laffite
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Days Won
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Posts posted by laffite
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Heaven can Wait
fatuous
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Here are four clues:
1. An ocean voyage
2. An American woman living in Italy.
3. A troubled marriage
4. A Baron's mother
Name this well-known movie. (piece of cake
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Do you mean *Nabors* ?
Oliver, Susan
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Sternberg ?
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The Thrill of it All
flamingo
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*Oooh, your reference to Richard III shows me an ?edumacated? man. Ooh la la.*
Actually, I got that from Jeff. He's the "edumacated" one. I'm a hack. Whenever I read Shakespeare I make sure I have a heavily annotated version. This way I know what's going on.
*I never was a big Van Heflin fan...but of late with ?Madame Bovary? and this film, ?Possessed? and years and years of viewing ?...Martha Ivers? I have come to enjoy and understand the versatility of Mr. Heflin.*
I've always liked him. I'm remembering Green Dolphin Street also with Lana...and not to forget 3:10 to Yuma. Never really a leading man, per se, but his rugged looks and blustery manner sure got him some good roles.
*by reminding myself that there were lots of movies back than that showed the very close friendship of two men as a sweet and tender thing and probably just-a-friendship ( Wendell Corey and John Hodiak in ?DESERT FURY?, Anthony Quinn and Henry Fonda in the western ?WARLOCK? ?Buddy? Rogers and Richard Arlen in ?WINGS? and Spencer Tracy and Clark Gable in ?TEST PILOT? come to mind ). There?s a sweet tenderness that is long gone from films today featuring two male performers even in the midst of ?buddy movies? and ?bromances.? It?s a kind of hero-worshipping of one guy for the alpha of the two..usually the less attractive actor (supporting) for the more attractive actor (the star). We might have to just leave our 21st century sensibilities out of earlier eras.*
That's a nice paragraph right there and so true. I'm not really familiar with all those examples but how good of you to come up with them like that. I remember watching Fanny recently and although the emphasis is on the traditional love story there was also the extraordinary friendship between these two men, Panisse and Cesar.
*There?s still a softness about her physicality. She's like Cotton Candy. Who doesn't like cotton candy. By the time the postman rings for her...her lacquered look and make-up gave her a harder look...the second of Lana-Looks she had in her career. (1930?s Lana with baby fat and Bernadette Peters? bounciness gives way to 1940?s Lana with more polish which leads us to post-Stompanato Lana in the ?Portrait of Black? ?By Love Possessed? ?Madame X?). I don?t know if I?m explaining myself well.*
You are explaining yourself brilliantly. That's a rather classy history-of-Lana paragraph and makes me realize how little I really know about her.
*Yup, that?s the M-G-M way. If you want a Disheveled Lana, she?d have to go to Warner Brothers.*
You see, I didn't even know there was such a thing as a disheveled Lana. Hmm, I may have to investigate this. I've always thought a little mussiness or dishevelment might add another element to the goddess image.
*Oh yeah, Matilda. Her ?real? self seemed remarkably modern to me. This film?s over sixty years old but that whole family scene had a modern feel to it. And with Connie Gilchrist in it...well.*
Yes, Connie was good too. Like Matilda, she could really switch gears too, depending on whether the Warden was around. So nice when he's there, but oh wait till he leaves...like night and day and very amusing.
*Fall in love Laffite. Fall in love with the goddesses and the hand-maidens. At least these celluloid queens and princesses won?t rebuff you.*
So true...for instance, since I've started, uh, falling in love the celluloid way, I have reduced my chances of rejection by 100%.
Thanks, Maven...for your splendid post and your exceedingly kind remarks. laffite
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ANOTHER DAWN
...of some new moonface to fall in love with her as this guy had Sturm an Drang written all over his face and Sadie said thanks but no thanks nearly dropping her Victrola as she hastened away in search of the red light district for surely a wanton abandon lifestyle would thrive in such a place. Meanwhile Davidson and company were busy working it out and realized to their chagrin that love was not the answer and that Sadie was just a tramp anyway so they said to hell with it and played pinochle til dawn. Sadie was tramping about and having a hell of a lot of fun when the police came and arrested her playing AND THE RAIN CAME DOWN a hundred times in a row driving the flamingos in a frenzy and of course we know how much racket they can make. But Sadie was defiant and so she...
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Allworthy (Squire)...George Devine in Tom Jones
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You've Got Mail
flip
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ACROSS THE PACIFIC
?presumably in Australia after having run away with O?Hara who promised her a good hairdresser that would turn her back into a brunette because he did not want her to have so much fun anymore now that he was madly in love with her to which she said okay but only on condition that she could go to church once in awhile now that she was converted to Christianity and was wanting the good life. Meanwhile Davidson was in the doldrums having fallen in love with Sadie and so set sail for Australia much to the chagrin of his wife who was in love with the gardener who was horrified at this and stowawayed to Australia and told Sadie that Davidson wanted her to forget all about God and to think only of him to which her reaction was?
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BLOW UP
...in popularity so maybe that won't be so bad after all since I have this competition with that upstart Marilyn who doesn't know yet that a remake entitled Gentleman Prefer Brunettes ---yes, that's the new title ---is in the offing and I'll trump once and for all that pesky blonde. Meantime that other Jane---or should I say Jayne---can do those other two pictures since those are more her speed. Miss Russell was determined to put brunettes on the map once for all and prove beyond a doubt that, contrary to general consensus, brunettes are the ones who have more fun. The screenwriters were all over themselves writing brilliant dialogue for brunettes and soon blonde actresses began to get nervous so they found the most ideal representative to bring their concerns to the writers, who was, of course, no other than...
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Together
immediate
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CHICAGO
KANSAS CITY or FARGO
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A KISS IN THE DARK
...so to speak. It was a blank check issued by no other than Howard Hughs for the sole purpose of rewriting every movie ever made so that characters could pull out their depressions and be the real character they always wanted to be. The only condition was that Jane Russell had to be the star of every single movie, a requirement that everyone thought a very good idea because Jane was cool and besides they would get all this money. They threw a party to celebrate their great fortune and decided to put off work until 2020 because, well, it would take time to sort out everything, an idea that Howard did not like and so he sent Jane to the screenwriters that they needed to get going on a new movie with Jane to be about...
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This is Mary in 1935, just one year before Dodsworth. Look how young she looks. Of course I keep seeing Edith in these pictures. I think there is something wrong with me
When I first saw the above I thought, okay, this is Edith during her marriage to the Englishman but was thinking about becoming "English by divorce" and moving to Italy. Thank you, thank you, *Jackie*, for taking up Mary. I'm saving these pictures to disc. I don't think I was particularly a Mary Astor fan before Edith, but now I certainly am, thanks too you as well for this wonderful gallery you have provided for us. I am particularly fond of those pictures that remind me of :x :x :x but those early ones are wonderful. Edith as a young girl
. Okay, okay, enough. I hope I get out of my Edith phase soon, I need to retain my sanity here *Miss Goddess*, you mentioned her book. I haven't read it but I remember some very old threads that were devoted to movie books and Mary's book was touted over and over for her frankness not only with regard to the business and others but to herself as well, making self-revealing admissions that draw you in. I have always meant to read her book but have never gotten around to it. Maybe now's the time.
*Jackie*, thank you for your MA gallery of wonders and all the other great work you do here. I have photobucket and can download to the forum but have no idea how to do what you're doing here with these clickable pictures etc. It must be a lot of work. Many thanks.
laffite
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CALL IT A DAY
...and turn in for the night and counting sheep with serenity in mind as they know what they always knew and that they were at the mercy of the screenwriters and the directors and never had a chance to do what they really wanted to do. Everytime a character had something really cool say, some screenwriter would change it to something else. That wasn't fair. So SCG (Screen Character's Guild) got together and lodged a protest that would allow characters to decide their own fate and not be at the mercy of screenwriters who always gave them something stupid to say. There was a great rallying cry from all the characters who ever was and the screenwriters of the world shrank in terror. Then the Mank Brothers said they had had enough and took out their pens and began to write a new script for humanity, starting out by...
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*If you've only seen Lana Turner in PEYTON PLACE/IMITATION OF LIFE era films, or even THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE, it's amazing to see the young, fresh, luscious Lana of ZIEGFELD GIRL and JOHNNY EAGER.*
Right on. I?m one of those who think of her as ?older? and nearly always impressed with how smashing :x she looks as a young woman. It?s interesting that Postman came _only_ four years after Johnny Eagar. She seems to have ?grown up? so much. She seems young and impressionable in the earlier movie and more older and mature as well as having been around a bit more in the later movie, more than four years would indicate.
*...Johnny seems to develop a conscience as he begins to understand what he's done to her*
When Eager decides to visit Lisbeth there might be a fine line between whether or not he is developing a conscience about how he has treated Lisbeth and/or whether he is actually falling for her and thereby softening up a bit. And always interesting to gauge the extent of Jeff?s ?function? as Eager?s conscience and whether or not the cumulative effect of his verbal jabs have any real effect on Eager.
*Many viewers and reviewers--laffite is not alone--see Jeff's feelings as implicitly homosexual. This approach to the role increases the stakes for the character.*
This aspect of Jeff resonates significantly in our own age because sexual orientation is discussed openly now and maybe can therefore inspire revisionist observation with regard to Jeff. I wonder though whether the intent was there at the time of the movie to suggest he was actually a closeted gay person. If he had a crush on Eager it certainly didn?t seem to keep him from pushing Eager to treat Lisbeth better and perhaps make possible a liaison. No doubt it is arguable that Jeff might have been gay and it makes for great discussion but, as I mentioned in the OP, I am not entirely convinced.
*Robert Taylor deserves some good words not only for his performance, but for his willingness to keep Johnny mostly unsympathetic. You can't imagine Clark Gable doing this, or his audience standing for it.*
That's true about Gable...and yet I believe this was a change of type for Taylor as well. But he seemed to have survived, image-wise. But I wonder to what extent that might be attributed to how he actually comes across on screen.
For instance, Eager?s actions speak for themselves but Taylor does not come off as real bad guy to me. It's as if these cold-blooded doings don't fit the demeanor. Even at his worst Eagar always seems to have this strain of decency underneath it all and I can?t for the life of me figure out whether that was intended and well-executed by Taylor?or whether it was an unintended and a consequence of some limitation in Taylor?s range. He rightly comes across as a genuinely nice guy who is on the straight and narrow in those early scenes with the warden and then, less convincing to me, he turns tough guy in the underworld scenes. I?m not so sure he passes from good guy to bad guy as seamlessly as I would like. But I do believe that there is this general intent to have Johnny Eager likable on some level at least otherwise the intimate scenes with Lisbeth near the end might seem distasteful to us?but they aren?t and of course we do like him at the end.
(An out-of-the-blue comparison, having just watched The Big Heat with Glenn Ford. Glenn is convincing in the domestic scenes with his wife, almost a gentle person. But look what happens to him when he gets POed. The scene in Lagana's (Alexander Scourby) home when Bannion (Ford) threatens him, or the scene in the bar when Ford tells Lee Marvin, "Get out of here while you can still walk," show how menacing Ford can be and convincingly so. Robert Taylor doesn't do that for me. And yet, despite the implicit criticism of Taylor, I still like him, overall, in the role. Go figure)
*There's much, much more to say about this film--I've neglected the comedy to talk about the emotional structure--so we're waiting for movieman, lzcutter, and anyone else who wants to jump in.*
Well, I hope you don?t wait too long. I'm interested in what you have to say about the comedy. Make us laugh!
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86
"One, two, three...go! One, two, three...go! One, two, three...go! One, two, three...go! This damn thing is pain in the neck to pull apart. One, two, three...go! One, two..."
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Vigo, Jean ... L'Atalante
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In Name Only
mishap
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BLOW UP
...the spaceship and then the Cheshire would be in smithereens and no more rabid cat. The rest of the crew just glared at him. What about us, they asked, we would be in smithereens too. The pilot's face grew puzzled like Louis Nye trying to remember his name and finally said, "Oh." The pilot went back tor reading comic books and Ripley and Ash had an argument. The alien appeared and had Cheshire cat on his breath so now they only had to do and wait until someone got chest pains and then the plot could move forward. John Hurt got a chest pain and everybody braced for the big scene but he took a bromo and was ok. The director yelled cut and wanted to know who changed the script but was promptly informed that this was real life not a movie and that the alien was strolling down steel corridors and everybody was afraid except Ripley who...
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*I know it's not for everyone but for some, like me, I thank you!*
*I promise to watch it soon and return with a ramble myself!*
lzcutter, you are so welcome. I hope you have the chance to see the movie again soon and sharing your thoughts. We all look forward to it. Thank you!
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Congratulations, Mademoiselle!
Tu as tres bien fait!
Now we can see more of you around here...I hope/
Yeah, I can barely remember, it's a nice feeling when you finish a semester.
Laffite
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. Okay, okay, enough. I hope I get out of my Edith phase soon, I need to retain my sanity here
GENERAL TRIVIA QUESTION THREAD
in Games and Trivia
Posted
They each have an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
?? Wild guess