Movie Rambles

[MarianStarrett]

> {quote:title=lzcutter wrote:}{quote}

> Molo,

>

> Best JaYne movie (for my money): *The Girl Can't Help It* which does occasionally turn up on TCM.

>

> Beautiful color and great music. Oh and JaYne.

 

That sounds like a fun movie Ms. Cutter. I'll have to add that one to my DVD queue

[CineMaven]

"I'll be drinking a toast to Letter Lady, the Lest We Forget Lady, John Doe, Bab's Man

and the Lips-n-Eyes Man as well as all the rest, so I need my strength." - MissGoddess.

 

Well, this time tomorrow, we begin.

 

I finally saw Philip's Retrospective and he really featured your girl very prominently. I have to see "Waterloo Bridge" again, but I don't think anyone could show as much emotion with her just her eyes as did the incomparable Vivien Leigh. Have you seen his retrospective? Very nice.

 

But then there's "Gone With the Wind" on Tuesday. THE motion picture that many are measured by. And whoooooooo picked it?

 

I'm looking for Vern too, by the by. It seems like the pirates aren't only in Somalia.

[JackFavell]

>I'm going back a few pages here, but I wanted to let you know that after I read your rambling about Night Must Fall, I got interested in Emlyn Williams (the writer side) enough to go to the library and get 4 of his books, including his two autobiographies and Beyond Belief, the non-fiction book you mentioned. Well, I just finished it, and now I know what the Moor Murders were! Yikes! Mr. Williams was such a good writer and the subject matter so "beyond belief": the results were chilling. It also took some concentration, because he used quite a bit of Northern England and Scottish dialect, and threw in some French as well. Good exercise for my brain.

 

Oh, that is so fantastic, Cinemafan! That you got interested in his writing because of our rambles makes me really happy. YOU are inspiring me to make a trip to the library. I could use some mental exercise, plus the Moor Murders book sounds really interesting, if a bit creepy. Maybe I can get Mr. Williams back on the shelves here too, although my library is rather quirky and might already have some of his books. I am excited to see if I can find his autobiographies. I'll let you know what I come up with....

[MissGoddess]

Hi cinemafan! How neat that you checked out those books! You've made

me even more curious than ever about the multi-talented Mr. Williams. I've

often sought out the books that movies are based on, it's led me to discover

some favorites or just some examples of authors' work I'd never come across

otherwise.

 

Glad you stopped in.

[MarianStarrett]

> {quote:title=JackFavell wrote:}{quote}

> Maybe I can get Mr. Williams back on the shelves here too, although my library is rather quirky and might already have some of his books. I am excited to see if I can find his autobiographies. I'll let you know what I come up with....

 

Mr. Williams definitely sounds enticing, I should check that out as well.

[MissGoddess]

Hello, TCMaven:

 

Well, this time tomorrow, we begin.

 

You are so fortunate to be off work. I have to work

the next day and I may not spend my evening with friends because

my longwindded choice won't be over 'till practically the next day.

But, we'll see.

 

I'll be trying to record everything I can. I don't even have THE LETTER

yet so this is the perfect way to get it in my collection: with an

expert commentary.

 

Yes, I saw Phil's spot and loved what he said about Vivling and Waterloo Bridge.

[Bronxgirl48]

Before the Big Week starting tomorrow (congratulations everyone!) I just want to quickly say that I finally caught up with THEY WERE EXPENDABLE and it was a wonderful and moving experience, one that also resonated with me on many quietly powerful levels, not the least of which is the meaning of sacrifice, duty, and friendship. This is now, after HERE COMES MR. JORDAN and NIGHT MUST FALL, my favorite Robert Montgomery performance. And this has also become a Duke role I will cherish. I love how Brick and Rusty's personalities are so different, and yet they are both passionately devoted to the ugly job at hand, and also fiercely loyal to their men.

 

Another Pappy masterpiece!

[ElusivePimpernel]

> {quote:title=Bronxgirl48 wrote:}{quote}

> Another Pappy masterpiece!

 

It really is one of his best movies. I was watching a documentary about the making of "The Searchers" just the other day, and I was impressed when one of the people who knew Ford well mentioned that all of his accomplishments as a filmmaker didn't mean nearly as much to him as his accomplishments in the U.S. Navy - this man was a real patriot.

[CineMaven]

Well that's about one of the few good things about working for the Bored of Dread (Board of Ed.) is the time off we get. I hope you make this Programmer week a fun one for yourself to share with people who care for you.

 

And as for "They Were Expendable" Bronxgirl, I did tape it and hope to watch it after the excitement of this week calms down. I remember reading about it in this very thread (if I'm not mistaken) and thinking I missed something special. Now that I've come to my recent appreciation of Robert Montgomery I look forward to seeing it.

 

I hope your rambles are unimpeded. The news showed the pirates were caught and dispatched; the captain is safe.

 

If only that could be our fate. ;-)

[MarianStarrett]

After way too long a while, I finally caught up with my recording of "The Magic Box", which I'd been saving since the day it premiered on TCM earlier this year. What a charming movie! I'm sure some who saw it have already written about it at length, all I can say is that Robert Donat was magnificent as the British inventor, William Friese-Greene. Of course equally brilliant were Margaret Johnston and Maria Schell as his two wives.

 

The movie also has a bunch of great cameos by a lot of the British actors who were around at the time, the best cameos being those of Laurence Olivier as a constable and Margaret Rutherford as a society lady. Even Peter Ustinov can be briefly glimpsed in the last scene of the movie.

 

Well, that was just a brief aside, I'm sure, given that most people here will be talking about the guest programmers today.

[Bronxgirl48]

Maven, THEY WERE EXPENDABLE is indeed a special film.

 

 

But speaking of special, all of us who truly care about this little community are thrilled, proud, and excited to see you and the other Fan Programmers shine this week. You are a part of us, and we are a part of you, and the name of the game is team spirit.

 

Sacrifice, duty, and friendship.

[MissGoddess]

Maven, THEY WERE EXPENDABLE is indeed a special film.

 

But speaking of special, all of us who truly care about this little community are thrilled, proud,

and excited to see you and the other Fan Programmers shine this week. You are a part of us, and we are a part of you, and the name of the game is team spirit.

 

Sacrifice, duty, and friendship.

 

You said it, "sister"!

 

 

 

[texanna]

> {quote:title=MarianStarrett wrote:}{quote}

> After way too long a while, I finally caught up with my recording of "The Magic Box", which I'd been saving since the day it premiered on TCM earlier this year. What a charming movie! I'm sure some who saw it have already written about it at length, all I can say is that Robert Donat was magnificent as the British inventor, William Friese-Greene. Of course equally brilliant were Margaret Johnston and Maria Schell as his two wives.

>

> The movie also has a bunch of great cameos by a lot of the British actors who were around at the time, the best cameos being those of Laurence Olivier as a constable and Margaret Rutherford as a society lady. Even Peter Ustinov can be briefly glimpsed in the last scene of the movie.

>

> Well, that was just a brief aside, I'm sure, given that most people here will be talking about the guest programmers today.

 

 

that is supposedly one of teh best british mopvies of the 50s, and it seems they got every actor in the uk they could to make a cameo or have a small part.

 

dont remember if i recorded taht one, but i am pretty sure it is showing again next month B-)

[MissGoddess]

I want my own TWONKY!!!!!!!

 

Did anyone catch this adorable movie???

 

tcmprogrammr---where do you find this stuff? It's so great. I wish I had

recorded it since I had to leave half-way through.

 

The only other *Arch Obeler* movie I've seen is FIVE but I think I like this one better.

Several wonderful little character parts and of course, the TWONKY himself is too cute.

I think it would fit perfectly in my apartment, much better than the sleek, snobby black

Sony TV I have which steadfastly refuses to do my dishes or produce money.

[CineMaven]

RAMBLING ABOUT THE GREATEST MOVIE EVER MADE INTRO'ED BY THE GREATEST FAN OF THE GREATEST MOVIE EVER MADE!

 

Do not squander time. That is the stuff life is made of.

 

I can?t talk about it with the love and depth you could MissyG. But I?d like to just point out a couple of bullet points and highlights (for me) of the greatest movie ever made. A stream-of-consciousness if you will:

 

* From the beginning

Scarlett?s dad tells her she won?t be happy with Ashley. Everyone can see this accept Scarlett. There are none so blind as those who ...

 

* We take the journey with Scarlett; we watch her grow from a bratty impetuous headstrong girl into a woman beaten up by life but prevailing and meeting challenges head on. Maybe a little crying and b1tching along the way...but Meeting them head on. I admire her.

 

* Mrs. O?Hara (Barbara O?Neil) was maternal and very sexy.

 

* Those eyes of Vivien Leigh?s are amazing. Oh yeah...Bette Davis eyes prevail, but Vivien Leigh?s eyes (and eybrows) are sublime. They can be soft and happy, sexy, girlish and a cold steely-eyed b1tch. I love all the looks she offers us. And that smile...so flirtatious. She is absolutely beautiful. Yeah, Hedy Lamarr?s my girl, but Vivien Leigh is in the role of the century and it fits her like a glove.

 

* Scarlett surrounded by all the men at the barbecue, but what does it matter when she cannot have the man she wants. A tragedy.

 

* The wooden-headed Ashley Wilkes. Man enough? I don?t think he loved Scarlett. He should have just made love to her and be done with it. They really would not have been a good fit.

 

* Those eyes again. She smiles greeting Rhett when he brings Bonnie back from Europe, but when he mocks her, the hurt look in her face...her eyes. It?s all there.

 

* Gable as Rhett Butler. To die for...he stands so close to Leigh in many of their scenes. I feel faint watching that. It?s seventy years later and I feel faint waching him standing so close to her, big, burly, with a lusty laugh and his hair so long and hands so big and eyes of slate blue. Was Lombard lucky or WHAT???!!!!

 

* May I again talk of the eyes. As Scarlett watches Ashley kiss Melanie goodbye when the war begins and Johnny Reb enlists; as he rides away. Whew!!

 

* Rhett grows as well. Like Rick Blaine he?s the only cause he?s interested in. But eventually sees the errors of his way for the lost cause of the South. Gable as Rhett does call a spade a spade but Scarlett doesn?t want to see herself as Rhett sees her.

 

* Max Steiner is a genius. His music informs...underscores. It?s rousing as the opening theme shows. It says, this film is important. And then Steiner also breaks your heart (Ashley leaving...Belle Watling?s theme) I have the soundtrack so I hum along. Steiner is killer. Going back to yesterday?s screening of ?THE LETTER? for a hot second, the music he used for Gale Sondergaard seeing her dead husband is a piece I wait for. (By the by, I love Lafitte's talking of the Sondergaardian Glare. I'm jealous I didn't think of that).

 

* It?s heartbreaking to see Scarlett in such pain, her face stained with tears when Ashley goes off to war. ?Tell me you love me. I?d live on it the rest of my life.? She?ll accept Ashley?s crumbs. So sad.

 

* Again Vivien Leigh?s face when at the hospital and seeing that man?s leg cut without any thing to numb the pain. It?s all in her face. And then she rushes out of the hospital and sees the world collapsing around her in chaos. Whoa!

 

* ?Whose gonna milk that cow. We?s house workers.? Well that says it all, doesn?t it...without hitting people over the head.

 

* Max Steiner gave Belle Watling a poignancy that touched me. She also was in love with someone who loved someone else, who loved someone else. (Did no]/ui] one love someone who loved them back??? GeeZ!) The way Rhett pinched her cheek with loving familiarity. I love the way he says: ?Goodbye Belle? and the camera stays on her. Sad!

 

*And a shout-out to the great Hattie McDaniel who found just the right note: ?He?s her husband, ain?t he??

 

She?s a wise old soul and sees All. And she's given a lot of lee-way to speak her mind even with the limitations of the time. Even Rhett says it when he says that Mammy: ?...is one of the few people whose respect I?d like to have.? I think that was positively UNHEARD in real life or in films of that time. And when Gable says it...I believe it. I smile when he has his scenes with Hattie becuz I think of them in ?SARATOGA.?

 

Vivien Leigh is abslutely and utterly BEAUTIFUL in this movie. When she?s attacked in the woods when she?s crying her eyes out when Ashley has to go back to war, when she?s standing on the staircase when the Yankee deserter attacked her. And in that red dress. How many looks does she have...so smart in that blue and white number when India discovers her and Ashley in the stock room. And that RED DRESS!!! To die for. Standing there nervous at first and then that arched eyebrow of defiance. Love the camera dollying in to her. She?s simply breathtaking. Every actress in Hollywood must have swooned at the way Leigh played Scarlett. I wonder how Margaret Mitchell felt seeing her characters come to life. Brit or no Brit, Leigh made one hell of a Southern belle.

 

I can wax on and on about Vivien Leigh...but let me give Clark Gable some attention. OH MY GOD!!!! HE?S DASHING AND GORGEOUS AND LUSCIOUS AND LUSTY AND ALL OF THAT AND A BAG OF CHIPS!!! He is so handsome in his outfits. Those pants, vest and hats. Dashing did I say? He laughs at Scarlett, he wants Scarlett, he wants to spoil her, but he wants a Woman too. Yeah. Did you see how often he stood so so closely to Leigh. My pulse raced. I loved their scene on the bridge when he leaves her, Mellie and Prissy. He?s going to kiss her and she says: ?Don?t hold me like that.?

 

?You?re a heartless creature but that?s part of your charm.?

 

And Scarlett still resists a man whose gone through HELL for her? I dunno girl. (Taking that buggy carriage through the train yards. Breathtaking. The flames; metaphoric for what he really does go through to get her).

 

Back to the bridge: THE kiss on the bridge. He?s practically pleading, begging her to love him. No longer braggadocious or boasting or brash; quietly asking her to kiss him ?once.? He wants to know at least just once that she loves him. Even if she pretends...for her to kiss him really. ?...once.? That word once is killer.

 

She smacks him and they back to their bantering.

 

Gable and DeHavilland are so gentle together. I loved watching them. DeHavilland?s Mellie brings out Rhett?s soft side. And Scarlett brings out the animal in him; but he wants to take care of her too.

 

* Victor Fleming...look at all he mastered and orchestrated. What a timeless gargantuan epic. Am I saying too much...being too schmaltzy? I saw this movie for the first time at sixteen on a class school trip. When the class left the theatre, I stayed and watched again. I?ve never been the same. I might not have watched this movie last night if it hadn't been for our guest programmer week. You did it justice in your intro.

 

'Scuse any typos. I wanted to get this all down and on the thread).

[MissGoddess]

Oh my goodness MAVEN!! You're breaking my heart, what a wonderful, wonderful post!

 

I have LOTS to reply to. And I want to take my time doing it so I may do justice to your

rambling. Thank you ma'am, with all my heart, I thank you. (Hey! That line Rhett mumurs

so touchingly to Melanie almost sounds like the first part of your girl's in The Letter! )

 

_Max Steiner_ _is_ sublime. And he scored this monster-sized baby in a dead heat

because Selznick gave him comparatively so little time.

[MarianStarrett]

> {quote:title=MissGoddess wrote:}{quote}

> I want my own TWONKY!!!!!!!

>

> Did anyone catch this adorable movie???

>

 

I recorded it but haven't watched it all the way through yet. Some of the scenes looked very interesting, and I think I could use a Twonky myself.

[MarianStarrett]

> {quote:title=CineMaven wrote:}{quote}

> * Those eyes of Vivien Leighs are amazing. Oh yeah...Bette Davis eyes prevail, but Vivien Leighs eyes (and eybrows) are sublime. They can be soft and happy, sexy, girlish and a cold steely-eyed b1tch. I love all the looks she offers us. And that smile...so flirtatious. She is absolutely beautiful. Yeah, Hedy Lamarrs my girl, but Vivien Leigh is in the role of the century and it fits her like a glove.

>

 

I love all of those physical attributes of Miss Leigh, as well. However I would also add her voice, which is at different times flirtatious, determined, feisty, and courageous. She really did have everything to be the perfect Scarlet. :x

[Bronxgirl48]

THE TWONKY was such a treat! (I commented on it in Ollie's thread)

 

It was delightfully weird, and was the guy who played Coach Trout Veta's lawyer in HARVEY? They both had that dry sense of humor and delivery, and even looked a bit alike to my jaunticed eyes.

 

And I swear I thought I saw the two t.v. sets, um, getting together.....

 

Message was edited by: Bronxgirl48

[MissGoddess]

CineMaven, I've decided I'm going to reply to your GWTW ramble after this weekend---YOU

KNOW WHY. Everything will be fresh in my mind and I can respond as you deserve.

 

In the meantime, FrankGrimes can chime in and say ALL the lovely things he feels about

HIS favorite film, Gone with the Wind.

[MissGoddess]

> {quote:title=Bronxgirl48 wrote:}{quote}

> THE TWONKY was such a treat! (I commented on it in Ollie's thread)

>

> It was delightfully weird, and was the guy who played Coach Trout Veta's lawyer in HARVEY? They both had that dry sense of humor and delivery, and even looked a bit alike to my jaunticed eyes.

>

 

"Coach Trout" looked and sounded SO familiar, so I looked him up just now in IMDb.com

and YOU ARE RIGHT, it's Billy Lynn who played "Judge Gaffney"!!

 

> And I swear I thought I saw the two t.v. sets, um, getting together.....

>

> Message was edited by: Bronxgirl48

 

Lol, oh, I missed that part. I only saw about 20-25 minutes but I was "hooked" on that "TV".

 

So, did the little "Twonky" ever actually play a television show?? He cleaned dishes

marvelously well.

 

It just struck me, from what little I saw this movie even reminds me of HARVEY in

the fact that you've got a guy who's living with a, well, if not a "pooka" then something

just as hard to explain!! No wonder they picked Billy Lynn.

[MarianStarrett]

> {quote:title=MissGoddess wrote:}{quote}

> So, did the little "Twonky" ever actually play a television show?? He cleaned dishes

> marvelously well.

>

 

Alas, the Twonky seems to have never played a single TV show - didn't even get plugged in.

 

I would love to have a Twonky that would wash the dishes, but not one that would tell me what to do or to keep me from drinking as much coffee as I would like.

 

 

(SPOILER ALERT)

 

(SPOILER ALERT)

 

 

P.S. There is actually one tiny moment where a scene from a Western movie is seen on one of the TVs in the movie, but it is not supposed to be the real Twonky, although of course you could assume that it's new generation of Twonky.

[JackFavell]

Cinemaven-

 

I just loved your comments on GWTW. You really cut to the core of things. I have never thought of Scarlett as heartbreaking, soulful, or simply sad, but your notes actually made me see her VERY differently. She is described as willful and selfish so much that I forget that she was deeply in love.with a man who was dead inside. You tapped into the pain and heartache, and made me see her sad soul, "willing to live on crumbs". And this from the woman who rose up out of the dirt to say she would never be hungry again.... but she remains hungry throughout the picture.... never satisfied by Ashley; taking all the bad that the gossipy women can dish out, without ever getting the benefit of a true love affair with him.

 

I notice more and more every time I see it, the relationship of Melanie and Scarlett. I love it. Scarlett wants so badly to hate Melanie, but the truth is, she doesn't. She says she does, but..... I find the point at which she doesn't comes earlier in the movie each time I see it.....

 

I know I mentioned this in another thread, but I think Alice thought the movie was really Mammy's story.

 

I thought the other fascinating thing about her take on the movie was that when she got up this morning she immediately said "I loved the music in that movie, Mom. It was beautiful."

[MarianStarrett]

> {quote:title=JackFavell wrote:}{quote}

> Cinemaven-

>

> I just loved your comments on GWTW. You really cut to the core of things. I have never thought of Scarlett as heartbreaking, soulful, or simply sad, but your notes actually made me see her VERY differently. She is described as willful and selfish so much that I forget that she was deeply in love.with a man who was dead inside. You tapped into the pain and heartache, and made me see her sad soul, "willing to live on crumbs".

 

I'm definitely going to try to keep some of those observations next time I watch *GWTW*, because up until fairly recently I have still usually thought of Scarlet as a bit of a spoiled child who just craves attention from the men, and any will do so long as he's reasonably good looking. I also don't know that I have seen Ashley as a man who was "dead inside" in the past, just a very passive person.

 

I shall reconsider some of these long-held assumptions about these characters. B-)

 

> I thought the other fascinating thing about her take on the movie was that when she got up this morning she immediately said "I loved the music in that movie, Mom. It was beautiful."

 

That is absolutely the best thing I have heard all day. It is also sort of what happened to me, in terms of liking classical music and/or symphonic scores in the movies. For me it would have been either *GWTW* or *Casablanca*.

[Bronxgirl48]

Maven I just love your GWTW post; your consciousness was doing some great streaming. I ate up every word.

 

I can't wait to ramble further about it with you and Miss G.