have you noticed how quiet Mongo/Joe has been today? I'll bet he's planted in front of the TV, finally getting his beloved Babs day...hooray for Joe!
Personally, I'm waiting for the George Sanders/BStanwyck movie tonight.
Summer Under the Stars
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moira finnie
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Yes, Jez,
I did lose sleep over The Bitter Tea of General Yen during the Asian festival awhile back. It was probably the best movie I've seen in a long time and well worth another look. I'm curious about The Locked Door since it is directed by George Fitzmaurice, who guided eight of Ronald Colman's best movies from that period as well.
I don't expect too much from an early talkie, but do find them fascinating. I missed Ten Cents a Dance, daggnabbit, but hope to see it next time. Was it good and tawdry??
Dear Knitty/Nancy,
You're probably right about Mr. Mongo and the Babster--together at last, at least for today. Watch out for her temper, though, pal!
I loved Ever in My Heart (1933). Not so much because it was entirely realistic (it wasn't), but because it caught some of the atmosphere that I've only read about faced by millions of Americans of German descent in WWI. This would be a great movie for a history class to discuss attitudes toward ethnic groups in wartime, but it was effective because of the acting, as much as the distance in time from the story. I wonder if it all seemed ho-hum to audiences in the '30s?
From the cancelled party invitations around the time of the Lusitania's sinking, to the chilly treatment by family members, to torturing a poor little dog because it was a daschund--they were all only old stories, but Otto Kruger and Babs gave the entire movie a tragic believability as a human experience. Even though the end was melodramatic, it was still quite moving.
Otto Kruger, lining up a golf shot, and what must have seemed a promising movie career in the early '30s.
As one of Otto's first movies, this must have made people realize how good an actor he could be. Too bad he was soon relegated to "understanding friends" or "smooth villains". His pained smile fit the theme beautifully and the little guy (Ronnie Cosby) who played the couple's son was a heartbreaker.
I did lose sleep over The Bitter Tea of General Yen during the Asian festival awhile back. It was probably the best movie I've seen in a long time and well worth another look. I'm curious about The Locked Door since it is directed by George Fitzmaurice, who guided eight of Ronald Colman's best movies from that period as well.
I don't expect too much from an early talkie, but do find them fascinating. I missed Ten Cents a Dance, daggnabbit, but hope to see it next time. Was it good and tawdry??
Dear Knitty/Nancy,
You're probably right about Mr. Mongo and the Babster--together at last, at least for today. Watch out for her temper, though, pal!
I loved Ever in My Heart (1933). Not so much because it was entirely realistic (it wasn't), but because it caught some of the atmosphere that I've only read about faced by millions of Americans of German descent in WWI. This would be a great movie for a history class to discuss attitudes toward ethnic groups in wartime, but it was effective because of the acting, as much as the distance in time from the story. I wonder if it all seemed ho-hum to audiences in the '30s?
From the cancelled party invitations around the time of the Lusitania's sinking, to the chilly treatment by family members, to torturing a poor little dog because it was a daschund--they were all only old stories, but Otto Kruger and Babs gave the entire movie a tragic believability as a human experience. Even though the end was melodramatic, it was still quite moving.
Otto Kruger, lining up a golf shot, and what must have seemed a promising movie career in the early '30s.
As one of Otto's first movies, this must have made people realize how good an actor he could be. Too bad he was soon relegated to "understanding friends" or "smooth villains". His pained smile fit the theme beautifully and the little guy (Ronnie Cosby) who played the couple's son was a heartbreaker.
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feaito
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Mr. Arkadin
- Posts: 2645
- Joined: April 14th, 2007, 3:00 pm
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Mr. Arkadin
- Posts: 2645
- Joined: April 14th, 2007, 3:00 pm
Ingrid Bergman's day is upon us! While plenty of great films will be showing, don't miss Stromboli (1950) playing early Monday morning. Although possibly the weakest film in the Bergman/Rosselini trilogy (which also includes Europa 51 [1952] and Voyage in Italy [1953]), Stromboli has Bergman pushing herself in new ways and tapping a depth of range only hinted at in earlier films.
The plot is simple enough: Two people marry in the aftermath of WWII, only to find they are complete opposites in almost every way. Karin, a Czech war refugee, accepts POW Antonio's offer of marriage when her travel visa is denied, but comes to realize another form of imprisonment as the wife of a poor fisherman on a remote island. It's also noteworthy that when RKO distributed this film in America, Howard Hughes was baffled by Rosselini's open-ended style and had around twenty minutes of the film shaved off with a "happy ending" tacked on.
While the Bergman/Rosselini era has its share of drama (both were married when they carried on an illicit affair), they created some amazing films with a spiritual context that are unique in cinema and deeply satisfying. Stromboli is often said to be a comment on their relationship, professional and private, but beyond that, it's simply an amazing film. Catch it if you can.
Last edited by Mr. Arkadin on September 9th, 2008, 6:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
