Jump to content
 
Search In
  • More options...
Find results that contain...
Find results in...

Movie Rambles

MissGoddess

By MissGoddess,
in Films and Filmmakers

 Share

Recommended Posts

JackFavell Advanced Member

JackFavell

Posted
Posted

>

> What did you think of young Ms. Hitchcock's performance? At first I thought she was a little stiff but boy she loosened up and then almost stole the show a few times.

>

 

I love Pat Hitchcock! I really like her character, and her line readings are super. I also like her lispy voice, her deer in the headlights look, and her matter of fact way of getting right to the point- she makes Guy and Anne as uncomfortable as Bruno does. :)

 

The merry go round is great theater. I read once how it lurches sickeningly up into the air before crashing to the ground and I love that description.

 

I am glad you brought up Rope, because I really like that one too. I can feel that the two movies are related, I just can't get to the why in my mind yet. I like Rope because it is sort of sparse- because of the long takes, we really get to see Jimmy Stewart's ( and John Dall's) mind working. It must have been difficult to shoot.

 

I like Lifeboat as well- I guess I like Hitch when he puts himself on restriction! When he gives himself limits it can be very interesting. I think the thing I like best about Lifeboat is the way that character becomes everything....each of them have a distinct personality and modus operandi. Very much like Saboteur and Shadow of a Doubt, it is a grouping of warm (I don't mean nice necessarily), disparate folks who show what America is all about. You know, a melting pot. I guess that type of message always really gets me. And of course, Tallulah Dahling and the rest of the cast are superb.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
rohanaka Advanced Member

rohanaka

Posted
Posted

I have Lifeboat on my infamous Wanna See List...hope to come across it sometime.

 

I LOVE Shadow of a Doubt. It is definitely on my list of Hitch faves. (Only the first time I saw it, I neither knew it was Hitch nor knew the name of the film. But boy, did it get my attention.) I think I have a thing for psycho killer crime stories....but I can't stand it when they are graphic blood bath movies....I just like trying to figure out what motivates murderers other than the basic reasons (money, love/hate, etc) What makes a Norman Bates....a Norman Bates??? Etc. I am sort of a crime show junkie. I love watching the true life documentary type programs that take you through cases and lay out the crime and the investigation and such. But I also like to watch some of the really good crime dramas as well....again...as long as they are not your basic bloodbath. I have a good enough imagination, I don't need to have it splashed all over my shoes to figure out that murder can be messy. :-)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
JackFavell Advanced Member

JackFavell

Posted
Posted

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

> Yeah...but he wasn't the first guy to have a domineering monster mom...what turned the little switch on in HIS brain that pushed him over the edge when others just decided to write a tell all book instead??

 

That's a great question!

 

FF- Re: mother - You made me LOL!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
butterscotchgreer Advanced Member

butterscotchgreer

Posted
Posted

hey dahlink! out of that list of the lesser known Samual Goldwyn movies that were playing last night, i saw a few i hadnt seen before! i simply loved them!

 

i got to see *We Live Again* and Fredrick March was so good in it! his performance wasnt what i was expecting, but i really liked it, but didnt like the fact that the girl goes to crime.

 

i have seen all the other ones except *Nana*, and i got to see that too. i loved the romance aspect in this movie! heehee! i love how she handled both of the men who fell for her. :) the only thing is that i couldnt record any of these. our hard drive is full right now. banana oil! heehee! so ill have to wait until they come on again to record them. it gives me something to look forward too. :)

 

*The Masquerader* is a really good movie, but i didnt get to se it last night. i fell asleep right as it started. but i love Ronald Colman in it. he is soooo handsome! i dont think he was ever ugly in any movie! of course he will always be cutest as my _Smithy_ in *Random harvest* though. heehee!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
MissGoddess Advanced Member

MissGoddess

Posted
  • Author
Posted

*We Live Again* is the only one I saw all the way through. I was very surprised by it. First, I

was happy to see the wonderful quality of the print---it looked pristine! At first I was a bit put

off by March's over the top acting in the early scenes, but then I saw the contrast of his subdued

(dead?) self as he aged and began sliding into stultifying class consciousness. It is a fabulous

story, one I'm surprised I overlooked when I was into reading Russian literature (Dostoyevsky's

"The Idiot" is my all time favorite). However, I felt I would have like to see what *Frank Borzage*

would have brought to this story. Mamoulian is a wonderful director, and there were some very

lovely moments, but I think Borzage would have been ideal.

 

I have *The Masquerader, Come and Get It, Nana* and *One Heavenly Night* recorded and waiting

to be watched.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
butterscotchgreer Advanced Member

butterscotchgreer

Posted
Posted

*We Live Again is the only one I saw all the way through. I was very surprised by it. First, I*

*was happy to see the wonderful quality of the print---it looked pristine! At first I was a bit put*

*off by March's over the top acting in the early scenes, but then I saw the contrast of his subdued*

*(dead?) self as he aged and began sliding into stultifying class consciousness. It is a fabulous*

*story, one I'm surprised I overlooked when I was into reading Russian literature (Dostoyevsky's*

*"The Idiot" is my all time favorite). However, I felt I would have like to see what Frank Borzage*

*would have brought to this story. Mamoulian is a wonderful director, and there were some very*

*lovely moments, but I think Borzage would have been ideal.*

 

the overacting part is what i wasnt expecting from Fredric. i do like Fredric'c acting, but i am not really used to seeing him overact, well in my opinion anyway, so this movie sort of threw me off a bit too. i felt the same way as the story progressed, it made more sense, therefore i understood why it was being done.

 

you've read, "The Idiot"!? so have i believe it or not! about two years ago when i was just finishing my homeschooling, my mother made me read "Crime and Punishment" by Dostoyevsky, b/c she thought it would make my culture more well rounded and it was sooo deep but i understood it after momma explained some stuff to me and i became interested im his work. so i then read "The Idiot" too rather liked it too. my parents looove his books and have read most if not all of them.

 

*I have The Masquerader, Come and Get It, Nana and One Heavenly Night recorded and waiting*

*to be watched.*

 

you recorded them?! good for you! i cant wait to hear what you think of The Masquerader especially.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
MissGoddess Advanced Member

MissGoddess

Posted
  • Author
Posted

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

> the overacting part is what i wasnt expecting from Fredric. i do like Fredric'c acting, but i am not really used to seeing him overact, well in my opinion anyway, so this movie sort of threw me off a bit too. i felt the same way as the story progressed, it made more sense, therefore i understood why it was being done.

>

 

I am guessing they wanted to contrast his early enthusiasm for life and ideals with his

slow disintigration into mindless pleasure seeking and class superiority.

 

> you've read, "The Idiot"!? so have i believe it or not! about two years ago when i was just finishing my homeschooling, my mother made me read "Crime and Punishment" by Dostoyevsky, b/c she thought it would make my culture more well rounded and it was sooo deep but i understood it after momma explained some stuff to me and i became interested im his work. so i then read "The Idiot" too rather liked it too. my parents looove his books and have read most if not all of them.

>

 

I just love the central character in "The Idiot", I wept to see how he suffered for being so good.

It was a very moving read, I remember. And it was quite a long time ago but I still remember

the impressions it made on me, vividly.

 

When you think of it, he was a character like "Good Sam" in the McCarey movie with Coop.

Only, of course, the book is SO much better and deeply developed, but it's a similar principal.

 

 

> *I have The Masquerader, Come and Get It, Nana and One Heavenly Night recorded and waiting*

> *to be watched.*

>

> you recorded them?! good for you! i cant wait to hear what you think of The Masquerader especially.

 

Yes, I did and if I can ever get around to learning how to use my DVD burner I will happily

make you a copy of *The Masquerader* if you like. Just give me time. :) I still have yet

to get all my VHS tapes converted to DVD-r.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
JackFavell Advanced Member

JackFavell

Posted
Posted

I felt I would have like to see what Frank Borzagewould have brought to this story. Mamoulian is a wonderful director, and there were some verylovely moments, but I think Borzage would have been ideal

 

I was noticing the quality of the directors myself, yesterday when I looked up the schedule. It was a really good group. Personally, I like Mamoulian a lot. I wish he had made way more movies in the thirties. But I can see the Borzage link as well. There is something so beautiful about his pictures, something that just makes the screen glow- Mamoulian had this ability too... but I don't think he used it in the same way....

Link to comment
Share on other sites
MissGoddess Advanced Member

MissGoddess

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I just watched COME AND GET IT (1936) and I believe this movie may have shot up into my

top three Howard Hawks movies (if, as Robert Osborne said, it was mostly directed by

him and not his co-credited friend, Willie Wyler). It's by far the most emotional movie

I've ever seen by him, which almost makes me wonder if Wyler had something to do with

that, although he apparently said he believed Hawksie deserved SOLE credit. It's a story that

could have been predictable but it never was, a "saga" that never lost it's intimacy with the

characters and contained the best performances I've seen from Edward Arnold (and that's saying

ALOT), Frances Farmer and Joel McRea. Walter Brennan was great, too, doing a Swedish

accent that would have done John Qualen proud.

 

Bronxie, Kathy & Jackie---you sleepyheads HAVE to watch this movie ALL the way through,

you don't know what you're missing. I don't think I ever cried over a Hawks movie and I was

finished during several scenes. The photography was very limpid and beautiful, and no wonder---

besides two great directors this movie was shot by two great DP's: Gregg Toland AND Rudolph

Mate.

 

And whoever thinks the concept of environmental conservation is "modern" should see this.

I think I'll also make up a list of several old men I know who should watch it, and see what their

reaction is. :P;)

 

I'm SO grateful to TCM for airing it and that I recorded it (though it's so darn good I'm gonna

have to go and get the commercial release DVD!!

 

Walter Brennan, Frances Farmer and Edward Arnold in Come and Get It

ComeandGetIt.jpg

 

P.S. I just want to add that the ending of this movie was a real whallop. Eddie's character is

one that never (unfortunately) loses its relevance and boy does he go some some serious

changes, emotionally. I really felt so much for both characters called "Lotta"---played by

Frances Farmer. Together they constitute the finest female characterization (as opposed to

a caricature) in any Hawks film.

 

Message was edited by: MissGoddess

Link to comment
Share on other sites
JackFavell Advanced Member

JackFavell

Posted
Posted

I was interested in Frances Farmer, and her acting as (sorry) old Lotta was really very fine. I totally believed her as a dance hall girl. Most actresses in this type of role would have "played" tough. I felt Farmer was tough. She had a real feeling for the role, and I believed her just as much when she fell for Arnold. I wish I had seen the rest of her performance as young Lotta.

 

The direction was brisk, and yet, when needed, thoughtful. I enjoyed the energy Brennan brought to his character, and I actually had a few moments at the beginning when I couldn't tell if it was him or not! I especially liked the dance hall sequence. I wasn't sure I would like Edward Arnold at first. He seemed so amoral. But you couldn't help liking him, because he was also bold and good natured. Even as he aged and became enamored of young Lotta, his motivations were clear - stemming from his deep unhappiness at having betrayed old Lotta.

 

And then I fell asleep. So now I have to bump this one up to second place on Netflix- right after Morocco.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
 Share
Go to topic listing
© 2022 Turner Classic Movies Inc. All Rights Reserved Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Cookie Settings
×
×
  • Create New...