The Silver Screen Oasis

moirafinnie wrote:I'd also love to see They Knew What They Wanted (1940), which I've heard is one of Laughton's best.

I have seen that one. It's definitely a very odd picture. Just imagine Laughton wearing a curly black wig (to look Italian) and wooing simple waitress Carole Lombard! Garson Kanin describes in some details how Laughton drove him mad during shooting by insisting he needed to go to a certain orchard (the film was shot in the Napa Valley) to get his concentration back and his character...! The result is a sultry melodrama. Lombard is very good cast against type.

I remember seeing it once at a pretty young age, and being very impressed with it. I wish I could see it again to see how it holds up.

Thanks, Moira. I've seen both The Suspect and They Knew What They Wanted. I only wish TCM would show decent copies of both so I could replace my old videotape-to-DVD copies. The last time The Suspect aired, to my knowledge, was a while back on the Encore Mystery channel (where my copy came from); before that, it aired on AMC from time to time. I don't ever recall seeing They Knew What they Wanted scheduled anywhere. It may be another of those rights issues.

Ann Harding wrote:

moirafinnie wrote:I'd also love to see They Knew What They Wanted (1940), which I've heard is one of Laughton's best.

I have seen that one. It's definitely a very odd picture. Just imagine Laughton wearing a curly black wig (to look Italian) and wooing simple waitress Carole Lombard! Garson Kanin describes in some details how Laughton drove him mad during shooting by insisting he needed to go to a certain orchard (the film was shot in the Napa Valley) to get his concentration back and his character...! The result is a sultry melodrama. Lombard is very good cast against type.

I truly think it's Lombard's film - and that's from a rabid Laughton fan. I found Laughton to be miscast here.

Turner Classic Movies

August Film Schedule
http://www.tcm.com/schedule/august2011.html

Packed with legendary Marlon Brando's films, tomorrow they are showing the Great Dictator (Chaplin's film), Prisoner of Zenda on this upcoming Thursday ... Plus, Orson Welles classics like Citizen Kane and The Lady from Shanghai with Rita Hayworth.

Next Monday, Mr. Arkadin is showing again ... wow! ... along with Moby Dick too!

Around the World in 80 days is showing again ... Great Westerns like She Wore a Yellow Ribbon ... Packed with some many FILM NOIRS ... its killing me ... many of them are my favorites ... The 17th of this month is incredible!

All your foreign films fans ... the 18th is a treat to behold! Powerhouse films ... Amazing LineUp folks ... truly amazing!

Singing in the Rain is on the 19th. Gene Kelly's greatest musical! Many Liz Taylor movies showing ... like Raintree County!

Bringing Up Baby is on the 21st too ... My Man Godfrey on the 28th ... Two Powerhouses Comedies ... our favorites!

I used to think that Wilding was just boring, but I find that he handles the Oscar Wilde perfectly.

There is a type of callow British bachelor that he fits so well, here and in Under Capricorn (a movie I probably would not have enjoyed at all without Wilding's silly presence) and to some extent in Stage Fright. Outside of this small range, I don't find him very interesting. He's dreadful in Torch Song, but well.... it's not really anyone's zenith, is it?

In An Ideal Husband, I think he fits the role perfectly, the best I've seen in it, and carries the picture with Paulette, speaking Wilde's delicious lines with perfect emphasis. Good lord, if I had to rely on Diana Wynyard and Hugh Williams for fun in this movie, I might be ready to slit my wrists.

That was lovely, kingrat. Very expressive of Wyler's style - I could see the scene in my head perfectly, the way you described it. he really narrows in like a laser on what is actually important in a scene. I love him.

I was bowled over when Ben M. said in the intro that Bette had wanted John Wayne for the role of Pres. She thought Fonda was too icy and remote to play Pres. She felt that she needed to push against someone stronger and bolder than she, and Wayne would have been perfect. On giving it some thought, I actually think she was right, as much as I like Fonda. Gosh, I would have loved to see them play opposite one another. I would never take away Fonda's quiet strength, but man, I'd love to see the alternate version!

David,

Jezebel is one of my favorite Bette Davis films. I've often wondered if Aunt Belle, in her younger days, was more like Julie and had her own embarrassing social moment and that is why she and Dr. Livingstone didn't marry. There is definitely some back story there between the two of them and more than a hint of love that has spanned a few decades.

Just a thought.

Lzcutter wrote:David,

Jezebel is one of my favorite Bette Davis films. I've often wondered if Aunt Belle, in her younger days, was more like Julie and had her own embarrassing social moment and that is why she and Dr. Livingstone didn't marry. There is definitely some back story there between the two of them and more than a hint of love that has spanned a few decades.

Just a thought.

Good observation. I also think that Aunt Belle might be fascinated by her niece because the younger woman is acting out the unspoken desires that Belle never had the nerve to pursue.


Kingrat, I think that Wyler's choice of camera placement in the '30s and '40s helped make his films so memorable. There is a key scene in prison in The Letter in which we only see the back of Leslie Crosbie's head as she listens to her lawyer. The way that his words affect her, her inability to deal with him directly, and her desire and ability to control a situation all come into play in this scene--just because we only see part of what is happening.

JackFavell wrote: I was bowled over when Ben M. said in the intro that Bette had wanted John Wayne for the role of Pres. She thought Fonda was too icy and remote to play Pres. She felt that she needed to push against someone stronger and bolder than she, and Wayne would have been perfect. On giving it some thought, I actually think she was right, as much as I like Fonda. Gosh, I would have loved to see them play opposite one another. I would never take away Fonda's quiet strength, but man, I'd love to see the alternate version!

I doubt if Davis even knew who Wayne was in 1938. He was cranking out B-westerns over at Republic as a member of The Three Mesquiteers. He wouldn't make STAGECOACH until the following year. I think Davis was projecting whenever she gave that interview that Mankiewicz quoted. She may had been thinking of Wayne as he was in the mid-40's, when he was developing the gravitas as an actor.