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Post by topbilled on Nov 4, 2024 17:07:28 GMT
MY COUSIN RACHEL. Wow, can Olivia DeHaviland act. Is she the greedy scheming widow? Is she falsely accused? Is she a loving caring woman? Remember her carefully crafted C Catherine in THE HEIRESS. Chilling to see her change from innocent into the worst of her father. She doesn't even make AFI's greatest actresses! Seriously? Who else could have played Melanie in GONE WITH THE WIND? Wouldn't most actresses played her weak, too goody-goody? She was one of the few actresses who could portray that an innocent can also be strong. And she could be evil like in HUSH, HUSH SWEET CHARLOTTE. Here's to Olivia!!
Have you seen her in THE SNAKE PIT (1948)...? She's a revelation in that one. |
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Post by kims on Nov 4, 2024 22:36:54 GMT
She did a fabulous job-confused, no stereotypical portrayal of mental illness.
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Post by dianedebuda on Nov 5, 2024 12:30:39 GMT
Stan and Ollie (2018) Already legends by 1953, beloved comedy duo Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy set out to perform live shows for their adoring fans. The tour becomes a hit, but long-buried tension and Hardy's failing health start to threaten their new act. Not particularly a Laurel and Hardy fan and I kind of expected this to be a dirty laundry exhibit, but was pleasantly surprised that it was not. I found it to be a rather touching display of personality interactions. The 2 leads, John C Reilly and Steve Coogan, were very good.
I think I have only one of their movies in my collection: The Piano. This recent movie, however, did not inspire me to look for others 'cause I'm just not into what I consider put-down comedy. |
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Post by Fading Fast on Nov 7, 2024 12:44:51 GMT
A Handful of Dust from 1988 with Kristin Scott Thomas, James Wilby, Rupert Graves, Alec Guinness and Judi Dench
This visually appealing adaptation of the Evelyn Waugh novel A Handful of Dust is like an episode of Downton Abbey without the slickness. This more-sedate approach is fine, but unfortunately, the movie still falls short of capturing the nuance and insights of Waugh's novel.
Once you accept that it's not going to live up to the book or zing along like Downton, it's an enjoyable trip to the upper-class world of 1930s England – a world of country estates, fox hunts, London flats, private clubs, and bed-hopping by bored married people.
Kristin Scott Thomas plays one of those bored married people whose bed-hopping wrecks what should have been a happy marriage and family. Her husband, played by James Wilby, is a kind man – their life on a country estate, with their young boy, seems quite nice.
Wilby loves the estate, which absorbs most of their substantial income to maintain, but he's content just being there. Scott Thomas, though, is bored, which has her eyeing London society and a young handsome bounder of a man, played by Rupert Graves.
The estate itself centers the picture by serving as a symbol of an "Old England" which is too expensive to maintain, like the Empire itself would soon become. For many, though, like Wilby, it is hard to give it up, as they don't want to let the England of Shakespeare and Camelot go.
In this vein, Scott Thomas' quest for freedom from the estate is really asking for a different kind of marriage, which she will make for herself when Wilby won't give it to her. Unfortunately, she does a shabby job of it, not unlike the way England would eventually give up her Empire.
Back in the narrative, Scott Thomas, pretty in a thin, wan way, drives the affair as younger Graves is a bit naive, but Scott Thomas knows what she wants. For modern audiences, part of the fun is seeing how there is an "acceptable" way these things are done in England's upper class.
In 1930s England, "class consciousness" is everywhere, as even the servants have their hierarchies, which they guard as passionately as the upper classes guard theirs. Thus, the family's nanny demands to receive the appropriate amount of "respect" from the estate's groom.
All of this – all the proper respect, public face, presenting of cards, deference, etc. – works until it doesn't. Here, a tragic event breaks the social wall of silence, which leads to Wilby learning of the affair.
The movie now shifts gears from a story with a pleasant surface but plenty of subterfuge, to Scott Thomas requesting a divorce from a temporarily benumbed Wilby who truly thought he had a good, safe marriage. Things get rough for everyone from here.
Scott Thomas must now try to turn an affair, whose oxygen was its "secrecy" and freshness, into a regular old relationship, with all its mundane issues and pressures – especially now that money isn't freely flowing her way.
Wilby, almost on a whim, joins an expedition planning to go deep into Brazil, where he falls ill, loses his guide, and winds up "saved" by a quirky German, played by Alec Guinness, who lives permanently in the rainforest. Guiness' role here is a small but pivotal one.
As always, Guinness somehow managed to play Alec Guinness, but also creates a notable character you'll remember. He's like a quirky version of Cary Grant. In this one, Guinness brings the story to a truly surprising conclusion.
There is, though unfortunately, a lot of nuance in the book regarding events, including the affair, the divorce, how the estate runs, and how Graves lets Thomas manipulate him for his advantage, that isn't fully captured on screen owing to the movie's need to cover a lot of ground quickly.
This leaves the movie feeling ordinary, as without those nuanes, it's just another story of decadence and decline in England's upper-classes, which was already on its last legs by the 1930s anyway. That is a story that's been told countless times in other books and movies.
It is beautifully filmed with lovely period details, but the effort, overall, comes across as a bit bland. The acting is professional – look for Judi Dench playing Grave's shrewd but irritating mother – but nobody other than Guinness gives a memorable performance.
A Handful of Dust is not Waugh's best novel (comments on the book here: "A Handful of Dust"), but it is a fun read full of humor and insightful digs at the ridiculousness of society and class structure in 1930s England. On-screen, however, much of that is lost, leaving it just another pretty movie about England's decline.
It is, though, an elegant period piece that provides a look at the faded glory of the Empire, as we see a new generation buffeted by winds of change it cannot stop or control. Flaws and all, the movie is a small, imperfect window into a pivotal moment in twentieth century history. |
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Post by Fading Fast on Nov 11, 2024 13:35:27 GMT
This Could Be the Night from 1957 with Jean Simmons, Paul Douglas, Anthony Franciosa, Julie Wilson, Joan Blondell, and Neile Adams
This Could Be the Night is a pleasant, lighthearted, slow-burn romcom between two true opposites set in a lively Runyonesque New York City nightclub populated with several "characters" who have their own smaller stories playing out.
The main story follows Jean Simmons as a well-bred, college-educated young woman from Massachusetts who moves to New York City to take a teaching job, but really to experience life out of her comfort zone.
To do that, she also takes an after-school job as a secretary at a rambunctious nightclub owned by two "guys from the street:" one, played by Paul Douglas, is a former bootlegger (many nightclub owners in this era truly were), and the other is played by Anthony Franciosa.
Douglas likes Simmons because she "classes up" the joint, while she's intrigued by all the "characters" she meets, including a vampy street-smart chanteuse, a sexy dancer with a stage mom, and a Muslim kid who wants to change his name so he doesn't keep getting beaten up.
It's a fish-out-of-water story where much of the humor is in small asides, like when proper and diligent Simmons takes a message from a bookmaker word for word, with a confused look on her face as terms like 'scratched' and 'on the nose' don't mean what she thinks they do.
Bouncing around in the story is the theme of class distinction, as almost everyone in the club feels self-conscious to some extent around Simmons. She can't help reading college educated and well mannered, which throws the rhythm of the club off a bit.
That turns into fun, though, as Simmons is a genuinely nice girl who becomes helpful in the lives of her co-workers. Funny scenes follow around cooking contests and algebra problems being solved with a mix of Boston Brahmin pragmatism and New York City street smarts.
Simmons, however, immediately rubs Franciosa the wrong way. He's a rough young guy whose skills are fighting and reading people. He immediately reads her as all wrong for the club. Later, we'll see that his insecurity over his lack of education - the class divide thing - play into this.
Her presence drives a wedge between him and Douglas – good friends and partners – leading Franciosa to fire Simmons, only for Douglas to force him to hire her back. Look for the scene where Franciosa shows up at Simmons' school to do so.
Now Franciosa is the fish out of water because academia isn't his comfort zone, but he knows how to read a room and assess a situation. He takes control of Simmons' momentarily rowdy class with bravado and presence, which makes Simmons look at him anew.
Most of the movie is Simmons swimming in the club's strange waters: she nearly drowns a few times, helps some of the local fish, recognizes she has much to learn, and battles with one of the two head fish, despite beginning to respect him – but there's one more thing in the water: sex.
The overarching tension, never openly discussed, but fully understood, is that Simmons is a virgin. An adult female virgin is a rare species in this urban club environment, and Franciosa, with his swinging bachelor pad, is a threat.
That premise, however – the premise of numerous 1950s battle-of-the-sexes movies – is flipped here, as Franciosa, even though he'd never admit it, respects Simmons. She represents a world he outwardly derides, as he knows it looks down on guys like him, but inwardly, he respects it.
That's why he doesn't want to "conquer" her. Simmons, however, whether on a rumspringa from her safe Boston world or truly forging a new path in life, is intrigued by Franciosa and probably wouldn't mind a tumble – a girl's gotta start sometime.
The climax is the movie's one flaw – no spoilers coming – as it's dragged out too long, feels a bit forced, and leaves things somewhat open-ended. But that's a quibble in a movie that is frivolously funny, smart, and entertaining.
Much of that credit belongs to the cast, with too many outstanding performances to note them all here, but give Simmons a big hand for playing her fish out of water with a pitch-perfect nuance of gumption, smarts, naïveté, and quiet sexiness.
Douglas, too, as the rough, club-running old bootlegger who takes a shine to Simmons, is likable and shows his talent by being not a bit creepy. Sure, he wishes he was twenty years younger, but despite a lack of polish, he's a gentleman in the truest sense of the word.
Franciosa, in his big-screen debut, is enjoyable if a bit showy, but he grows on you. Joan Blondell, Neile Adams (the King of Cool’s wife at the time), and Julie Wilson—who sings her own songs while absolutely smoldering—deserve shoutouts.
Managing this many characters and stories is director Robert Wise, who keeps a brisk pace – he's got a lot to fit in. That makes the movie more enjoyable on subsequent viewings, when it's easier to appreciate the one-liners and club atmosphere.
The movie can easily be dismissed as silly—and it is—but it's also well-crafted entertainment, a goal more movies should aspire to. Hollywood’s true magic – the best thing it sells – is escapism. This Could Be the Night is proudly nothing more than a fun piece of Tinseltown escapism.
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Post by I Love Melvin on Nov 12, 2024 15:06:12 GMT
Great choice. I like your observations that the movie is "slow-burn" and that it's more enjoyable on subsequent viewings, both of which I've also found to be true of this little gem of a movie.
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Post by Andrea Doria on Nov 13, 2024 19:18:35 GMT
I just watched -- actually it's been a week but it's stayed with me -- "The End of the Affair," with Deborah Kerr, Peter Cushing and (surprise) Van Johnson.
This is the 1955 version based on the Graham Greene novel.
The plot is simple; married woman, Kerr, has an affair with Van Johnson and we the audience wonder why we're watching since the romance lacks luster and neither party is particularly likeable, particularly the woman who seems only casually invested in Johnson while coldly taking great risks with her marriage.
Then, still early in the movie, something happens that changes everything and from then on the movie becomes very talky and is much less about the affair and much more about a serious religious conversion.
Sound boring? I think it could be to some people, but I found it surprising and fascinating, and most of all, I was absolutely blown away by Deborah Kerr's acting. The Sunday melodramas have recently covered four of her movies and though they were all good, none of them demanded as much from her as this role and she was more than equal to it.
Also "equal to it," was Van Johnson although his role required much less. Still, he seems an odd choice for the part.
Best for me, was Peter Cushing. I had never heard of him before the Sunday Melodramas featured him in "Payment on Demand," and it has become a favorite movie of mine based on his intense acting. As the husband in all this he goes through almost as many changes as Deborah Kerr and he is heartbreaking and moving in all his scenes.
Deborah's soft face can tell more stories than I might have guessed.
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Post by Fading Fast on Nov 16, 2024 9:47:07 GMT
Under Eighteen from 1931 with Marion Marsh, Warren William, Anita Page and Norman Foster
It's not easy to pigeonhole Under Eighteen, an engaging picture that is part kitchen-sink drama (before that name existed), part romcom, and part pre-code sexcapade. Here, these disparate parts are impressively held together by lithe, baby-faced, eighteen-year-old Marian Marsh.
When the Depression hits, Marsh's once middle-class character gets a job as a seamstress at a couture shop to support herself and her mom. Marsh is also in love with a delivery driver, played by Regis Toomey, but she – not he – wants to wait to get married until they have saved more money.
Things then get worse – kitchen-sink-drama worse – when Marsh's older sister, played by Anita Page, and her husband, played by Norman Foster, move in with their baby because Foster gambled away his pool hall business. The couple fights, so Page wants a divorce, but divorces cost money.
The family's survival now rests solely on the delicate shoulders of Marsh, who turns against marriage after watching Page and Foster fight over a lack of money. Worse for her moral compass, Marsh sees all the models at work living upscale lives, funded by their "boyfriends."
The "boyfriends" are either wealthy married men or wealthy playboys who have no intention of getting married. Yet when you can hardly put food on the table, and want to help pay for your sister's divorce attorney, "protecting your virtue" seems trivial.
Enter Warren William playing a rich, hawkish playboy – a familiar role for him in precode Hollywood. Despite already "dating" one of the models in the shop, he takes a shine to Marsh, who looks dewy fresh compared to the hard-boiled pretty models who are really high-end escorts.
That takes you through most of the movie, but the big question still looms: Will Marsh become Willam's "girlfriend" in return for (stripped of its niceties) compensation? You'll have to watch to learn what happens, but the climactic scene at William's Park Avenue Penthouse is a hoot.
The party Marsh walks into at the climax at his apartment, complete with a full-sized rooftop swimming pool, is a modern-day Roman bacchanalia, replete with young, nubile women in tiny bathing suits, freely flowing liquor, and plenty of comings and goings in the bedrooms.
Warner Bros. used its precode freedom here to show life in an honest and raw way; a portrayal that would soon disappear from movies until the kitchen-sink dramas started coming out in the late 1950s / early 1960s. What Warner Bros. put on the screen in 1931 is something to behold.
A family falls from middle class to near poverty; a man gambles away his business; women exchange sex for money (under the guise of "gifts"), and a young girl refuses a nice boy because he's poor, but not because she's greedy, but because she's thinking far ahead.
Central to all of this is that young girl, Marsh, who has to grow up in a hurry. While she makes mistakes, she proves equal to the challenge. It shows there was a genuine "girl power" respect in the culture until the coming enforcement of the movie "Code" pushed it off theater screens.
Marsh's performance is key as she starts out sweet and innocent but not silly. Once life turns against her, she evolves as a person. When reality beats some of the sweetness out of her, she becomes wise but not too bitter. It's an impressively nuanced portrayal of growth.
Honesty, virtue, poverty, pragmatism, reputation, budget struggles, morality, sex, prostitution, and more are all tossed in the blender in Under Eighteen. It's a bit of a muddle, but today you feel like you're getting a peek at the 1930s in a way that only the precode movies showed it.
Managing that mix and the blended styles of kitchen-sink drama, romcom, and sexcapade resulted in a few bumpy scene transitions. Yet overall, director Alexander Hall, by staying honest, captured real life's contradictions, which includes dramatic shifts like in the movie.
Marsh's career never equaled its promise, but in this one, she shows she can carry a complex movie with talent and spirit. The story is a good soap opera, and it's a revealing window into the 1930s with a strong cast, but it's one blonde slip of a woman who makes it a joy to watch.
N.B. Marsh's "missed career opportunity" resulted from a few bad pictures at the wrong time, a few bad career moves on her part – it was hard to buck the studio system in those days – and then a marriage that changed her priorities. A shame for us, but she had a fulfilling life away from the screen. |
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Post by BunnyWhit on Nov 18, 2024 15:36:04 GMT
Central to all of this is that young girl, Marsh, who has to grow up in a hurry. While she makes mistakes, she proves equal to the challenge. It shows there was a genuine "girl power" respect in the culture until the coming enforcement of the movie "Code" pushed it off theater screens.
Thanks for the wonderful review, FadingFast. This one is now on my list. |
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Post by Fading Fast on Nov 18, 2024 17:41:00 GMT
Central to all of this is that young girl, Marsh, who has to grow up in a hurry. While she makes mistakes, she proves equal to the challenge. It shows there was a genuine "girl power" respect in the culture until the coming enforcement of the movie "Code" pushed it off theater screens.
Thanks for the wonderful review, FadingFast. This one is now on my list.
If you read the newspapers and books of the era, you get a much different view of the culture than you do just from the movies. And of course, the movies both reflect and impact the culture, so it's quite reasonable to think the Code did harm.
Based on the precode pictures, I'd say relations between and views of gender roles, etc., was much more openminded and varied than portrayed on screen once the Code was enforced.
Thank you for the kind words about my review. If you do see the movie - which I really enjoyed - I'd love to hear your thoughts about it. |
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Post by kims on Nov 18, 2024 23:03:35 GMT
I'll vote for the Code did some harm-it was like propaganda for how some people thought we should be, not how we were. Stories in my family disabuse the Code viewpoint.
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Post by topbilled on Nov 20, 2024 13:20:19 GMT
I just watched -- actually it's been a week but it's stayed with me -- "The End of the Affair," with Deborah Kerr, Peter Cushing and (surprise) Van Johnson.
This is the 1955 version based on the Graham Greene novel.
Probably Van Johnson was cast because he was still a hot property in Hollywood, and as it was technically a British film, they were hoping for wide distribution in the U.S. to ensure profits.
The story was remade in 1999 with Ralph Fiennes & Julianne Moore.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_End_of_the_Affair_(1999_film) |
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Post by NoShear on Nov 20, 2024 16:34:19 GMT
Under Eighteen from 1931 with Marion Marsh, Warren William, Anita Page and Norman Foster
It's not easy to pigeonhole Under Eighteen, an engaging picture that is part kitchen-sink drama (before that name existed), part romcom, and part pre-code sexcapade. Here, these disparate parts are impressively held together by lithe, baby-faced, eighteen-year-old Marian Marsh.
When the Depression hits, Marsh's once middle-class character gets a job as a seamstress at a couture shop to support herself and her mom. Marsh is also in love with a delivery driver, played by Regis Toomey, but she – not he – wants to wait to get married until they have saved more money.
Things then get worse – kitchen-sink-drama worse – when Marsh's older sister, played by Anita Page, and her husband, played by Norman Foster, move in with their baby because Foster gambled away his pool hall business. The couple fights, so Page wants a divorce, but divorces cost money.
The family's survival now rests solely on the delicate shoulders of Marsh, who turns against marriage after watching Page and Foster fight over a lack of money. Worse for her moral compass, Marsh sees all the models at work living upscale lives, funded by their "boyfriends."
The "boyfriends" are either wealthy married men or wealthy playboys who have no intention of getting married. Yet when you can hardly put food on the table, and want to help pay for your sister's divorce attorney, "protecting your virtue" seems trivial.
Enter Warren William playing a rich, hawkish playboy – a familiar role for him in precode Hollywood. Despite already "dating" one of the models in the shop, he takes a shine to Marsh, who looks dewy fresh compared to the hard-boiled pretty models who are really high-end escorts.
That takes you through most of the movie, but the big question still looms: Will Marsh become Willam's "girlfriend" in return for (stripped of its niceties) compensation? You'll have to watch to learn what happens, but the climactic scene at William's Park Avenue Penthouse is a hoot.
The party Marsh walks into at the climax at his apartment, complete with a full-sized rooftop swimming pool, is a modern-day Roman bacchanalia, replete with young, nubile women in tiny bathing suits, freely flowing liquor, and plenty of comings and goings in the bedrooms.
Warner Bros. used its precode freedom here to show life in an honest and raw way; a portrayal that would soon disappear from movies until the kitchen-sink dramas started coming out in the late 1950s / early 1960s. What Warner Bros. put on the screen in 1931 is something to behold.
A family falls from middle class to near poverty; a man gambles away his business; women exchange sex for money (under the guise of "gifts"), and a young girl refuses a nice boy because he's poor, but not because she's greedy, but because she's thinking far ahead.
Central to all of this is that young girl, Marsh, who has to grow up in a hurry. While she makes mistakes, she proves equal to the challenge. It shows there was a genuine "girl power" respect in the culture until the coming enforcement of the movie "Code" pushed it off theater screens.
Marsh's performance is key as she starts out sweet and innocent but not silly. Once life turns against her, she evolves as a person. When reality beats some of the sweetness out of her, she becomes wise but not too bitter. It's an impressively nuanced portrayal of growth.
Honesty, virtue, poverty, pragmatism, reputation, budget struggles, morality, sex, prostitution, and more are all tossed in the blender in Under Eighteen. It's a bit of a muddle, but today you feel like you're getting a peek at the 1930s in a way that only the precode movies showed it.
Managing that mix and the blended styles of kitchen-sink drama, romcom, and sexcapade resulted in a few bumpy scene transitions. Yet overall, director Alexander Hall, by staying honest, captured real life's contradictions, which includes dramatic shifts like in the movie.
Marsh's career never equaled its promise, but in this one, she shows she can carry a complex movie with talent and spirit. The story is a good soap opera, and it's a revealing window into the 1930s with a strong cast, but it's one blonde slip of a woman who makes it a joy to watch.
N.B. Marsh's "missed career opportunity" resulted from a few bad pictures at the wrong time, a few bad career moves on her part – it was hard to buck the studio system in those days – and then a marriage that changed her priorities. A shame for us, but she had a fulfilling life away from the screen. I'm sure it's a well-written review which has some insightful social commentary, Fading Fast, but I haven't been able to get past the image of Marian Marsh yet. |
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Post by Fading Fast on Nov 20, 2024 17:14:29 GMT
I'm sure it's a well-written review which has some insightful social commentary, Fading Fast, but I haven't been able to get past the image of Marian Marsh yet. |
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Post by NoShear on Nov 20, 2024 18:08:39 GMT
I'm sure it's a well-written review which has some insightful social commentary, Fading Fast, but I haven't been able to get past the image of Marian Marsh yet. My favorite books have always been the ones with pictures in it.  |
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