WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

[charliechaplinfan]

I like Claude Chabrol although I haven't seen that particular film.

A raft of Delon films arrived at once.

La Piscine he stars with Romy Schneider and Jane Birkin and gets into a rather complicated love triangle with the daughter of his friend who is also the ex lover of his current partner. It's part thriller and aprt tittilation, made in 1969 there's ample chance to see more of Romy Schneider and you can be pretty sure that Delon isn't wearing anything in one of the scenes. It's a good story mixed with attractive people and scenery, a nice way to spend an afternoon.

The Gypsy a film produced by Delon and starring Delon, made in 1975, Delon stars as the Gypsy, a career criminal who has escaped prison once with the help of his family, when he escaped so did two other criminals who join his escapades of robbing vans and shooting at anyone who stands in their way. It's difficult to sympathise with any of the criminals only with the police chief and The Gypsy seems a brave film for Delon to take on, although reading about Delon it seems that he made a few gangster/outlaw films and much was made of his connections/freinds in the underworld.

As an actor, he's beautiful but seems to be a blank canvas, often starring into the camera yet it does work in the movies I've seen. He has made some memorable movies, The Leopard, La Eclisse, Rocco and His Brothers, Purple Noon, The Widow Couderc his Melville movies I still have to see.

I also saw 711 Ocean Drive a captivating noir drama starring Edmund O'Brien and Joanne Dru, I was hooked from beginning to end. I don't know whether the assertions of it being filmed with police protection are true but the ending at the Hoover Dam is truly memorable.

[Lzcutter]

true but the ending at the Hoover Dam is truly memorable.

Most of it was actually filmed at the Dam with a bit of soundstage work. It was one of the few films allowed to film at the Dam back in day. There is also an episode of Rockford Files that was filmed at the Dam as well.

The BLM (Bureau of Land Management) didn't allow a lot of filming at the Dam so there isn't a lot of film or television filmed on location at the Dam from back then.

[charliechaplinfan]

We visited the Dam in 2000, I liked revisiting and seeing what it was like in black and white. My hubby shakes his head in despair at me, I did not want to go down into the Dam, just seeing how much water was pressing on the side of the Dam at the top was enough for me, it was a very irrational fear, so I thought I'll be grown up about it and go inside the dam because I know how much my husband wants to go inside. When we got in the elevator the biggest couple imaginable got in at the same time, it sent me into even more of a sweat. Once I'd been around the Dam and up at the top, I really enjoyed the footage of the building of the dam. It was a memorable trip.

[MikeBSG]

I watched "So Long at the Fair" yesterday afternoon. I really liked it. As one book said, Terence Fisher (who later did a lot of Hammer horror) never worked with such a large budget again. It was very Hitchcockian, and there were a few things that made me think of the horror films that Fisher would direct later. Did David Tomlinson always play stuffy Englishmen?

I saw "The Girl Who Played With Fire" last night. I didn't like it as much as "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo." The plot seemed far more haphazard and cliche-ridden. The cast was good, but the material was rather so-so. (It almost made me wonder if the 'Millenium trilogy' was actually intended to be a trilogy or if the guy had to write the two later books to get the first one published.)

[feaito]

Mike, for me "So Long at the Fair" was a true discovery and one of the best films I saw last year. Excellent!

[feaito]

During this week I watched the first part of the TNT Documentary "MGM: When the Lion Roars" (1991), which I own on VHS (I bought it back in 1995 and I had only watched it once). After trying to figure how to fix some issues with my VCR (it only plays films recorded in SP, the ones recorded in EP-SLP do not play well, the image comes and goes....it's so weird and I can't buy another player, because they are not manufactured anymore)

The documentary is very good and in spite that I remembered many of the events depicted -after reading bios of Mayer, Thalberg et al, most of the stuff is well known by me by now- I enjoyed it completely, especially due to the very well chosen footage shown, the fantastic narration of Patrick Stewart and the wonderful remembrances of the interviewees: Helen Hayes, Clarence Brown, Sam Marx, Maureen O'Sullivan, Freddie Bartholomew, Margaret Booth, etc.

I'm looking forward to watching parts II & III and for the time being, I won't replace my VHS with the recently released DVD edition.

[charliechaplinfan]

Another Delon movie, the bizarre Our Story starring Delon and Natalie Baye, it starts off straightforwardly, Delon is dozing on a train and is startled to find an attractive woman staring at him, she comes into his carriage to tell him a story. What ensues aftr this is a little like a Bunuel film, only not as well done, you never quite know what is reality and what isn't, perhaps the point is to make your own choice. I stuck with the film but have ended up pondering why Delon would chose to produce such a film, perhaps a sign of the times, bravery or love of this kind of genre. I think he's a brave producer and as an actor he's always watchable.

[charliechaplinfan]

Thanks to Nancy I got to watch both the Luise Rainer interview and The Good Earth. I was wowed by Luise Rainer although a little surprised that Robert Osbourne hadn't set himself up with a pad and pencil straight away, however it was a marvellous interview, I'm so envious of any of you who managed to be there. Surprised about what she said about Paul Muni, although I don't know why, I don't know a great deal about him, he's a good enough actor to behave more graciously, perhaps he realised she would steal all the scenes of him in The Good Earth, she plays Olan marvellously, very rarely do non Orientals play Orientals convincingly but Luise managed it and although Muni was good she was that bit better.

I liked The Good Earth all the more the second time around, I can't say why this is, it seemed to flow better. Muni and Rainer had a complex screen relationship, somewhat reflected off screen but it's bittersweet, mostly sweet but heart breaking when he takes the pearls from her. The story feels rounded off whe in the end he returns to the earth and to realising just how good a wife she has been to him. There were two uncomfortable moments for me, the killing of the oxen by Olan, which I know was necessary but nevertheless difficult for me to think about and the death of the last child, I'd missed it first time but Olan kills that baby to save the others. I haven't read any of Pearl Buck's novels but have read others which feature similar storylines, but I wonder how audiences of the time reacted to those scenes, perhaps the novel was so well known that the scenes in the film weren't as surprising. What a film for Thalberg to bow out on, one wonders if Mayer would have made it if it was down to him alone.

Luise Rainer hadn't forgotten about mayer, she seemed to be very pleased to discuss him with the audience. Good for her for not sitting on his knee.

I can only say that if I live to be 100, I want to be like Luise.

[charliechaplinfan]

One advantage to being off work is being able to enjoy movies with no interruption. Big City followed by Pushover and then Love Affair.

Big City directed by Frank Borzage, I wanted to watch it after seeing the Luise Rainer interview. The stars and director promised much and at first it seemed to strike a wrong chord, it was playing like a screwball comedy and Tracy and rainer seemed uncomfortable, once it struck more serious ground it played out more smoothly. Tracy and Rainer are very good together on screen, their chemistry is quite touching to behold. Jack Dempsey makes an appearance causing the ending to be a bit of a showcase for Dempsey and his chums. After seeing two Rainer films in quick succession I'd love to see The Great Zeigfeld.

Pushover starring Fred MacMurray and Kim Novak, MacMurray plays a character not dissimilar to the one he played in Double Indemnity getting involved with the wrong woman, for me he seemed a little old to woo the young and very pretty Novak but the story was very good and the time flew by.

Love Affair my copy although bought via Amazon is a dreadful copy, if anyone knows of a better copy to own please let me know about it. I've watched An Affair To Remember many times before realising it was a remake, I love both movies although the original has a tighter script, the remake has more romance in the first half. The original has Boyer but the remake has Deborah Kerr. I never tire of the story whichever version I watch, it's a movie I'd hate to get interrupted when watching, I just need to get to the very end too see the realisation of why Terri wasn't at the Empire State Building. Irene Dunne is at her best here, I think Boyer brought out the best in her, even though she's allowed to sing and so are the children, they are a great screen pairing. Thinking about it, the children are better in the remake too. The ending, so satisfying, is better in Love Affair. I wonder which one Leo MaCarey preferred?

[feaito]

Pushover is very good film Ali...good storyline.

I agree with you concerning "Love Affair's" ending, better than that of AATR...and yes, since Love Affair is a film on the PD, most of the copies circulating are really poor! I'd like to have a better one. Obviously the one in TCM's/Time WArner's library must be the best!

[charliechaplinfan]

Is it shown sometimes on TCM? They must have cleaned up the print, I can't believe that they would show the copy I have.

[MikeBSG]

I made a real discovery the other day: "Brainwashed" (1960) directed by Gerd Oswald, starring Curt Jurgens, Claire Bloom, and Mario Adorf. (It is in German).

Jurgens is a Catholic Austrian aristocrat who is captured by the Gestapo, who want to know how he smuggled money out of austria. What keeps Jurgens sane (barely) is a book of chess moves. He retreats into an abstract world of chess, while his reality gets grimmer.

There is an equally compelling frame story in which Jurgens (post-captivity) encounters a very arrogant chess master (Adorf.)

This is gripping, suspenseful and very well done. I can't believe that the only place Gerd Oswald's career went after this was "The Outer Limits."

[charliechaplinfan]

I had to watch the ending of Love Affair again, this time hubby was in the room, he's fimiliar with AATR and thought this more restrained but stillthhought the whole story was unbelievable but who cares about that. One thing the original doesn't have which AATR does have is the song An Affair to remember sung by Vic Damone and used as a motif throughout the film.

I backed away from the romance last night to watch two films that I thought would suit hubby and I better. The first was Tomorrow the World but hubby thought the boy actor,Skip Homeier was the worst actor ever with the worst accent, still I stayed with it despite his grunts of disapproval because it had Fredric March and Agnes Moorehead. I liked the premise of the story, a member of the Hitler Youth is orphaned and his liberal American uncle adopts him into his family, the child is fully indoctrinated into the Nazi world and brings all his prejudices with him. It felt in part like a filmed play, Skip Homeier seemed to play more for a stage than a film, the fault I feel of the director. Tomorrow the World is more of a curiosity piece, a slice of history, a piece of propaganda.

Out of the Fog was my second choice, I've only seen John Garfeild in The Postman Only Knocks Twice, he's pure evil in this film, a small time hustler and racketeer without the saving grace of Cagney's oft seen charm in such roles. Garfield seems snake like, a good actor making a part of a small time gangster, a well worn road, into very much his own. Ida Lupino a fine actress is superb as the girl he makes movies on and Thomas Mitchell, one of my favorites steals the show along with John Qualen. A little gem of a film, a great discovery.

[moira finnie]

I made a real discovery the other day: "Brainwashed" (1960) directed by Gerd Oswald, starring Curt Jurgens, Claire Bloom, and Mario Adorf. (It is in German).

Mike, I've never seen this movie, but I believe it is based on The Royal Game, the last novella of Austrian novelist Stefan Zweig and the only fictional work in which he dealt with Nazism. The story creates a stifling feeling when the central character, largely deprived of intellectual stimulation, is like a man gasping for oxygen. His immersion into chess and the exhilaration he experiences in the intricacies of the game are his salvation--up to a point. You can see a good review of this film here too. Too bad Schachnovelle (1960) aka Brainwashed only seems to be available commercially on VHS in German right now. (I'd also like to see Curt Jurgens in better movies than I've normally caught him in--most of what I've seen is usually crap made more interesting because of his presence).

Beware of Pity, The Post Office Girl and Zweig's collected short stories have been finding their way back into print in recent years, as new readers discover his readability and his brilliant way of conveying the inner life of his characters. The Royal Game was the last story he wrote. Discouraged by the spread of fascism and WWII, Zweig moved from Britain, where he had become a citizen, to go farther into exile in Brazil with his wife, sending The Royal Game to his American publisher only days before he and his wife were found in each other's arms after they committed suicide in 1942. Zweig is best remembered today for Letter From an Unknown Woman, but in his own day, he was often mentioned as a contemporary of Sigmund Freud, whose theories he incorporated into his fiction. Zweig also gained worldwide fame as a biographer of Mary, Queen of Scots, Marie Antoinette, Erasmus of Rotterdam, and as an advocate of a United Nations of Europe in the interests of promoting peace. His autobiography, The World of Yesterday is fascinating and very sad, as he chronicles the ghosts of a past in which his and millions of other Jewish families were assimilated (or believed themselves to be) into an open and creative German and Austrian society that he perceived as vanished following WWI.

There's a lively overview of Zweig here too, if you are interested.

[JackFavell]

I love Out of the Fog, Alison, and I think everyone in the cast is excellent, but Thomas Mitchell takes the honors here. It's refreshing to see two older character actors take the spotlight for a change.

Love Affair does show up on TCM once in a while...not often enough as far as I am concerned.