Luise Rainer Interview Tonight!

[Sue Sue Applegate]

I posted this information on another thread, but I don't want anyone to forget about Wednesday, January 12th!

TCM is airing the Robert Osborne interview with Luise Rainer along with The Good Earth and The Great Ziegfeld:

It will air twice in the evening.

Receiving Oscars for her efforts in The Good Earth and The Great Ziegfeld,
Rainer, a brave centenarian, will be honored on her 101st birthday. In April of
2010, she flew over the big pond, volcanic clouds of ash and all, in order to
make history again and to remember some of her stellar moments, both on
and off the silver screen.

Savvy cineaphiles were staggeringly agape at Rainer's loving demeanor and
charmed by her candor. Robert Osborne's interview and discussion with
such a legend was one of the highlights of the Turner Classic Movie Festival.

If you have ever entered a darkened movie theater looking for pieces of eight
from the treasure chest of someone's soul, tune in on Wednesday evening
for a wealth of riches.

For more information on Luise Rainer, visit the following websites:

http://www.luiserainer.net/Biography.php

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film ... n-era.html

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0707023/

[moira finnie]

Thanks for the heads up, Christy. I must admit I am looking forward to the footage and the Robert Osborne Q & A with Ms. Rainer that was filmed at the TCM Festival more than any of the movies being broadcast. I'm hoping that Lucy and Ethel...er, I mean Lynn and you will show up somewhere in the crowd scene footage, along with Kingrat, Paula, Kyle, Peter, and sundry others.

I can dream can't I?

Happy 101st Birthday, Ms. Luise. Loved you in Dramatic School (1938), which is being shown on Thursday, at 4:30AM ET on TCM.

[Lzcutter]

I'm hoping that Lucy and Ethel...er, I mean Lynn and you will show up somewhere in the crowd scene footage, along with Kingrat, Paula, Kyle, Peter, and sundry others.

M,

Unfortunately, i won't be in those crowd scenes, though "Ethel" and some of the others probably are. I opted for a panel discussion which was going on at the same time as Ms. R and the screening of The Good Earth.

[moira finnie]

I didn't see anyone who looked familiar in that overjoyed audience, but it was wonderful to see the audience of all ages warming to Luis Rainer's presence. Robert Osborne exuded kindness and good humor as he drew the actress out, (when doesn't he?) even encouraging her when she said that she had something naughty to say about working with Paul Muni in The Good Earth. Maybe the fact that the two thespians were so different in style and approach to their work helped their on-screen friction. I always felt that the two characters only had occasional moments of understanding. Most of the time they were out of sync, which made it more interesting.

I only wish that the discussion could have been longer.

[Sue Sue Applegate]

Wait a minute...wait just a golldarned minute$%&*&*&^*^^DADBLAMMIT......WHO DECIDED I WAS ETHEL?

This calls for an entire wardrobe revision.......

Oh.....but then I get to carry a box of chocolates around with me wherever I go!
WHOOP-DEE-DOODY-DOODY!

It was actually wonderful to be in that audience...it was magic...it was electric... and there is a photo on the TCM Festival link of me during the filming
I am dressed in white, out of focus, clapping furiously, and seated behind a man wearing glasses who IS in focus. The photo is in B/W.
(OK. So it's all about me. I don't care. I had a blast! And I'm gonna do it all over again if I can!)

When Luise Rainer explained that she had broken her hearing aid, I wanted to send roses and kudos to the fella who shouted out to Robert Osborne to "write it down."

Luise Rainer's comment that "When I feel warmth from people, it enhances me" was the most touching phrase for me. Out of all of her comments,
and there were many that made me laugh and ponder, it was my favorite.

And thanks, dear one, for the heads up on Dramatic School. I've never seen it, and I am setting my alarm....I wish it could have been longer, too!

I had never seen The Good Earth ever. Never. And to see it for the first time on the big screen....WOW. I couldn't go anywhere or do anything for awhile.

Also, during the interview, some fella had an original movie poster from the film and everyone OOhed and AAhed about it as he held it up for
Ms. Rainer to see. I think she said, "How lovely" and seemed very impressed at how all the audience members were so interested in her and her
career.

Robert Osborne really earned his kopeks that day....(It was also the last day of the festival.)

[moira finnie]

Wait a minute...wait just a golldarned minute$%&*&*&^*^^DADBLAMMIT......WHO DECIDED I WAS ETHEL?

Would you rather be Ricky??

This calls for an entire wardrobe revision.......

Oh.....but then I get to carry a box of chocolates around with me wherever I go!
WHOOP-DEE-DOODY-DOODY!

And you get to sleep with Fred! You lucky girl!!

It was actually wonderful to be in that audience...it was magic...it was electric... and there is a photo on the TCM Festival link of me during the filming
I am dressed in white, out of focus, clapping furiously, and seated behind a man wearing glasses who IS in focus. The photo is in B/W.
(OK. So it's all about me. I don't care. I had a blast! And I'm gonna do it all over again if I can!)

When Luise Rainer explained that she had broken her hearing aid, I wanted to send roses and kudos to the fella who shouted out to Robert Osborne to "write it down."

Luise Rainer's comment that "When I feel warmth from people, it enhances me" was the most touching phrase for me. Out of all of her comments,
and there were many that made me laugh and ponder, it was my favorite.

And thanks, dear one, for the heads up on Dramatic School. I've never seen it, and I am setting my alarm....I wish it could have been longer, too!

I wouldn't say that Dramatic School is a great movie, but it seemed to suit Luis Rainer a heckuva lot better than the craptastic Toy Wife, which I've tried to watch, though I can never get through it. Maybe that is the movie she was assigned to after she said, "No, Mr. Mayer, I don't want to sit on your lap."

I like all the kvetching and sniping among the girls in Dramatic School, though the haughty Gale Sondergaard as an arrogant instructor is amusing too. In the movie, Paulette Goddard plays a gold digger who likes sex and money , but not necessarily in that order (though her heart is flesh and blood). Lana Turner plays a luscious babe on the make, but she's so lovely. Virginia Grey plays someone who deserves better parts (but has the best lines). Luise works in a factory at night to afford dramatic lessons. Alan Marshal, playing an impossibly good looking noble bounder who gads about Budapest, (or is it Vienna?) tours a manufacturing plant one night and is enchanted by the waif-like Luise, natch. These roles were a Big Stretch for everyone, but probably most of all for Luise. Oh, Edward Arnold, Jr. and Chico Marx's daughter Maxine are in the cast too, though I've never been able to pick them out of the crowd.

I had never seen The Good Earth ever. Never. And to see it for the first time on the big screen....WOW. I couldn't go anywhere or do anything for awhile.

Also, during the interview, some fella had an original movie poster from the film and everyone OOhed and AAhed about it as he held it up for Ms. Rainer to see. I think she said, "How lovely" and seemed very impressed at how all the audience members were so interested in her and her career.

Robert Osborne really earned his kopeks that day....(It was also the last day of the festival.)

I bet The Good Earth was incredible on the big screen! I bet everyone was exhausted after this. Did the discussion go on much longer than the 30 minutes or so? I'm sure that the TCM people were concerned about overtaxing Ms. Rainer.

[Sue Sue Applegate]

The interview did proceed for much longer. At least an hour or so. But there were moments when Ms. Rainer couldn't be heard or understood,
and a few more moments when she was reading RO's questions.

She enjoyed being with everyone who seemed to be so smitten with her, and it was lovely watching Robert Osborne interact with her because he was so
enraptured at being in her presence. I think he laughed the most when she said that she told L.B. Mayer that she "would not sit on your knees."

I remember the audience being most engaged when she was discussing how "every stage of life is within us" and that "we are all like onions" and that
there are "many layers...we can all feel what part of the onion we are."

Then she stated that "we are all alike...we all need love...food..each other." That moment, as I recall, brought the most applause.

There was a huge laugh after she said that "I was not so very much in love with Mr. Muni."

And when Robert Osborne wrote the words Louis B. Mayer on the notebook, she screams "Oh, my God."

"I was a little crumb, but a very active little crumb." She claims Mayer said of her "This girl is a Frankenstein. She is going to ruin our company."

And I like it when Ms. Rainer told us who her one of her favorite actresses is: "Julia Roberts is a great, wonderful actress."

But one of her greatest quotable quotes is "I don't believe in acting, I believe in being."

After the showing of The Good Earth tonight on TCM, Robert Osborne discussed the "locust" scene and how effective it was up on the big screen,
and it was one of the most powerful scenes in the whole film. But when Rainer's face is on the screen, no matter what scene it is, her glow
lights it up even more. No wonder Paul Muni had his wife sit by the camera the whole time. He must have known that whatever Rainer did,
she would steal the moment from him. But I don't think she did it consciously or on purpose. Her luminous energy just creates the sparks so that
no one else can outshine her presence.

If I would have had one more wish about that magical time, it would have been to learn about her experiences with William Powell and the making
of The Great Ziegfeld.

[Sue Sue Applegate]

Goofy double post. Sorry!

[Sue Sue Applegate]

And you get to sleep with Fred! You lucky girl!!

I am so glad twin beds were popular back then!

[JackFavell]

This is all wonderful, but what is the naughty story about Paul Muni?

P.S. I Love Dramatic School. Did you get to see it yet, Sue Sue?

[knitwit45]

Wendy, when she said "naughty" she meant something less than flattering. Then she talked about how they were polar opposites in the way they acted...he acted Chinese, she WAS. He had his wife sitting directly behind the camera, to ensure the most flattering shots were his. Sounds like a jolly fellow, doesn't he?

[JackFavell]

Thanks! I thought it meant "naughty" like Victor Mature's picture.... you know, NAUGHTY.

[feaito]

Luise Rainer is also a favorite of mine and of course "The Good Earth" is my fave film of hers...but last year I had a lot of fun watching her opposite Bill Powell in "The Emperor's Candlesticks" (1937), a truly enjoyable comedy-drama.

[Sue Sue Applegate]

I woke up just in time to see that great scene from Dramatic School during the Luise Rainer interview, and a little bit more. I enjoyed the moments
I rallied for, but I kept falling back asleep. I wish I had been able to see all the scenes Moira describes.. and Toy Wife was "craptastic." (I am stealing
your word, Moira! It's a good word, especially for TW!.)

Jackie, Rainer did not much care for Muni's work ethic or habits, and I believed it annoyed her because Muni's wife was allowed to sit under or
very near the camera at all times, just like knitwit said.

Fernando, I've seen The Emperor's Candlesticks some time ago, but I remember I enjoyed the outfits she wore, and I feel that she
and William Powell had great chemistry, both in this feature and The Great Ziegfeld.

The songs Rainer sings in The Great Ziegfeld are so adorable, and I love listening to the music. She had a delightful singing voice and she
was so cute in the costumes. The historic scene with the Oscar-winning "phone call to Flo" moment is wonderful, but it's certainly not the
only highlight I look forward to.

Rainer obviously also enjoyed the fun about the rumors people would create after shooting so many night scenes with scores of extras in The Good Earth
because she claimed that some of the actors would claim that they had "slept" with her even though they had only stayed up all night filming
in the same area.

She was so lively and connected to the moment in that interview. It was a very special moment, and I feel EXTREMELY lucky to have been
able to see it and be a part of that audience.

[feaito]

Christy, thanks for that detailed post. I haven't seen either "The Toy Wife" or "Dramatic School". The only films of Ms Rainer I've seen are "The Good Earth", "The Great Ziegfeld" (she has little screen time in this huge spectacle), "The Great Waltz" (very enjoyable) and "The Emperor's Candlesticks"...I have "The Big City" waiting in line to be seen, but in spite of the Tracy-Rainer teaming and Borzage's direction, I have read many reviews that say it's so-so.