laffite
-
Posts
18,566 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
4
Posts posted by laffite
-
-
UNDERWATER
THE DEEP or THE FROGMEN
-
I don?t believe anyone has mentioned somewhat of a sleeper in the Lee Marvin collection, namely, Monte Walsh, (1970) It's about he end of an era, the Cowboy is on his way out in the Old West. Will the old hand Monte make the transition and will be he finally settle down with a woman? The woman is, of all people, Jeanne Moreau. Who would have thought an ole rapscallion type like Lee Marvin would match up with a diminutive, soft-spoken, French girl? But they have a good chemistry and their scenes together are some of the best in the entire movie. Touching, even.
-
I've always like this movie. It's been awhile though, I see it played earlier this month. I don't think it's a perfect movie but I can't think of anything that needs fixing, at least as I think back right now. It has all the necessary elements for a good soaper and it is entertaining enough. It's not a movie that need to be tinkered to perfection to make it enjoyable. It is surprising though how Fanny seems to be the most desirable and most sought after woman in the universe despite the fact that Bette does not really come across that way. But I think we are supposed make allowances. The studio and maybe Bette herself are winking at us. They want us to suspend judgement and pretend. I think a lot of Hollywood movies are that way. I don't mean that to be disparaging. Most Hollywood are surprisingly good considering the only thing that matters to them is the bottom line. Back to Fanny. This was pointed out earlier, surely a magnificent man like Claude Rains, the banker, could have done better, he should have seen through her right away. There is a lot of clever dialogue. I think the first scene---the drawing room scene where the guys wait to make their pitches for Fanny---are full a little gems, as i recall. I think Dorothy Parker had a hand in the screenplay. When one of the guys makes a play for her later in the movie when her looks are all but gone, she says to him, "It is not generally known, but I don't have any money." The suitor's face becomes ashen. Fanny is not likable, not even in the end, but Bette plays her well. I don't cave too easily but I remember losing it while watching that scene with the young daughter and Claudein the restaurant. That young lady was terrific. Where is she today? The movie is a bit overlong and ends with inevitable irony.
*---spoiler---spoiler---spoiler---*
Fanny has lost her beauty but it doesn't matter because her husband cannot see her anyway. I think he has the better deal. He finally gets Fanny to "love" him or at least take care of him and that will let him feed his fantasy and ease a lifetime of disappointment with her...but she remains un-admired. And I question her suitability as caregiver to someone she never loved in the first place. Maybe the ending could be changed. There is probably a lot that could be changed in this story to make it "better" but it would probably no longer be a "Hollywood" movie. But as it stands, it's okay---for Hollywood.
-
*Oh how sweet*
*You know very well how to tweet.*
Are you calling me a boid?
*The cake was oh so scrumptious*
*Scrumptious as a cherry peach parfait*
Your poems are delicious!
*okay, so i borrowed some parts to the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang song "Truly Scrumptious", but it still comes from the heart, silly pirate. heehee!*
It may come from the heart but it makes me think of the palate.
*they might want to frame your poem in comparison to mine silly. heehee!*
I don't think so. Your poem has a cherry peach parfait in it. 'Course mine has a little butterscotch in it
*as for the rum......where did you fin it?*
Well, now, never you mind.
*i must not have hidden it enough!*
As RickyR would say, "You dint."
*golly gee, we cant have you going dancing around a campfire crazily singing silly songs!.......*
You're right, I'll leave that to one of those warrior queens you used to talk about. Now, who was that again? Dionne something?...Or maybe our wild-eyed Helena, remember her?
*heehee! no, no, no you wont change my mind, the rum is gone!*
But I have it...and this time no one is going to steal it. It's mine, all mine...muwahahaha...and no one's going to find it...,muwahahahahaI...I hope.
*oh, i thought your fake machete was magical. heehee! apparently it isnt.*
You're right, it isn't. It's just a run-of-the-mill fake machete. And it doesn't work very well. I went to cut someone's eyeballs out and the blade didn't work because it's made of rubber. In the midst of battle I had to pull out one of my poems to read. My poems are so bad that my adversaries just faint away in disgust. I win more battles that way.
*sorry, the bad guys have all alreafy seen it! they know about your scardiness(is that even a word?*
It wasn't in my pirate dictionary but pirates don't know many words. For instance, we don't know what the word fear means...except when we are around bobcats or wily young adventuresses who steal rum
*thank you for sending me the link, i would love to watch it again, Laffite!......*
Your welcome. I enjoyed the interview. She seems so regular. She's not entirely comfortable being called Dame. She has a great personality. I liked her remarks about playing the Queen.
*oh by the way, they played A Midsummer Night's Dream on the "Ovation" channel a couple weeks ago. it was the one with Judi Dench and Helen and Diana Riggs in it and i was so surprised to see it actually on the TV! ithought of you when i watched it! what was the year again? was it 1968 or 1969? i forget.*
Oh good! I remember we talked about that a while back. I think you said you acquired the tape...or dvd. But it's great that it showed up on TV. I posted some make-shift screen caps with my camera back then. Here is one of them:
Helen with a dirty face...and she still looks good.
*i cant wait to see them! you will like one of them called, The Tempest....It's Shakespear!*
I'll look forward to that. Thanks for the tip.
*have a good day, mon pirate!*
Et toi aussi, mon amie
laffite
-
Hi Molo, thank you for that. No, in fact, I didn't see any GG, I didn't even know they gave Gloriana a day. I should be put in the stocks for that one. Boy, I know how to miss'em. You and the other Gloriaphiles must have been in heaven. I want to reprise our discussion of Henry over on the BBC thread and hope to make a few remarks about my favorite wife (and his, I think), Miss Anne Seymour, sometime soon. Thanks again, Molo.
-
*I don't know if lafitte fell overboard (a scandalous way to go for a pirate) but...*
Nope, Laffite, pirate extraordinaire, did not fall overboard and indeed, what an inappropriate end that would be for such a hero. You can be rest assured, my dear Goddess, that when the good Lord calls me home, it will only be in a most heroic and honorable way, probably some magnificent battle on the high seas. They'll probably make a movie of it. Those rumors about falling overboard are totally false. What really happend was I accidentally stabbed myself in the foot and nearly bled to death...but even that had a tinge of the heroic. Great ones cannot be diminished.
At one time I had some notes for a post on this thread having to do with the Big Guy, Henry of England...but I cannot find them. So much for the heroic, back to the mundane.
laffite
-
I had ?Ladies in Retirement? on my DVR and just watched it. I hope it?s okay if I post this here. I looked for an Ida Lupino thread over in My Favorites but couldn?t find one. Anyway, I liked the film. Ida really blew me away here. She has a very severe demeanor the whole way and rarely smiles, if at all. I kept thinking of Bette. I think Bette could have certainly done well in the role of Ellen Creed but I?m not convinced that she could have done any better than Ida. It?s oddly touching how Ellen Creed has this parental love and regard for her sisters, both that happen to be wackadoodles. Ida could have been upstaged a bit in this one?but she wasn?t. Elsa Lanchester, one of the two wackadoodles, is known for having stolen a few scenes or two in her career. Evelyn Keyes, a domestique, not a sister, is no match for Ida but she is cute in a sweet and saucy way. She looks positively stricken in her last scene when she hears something she might have wished she hadn?t. Ida?s role is somewhat monochromatic but she makes it work so well, I was mesmerized by her. The role of Mrs Fiske is interesting in that she does not come across as a total witch. She is rather kind to Ellen in a way, she at least allows the wackadoodles to stay for awhile and really, who can blame her is she wants them out. The fact that she?s not a total shrew has a bearing on how I felt about Ellen and what she did. Ida is a powerful presence. As RobertO points out, strange indeed that she never received an Oscar nomination. I?m not surprised, the Academy is so flawed. laffite
-
*good day Laffite!*
good day ButterScotchGreer, congrats on 5,000!
*i love the cake...its very tasty too!
well i was rather disappointed that i didnt get a poem! ;)*I know a young lady called ButterScotchGreer
She is all the days of her life of such winning good cheer
Yet the fifth of September
Is a day to remember
For it?s the start of a new ButterScotch year.
I submitted this poem to the Pirate Poet Society (PPS) and was immediately stripped of my title as Pirate Poet Laureate of the Rolling Main. They wanted me to walk the plank but I bribed them with this excellent Jamaican rum that I purloined down in, uh, Jamaica. I have gotten myself out of so many jams with my rum and that?s why I take special care not to allow anyone to steal it (though I have not always succeeded).
*i have my magical Lucy purse with me, i dont need to have a fake machete silly.*
Oh heck, I forgot. That's some lucy purse all right. I didn't know it was magical though.
*i thought pirates werent afraid of anything...most especially bobcats. you can fight it off with your sword of course! heehee!*
Well, most pirates. I?m kind of weird. Though I?ll admit I said that about the bobcats because I didn?t want to go look for a fake machete in the jungle during summertime (besides my sword is in the shop, I?m having blood stains removed.) BTW. don?t spread that around about being afraid of bobcats, my reputation, you know.
A few days ago Helen was interviewed by Charlie Rose. It turned out to be an interview of April 2008. I was disappointed, I had thought it was more recent. It?s not so easy to think of Helen and not think of MissB of Scotch at the same time. On how to find the truth of oneself Helen said, ?Well, not by looking for it,? which I found kind of cool. In case you never saw this interview, here is the link:
http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/9032
laffite
//
-
*Wow! What a privilege!...*
The privilege, and honor, is all mine. I admit I didn't remember when your day was...I just happen to do a drive-by and noticed all the bustle over the occasion. So I rustled up that cake (well, sort of)...and I even composed a limerick (a wholesome one) for the occasion but have withheld it out of compassion. Yes, pirates can sometimes exhibit compassion (though rarely), and they find it all the easier when they happen to be particularly bad poets. (I think I'll stick to plundering.)
*Well you know what?I threw my fake machete into the jungle b/c I thought it made me look mean. Heehee!*
Well, if you were in the jungle, it might behoove you to look a little mean. Maybe you'd better go back and find it. I'd go look for it for you but I'm afraid of bobcats.
L.
-
Happy Birthday, Teresa
Laffite, your favorite pirate?well, one of them?maybe
p.s. I would have given you a fake machete for your birthday?but I
figure you already have one.
///
-
The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez is coming up *Thursday, May 28, 5PM Pacific*. This is a good one for Western fans who are in the mood for something outside the Hollywood business-as-usual mode. Made in 1983. I am happy to see this one on the schedule. Probably a TCM Premiere.
-
*A Great Man?*
I was a little disappointed in Crime and Punishment but the fact that it was so low budget might have something to say for that. The film looked like it was filmed in two or three rooms fixed up for the occasion, in a corridor or two, and in about an hour and half. It has almost a B-film look to it. This is probably to early for film noir but there a few elements there, I think. I wouldn't have cast Peter Lorre for this but he sure did okay. Edward Arnold was, well, Edward Arnold, very solid and just plain good although I wished they would have written his part to emphasize more the cat-and-mouse game. I did not notice this myself but I had read and could very well see that Marian Marsh was made up to look like Marlene Dietrich, a Sternberg idea that strikes me as a little distasteful. The screenplay slyly suggests that Sonia is a prostitute without actually saying it.
*Marlena?*
(some spoilers ahead)
Anyone who has read the book or seen other adaptations would have been jarred, as I was, to see Sonia urging Roderick to run away with her at the end. Generally, she is meant to be much more religious than she is here, even somewhat pious, and she is shown as leading the way for Roderick's redemption through Christianity. The last thing she would do would be to get him to run away with her.
As a long time classical music buff I recognized a well-known musical quotation that was used at the end. When Roderick and Marian enter Porfiry's office to give up, the main theme from Beethoven's Eroica (Heroic) Symphony is heard, resoundingly. This is the symphony that Beethoven dedicated to Napoleon---Porfiry refers to this in the movie---because Beethoven considered Napoleon to be for the people, that is, until Napoleon declared himself Emperor. This made Beethoven change the dedication to read, generically, "to a Great Man." It is a neat and subtle bit of foreshadowing and innuendo when Porfiry says to Roderick, "...Beethoven tore up his dedication, I wonder if you'll feel the same way some day," slyly implying that Roderick is the murderer and considers himself above the law like Napoleon.
If Roderick is a great man, he is not a great man in the sense of Napoleon---Porfiry says that later, "You are no Napoleon."---but rather in that generic, everyday sense that reflects Beethoven's *re* -dedication, not a man who is great and therefore above the law, but a man who is great because he does the right thing by acting according to the dictates of conscience. The ending almost had the feeling of one of those shorts we see on TCM from time to time, "Crime Doesn't Pay." (I really liked the way they worked Beethoven into the story).
I'm really glad I got the alert for this film and was glad to see it. Thanks to *Fred* for the heads up. It would be nice to see the French version that Mr O referred to. Incidentally, to anyone interested in this story, see the BBC adaptation of 1980 with John Hurt as Rodderick and Timothy West as Porfiry. The interplay between these two is fascinating to watch. Now _there's_ a cat and mouse game!
//
Message was edited by: laffite
-
Lovely pictures Minya. Your photos breathe, i.e. they were not taken too close to the subject. L'Arc de Triomphe is even more beautiful when it has a little context. The inclusion of the bannister from the tower gives a sense of what it might be like to be standing there. The chapel is all the more beautiful when viewed from a respectful distance. You are a good photographer. They are just the right size, BTW. Our right margins are still intact and we can take in the full photo without scrolling.
Say "bonjour" to someone for us.
laffite
-
Thanks, Molo.
*Actually I wish there were seven Molo's. I've been falling so far behind in my postings that mobs are starting to form in certain threads! Vicious, violent mobs led by Fordy's and Coop gals.
... I just tell myself if they care enough to get mad at you, then at least they still care!! *Hey, they don't call you Ramble King Molo XIV for nothin'. When you get behind with the posts, just declare Royal Privilege.
*Hey I found this old picture in a box with some doubloons and a tear stained handkerchief that smelled of sea salt and rum. You wouldn't know anything about it would you???*
Well, the rum sounds familiar anyway. Actually, a picture something like that just might be found in a Laffite cabin room trunk somewhere. That pirate has the Classic Laffite Demeanor. Looking down in resignation and thinking, "What next?" Is that really Gloria? What movie is that anyway. Laffite might be interested in that one just to see how that guy makes out. I don't mind living vicariously now and then.
MissGoddess writes (to Molo): *And you'd better keep your eyeball peeled on Gloria if the dashing Lafitte is sending her doubloons.*
I think Molo's eyeballs are peeled on Gloria anyway. And who can blame him? But I don't think he has anything to worry about. Doubloons go only so far.
-
*CineM* and *HollywoodG*
Thank you both for your nice comments. I think I was poisoning my mind about this...i.e, insensitivity on my part, or something...etc...I feel better, thanks.
-
Apparently my post yesterday spoofing the Molo and Gloria idea is big, fat, flop. If it's not funny, okay...ordinarily I would just let it pass and not worry about it. But in the event it might have been either in bad taste or offensive to anyone, I will apologize. If it was, I'm totally clueless. I thought it innocuous and amusing or I wouldn't have posted it. I'm not begging for an answer here but just wanting to say that if there was something about the post that was not quite right with anyone or anything, I totally overlooked it and it was not intended. laffite
-
And of course there's always the one nobody wants to talk about, *Seven Glorias for Seven Molos.* This undoubted masterpiece has been in trouble on several fronts. When the crew learned of the possibility of having seven Glorias on the set at the same time the producer held a press conference expressing reservations. "We don't think it's a good idea. Having pandemonium on the set is not conducive to the creative process. However, the show must go on." Another glitch is the controversy of cloning although the inclusion of Gloria's number, "I'm just a girl who must be cloned," is thought to be a runaway hit. Molo is reportedly undaunted by the prospect of the several Glorias. During pre-production interviews he has been quoted as saying, "Zoweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!." If the current production survives, a sequel is already in the offing with the working title "A Thousand Clones." Molo is beside himself (he was last seen running wildly around the set yelling, "Wa-Hoooo!!!") at the prospect and couldn't be reached for comment.
..
-
*CineMaven*, just for the record, the two quotes you specifically attribute to Rohanaka were actually written by me...no biggie, I just mention it for the sake of accuracy.
As I mentioned in my previous post I thought there was a "ring of truth" to your take on the scene and I still think that. It's a sign of greatness when a scene can have more than one interpretation, especially when the opposing views can claim at least a decent measure of plausibility...as here, I believe.
-
>Definitely too many coincidences - and some just plain dumb situations. Da Silva is running around with Ladd's wife. Of all the people to run into once he walks out on his wife, Ladd runs into Da Silva's wife Lake.
>They split up, but just happen to be in the same spot later when Lake tells him that the cops are on his trail.
>Ladd's a wanted guy and supposedly street smart, but he's dumb enough to get into a car with two strangers. Didn't his mother ever warn him about such things?
>Lake just happens to pick at the flowers in front of Bendix the same way that Dowling did, and with the same monkey music going on in the background.
>Tom Powers lets a murder suspect (Ladd) toss a gun to another suspect (Bendix) where we get some silly Buffalo Bill shooting stunt.
Welcome to the world of Film Noir.
-
*lzcutter,* How funny! Loved it. Those are movies that should have been made. (Move over, Andy Hardy)
( *lz*, you are obviously gifted at this sort of thing. I hope you do some more from time to time. I'm a fan).
laffite
-
*You know Lafitte, I think when Bette said it, she was very humbled. Very humbled before Ong, and Joyce and my favorite Willie Fung and before Sondergaard. She knows that Sondergaard didn't have to give up that letter. She knows...woman-to-woman. I sensed no defiance.*
Yes, she knows that Sondergaard doesn?t have to give up the letter---but what does Leslie think of being so humiliated in the process? By saying thank you in the most civil of tones she acknowledges the business arrangement as if it were like any other deal?almost as if she didn?t have to grovel for the letter at all, as if the humiliation didn't even happen. ?Yes, you made me bend my knees at your feet but as you see I'm looking you straight in the eye and behaving better about our business arrangement than you are,? Leslie might be saying. There might be reason to argue as well that Leslie might not have looked upon Mrs Hammond as her equal, as woman-to-woman, considering some of the ways in which Leslie had referred to Mrs Hammond at other times. When she has the letter she stalks out---defiantly, I thought---as a sort of punctuation mark. This is how I experienced the scene at the time I viewed it. Right or wrong, I can't change those initial impressions but I will certainly acknowledge, CineMaven, that your opinion above has a ring of truth to it and is probably the most correct reading of this scene. I might be too hung up on the humiliation aspect as well as a little conflicted on what might be running through the mind of a woman like Leslie about being put in that position by an Eurasian woman.
-
*I rather expected her to give Sondergaard a smirk instead and just turn and leave and tell the lawyer to pick it up on the way out... ha.*
I thought they way she said, "thank you" was telling, though. It wasn't a smirk but it might have served as one. By saying that and the way she said it allowed her to retain a little dignity and to look Sondergarrd in the eye. I thought there was a least a tinge of defiance in that thank you. (I like the way too she took the time to actually look at the letter to make sure it was the right one.)
Re the dagger, your suggestion that it might have been put there for Leslie to end her life herself is fine, it works within the story (although, as mentioned, it is most un-Bette and un-Leslie -like to even consider such a thing). The dagger is also a device to foreshadow what was to happen. As we all know by now this is not the ending the movie wanted but there was the Code to think about. By suggesting Leslie's murder in advance they make it a little less spectacular and surprising, which may have been what they wanted, leaving the audience to reflect on other things such as Leslie's own torment within herself and her big scene with her husband, as they leave the theatre. Also the appearance of the dagger on the floor and then having it disappear like that works so well within the noir convention.
-
*FrankGrimes,* thank you for posting those caps. That breakfast scene is one of my favorites of all time. Mrs. Smith learns what happens when you ask an important question without knowing what the answer will be. Her double take is restrained making it all the more effective (it could have be easily overplayed). He doesn't back down but he doesn't try to smooth over that much either, well maybe a little. Just a nice scene. They have a reconciliation of sorts and as he leaves for work she walks beside him holding his arm with that slinking gait. A little invention on her part, I'm sure.
I almost have a crush on Robert Montgomery myself. Well, what I mean is that, if I had to choose a star to be like, it would be him. Just the type of good looking I'd like to be, intelligent, urbane, sophisticated but so much as to be stuffy, leaving ample room to be regular as well. There is a perfection about that Mr Montgomery.
-
... taking revenge for all that pernicious fatherly advice all those years.
PHOTO CAPTIONING FUN
in Games and Trivia
Posted
70
"Katy, how many times do I have to tell you, you're not going to find a butterfly that big."