Boris Kauffman for "Baby Doll", John Alton for "He Walked By Night" or "The Spiritualist", Sven Nykist for Bergman's "Persona", James Wong Howe for "Hud", Billy Bitzer for "Way Down East" [check out those frozen eyelashes on Lillian Gish as she crosses the icy river!], Greg Toland for "Mad Love" or "Citizen Kane", Karl Freund for "Dracula", Henri Alekan for Cocteau's "Beauty and the Beast" or "Topkapi", Nicholas Musaraca for "The Magnificent Ambersons" or "Cat People", Conrad Hall for "In Cold Blood", Sacha Vierny for "Last Year at Marienbad" or "Hiroshima, Mon Amour", and Haskell Wexler for contributions to one of my favorite obscure films, "Angel Baby" with Salome Jens.
Do you have any cinematographers whose work you particularly cherish?
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as a horror director, but I'll go with Ingmar Bergman's "Hour of the Wolf".
I find it very scary and like a nightmare.
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with your post.
Great story about Jory. Funnily enough, I went to a film series last year locally, where the short they showed for quite a few weeks was...the Shadow with Jory.
I was thrilled beyond belief, plus it was fun to see him in a more normal mode and in an attractive hero type role, instead of the villain.
Yes, he equitted himself most admirably. I also enjoyed seeing Veda Ann Borg get more than a bit part for a change.
I enjoyed everyone's great stories here about their fabulous brushes with fame with the likes of Sophia, Elvis, Steve Allen etc.
Thanks all for sharing!
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by the Academy, as I have noticed it in movie magazines that I collect from the late 1920's.
Here's a bit of explanation that is accessible online:
Definition of Academy Award for Best Picture?
The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the awards given to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
This award was originally called Best Production.
1920's
* 1927-28 Wings - Paramount Famous Lasky - Lucien Hubbard
Best Picture, Unique and Artistic Production also known as "Best Artistic Quality of Production" was only presented in the first year.
* 1927-28 Sunrise - Fox - William Fox
Best Production
* 1928-29 The Broadway Melody - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer - Harry Rapt
The Brodaway Melody competed against:
* Alibi - Feature Productions, United Artists -Roland West
* The Hollywood Revue of 1929 - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer - Harry Rapt
* In Old Arizona - Fox - Winfield Sheehan, studio head
* The Patriot - Paramount - Ernst Lubitsch
* 1929-30 All Quiet on the Western Front - Universal - Carl Laemmle Jr.
* The Big House - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer - Irving Thalberg
* Disraeli - Warner Bros. - Jack L. Warner with Darryl F. Zanuck
* The Divorcee - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer - Robert Z. Leonard
* The Love Parade - Paramount - Ernst Lubitsch
1930s
The name of the award becomes Best Picture
* 1930-31 Cimarron - RKO Radio - William LeBaron
* East Lynne - Fox - Winfield Sheehan, studio head
* The Front Page - Caddo, United Artists - Howard Hughes
* Skippy - Paramount - Adolph Zukor
* Trader Horn - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer - Irving G. Thalberg
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Liz too!
Although I've read she hates that nickname.
Anyone who was friends with Roddy McDowall is okay by me. She is a great actress and seems like a good hearted and not pompous person.
My favorite of her films are Virginia Woolf, Cat, Giant, Suddenly Last Summer, Taming of the Shrew and Reflections in a Golden Eye.
That last one is really good and rather outre, and Marlon is great in it too.
What's not to like about everyone on your list? All are great choices. Well I hope you enjoy your time here and I'm sure you are enjoying the films on TCM.
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Gabby Hayes!
What a great sidekick.
They sure don't make them like that anymore.
He was a real character. But just like Walter Brennan, and Arthur Hunnicutt, he was not half as old as one thought, from watching him in films.
Just always played an old geezer it seemed like.
Thanks for the memory; I have not thought of him for years...
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It might be the Sellers' film, since I've seen most of his output, being that he is so unbelievable to watch in his multiple roles.
It's been a long time since I've seen "TMTR" so that might be it.
I own the old William Castle flick with the darling Charles Herbert, so I must get it out and rewatch the credits.
Castle's films had so many fun gimmicks, countdown clocks and juries voting on people's punishments, or inserted color scenes with red blood. I wish someone making films today had his flair and sense of the absurd.
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about "not feeding the trolls" all the time on message boards, but I always ignore it.
They are hungry little critters, who obviously live under cyberspace highway bridges and need some attention.
I find it much more beneficial to mankind, to feed them...but just put some arsenic in their feeding dish or deal with them in a sort of Sweeney Todd type of way and decimate them one by one.
Internet Trolls do bring discredit to the nice Scandinavian Trolls who live in caves in the mountains, and substitute changelings for babies they steal, but nevertheless Net Trolls too serve a purpose if only for one to have a handy spot to vent one's sarcasm on their inept posts.
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his low key type of humor.
He and Suzanne make a cute couple!
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to me is one of the best actresses around, so why don't I see her in more films?
Nice story!
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snooker Fats when they played pool?
Wow, Ted Williams! Now that is a real baseball player. I read he one time batted like 40 straight foul balls into the stands, trying to deck some guy who was harassing him when he was in the outfield.
Good brushes with fame to be sure!
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Ohmigosh, he is one of my favorites.
He was just so good as that mean old husband of Anna Magnani's, and in "Tom Sawyer" and in "Gone With the Wind" and so many others.
Great voice and presence onscreen.
I'd trade a thousand Tom Cruise autographs for one Victor Jory.
You were lucky. What was in his cart? One wonders what Victor Jory would eat. I would imagine from his toughness on film that he could chew up nails and spit them out.
Thanks for sharing!
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about buying "Nanook of the North" from Criterion, but I wouldn't have to if TCM would show it.
Then I could concentrate on buying all the other Criterion films I want like "Big Deal on Madonna Street", "Bob Le Flambeur" and the Eisenstein boxed set.
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you have good taste!
I think there is good in every time period, but the fun of liking things shown on TCM, is that you get the cream of the movie crop all bundled up into one package which one can see all year, every day and nite.
Today, there might be one movie made a year I actually admire, but even if there was only one a year in every past year of cinema, that means that one has a hundred of more films to see all clustered together which are classics.
I can relate to your clothing interest, as I have always been a fan of the women's clothes in old Hollywood films from the 1940's especially. And the bias cut deco stuff during the Depression years was cool too, and I own some vintage women's clothing that I occasionally wear.
Since you are not following current trends, then you must be a unique person, who has some sense of history. There are others like you, but you just haven't met them yet, since it is a specialized interest and sometimes one meets more like minded souls at a place like this.
Guess what...I have a Mae West album. She sings the Beatles' "Day Tripper" on it, and yes...it is a trip listening.
I enjoyed reading your post. Who are your favorite stars, directors and which films do you collect?
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with fame?
Ever come upon a giant of the cinema firmament, or maybe a stalwart of the screen from a bit smaller echelon, at the grocery, airport or otherwise?
A friend of my mother's was in Spain way back in the 1960's, in an elevator, and the doors opened and Sophia Loren and David Niven got in.
She was so excited and could not wait to tell her friends in the room.
Then they went down a floor, and the doors opened and Cary Grant got in.
Now that must have been memorable.
One can't plan these things...unless one is Lucy, on the hunt in LaLaLand for John Wayne, Cornell Wilde, Richard Widmark or William Holden!
Any brush with fame you'd like to share?
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and I wouldn't ask him anything.
I'd just like to look at him for a spell, as he was quite intriguing and mysterious.
The only person who ever somewhat resembled him and his malificent demeanor is Christopher Lee, who I also admire.
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I am partial to the Universal globe both with the little plane or the stars.
I kind of like the Selznick Studios beginning with the hanging sign and set.
And though Warner Brothers seems a bit mundane, the music is always stirring.
20th Century Fox is a bit static, but I have always liked the Columbia lady.
I know I saw a movie once, where she came down from her pedestal, as if she was embarrassed to be connected with the film. But what comedy was it? I'm drawing a blank.
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Tyler McVey are two distinctly different actors.
Ray Teal is much more famous, and he portrayed the Sheriff in "Bonanza".
Tyler McVey guest starred on a lot of tv shows, and may also have been on Bonanza, but they are not the same person.
To my knowledge, Ray Teal received screen credits for playing Sheriff Coffee, so it should be easy to check.
Or do a Google image check, and see that though they look a bit alike, they are two different men, and Ray is a bit older I'm sure.
Maybe the "Jeff's Collie" episode has incorrect credits, being that it is the syndicated name which distinguishs it from later "Lassie" tv series shows .
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I'd like to have written to Gloria Grahame.
Oh, HarlowKeatonGirl, you may enjoy this...a great uncle of mine dated Jean while he was in college. His family has a letter that she wrote him thanking him for the nice time.
He said that her mother did not want her dating him, since even then she was grooming Jean for stardom and was very protective of her. Funny isn't it?
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of this statement below?:
"I think you are overestimating an actress who has been dead for 67 years."
Is the inference that anyone dead for 67 years, cannot be appreciated for their talents?
Rather specious reasoning, I must say.
That would knock out all famed personages who died before 1937 as deserving of any adulation or appreciation.
I don't think so....
What's not to like about Jean Harlow or Buster Keaton? Both were distinctive, talented and made some good and some great films. Buster might be a bit more creative, being that he directed his films, but Jean has her own inimitable style also.
Everyone has their favorites. That is not "overestimation" but rather a certain simpatico for a specific person's talent.
Nothing wrong with that....
Judy Garland insults
in General Discussions
Posted
a complex person.
Regardless of whether one feels sorry for her, is disgusted with her, has elevated her to sainthood, or does not even care about her...what is up there on the screen, is great.
She was a talented actress in not just comedic-musical type venues, but in drama. Witness her exhilirating performance in "I Could Go on Singing" with Dirk Bogarde.
I don't feel pity for her, because her essence transcends that and lives on to continue to entertain and uplift.
Her basically self-deprecating humor and sarcasm was also a part of her personality, and one can see it on old talk show excerpts, like those from Jack Paar, et cetera.
Her screen persona evolved from a rather simple child with a magnificent voice, to a sophisticated performer with presence, somewhat helped by the intervention of Kay Thompson who defined how Garland should present herself onscreen at MGM in her glamour years, in her stances and use of arms and position while singing, and it worked and gave her a unique screen presence.
There is probably no Garland flick that does not have something worth watching, and her nervous rather hyperactive behaviour was perfect on film in giving her a persona to watch as in the Trolley Song set piece in MMISL.
Unfortunately her offscreen life was not always as happy, but she did bring joy to many people and still does, so I am happy there was a Judy, or a Frances Gumm.
Many of her friends have commented publically on the good and bad sides and it was depicted honestly in that Judy Davis epic on tv, which is quintessential viewing for a Garland fan.
I can like a person with flaws, and just appreciate them for the good parts, and still accept that there are some not so likable parts, which I don't think Judy would begrudge.