TCM: The Greatest Movie Channel

[Padma]

14 hours ago, Rinaldo said:

Quote

I agree, but I think that hurts Marnie more than The Birds, no? ☺ (No criticism implied -- I do this sort of jump all the time, and have done it so often on this thread that it must be my trademark.)

Lol, thanks, @Rinaldo. Correction made (and, yep, didn't see much chemistry with the Marnie pairing either.  :)) I lLike The 39 Steps and The Lady Vanishes a lot, too--really, most of the more mystery-oriented Hitchcock (have never watched Psycho). Still getting used to actually watching "Rope" (finally) and finding it was not gimmicky failure as I'd been led to believe through the years. Agree with you about the "atmosphere all its own".

Strangers on a Train would be a great "first Hitchcock" to introduce someone to his films as it does everything so well--characters, plot, tension, resolution (though I have a feeling the carousel scene played so much better in a theater than at home where I always feel it goes on a bit long for me--at some point, I become aware of the editing instead of the scariness of the moment, but that's the difference of directing for a movie theater experience.)  I probably gave "Nort"h an edge for the somewhat shallow reason that its all about the hero, while "Strangers" is so much darker, with the villain being the main character.  But I really enjoy both films and the theme they share--where the innocent man is caught in a dangerous situation through a misunderstanding--and it increasingly seems there's no way out. 

You and @Wendish Fitch make me want to give "The Man Who Knew Too Much" another try.

Quote

Athena:  I don't want to watch the Tippi Hedren/Hitchcock films including The Birds after reading how harassed she felt working for him. I have mixed feelings with Hitchcock as a director in general. I can't always separate art from the artist or at least every piece any way.

I'm glad I saw The Birds before knowing anything about Hitchcock as a person. It's really weird to know what a monster he was with Tippi Hedron (and  Melanie) while making that film and then hear Eva Marie Saint  speak so warmly of working with him on "North". I believe Hedron (and others') experiences but his issues with women seem more problematic in some films than others (one reason I like "Shadow of a Doubt" is because, as Wendish Fitch. said, the male antagonist and female protagonist are evenly matched for a --refreshing!--change.)

Edited July 30, 2017 by Padma

[Rinaldo]

Great post, @Padma, thanks for the good food for thought. Your point about theater viewing making a difference is a good one. So many friends of mine are devoted to Notorious, I've watched it repeatedly out of respect to them, and I just can't get into it. I wonder if I had first seen it in a theater, would that make a difference?

I also like the point about evenly matched male and female opponents in Shadow of a Doubt -- they even have the same name! -- and it helps that they're two of the strongest acting performances in any Hitchcock flick, Joseph Cotten and Teresa Wright.

Another two are in Strangers on a Train. In which connection,

2 hours ago, Padma said:

Strangers is so much darker, with the villain being the main character.  ... the innocent man is caught in a dangerous situation through a misunderstanding--and it increasingly seems there's no way out. 

Assuredly, Robert Walker is the villain and plays him brilliantly (from all the descriptions before I saw it, I had expected a Peter Lorre sort of ghoul, but the wonderful thing with Walker is his initial plausibility; that's the point that scares us in suspense fiction and in life -- we don't know which people might be really twisted or dangerous). But the extra twist for me here, is that the Farley Granger character is ever-so-slightly ambiguous too. No, he didn't mean it, and yet there's a softness and passivity in the way he behaves, right from the way he lets Walker take charge on the train in the first scene. He's complicit just that teeny bit, even though I don't actually blame him for what happens. That two-sidedness is one reason why this movie is my #1.

Also, the question of what would be a good "first Hitchcock" (I hope I haven't told this here before, but I probably have and can only hope it was years ago and we've all forgotten): I discovered him by way of the old-time Drive-In Theater of the 1950s (in our case, the Sunset Drive-In in Skokie Illinois). Old-timers know well that shows at the drive-in were always a double feature: the first movie for kids, and then, as the kids fell asleep in the back seat, the second feature, for grownups. And as I got near 10 years old, I would occasionally manage to stay awake for the second one, when it had enough action and suspense and humor. In other words, if it was directed by Hitchcock. I was fascinated by Rear Window (its clear visual premise sparking the beginning of my interest in structure, maybe?). And then The Man Who Knew Too Much (as I've said, I loved the nifty use of music, both the cantata and the song), and was startled by its impertinent jolt of humor at the last second. And then North by Northwest, which was almost like a funhouse ride, with distorting mirrors and false angles. Those were a near-ideal three to get a young boy hooked.

Edited July 30, 2017 by Rinaldo

[Silver Raven]

Rear Window.  Mainly because Grace Kelly just takes my breath away.  The scene when she walks into the apartment for the first time she is absolutely stunning.

I also like the original, black and white The Man Who Knew Too Much.  Much better than the sunny color version with Doris Day.

[Rinaldo]

Remember how I just said I'm a sucker for clever structure in a movie? I'm now adoring Two for the Road for the two-dozenth time. I love everything about it: the telling of the story in geographical (not chronological) order north to south on five different trips through France, the enchanting Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney at the center, the writing and direction of Frederic Raphael and Stanley Donen respectively, the Henry Mancini music, the French landscapes, the clear-eyed but not bleak view of life... everything. It's probably my all-time #1 movie.

[Wiendish Fitch]

6 minutes ago, Rinaldo said:

Remember how I just said I'm a sucker for clever structure in a movie? I'm now adoring Two for the Road for the two-dozenth time. I love everything about it: the telling of the story in geographical (not chronological) order north to south on five different trips through France, the enchanting Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney at the center, the writing and direction of Frederic Raphael and Stanley Donen respectively, the Henry Mancini music, the French landscapes, the clear-eyed but not bleak view of life... everything. It's probably my all-time #1 movie.

I love that one, too, Rinaldo. I've never liked Breakfast at Tiffany's, but I do appreciate how it started the trend of Hepburn having age-appropriate leading men, at least once in a while (noticed I said "once in a while", I'm not forgetting My Fair Lady or Charade). And boy, my generation is so used to the Albert Finney of Annie or Erin Brockovich, it's easy to forget what a cutie he was back in the day!

Is it horrible that one of the reasons I love Two for the Road is the scene where Hepburn yells at a bratty girl? Oh, who am I kidding, I am horrible, I'll own it. >:)

[Rinaldo]

13 minutes ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

I do appreciate how it started the trend of Hepburn having age-appropriate leading men...

In fact, in this case Finney was actually 7 years younger than she -- not that that's of great import in a story that jumps around over a decade or so, and they both have to play ages across that range.

This was also, at that time, one of the few occasions in a contemporary film where she wasn't costumed by Givenchy. She and Donen agreed that Joanna wouldn't have that kind of wardrobe, so they "went shopping" (and in fact a variety of current labels like Mary Quant "and others" are credited as costumers).

[elle]

5 hours ago, Rinaldo said:

Stanley Donen respectively, the Henry Mancini music, the French landscapes,

Those three things always has me think of Charade, which is interesting to pop up in the middle of a Hitchcock movie discussion since Dohen is quoted as saying he wanted to make a movie like North by Northwest.  It is also usually referred to as "the best Hitchcock film Hitchcock never made".

5 hours ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

but I do appreciate how it started the trend of Hepburn having age-appropriate leading men, at least once in a while (noticed I said "once in a while", I'm not forgetting My Fair Lady or Charade)

Generally I agree with this, but in the case of Charade it is Cary Grant! That is it, that is my whole argument.  

But, Grant himself would agree with you.  A bit of trivia..."Cary Grant (who turned 59 during filming) was sensitive about the 25-year age difference between Audrey Hepburn (33 at the time of filming) and himself, and this made him uncomfortable with the romantic interplay between them. To satisfy his concerns, the filmmakers agreed to add several lines of dialogue in which Grant's character comments on his age and Regina — Hepburn's character — is portrayed as the pursuer*

 

* Eastman, John (1989). Retakes: Behind the Scenes of 500 Classic Movies. Ballantine Books. pp. 57–58.

[voiceover]

On 7/29/2017 at 6:14 PM, ratgirlagogo said:

[In Frenzy]...the scene where he rapes and then strangles the woman in the office - I felt that the woman's reactions to her own rape and murder  were portrayed in such a comic, mocking way that I completely lost my shit.  

Hmm.  I'll need to watch it again with your comment fresh in my mind.  I do agree that it's the most repellent scene in all of Hitchcock.

Here's my most recent off-the-top reaction to that sequence:

She's got so many responses to him: increasingly bothered, but trying to hide it (He's my customer & my business is word of mouth); then nervous (I should get rid of him, but how); then terrified (How can I stop this from happening?); then resigned (I'll let him do this, and he'll go); then a feral fighting for her life, because she understands finally that this is the end.

He rips her dress and bra, and she's naked, but after a few moments she pulls the material over her breast.  He's raping her, but she's covering up.  I was grateful for that.  Then she starts praying aloud, trying to drown out his voice.

It is dreadful to watch, so I've never rewound that part, and have often looked away.  As close to comic as I remember the scene gets is after, when he grabs an extra pear before he leaves.  Also, the fact that her tongue lolls to the side after she's dead -- though it looks shocking, I had previously read that this happens to victims of strangulation.  

This last time, the quick cuts of her being strangled put me in mind of Psycho's shower scene.

After it's over, you hate what happened, and hate that you watched it, and hate Hitchcock for putting you through that.  But he also makes you hate, so profoundly, the Good Ol' Bloke what did it, that I guess, that's something.

[Charlie Baker]

Adieu, Madame.

Jeanne Moreau Dead at 89

[mariah23]

Now Sam Shepherd!

[Rinaldo]

17 hours ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

Is it horrible that one of the reasons I love Two for the Road is the scene where Hepburn yells at a bratty girl?

On the other hand, she's a really bratty little girl. And to let the poor kid off the hook just a little, she is presented as the product of up-to-the-minute crackpot American child-rearing theory, which I confess to finding amusing when it pops up in the middle of such a British (plus French) movie. Some have found the parental portrayals by William Daniels and Eleanor Bron unduly broad and brash, but I guess I'm an easy audience; I get a kick out of them and what they're satirizing.

As Joanna says to Mark in the scene after they ditch the family, "Yes, I still want a child; I just don't want that child."

[Inquisitionist]

1 hour ago, Charlie Baker said:

Adieu, Madame.

Jeanne Moreau Dead at 89

 

22 minutes ago, mariah23 said:

Now Sam Shepherd!

Oceans of suckitude today.  :-(

[voiceover]

Let me now sing the praises of tonight's Manhattan Murder Mystery.  

Months ago, one of @Crisopera's Top 5s concerned obscure/under the radar faves.  This one was my #2 (Nicole Holofcener's Walking & Talking was #1, but it was neck-and-neck) -- as much as any Woody Allen film can escape, um, "scurity".

This is what Annie Hall was supposed to have been  (lord love the development process) but hooray for filmdom that it worked out the way it did! because the former is in my Top 10, and the latter is my second-favorite Allen movie.

Due to (google it) offscreen issues, Mia Farrow was dropped as the lead, so reliable buddy Keaton stepped into the role of Allen's wife.  It's a lovely part-comic, part-bittersweet story of middle-age and its effects on a marriage and on personal identity.  This is perfectly woven into the fabric of the title story:

The Liptons (Allen & Keaton) are in a rut -- albeit a comfortable, New York highrise one.  Their son (Zach Braff cameo!) is college-bound, and his mother is feeling the loss keenly.  She's looking for something to fill her days and capture her imagination, while her husband seems content with his book-editing, hockey-watching existence.  

Then one night, their next-door neighbor turns up dead.  A sad shocker for new friends -- or is it, as Mrs Lipton begins to suspect, something sinister?

So Keaton is off playing amateur detective, and when Allen balks at being the Watson to her Sherlock, good buddy Alan Alda steps in.  There's some truly tension-filled moments when the possibility of a crime becomes the reality.  Meanwhile, Anjelica Huston makes the threesome a foursome, and hatches a plan to trap the killer.

I love this movie.  It's a tightly written  genius mix of a whodunit comic romance, and just like its Annie Hall predecessor, has a jokey last line that's the cherry on the sundae.

Watch it!

[psychoticstate]

I am so sad to hear about Sam Shepherd.  Damn it.

My top 5 Hitchock films:

1.  Rebecca.  Absolute perfection, from Olivier to Fontaine to Anderson.  It simply could not get any better (unless they had followed the book to a T.)

2.  Mr. and Mrs. Smith.  An enjoyable comedy with Carole Lombard and Robert Montgomery.  Always worth a watch, especially since Hitch didn't do much comedy.

3.  Suspicion.   Awesome "is he or isn't he?" movie with Cary Grant as the "he."  Good enough right there.

4. North by Northwest.  Again, Cary Grant.  And again, a great mystery. 

5.  Shadow of a Doubt/Notorious.  Joseph Cotten and Teresa Wright in the first (with Cotten insanely brilliant) and Grant, Ingrid Bergman and Claude Rains in the second.  I liked Notorious much more than I thought I would and it had me tense, as SOAD did.  Both excellent. 

Honorable mention:  Rear Window, if only for Jimmy Stewart, who I adore.  He does so much, being restricted by his leg and being in a wheelchair.  Probably an unpopular opinion but never been a Grace Kelly fan.  She was gorgeous and stylish but I was never that impressed by her acting.  Of course I feel the same way about Garbo so I probably stand alone.

[Bastet]

47 minutes ago, psychoticstate said:

Honorable mention:  Rear Window, if only for Jimmy Stewart, who I adore.  He does so much, being restricted by his leg and being in a wheelchair.  Probably an unpopular opinion but never been a Grace Kelly fan.  She was gorgeous and stylish but I was never that impressed by her acting.

I feel the same, and I think I've said here that she could have been eliminated entirely from Rear Window, with Stella (the fantastic Thelma Ritter) being the one to sneak into the apartment, and I'd enjoy the film even more.

[Rinaldo]

1 hour ago, voiceover said:

Let me now sing the praises of tonight's Manhattan Murder Mystery.  

Well said and well argued, @voiceover. I have happy memories of it, having unexpectedly fit it into a very good day's visit in Manhattan. (I was one of 20 contributors honored at a book-launch lunch at Lincoln Center, then walked downtown in lovely autumn weather with hours to kill before my train home, passed a movie theater where this was due to start in 10 minutes, and walked right in.) It has a lot to recommend it. I recall a conversation with Pauline Kael after her retirement from regular reviewing, when she was asked about recent underappreciated films she wanted to speak up for, and she named MMM. 

[psychoticstate]

3 hours ago, Bastet said:

I feel the same, and I think I've said here that she could have been eliminated entirely from Rear Window, with Stella (the fantastic Thelma Ritter) being the one to sneak into the apartment, and I'd enjoy the film even more.

Agree, @Bastet.  Thelma Ritter was great.

Yay!  I don't have to sit in the corner alone.

[Padma]

Manhattan Murder Mystery is a favorite of mine, too, and really fun to see Woody pull of a genuine mystery while still keeping it a recognizable "Woody Allen" movie. (And reading an @voiceover post always makes me think of "Top 5s" so, just for the heck of it, my top five Allen are: Manhatten Murder Mystery, Stardust Memories (which everyone else hates), Crimes and Misdemeanors, Annie Hall, Hannah & Her Sisters, plus a whole slew of second tier funny ones".

And I saw "Two for the Road" for the first time this weekend--reminding me (as if I needed it!) of how much I love and appreciate TCM.  It was about two minutes in  and I was already hooked, thinking what an unusual film it was and just kind of amazed how real those two very familiar actors seemed as this couple. Plus, although Audrey was her usual lovely, charming self at times, she  also wasn't that at all at other times--looking serious, irritated, not being a perfect person (some examples already shared), but seeming like she and Finney really were a married couple whose relationship we were getting to see from beginning to end, warts and all, in a way that felt  just like  real life. Great film, and although I thought she was excellent in Wait Until Dark, the same year, I see why Ben M. thought this should have been the one she got an Oscar for.  Two roles with so much depth and she was more than equal to the task. (Finney was excellent, too, of course, and fun to remember how attractive he was.  Shallow note--it was also nice to see a woman who is  7 years older than the male lead playing his wife, not his mother..)                                          

[voiceover]

Ugh.  They're sure getting a lot of mileage out of that AFI salute.  I love Diane Keaton, and she was quite deserving of the honor, but 3 times in one night?  

If "Show don't tell" is a cinematic mantra, why not "show" us another reason or two she's being honored, instead of forcing 3 viewings in 8 hours of an awards show? 

Example: Unstrung Heroes is my fave of her directorial pieces.  Her influence on the art direction, especially, is memorable.

[StrictTime]

So, I watched my recently recorded Knights of the Round Table and loved it.  The movie was horrible, but I couldn't help but laugh at all the scenes from Monty Python and the Holy Grail  that KotRT inspired. The Pythons certainly had a lot of material to spoof.  Wonder if the MST3k group has done a rif on Knights?

On 7/31/2017 at 11:58 PM, voiceover said:

Ugh.  They're sure getting a lot of mileage out of that AFI salute.  I love Diane Keaton, and she was quite deserving of the honor, but 3 times in one night?  

If "Show don't tell" is a cinematic mantra, why not "show" us another reason or two she's being honored, instead of forcing 3 viewings in 8 hours of an awards show? 

Example: Unstrung Heroes is my fave of her directorial pieces.  Her influence on the art direction, especially, is memorable.

I hope we won't be seeing more programming like this.  I WANT MY CLASSIC MOVIES. Period.

[Charlie Baker]

I don't mind in the least the occasional behind the scenes or biographical documentary, the interview from the Osborne archive or the Classic Movie Fest.  I don't mind the occasional event like the AFI honor.  All seem to have a place on TCM.  But three times for the Diane Keaton AFI--yes, too much.  Show another of her movies, please, instead of two extra runs of AFI.

Marilyn Monroe was the Star of the Day to launch the month--she had a good supporting role in Clash by Night, and she played it straight, and opposite Keith Andes, was just as sexy as her more typical roles.  And on the more mature side, Barbara Stanwyck and Robert Ryan heated things up pretty darn well too.  The movie is from a Clifford Odets, play and not quite top level Odets, it boils down to a romantic triangle melodrama among working class types, but it's a good one, with dialogue that could strike some people as overheated.  For my money, the cast. including Paul Douglas as the cuckolded husband of Stanwyck, makes it work.

[Padma]

On ‎7‎/‎31‎/‎2017 at 0:03 PM, psychoticstate said:

I am so sad to hear about Sam Shepherd.  Damn it.

My top 5 Hitchock films:

1.  Rebecca.  Absolute perfection, from Olivier to Fontaine to Anderson.  It simply could not get any better (unless they had followed the book to a T.)

2.  Mr. and Mrs. Smith.  An enjoyable comedy with Carole Lombard and Robert Montgomery.  Always worth a watch, especially since Hitch didn't do much comedy.

3.  Suspicion.   Awesome "is he or isn't he?" movie with Cary Grant as the "he."  Good enough right there.

4. North by Northwest.  Again, Cary Grant.  And again, a great mystery. 

5.  Shadow of a Doubt/Notorious.  Joseph Cotten and Teresa Wright in the first (with Cotten insanely brilliant) and Grant, Ingrid Bergman and Claude Rains in the second.  I liked Notorious much more than I thought I would and it had me tense, as SOAD did.  Both excellent. 

Honorable mention:  Rear Window, if only for Jimmy Stewart, who I adore.  He does so much, being restricted by his leg and being in a wheelchair.  Probably an unpopular opinion but never been a Grace Kelly fan.  She was gorgeous and stylish but I was never that impressed by her acting.  Of course I feel the same way about Garbo so I probably stand alone.

Good list--it's so hard to just choose 5 Hitchcock. And ITA with you about Stewart. I have to admit my attention was flagging a bit in "Rope" but then he showed up and for me it became a different film. I think Kelly is okay as an actress, certainly gorgeous (except of course, for part of "The Country Girl") but I find her affectations annoying. (Or, on the other hand, maybe I'm just like Tina Fey who basically admitted she just felt too envious of her stage image to like her and "wanted to see more of wonderful Thelma Ritter who's a lot more relatable." I'm right with her on that, lol. (Plus Ritter brings a spark to everything.)   I do like Rear Window a lot,, though.                                                 

Edited August 3, 2017 by Padma

[Charlie Baker]

My recent viewing of Lifeboat made me rank it higher on my favorite Hitchcocks list, and my recent viewing of Torn Curtain secured its place on my least favorites.

I love Rear Window.

[elle]

2 hours ago, Padma said:

(Plus Ritter brings a spark to everything.) 

Everything! :0)

[Crisopera]

Top five Hitchcock?  Hmmm....

1. Shadow of a Doubt - a cast full of great performances (even the terminally dull Macdonald Carey is fine), and Joseph Cotten's best ever.  His monologues are genuinely chilling.

2.  The 39 Steps - so clever (and cleverly naughty), and thank god Hitchcock abandoned the original storyline of the novel!

3.  Vertigo/Rear Window/North by Northwest - wonderful scripts, wonderful acting, intense suspense.   The second (or third, maybe) time i saw Vertigo, it was with a college student audience, who had obviously never seen it before.  The entire audience gasped as one at the end - they just weren't used to movies that ended like that!

4. Notorious - Grant and Bergman are one of the sexiest couples ever.  And Claude Rains is so pathetically villainous (his terrifying mother makes up for it)

5 The Trouble with Harry - an underrated charmer, with a cast full of poker-faced comics.  For me, a much better comedy than Mr. & Mrs. Smith - sorry, psychoticstate!

Hitchcock could really get the best out of his actors, couldn't he?  Macdonald Carey, John Forsythe, Kim Novak - they were never better than under his direction.  Not even close.

How can I leave out his other before-1960s movies?  (I am not a fan of The Birds, Marnie, etc.)  If you haven't seen Topaz, don't bother - it's terrible.  I don't know if Universal forced Frederick Stafford on him, but even Hitchcock couldn't get a performance out of him.  I'm sorry it's so awful - two of its supporting actors are favorites of mine (Philippe Noiret and Michel Piccoli).  Even they can't make me watch it again.

[Mrs. P.]

1 hour ago, Charlie Baker said:

....

I love Rear Window.

As do I.  It is my favorite Hitchcock film.

[Padma]

So sorry to have missed "Niagara"! yesterday--Monroe and Joseph Cotton--a film noir shot in Technicolor.  I only have seen it once before, but remember it as the most "non-Hitchcock Hitchcock" of memory (directed by Henry Hathaway.)  Such a good pairing and another where the setting is a gorgeous backdrop for deception and murder..

[Crisopera]

It's one of the great Hollywood injustices that Joseph Cotton never got an Oscar nomination - not for Citizen Kane, not for The Third Man, not even for his terrifying performance in Shadow of a Doubt.  He played Linus in the Broadway version of Sabrina - too bad he didn't do the movie.  He was so consistently good - why didn't he become a big star?

[Charlie Baker]

What makes an actor a star is a combination of  factors--and there were so many actors who deserved bigger careers than they had.  I know certain industry types held that it's the audience who makes a star.  But there's also what roles they play in what projects they are in and how those projects resonate with the public.  And that element of personality, or charisma, or star quality is certainly hard to define and also an element.  There's chance or luck of the draw as well. 

Today's summer under the stars star of the day is Lon Chaney, and it's wonderful that TCM would give an entire day over to his work, in silent films.  I wish I had more time to devote to them, as I wished I could have caught more of the early Hitchcocks.  So I have to pick and choose.  I got Oliver Twist from this morning in which Chaney plays, of course, Fagin, in grand theatrical style and his usual blend of plenty of makeup and physicality.  The title role is played by Jackie Coogan, one of the biggest child stars of his time, and he is certainly very cute and not cloying. (His life and career took a few turns--his mother and stepfather tried to keep the considerable money he made for themselves and legislation protecting child actors resulted.  As an adult, he struggled for years  until getting Uncle Fester in The Addams Family.) The movie is an elaborate production and tells the story pretty neatly in an hour and quarter.  I liked the David Lean version which I last saw years ago, but this, with its silent conventions or in spite of them, holds it own.  (I always get a kick out of the naming the actor in a title when a character first appears on screen.)

I haven't seen Norma Shearer in a silent so I recorded He Who Gets Slapped and hopefully will get to it soon. 

[Calvada]

16 minutes ago, Charlie Baker said:

I haven't seen Norma Shearer in a silent so I recorded He Who Gets Slapped and hopefully will get to it soon. 

I very rarely am able to watch anything on TCM "live," but instead I record a bunch of stuff and usually get to it days or weeks later.  I enjoy reading all the comments about a particular movie once I've watched it, but only when it's something I've seen before can I comment when it is broadcast.  Oh well, retirement is only a decade away and then this pesky issue of employment won't interfere with my TV watching.  

[elle]

Today's Google Doodle is celebrating Dolores del Rio!  She was in silents and talkies, movies, theater and tv.  Sadly, I can say that the only movie of hers that I recall watching is Flying Down to Rio (1933) and watched that for Fred and Ginger.

An article on 5 fast facts you need to know quotes "TCM" a number of times.  Has TCM had a day dedicated to her films?

[voiceover]

6 hours ago, Charlie Baker said:

I haven't seen Norma Shearer in a silent so I recorded He Who Gets Slapped and hopefully will get to it soon. 

Welllll!!! *rubs hands together*  Seek out The Student Prince of Old Heidelberg.  She's the sweet-tempered barmaid who falls in love with Ramon Navarro's title character.  It's one of my favorite silents and she's completely adorable (somewhere ratgirlagogo is rolling her eyes to the sky).

Returning to splash at the shallow end of the pool: the past few Lon Chaney festivals (today's & the one on his bday) has me thinking, what an attractive man he could be.  He & Ward Bond = same kind of rugged good looks that weren't always apparent -- esp when Chaney played the villain.  But he was really something to look at in Tell It to the Marines, which is one of my favorites of his oeuvre.

My Hitchcock 5:

The Lodger: Thanks to a gorgeous, haunting Ivor Novello performance.

Rebecca: I love a well-told Gothic, me.

The 39 Steps: Because, Robert Donat.

Lifeboat: Genius use of space & reversals.  And an intriguing dip into Sartre & "No Exit" territory.

The Birds: Ah, the Cheese stands alone.  But I saw that film as a kid and it terrified me, so on the list it goes.

Edited August 4, 2017 by voiceover
stupid quick-posting-in-the-middle-of-a-word thread

[Rinaldo]

Summer under the Stars is a great way to immerse oneself in many titles by people with long and varied careers (like, this week, Barbara Stanwyck, Sidney Poitier, Ginger Rogers) or long careers even if they were less varied (this week, Robert Mitchum, John Wayne), but when it comes to Sandra Dee, or even Franchot Tone... well, never mind me, it's a nice opportunity for those who like them a lot to see a lot of them, including seldom-screened titles.

And in fact I have my eye out for particular days this month too, like the 14th and Vanessa Redgrave. In addition to several good movies like Julia (with the one-scene movie debut of a brunette Meryl Streep), we'll have The Sea Gull and Orpheus Descending, two plays not terribly well filmed, but she's astonishing in both, and neither shows up often.

[Pyralis]

Seeing the seldom screened films, or ones that I've only seen once, is also something I enjoy about TCM & August.  I've seen several that I hadn't known about that turned into favourites.

[Padma]

It's Eleanor Parker day on TCM. I caught "Interrupted Melody" for the first time.--biopic about Australian soprano Marjorie Lawrence who became an international star, then contracted polio. The screenplay won an Oscar and Parker was nominated. I thought she was surprisingly convincing in her singing performances/rehearsals. She was dubbed by Eileen Farrell but per Wikipedia, "Parker could read music and had a firm soprano voice with perfect pitch. She prepared for the singing aspect of her role by listening to the numbers for weeks and she sang them during the filming in full voice instead of just lip-synching". Impressive. And more than snippets of several famous arias,. I would especially have liked this movie as a child--having exposure to opera and a star I'd never have known of through family & friends.  I don't know if kids watch these kinds of movies any more or how much the "before my generation" knowledge goes, especially of cultural things. .

Trivia about Parker's co-star in this--Glenn Ford (whose part could truly have been played by at least 24 other actors, many who would have been better) demanded top billing which is pretty incredible given the difference in the roles and their importance and demands in the film. .

Glad to know to mark Aug 14th down with Vanessa Redgrave's and, esp. The Seagull (also with James Mason and Simone Signoret).  

Edited August 7, 2017 by Padma

[aradia22]

http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Cate-Blanchett-to-Play-Lucille-Ball-in-Aaron-Sorkin-Scripted-Drama-20170807

[Rinaldo]

3 hours ago, Padma said:

It's Eleanor Parker day on TCM. I caught "Interrupted Melody" for the first time.--biopic about Australian soprano Marjorie Lawrence who became an international star, then contracted polio. The screenplay won an Oscar and Parker was nominated. I thought she was surprisingly convincing in her singing performances/rehearsals. She was dubbed by Eileen Farrell but per Wikipedia, "Parker could read music and had a firm soprano voice with perfect pitch. She prepared for the singing aspect of her role by listening to the numbers for weeks and she sang them during the filming in full voice instead of just lip-synching". Impressive. And more than snippets of several famous arias. I would especially have liked this movie as a child--having exposure to opera and a star I'd never have known of through family & friends.  I don't know if kids watch these kinds of movies any more or how much the "before my generation" knowledge goes, especially of cultural things.

Marjorie Lawrence was a genuine international opera star in the heaviest soprano roles -- Wagner and the like. She fought back to somewhat of a return after her illness struck, finding a way to stage certain roles (like Isolde) seated.

I have no doubt that Parker worked hard on her share, and lip-synching is always more convincing if you're actually working to produce sound, and not just moving your lips. Wikipedia doesn't give a source for "perfect pitch" though, so till proven otherwise I'll just take that to mean she sang with good pitch and some sort of listenable sound. After Eileen Farrell became a big star, I remember that a soundtrack record of all the vocal music from the movie was released -- but it didn't mention Interrupted Melody at all, it was just called "Farrell Sings!" or something like that. So it got reviewed in a very puzzled way by those who didn't know the source, wondering what all these abbreviated excerpts and 2-minute medleys of operas were doing there. 

That Seagull is an oddity; I'll look forward to exchanging reactions with others here. Sidney Lumet doesn't seem at home in Chekhov-land, and he chose an international cast for members of the family. In some sorts of story, that might not matter much, but Chekhov is all about nuance and the meanings of ordinary gestures and attempts at conversation. And the actors' style as well as accents differ greatly. But James Mason seems at home there, and the young Redgrave is just dazzling; if she doesn't get support from a director, she'll deliver a great performance anyway.

[Padma]

Speaking of Chekhov, tomorrow is Franchot Tone Day. His version of "Uncle Vanya" is on EST 1:45 p.m. It's not the well reviewed 1963 one (Olivier, Michael Redgrave, Joan Plowright) but, based on the off Broadway production, should be worth seeing.

[voiceover]

On 8/6/2017 at 2:13 PM, Rinaldo said:

Summer under the Stars is a great way to immerse oneself in many titles [...] it's a nice opportunity for those who like them a lot to see a lot of them, including seldom-screened titles.

Co-sign.  This is especially true of the silent stars.  It's how I learned to love Marion Davies and John Gilbert, and my Valentino/Navarro love morphed into obsession.

Can't agree on the Julia take; at least, not anymore.  I remember loving it when it first came out.  I was psyched for the recent TCM screening, as I hadn't seen it for many years.

Turned out to be one of those films that didn't age well.  Vanessa Redgrave was still the best thing about it (I love most of her work), and that cafe scene was tense & memorable, but the rest was a tedious pile of crap.  One of the best examples of why it's hard to make a writer look interesting on film: Fonda types, smokes, pulls paper from her typewriter, scrunches it up, throws it away.  Repeat.

And then there was Jason Robards as Dash.  This time around, I was puzzled because I didn't feel as impressed.  Then I remembered what someone said about Jack Nicholson in Reds: that he got raves mostly because he looked better than he had in years.  Shrug.

Not a Franchot Tone fan, but I highly recommend today's Five Graves to Cairo.  A tidy little matinee thriller.

[mariah23]

21 hours ago, Rinaldo said:

Marjorie Lawrence was a genuine international opera star in the heaviest soprano roles -- Wagner and the like. She fought back to somewhat of a return after her illness struck, finding a way to stage certain roles (like Isolde) seated.

I have no doubt that Parker worked hard on her share, and lip-synching is always more convincing if you're actually working to produce sound, and not just moving your lips. Wikipedia doesn't give a source for "perfect pitch" though, so till proven otherwise I'll just take that to mean she sang with good pitch and some sort of listenable sound. After Eileen Farrell became a big star, I remember that a soundtrack record of all the vocal music from the movie was released -- but it didn't mention Interrupted Melody at all, it was just called "Farrell Sings!" or something like that. So it got reviewed in a very puzzled way by those who didn't know the source, wondering what all these abbreviated excerpts and 2-minute medleys of operas were doing there. 

That Seagull is an oddity; I'll look forward to exchanging reactions with others here. Sidney Lumet doesn't seem at home in Chekhov-land, and he chose an international cast for members of the family. In some sorts of story, that might not matter much, but Chekhov is all about nuance and the meanings of ordinary gestures and attempts at conversation. And the actors' style as well as accents differ greatly. But James Mason seems at home there, and the young Redgrave is just dazzling; if she doesn't get support from a director, she'll deliver a great performance anyway.

I remember when the opera star Renee Fleming was a guest programmer she said Eleanor Parker did the best lip syncing to opera she'd ever seen or something close to that.

I'm not a big Tone fan either, but man was his off-screen life colorful.

[PaulaO]

My Hitchcock 5:  Apologies for lack of formatting, but I'm on an iPad.  1.  Shadow of a Doubt. 2.  Notorious. 3.  The 39 Steps. 4.  The Lady Vanishes. 5.  North by Northwest.

[ratgirlagogo]

7 hours ago, voiceover said:

Not a Franchot Tone fan, but I highly recommend today's Five Graves to Cairo.  A tidy little matinee thriller.

 

7 hours ago, mariah23 said:

I'm not a big Tone fan either, but man was his off-screen life colorf

Yes and yes.

[Charlie Baker]

I checked out the Uncle Vanya with Tone--and it's respectable.  Due to, of course, the cast having done the play together on stage, where Chekhov is difficult enough to pull off. So more so to make an interesting film of.  Will certainly check out the Lumet Sea Gull with Ms. Redgrave, never saw that.

[prican58]

19 hours ago, ratgirlagogo said:

 

Yes and yes.

I am not sure why but I actually like Tone. Always have. His name is intriguing, the fact that he was from a well off family in/around Niagra Falls, NY. I find him handsome as a young man and also I'm rather appalled at how alcohol consumed him and robbed him of those looks kind of like William Holden was. I'm guessing there is a bio out there for which I must search. 

[PaulaO]

My unpopular Hitchcock opinions.  I cannot stand Joan Fontaine (the biggest screen simp ever) so dislike Suspicion (the ending of the book is so much better) or Rebecca (another book I love).  I enjoy the plot of Strangers on a Train, but Farley Granger ruins the movie for me.  He's just too soft.  Therefore I don't like Rope either and find the (fairly true) story rather distasteful.  However, I do think Psycho is a wonderful movie as far as direction and cinematography go.  It's just so scary/creepy that I can no longer watch it.  I've only seen Rear Window once and have no memory of it except that it succeeded in make me hot, temperature-wise.

[voiceover]

@PaulaO, while I can't agree with the anti-Joan Fontaine sentiment (though the "simp" slam is hard to dispute), you've jumped up on one of my most-ridden Movie Horses.

If you don't like the actor who plays the lead, it will be very tough -- though not impossible -- to like the film.  

I can think of only twice I overcame this: Woody Harrelson & The People v. Larry Flynt, and Nicholas Cage in Moonstruck (which ended up in my All-Time category).

Sad for you re: Rebecca, though.  It's my favorite Hitch.

Edited August 10, 2017 by voiceover

[Inquisitionist]

On ‎8‎/‎3‎/‎2017 at 2:33 PM, Crisopera said:

It's one of the great Hollywood injustices that Joseph Cotton never got an Oscar nomination - not for Citizen Kane, not for The Third Man, not even for his terrifying performance in Shadow of a Doubt.  He played Linus in the Broadway version of Sabrina - too bad he didn't do the movie.  He was so consistently good - why didn't he become a big star?

Can't really speak to his lack of nominations, but on a purely shallow note, I've never found him remotely attractive.

Haven't watched enough Hitchcock films in recent memory to compile a top 5, but I'll watch just about anything with Cary Grant, and thought he was perfection with Eva Marie Saint in North by Northwest.

[Silver Raven]

The Dom is a YouTuber who reviews books and movies.  He also compares the books to their movie adaptations.  Here is his discussion of Rebecca.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=the+dom+rebecca

[Milburn Stone]

36 minutes ago, voiceover said:

@PaulaO, while I can't agree with the anti-Joan Fontaine sentiment (though the "simp" slam is hard to dispute), you've jumped up on one of my most-ridden Movie Horses.

If you don't like the actor who plays the lead, it will be very tough -- though not impossible -- to like the film. 

I'm trying to think of actors I don't like, and it's hard. I guess I can come up with two, but that's about it. They're remarkably similar to one another, now that I think of it, although one's heyday was about forty years before the other's. Both have "dull affect," for lack of a better description, and that's why I lump them together. George Peppard and Vince Vaughan. Other than those two, I can enjoy just about anybody, as long as other elements are in place (writing, direction, etc.) for the actor to give a good performance. Oh, and Tippi Hedren. The female equivalent of George Peppard. Basically, if you can bring life to a portrayal, I'll like you. I'm easy.

Edited August 10, 2017 by Milburn Stone

[Rinaldo]

1 hour ago, PaulaO said:

I cannot stand Joan Fontaine (the biggest screen simp ever) so dislike Suspicion (the ending of the book is so much better) or Rebecca (another book I love). 

I like Joan Fontaine in some things (like the little-seen Darling, How Could You?, a JM Barrie adaptation directed by Mitchell Leisen, where fey archness is just what's needed), but the one time I saw Suspicion I didn't buy her at all -- and was later astonished to learn that she'd won an Academy Award for what seemed to me amateurish overacting. I should see it again to discover if I was an arrogant young snot (I often was) when I had that reaction. In Rebecca,  "a simp" is pretty much what's needed for the unnamed protagonist of the story, so one might say that Hitchcock used her shrewdly.

As he did with Farley Granger -- "softness" was the exact word I used a week ago when praising his performance in Strangers on a Train. If he's not as culpable as Bruno, he still allows things to happen that someone stronger might have prevented. As is even more the case in Rope. (Which is supposed to be distasteful, no?) So though I've found him inadequate in movies where a stronger presence is needed, I find him ideal in both of those.