WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

[knitwit45]

It isn't from Mrs Miniver? Sounds so familiar...

[charliechaplinfan]

Thanks! I've always been awestruck at how beautiful Tallu was in her youth.

The scene I remember has two women having tea in the garden and an air raid starts... the bombs are falling and though they are nervous, they keep chatting over their tea and keeping a very British "stiff upper lip". I really loved the movie, but can't remember anything else about it. I thought one of the women was Celia Johnson, but I must be wrong. I never have been able to track it down.

Celia Johnson made very few movies, if you're sure it's Celia Johnson I'm sure it's This Happy Breed, directed by david Lean, it's a lovely film, it also stars Robert Newton and John Mills in an early role. It's been released here hopefully it's been released as region 1 too.

I think the cure he took in 81/2 was perhaps more along the lines of going to a spa town rather than commiting into an institution. It's set me up for watching more Fellini.

[JackFavell]

I don't think it's from Mrs. Miniver - though I have to admit I haven't watched it all the way through for years and years.

I begin to doubt it is Celia Johnson. I watched This Happy Breed a few months ago, sure that it would be in the movie, but it wasn't. I was hoping today that it was Gladys Cooper, but no such luck. It actually makes sense that it would be an American film, made to induce us to join the war, because the women in the scene were so wonderful - it sounds ludicrous on paper describing the scene, but it was underplayed just beautifully.

[klondike]

I don't think it's from Mrs. Miniver - though I have to admit I haven't watched it all the way through for years and years . . I watched This Happy Breed a few months ago, sure that it would be in the movie, but it wasn't.

I'm probably leagues off, Wendy, but the air-raid scenario put me in mind of two other 'getting through' films about London's black-out months: In This We Serve, and John Boorman's more recent Hope & Glory.
Any help?

[JackFavell]

It is a help - I hadn't thought of Hope and Glory.

I am going to basically have to sit down with every movie that takes place during WWII in England and watch straight through. Now I'm so confused, it could have been Joyce Grenfell for all I know.

[mrsl]

.
Jack:

Could you be thinking of Judi Dench and Cher in Tea with Mussolini? A lot of tea was had in that movie.
.

[charliechaplinfan]

You'll have to let us know when you find it, Wendy.

Yesterday I rewatched The Barefoot Contessa, I think this is the film that showcases Ava the best. What a figure, it almost makes me yearn for corsets, how else can that ultra slim waist be achieved with the generous hips and breasts. Ava is perfect in this role, completely believable as the Spanish dancing girl who is discovered by an independent producer (is he based on anyone, Howard Hughes perhaps?) Her mentor/director a has been director who has beaten his demons is played by Humphrey Bogart. The PR man played by Edmund O'Brien, the rich South American magnate by Marius Goring and the Count, Rossano Brazzi (lovely) I don't think I appreciated how well the film is constructed the first time I watched it, it starts in the graveyard at the burial of Maria Vargas now a Countess. Bogart takes up the narrative standing back from the crowd around her grave, around the grave we find the people who have watched her through her fame. It weaves it's story first in LA and then in Europe, she goes there as the guest of the South American magnate but does not allow him to touch her. She's a Cinderella looking for her prince and finds him, the Count who worships her only to reveal a devestating secret on their wedding night which leads to the tragic end. Bogie seems to guess her husband's character much better than Maria does, dashing to her side before she tells him a truth that Bogie knows he can't take. It boasts a good cast, locations and a teaming of Bogie and Ava that unfortunately was never repeated.

[JackFavell]

I really like the movie too and I've been appreciating Rossano Brazzi lately myself.

[klondike]

First time I watched The Barefoot Contessa, Mrs. K poked me in the shoulder, in passing, and asked me if I needed a bib . . but, hey, I've always been a big fan of a certain raven-tressed gal from the Piedmont . .

[MikeBSG]

Yesterday I saw "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest." I thought it was better than "Played with Fire" but not quite as good as "Dragon Tattoo." I know some people complain that "Hornets' Nest" is too much of a courtroom drama, and while the tension decreases once the trial/hearing starts, I thought the film still remained strong.

The interesting thing about this movie was how many strong roles were filled by middle aged women. There was the editor of Millenium, the defense attorney, and the Defense of the Constitution agent. It was like being in an alternate movie universe from the typical Hollywood film these days (and makes me wonder how Hollywood will deal with this film when it is remade.)

[charliechaplinfan]

My rental site sent me My Night With Maud and short films by Eric Rohmer. A very wordy film starring Jean Louis Trintignant a 34 year old man who is an engineer and a mathematician, he's also a committed Catholic and whilst attending Mass he sees his future wife, he's quite certain on that. The film takes place over the Christmas period, along with glimpsing his future wife he finds a old school friend who is in a relationship with a divorceed paedatrician. he invites Jean-Louis along on one of their dates and it transpires that the freind goes home and leaves Jean Louis snowed in in his girlfriends house to stay the night. The paedatrician, Maud is a very beautiful woman and although they continue their philosphosical conversation, he resists her but sleeps on top of the same bed, only when he gets cold and gets in do the sparks light. this is because it conflicts with his Catholicism and his philosophy on love. Soon after he finds himself meeting his future wife and staying the night at her place, the snow again. Their lives are woven together more tightly than Jean Louis first realises. This is incredibly wordy, philosophical, a lot of talk about religion and love. Grainy black and white photography and lots of location shots add to the appeal of this film.

Suzanne's Career concentrates on two guys and their travails with the girlfriend of one of them Suzanne, she is strange, seems very clingy and lets her boyfreind take advantage of her and accepts derogatory remarks from him. However she finishes it and carries on with her life but continues to see the freind of her ex boyfriend. This friend can't puzzle her out and when some money goes missing from his room he thinks she's done it but it could be his friend. The action takes place in 60 mins, the photography grainy but again I found the affect quite appealing.

The Girl at the Monceau Bakery a short feels like a forerunner for My Night With Maud, a man who pursues one woman who dissappears and starts a mild flirtation with the girl in the bakery.

[Mr. Arkadin]

My Night With Maude is a great film and will be included in a personal project I'm working on, but the knockout of the series is Claire's Knee (1970).

[charliechaplinfan]

Thank you for the recommendation, I've added a couple of others to the rental list. My Night At Maud's is a slowburn, it lasts afterwards and I've been pondering it for a whole day now.

[MikeBSG]

Yesterday I watched "Heavenly Creatures," the 1994 movie by Peter Jackson about a murder in New Zealand in the Fifties.

It is skillfully made, and Kate Winslet gave a terrific performance. (Her character could have been really obnoxious. She was obnoxious, but you wanted to keep watching.)

However, the film left me puzzled, and I couldn't decide if it were cynical or confused. The film took a very superior attitude to the Fifties, yet it was clear that the two girls were messed up and murderers. Indeed, you could argue the film said that people who write fantasy are jerks who can't fit in to normal life, which is an odd thing for a film from the would-be maker of "Lord of the Rings" to make.

[Rita Hayworth]

You'll have to let us know when you find it, Wendy.

Yesterday I rewatched The Barefoot Contessa, I think this is the film that showcases Ava the best. What a figure, it almost makes me yearn for corsets, how else can that ultra slim waist be achieved with the generous hips and breasts. Ava is perfect in this role, completely believable as the Spanish dancing girl who is discovered by an independent producer (is he based on anyone, Howard Hughes perhaps?) Her mentor/director a has been director who has beaten his demons is played by Humphrey Bogart. The PR man played by Edmund O'Brien, the rich South American magnate by Marius Goring and the Count, Rossano Brazzi (lovely) I don't think I appreciated how well the film is constructed the first time I watched it, it starts in the graveyard at the burial of Maria Vargas now a Countess. Bogart takes up the narrative standing back from the crowd around her grave, around the grave we find the people who have watched her through her fame. It weaves it's story first in LA and then in Europe, she goes there as the guest of the South American magnate but does not allow him to touch her. She's a Cinderella looking for her prince and finds him, the Count who worships her only to reveal a devestating secret on their wedding night which leads to the tragic end. Bogie seems to guess her husband's character much better than Maria does, dashing to her side before she tells him a truth that Bogie knows he can't take. It boasts a good cast, locations and a teaming of Bogie and Ava that unfortunately was never repeated.

It is a shame that they never did another movie together.

Prior to this film (before its went to production) Rita Hayworth was the 1st choice to play the role that went to Ava instead. The reason is - that this movie has way too many similarities of her life and she told Columbia to find someone else. That's when Ava Gardner comes in. Around 1959, at a party hosted by her good friend and neighbor - Glenn Ford; she told Glenn and other members of the Hollywood Circles that she regretted not getting a chance to work with Humphrey Bogart in Barefoot Contessa. She even praised Ava Gardner work in this film - the truth is she felt (her instincts tells her that) - that this movie was too eerily (and loosely based) on her early life as a dancer and reflecting on her Spanish Heritage.

Bogie and Ava were dynamite in this film - and my dear beloved Rita (in 1959) kicked herself in the pants for not getting a chance to work with Bogie.

I have seen this film and being historian on Rita Hayworth - I was shocked by the numerous similarities (on her life) and I can see why RITA turned down this role - initially. I seen this movie twice in my life - and I consider this one's of Ava Gardner's greatest roles she did in her fabulous career.