CINEMATIC MAVENATIC TRANSFORMATION POLL

[JackFavell]

I can hear it too, Alison, there is something warm and smooth and rich and deep in their voices. I can't put my finger on it, but I do understand what you mean, and I'm not even an Elvis fan.

[charliechaplinfan]

I'm not a massive Elvis fan, I prefer his later stuff, which isn't the popular view, I recognise his earlier stuff had more merit for the ground it broke but it is his voice from the end of the sixties onwards that I like. Oh and that comeback concert.

If only Elvis could have reinvented himself from some of his later movies and starred in A Star is Born (not that I've ever watched Barbra's version) but Elvis, had he had better health could have been great. He was a better actor than some of those scripts gave him credit for.

[feaito]

Great thread Lamavenllous and great posts.

I think that no one who saw Sally Field's beginnings as The Flying Nun would have thought she'd become the dramatic actress of "Norma Rae" or "Lincoln".

As well, Myrna Loy being cast in all kinds of exotic, evil types between 1932-1934 and becoming the ideal wife and/or housewife -though a sophisticated one who drank martinis- in 1934 with "The Thin Man" was a pivotal turn in a glorious and long career.

To my mind comes a landmark and controversial Selznick spectacle released in 1946 (but whose filming began in 1944?): King Vidor's "Duel in the Sun" with saintly Jennifer Jones (aka Bernadette and winner of an AA for that role) and Gregory Peck (Father Chisholm in "Keys of the Kingdom" (1944) and nominated for an AA as well) scandalize Hollywood and the world in the "immoral" or "amoral" roles of Perla Chávez and Lewt, and from that moment on they change their careers, range and the public's perception of their personas, which eventually leads Jones to tackle the title roles of "Madame Bovary" (1949), "Carrie" (1952) and "Ruby Gentry" (1952) and Peck to become engaged in adultery in "The Macomber Affair" (1947), be lured into perdition by Valli in "The Paradine Case" (1947) and play an outlaw in "Yellow Sky" (1948).

Another pivotal career-turn: Ingrid Bergman from Hollywood "convention": "Joan of Arc" (1948) & "Under Capricorn" (1949) to Italian Neorrealism in "Stromboli" (1950) with Rossellini.

[JackFavell]

Oh my gosh, those are great examples! Wish I'd thought of at least one of them.

[feaito]

Thanks Wendy

[CineMaven]

Hola Muchacho - good picks!!




Ahhhh “DUEL IN THE SUN.” What good fun this is. Overwrought maybe, “Lust in the Dust” ( I hate that moniker. ) S & M and twisted psychology. Roles actors can sink their teeth into. What's not to like. ( Love hurts. ) Your post prompts me to look over Peck’s & Jones’ filmography in IMDB. I can see their roles pre-”Duel” were Good Sweet Wholesome... Virtuous. And then post-Lust ( ack! ), they get roles that were a little darker...definitely sexier; more complex. Looks like “Duel...” did turn the tide for their careers. Producers see them differently. Without it, they might’ve remained in the purgatory of niceness. Very interesting to see a producer-husband put his actress-wife in the arms of a twisted Cupid. Thanx Feo!

[feaito]

Hola Muchacho - good picks!!




Ahhhh “DUEL IN THE SUN.” What good fun this is. Overwrought maybe, “Lust in the Dust” ( I hate that moniker. ) S & M and twisted psychology. Roles actors can sink their teeth into. What's not to like. ( Love hurts. ) Your post prompts me to look over Peck’s & Jones’ filmography in IMDB. I can see their roles pre-”Duel” were Good Sweet Wholesome... Virtuous. And then post-Lust ( ack! ), they get roles that were a little darker...definitely sexier; more complex. Looks like “Duel...” did turn the tide for their careers. Producers see them differently. Without it, they might’ve remained in the purgatory of niceness. Very interesting to see a producer-husband put his actress-wife in the arms of a twisted Cupid. Thanx Feo!

Thanks Tess! If we think in that context, pure, sweet, demure Norma Shearer, with the aid of husband-producer changed the whole course of her career and persona with her shameless, sexual, in-you-face roles in "The Divorcee", "A Free Soul" and "Strangers May Kiss"....

[charliechaplinfan]

Duel in the Sun is my least favourite of Jennifer's roles, I think I see her best as an innocent, even as Emma Bovary, she's driven but something within her. Perhaps Duel in the Sun suffers from too much tampering and also Jennifer's bad makeup, she is a good actress, often overlooked because of her relationship with Selznick but I've tried twice but it's not hit home. But I also struggle to see Gregory Peck in a 'sexy' role to me he's a fatherly type not a rugged antihero. Perhaps it will never work for me although I wish it would.

[RedRiver]

I simply can't dislike DUEL IN THE SUN. It's not a first rate western, or a super sensitive melodrama. But it's sensational. All that heat. The tension. And so colorful! This is a story intended to provoke a reaction. In this, it succeeds. That Peck could do no wrong. He chose his projects so well. From contemplative outlaws to admirable lawyers. From trouble on horseback to crusading journalist. This was an actor who knew exactly what he was doing.

[charliechaplinfan]

I prefer Dana Andrews, it's probably another minority of one that I'm in, I like Gregory Peck, I just like Dana Andrews more.

[JackFavell]

I never really liked Gregory Peck much, I don't have that gene I guess. But there are a few roles in which I do believe him, and find him exceptionally good:

The Yearling
Roman Holiday
To Kill a Mockingbird


The Macomber Affair
The Great Sinner
The Valley of Decision
The Bravados
Yellow Sky
The Big Country

[RedRiver]

I prefer Dana Andrews, it's probably another minority of one that I'm in

There's no shortage of Dana Andrews fans on this message board. His very lack of huge stardom is just our cup of tea!

[charliechaplinfan]

Not a minority of one then. I thought Gregory Peck was a general favourite of most people although thinking about it I can't remember us talking very much about him. Wendy, I'm like you, I like the first three films you mention but he's not someone I'd seek out to watch.