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Post by topbilled on Dec 17, 2023 15:53:14 GMT
I'm kind of a fan, though some showbiz melodramas get a bit schmaltzy and overblown.
Most of them tend to be biographical or at least pseudo-biographical like THE JOLSON STORY; I'LL CRY TOMORROW (Susan Hayward is excellent as Lillian Roth); and COAL MINER'S DAUGHTER.
Some are fictional. I think we could call ALL ABOUT EVE (1950) a showbiz melodrama.
What say you?
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Post by kims on Dec 17, 2023 22:19:04 GMT
how strange, yesterday I saw no one had posted here and wondered what the appropriate films were to be called melodramas. Douglas Sirk films?
I don't know if ALL ABOUT EVE qualifies. There are bad times for some characters, but not enough personal tragedies?
TB, you're good at defining genres, how about giving one for this category so we talk the same kind of films?
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Post by Fading Fast on Dec 17, 2023 22:50:28 GMT
I think "The Bad and the Beautiful" would fit into this category. A movie which has slowly become a favorite after viewing it several times over a few decades. I guess I'd also put "Sunset Blvd." into this category - as it's nourish, but also melodrama and very showbiz focused.
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Post by topbilled on Dec 17, 2023 22:56:17 GMT
Speaking of THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL, the Lana Turner character is supposedly based on Diana Barrymore, daughter of John Barrymore whose movie stardom in the early to mid-40s was sabotaged by her own self-destructive tendencies. She wrote an autobiography not long before she died, which became the basis for the Warner Brothers melodrama TOO MUCH TOO SOON in which Dorothy Malone played her and Errol Flynn played John Barrymore.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diana_Barrymore
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Post by topbilled on Dec 17, 2023 23:02:51 GMT
how strange, yesterday I saw no one had posted here and wondered what the appropriate films were to be called melodramas. Douglas Sirk films? I don't know if ALL ABOUT EVE qualifies. There are bad times for some characters, but not enough personal tragedies? TB, you're good at defining genres, how about giving one for this category so we talk the same kind of films?
I am not sure if we can apply a one-size-fits-all definition...some of these kinds of films have more tragedy in them than others, especially if the main character, based on a real-life celebrity, died young or died under rather mysterious circumstances.
For example, I would include films like THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY, SWEET DREAMS and LA BAMBA where we have singers who died at the height of their fame in plane crashes. But it's been awhile since I've seen any of them, so I am not sure how melodramatic specific scenes may be.
Then there are showbiz melodramas like LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME and WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT, where the main characters survive abusive husbands and years of coercive control. And those films, while containing many melodramatic moments, end on a positive note.
What titles would you include? |
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Post by I Love Melvin on Dec 18, 2023 0:52:06 GMT
I like this type of film. All the versions of A Star is Born have something to offer. Speaking of Lana Turner, one of my favorites is Ziegfeld Girl (1945), in which poor Lana disgraces herself by tumbling down those famous stairs. Great cast, with Judy Garland and Hedy Lamarr, as well as Jimmy Stewart and Charles Winninger as Judy's out-of-step-with-the-times father. The melodrama gets a little hokey at points, but since when is that a drawback when a movie looks this good?  |
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Post by I Love Melvin on Dec 19, 2023 0:21:18 GMT
I also like Broadway to Hollywood (1933), with Frank Morgan and Alice Brady as a show biz couple who bring their young son (Jackie Cooper) into the act, only to see opportunities open up to him as he grows up which aren't open to them and their dated performance style. But the son's success turns sour (alcohol and a squandering of talent) and his son, their grandson (Mickey Rooney), brings the family saga full circle by joining in an act with his grandparents. There are musical numbers but basically it's a melodrama with some dark moments along the way. It's the kind of story and milieu which became familiar to moviegoers over the years, so on that account it may not seem all that impressive, but at the time it was somewhat of a trailblazer as a multi-generational show biz saga. And both Frank Morgan and Alice Brady are terrific as the two troupers who see each other through good times and bad. ![]()  |
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Post by topbilled on Dec 19, 2023 5:13:15 GMT
I also like Broadway to Hollywood (1933), with Frank Morgan and Alice Brady as a show biz couple who bring their young son (Jackie Cooper) into the act, only to see opportunities open up to him as he grows up which aren't open to them and their dated performance style. But the son's success turns sour (alcohol and a squandering of talent) and his son, their grandson (Mickey Rooney), brings the family saga full circle by joining in an act with his grandparents. There are musical numbers but basically it's a melodrama with some dark moments along the way. It's the kind of story and milieu which became familiar to moviegoers over the years, so on that account it may not seem all that impressive, but at the time it was somewhat of a trailblazer as a multi-generational show biz saga. And both Frank Morgan and Alice Brady are terrific as the two troupers who see each other through good times and bad. ![]() |
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