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Post by topbilled on Dec 19, 2023 1:46:00 GMT
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Post by I Love Melvin on Dec 22, 2023 14:21:06 GMT
I like both versions, but have reservations about each for basically the same reason, the oddly mannered delivery of both actresses, a kind of "staginess" we're not as accepting of when we see it on film. Both had come to the movies after early stage successes and I think it shows in both cases. But there's something charming about each as well, so that I found myself rooting for them. And when push came to shove, in the acting department, their stage experience really helped bring the story of aspiring stage actresses to life, as when Katharine finally mastered the "calla lily speech" and Susan did her Juliet from the staircase in the producer's apartment. If I had to pick, it would be Stage Struck, because of the added weight of the rest of the cast: Henry Fonda, Christopher Plummer, Herbert Marshall and, especially for me, Joan Greenwood as the seasoned actress who takes the newcomer personally.
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Post by topbilled on Dec 22, 2023 14:40:02 GMT
I like both versions, but have reservations about each for basically the same reason, the oddly mannered delivery of both actresses, a kind of "staginess" we're not as accepting of when we see it on film. Both had come to the movies after early stage successes and I think it shows in both cases. But there's something charming about each as well, so that I found myself rooting for them. And when push came to shove, in the acting department, their stage experience really helped bring the story of aspiring stage actresses to life, as when Katharine finally mastered the "calla lily speech" and Susan did her Juliet from the staircase in the producer's apartment. If I had to pick, it would be Stage Struck, because of the added weight of the rest of the cast: Henry Fonda, Christopher Plummer, Herbert Marshall and, especially for me, Joan Greenwood as the seasoned actress who takes the newcomer personally.
One thing that kind of works against the story in both versions is that unlike Janet Gaynor's Esther/Vicki in A STAR IS BORN, where Esther/Vicki is very likable and the audience easily sympathizes with her plight...the girl in MORNING GLORY/STAGE STRUCK is not very likable at all. She's a pest, she's a nutcase at times, and she's so utterly impossible in so many scenes, that we cannot root for her.
In fact, while watching STAGE STRUCK, Strasberg's take on the character made her so thoroughly unlikable in the first half, that when she found success and was starting to become more naturally self-confident, I almost couldn't forgive her and go along with her development. At the end, I definitely did not want her to end up with Henry Fonda...and I was relieved that he does not stay with her, and basically walks out so that all she has is her career and the stage...because I really did think the only thing she loved besides herself was the theater.
As for the rest of the cast in these two movies, they are top-rate. But I agree with you, the supporting players in STAGE STRUCK have a slight edge over the players in MORNING GLORY. Plus the second production benefits from Sidney Lumet's expert direction. There is an impressive outdoor scene (and not a short scene at all) filmed in Central Park during heavy snow. I think I read that they couldn't wait around for it to stop snowing so Lumet instructed them to just do the scene in the storm. The dialogue makes no reference to the weather. They walk through drifts of snow, it's obviously very cold, but Henry Fonda and Herbert Marshall are such pros, that it comes off very well and seems like the most natural thing ever. |
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Post by I Love Melvin on Dec 23, 2023 0:34:08 GMT
Yes! That scene on a bench in Central Park in the snow was some of the best location shooting I've ever seen. If it was the accident you described, it was a lucky one for sure, because the effect was astonishing. When they walked away there were no tracks in the snow, so it was obviously the one and only take and, boy, did they nail it.
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