movieman1957
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Posts posted by movieman1957
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>It's a fine schedule, and I'm grateful to have it posted so promptly. Thanks, TCM programmer, whoever you are.
That would be Charles Tabesh. He even posts here once in a while.
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"To Baldly Go" is a great title. Everything is wonderful but there is little like a great pun.
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It sounds like Christmas is coming about six weeks late but at least it will be here.
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I did get the sense that Bowie's agreeing to do the last job was that it would be the last job. He was going to help them. His loyalty to them overrides his commitment to Keechie. I felt that there would always have to be one more job.
I think that with the deaths of his partners he might have had the chance to break away from his life but what happens when the money runs out.
BTW, thanks,
Edited by: movieman1957 on Nov 11, 2010 6:37 PM
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Having reread nearly everything on "They Live By Night" it seems there is little to add and certainly nothing that can be improved on. You and all the others have reached a depth to it I wonder if even Ray had.
My little summary was that we are following a schizophrenic marriage born of a group of very sad people. They find love as much by necessity as luck. There is no real peace. There is no real quiet. What little of either they get is fleeting. They only have now and even that goes quickly. In the end no one gets what they want. You know it can't end well.
Bowie is all over the place. He is tender with Keechie, tough with others and naive early one especially when he wants to get that lawyer. What makes him think he can use stolen money to pay for a lawyer. Even if he could get his sentence reduced he has already committed other crimes that land him right back where he started. He is not so innocent or misunderstood that he is going to return the money. He is so fixated on it that he carries nearly everywhere he goes. No qualms about living on it. His sense of decency is rather misplaced since he is willing to pull another job with the guys.
Keechie is a mystery. She is plain, annoyed, caught up in a family she wants no part of. When she begins to have feelings for Bowie I get the sense there is a little thinking she can get away as much as there is someone who is interest in her. She cleans up well.
One thing that struck me about the cars is I think half the movies was in cars or following them. More than enough helicopter shots of driving than I have seen in some time.
I said more than I planned. Even though I seem to have a rather different opinion on our young lovers I did like the movie. I didn't cry like our Divine MissG because the end was obvious. I think for its time the end was required. At a minimum it was bound to happen.
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Thanks for the response. Isn't it odd, but interesting, how we have looked at the same two films and found the religious aspect completely reversed?
I may be more making the point about the way Peck is being persuaded and the religious content of the film, directed, at the viewer or not, than what I saw as a character driven directive in "Hell's Hinges." It makes this interesting though.
>I believe many twist religion to fit their beliefs. We're always trying to make the modern fit the ancient. People like the Amish truly try while most really look to twist. The faith doesn't seem to be strong enough, hence the need for violence.
I'll agree with the first sentence but politely disagree with the second. For my own view the ancient can fit very well with the modern. "Twisting" has been going on as long as their have been people and I doubt we'll come to the end of it either.
I also like the fact that Peck has to deal with how he has gone about his "work." He takes responsibility for it. He knows he'll have to deal with it. The outcome, however justified from the town's sake, isn't enough to assuage his guilt. Admitting his error would be the first thing to do to forgive himself. (Yet another religious aspect.)
Ah, "Liberty Valance" again. Interesting but somehow not surprising?
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It does seem pretty much like other days but with "You Can't Take It With You" you can't get much more family oriented.
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*They Live By Night is on tomorrow, November 1st, at 11:15 AM ET.*
*It will be followed at 1:00 PM ET by the other Farley Granger/Cathy O'Donnell pairing, Side Street, directed by Anthony Mann.*
It is funny that TCM put it in that way because today I got the DVD from Netflix and they are on it together.
I have been reading through the comments and if there is anything left to say I might give it a run after I watch it tonight or tomorrow.
You all are a hard act to follow.
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To my eye she looks to be on the horse.
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I've seen "The Law and Jake Wade" and it is not all that great. I like Widmark in westerns but this one is a bit odd.
"Rio Bravo" has been chatted on (certainly in this very thread) but new comments are always welcome. Keep it close by.
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118.
It wasn't enough that Ernie just got some bad news he also got his bill.
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One thing that did strike me was the religious aspect of the film especially early on. A town ready to have its first hanging is all about going to church the night before. I assume it is a Saturday but my Catholic knowledge is marginal. Is it regular attendance or related to the hanging coming.
From Josefa's imploring Douglass to speak to "another lady" to help him. The guard asking to get off early to go to church and then offering a prayer for the gang. Well meaning but very naive. The most striking part for me as the church service and the choir dominating the sound/music part of this scene while the gang breaks out of jail and kills the guard. In a kind of odd way it reminded me of the scene in "The Godfather" when the baby is being christened while Pacino's men are wiping out his enemies.
Peck comes back to his faith only when he finds out his mistake. The guilt is overwhelming. I find the town's reaction to him odd as they don't care that he made this mistake (not that they didn't have it coming because they did) they seem happy he relieved them of their burden of disposing these men. From their perspective there is nothing to forgive. He must come to terms with his justice being wrong and forgiving himself.
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You and Sir Francis are overwhelming with your analysis.
Like you, I didn't lose my position on Jett until he had "made it." At a point, for me, it seemed about just being bigger than Bick. Then he seemed drunk all the time. Then his lame pass at Luz (Baker.) He just quit being any kind of sensible person.
I wanted to make one "staging" observation. There is a point early on where Bick and Leslie are having a discussion at the fireplace. He is sitting. She is leaning against a post. The interesting thing is that he is in the light and she is hidden in a shadow. Later on when they are discussing the children's college life and are in the separate beds they each have there own bedside lights. She turns hers off to put her in the shadow. His is left on to keep him in the light. I can only imagine it is to point out the differences between them.
I thought the bed situation funny as well. Later on they are in separate beds but early, though not in bed together, everything is based on a single bed. And the one part where they have clearly had a lovely evening I thought was a rather bold, for its day, display of a married couple enjoying the rewards of their relationship.
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Not so much more but since there is no religious role for a person, like the man who was studying to be the priest in "HH", it seems pretty prominent than not having a religious role.
Thanks for the article. I usually read his blog but had not looked in the last week or so.
Edited by: movieman1957 on Nov 3, 2010 12:35 PM
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I did. I found the religious aspects much more in the front then "Hell's Hinges" (I almost forgot what movie we were debating that topic over.) At least when there is no religious figure involved. Lord, I hate getting old.
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My goodness. What a great read.
The one thing that struck me about the funeral was how bright the flag was compared to the sunset and the surrounding area. It seems to point out his sacrifice more boldly.
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Luz certainly looked out for him when Jordan wanted to get rid of him. Maybe he was seen as a threat to the business but certainly one to Leslie. I don't get the sense that Luz may have given him anymore than a sense that he is entitled to something more than the land. When they try to buy his measly 600 acres Jett thinks they're up to something so that embeds his hatred more. Mostly I think it is self inflicted but that is just my sense of it.
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First, you are not butting in. I'm glad you're here.
I must have missed that part of Sir Francis' post. Sorry about that. I agree with you though. I thought Jett lost all sense of who he was. I think he actually becomes worse than all the things he hated about the Benedicts.
He's a drunk, a racist, a dirty old man and pathetic since he still pines for Leslie. Too much money can ruin you. Like anything else it has to be handled with care and discretion. He does neither.
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So where does Jett figure in all this?
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Good point about the changing of the house. I looked at it as just a way to mark the new "era" we were moving to but it not is a more modern look it does have a woman's touch.
A nativity scene never occurred to me. That is interesting.
Edited by: movieman1957 on Nov 1, 2010 8:12 PM
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I have an old cassette recording of Szell of Mahler's 4th. My mind went dead on who recorded the 8th. You are right about the 8th being a very moving piece. I always just take the choir as if it were another instrument. I remember seeing a TV presentation of it years ago and they had musicians and singers spread out all over the cathedral or hall (I don't remember which) but the size of it complimented the beauty of it well.
I think the last movement of the 9th is what I don't find that appealing. I haven't listened to it in some time but I remember it struck me as repetitive and I don't think I cared much for the theme. I just never went back to it.
I do have a tape (copied) of "Song of The Earth." That is different from the 7th? It has been some time since I listened to it. I was on a completist kick on the major composers (with limits on certain composers i.e. Mozart and Haydn - too many) some time ago but that didn't mean I listened to them faithfully.
This year, I think, is the 100th anniversary of his death so there should be some to listen to around your radio dial.
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I mostly agree with you. "Giant" is everything you say but it is like some westerns in that is some parts of their lives time is passing them by. It becomes a question of how much they want to keep up. The family is very traditional. Ranching and no oil. The first born will run the ranch, whether he wants to or not. Women have no place in the political discussions of the day and only slightly in the business end of things. Only gradually do they change and are dragged kicking and screaming into the modern open minded society. By family I mean Rock Hudson's character Jordan "Bick" Benedict. It is the other family members that effect the change. And it is "Bick" who does change along the way even if reluctantly.
Leslie (Elizabeth Taylor) is not a woman to be trifled with or dismissed. She has the chance to make some things happen. She will assert herself. Jordy (Dennis Hopper) brings the social consciousness of things to the family by marrying a Mexican girl. They say they love her but do they? Eventually, it is enough to fight for, literally.
The last shot, which you show pictures of the babies, struck me more by what was behind them. A lamb and a calf were standing behind each one as if another representation of something with the babies. The big and small? Different businesses coming together? Not sure.
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Mahler is tough for some people to get into. I think a lot of them it is the length of his work. Some of my group didn't want to do the concerts this year because it was heavy on Mahler.
When I go on a long trip I'll usually take along Mahler's 8th. It's big and maybe close to 1 1/2 hours so a trip is the perfect time for it.
I am not so much a fan of his 9th but the 4th is lovely and I like the 5th and 6th as well. Wonderful music but I often have to be in the right frame of mind for it. If I don't have time to listen to it all I won't start it.
TCM PROGRAMMING CHALLENGE #17: THE FALL FASHION CHALLENGE
in TCM Program Challenges Archive
Posted
I loved enough of them that I was in danger of reposting your schedule.