Henry King
Henry King
When I started a thread on the diector of Ramona, In Old Chicago, 12 O' Clock High,and the classic western ( IMHO ) The Gunfighter sometime back on the TCM board I received no responses. I hope to do better this time, after all Mr King was one of John Ford's favorite comtemporaries.
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MissGoddess
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I really like most of the Henry King movies I've seen so far and I would put him among my 2nd tier of favorite directors for titles like these: Jesse James, The Gunfighter, The Bravados, Prince of Foxes (stupendous!), A Bell for Adano, The Black Swan (Maureen's best pirate movie), A Yank in the R.A.F, In Old Chicago (Alice Brady's Ocar winning performance), State Fair (I prefer this version to the remake), Romola (I'm dying to see To'lable David), and of course, his movies starring Jennifer Jones, Love is a Many Splendored Thing being my favorite.
I think TCM or perhaps The Museum of Modern Art should do a retrospective on his career because though many of his sound era movies are very famous, I suspect just as much, if not more, of his best work can be found in his silent movies. I don't know how many of them exist, though.
Like Milestone, he's not a "flash" director but a very decisive one and whose films always seem well edited, meaning that he knows what to leave out. I love non-flashy directors to tell the truth.
I think TCM or perhaps The Museum of Modern Art should do a retrospective on his career because though many of his sound era movies are very famous, I suspect just as much, if not more, of his best work can be found in his silent movies. I don't know how many of them exist, though.
Like Milestone, he's not a "flash" director but a very decisive one and whose films always seem well edited, meaning that he knows what to leave out. I love non-flashy directors to tell the truth.
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Ann Harding
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I have to say that I enjoy more Henry King's silents and early talkies than his later XXth Century Fox films.
To me The White Sister (1923), Tol'able David (1920), Stella Dallas (1925) and The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926)are all masterpieces. I also like his Americana films such as State Fair (1933) or Margie (1945), both wonderful.
I didn't enjoy much Stanley and Livingstone, Prince of Foxes or even the Gunfighter. They do not recapture the wonderful excitement of his earlier films. I feel he lost his freedom at XXth Century Fox with overbearing producers such as Darryl Zanuck. He wasn't any more a director-producer like he was in silents or at Fox.
I also found The Black Swan very weakly constructed compared to the Flynn/Curtiz swashbucklers.
Henry King was a great silent director and I hope more of his silents will become available on DVD.
To me The White Sister (1923), Tol'able David (1920), Stella Dallas (1925) and The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926)are all masterpieces. I also like his Americana films such as State Fair (1933) or Margie (1945), both wonderful.
I didn't enjoy much Stanley and Livingstone, Prince of Foxes or even the Gunfighter. They do not recapture the wonderful excitement of his earlier films. I feel he lost his freedom at XXth Century Fox with overbearing producers such as Darryl Zanuck. He wasn't any more a director-producer like he was in silents or at Fox.
I also found The Black Swan very weakly constructed compared to the Flynn/Curtiz swashbucklers.
Henry King was a great silent director and I hope more of his silents will become available on DVD.
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MissGoddess
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How could I forget to mention The Winning of Barbara Worth! Goodness! And I love Margie, though I haven't seen it in ages.
It seems Fox is one of the few studios serious about getting its catalogue out on dvd, and with lots of worthy extra features, so perhaps it's not too much to hope for a Henry King silents set, or a few individual titles in addition to TWOBW.
It seems Fox is one of the few studios serious about getting its catalogue out on dvd, and with lots of worthy extra features, so perhaps it's not too much to hope for a Henry King silents set, or a few individual titles in addition to TWOBW.
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Ann Harding
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MissGoddess
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Not only did John Ford like Henry King, but I remember Orson Welles said some good things about King as well.
I love "The Gunfighter." I think it is better than "High Noon," and I think "High Noon" stole a lot of stuff from it. I am surprised that so few people have seen "The Gunfighter."
Also, I really like King's "Jesse James." I think that was the film that launched Randolph Scott as a Western star (he played a lawman in that film) and the film as a whole is packed with interesting characters and incidents. Also, while "Jesse James" is often dismissed as whitewashing the outlaw, Tyrone Powers' performance definitely shows the outlaw becoming meaner as time goes on.
King's importance to the Western genre should be re-evaluated.
I love "The Gunfighter." I think it is better than "High Noon," and I think "High Noon" stole a lot of stuff from it. I am surprised that so few people have seen "The Gunfighter."
Also, I really like King's "Jesse James." I think that was the film that launched Randolph Scott as a Western star (he played a lawman in that film) and the film as a whole is packed with interesting characters and incidents. Also, while "Jesse James" is often dismissed as whitewashing the outlaw, Tyrone Powers' performance definitely shows the outlaw becoming meaner as time goes on.
King's importance to the Western genre should be re-evaluated.