Movie Rambles

[butterscotchgreer]

sorry ive been distracted with watching Irma la Douce. i just love this movie! its so funny! i especially lke the ending. its the best part! does anyone else like this movie? the only part im not so crazy about is the way the girls dress, although i know it fits with the story, so i wont complain. i just love the wedding dress Shirley MacLaine wears.....oh come now frankie you knew i would mention the wedding, i always have to! heehee!

 

 

Let's say we compromise: I'll move to the south of France and you can come visit.

 

hey i like that one!

 

Message was edited by: butterscotchgreer

[MissGoddess]

[movieman1957]

I'm here.

[rohanaka]

[FrankGrimes]

You are way past helping, Blondle.

[Bronxgirl48]

[LonesomePolecat]

this conversation's taken a weird turn, so I'm inserting a picture of my cat Harpo who reminds us of the polar bears in Disney Earth (fantastic movie!), and our cat Chihiro who reminds us of the gazelles:

 

this was two years ago---he's colored like a polar bear now---more golden brown tint--and fat

 

Anyone else seen Disney Earth? whatcha think?

[HollywoodGolightly]

Lonesome,

Harpo and Chihiro look very adooorable!!! :x

 

Thank you for sharing those photos, they are truly lovely.

 

I've been hearing about Disney Earth and even had invites for pre-release screenings, but I've not had a chance to watch it yet. I do think I will watch it, eventually.

[rohanaka]

Hello there friends....

 

I just had the best fun tonight that I have had in a while watching a really enjoyable (YET another) HAWKS film.... (This has been a "banner year" for me w/ his films... ha! I think this makes 4 NEW ones of his I have seen since the first of the year... and probably 6 or 7 all total of his movies that I have seen since January)

 

A friend of mine had a copy of Hatari that she did not need anymore... and I was lucky enough to get it.... and I have to tell you..... OH MY GOLLY... the kidling and I had ourselves a good old time watching this one.

 

 

I have only seen parts of this film in the past.... so did not have a really good fix on what it was all about other than a bunch of people running around Africa chasing wild animals. So it was really a lot of fun to get to watch it all the way through. And as already mentioned... the kidling really enjoyed it a lot too. (Though the QT conked out on us in the middle of it, the old fogey!! ha.)

 

Now... I have to confess.... this is NOT Howard Hawks best film, I know. And it is certainly not the best DUKE film I ever saw either. But it WAS fun. And to quote Dr. Seuss... fun is good. :-)

 

It has PLENTY of action, plenty of comedy, some romance, some great scenery, entertaining music, AND ( the biggest draw for the short person) PLENTY of footage of all those wild animals.(I gotta say... after watching this movie... I will have a whole new appreciation the next time I go to the ZOO for all the work that goes into bringing wild animals over from other countries!!! Ha. )

 

And we even got to use this movie as a Math tutorial.... ha. When the first baby elephant showed up.... the Duke comments that it took 20 goats to make enough milk to feed it.... so when the SECOND baby elephant showed up... my little smarty pants turns to me and says.... "WOW, Mom, that's FORTY GOATS NOW!!! ha. And then when the THIRD elephant showed up a little later... well... we had a lot of fun counting by twenties to figure out the next number of goats! Not bad for a kindergartner!) :-)

 

 

I really have to say... this film was a surprise for me... I kept waiting for a moment of "drama" or some sort of "heavy" story line to pop up w/ regard to Dallas' past.... or the Duke's.... or for the German guy and the French guy to really fight it out or something... And while there IS a little of that in the storyline here and there... there's not a lot of depth to it, so really, this film just has a much lighter feel than I was expecting. More or less there was a "just for fun" feel to it (similar to Donovan's Reef... though the story lines are COMPLETELY different) In fact... it was so light hearted, there was very little "weight" to it at all... but it really was nice for a change of pace just to get to sit back and enjoy a movie without haveing to think about it and sort out the characters and all their motivations etc.

 

And this one has a LOT of the same familiar Hawk's trademarks... the "ensemble" cast with lots of male camaraderie and TWO young and "spunky" girls this time. I also saw send ups to several of the other Hawks films in the gathering around the Piano... the use of "Papa" for Wayne's character from time to time... there was even the friendly rivalry between the German and the French man w/ the shoot out (similar to Red River) AND of course.... PLENTY of dopey looking HATS!!!!! (HA!! THANKS again Jackie for that story on Hawks' hat choices that you posted the other day... I took one look at the Duke's hat and said... "HEY.... THAT'S what Howard Hawks wears when he goes FISHING!!! Ha.)

 

Just for fun.... here's the trailer... it really shows a lot of the exciting animal chase scenes and also some of the fun moments too ....

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIbfTWJBrRU

 

I say again... this film was a pleasant surprise... And I am really glad my friend had this tape and thought of me. Because I may not have sought this one out anytime soon otherwise... and now... we have a new fun kid friendly film for us to look forward to from time to time.... (it will be a nice diversion from the Disney stuff once in a while!! ha) And I have a feeling the kidling and I will likely go around all day tomorrow singing the tune to "Baby Elephant Walk" and swishing our arms in front of our face like elephant trunks.... NOT a bad way to spend a Monday now that I think about it. HA!

[HollywoodGolightly]

Hatari! sounds like a really fun movie, I've been meaning to watch it for the longest time now. I'll have to make sure to put it on my Netflix queue.

 

[CineMaven]

ha! ha!

[Bronxgirl48]

A fun post, Kathy! I've never seen HATARI.

 

Message was edited by: Bronxgirl48

[lzcutter]

Howard Hawks with one of his favorite actors, John Wayne,

an exotic locale (another Hawks favorite)

and a script by Leigh Brackett (one of Hawks' favorite screenwriters).

 

Put it all together with a score by Henry Mancini: Priceless

[HollywoodGolightly]

Was the whole movie shot on location, like Mogambo ?

[lzcutter]

The majority of the film was shot in Tanzania.

 

I think that qualifies as exotic, especially for 1962.

[HollywoodGolightly]

I have no doubt it was still pretty exotic in 1962, although perhaps it wasn't as new as it would have been for moviegoers about 10 years earlier, in the wake of The African Queen and Mogambo, which I believe were also shot primarily in Africa. Before that, I guess it was usually mostly 2nd-unit stuff filmed without the main actors, for stuff like the Tarzan movies and Trader Horn.

 

But in the early 60s, with Wayne still among the top movie stars, I have no doubt Hatari! was a top-notch attraction. The authentic location lensing would have been the icing on the cake.

[lzcutter]

With its international financing and the lure of exotic locations, film making in the 1960s made great strides in location shooting.

 

While *Mogambo* and *The African Queen* paved the way, by the 1960s, there was money to be made in spotlighting international and exotic locales.

 

It is one of the reasons that the Connery/Bond films were so successful. David Lean found great success in shooting on location as did John Huston, Howard Hawks and other directors of the era.

 

In that era, American audiences wanted to see more than rear projection and back lots. They wanted to see the world and they often didn't care if it was a historical drama that provided the back drop or modern storytelling.

 

They wanted to go somewhere they had never been. And the movies obliged.

[HollywoodGolightly]

Thank you for your well thought-out response, Lynn, I agree with everything you said.

 

I would also venture that it may also have been, in part, trying to make movies that would offer moviegoers sights and sounds and the overall experience they couldn't get at home. I haven't seen them, but I'm sure that the Cinerama travelogues also helped to whet the public's appetite to see more exotic locations.

 

Like Mark Twain said, history doesn't repeat itself but it sure does rhyme. Studios are now once again emphasizing a few things you don't get from watching stuff at home, so they are trying to release more and more stuff in the new digital 3-D formats. Everybody seems to be expecting something amazing from James Cameron's Avatar, scheduled for a year-end release.

 

But the more I see of "new stuff", the more comfortable I am with the kinds of movies that TCM can offer. For me, at least, it's the TCM experience that is now hard or near-impossible to replicate in a movie theater.

 

Hope I didn't bore anybody with that long-winded ramble!

[JackFavell]

Hatari IS fun and it's good. It is one of the few in that safari genre that I actually like, and that is because it IS so light. I also have a great love of Red Buttons for some unknown reason and so I will watch anything he is in.

 

The whole cast should be awkward together, with the very young french girl, Hardy Kruger, Elsa Martinelli and the older men, but somehow it all works. They are all so disparate, but it works maybe because it doesn't take itself seriously at all. It is a great Sunday afternoon movie.

 

You guys should watch Born Free next, if you have a new box of kleenex around...

[OllieTSB]

I keep thinking Tarzan and a dozen other adventure movies used Africa as a supposed location a tad bit before QUEEN, MOGAMBO, etc. Like, at least a couple of decades... INVISIBLE RAY... just a few others.

[rohanaka]

Jackie, it was just such a nice surprise. I was all prepared for a gripping "African hunter-type" Drama.... (which I am sure would still have been interesting) but had no idea it would take the path that it did instead. And I am glad too, because it REALLY is a lot of fun to "just have fun" once in a while. And I am sure if it had gotten to "serious" the kidling would have lost interest.

 

The whole cast should be awkward together, with the very young french girl, Hardy Kruger, Elsa Martinelli and the older men, but somehow it all works. They are all so disparate, but it works maybe because it doesn't take itself seriously at all.

 

It really was an unusual combination of characters from so many different backgrounds all tossed together like that....but like you say, "somehow it all works". ha

 

You guys should watch Born Free next, if you have a new box of kleenex around

 

Oh my gosh.... I haven't seen that movie since I wasn't much older than the kidling!! (I don't know if I HAVE that much Kleenex!!! Ha.) It is a heartwrencher for sure. I don't know.... she would likely have trouble watching it too.... she gets kinda funny around that sort of sensitive stuff. (I mean funny as in.. "not crying".... but rather she will cover her ears and close her eyes and she'll ball up really tight if she is sitting alone (or come and get on my lap if she is right next to me) and then she'll get really quiet. I can always tell if something on tv is upsetting her, because she will start acting that way. Even though she knows it is "just a movie" she takes it very "hard". (Last night when they showed the scene w/ the first baby elephant wanting its mother (because the big Mama elephant had to be put down to save that village) she got a little "funny" because I had to tell her that the baby was an "orphan"... Stuff like that really bothers her.

 

So... we will probably need to wait on Elsa I am afraid...because THAT movie is WAY more emotional than just that little scene in Hatari.... maybe in another year or two when she is a bit older. (That will give me time to stock up on the Kleenex!!) :-)

 

PS..... Last night answered an "age old" mystery for me (another surprise in this movie)

 

I have ALWAYS enjoyed "pranking" little kids.... ( I know... I am so mean... ha) And one of my favorite pranks is to get them involved in one of those "What does a __________ say" games.... (like "What does a duck say?".... or "What does a puppy say?' .... and then they have to provide the animal sound... and then after we have gone through ALL the various noises.... at the very end.... I hit them with my famous.... "WHAT DOES A GIRAFFE SAY!!!" ha!! (You haven't lived unitl you have seen an entire group of about 10 or 12 toddlers all get the same befuddled look on their face trying to figure THAT one out!!!!! Ha!!)

 

But last night.... I got taught a lesson!!! ha. Because GIRAFFES DO MAKE SOUNDS!!!! (similar to a "bleating" noise like a scared sheep or cow) SO.............. the kidling and I both looked at each other and cracked up when we heard it and I said "NOW........... you will finally have the answer when I ask that question again sometime!!! ha) But she is too old for that game now... ha. Still... it was a funny moment... what can I say??? We like to laugh.) :-)

[HollywoodGolightly]

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

> I keep thinking Tarzan and a dozen other adventure movies used Africa as a supposed location a tad bit before QUEEN, MOGAMBO, etc. Like, at least a couple of decades... INVISIBLE RAY... just a few others.

 

Yes, as I was saying last night, some of them had 2nd-unit footage that was shot in Africa, but I don't think any of them were actually fully shot on location in Africa, until the early 50s. It added a lot of verisimilitude to have everyone actually go there to film.

[JackFavell]

Ro, that was so funny! I love that!

[HollywoodGolightly]

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

> You guys should watch Born Free next, if you have a new box of kleenex around...

 

Not sure if I've ever seen that, myself, but I would hope it's at least as good as Free Willy.

[JackFavell]

Free Willy is after my time....