JackFavell Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 I am so jealous that you are getting to watch the Rogues, wouldbe. I wish I got that channel. Let us know if it's any good. I'm a big Boyer fan. And David Niven. I think only Gene Tierney could make Anne Baxter look plain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CineMaven Posted October 28, 2011 Share Posted October 28, 2011 I've never seen Gene Tierney look so ugly as the mean-spirited persona she had in this movie. Oooh, she was HATEFUL. Though I don't come to ANNE BAXTER easily and unabashedly say I am a fan...her performance in *"THE RAZOR'S EDGE"* was fantastic. Her smoky voice...the baby fat...the way she lusted after a drink. She was great to watch. Oooh, the way she went over to the group at the table...you feel you have to face people who knew you when...and see you now. She was a hot mess. Baxter was only twenty-three years old when she made this film and gives a very mature performance. I'll have to investigate Baxter's career more closely from here on. Edited by: CineMaven on Oct 28, 2011 9:14 AM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackFavell Posted October 28, 2011 Share Posted October 28, 2011 Hey, it's evil twin night tonight! Has anyone seen *Dead Ringer* ? I seem to remember a small conversation about it somewhere. I really liked this movie last time it was on. A nifty, tense little thriller, directed by Paul Henreid. I've never liked Karl Malden as much as I did here, and hated Peter Lawford more. Bette is of course, perfect. Edited by: JackFavell on Oct 28, 2011 10:10 AM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CineMaven Posted October 28, 2011 Share Posted October 28, 2011 Double your pleasure Double your fun With Doublemint Doublemint Doublemint Gum I'll be looking forward to: *"THE BLACK ROOM" (1935)* and *"DEAD MEN WALK." (1943)* I love old "B" movies from the 30's / 40's. Now...how do I back to the Forum Home from here. *&$@!! computer programmers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackFavell Posted October 28, 2011 Share Posted October 28, 2011 This way is a very nice way.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CineMaven Posted October 28, 2011 Share Posted October 28, 2011 WRONG-WAY CORRIGAN... D'Ohhhhhh!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredCDobbs Posted October 28, 2011 Share Posted October 28, 2011 >Her smoky voice...the baby fat...the way she lusted after a drink. She was great to watch. Oooh, the way she went over to the group at the table...you feel you have to face people who knew you when...and see you now. She was a hot mess. I think a lot of people don't realize that Anne was playing both a drunk and a doper. In the sleazy nightclub scenes, she was high on both alcohol and hashish, which was a common drug in the lower class nightclubs of Paris. The second nightclub scene, where Tyrone Power is beaten up, she is on hashish. That place was a hash house. That's why so many of the men there were wearing Egyptian (or "Oriental") fez hats. That was sort of an international trademark of hash houses in major world cities, going way back into the 19th Century. Somewhere on the internet is a major article in some old magazine (Harpers Magazine) that is about the hash houses of New York in the 19th Century. That is why, when Power in the taxi cab said something about her being a drunk, Herbert Marshall replied, "Or worse." And then Gene Tierney quickly replied something like, "Really, did you notice that too? I thought there was something else." That is why Anne's drunken acting in both nightclub scenes was a little different from other more traditional drunken scenes in movies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CineMaven Posted October 28, 2011 Share Posted October 28, 2011 Thanx for the info, Mr. Dobbs. I remembered that she had a substance abuse problem. I didn't know the Fez was the international symbol for, well...you know. Poor Rosie...trying to make Albert jealous in "BYE BYE BIRDIE" by dancing for men in a hash house. Yikes!!! Thanx again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredCDobbs Posted October 28, 2011 Share Posted October 28, 2011 The fez is probably no longer a traditional decorative touch, but it and other Middle Eastern or "Oriental" decorations were common in the old days. They seem to have been a long tradition in the hash houses of Europe, and New York too. It's possible that they became traditions in Paris as a type of artistic flair for such a place. Here is a classic description of a traditional old hashish house in New York in 1883, like the one shown as the Paris nightclub where Tyrone Power went to get Anne and where he was beaten up, where people were sitting around smoking special pipes. Note the nearly identical description of the decorations of the place and the costumes worn in the place: A Hashish-House in New York By H. H. Kane Harper's Monthly, Vol. 67 (November, 1883), 944-49. http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/history/e1880/hashishhouse.htm "As my companion, who had paused a moment to give me time to look about me, walked toward the far end of the hall, I followed him, and passed into a small room on the right, where, with the assistance of a colored servant, we exchanged our coats, hats, and shoes for others more in keeping with our surroundings. First a long plush gown, quilted with silk down the front, and irregularly ornamented in bead and braid with designs of serpents, flowers, crescents, and stars, was slipped on over the head. Next a tasselled smoking-cap was donned, and the feet incased in noiseless list slippers. In any other place or under any other circumstances I should have felt ridiculous in this costume, but so in keeping was it with all I had seen, and so thoroughly had I seemed to have left my every-day self in the dark vestibule, that I felt perfectly at home in my strange dress. We next crossed the hall to a smaller room, where a young man, apparently a Frenchman, furnished us, on the payment of two dollars each, with two small pipes and a small covered bronze cup, or urn, filled with a dry green shrub, which I subsequently learned was gunjeh (the dried tops and leaves of the hemp plant), for smoking. My friend, on the payment of a further sum, obtained a curious little box which contained some small black lozenges, consisting of the resin of hemp, henbane, crushed datura seeds, butter, and honey, and known in India as Majoon, amongst the Moors as El Mogen." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wouldbestar Posted October 28, 2011 Share Posted October 28, 2011 ?:| I have and for some strange reason am watching again tonight. It's *A Stolen Life* with a much darker bent. Why Bette made it I'll never know as she had aged much in the years since the original and while that was not a really good film it beats this one. You'd think it was made in 64 rather than 54 as it has the grainy photography that *Baby Jane* and *Sweet Charlotte* did. Beware! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bagladymimi Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 In reply to "wouldbestar", it was made in '64. That is why she looks so much older - she is 18 years older than she was in "A Stolen Life". And I was amazed at how they made the "twins" look so different by the way they dressed them. I think that also maybe her posture was more dowdy when portraying Edie. Also, one thing that I have read many times is that Bette did not take care of herself like Crawford and Stanwyck did. It really showed as she got older. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rohanaka Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 Though I don't come to ANNE BAXTER easily and unabashedly say I am a fan...her performance in "THE RAZOR'S EDGE" was fantastic It WAS.. I just sat there with my jaw almost dropping when she came over to the table in that bar and fell all over everyone. SO repulsive and yet completely and utterly pitiful and tragic. Heartbreakingly so. OH how I wanted her to put that bottle away (and save it to smack that rotten Gene Tierney on the noggin') but alas.. it was not meant to be. (did I mention she was utterly pitiful and tragic???) alas and alas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CineMaven Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 Haaaa, Ro. Yeah I agree. A bottle to the noggin' of Tierney's character. When you love someone you want their happiness. That's not really what she wanted, was it. And your description of Baxter being "pitiful and tragic" is very very apt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronxgirl48 Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 Remember this trailer? Peter Lawford's character seems somewhat less sleazy speaking French, lol. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjN5HEZcsOM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackFavell Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 That's right! I remember the previous conversation now! Oh, that french voice, it made him sound toujours gai, not sleazy, like a down and out reprobate. I just love the scene where Bette has to undress and trade jewelry with her twin. It makes you realize how difficult it is to manipulate a dead body, and to keep from leaving any clues. Did you get to see The Black Room? I fell asleep during it, nothing much was happening, but I loved the feel of it. I found the buildup to be really fun. It felt like a later film than 1935. I only saw up to the point where the dog attacked one of the townspeople, and the good Boris twin jumped in between - while the evil Boris twin yelled out, "Kill him! Let him tear the fellow to pieces!" Ha! I wonder what kind of name de Berghman is? Part German, part French? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronxgirl48 Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 I love any scene in DEAD RINGER where they play that harpsicord music, lol. French dubbing doesn't really do anything for Karl Malden. Too bad Edie couldn't have appreciated him more. THE BLACK ROOM is one of those Karloffs that used to play a lot back in the Bronx. Just mention the title to me and I hear sweet little Marian Marsh singing "Love Is Like Music". Also Boris chomping into a pear, lol, we know how he feels about women. Haven't seen the movie though in a long, long time and was so looking forward to it again, but like you I fell asleep. (just when good twin Anton arrived), Oh, I almost forgot to tell you -- I saw a smidgeon of HOT BLOOD,with Joe as I think old gypsy (and Jane Russell's father) "Papa Theodore", lol. I didn't realize this was a Nicholas Ray film and was watching with my mouth open, like, what the---? Cornel and Jane as gypsies! It was fascinating in that it reminded me of WEST SIDE STORY in some strange kind of way. There was an outsider modernity to it, a quirky underdog quality. The garish cinematography seemed ironic. Joe looked down-to-earth and friendly, "the papa", gray-haired, traditional, but not any kind of old dragon. I wanted to see more, but sleep overcame me here as well. Edited by: Bronxgirl48 on Oct 29, 2011 8:05 PM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackFavell Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 Love the harpsichord! Yeah, Karl Malden is never going to be a sophisticated bon vivant. I can't believe you watched *Hot Blood!* I actually recorded it and watched it all the way through, but that's because I'm crazy! It IS directed like a topical musical! I totally get that. Some of the shots on the street were just like West Side Story - I noticed some of these long angle shots from far down the street that made you feel as though either something bad was going to happen, like a fight; or that the Sharks and Jets were going to come dancing toward you into closeup.... I also saw that irony in that vivid color, and the way it was filmed. Even though it was all patently ridiculous, it felt like a documentary on modern day gypsies, lol. As Ray pleaded for tolerance in his directing style, the stereotypes were flying! Old Johnny was hilarious, but such an awful "type". It felt like a split personality of a movie. I actually liked it far more than I thought I would, but Joe had far too little to do. I almost wished he had played the other old man, stereotype and all. Edited by: JackFavell on Oct 29, 2011 7:31 PM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronxgirl48 Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 I felt as though Bernardo and Anita were going to show up as Romany gypsies to sing 'America', along with Annie, Stephano, Joe, and Luther Adler, lol. Edited by: Bronxgirl48 on Oct 29, 2011 8:01 PM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronxgirl48 Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 I love it! LOL http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3elniygTNg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronxgirl48 Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 I love it! LOL I can also see Jane Fonda from BAREFOOT IN THE PARK enjoying the festivities, and asking Robert Redford to dance with her. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3elniygTNg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronxgirl48 Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 Shama, Shama, lol. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3elniygTNg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronxgirl48 Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 What I meant to post: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackFavell Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 OMG! That's hilarious! I can see a through line from one to the other. Charles Boyer could do anything. "Jimmy Crack Corn and I don't care." It's not even a great line, but he makes it one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackFavell Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 In *The Devil Doll,* H. B. Warner's laboratory hood looks just like my stove hood...... I wonder if I could make people small under there? This is now one of my favorite tales at Halloween. The acting is uniformly good, although the young taxi driver played by Frank Lawton has an impossibly stupid name - dodo or toto, I'm not sure... and an accent that he stole from Doug Fairbanks, Jr.! Lionel is just great in this film, and I love the whole story. The ending speech to his daughter, Maureen O'Sullivan (I wish I looked like her, she's so beautiful and gamine), always brings me to tears... Lionel is so understated in this movie and it works, especially against crazy Raffaela Ottiano. There is something warm and comforting, very humanitarian about these old horror films, the monster or criminal is often the most sympathetic of characters.... if not, there is a sexual undercurrent, something thrilling about the idea of taking people's will and bending to your desires....or losing that will in some way. In fact, desire is often the catalyst in these stories - *Cat People*, or like in *White Zombie*, where one man's spurned desire is the opening that Lugosi needs to gain control over everyone.... I like to wrap myself up in these warm dark stories like a blanket, stare into the firelight and cozy up to my deepest fears. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackFavell Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 Oh my god, I never noticed before! In *The Uninvited,* the doctor's name is Dr. Scott! Just like *Rocky Horror Picture Show!* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts