HITS & MISSES: Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow on TCM

[LornaHansonForbes]

One worth watching- sort of- on SYLVIA SYDNEY'S SUTS DAY would be AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY (1931)- directed by VON STERNBERG- with the caveat that it's not all that good, (in fact, I recall when i first aired on TCM recently, a few posters really disliked it.) it's still worth a looksie and i like it better than A PLACE IN THE SUN, but in all honesty, I do not like A PLACE IN THE SUN at all.

SYLVIA SYDNEY is in the "poor girl" role and she's great, PHILLIPS HOLMES is the male lead and he is SMOLDERINGLY SEXY,

the location shooting is good- a lot of nice, unspoiled California lake country and there are great moments along the way: ALTHOUGH THE PROSECUTOR SCENE AT THE TRIAL AT THE END IS ONE FOR THE "BAD ACTING HALL OF INFAMY"

there is an early experimental moment with the sound (as i recall) in the scene where a bunch of partygoers on a lake  discover that a body has been found.

[Bethluvsfilms]

1 hour ago, LornaHansonForbes said:

One worth watching- sort of- on SYLVIA SYDNEY'S SUTS DAY would be AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY (1931)- directed by VON STERNBERG- with the caveat that it's not all that good, (in fact, I recall when i first aired on TCM recently, a few posters really disliked it.) it's still worth a looksie and i like it better than A PLACE IN THE SUN, but in all honesty, I do not like A PLACE IN THE SUN at all.

SYLVIA SYDNEY is in the "poor girl" role and she's great, PHILLIPS HOLMES is the male lead and he is SMOLDERINGLY SEXY,

the location shooting is good- a lot of nice, unspoiled California lake country and there are great moments along the way: ALTHOUGH THE PROSECUTOR SCENE AT THE TRIAL AT THE END IS ONE FOR THE "BAD ACTING HALL OF INFAMY"

there is an early experimental moment with the sound (as i recall) in the scene where a bunch of partygoers on a lake  discover that a body has been found.

We'll have to agree to disagree on A PLACE IN THE SUN, I think it's a fine movie.

But  I did give AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY a chance, and I really liked it a lot. I do think Sylvia Sidney is a lot more sympathetic as the poor girl than Shelley Winters, I'll grant that. And Phillips Holmes is excellent as well. 

They should show TRAGEDY a lot more frequent.

[LornaHansonForbes]

56 minutes ago, Bethluvsfilms said:

We'll have to agree to disagree on A PLACE IN THE SUN, I think it's a fine movie.

But  I did give AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY a chance, and I really liked it a lot. I do think Sylvia Sidney is a lot more sympathetic as the poor girl than Shelley Winters, I'll grant that. And Phillips Holmes is excellent as well. 

They should show TRAGEDY a lot more frequent.

Re: A PLACE IN THE SUN

I’m posting with my phone so I can’t go into the kind of detail I would like to, but if you can look up what Raymond Chandler thought of A PLACE IN THE SUN; I am paraphrasing from memory, but he made the fine point thar the film sides wholeheartedly with the bad guy, Portraying his actions in a way that are ambiguous enough that we feel sorry for him and he becomes a tragic, romantic figure. And, I mean before you cry DOUBLE INDEMNITY, There is no ambiguity there, the two protagonist in that film are unambiguous outright rats, whether you root for them or not.  

I think Elizabeth Taylor is absolutely excellent in it, but outside of that I’m not very thrilled about a lot of things going on and a lot of the other performances in the film.

It’s also about 15 to 20 minutes too long.

[JamesJazGuitar]

1 hour ago, Bethluvsfilms said:

We'll have to agree to disagree on A PLACE IN THE SUN, I think it's a fine movie.

But  I did give AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY a chance, and I really liked it a lot. I do think Sylvia Sidney is a lot more sympathetic as the poor girl than Shelley Winters, I'll grant that. And Phillips Holmes is excellent as well. 

They should show TRAGEDY a lot more frequent.

Bummer that I missed An American Tragedy;   so how does the young man 'come off' in this version?   As noted in another post;  "Portraying his actions in a way that are ambiguous enough that we feel sorry for him and he becomes a tragic, romantic figure",  or as more of a self-centered man that killed the girl he got pregnant because she was an inconvenience to his future plans?

 

 

[Hibi]

On 8/3/2020 at 8:50 AM, LornaHansonForbes said:

I believe that they genuinely had the best intentions in re-inserting those lost scenes into A STAR IS BORN, but not only would the restored film be better without them, even if said scenes were found to be extant- the film is STILL better without them PERIOD (and I am a huge fan.)

I have gotten to be, in my old age, somewhat spoiled when it comes to watching FULLY RESTORED versions of classics, especially those from the early thirties. i still remember the days of cable and vhs where the only version of, say, DRACULA or GRAND HOTEL available were ones with a fuzzy print and a PROMINENT "HISS" on the soundtrack that sounded like a tire was deflating just off to the side in every scene.

now that it is 2020 and digitization and film restoration techniques are really top-notch, I have re-watched a lot of films that I was initially not fond of because of the poor quality and in most cases, HAVE COME AWAY WITH A MUCH MORE POSITIVE IMPRESSION- one such case would definitely be DRACULA- because when you take away that OMNIPRESENT HISS, you can see how EFFECTIVE THE LONG MOMENTS OF DEAD SILENCE THROUGHOUT THE FILM ACTUALLY ARE.

To watch a film in the same quality as it was the year it came out is the only really fair way to watch a film.

I think the original cut without the endless Born In a Trunk number would be the best version. It stops the film cold and it's not really needed. If they wanted to do a number, just do a 3 minute number w/out all the hoopla.

[Bogie56]

Saturday, August 8

Charles Chaplin

9:45 p.m.  Modern Times (1936).  And here is my number 2 Best Actor performance of all time.

[LornaHansonForbes]

15 hours ago, jamesjazzguitar said:

Bummer that I missed An American Tragedy;   so how does the young man 'come off' in this version?   As noted in another post;  "Portraying his actions in a way that are ambiguous enough that we feel sorry for him and he becomes a tragic, romantic figure",  or as more of a self-centered man that killed the girl he got pregnant because she was an inconvenience to his future plans?

 

 

You haven’t missed it, it’s coming on today, in about an hour...(Although since you live in California, it’s probably airing in about four hours from now for you.)

[Bogie56]

Sunday, August 9/10

Goldie Hawn

4:15 a.m.  Crisscross (1992).  i haven’t seen this Chris Menges film.  It features Steve Buscemi.

[LornaHansonForbes]

GOLDIE has earned her SUTS day, but it feels incomplete without her nomination-worthy work in 1992's  DEATH BECOMES HER.

 

[Bogie56]

Monday, August 10

Norma Shearer

11:45 a.m.  The Divorcee (1930).  With Chester Morris and Robert Montgomery.

[Bethluvsfilms]

3 hours ago, Bogie56 said:

Monday, August 10

Norma Shearer

11:45 a.m.  The Divorcee (1930).  With Chester Morris and Robert Montgomery.

Been a long time since I saw this one, can't remember if I liked it or not.

I will have to watch it to refresh my memory and make up my mind.

[LornaHansonForbes]

2 hours ago, Bethluvsfilms said:

Been a long time since I saw this one, can't remember if I liked it or not.

I will have to watch it to refresh my memory and make up my mind.

the film itself is not very good, but SHEARER is- or at least I thought so when last i saw it a few years back. the first act is really stagey, but then it opens up and there are some nice exteriors and fashions.

[Polly of the Precodes]

On 8/6/2020 at 12:21 PM, LornaHansonForbes said:

 PHILLIPS HOLMES is the male lead and he is SMOLDERINGLY SEXY,

I don't hate Phillips Holmes and I don't think any less of you or anyone else for liking him. But this picture looks like a photorealistic anime rendering of James Cagney--a little too far into the uncanny valley for my comfort.

[LornaHansonForbes]

5 minutes ago, Polly of the Precodes said:

I don't hate Phillips Holmes and I don't think any less of you or anyone else for liking him. But this picture looks like a photorealistic anime rendering of James Cagney--a little too far into the uncanny valley for my comfort.

That photo [of PHILLIPS HOLMES in AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY] is taken from one of the sexiest moments in the film though, and one of the best parts of his performance. I watched a lot of it again the other day, and I have to say I like it better now that I’ve seen it and gotten past the initial disappointment.

[Bogie56]

Tuesday, August 11

Sammy Davis, Jr.

9:45 p.m.  A Man Called Adam (1966).  I’m not expecting much but it does have Ossie Davis and Cicely Tyson in it.  Oh, and let's not forget Frank Sinatra, Jr.!!

[Bogie56]

Wednesday, August 12

Lana Turner

10 a.m.  A Life of Her Own (1950).  Co-starring Ray Milland, Louis Calhern and Tom Ewell.

[Bethluvsfilms]

4 hours ago, Bogie56 said:

Wednesday, August 12

Lana Turner

10 a.m.  A Life of Her Own (1950).  Co-starring Ray Milland, Louis Calhern and Tom Ewell.

With a few exceptions I am hardly big on Lana Turner, but I don't think I've caught this one. I'll give it a look if only for the rest of the cast.

[kingrat]

On 8/10/2020 at 3:25 AM, Bogie56 said:

Tuesday, August 11

Sammy Davis, Jr.

9:45 p.m.  A Man Called Adam (1966).  I’m not expecting much but it does have Ossie Davis and Cicely Tyson in it.  Oh, and let's not forget Frank Sinatra, Jr.!!

Bogie, I saw this when it was recently shown on TCM during the Jazz Spotlight and thought it was really good, though I'd never heard of it before. Cicely Tyson is especially fine, but this is a very strong cast.  Let us know what you think.

[kingrat]

5 hours ago, Bogie56 said:

Wednesday, August 12

Lana Turner

10 a.m.  A Life of Her Own (1950).  Co-starring Ray Milland, Louis Calhern and Tom Ewell.

Though not one of Lana Turner's or George Cukor's top films, the opening theme by Bronislau Kaper is bittersweet and haunting, as is the performance by Ann Dvorak as a  once successful model who has fallen on hard times.

[LornaHansonForbes]

not much piques my interest on SAMMY or LANA day, but JOHN BARRYMORE on the 13th presents two very unusual films back to back and starting at 12:45 pm: RASPUTIN AND THE EMPRESS (1932) and NIGHT FLIGHT (1933)- I here issue the caveat that while both are interesting samples of EARLY TALKING PICTURES, neither is all that good (NIGHT FLIGHT, in particular is REALLY BAD, although it's been a loooooong time since I saw it, when it premiered on TCM and at the TCM FESTIVAL, restored, after being "lost" and unaired since maybe its release. )

STILL worth it for the CASTS and the curious storytelling technique, in the early 1930's, MGM seemed to be the studio most willing to take risks of an artistic sort. that changed pretty fast.

 

[LornaHansonForbes]

ps- damn, Ethel is working some EARLY BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN hair in the above pic and I think she is pulling it off.

**one of the many curious things about RASPUTIN AND THE EMPRESS is that even though the three BARRYMOORE SIBLINGS look AN AWFUL LOT ALIKE [Lionel and Ethel especially], they play characters that are not related to one another at all.

[Bogie56]

1 hour ago, LornaHansonForbes said:

not much piques my interest on SAMMY or LANA day, but JOHN BARRYMORE on the 13th presents two very unusual films back to back and starting at 12:45 pm: RASPUTIN AND THE EMPRESS (1932) and NIGHT FLIGHT (1933)- I here issue the caveat that while both are interesting samples of EARLY TALKING PICTURES, neither is all that good (NIGHT FLIGHT, in particular is REALLY BAD, although it's been a loooooong time since I saw it, when it premiered on TCM and at the TCM FESTIVAL, restored, after being "lost" and unaired since maybe its release. )

STILL worth it for the CASTS and the curious storytelling technique, in the early 1930's, MGM seemed to be the studio most willing to take risks of an artistic sort. that changed pretty fast.

 

I saw Night Flight (1933) a few weeks ago and was really impressed by the "portrait" photography by Oliver Marsh and director, Clarence Brown.  The model shots were not very good but the stars looked marvellous.  There is one really terrific overhead group shot as everyone looks up at a clock.

[laffite]

8 hours ago, Bogie56 said:

Wednesday, August 12

Lana Turner

10 a.m.  A Life of Her Own (1950).  Co-starring Ray Milland, Louis Calhern and Tom Ewell.

And not to forget Ann Dvorak. She does a good job as I remember.

[LornaHansonForbes]

47 minutes ago, Bogie56 said:

I saw Night Flight (1933) a few weeks ago and was really impressed by the "portrait" photography by Oliver Marsh and director, Clarence Brown.  The model shots were not very good but the stars looked marvellous.  There is one really terrific overhead group shot as everyone looks up at a clock.

The technical aspects of the film are great and very innovative (as I recall); the problems I had were with the script and some of the performances.

But I keep meaning to watch it again. [i've always felt kinda guilty for thinking it was bad since TCM put so much effort into securing, restoring and broadcasting it. still glad i saw it though)

[Bogie56]

8 minutes ago, LornaHansonForbes said:

The technical aspects of the film are great and very innovative (as I recall); the problems I had were with the script and some of the performances.

But I keep meaning to watch it again. [i've always felt kinda guilty for thinking it was bad since TCM put so much effort into securing, restoring and broadcasting it. still glad i saw it though)

A friend of mine in Montreal produced a version in 1979.  It is listed as The Spirit of Adventure: Night Flight (!979) on the imdb.  They call it a TV MOW but it is only 20-odd minutes long and I don't know what kind of release it got, if any.  I saw a 35mm print and thought it was quite good.  Bo Svenson plays the pilot.  I recently saw The Great Waldo Pepper again and not only did I enjoy his performance in that but I was really impressed with the shots of both he and Robert Redford in the old biplanes.  Kudos to both actors for not relying on rear screen projection.

Hey, I just discovered a copy of The Spirit of Adventure: Night Flight on youtube.  It is a very bad print but it will give you some idea.  I haven't seen it in 40 years.