RAMBLES Part II

[Bronxgirl48]

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

> hi Lady B!

>

> Never even heard of SHANKS....but you say Marcel Marceau was in it?! Did he make many other films? The way you described it, it DOES sound Tim Burtonish. So where exactly did the money come in from re-animating corpses? Did loved ones pay to get their dearly departed back or was the "mad scientist" in charge offering a hefty salary?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hey, Mrs. Hornblower,

 

 

Marcel I believe made movies going back to the late 40's, but I haven't seen any of them. Never saw him without the mime paint; but he's fairly good-looking, and unexpectedly intense. The title SHANKS always made me queasy, because I had thought it was a reference to gory body parts, but it's the last name of Marceau's character -- he's "Malcolm Shanks". It's curious, that name sounds so English, but the sister-in-law and husband are supposed to be French. Go figure. Since Marcel doesn't open his mouth, we don't really know, lol. I don't want to give away the "plot", such as it is, but, his family thought he'd make extra money helping the old doctor out as an assistant, because Malcolm is a puppeteer and the scientist admires the control of the puppets, which will be helpful when manipulating the revived corpses. But then when Malcolm arrives at the lab one day, that's when things really go downhill, that's all I'll say. Although for Malcolm, it could be seen as liberation for him. Castle bills the story as "a grim fairy tale". Marcel plays two roles.

 

 

>

> I can only imagine what your Mom would think of such a film.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ha! She's seen her fair share of weird ones, though.

 

 

 

I came in on the middle of FINGERS AT THE WINDOW; didn't check the schedule today, drat! Lew Ayres and Laraine Day, together again! (and they actually do have a hospital scene) But I hated to see lovely Laraine, who I've always liked and thought an intelligent and graceful actress, given such a ditzy part. She's insulted, for goodness sake, not only by villain Basil Rathbone (creepy) who tells her, "You can't be any stupider, can you?" but by wisenheimer Lew, who gives her tough-love: "You've got the brain of a pancake!" Can you imagine? This was otherwise a fair little B horror-comedy-thriller, the chills coming from some eerie atmosphere and Rathbone's performance, but I've never heard of it before!

 

Edited by: Bronxgirl48 on Aug 2, 2010 1:01 AM

[MissGoddess]

I never heard of FINGERS AT THE WINDOW but with that cast, I'd love to see it even if it misses the mark. I'd like to see Laraine play a ditz...they're my favorite kind of female character! At least I can identify with them.

 

I sure miss TCM, so I haven't even looked at the schedule for fear I'll get upset over what I'm missing. I can't even program my DVR to record while I'm away because I'm having a friend "house sit" and she isn't a TCM fan and would never remember to turn the channel there.

 

Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed Woody's day in the sun, no one has said anything about it. I'm really looking forward to September, though.

[JackFavell]

Woody doesn't play till Thursday.

 

I finally watched *Young Cassidy* this morning (one of the benefits of Julie Christie day).

 

What a magnificent movie it is. I am so glad I have it on dvd already, because I immediately want to watch it again.

 

A quietly fascinating and beautiful film, running true to form on Ford's dual (or more) channels - firstly, a superb depiction of the turn of the last century - but also an in depth portrayal of the artist as a young man. Young Cassidy seems to me to be the most personal movie Ford ever made, and in Rod Taylor's performance, I totally see John Ford - in fact I see all his heart and soul poured forth here. The film is ostensibly about Sean O'Casey, but is even more a commentary on the pain and joy and confusion of the artist (Ford) as he makes his choices, or is forced by the strength of his art into a life he might not necessarily want.

 

Ford's "Cassidy" is an exceedingly lucky man, lucky to have the wit and intellect to escape his poor background. But he is a torn man, a man trying very hard to remain loyal to his roots, but finding it impossible because of his artistic gift. He yearns for, and feels more comfortable in the presence of true artists, who live in a completely different sphere than he.... The scenes with Edith Evans and Michael Redgrave are stunning, because we can see these two, who have left their own backgrounds behind, literally dragging the young Cassidy into new ways of thinking and being. In order for him to fully realize his gift, his art, he must step outside his own class. His confusion and reluctance to betray his people are what this movie is really about. It is also about how ordinary people see the artist. I can hear all those Ford naysayers in the words of Cassidy's "friends" - berating Cassidy for "betraying " them, when he writes his greatest play.

 

If you haven't seen this one, I highly recommend it. It is in some ways quintessential Ford, and in other ways so very fresh and different from anything else Ford ever did. It feels very youthful, and at the same time wise beyond it's years. It is a lovely movie.

[MissGoddess]

good lord, Jackie, until i read your words i never thought

of this movie in terms of Jack's own life and now i can't

wait to get home and watch it again. even without seeing

it again i can now relate specific events and scenes to

what you're saying and it makes the movie come alive

for me in ways it had not.

 

thank you! this is a wonderful gift.

[JackFavell]

MissGoddess -

 

It came alive for me in a way that I was not expecting.... it was literally like breathing fresh air in a new country. The feel was very different to me than his other films.

 

The last third of the picture was the most interesting to me. The scene where Cassidy and Nora are out in the country, or at least as far into the country as they can get - a fresh, dappled, sunlit day, and he is singing to her - now this is a very standard device in a Ford film, and yet it felt so new and not a bit like any other moment in any other Ford film. It was charming and personal, and _private_. Much of the movie feels like private thoughts to me. It feels intimate.

 

 

Look at how closely the camera moves in on the two lovers:

It is the most profound, happiest moment of their lives. She has just asked him to tell her of his true love.

 

 

Despite this foreboding sign, he is all happiness. And yet, when he visits the Lady Gregory, he pictures himself leading a far different life.

 

Moving up in the world:

 

 

From this point on, John and Nora will fight an ever increasing alienation, due to the inner conflict between his background and his future. That inner conflict between his rugged upbringing and his mental prowess will make him great. But his greatness as a playwright is at odds with his life in the dirt and poverty of the city. The very thing that makes him great removes him from his family and friends. She sees his need for a more stimulating intellectual life, and greater opportunity. Though she is not intellectual, she is intuitive and feels his need to move on. He refuses to see what his future holds and insists he can bring Nora with him. She wants no part of his new life, it can only bring her the pain of his eventual embarrassment. She would rather leave while he still loves her. She is the one turned away in this shot:

 

 

 

This rose laden archway at Lady Gregory's represents new ideas - a new life of mental stimulation and opportunity.

 

His meeting with Yeats. Nora is constantly pushing him gently to go forward, away from her. Notice the use of arches as gateways or as barriers. Look how black this archway is:

 

 

The alienation is standing out all over him. There is a prescient quality to his meeting with Yeats.... as if Yeats knew he was destined for something, but that it entailed his leaving his home, his love. Listen to this comparison of youth with old age and remembrance. I can almost hear John Ford speaking these lines:

 

 

*"Now, the warmth of your girl's body inspires you. There will come a time where you must be inspired by the arctic waste....."*

 

Ford presents us again with the reluctant hero.

 

His interview with Yeats is over, and he returns to Nora....but his mind is reeling from the conversation and from a choice he must make. Look at Nora's position on the opposite side of the railing:

*"I feel very far away from you."*

 

He tells Nora that they need to go back to the dirt and smells of the crowded and poverty stricken city, but she gently reminds him that he is simply lashing out at the unknown, that he is wrong to run away just because he does not know the future of this new life.

 

They walk away together, but this strange black coach, a portent, follows a path in the opposite direction:

 

[fredbaetz]

Sadly John Ford fell ill 3 weeks into the shoot and Jack Cardiff came aboard to finish the film. There is only about 4 minutes of Ford's work in the film. The riot in the pub and the scene after the mothers funeral. Ford's original choice for the role was Sean Connery, but he was busy, maybe with a 007 film. After meeting Rod Taylor, they became fast friends. Taylor received a note from Ford saying of his work in the film...."Your performance could have gotten tears from a rock" ..Taylor said the note is one of his prized possessions.

Much to the dismay of Jack Cardiff, many film critics thought more of the film was Fords work. Cardiff said he should have been flattered that many critics thought that, but he wasn't. He said he wanted to be recognized for his work...

 

Edited by: fredbaetz on Aug 2, 2010 6:33 PM

 

Edited by: fredbaetz on Aug 2, 2010 6:37 PM

[MissGoddess]

Unbelievable, Jackie, That was inspired. You really made

the film unfold for me as if for the first time. I cannot WAIT

to see it again!!! Of course Ford would understand the conflicts

young Cassidy was going through...and you know, there's often

this sense of the road not taken in many of his films...we get that

with Nora, his true love...

 

I wonder if it's on YouTube....no, I want to see it straight through,

uninterrupted.

 

Fred---while it's true Cardiff completed the majority of the

shooting of the film and can take credit for the beautiful

cinematography----he was one of greatest D.P.s ever----the

pre-production, which was extensive, and the final script

was all done by the time shooting began and Cardiff

essentially shot what Ford laid out. So it's Cardiff by execution,

but still a Ford film by conception.

[JackFavell]

I thank you, _MissG_, because without you, I would never have even known about *Young Cassidy.*

 

_fred-_ - I wonder if the movie worked for me so well because of the two men involved in creating it? I think a good deal of the fresh feeling might have been due to Cardiff's "look", though the colors are more muted than I ever remember any of Cardiff's films being.

 

Was Ford originally to use Cardiff as cinematographer had he completed the film?

 

Then it would make sense for Cardiff to step in, since Ford always worked everything out carefully with his writers and DP's beforehand....it would be easiest for Cardiff to handle the project.

[MissGoddess]

Yes, Cardiff was the original D.P. on the film.

[Bronxgirl48]

Wow, Jackie, those YOUNG CASSIDY screencaps....and your commentary, I need to see the film again real soon. Bravo.

[JackFavell]

Thank you.

 

Rod Taylor is so ......... well, you know, ummpphh in it. He's wonderful.

[hlywdkjk]

Hi all.

 

Just want to let this crew know that there is a week-long Woody Strode "blog-a-thon" going on at the MovieMorlocks site.

http://www.tcm.com/redirects/link/?cid=343905

 

Be sure to check out his site at the SUTS website -

http://www.tcm.com/2010/suts/index.jsp#/woodystrode

 

And don't forget to register in the sweepstakes for a set of limited edition SUTS Trading Cards - including one for Woody Strode -

http://www.tcm.com/2010/suts/sweepstakes.jsp

 

Kyle In Hollywood

[MissGoddess]

thanks for those links, Kyle, I'm excited to check them out and

even more excited that I'm back home now and didn't miss

Woody's day on TCM, yay!!!!

[Bronxgirl48]

Ah, you're home! How wonderful!

 

 

I'm still reeling from DEMON SEED. A.I. computer has a maternal job for Julie Christie. At least It had great taste.

 

See you all later tontght.

[rohanaka]

I'm back home

 

Woo hoo. Glad to hear it, young'un.

 

The men of Innisfree bid you welcome home...

 

 

Edited by: rohanaka on Aug 3, 2010 3:18 PM

[JackFavell]

Welcome home. It's so good to have you back!

[CineMaven]

Great news! Take good care, Miss G.

[MissGoddess]

Oh, a girl couldn't ask for a better welcome. Thank you all. Picture me curtseying like Mary Kate.

[molo14]

Welcome home Miss Goddess!

 

[MissGoddess]

Huweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!

 

It's good to be home. I don't think any director understood that better.

[OllieTSB]

Wait - MissG was gone? Even for a moment? And I had a chance to kick 'er while she was down? Or at least gone?!!

 

BLAST. I have the WORST luck...

[MissGoddess]

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

> Wait - MissG was gone? Even for a moment? And I had a chance to kick 'er while she was down? Or at least gone?!!

>

> BLAST. I have the WORST luck...

 

This is the age when we can stay connected anywhere. Kind of ridiculous, in a way, but what can I say, I'm an addict!

[movieman1957]

Welcome home indeed.

 

[MissGoddess]

Thank you so very much, movieman.

[JackFavell]

Woody's got a 'stache!

 

And I think they dubbed his voice....

 

But he looks great. Sword fighting shows off his muscles.

 

Edited by: JackFavell on Aug 5, 2010 10:41 AM