laffite
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Posts posted by laffite
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SECRETS AND LIES
?began circulating among the crew regarding who was to do all this cleaning and all this folding. The struggle for power reached fever pitch and it was decided that a talent show would decided who gets the bridge. A slightly built sailor was first and wowified the crowd with an imitation of Ralph Kramden losing his temper and was made Captain. The other Captain was quickly deposed and thrown overboard. The crew was so happy they joined hands and played Ring Around the Rosies and when they fell down they split a gut. They suddenly realized that the Simpson?s were on but couldn?t watch it because someone forgot to pay the cable bill. They found the culprit who was promptly keelhauled. In other words, everything was normal...One day Moby Dick emerged on the surface of the sea and made inquiry as to whether...
Edited by: laffite on Nov 25, 2009 5:31 PM
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The Shanghai Gesture (mother gin sling)
winsome
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A DOG IN FLANDERS
CARNIVAL IN FLANDERS or MOLL FLANDERS
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A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS
?the Fat Knight himself, Sir John Falstaff, who after being rudely dismissed by that scamp Hal was now looking for work in whatever Shakespearean historical endeavor that might touch upon the history of the whoreson mandrake and knave, Sir John himself, and whose auditions consisted of swilling sack and bellowing archaic invective. The doctor, amazed at the sight of this considerable person, in girth if not worth, had his own problems having been cast in a sea story about a mean Captain who was fond of keelhauling members of his crew for the slightest infractions, such as throwing grapefruit over the side. The doctor liked grapefruit and thought this punishment unfair for which to remedy wrote a letter to the captain saying...
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I enjoyed your post and admired your forthrightness in revealing a way in which this movie touched you personally and I would say too that I?m a guy of a certain age who feels that I have never found the right woman and I too sustained a certain resonance with the attractive and companionable Edith Fortright as one that I never met and who I wish I had. Not to put too fine point on it---I wasn?t pining away too awfully much
---but when I said in the OP that I wouldn?t mind spending a considerable amount of time hanging around with her and simply reading books...well, it must have had some meaning, at least. It?s sobering and a little bit rewarding too to be able to look at a woman and not think of the usual guy things although of course Edith in the form of Mary Astor is very pretty. But it?s those things about her that have already been talked about that would make her such a find. Just how is it that somebody like her and as pretty as she is could be alone for so long---oh well, such is the movies. I too love Mary in this role and she strikes the right cord, saying things that generally can?t be uttered without sounding petulant and spoiled, such as ?I love you and she doesn?t?You might think of me?,? instead coming across as a mature but disappointed woman who is trying to hold on to something that she has just apparently won but about to surely lose. It helps too that she knows she is telling the truth. But the fact that she does look the way she does, young and pretty, certainly adds to her appeal and perhaps makes her a bit too ideal for real life, haha. It?s ironic and of course oh so Hollywood to cast someone like Mary who?s character is supposed to be older that Fran, when in reality Mary Astor was at least 10 years younger than Ruth Chatterton. Mary is perfection as Edith Cortright and it?s probably sacrilegious to even say this but I wonder if it would have been better to cast Edith with someone a little closer to Walter Huston?s age. It?s uncomfortable to think of that because we love Mary so much but if they had done that and found someone as effective as Mary to play the role, it might have served to at least suggest the potential pitfalls of a marriage where there is such a variance in age though hopefully not so much as to come off moralistic. Just a thought. The movies are wonderful, especially these older ones, and there is much to enjoy and feel, even though they may from time to time touch us, as Saul Bellow says as himself in Zelig, ??in ways that we may not want to be touched.? But we survive and enjoy. 
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ISLAND IN THE SKY
THE RIGHT STUFF or FLY AWAY HOME
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Yentl
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Under the Volcano
a noise in the night
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Neri - Gustav von Seyfferititz in Don Juan (1926)
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A Merry War
neck
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AFFECTIONATELY YOURS
?as he exited the scene with a celerity that would make the hair of a hare stand on end with envy at the very swiftness perceived. So traumatized was this murderer of the furious feminine flatulence that he brought both Mme Dodsworth and Mlle Taylor back to life (thus allowing them to finish their respective films) and vowed henceforth to follow the straight and narrow so that he might right the many wrongs of his grievous life. But alas it too late, the Grim Reaper paid him a visit that very night and he suddenly found himself where he knew not, was it up there or the other place. He soon found out when?
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*Back to back Grahames with "A Woman's Secret" on later today.*
She does a rather cute turn in this one. When I heard that gunshot at the opening I'm thinking oh no already, it can't be. I guess I knew they couldn't take her out of the movie quite _that_ fast but good thing nonetheless for the good ole flashback and it turns out we get to see quite a bit of her after all. She makes a pretty good "diamond in the rough." It was the lawyer's (Victor Jory) mother he coined that term for her, she was pretty good in those few lines she had. A number of entertaining characters in this one, including the police chief's wife and amateur sleuth. The police chief is one of those familiar faces and he has as great look for that kind of role though for me he comes off a little bland. Melvyn Douglas is simply outstanding. Maureen is Maureen which is to say beautiful and is certainly more than okay otherwise as well. Gloria is very good in this one, as usual. She is more than just a cutie pie, she's quite a good actress (as we know)
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*We are also presented with Edith Cortright, she's lost too, but she knows it. She seems to be drifting, waiting for something, but too tired to pursue it. There is a sadness about her but also an undeniable warmth, a kind demeanor and a wisdom that speaks of past mistakes.*
This is very nice, Molo. I agree completely...and I do like Edith. :x
*It's getting late so I'll wrap up here shortly but I wanted to mention that while I really liked Edith, I was disappointed in her trying to shield Sam from Fran's phone call at the end. I thought it was beneath her. I know why she did it, but I didn't like it.*
Yes, but I forgive her. There was something all to human about that and I see it less as deceit and more a sort of understandable momentary desperation. She knew in the long run that she would not keep Fran from talking with Sam.
And later she says something rather good which might redeem her a bit. After Sam has talked with Fran, Edith says, "No, I won't make you choose just between two women, but think of Moscow, Seattle, and Samarkand," referring to his new business plans. She is thinking a little in terms of his own future too. I don't know if that cut's any ice with you, Molo
And besides, maybe we can just chalk up her interference with the phone thing to an effective dramatic device to create a little suspense.
*Everyone has done a wonderful job of discussing their relationship. I hope to comment on that soon.*
Please do, Molo.
Also, great opening comments and writing regarding the respective "civilizations" in Dodsworth.
Just this for now. I'll read again on the morrow and comment further. Thanks for your comments and the caps.
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*I find some fault with Sam as well in all this. He is too weak. It is one thing to let his wife have some male friends but over and over she seems to flaunt the extent of her relationship in Sam's face. That doesn't make him angry along the way.*
Yes, he is weak, and he says as much himself. But it?s not because he is a weak man, per se, it?s because he loves her so much. In that long brilliant scene that you refer to, getting dressed, not covering up etc., he actually says, ?I think I?ve been weak with you long enough,? and this was just before she sprung her villa-for-the-summer alone with whose-its idea. She?s very adamant about doing this, not taking no for an answer...but when he insists on staying, she makes this remarkable speech:
"O Sam, you must go home, you simply must. I can't be torn like this any longer...if you and I are going to get along together, you've got to let me alone this summer...remember I did make a home for you once and I'll do it again, only you've got to let me have my fling now because you're simply rushing at old age, Sam, and I'm not ready for that yet."
She says this not as an ultimatum, no longer with adamant insistence. She dropped that tone completely. When she says the above, it comes across as a plea, almost as if she were a teenager asking her parents if she could go to summer camp or something, and it is without the slightest hint of manipulation. She is very sincere and he listens to her say this and relents. He will go home. Read again what she said with his ears. He believes that she is going through a phase and he agrees because he loves her and trusts her and wants her to get this out of her system so she will return to normal and make that home for him again like she did before.
It still seems foolish and/or naive of him to let her do this, then or now, but I think the audience back then was not supposed to necessarily view him as some damn fool at that moment but as a man who was trying to understand her and let her have her way in the short run so that he may have her once again in the long run, just as before.
*He finally loses it when his stuff is out of place at home. He can't really confront her.*
Yes, he's upset because she's not there to run things but what really gets him is the letter from her wanting a few more months in Europe. When he talks to his friend (Spring Byington) he says simply, "Fran is just afraid, afraid of growing old." Again, he is trying to understand her and doesn't want to believe that she could actually betray him or really want to leave him.
But he can't wait any longer and he realizes that something has happened. He has them watched and he arranges this meeting with the three of them. So he DOES confront her...finally. And he confronts her with Kurt as well. But, as you imply, all too late.
*Not until the end can he let go on her. Even then it is more about having convinced himself of his love for Mary Astor that I think finally allows him to let her have it.*
I don?t think he had to convince himself at that point, he was already in love with Edith. The only reason he went back to Fran was out of a sense of duty. He did not love her any more. He says to Edith, I?ve got to take care of her. A man?s habits get plenty strong in 20 years.? That?s not love. He said to Edith, ?It?s giving you up that is hard.? That?s love. So I don?t think he was still hanging on to Fran so much. He felt responsible. It?s only when he saw Fran in her worst books with all selfishness and presumptuousness that he decided that it wasn?t worth it.
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MURDER MOST FOUL
Yes, it worked great on the battlefield where there were enemies all round but it was a little trickier to swing in peace time. Little did anyone know that his fascination for Liz and that appointment for the Dodsworth kook was not caused by an ache in the loins but rather because of an obsessive desire to kill and to savor the moment when life slowly ebbed from the bodies of his victims. Meanwhile a person who could read minds just happed by within proximity of this presumptive doctor and peered into the mind of same and was duly appalled and began to blubber incoherently to which the doctor approached and said he knew just the remedy for such occurrences and so he took out his bag and...
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Channing, Margo...Bette Davis in All About Eve
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Lansbury, Angela
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The Passenger ?
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Merlin
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GRAND HOTEL
THE INN OF THE SIXTH HAPPINESS or JAMAICA INN
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Tom Sawyer
billingsgate
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85
"Will someone fix the damn DVD player, my eyebrows are getting tired."
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ATTACK
... the problem with a little trick I learned in medical school," and then to the amazement of all brought Dodsworth back to life much to the relief of studio heads who could now continue the movie with Dodsworth meeting Edith and living happily ever after leaving Mrs Dodsworth alone to stew in her stuff. Meanwhile everyone had not quite gotten over seeing Liz in that bathing suit, so beautiful she was, and even the doctor after having performed this marvelous Lazurus- like feat would have liked to have found Miss Taylor in the hopes that she might not be feeling well and he might then examine her. But she was not to be found as she was inhabiting at that time one of her movies where she was busily engaged in...
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DODSWORTH
...who's nose was in an Italian phrase book trying to look up the meaning of that juicy Italian phrase and trying also in his mind to dispel the notion that he was in a Fellini movie when he knew in fact that he was in another movie altogether seeing the sights trying to nurse his depression after being jilted by his wife who went to marry this German fellow. The rag-tag circus turned out be a band of die hard revolutionaries who were trying to hide their identities from the authorities but who were doing nothing but looking ridiculous and Dodsworth rolled his eyes in contempt and then noticed a group of resolute angry women with fire in their eyes and with a definite purpose and who...
---but when I said in the OP that I wouldn?t mind spending a considerable amount of time hanging around with her and simply reading books...well, it must have had some meaning, at least. It?s sobering and a little bit rewarding too to be able to look at a woman and not think of the usual guy things although of course Edith in the form of Mary Astor is very pretty. But it?s those things about her that have already been talked about that would make her such a find. Just how is it that somebody like her and as pretty as she is could be alone for so long---oh well, such is the movies. I too love Mary in this role and she strikes the right cord, saying things that generally can?t be uttered without sounding petulant and spoiled, such as ?I love you and she doesn?t?You might think of me?,? instead coming across as a mature but disappointed woman who is trying to hold on to something that she has just apparently won but about to surely lose. It helps too that she knows she is telling the truth. But the fact that she does look the way she does, young and pretty, certainly adds to her appeal and perhaps makes her a bit too ideal for real life, haha. It?s ironic and of course oh so Hollywood to cast someone like Mary who?s character is supposed to be older that Fran, when in reality Mary Astor was at least 10 years younger than Ruth Chatterton. Mary is perfection as Edith Cortright and it?s probably sacrilegious to even say this but I wonder if it would have been better to cast Edith with someone a little closer to Walter Huston?s age. It?s uncomfortable to think of that because we love Mary so much but if they had done that and found someone as effective as Mary to play the role, it might have served to at least suggest the potential pitfalls of a marriage where there is such a variance in age though hopefully not so much as to come off moralistic. Just a thought. The movies are wonderful, especially these older ones, and there is much to enjoy and feel, even though they may from time to time touch us, as Saul Bellow says as himself in Zelig, ??in ways that we may not want to be touched.? 
Movies are the answer
in Games and Trivia
Posted
SUPERMAN
?himself who thought to pay an unscheduled visit to pretty Jane despite the fact that he was a horrible anachronism as Superman is totally out of place in a sea story but pretty Jane was delighted at the sight of this the hunk of all hunks and broke immediately into a song and dance routine that was to die for although the director yelled ?Cut? because the film wasn?t rolling and Jane said, ?Oh.? But that didn?t stop her swooning and she began to rack her brain to have Superman in the story despite he being the last person who needed any body building but soon had a splendid idea for him, he would be...