WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

[movieman1957]

Another westerns convert. It's getting crowded.

[movieman1957]

"No Country For Old Men." Part tense chase film. Part oddball character study. Part just flat out weird. Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin and especially Javier Bardem are quite good. Nicest surprise was to see Barry Corbin in small scene near the end. Goofy ending but isn't that par for the Coens.

[charliechaplinfan]

I watched Kevin Brownlow's documentary on The Great Dictator. (thanks for the recommendation Christine). It's narrated by Kenneth Brannagh and pretty much runs Chaplin and Hitler's story in parellel, both born in the same week etc. Something I didn't know was how many people were opposed to the making of the film. The British government said they were going to ban it, they didn't want to upset Hitler by the time it was made they needed it for morale. Chaplin was also discouraged by the Jewish moguls that run Hollywood frightened that it would make it worse for the Jews in Europe. Chaplin's reply 'How could it be worse' if only he knew. He says in his autobiography that if he had known about the death camps he wouldn't have made it. He was a brave man for making it when so many were against him, the world needs men like him, even if they are contraversial at times.

They had a variety of talking heads on including some Germans, who still assert that Chaplin was Jewish, I've never come across any evidence, I'm sure there wasn't any.

Despite the seriousness of the subject, Chaplin did infuse it with humour. Discovered not long ago at Vevey in Switzerland are films that his brother Sydney took during the filming of the Great Dictator, they are in colour. It shows the soldiers in red trousers because they photographed grey. It also shows plenty of footage of Chaplin directing.

It finishes with that lovely speach that some may call mawkish, I think it was more than wishful thinking.

[JackFavell]

Charliechaplinfan-

I think Chaplin was very brave at a time when people were running for cover, hiding their heads in the sand... it took some guts for him to step up, put himself out there for the world to see and use the power that he had to say, "Enough is enough". He knew he was a target, being in the public eye, but he didn't hold back. It's easy to be a smart aleck, not so easy to come out and plead for the future of the world in a caring manner.

On top of that, The Great Dictator is a pretty awesome film. Funny, moving, and topical in it's time, it still works today. It is actually one of my favorite Chaplin films, along with The Kid and A Woman of Paris. Mawkish or not, it stands as a testament to Chaplin's courage. I can only think of a couple films of that time that openly addressed the issues he did.

And the ballet with the world is genius.

[charliechaplinfan]

The globe existed in Hitler's office that's where the inspiration came from, it was all that remained in the burnt out remains of Hitler's office, in tact.

Interestingly, it is known that Hitler did watch The Great Dictator on more than one occasion, a record was kept of all the movies he saw. The man who attested to this also said that Hitler had a sense of humour and found it very funny.

I've kept myself busy watching films.

Midsummer Night's Dream, I could hardly believe that this was a Warner film, James Cagney and Olivia De Havilland give it away but in style it's more like an MGM production. The depiction of the fairies and their world is magical and beautiful to behold. This play has so many great characters. James Cagney, what a fabulous Bottom, especially as a donkey, how unbecoming but how funny. Mickey Rooney is the epitomy of 'puckish', I don't believe there is a better one. Olivia De Havilland has ethereal beauty enough to play Hermia, Anita Louise quite literally sparkles as the Queen of the Fairies. These are my favorites, the icing on the cake is the cinematography and the score. Superb.

There's been much talk of John Ford and I'm woefully lacking in viewing so I rented The Fugitive, hmm, it was good. The cinematography especially the outdoor photography was beautiful. It struck me as the kind of story that might has suffered a little at the hands of the censors. I would try another of his films.

I Married A Witch, who wouldn't have married Veronica Lake, she's stunning. I thought her pairing with Frederic March was interesting although it took half of the film to convince me that the male and female leads were right. A great film that doesn't need a lot of input from the viewer to make it an enjoyable experience.

[klondike]

I Married A Witch, who wouldn't have married Veronica Lake, she's stunning. I thought her pairing with Frederic March was interesting although it took half of the film to convince me that the male and female leads were right. A great film that doesn't need a lot of input from the viewer to make it an enjoyable experience.

IMAW is a big favorite at my abode as well, Alison (what good taste you show, liking so many of my favorite films!).
In fact, it's one of only a handful of films which my wife requested me to locate & purchase for us to have & enjoy as we please.
It would seem she's nearly as particular when selecting movies for purchase, as she was about selecting a husband!


P.S: Have you ever caught the delectable VL in This Gun for Hire? She's quite good throughout it, but the card-trick-song-&-dance she does in the first reel is a blue-ribbon show-stopper!

[Birdy]

I finally started in on the early Ginger Rogers films I recorded in April.
I watched Mystery Ship, Pathe Films; A little dorky but I love her in anything.

[charliechaplinfan]

I love her in This Gun For Hire and Sullivans Travels, I've seen her too in The Blue Dahlia but that's it any further recommendations would be most welcome.

[charliechaplinfan]

I watched Yesterday Today and Tomorrow, at last it's had a good release on DVD. The last story made my husband look up from what he was doing, that didn't surprise me but he watched the first episode Adelina when she keeps getting pregnant to stay out of prison and after 7 children her husband can't perform anymore and the only rest he gets is when he goes to his mother's, only mother rents out her front room to piece workers. Only the second episode lets it down a little, if you like nice cars you'll like that episode too.

[feaito]

I re-watched one of Hitchcock's excellent early American films: "Foreign Correspondent" (1940). It's good to see Herbert Marshall playing a villain for a change -a suave villain, but a villain anyway-, George Sanders -who was quite adept at playing villains- as decent man and Santa Claus -Edmud Gwenn- playing another villain! Talk about casting againts type! Albert Basserman is truly moving as the pacifist leader. Laraine Day is very good as Marshall's daughter and it is a pity she did not became a bigger star -she kind of reminds me of Jane Wyatt in a way- and she makes a great couple with Joel McCrea, who's one of the most -unfairly- underrated of Hollywood actors. Great dialogue, great music by Alfred Newman, great screenplay, great special effects, top-notch. Eduardo Ciannelli plays another nasty villain and Bob Benchley plays a funny correspondent.

[feaito]

I saw Terence Fisher’s fantastic offbeat thriller “So Long at the Fair” (1950) with Jean Simmons as a proper, young English Lady stranded in Paris due to the sudden disappearance of her elder brother and guardian. The owner of the hotel where they were staying says she came alone, the hotel’s employees say the same; she’s going crazy, but wait! a young, dashing artist portrayed by Dirk Bogarde did meet his brother and is willing to help her. Others in this superbly crafted mystery are Felix Aylmer, Cathleen Nesbitt -who sounds perfectly French- and, Honor Blackman. A great discovery!

[charliechaplinfan]

I watched The Naked Island, I also put this on the silent thread even though it was made in 1960 it is a great example of what silent movies can achieve. I didn't realise until I put it on that apart from a couple of songs sang in school it was a completely silent film. It held as much beauty as the big silent epics. The story takes place on a Japanese Island a couple of miles away from the mainland. The island is inhabited by a family of 4, they make a few trips in the rowing boat everyday to fetch water, the rest of the day is spent farming the arid and rugged land that they have. I felt every bit of the hardship of this family, every trial and tribulation. This is a wonderful silent film that has had a very good restoration.

I've also been delving into John Ford watching Mary Queen of Scots, The Informer and The Fugitive. I left a fuller review on the Ford thread. I'm coming around to him and willing to sample more.

[charliechaplinfan]

Last week I watched La Ronde a Max Ophuls movie I have waited for ages to be released. I love Ophuls style, I love the idea for this movie how a string of people are linked together in a carousel of love that keeps turning sending one person from one to another. Each part is played by well known and respected actors who appear for a total of about 5 minutes each, connecting each story is a great score. Each person has there own foible or weakness, each person gives something to the other, the carousel keeps spinning, rotating smoothly with the help of Anton Walbrook oiling the wheels that set the carousel of love turning.

[MichiganJ]

I watched the awesome film Angel-A, director Luc Besson's take on It's a Wonderful Life. Jamel Debbouze plays André, a Parisian hustler who owes various thugs oodles of dough, and decides that suicide, by jumping from a bridge into the Seine, is his only solution. It's on the bridge that André encounters his guardian Angela (the deliciously tasty Rie Rasmussen), who ends up changing André's life by making him confront his situation in ways that seem, at first, counterintuitive. While the themes seem obvious at first, if you let them marinate a little, they become appetizing real quick.
This is a film I will be digesting for awhile.

The black and white cinematography truly is magnificent.

[Birdy]

I enjoyed (and recorded) part of Bob Montgomery day this week, I just love him. Of course, I just love the 30's!!

Mainly, due to stress, I have resorted to my favorite old escapist stars this week: Fred and Ginger, Joan Blondell, William Powell, and (of course) anything with Alice Brady.

"What is it?"
"Pixie remover."
"Oh, so you see them, too."
"Ah, yes, they're old friends."
"Be careful not to step on them."
"I wouldn't hurt them for the world."
"I don't like them, but I shouldn't like to see them hurt."