dsclassic Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Ever watch a movie and there is some awkward scene - not only does the character or characters show the awkwardness with their facial expressions, but you as the viewer feel it as well ( thats a job well done by the director & the actor) Hopefully this is a thought provoking thread.. Time for breakfast Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daddysprimadonna Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 A lot of the very early talkies-much as I love them-have that quality, when the actors are playing upper-crust characters. Many of them just couldn't wrap their lips around an authentic-sounding upper-class accent. That's awkward to hear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jarhfive Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Oh, jeez...where do I start? Well, one very awkward movie moment is the last minute of Road To Wellville (1994). The hospital has blown up and Matthew Broderick and Bridget Fonda and John Cusack and some other people (I don't really remember the names...maybe, Anthony Hopkins?) make like statues and stare into space and wait...for what? I don't know...the director to say, "cut"?. In radio land...my Wellville scene would be called "dead air". Oh, yeah...same movie. Mumbling, incomprehensible Dana Carvey...he was pretty embarrassing to watch. Rusty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsclassic Posted January 2, 2008 Author Share Posted January 2, 2008 Movies where the lady is with her lover and her husband & his lover enter the same room Thats awkward... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MGMMayer Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 I've not only felt the awkwardness of this scene (which is SUPPOSED to be awkward), but other people who have watched this film have said that they felt it too..... In 20th Century Fox's 1937 musical "On The Avenue", Dick Powell has dumped Alice Faye for wealthy heiress Madeleine Carroll. Powell and Carroll have a big argument and split up. Powell decides to seek out Faye at their favorite Italian restaurant that he KNOWS she'll be at. He finds her there and sits down at her table, expecting her to take him back and carry on as if nothing had happened. Alice still carries a torch for Powell and is glad to see him.....but as he's sitting there going on and on about how glad he is to be rid of Carroll (who he still loves), Alice's smile fades. She realizes that no matter what Powell is telling her, he still loves Carroll and Faye doesn't stand a chance. Then Powell realizes that Faye sees right through him and she now knows how he REALLY feels about Carroll. It's quite an awkward, uncomfortable and sad moment, and it's effectively conveyed to the audience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jarhfive Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Okay, if we are talking about scenes designed to be awkward...any scene having one "experienced" gal flirting with one virginal guy. Usually, experienced woman sits somewhere on the man (e.g. his lap) and plays with one of his other body parts (e.g. hair...if male is bald, female rotates one of her fingers on his scalp skin). Switching genders for my "experienced, virginal" example does not really work...does it? For example...experienced man sitting on not so experienced woman. Oh, the pain. Dogs are usually better at projecting awkwardness than any two legged performer. Rusty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredCDobbs Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 What about when Ashley and Scarlett were caught hugging in the back room of the store? Also, a little later, when Scarlett arrived alone at Melanie's party? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackFavell Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 All right, FredC- how about in Jezebel, when Pres makes Julie go to the Olympus Ball in her red dress, causing everyone to shun them. They are left alone on the dance floor and when the music stops there is an uncomfortable silence. I don't know which is worse- the silence, or Henry Fonda's anger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daddysprimadonna Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 That's a good one, very awkward indeed. Especially since, after all Julie's bravado, you're not expecting her to display such embarrassment. You're kind of expecting her to brazen it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jezebel38 Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Katherine Hepburn is extremely akward in most of the scenes in "Alice Adams" either being a wallflower at the dance with her homemade violet corsage wilting, or when she has Fred MacMurray home to dinner and is trying to make a good impression on him. I feel ill at ease even trying to watch her in this - I feel so sorry for her character. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackFavell Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Oh, Alice Adams has them all beat, hands down. What a sad little film! I agree that it is hard to watch, but I still like it tremendously. I think Hepburn gives one of her best performances in it. It makes me squirm to watch her lie to Fred MacMurray... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daddysprimadonna Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Oh that's another good one. All through the movie you want to cringe for her needy gauche-ness. The movie made me want to read the book-in the book she's even worse, because she's so aware that she's desperate but can't seem to stop herself. And the ending is completely different. I also feel embarrassed for her in the movie where she wants to be an actress and goes around making a fool of herself-"Morning Glory". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CineMaven Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 I'm going with "Alice Adams" myself. The awkwardness was palpable across the screen and across seventy years. It's too painful for me to watch the movie again. (And there was Hattie McDaniel as the maid) which leads me to "GWTW." Scarlett going to the party alone didn't feel awkward to me; the way the camera dollied into her when the door opened was heaven. It felt to me more like a "awwww sheeeet, what's gonna happen next..." moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daddysprimadonna Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 I agree. And even though Scarlett was initially forced into attending the party, at least she had the guts to brazen it out, and that's with Rhett suddenly abandoning her to her fate, after making her go. Almost the exact opposite of Julie's scenario. Totally agree with you re: "Alice Adams". "Painful" is exactly the feeling one gets watching her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackFavell Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 I agree about the dolly shot, CineMaven. As I recall, it comes in from slightly above Scarlett and gets close enough to feel a little claustrophobic. Maybe it's just the depth of the shot that makes it feel that way. I also like the look on Vivien Leigh's face- her head is down, but she looks up under her eyebrows as if someone or something was pushing her down. We see Scarlett's fleeting emotions go from shame and irritation, then anger, then maybe self-justification? then resignation. Vivien Leigh had the nerve to play against the scene, choosing some opposing emotions that most others wouldn't think of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CineMaven Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 Jack & PrimaDonna...I think Vivien Leigh played the hell out of that role. Coquettish... vixen...besotted...passive-aggressive...ruthless. I think this was the role of the century. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jarhfive Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 Here's my idea for the remade, modernized "Alice Adams"...and I'm giving it away for free. Hire somebody like Angelina Jolie to play Alice Adams. Allow one snub from the Fred MacMurray character and allow one "damn...damn...damn" from the Fred Stone character. After the second snub and "damn"...Angelina's Alice wedges herself into a tight-fitting leather or vinyl outfit and Alice performs her super-human, martial art, acrobatic thing on the a**hole Fred and Fred characters. The End. Maybe we could hire Hugh Grant for the Fred MacMurray character. Rusty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coopsgirl Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 *One Sunday Afternoon* (1933) has some awkward moments involving Frances Fuller's character. She's a kinda plain but cute girl who's in love with Gary Cooper's character but he loves Fay Wray instead. Fay ends up marrying one of Gary's friends and as part of a misunderstanding Gary and Frances end up getting married too. The romantic scenes between Gary and Frances are played very well in that we can see how much she loves him and he's nice to her but not really romantic towards her b/c he doesn't love her and she knows it. One of the best scenes is when Gary gets home from work and sits down at the table. It's their 2nd anniversary and Frances is hinting around asking him if he knows what day it is. He just keeps saying 'sure, it's tuesday' until she starts to cry a little. Then he sees the card sitting on his plate with a little poem on it and he remembers it's their anniversary. He says 'Say, two years huh?' as he walks over to her in a forced happy tone. She turns to him and just grabs him and hugs him. He doesn't really know what to do and he kinda meekly puts his arms around her too. She says 'I love ya an awful lot Biff' and he doesn't really say anything back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregory1965 Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 The scenes in Since You Went Away where Jennifer Jones and Robert Walker have their first date are wonderful to watch as you see their awkwardness blossom into romance. Both actors do a great job of conveying the nervousness and (in his case shyness) which is all the more amazing when you consider that Jones and Walker were actually married at the time and, I believe, their marriage was unraveling while this was filming. Actually, I have a knot of sympathy in my stomach for Robert Walker and his complete awkwardness in just about every scene he's in throughout the film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daddysprimadonna Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 Completely agree-as far as movie roles go, I also believe it was the role of the century for an actress-maybe even the role of movie history. I have yet to see a role for an actress of equal importance in a movie of equal importance and grandeur and endurance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CineMaven Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 "GWTW" is on in five minutes. Get ready for the whirlwind known as Scarlett O'Hara. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daddysprimadonna Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 Break out the hoop skirts and mint juleps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CineMaven Posted January 5, 2008 Share Posted January 5, 2008 Dammit, I fell asleep after Scarlett greeted her Dad ten minutes into the film. I knew I should've taped it. But it's burned in my memory. One of my favorite moments was Gable on the bridge with Leigh when he asks her: "Kiss me Scarlett. Kiss me. Once." That's one moment among many classic stunning moments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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