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Film Noir Foundation Video Archive

Posted: December 12th, 2010, 6:51 pm
by moira finnie
Hey, guys, the Film Noir Foundation now has their videos--some of them very rare interviews, collected on their Archives. If you've seen these on youtube, you're in for a treat, since these extended versions can go into depth more.

Hats off to Alan K. Rode for giving me the heads up about this (I'm looking forward to your next book's publication to bring you back for a visit, Moxie!). The FNF folks, of which Alan is one, will be adding more every month.

This month they have an extended interview with Coleen Gray discussing Kubrick, Hawks, Hathaway, Nightmare Alley, Tyrone Power and Edmund Goulding

http://www.filmnoirfoundation.org/video.html

Re: Film Noir Foundation Video Archive

Posted: January 5th, 2011, 12:17 pm
by moira finnie
A series of five discussions with June Lockhart has been added here.

A very bright lady with far more on her mind than Lassie or Lost in Space, Ms. Lockhart discusses her early work with Anthony Mann, Bernard Vorhaus, Anatole Litvak, actress Cathy O'Donnell, Sgt. York, and cinematographer John Alton, among other topics. It was particularly interesting to hear her discuss her parents (who were introduced by Thomas A. Edison!), especially her multi-talented father, Gene Lockhart. One revelation: Arthur Miller wanted Gene Lockhart to play Willy Loman before Lee J. Cobb!!!

How this woman could possibly be 85 years young is a wonder.

Re: Film Noir Foundation Video Archive

Posted: January 5th, 2011, 4:02 pm
by ken123
Thank you for the link, I loved the June Lockhart & Marsha Hunt interviews. 8)

Re: Film Noir Foundation Video Archive

Posted: January 5th, 2011, 4:59 pm
by JackFavell
Gene Lockhart would have been too heartbreaking! He probably would have walked that fine line between helpless and stubborn that so many great actors don't achieve in Willy. Yes, I think he would have been amazing. I have always wondered how this same man could give such a sweetly realistic portrayal of Bob Cratchitt, and then also play that snake in Algiers...plus six other roles that year!

Re: Film Noir Foundation Video Archive

Posted: January 5th, 2011, 5:58 pm
by moira finnie
ken123 wrote:Thank you for the link, I loved the June Lockhart & Marsha Hunt interviews. 8)
I'm so glad that you liked those too, Ken. If you have a chance, Coleen Gray's interviews are quite insightful. Perhaps you would enjoy them too. I was impressed with her account of her audacious approach to landing a role and not allowing others to walk all over her, even though she literally came off the farm not so long before. Ms. Gray is in her 70s but there is still so much of the young girl in her it shines through her gentleness as she describes her life and career.

When making Kiss of Death with Henry Hathaway, the director tried his usual blowtorch approach to getting an actor to do what he wanted. Her reaction to this treatment led him to behave quite differently, (even though most of her scenes were cut, though probably because of the Production Code). Coleen Gray also had the courage to go to Zanuck and tell him "I am Molly" when she insisted on being considered for Nightmare Alley after she read Gresham's book. I also loved her description of working with Tyrone Power and Edmund Goulding. In their own separate ways, each of them appears to have brought out her best in her scenes in Nightmare Alley--and of course, no girl under 100 could fail to ignore Power's appealing, playful charm and Black Irish beauty--though Gray seemed to have respected his acting as well, (but isn't charm a bit of a wonderful act too?). You can see all of Coleen Gray's videos for the Film Noir Foundation here.
JackFavell wrote:Gene Lockhart would have been too heartbreaking! He probably would have walked that fine line between helpless and stubborn that so many great actors don't achieve in Willy. Yes, I think he would have been amazing. I have always wondered how this same man could give such a sweetly realistic portrayal of Bob Cratchitt, and then also play that snake in Algiers...plus six other roles that year!
I agree about Lockhart and Death of a Salesman. That might have been too downbeat. Cobb was easier (and perhaps more tragic in a classic sense) in the role of Willy Loman because an observer could see that he was a man who might have been a success once, but whose over-confident manner masked something darker (like his bullying tendencies) and that quality and the sheer randomness of capitalism might have destroyed his chances. I'm not sure that Lockhart had that kind of tragic grandeur in him due to his small stature, but that's not because I don't think it would have been a lesser interpretation of that role--just a different one with his vulnerabilities and self-delusions closer to the surface.

Btw, I actually enjoy it when I come across Gene Lockhart being utterly--and usually--unexpectedly vile, as he was in Hangman Also Die! (1943). I've always been very moved by his performance as the doctor who was one of Edward G. Robinson's victims in The Sea Wolf (1941). I do love him as Bob Cratchitt, especially since he appears opposite his wife Kathleen and daughter June as one of their prodigious brood in A Christmas Carol (1938).

Have you seen Lockhart as the merchant Isaiah Poster in The Strange Woman (1946) with Hedy Lamarr? I just saw it recently and his poor, lustful character could barely control himself--but Isiah's well-to-do character had a fairly accurate-sounding downeast accent. I bet Gene Lockhart was a great teacher when he taught at Juilliard. Imagine the years of experience on stage he could have taught others.

Re: Film Noir Foundation Video Archive

Posted: January 5th, 2011, 8:16 pm
by ChiO
Miller originally conceived Willy Loman as being small in stature
I guess that means when I saw Dustin Hoffman (5' 5-1/2") as Willy Loman, I was seeing Miller's intent. With John Malkovich (6' 1") as Biff, it did seem a tad surreal.

Re: Film Noir Foundation Video Archive

Posted: January 5th, 2011, 9:00 pm
by JackFavell
I like him vile too, because it goes to show what a range he had - the weak doctor in The Sea Wolf is full of pathos and tragedy, and I mean that in the best sense. I had to go back and watch The Strange Woman again a second time JUST for Lockhart's creepy performance which is subtle and completely on target. It's a guilty pleasure movie for me.

I saw Dustin too, and he was really superb. I was thinking of that when you talked about Lockhart's height. I can still feel a chill thinking of Hoffman, when he swept the audience with a look, and I swear, you felt he was talking right to YOU. I am quite sure everyone in the audience felt the same way. Malkovich, though good, didn't impress me much - I thought he was channeling Brando. Stephen Lang blew my mind in a role I never realized had anything to offer.

John Garfield Discussion on Film Noir Foundation Video Archi

Posted: February 5th, 2011, 7:46 pm
by moira finnie
John Garfield's daughter, Julie, interviewed by the Film Noir Foundation's Kim Morgan:

He Ran All the Way, and why Kim Morgan chose John Garfield for her TCM Programming stint:
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Julie Garfield on her father's troubled youth.
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Julie Garfield on The Group Theater influence
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On Joan Crawford, infidelity, Julie Garfield's favorite role of her father's, and HUAC
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Julie Adams and Norman Lloyd

Posted: July 4th, 2011, 10:00 am
by moira finnie
The latest interviews posted on the Film Noir Foundation's channel on youtube feature two impressive individuals.

1.) The lovely Julie Adams, the star of Bend of the River, Six Bridges to Cross, Hollywood Story, Slaughter on 10th Avenue, The Creature from the Black Lagoon and many other memorable films and scads of television shows was interviewed by our member, Alan K. Rode (moxie) for the Film Noir Foundation earlier this year, speaking about her work with director Anthony Mann, icon Jimmy Stewart, and less well known but fondly remembered figures such as actor-director Joe Pevney (he was John Garfield's pal in Body and Soul & directed many films and tv shows) and Richard Conte:

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2.) The remarkable 97-year old Norman Lloyd also spoke about his incredible career as an actor and the producer of The Alfred Hitchcock Show. He discusses his experiences on stage and screen--and his impressions of everyone from Orson Welles to Hitch to Jo Van Fleet to Alma Reville. Enjoy, and may all of us be as sharp, funny and articulate if we ever make it near the century mark!

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Re: Film Noir Foundation Video Archive

Posted: July 4th, 2011, 11:42 am
by MissGoddess
Oooh, terrific, now I have something to watch on Friday, thank you Moira! That Julie Adams, she really worked didn't she? Sometimes it seems like she was everywhere in the 1950s...on screens big and small. I even saw her on the "The Andy Griffith Show", playing a doctor.

Re: Film Noir Foundation Video Archive

Posted: August 24th, 2011, 5:43 pm
by moira finnie
Diane Baker's 3 part Interview with Eddie Muller has recently been uploaded by the Film Noir Foundation. I know several members had the pleasure of meeting this bright lady at the TCM Festival. Her comments on Hitchcock, Gregory Peck, Joan Crawford, George Stevens, Edward Dmytryk, and modern filmmaking techniques are most engaging:

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Robert Loggia Interview for Film Noir Foundation

Posted: November 12th, 2011, 1:39 pm
by moira finnie
A great favorite in the Finnie household, Robert Loggia, sits down to discuss his work in The Garment Jungle with our member Moxie aka Alan K. Rode. The venerable and still very active actor (raise your hand if the sound of the names, of "T.H.E. Cat" and "Elfego Baca" still gives you a kick, along with more recent work in such programs as the funny and poignant tv show, Men of a Certain Age). He discusses his early years in LA, his NY background (love that accent), fellow actors whose work he cherishes, directors Robert Aldrich, Vincent Sherman and mogul Harry Cohn (he's among the surprising number of people who knew and liked the man labeled "White Fang" by Ben Hecht). Oh, and BTW, he also touches on the topic of this terrific movie about the rag trade.

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Susan Harrison Interview RE: Sweet Smell of Success

Posted: November 12th, 2011, 1:42 pm
by moira finnie
Susan Harrison recalls working on the noir classic The Sweet Smell of Success

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Barrie Chase, Film Noir & Fred Astaire Memories

Posted: November 12th, 2011, 1:46 pm
by moira finnie
The dancer and actress Barrie Chase remembers Cape Fear, White Christmas, a gentleman named Mike Curtiz and Mr. Fred Astaire, among others:

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