CineMaven Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 HA!! Truer words were never spoken. But I did like his voice...and his long hair. Does Virginia Leith remind you (anyone?) of actress Sean Young?? And how 'bout Mary Astor and handsome Jeffrey Hunter, hiding behind eyeglasses and a pipe. A little IMDB: Virginia Leith 15 October 1932, Cleveland, Ohio, USA Mini Biography Sultry, smoky-voiced brunette actress, a former model, who was put under contract by 20th Century-Fox in the early 1950s. She had a showy role and acquitted herself well in the thriller Violent Saturday (1955), but her career quickly lost major ground when Fox didn't renew her contract in 1956. She later achieved cult status as the disembodied fianc?e in the cheapjack sci-fi film "classic" The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1962)" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronxgirl48 Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 I think Sean's more charismatic. (especially in NO WAY OUT) But i can see a bit of a resemblance with Ginny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronxgirl48 Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 I love Jeffrey Hunter with his 50's "Hi, honey, I'm home" pipe, and tweed jacket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CineMaven Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 Boy oh boy...I'd play Donna Reed for him. Yum! Yum! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronxgirl48 Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 Me, too, complete with pearl necklace. But NOW, I'm gettin' ready for....Anna Magnani in MAMA ROMA! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
route66 Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 > But NOW, I'm gettin' ready for....Anna Magnani in MAMA ROMA! Yes, "Mamma Roma" seems like a very good movie, and Magnani is usually terrific in everything. Print quality looks pretty good, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissGoddess Posted March 23, 2009 Author Share Posted March 23, 2009 Terrific ramble on A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, BronxGirl! You really made the movie and all its characters come to life for me. I thought that monologue scene when Dorothy's "Kate" is giving birth was perfect. I really feel for her character, she's so worn and tired beyond her years for all the too hard work she's had to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackFavell Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 Bronxie, Your ATGIB post had me gulping - not coffee, but trying to keep my tears back.... Ted Donaldson IS a street kid..... but the scene I like best is the scene right at the beginning, in which he is eyeing the pennies laid out on the table. He asks if it isn't alright to break a rule once in a while. Impossibly, Katie calls from the other room, "Neely, you cannot have any of those pennies to buy an ice cream cone. They go in the bank as usual." (Parents always know, don't they? even from another room). He COULD take them.... you see him thinking about it...the thought flickering across his face, but Katie keeps him on the straight and narrow. I love how he throws himself around the neighborhood - he is tough. He drags a kid back upstairs who knocked Katie's wash bucket down. He makes him bring the bucket back AND roughs him up just a little too. He will be OK, because he has strength, but he also knows when to break the rules and when not to. The whole beginning of the movie is a subtle way of showing of how much groveling and sucking up Katie has to do..... it is no wonder she is hard. She scrubs all day long, from morning to night. She must also look good for the dreadful insurance man, a weak and yet pompous fellow who enjoys carrying nasty gossip from door to door in the tenements as he takes what little money the tenants have. He even gets the special cup - a fact that I am sure galls Katie's fine sensibilities. You can see how she used to be from McGuire's incredible performance. She has had to come down a bit in the world, I think.... and her high morals are put into question everyday. She carries the burden of three children, Francie, Neely AND Johnny. And Johnny.... there is poetry in him, this wonderful man. But there is also desperation. After possibly the most beautiful speech in the whole movie, in which Johnny talks about the tree coming up out of the cement, pushing it's way through, i spite of it's surroundings, and the birds singing their hearts out even here, in the slums..... my heart sinks when I hear him say, "You know, if I get a little extra in tips this time, I'm gonna put 2 dollars on the nose of a horse I know..... " all in the attempt to give Francie ( and himself) hope that they might take a trip on a real train. Living like normal people, not tenement dwellers. They know there is something better, they just can't get there...... Johnny lives for the look in Katie's eye that tells him he is STILL the man he was.... but the look comes less and less often now. The family is on the last step down before total annihilation. James Dunn is heartbreaking. He was an alcoholic himself, and Kazan had to vouch for him when he cast Dunn as Johnny. Dunn went on to win the Academy award for his performance. And he should have.... Elia Kazan directs this movie with brutal honesty from the viewpoint of someone who has lived in a slum himself. Unsentimental is right, Bronxie...there is an almost documentary quality about the way life is depicted. No Hollywood poverty here - this is the real thing and it is not just gritty, it is terrifying. Kazan makes each character sympathetic and unsympathetic in turn. He lets the camera go, and films these people at their best and worst. No pulled punches. The family is on the edge of a precipice.... and the thing that will pull them through is the very thing that seems so useless to Katie and everyone else in the tenement....except Francie and Johnny. Katie will come to know and understand Johnny only through Francie's writing. And this writing, which is almost thrown by the wayside as a useless talent, will transform everything..... Peggy Ann Garner plays this movie from right within this milieu. She is so deep inside herself, she doesn't even see how close she comes to losing her beloved education..... She is hopeful, without being cloying in any way.....In fact, she represents hope itself, but her hope is tempered with a liberal dose of reality thrown in. Hope that will not die, and hope that actually wins out in the end, in spite of every obstacle. You know that Francie is a success story in a world full of failure. I think the reason for her success is the combination of loving father and practical mother. They both strive, in their own ways, to provide the things that their kids MUST have. The movie is a plea for understanding... Francie wants desperately for her mother to understand not just her, but her father as well. And in the end, Katie must beg for understanding as well, from Francie. I feel like I cannot even scratch the surface here of this deeply heartfelt movie, nor put into words what it is really about. It is at one and the same time bleak and dizzyingly optimistic. Again, the movie has poetry in it.... it shows the depths of sorrow and the heights of love. Aw, just go watch the movie...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissGoddess Posted March 23, 2009 Author Share Posted March 23, 2009 Wendy, you and Barbara ought to be hired by Fox to do the commentary on their DVD for this film. You ladies would be a sight more interesting to listen to than most people they could choose. Bravo! I just love Neeley. You can see that if he stays on the straight and narrow, he'll be a good man and a stronger, perhaps more peaceful if also prosaic man than his father. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackFavell Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 Oh, you just put me to shame in one sentence! Yes, prosaic is just right. He has none of Johnny's poetry... but he will make it, I think. Neely doesn't waste his time on mush. He will do what his mother says and go to work for Mr. McGarrity, maybe someday becoming a businessman or a bartender. I like very much that each of the kids is the embodiment of one parent or the other. It feels very true. Did you notice that J. Farrell MacDonald was in this movie, playing the junkman? Then again, what movie wasn't he in... "Here's an extra penny, because you're a nice little girl." Notice the uncomfortable look that Francie has on her face.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissGoddess Posted March 23, 2009 Author Share Posted March 23, 2009 Ooooh my goodness, no! I totally forgot "Mac" was in it!! Another Mac sighting. Ha! Poor Francie. You can see she has some of her mother's pride and easily offended dignity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
movieman1957 Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 >Notice the uncomfortable look that Francie has on her face.... She just looks mad. My thanks to each of you for this discussion. I've had it taped for a couple of weeks but life being what it is has conspired against my watching it yet. I'm trying. If I don't get too far behind I hope to have something worthy of adding. Hoever, based on what all of you have written that will take some doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissGoddess Posted March 23, 2009 Author Share Posted March 23, 2009 Chris, you _always_ have something "worth adding"! As Dame May Whitty said to her Danny, "Silly boy!" ha!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackFavell Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 > {quote:title=movieman1957 wrote:}{quote} > >Notice the uncomfortable look that Francie has on her face.... > > She just looks mad. You're not far off there, Mister! The jobs that require a "cute little girl" always fall to Francie. She wheedles that extra money out of the junkman (her brother forces her to do so - THAT is who she is looking at in the picture), and her mother has her go to the butcher to make sure that he isn't shortchanging them on the meat he grinds.... a hard lesson they learned along the way, I'm sure. Francie always seems to do the "dirty work" in this family, maybe because she looks so innocent. > My thanks to each of you for this discussion. I've had it taped for a couple of weeks but life being what it is has conspired against my watching it yet. I'm trying. If I don't get too far behind I hope to have something worthy of adding. Hoever, based on what all of you have written that will take some doing. Please join in whenever you can! You always have something great to say. There is another scene, full of that pride and offended dignity, MissG. When Francie goes into the 5 and 10 cent store, and is dreamily looking at a doll (I think), the store clerk officiously comes forward to ask her if she needs help. He obviously thinks she is a shoplifter. Francie draws herself up, and says, "I am merely looking. I have a right. I have MONEY." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissGoddess Posted March 23, 2009 Author Share Posted March 23, 2009 Francie draws herself up, and says, "I am merely looking. I have a right. I have MONEY." Ha haaaa!! What a picture! Francie already knows the power of filthy lucre to put people in their places. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronxgirl48 Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 Wow. jackie, you're real smart to put it down like that! -- about Johnny's desperation, Francie's pride, her being her mother's practical daughter and her father's dreamy kindred spirit, Neely's rough-and-tumble golden heart. I love the opening titles: to the old fashioned sound of a hurdy-gurdy, we see an "A", then "Tree", then "Grows", then "In", then "Brooklyn", like a child's schoolbook primer. This, together with the music, evokes a sense of nostalgia for the period that the story is set in, but it also represents the "growing pains" of Francie as she's leaving childhood behind and coming to terms with the world around her. Message was edited by: Bronxgirl48 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronxgirl48 Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 A lovely shot during the filming. Message was edited by: Bronxgirl48 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
molo14 Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 I'm not having much luck with my rambles. I settled down to watch *Night Must Fall* last night, only to discover it was the 1964 version. That means I don't even have the 1937 version, like I thought I did. I have a large stack of dvdrs I need to finalize and label. Somewhere in there is *A Tree Grows in Brooklyn*. I'm going to work on that tonight. I decided not to watch the 1964 version of *Night Must Fall* and ended up watching another Roz and Bob flick called *Live, Love and Learn*. I've seen *A Kiss Before Dying* and remember liking Wagner's performance but it's been too long since I've seen it to comment in depth. Anyway , I've been enjoying what everyone else has to say, while being careful to avoid spoilers. I've seen both *Night Must Fall* and *A Tree Grows in Brooklyn* but it's been so long ago that I don't remember all the details. I'll be back on track shortly. I know you are all just on the edge of your seats about all this aren't you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CineMaven Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 Well I know I am. I've read your thoughts on Gloria Grahame, so I know you can ramble with the best of 'em. Get your library in order. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CineMaven Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 Well I know I am. I've read your thoughts on Gloria Grahame, so I know you can ramble with the best of 'em. Get your library in order. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rohanaka Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 you are all just on the edge of your seats about all this aren't you? In a word..... YES!!! :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackFavell Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 Joan looks like she's gonna reach over and smooch Lloyd Nolan..... Ooops. I just slipped off the edge of my seat....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
route66 Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 > I know you are all just on the edge of your seats about all this aren't you? Always, molo. Always Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronxgirl48 Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 > {quote:title=JackFavell wrote:}{quote} > Joan looks like she's gonna reach over and smooch Lloyd Nolan..... She'll have to get behind ME. > > Ooops. I just slipped off the edge of my seat....... molo, you could write about the phone book and make it interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronxgirl48 Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 Note the price of the bread. I'm sure it's 5 cents and not 50. Message was edited by: Bronxgirl48 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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