laffite

*Bonjour Jackie, you wrote*: >I'm really happy you liked Life With Father. It's funny, it's one of those movies that is completely unappealing in it's description, but is so full of great moments when actually watching it that I can never resist it when it's on. I believe that William Powell adds so much love and warmth to the character that it erases the dreadful qualities he exhibits. Yes! Thank Heaven (should I even say that, I haven?t been bap-TIZED. Did you notice how they always stressed the second syllable) that this is a comedy or he would have been dreadful indeed. And we know that if anyone as sweet as Vinnie (Irene Dunn) can love him, he can't be all bad. Try telling that to that first maid, though. She was the one who grabbed my attention, then that wonderful conversation at the breakfast table, in part as follows: Vinnie (Irene Dunn): What makes you think you?ll even get into Heaven? Clare (William Powell) Well, I'll make a devil of a row if I don?t. Corny? Yes. So why am I laughing? Because everything in this film works. I chuckled at that line. Once the tone of the film establishes itself, you?re done and everything seems to fall into place. >Elizabeth Taylor is so very funny in this one. She would have made a terrific comedienne I think. I do too. And who would have thought that! She has great timing and demeanor. Her precocious beauty and that sweet, more-than-girlish, girlish voice doesn't hurt either. Boy, if I was Clarence, I would agree to write first without a quibble. ('course I?m a damn fool ) >That dog spells doom for whoever it chooses to love! You are so on target with that! it makes me wish there was a complete genre.... the only other story I can think of with a Chien Fatale is Oliver Twist. I don't know if you know it, but that was really Bogie's little dog, named Zero. A great performance if you ask me. I understand that the dog got upset and after that ?performance? he wanted his name changed from Zero to Ten (ouch! sorry---and I'[n not even watching the Olympics). Bogey's Dog? I didn?t know, what a great piece of trivia. Wow, you and Frank are rattling off Chien Fatales like wildfire >I agree about Shirley MacLaine in Some Came Running, I really dislike the movie but she's just great in it. Did you see how pale she got when he popped the question. How did she do that! *Bonjour Monsieur Frank, you wrote:* >I can't comment on Life with Father just yet. I'm going to try and watch it by this weekend. I hope you like it. Frank, if you're seeing this on DVD, please do something for me. Nab a screenshot of the first maid and post it. Pleeeaase. You can't miss her. She?ll be holding a tray, looking more or less in the direction of the camera, and she'll be petrified. . >Marie is no femme fatale. The femme fatale would be Velma (Joan Leslie). But she's not completely that. Okay, good, thanks for clearing that up. Had Velma's part of the story been developed a little more she would have qualified perhaps, maybe we can call her a pre-femme fatale. Just as well, we can?t have her upstaging the dog. >Very good! I think you have created a sub-genre! I know Port of Shadows and Le Notti Bianche would qualify. Thanks to you and Jackie for puffing up foolish laffite who shamelessly solicits praise for such nonsense. Still, I heard Asta got jealous. >I just love the ending (The Big Street). The supporting cast in the film is also top-notch. It's definitely my kind of love story. The ending was very satisfying. I was surprised but not disappointed. I seem to remember something beautiful about it, even ethereal. >I never think of Lucy as beautiful. I think she's attractive, but it's her personality that really makes her so. I don?t think I did either. I think she was beautiful in this picture. She has the eyes, the cheekbones, and I hope that I don?t sound silly here but there is something about her lip scape that is associated with the Classically Beautiful Woman. Please check the screencap in my original post. But I concede, she's not normally considered a great beauty, I know. >And this is a film (Dodsworth). where I find myself in the severe minority on this board. I'm not a fan of this film It's certainly a good "Madame Bovary" picture, but that's not a story that turns me on. I like the way we're bringing French literature into this conversation, Frank. First, Madame Lescaut in The Big Street, and now Madame Bovary. They both fit. To coin a phrase and no pun intended, this movie is not always a pretty picture. But it?s cinematically a good story. . >She's a sharply drawn contrast to Fran, which makes it easier for us, the audience, to like her even more. This is a very good point. There is something intrinsically pleasant about Edith but Fran makes her look better yet. Jackie correctly pointed out how Astor was able to make something out of Edith with very little to work with. Again, an assist from the Fran character, but let's not forget how well Astor did as well. And let?s never forget that Laffite will always love Edith Cortright. >She'll (Ginnie/Shirley MacLaine in Some Came Running) love you to the end, but she's not going to be able to hold a deep conversation with you. You mean like this: Did you like it? I liked it fine ... I mean I really liked it a lot. That means you didn't like it very much. No, really, I liked it a lot. Golly, just think, you can put those words down on paper like that. All I can do is pin down brassieres. (smiling) It makes me feel like a failure. (smiling) (firmly) What did you like about it, Ginny? Everything! Like what? Well, I really like the people. (losing patience) WHAT People? ALL of them. (pause, mounting exasperation) Okay, so you like all of the people. What does the story mean to you? (groping slightly for words) Well ... it means a lot. (nodding her head with satisfaction) (throwing the magazine on the coffee table) Well, then, TELL me what it?s ABOUT. Now, don?t get mad. Every time I open my mouth you get mad at me. (loudly) You didn?t understand a word of what I said. You don?t understand the story at all. No, I don?t, but that don?t mean I don?t like it. I don?t understand you either but that don?t mean I don?t like you. I LOVE you. But I don?t understand you. What?s the matter than that? >Is it important to respect the person we are with? Or can a puppy dog kind of love overcome this? David says too (DeanM) "I'm tired of being lonely, that's all. And the way she feels about me, well, no body ever felt that way about me before, besides maybe I can help her. I sure can't help myself." But it?s hard to think that this marriage would have lasted if they were real people. PS: Frank, I?m serious about the screen cap. I would really appreciate it. The Petrified Maid, thank you. ===

Citizen Kane The Caine Mutiny _or_ Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)

Seeing a candid of Merle like that is thrilling. I liked her so much.

never mind Edited by: laffite on Feb 19, 2014 6:05 PM

*This is an attempt to revive this thread.The following is from the OP classicfilmbuff as he/she wrote in the opening post* >rules: >1. i will give you two things and you pick which one you like the best >2. after you select the one you like you type two new things and the next person will pick their favorite so on and so on Cool Hand Luke The Spy Who Came in from the Cold _or_ The Big Chill

Dial M for Murder not knowing something important

Return of the Pink Panther, the

Xin Xin Xiong as Uncle Quin in Tai Chi Zero

Saturday Night Fever dog causing trouble

I was thinking of _Jose_ Ferrer

Thank you, Frank, you're usual thoroughness comes shining through . Honestly Frank, your analyses are quite good, you should be a psychology teacher or maybe a marriage counselor, I mean this as a compliment. (Marriage Counselor is a vastly underrated discipline, it requires absolute mastery in communication and psychology. That may seem obvious but how many good ones do we have?) I am particularly surprised (but not amazed given my memory) that the Panisse thing was so out in the open at this stage of the story, another reminder of the lesson I never seem to learn, don't say anything about a movie you don?t remember that well. *Frank, you wrote:* >I didn?t know you started a thread on Johnny Eager I DID start one some time ago and I did so because obviously it made an impact on me at the time. Using the youtube link you provided I watched again and am amazed that this movie could have escaped my memory banks so thoroughly. It's not a great movie, but it is certainly a good one, a very good one, and it has a story and an ending in particular that is not that easily forgettable. I know Johnny is a 'bad' guy by what he does, but not, unfortunately, by how Robert Taylor portrays him. I don't think that all this badness and toughness comes from the soul of Robert Taylor, in the portrayal itself---there is only a surface quality of his darker side that sort of nags at me, I would like to see him more in the dirt. I mean I can still be disgusted that he crassly ignores Lana knowing full well that she suffers following that sting, but I don't see that crassness and lack of consideration radiating from Robert Taylor by way of demeanor, way of speaking, or overall impression. Johnny Eager has two personas, one for the guys at the track and one for the parole officer, maybe that?s the problem, Taylor doesn?t separate the two sides convincingly for me. Having said that I still concede he was believable over all; he was competent surely; he looked pretty ruthless committing that murder (unsubtle as such an act may be) and it wasn?t so shocking to see him do it. But when he 'starts to care' ( *Frank* wrote) and begins to transform himself, it wasn?t a terribly big leap for me. Maybe I?m asking too much, Johnny Eager would be a real coup for any actor to do really well, it?s not an easy role. BTW, I thought one his best lines was '?so what if I am,' right after he socks her, there was a tortured anguish about it that was clearly present (and for good reason, of course). I love the women in this one and there are lots of them. Please indulge me I love to talk about my girls first, there Lana's friend, the one who says the wrong thing just at the wrong moment, I think she is especially pretty (sacrilege alert, I find myself looking at her at least as much as I am looking at Lana in those early scenes, okay she's obviously outclassed but hooray for her anyway); the moll with the round, pretty face, the good sport who is probably still down in Florida waiting for Johnny's phone call; the niece, with her 'dual personality' so long as she can maintain the fiction (remember now, not a word about the sawed-off shotgun when the parole officer is here), I really liked her; and of course Lana, who after five days of famine, insomnia, and apparent non-stop stress and worry, can still look as beautiful as ever (I think they tried to make her look haggard or something, but it didn?t work) when Johnny finally goes to see her. And then this woman out of the blue, who asks Johnny a favor and is refused, then proceeds to let him have it verbally. She was pretty good with that, her words really stung. I liked Lana best of all when she finally gets back in the story. The visit from Johnny on the youtube transmission cut off the end of that scene and surprise! I was able to recall that she made these offers of sacrifice, that she loved him, etc. I do like her in this, she is best for me when she has to do something, emote, whatever. Lana is beautiful but just standing around looking beautiful, paradoxically perhaps, is not what's best for her from my view, she doesn?t look comfortable to me. And yet, and funny this, such a meaningless detail, I loved the way her eyes moved to her friend, then to the parole officer, than back to the friend, in that real early scene. So much for emoting. Forget what I said, Lana, you look good whatever you do :headslap: Van Heflen is clearly the most comfortable at what he is given to do, in fact he is near perfection. What a juicy role. He is there to fill the void of Johnny's missing conscience ever reminding him of his shortcomings with his deft, philosophical quips as well as with good old, direct, mundane accusations. His drunkenness is so well modulated and convincing and those ?smart? things he says almost carry more weight couched in his sousy way of talking. I think Johnny and Jeff make for a great buddy-buddy study, they do well together and *MissG* is so correct, the things they say to one another make up some of the best the movie has to offer. And so, the Robert Sterling character gets the girl, by default perhaps, and I wonder what he will end up with. She is going to wake up with a sore jaw and is going to ask, 'Where is Johnny Eager?'

The Sniper an action that means "the last straw"

I read a short story by Dorothy Parker (1893-1967) called *Mrs Hofstadter on Josephine Street* that I remembered being very funny. So I went back and I laughed again. There is a character named Horace that made me laugh. I wouldn't want to know this guy, mind you, I'm glad he is in a book and not in my life (which is why I could laugh). There is a serious undertone to this story which is illusive and vaguely unpleasant but I'm going to leave that alone for now. I hope someone will read it and if so comes back and comments. While I was in the neighborhood (having this anthology in hand) I thought to read *Big Blonde* which I read was Miss Parker's most famous story. It covers a "good sport" woman who we get to know over some several or so years of her life. Short stories that cover a time span like that can be shallow if not skillfully executed but Dorothy is up to the task. It's amazing to me the sense of reality that can come with this kind of pacing in so few pages. Years go by, people come and go, etc., and in this case we do in fact feel the dull despair that this woman feels near the end of the story. I was disappointed with the ending---I would have preferred the _other_ one. Maybe it's because I?m jaded for living in an era long past. For the time and era---the story was originally published in The New Yorker---it was probably more appropriate as is. There are references in the story to Prohibition so we know in part when the story took place and being interested in classic movies it is fun thinking up who might have played her if a movie had been made. I don?t remember an exact description but she was not a beauty, though she had to be at least passably pleasant looking. Thelma Todd was too pretty, so I would nix her ... maybe Mariam Hopkins as she was in the late 1930s with an added washed out look. It?s possible that these stories might be online, sorry that I provide no links; but please have a look, they are both relatively short reads, especially *Hofstadter*. Edited by: laffite on Feb 17, 2014 8:42 PM

Mongo, are you sure that's Mel Ferrer? It doesn't look like him. Maybe it's just me.

Hi Karen, I just watched for the second time and by coincidence posted a few comments on the Rambles thread over in Films And Filmmakers a few minutes ago. This movie dates very well and I think the girls steal the show. Huston is quite good, no doubt; but Chatterton and Astor are both terrific. Like you, I am a bit partial to Astor. Edith Cortright is fave character of mine. Welcome to the boards here, I see you are quite new. Hope to hear more from you. Laffite Edited by: laffite on Feb 17, 2014 3:13 AM to correct thread reference

RECENTLY WATCHED FILMS a few comments *LIFE WITH FATHER* (1948) This was recommended to me years ago and I rejected it immediately, I just didn?t think this was for me. However this last time it grabbed me right away and I found it to be a thoroughly enjoyable. When Ma and Pa are standing on the porch early on watching that first maid making her escape down the boulevard, I practically shouted at the screen, Stop her! Stop her, but they didn?t do it. What a loss! Not for the household perhaps, but for me, the audience; she was a hoot. And for some reason the DVR/TCM transmission started late and I missed the credits and so here I am leaning in and peering at the screen, thinking is that Liz? But wait, not Liz, not yet ... Miss Taylor rather, still in the bloom of youth, and indeed it was. She was brilliant. I had to go back to that scene on the balcony, the argument with young Clarence, with sweet Mary Skinner (Miss Taylor) rushing away in tears effecting that fine swoon as she raced through Clare's (William Powell) study. And how about that feminine logic, a la Vinnie (Irene Dunn) with regard to justifying the exchange of the already-paid-for statue for the new suit for Clarence because ",,, it won?t cost a thing." Love it. In many ways, it's still a man?s world (maybe) but when it gets up, close and personal, the gals can be adept infighters and win the day. A great screenplay that kept me consistently amused if not laughing out loud,. *HIGH SIERRA* (1941) I found this middling, I didn?t think too much of really?until the next day and it occurred to me how nice the Ida Lupino character was. Sweet in a way, loyal, with the guy the whole way. There was another sweet girl in there too, the lame girl who gets an operation (Joan Leslie) with the help of Bogie. He wants her and when repulsed he exhibits the usual criminal/convict mentality, sour grapes (but at least he didn?t kill anybody). Bogie looks oddly unattractive with his hair shorn off like that. Unless Ida's character can slip under the wire somehow and be considered a femme fatale (the definition is not altogether clear to me) then this movie does not have one, but I do believe that this is the first and only noir (if it is indeed one) with a Chien Fatale You just knew that dog was going to have a dubious role here, the way it was given so much attention throughout. You?ll have to indulge me here, Chien Fatale, I really like that, even if I do say so myself. *THE BIG STREET* (1941) This story reminded me a little at that famous novel and most French students are required to read, Manon Lescaut, a poor man who is hopelessly in love with a poor woman, a woman who will never be happy unless living in luxury. Henry Fonda plays a busboy (and proud of it) and goes by the name of Pinks! Yike, he doesn?t have a chance. But he has a heart of gold and an earnest and constant love that nevertheless gets shaken briefly but is there at the end. Pinks and (Lucille) get thrown together and they are both quite visible most of the time, but this is really his story. The ending came as a surprise to me. Lucille (I can?t bring myself to say Lucy) is good looking but I didn?t know that she was THAT good looking. Quite beautiful, yes quite. I sense that her Hollywood career was not what it might have been, and if this is so, it?s probably because the comic side of her was left unnoticed, perhaps even by herself. *SOME CAME RUNNING* (1961) This seemed a jumbled mess until that final quixotic gesture, a most unexpected development that brings the whole movie in focus for me. Everybody seems up to no good and David (Frank Sinatra) gets fed up with everything until he sees that purity. The only other ?decent? person was the school teacher but she had long standing pent up issues from the outset and then clammed up to no good effect when she needed to let it out. They kept saying that this was a small town and every time Dave had a runny nose it was all over the papers, but it came across as a much larger (clich? alert) urban jungle of iniquity. Shirley MacLaine's character unprepossessing in the worldly sense, a floozie if you will, but her indomitable child-like innocence and undying capacity for love is an anomaly in this grim cast of characters. She is awfully good, even brilliant. She is worth the whole show. *DODSWORTH* (1937) Second time around for this one, so good. I love the irony with Fran and her attitude towards Europe. Early she says to Sam, they?re my people, they understand me, to that effect. Later she finds out different in the form of the redoubtable Maria Ouspenskaya, who asks her all sorts of nagging questions, for instance, how old are you? There is a difference between spending a summer at an Italian villa and trying to marry the son of a traditional family. So much for Europe?s understanding. Chatterton is so good. I may not warm up to Fran that much but Ruth makes her interesting. Fran is a human being, not just a bad person, thanks to Ruth. The hurt look on her face as she realizes she has been abandoned will probably always linger when I think of this movie. Edith Cortright in the form of Mary Astor remains for me one of the most appealing characters ever.. That long, deft scene between her and Sam is my favorite. She says to him, "We? ... we?" in her you?re-going-to-take-me-with-you realization and later says to him, "I think I must love you," to which he replies, "And I?m glad of it..." which on the surface doesn?t seem all that romantic but it somehow works perfectly with these two. In real life they are 54 and 30 years old and I wonder if there was a reluctance to show them kissing. Well, if the movie regarded non kissing as an impediment, they sure handled it well. I also love the way poor Edith tries to shield Sam from that dreaded phone call from Vienna and later making her I-won?t-let-you-go speech. She doesn?t come across demanding or petulant, she actually makes sense. That?s Edith for you ... The movie seems to plod along in the early going and then about a half hour in it becomes electric when Sam and Fran have that conversation as they prepare to retire in the hotel room in France. Fran starts unloading her bombshells and the rest of the way is that bumpy ride. ==

>Are you feeling any better? Thank you, yes...not completely over it, but functional... *Laffite wrote* : >I recall now too poor Fanny sitting at the table with Cesar (Raimu) and not hearing a single word said about her when the letter from Marius finally came and was read to her ... *Frank, you wrote* : >That was tough for Fanny. And Cesar tried to make her feel better by trying to deflect his son's ignorance. Marius may have been looking to avoid discussing Fanny because it would only bring his feelings to the surface. We often attempt to suppress the feelings that are going to really sway us. Gosh, I just watched the scene on youtube. I was wrong above, I said, "...not a word was said," but Marius at least mentions Fanny. Marius says hi to Fanny in the letter and wishes her well in her upcoming marriage to Panisse. And then a post script to all: "Don't worry about me, I'm happy as a clam." You were right that he did not want to elaborate on Fanny and I am surprised to see in that scene that she knew about the marriage to Panisse. Did that subject come up at the end of Marius? Otherwise how would Marius know that at this point? Anyway, the screenplay makes the point it wants us to accept, namely, that Marius has no regrets, important in that the dramatic element is strengthened upon his return, it can be understood that much more that his choice to leave Fanny for the sea was decisive. It doesn't sound to me he is having any qualms about it. From Fanny's point of view, the fact that he mentions her so casually and then freely blesses her upcoming marriage to somebody else is probably worse than not mentioning her at all ... I think I have the plays in paperback, I should consult them (or better yet watch the damn movies so I can get the dad-blasted plot straight. ==

Green Dolphin Street flicking a switch

Bus Stop baseball game being broadcast on radio

:singing: Riiiidiiiiiiiii Palgiaaaaaaaciiiiiiii

*TikiSoo* wrote: >In the past, embroidery was the first thing taught to young girls. It was to teach good sewing skills (for mending, sewing) that would be expected of you as a good wife & mother. Samplers were exhibited throughout the house to advertise this to others....Catherine is not mending or sewing, but creating decorative crewel works, pretty frivolous busywork-not anything of practicality. So the embroidery that she does throughout the story illustrates that she is honing her "skills" for marriage in a symbolic fashion. (servants mend and she has the means to buy clothing) ...Could her snipping the thread symbolize her realization of the pointlessness of "training to be good wife & mother" to her? Saying it was her "last one" symbolize the changing of her goal from love and marriage to one of quiet solitude? I like that. *Fred* : Thanks for the overview on the novel. As represented, it would have been really difficult to remain absolutely faithful to the novel, at least for Hollywood. The BBC in one of their mini-series productions could have nailed it as is, I'm sure. Edited by: laffite on Feb 14, 2014 12:24 PM

Wendy, are you a Valentine's girl Whether it's today or yesterday or tomorrow You are everyone's Valentine around here Happy Birthday John (Laffite)

Has anyone seen the later movie, *Washington Square*, with Albert Finney and Jennifer Jason Leigh? Forgive me if this has already been mentioned but in that movie the story starts much earlier. The midwife holds the baby up for Mr Sloper to hold, but he walks right by her and tends to his wife who is bed having just given birth. Olivia never had a chance with her father. Later Olivia, about nine or ten years old, tries to play the violin before a few visitors at home but **** right there on the spot. She is terrified at the possible disapproval of her father. The reasons for Olivia's awkwardness is less obvious at first with Wyler's version, Olivia is already an adult. There is that early moment when Olivia presents herself to her father wanting his opinion on her new dress. Her father says something to effect that the dress would have looked so much better on his late wife and Olivia's face just falls. The lack of support of love and support from her father is less dramatized in the Wyler version but it is still there. There is no question in either version that the source of Olivia's problems are with the father, it's embedded right there in the story. This business of Asperger's or congenital conditions, what ever word is used, is just odd.

Okay, Jackie, I get it...you DO like the movie. I over generalized. I won't backtrack but I do understand about movies in general with child stars, I would probably be reluctant to watch a movie that was heralded as a great child star vehicle, etc. I think I know why I'm okay with AWF but I I'll get back with that. A Fallen Idol was a great movie and the child star in that one was terrific. Carol Reed had ingenious ways to get the child to act in certain ways that I remember reading about and I found those ways perfectly acceptable. I know that's a favorite with you as well. And gosh, thank you for the Fanny link, it appears that the whole movie is on youtube, Didn't know that. And thanks, Doc, that's the best prescription I've ever received.

I'm a little under the weather but I want to touch base here a sec. There are only four movies I?ve seen in that terrific overview you gave us, Frank (but I read all of them). I?m annoyed that my memory is so poor on Johnny Eager and Fanny. Years ago I liked JE so much I started a thread on it. Thanks for including the youtube link, I watched Part 1 hoping it would bring it all back and it did not but I do remember was contained there and am delighted to see the whole movie is there as well. I?m going to watch the whole thing, and I?m dropping all other viewings to do that. Jackie, you brought back Fanny to me a little bit, and yes Frank you too, you?re right, it was much more dramatic with all that wrenching stuff about Marius? return, Panisse and the little person, etc. I recall now too poor Fanny sitting at the table with Cesar (Raimu) and not hearing a single word said about her when the letter from Marius finally came and was read to her ... I liked A Woman's Face better than either of you, that seems sure, I didn't mind the kid part at all. Luckily I still have the movie on the DVR. I want to revisit here and there and I'll be back