TCM: The Greatest Movie Channel

[aradia22]

 

Roma Downey and Mark Burnett can kiss off for all I care. [...] And like many life of Jesus movies, all the Romans are British.

I didn't watch the CBS show I presume they were responsible for that was supposed to focus on female characters but I did catch pieces of it as I walked through the room. If the alternative is inappropriately modern American accents, then sure, let's just cast the Brits as our Biblical figures. It's slightly more believable.

[Rinaldo]

If the alternative is inappropriately modern American accents, then sure, let's just cast the Brits as our Biblical figures. It's slightly more believable.

How so? The ancients didn't speak in British accents any more than they used American ones. One is as inappropriately modern as another, no? I had figured that the reference was to the common practice of having the Jewish characters speak American, the Roman oppressors British. (Ben-Hur comes immediately to mind.)

[aradia22]

Oh, I agree that both are inaccurate. I just find the British accent slightly less jarring. 

[Julia]

I think that the romans are supposed to be speakers of classical latin, while the ordinary people were speakers of the vulgate, or street latin (which I'm told was something like modern italian). I think americans see an british accent as classier than regional american accents, so they get to be the higher-status, better-educated oppressors while the characters we identify with sound like us. For whatever little it's worth.

Edited April 6, 2015 by Julia

[Sharpie66]

I'm just getting caught up on the past few weeks of posts here, and I just have to share my favorite "seeing a Hitchcock movie in the theaters in its first run" story!

 

My mom was in nursing school and went to Kalamazoo, MI with some classmates for some school-related thing. Their first night in town, they decided to leave their motel and head down the street for a dinner and a movie. They saw that the local theater was showing the new Hitchcock film and thought that it would be a fun way to spend the evening.

 

Yep, you guessed it--it was 1960, and the movie was Psycho.

 

They got back to their motel, completely freaked out by the experience. One of the girls flat-out refused to take a shower at all, another said she would only do so if one of the others would stand watch outside the door, and the other two, including Mom, just kept their ears open for any serial killers to sneak in.

Edited April 6, 2015 by Sharpie66

[prican58]

I would've loved to overdose on Jesus Sunday night but it sucks when one has to work early. I used to love Ten Commandments and watched religiously (heh) every year. I find I haven't watched it in recent years mostly because ABC doesn't do as much promotion as it used to.

 

Frankly, I now view it as so much camp. Really, Eddie G? "Moses, where's your messiah now?" Thanks to Billy Crystal for planting that in my head. Really, the F/x are so cheesy now but I do wish this film would be restored and shown in a theater. How fun would that be? It never eases to amaze me just how gorgeous Yvonne deCarlo was! She'll never be just Lily Munster to me.

 

bmoore, Hunter has always been so mysterious for me. First saw him as Jesus and those blue eyes are just amazing. I do try to see as many of his perfs as possible and I like him in The Searchers and Sgt Rutledge. I do not, however think he was too talented and it's unfortunate that he was never really given the chance to become a good one.

[WendyCR72]

Most probably know this, but if there are soap watchers here, Jeffrey Hunter's last wife was Emily McLaughlin, who played Nurse Jessie Brewer on General Hospital. Apparently, they married not long before Hunter took his fall and died.

[ratgirlagogo]

 

How so? The ancients didn't speak in British accents any more than they used American ones. One is as inappropriately modern as another, no? I had figured that the reference was to the common practice of having the Jewish characters speak American, the Roman oppressors British. (Ben-Hur comes immediately to mind.)

How is this presented in British Bible movies, if anyone can think of one (I can't)?  It's an interesting question in general, how to present these kinds of language differences. I can think of  two religious based films that attempted to circumvent the accent thing  - Derek Jarman did Sebastiane entirely in Latin and of course Mel Gibson did Passion of the Christ in Aramaic.  You would have to have been nuts to try that back in the Golden Age of Hollywood, of course.

Edited April 7, 2015 by ratgirlagogo

[elle]

Dorothy: You're not the only one with hidden talents!

 

I love "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes"!  Memorized all the songs and much of the dialog, and I don't care who knows. :0)

 

Another movie I love, but not quite as much, is Easter Parade.  My favorite part is the end song when Judy turns the tables on Fred. The only quibble I have with the movie is what is up with Ann Miller's hair color?  One would think that she would have fired the stylist and found someone who knew about hair dye.

 

I'm watching the tail end of The End of the Affair, and wow, what a brutally depressing movie. 

 

Did Deborah Kerr ever make a movie where she wasn't a gently raised british woman with a noble spirit and a spine of steel who honorably renounced happiness when her life was scarred by heartbreak? It seems like a shame. I think she could have been pretty funny if they'd let her.

Check out I See a Dark Stranger with co-star Trevor Howard.  It was filmed in 1946, but set in early WWII.  It is a spy-mystery thriller in the style of 39 Steps.  Kerr is definitely not a gently raised *British* woman in this one but a fiesty Irish woman.  There are bits of humor mixed in.  I actually had to do a bit of research to get the joke of why she was so upset at the ending.

 

Also one to watch is The Grass Is Greener with Cary Grant, Jean Simmons, and Robert Mitchum.  Personally, I think Jean Simmons steals the movie, but Kerr does get in some fun scenes too.

Edited April 7, 2015 by elle

[prican58]

elle, how is it that i have never seen The Grass Is Greener? Grant, Simmons and Mitchum make me swoon and Mitchum and Kerr always seem to have such mad chemistry.

[bmoore4026]

Well, Elizabeth and Essex was on this morning.

 

How do you think Elizabeth I would have taken the movie?  Would she have like Bette Davis performance or would she have been maid slappingly pissed over how the events between her and Lord Essex were portrayed?

 

Also, since I'm something of a costuming nerd, I noticed there were a lot of pastels worn among the men, including colors that should not have been worn by anyone below royal rank (various shades of purple).  I wouldn't think pastels were a popular color in Elizabeth Tudor's time.  I'm supposing they're not and this is just a Hollywood thing.

 

Lastly, Errol Flynn was the hottest morphine addict/drunk in Hollywood during them days.  He was rocking peachfuzz facial hair before it became popular and was confident enough in his masculinity to wear trunk hose poofy pants with tights.  Not enough poofy pants, nowadays.  Though I do suppose trousers existed back then, given that every period piece from Roman times to Victorian nowadays show men wearing trousers tucked into calf high boots, regardless of the season.  Leggings were probably more common, but surely not as baggy.

 

Why, yes!  Yes, I am a nitpicker.

Edited April 12, 2015 by bmoore4026

[aradia22]

I decided to put on Dream Wife today... mainly because I thought I wouldn't have time to watch an entire movie and it was one that I wouldn't mind seeing in two parts. Anyway, I did end up having time to finish it. I'm certain I've seen it before but apparently I've only seen a small part in the middle because most of it didn't seem familiar. OK, pointlessness aside... I enjoyed it. It's a light little movie that wants to discuss gender relations, but not really. I don't think there's enough there to be offended as the movie doesn't really make a point one way or the other. The script is fine. It holds together, certainly more than a lot of other movies but it's not particularly witty or clever or message-driven. It's just a solid script that tells a story. Though I didn't get why the Khan would want his daughter to marry a traveling salesman in the first place. 

 

The costumes are gorgeous. If you don't want to watch the movie, just fast forward for the costumes. This is probably an unpopular opinion but I liked Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr in this more than An Affair to Remember. I just found that movie so tedious. I don't think this movie made a strong point about gender relations. Cary Grant started off annoyed at being beholden to the customs of chivalry (opening doors, taking off your hat) without any of the benefits of submissive or accommodating females. He also seemed annoyed at Deborah Kerr having to work and not having time for him. There was a point in the movie that I think was a strong argument where he said that maybe they were just different personality types who wanted different things. And I think that's true. I don't think he really wanted a very submissive wife but he wanted someone who had time for him and she had a job that kept her busy at all hours and needed someone who would understand that. I don't think that's a gender thing but sometimes relationships don't work out when peoples lives are at odds like that. Anyway, I thought it got kind of muddled later with Tarji walking three paces behind him and then Deborah Kerr introducing her to feminism. I mean, I'm sure if they actually cared about each other Tarji could have adapted fine to living in America without going to either extreme. But it's not really relevant as they didn't love each other anyway. I was expecting a tidy ending where she revealed that she'd been in love with her bodyguard the whole time. 

 

Again, it was a cute enough movie and I loved the costumes. This isn't something you need to watch but if it's on and you have the time for this, I'd give it a chance. 

On an entirely unrelated note, at a 92Y event last night, Kristin Chenoweth and Peter Gallagher (currently starring in On the Twentieth Century, the musical based on the John Barrymore/Carole Lombard movie Twentieth Century) were asked to name their favorite screwball comedy. They couldn't think of a single title. He said he liked On the Twentieth Century (the movie the musical is based on... even though that's not the name of the movie) and she just said something vague about liking the humor in screwball comedies because it wasn't as "dirty" or "mean." I get that not everyone is a big TCM fan but not being able to name a single screwball comedy? Sigh...

[elle]

 

I get that not everyone is a big TCM fan but not being able to name a single screwball comedy? Sigh...

That does seem odd that neither one of them could come up with a title, unless it was a case of having too many spring to mind that you really can't think of just one title.  They are all crowding each other to be said that the brain just shuts them all out.

 

how is it that i have never seen The Grass Is Greener? Grant, Simmons and Mitchum make me swoon and Mitchum and Kerr always seem to have such mad chemistry.

Perhaps, it has been just a case of bad timing.  Keep an eye on the TCM schedule and set your dvr.  Could it possibly be available on Netflix?

[Julia]

Perhaps, it has been just a case of bad timing.  Keep an eye on the TCM schedule and set your dvr.  Could it possibly be available on Netflix?

 

Not that I could find. I've seen it, but I'm not sure I'm glad I have. It was really uncomfortable.

 

I did find The Ruling Class when I was searching on Hulu. If you're interested in seriously, Joss Whedon would go hunting through the drawers in the guest bathroom for mood stabilizers, really truly no kidding dark humor from that period, that would be the way to go.

[aradia22]

One more thing about Dream Wife. I think neither Deborah Kerr nor Cary Grant could fully be the hero or villain in that movie because at some point everyone in that universe was just a jerk. The Khan, Deborah Kerr's boss, the swarming reports, the rude pointing kid and other strangers at the airport. Were the writers upset when they wrote this?

[ratgirlagogo]

 

I did find The Ruling Class when I was searching on Hulu. If you're interested in seriously, Joss Whedon would go hunting through the drawers in the guest bathroom for mood stabilizers, really truly no kidding dark humor from that period, that would be the way to go.

It made a huge impression on me at what Miss Jean Brodie would have called An Impressionable Age.  To this day when I think of Peter O'Toole this is the movie I think of.

[Cobb Salad]

Most probably know this, but if there are soap watchers here, Jeffrey Hunter's last wife was Emily McLaughlin, who played Nurse Jessie Brewer on General Hospital. Apparently, they married not long before Hunter took his fall and died.

I watched General Hospital back in the 80s and remember Nurse Jesse.

There's a comment about this in the trivia section of his IMDB profile along with a mention that he wanted to appear on the show but the producers didn't take the interest seriously. I wonder how they would have worked him into the show.

[elle]

Not that I could find. I've seen it, but I'm not sure I'm glad I have. It was really uncomfortable.

 

I did find The Ruling Class when I was searching on Hulu. If you're interested in seriously, Joss Whedon would go hunting through the drawers in the guest bathroom for mood stabilizers, really truly no kidding dark humor from that period, that would be the way to go.

The Grass is Greener - just be sure we are talking about the same movie, the stars are Grant, Kerr, Simmons and Mitchum in what could be called a bedroom comedy.  Is this the same one you saw?

 

It made a huge impression on me at what Miss Jean Brodie would have called An Impressionable Age.  To this day when I think of Peter O'Toole this is the movie I think of.

I got creeped out just reading the plot description!  So sorry to hear that this is the movie you associate with Peter O'Toole.

 

Enjoyed the Sunday night documentaries and the stories from the film makers.

[Julia]

The Grass is Greener - just be sure we are talking about the same movie, the stars are Grant, Kerr, Simmons and Mitchum in what could be called a bedroom comedy. Is this the same one you saw?

It is. I was kind of excited about it, based on the cast and the fact that it was marketed as a comedy of manners, I thought it was unfunny and joyless. Mileage varies, obviously.

Edited April 9, 2015 by Julia

[ratgirlagogo]

 

I got creeped out just reading the plot description!  So sorry to hear that this is the movie you associate with Peter O'Toole.

Oh, but it's a great movie and he gave a great performance.   A black comedy about oppression and class conflict, kind of along the lines of the stuff Lindsay Anderson was doing at that time,  combined with Kind Hearts and Coronets.

[bmoore4026]

Today on TCM, we had a western by Randolph Scott.

 

I always preferred Randolph Scott to John Wayne.  Scott didn't seem like that much of a douche.

 

Plus, there was that friendship he had with Cary Grant.  Even if people say they weren't gay, they did seem very intimate with each other.  Plus, it shows Randolph Scott had a quality taste in his male friends.  So that's a huge plus.

 

Later today, were going to have The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold.  Yeah, it's pretty much just a very long episode of The Lone Ranger tv show, but, hey, it's the only Lone Ranger movie out there that's not a complete shitshow.

 

Surprised with the B-Plot of TLRatLCoG.  Native American man who is also a doctor passes himself of as a white man so the people of the town won't hate him.  The Native American woman he loves hates that he must conceal his true heritage even though he's smarter than most of the ignorant white people of the town and that as long he's living a lie, she can never truly love him.

 

That's some heavy shit for a movie that was no doubt mostly intended for children.

Edited April 9, 2015 by bmoore4026

[ratgirlagogo]

 

I always preferred Randolph Scott to John Wayne.  Scott didn't seem like that much of a douche.

I feel you. I like Scott too and I do like Tall Man Riding.  A lot of his 50's Westerns are a little too brutal for me -  at this point I kind of admire the Westerns he did with Budd Boetticher, for example,  more than I ever feel like watching them.

 

I only came around on Wayne after watching his early cheap B-Westerns. ( Which is the one that opens with him riding backwards on a horse and singing while playing what looks like a baritone ukelele? Jesus.)  And I really love Stagecoach.

Edited April 9, 2015 by ratgirlagogo

[Rinaldo]

I need to see more Randolph Scott Westerns. That way I can bring the proper nostalgic weight to my next viewing of my favorite Western (the only one I own on DVD), Ride the High Country. (I already have full appreciation for Joel McCrea, and I've always loved Mariette Hartley, so I'm good on both those counts.)

[elle]

It is. I was kind of excited about it, based on the cast and the fact that it was marketed as a comedy of manners, I thought it was unfunny and joyless. Mileage varies, obviously.

Thanks for clarifying what you disliked about the movie.  I read It was really uncomfortable. differently more in the vein of how I would describe the O'Toole movie mentioned.

 

As you said, mmv, still I do understand why you have the opinion you have of tGiG.  It is not on my must see list, I will watch it if it is on.  As I said I think that Jean Simmons really has the best role.  My favorite scenes are with her and Grant.

 

Oh, but it's a great movie and he gave a great performance.   A black comedy about oppression and class conflict, kind of along the lines of the stuff Lindsay Anderson was doing at that time,  combined with Kind Hearts and Coronets.

As the saying goes, mileage may vary! :0)  That movie is just way too dark for my tastes.

 

I actually like Kind Hearts and Coronets, blame it on Sir Alec.  And speaking of black comedies and Sir Alec....

 

The movie The Secret of my Success (not with Michael J. Fox!) was on and I was catching up with the plot by reading a bit on imdb and then a review of the movie at the time.  It amused me to see that the more current comment compared Lionel Jeffries multiple characters in the movie to a "Peter Sellers like turn" while the contemporary review compared him to (Sir) Alec Guinness.

 

I can saw that thanks to TCM, I have introduced my daughter to the genius of Sir Alec so she knows him from more than just his role as the Obi Wan Kenobi.  (and she does know that he is the one and only ;0) )

[aradia22]

I decided to have a movie day today. I finally got to do that double feature of Nights of Cabiria and Sweet Charity. Well, almost. They're both long movies so I have an hour left of Sweet Charity but I wanted to get my thoughts down on Nights of Cabiria right now. I know I said I thought I'd be worried about being bored. I was uncertain at first. I'd say for about the first half hour up to when Cabiria/Maria went with the other prostitutes to that area where they hung out. Until that point I wasn't really sure where things were going and the acting style of the main actress made it feel like she was in another movie. But then I just surrendered to it and I ended up really enjoying it. I still wouldn't put it up there with my favorite movies but I did like it. I didn't take notes so here are my random thoughts. 

• I like that from the beginning you're not certain of the tone/world view. This is a world where guys just push women into rivers and steal their purses. But it's also a world where bystanders immediately leap into action to save her. 
• I liked that she had Wanda. It's a small thing but this movie easily passed the Bechdel test and I believed their relationship. 
• The movie star section was kind of interesting. And you know I do love adorable dogs in old movies. She also had a nice almost monologue in that section.
• I was not sure about the charitable man she met around the caves. I think things might have been lost in the simple translation sometimes. 
• The entire church section was strong... from the indictment of the commercialism and callousness of what should have been a very pious event while acknowledging the very real belief of the churchgoers/penitents. I felt for her when she said her prayer and then had her outburst later realizing that nothing had changed.
• The magician section was fantastic. I think that was really the high point of the movie and it was a section where style and substance really married well. I got some inkling of new wave style but it was in service of the story and oh God, my heart just broke for her, especially in that moment where the magician seemed to feel contrition and snapped her out of it.
• I liked Oscar at first. A little like Cabiria, in spite of everything that had happened up to that point I didn't feel like I should distrust him. Also because generally in the foreign films I watch they go for the happy ending so I was prepared to buy that they were going to give her a little bit of magic. My mom was in the room with me though and she felt that something bad was going to happen. I then I remembered hearing this had a sad ending so it colored my viewing from that point on.
• I was not entirely sure of the point of the friar she met in the street who gave her the paper for St. Anthony. 
• I watched the end of the movie with my mom in my ear certain that Oscar was going to disappoint Cabiria in some way. By the time they got to the cliff, I'd figured it out but I was still shocked that the movie was going to be that on the nose about bookending things like that. I'm glad he didn't actually do it. It was a good "life goes on" kind of ending. Generally I find non-endings lazy but I don't think this was a non-ending. Her smile felt like a sign that even after losing everything and falling even farther she hadn't given up hope and life would go on for her. She could have thrown herself off the cliff but she didn't. My mom thought the smile meant that she'd gone crazy.
• It was a long movie but it didn't feel slow or tedious. You just have to give yourself up to it though. I don't know if I'll be in the mood to rewatch it again but I think it's a movie that will reward repeat viewings.

[ratgirlagogo]

 

 Generally I find non-endings lazy but I don't think this was a non-ending. Her smile felt like a sign that even after losing everything and falling even farther she hadn't given up hope and life would go on for her. She could have thrown herself off the cliff but she didn't.

As I said earlier, to me it's one of the greatest endings in movie history, like the ending of City Lights.  And see, you WEREN'T bored, and I don't have to worry about you.:)

[aradia22]

Well, I'm not going to get to that last hour of Sweet Charity tonight so I'll start with my thoughts. The opening credits are those real obvious kind of opening credits like Mary Tyler Moore or Georgy Girl. But worse. If I was coming to this movie as a new movie I might have turned it off because of all those freeze frames. My Personal Property was also a weak number to me. From the beginning it wasn't comparing favorably with Nights of Cabiria. They did keep a lot of NOC... until really "There's Got to Be Something Better Than This." Before that there were a lot of clear parallels but I thought most of the changes were for the worse. The biggest thing was the difference between Cabiria/Mary and Charity Hope Valentine. There are higher stakes in NOC and it feels more natural. Making her a dance hall hostess... even the size of the world. The scope and stakes seemed smaller and lower. Hey, Big Spender was a nice moment. I saw Chicago on Broadway recently and I felt like it was slow and tepid but here I appreciated the stillness of the Fosse choreography. It said something about the dance hall girls for them to be almost frozen. There's a soullessness, a robotic quality, a hopelessness. A kind of going through the motions when they burst into motion. The Pompeii Club was fun. It went on way too long but it was fun. I think the NOC club was stronger where Cabiria stood out instead of having Charity plunged into this world of weirdos but that choreography was so silly and ridiculous. My big issue is that Cabiria was warm and human and hopeful. She kind of shouted when she talked and she was excitable but she was grounded, just with enough hope to see her through. Meanwhile Charity just seems flighty and kind of dumb. I did enjoy If They Could See Me Now. Again, loved the choreography. But that movie star section of the movie wasn't as strong with her fawning over him and the way he treated her. There's Got to Be Something Better Than This was good and I was trying to soak up as much Chita Rivera as I could but I started to really feel the movie dragging. The musical numbers are too long... and not really necessary. It got worse. It's a Nice Face is a cute song but not necessary to just convey that she finds him attractive and I didn't really need the elevator meet cute at all. Why is Oscar so neurotic in this version? Why throw out the whole magic show thing? It was nice to see Sammy Davis Jr. in Rhythm of Life but... why? There was no reason for them to go on that date. It did nothing to move the story forward. It was just another long and kind of pointless musical number. Repetitive, too. Which would be fine if it were isolated but as part of an already long movie it just weighed things down. 

[aradia22]

I finished Sweet Charity today. One question first. Was this another movie (like A Star is Born) where they lost the original footage or were those freeze frames intentional? I can't imagine this movie being longer than it already was. Again I felt like the subsequent musical numbers communicated simple ideas over an indulgent period of time. While I did enjoy the choreography at times it just felt unnecessary. I don't think it was just a waning interest in musicals but the quality of this movie musical that made Sweet Charity a flop. It's not bad. I would watch the isolated musical numbers again and Shirley Maclaine had some nice acting moments, particularly in this latter part of the movie but it's just not as tight as it needs to be. The ending also left me flatter. Part of it was that this movie sold the Oscar/Charity relationship as more romantic so I thought it was more likely they'd get a happy ending. But thinking back on it, it's also the wandering band of hippies. The difference between the two endings is that I think Cabiria's strength comes from inside herself. She picks herself up and then seeing the musicians around her makes her smile. That happiness and hope is coming from inside herself. On the other hand we have Charity who is rejected, then sings a song, then calls her friends and realizes she can't go back, and then sits in the park... and then the hippies come after we've seen them bring joy to these other people in the park. The hippies are the source of the joy and it takes a while for them to get Charity to smile. Also for all the flash of the rest of the movie there was nothing great about the shot of her walking into the distance. And the words on the screen.

[Rinaldo]

I finished Sweet Charity today. One question first. Was this another movie (like A Star is Born) where they lost the original footage or were those freeze frames intentional? 

Nothing was lost that I've ever heard. The freeze frames may have been intentional (they were one of the hot new cinematic effects at the time) or they may have been a post-production device to cover up transitions that didn't work out in the editing. This was the first movie that Bob Fosse directed on his own. It would have been a big challenge for a novice director in any case, but he also had lots of ideas for how he wanted to shoot it: all the tricks in the book, dissolves, flares, freeze frames, quick cuts, rack focus, you name it. And they don't all necessarily work together. The pacing problems are also evidence of a neophyte not having the shape of the whole thing in mind, as he shoots it and as he later oversees the editing. Everybody I know who loves the movie loves it in pieces (individual numbers), not as a well-balanced whole. But Fosse learned fast: just a couple of years later, his next try, Cabaret, hit the bull's-eye in every respect, and deservedly won an Academy Award for his direction.

 

They kept trying different endings, too. The Broadway productions had one, road and stock productions had another, and they filmed two for the movie (the other is a DVD extra). In the other, Oscar runs to her as she's contemplating suicide in Central Park and they get back together. As my best also-loves-musicals friend put it: "So which ending should we prefer? The unsatisfying one, or the unearned one?"

[aradia22]

I caught the first hour or so of The Awful Truth today. It feels like a weaker screwball comedy to me so far. Yes, the dog is adorable. But adorable dogs can only carry you so far. Yes, I enjoy hearing Irene Dunne sing. And that whistle was so Snow White. It made me very happy. Does anyone know what song she was singing at that recital sort of thing? Anyway, the story just seems kind of thin. It feels like they just rushed into getting divorced so they could set up that story and it makes them both seem rather flighty and irrational and makes me question how much they loved each other in the first place. And yeah, it just doesn't hold together as much as other movies which is unfortunate when it feels like so many other movies. The divorced couple you know are going to get back together. The goofy cowboy. There's some fun to be had but right now it doesn't feel like a great movie. Once again though Irene Dunne is looking very glamorous in her costumes. I think as I'm digging into more Cary Grant movies I'm seeing more of the jerk roles. He's never as bad as Gene Kelly but he's just given hard parts to make likable. A lot of his characters don't seem to have any reason for being jerks. They just are.

[stormy]

I loved "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore". First time I'd seen it. It was a joy!

[Bastet]

I don't know if you're old enough to have had the opportunity, but did you watch the TV show (Alice)?  I saw that first, and liked it, and when I finally saw the source material I realized I'd been missing out.  What a terrific cast.  Ellen Burstyn is one of those actors I pretty much always enjoy.

 

As a point of useless trivia, my cat's middle name (yes, I give my cats middle names) is Alice, as an homage to White Rabbit ("go ask Alice") and to this.

[elle]

 

As a point of useless trivia, my cat's middle name (yes, I give my cats middle names) is Alice, as an homage to White Rabbit ("go ask Alice") and to this.

If you don't give them middle names, then how can they know that they are in trouble if you use the first name only yell rather than the all-too-well-know first AND middle name yell? ;0)

Edited April 12, 2015 by elle

[Rinaldo]

I love it when movies get little musical moments right, and though it's been decades, I recall Alice's first tryout of a song at home, before she hits the road. It's an old standard, "Where or When," and Ellen Burstyn hit it just right. Not terrible, not great, sort of mildly pretty in a way that might get by in the Ramada Inn lounge. And when she'd finished, she wryly says to herself, "Well, it ain't Peggy Lee...". Yep.

[Julia]

I DVR'd The Enchanted Cottage. Which is as sweet as I remembered it, but I guess I've lost some of my capacity for disbelief since I first saw it, because

- it would take a damnsite more to make Dorothy McGuire ugly than caterpillar eyebrows and bad hair, both of which are alterable anyway

- Robert Young with a few romantic war scars looks remarkably like Robert Young with a few romantic war scars, so

- it seems improbable that only the blind guy wouldn't be repulsed by the two of them, and

- after listening to Robert Young with-a-few-romantic-scars whine about not being pretty I don't know why the blind guy wasn't at least a little put off by him, and

- I love Spring Byington, but every time I see her in a movie I remember Groucho Marx's joke about how the difference between old and new movies is that the new ones have electric Byingtons and it makes me smile, which isn't always appropriate.

Also, Mildred Natwick. Always a plus.

Edited April 12, 2015 by Julia

[stormy]

I did grow up watching "Alice" and did consider referencing it in my OP, but the movie is so beautifully done on so many levels, that I couldn't figure out any reason to bring up the show.

[Charlie Baker]

I liked so many posts above--hmm....guess I like this forum.

 

Of course young Jodie Foster is quite delightful in Alice, but young Laura Dern is in it too (her mom is Diane Ladd, which maybe somebody doesn't know).  Great movie.

[Crisopera]

If you want another British black comedy, see if you can find Nothing But the Best (1964), starring a young Alan Bates.  Bates and Denholm Elliott are great.

[elle]

Also, Mildred Natwick. Always a plus.

Definitely! :0)

[bmoore4026]

Well, today, we had Seven Brides for Seven Brothers on.  Or, as it should have been called, Stockholm Syndrome: The Musical.

 

Here, in the St. Louis area, The Muny (in Forest Park) usually stages a production of Seven Brides every other year or every three years or so.  Largely, because it's a classic.

 

But, much like Taming of the Shrew, some classics may not have family friendly themes. 

 

A bunch of women being kidnapped by what appear the American branch of the Weasley clan and being forced to marry them doesn't exactly sound endearing, does it?  I mean, granted, those guys are cute (after they get cleaned up), but kidnapping is still kidnapping.  The fathers and fiancés of those kidnapped women would probably be in the right to string up the bastards who shanghaied their women folk.  But, no.  Everything works out in the end.  And, admittedly, the music and choreography is pretty good.

[Sharpie66]

Yeah, Seven Brides and Sweet Charity share the "one good thing in the entire film" gene. Sweet Charity has Big Spender (I think the other numbers either go on too long or just don't match up to the brilliance of the choreo in Big Spender), and Seven Brides has the barn building scene.

[aradia22]

 

Well, today, we had Seven Brides for Seven Brothers on.  Or, as it should have been called, Stockholm Syndrome: The Musical.

For me these are usually questions of whether or not they got it right. If they get it right, it doesn't bother you. I mean, you can think about it more critically afterwards but if it doesn't bother you in the moment, then they've done their jobs. If it's a glaring problem, either it's something you can't work around or they didn't do a good enough job. 

[bmoore4026]

Yeah, Seven Brides and Sweet Charity share the "one good thing in the entire film" gene. Sweet Charity has Big Spender (I think the other numbers either go on too long or just don't match up to the brilliance of the choreo in Big Spender), and Seven Brides has the barn building scene.

 

Well, Sweet Charity also had The Rhythm of Life and I'm a Brass Band and There's gotta be something better than this and The Rich Man's Frug Sequence.  Plus, Bob Fosse's dancing.  So, I tend to forget that the movie is a bunch of loosely connected vignettes starring a character named Charity and her friends. 

[elle]

What's Up, Doc?, the movie not the WB cartoon which cameos in the film.  Directed by Peter Bogdanovich, a well know film buff/historian, which may explain why this seems to be one of the best "modern-day" screwball comedies.  It is like someone took the script to Bringing up Baby, gave it to Mel Brooks to "adapt", added the great Madeline Kahn then turned it over to Bogdanovich to direct.

 

mmv!

 

eta: Loved Mo and Robert's intro to this movie!  Captured everything I was trying to say. :0)

Edited April 14, 2015 by elle

[bmoore4026]

Tonight, they're playing the original King Kong.  Of course, it hard to separate this movie from The Simpsons spoof that they did  ("We all know what you think!") and MST3K  whenever Tom Servo would say "No, twas beauty killed the beast!"

 

Also, the original King Kong has the most relatable King Kong ever.  That stop-motion puppet had more heart and emotion than a lot of CGI characters, and this includes the 2005 remake King Kong.

Edited April 14, 2015 by bmoore4026

[ratgirlagogo]

 

Also, the original King Kong has the most relatable King Kong ever

It's the secret of all those early 30's monster movies, aside from the beautiful look of them, what makes old school Famous Monsters people like me so moved by them.   The monsters aren't implacable unfeeling robots or serial killers.  They are clearly dangerous and frightening and yet, you feel for them - thus rendering them tragic.

[Rinaldo]

I confess to great affection for What's Up, Doc? I haven't seen it in decades, but I saw it several times back then (one of my viewings was in German, in Germany!), and I recall a number of scenes and situations. That it's also about a conference of my own profession, musicologists (albeit a really insane one), makes it all the more fun for me.

[Milburn Stone]

Wow. What's Up, Doc? I loved seeing (again) how all the comic timing was achieved in-camera. These days to make sure a room door closes precisely as an elevator door opens, you'd composite the moments into the same shot digitally. They really had to make it happen then. 

 

That shot near the start of the big chase scene, the one where Barbra is peddling as Ryan runs like crazy beside her, jumps onto the delivery box in full sprint, jumps off again--he really did it! That'd never happen today.

 

Etc.

 

All of which is why it's a better screwball comedy than anything that will ever be made again.

 

Love how it's not a throwback, either. It's not just a screwball comedy made in 1972, it's a screwball comedy very much of the world of 1972. 

 

Bogdanovich had such promise.

Edited April 14, 2015 by Milburn Stone

[HelenBaby]

I've had more than one discussion on message boards about 7 Brides for 7 Brothers.

One memorable exchange was with a guy who thought I was crazy when I countered his arguments that the women had sex with the guys while snowed in. My take on it is that Millie (Jane Powell) put a stop to any fraternizing. The other discussion happened when someone posted that the film was part of a retrospective of dance in film. He said that a good friend got so upset about the inclusion of the film that it was pulled from the lineup. Her complaint was that it glorified rape. I've seen this movie many times, but it never occurred to me that it glorified rape. I still like it a lot, despite the dicey premise. Powell's character is such a strong woman that it never seems like the women are in any danger whatsoever.

[Charlie Baker]

Peter Bogdanovich's directing career started off with such a bang, I suppose it was inevitable there was a falling off.  But The Last Picture Show, What's Up, Doc, Paper Moon all right off the bat--wow.