The Silver Screen Oasis

Just watched the (English-language) 1998 documentary from Werner Herzog, "Little Dieter Needs to Fly." It is about a German boy (about Herzog's age) named Dieter Dengler who wanted to become a pilot and came to the USA to do it. He became a Navy pilot in the Vietnam war and was shot down and captured over Laos. He escaped after six months of captivity.

Mr. Dengler emerges from the documentary as a remarkable person. The movie is quite intense as his ordeal is traced and recreated. One of Herzog's best films (but I do seem to say that about everything other than "Bad Lieutenant Port of New Orleans" don't I?) Really worth a look. I am surprised that PBS or someone like that hasn't shown it on TV.

I got a Dougals Sirk soaper from the library. THERE'S ALWAYS TOMORROW. Stanwyck, MacMurray (didn't realize they made so many movies together), Joan Bennett and a wasted Jane Darwell. The movie is not bad. It's mature, uncompromising. Almost fatalistic. Not one of the great Sirk melodramas. But I liked it. A grown-up movie!

My eyes are such that I can't read the fine print on a DVD box. I didn't know this was the work of a formidable director. For that reason, I didn't expect to like it. I was pleasantly surprised.

As it turned out, it was Part One of the double feature that disappointed. ALL I DESIRE. Another Douglas Sirk weeper, this one pairs Barb with Richard Carlson. Worn out actress returns to hometown and family. Adoration, resentment, people in overalls. Predictable. Incredible. Try the other one!

I like this movie. Really like Hartman. The abuse suffered by her character is hearbreaking. This is touching story.

For me, Patch of Blue delivered the goods two years before Kramer's bombastic Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? and outshone it on every level.

It may be bombastic but the two films have entirely different tones and temperaments.
Not really sure there is much of a comparison between the two films.

Gary J. wrote:It may be bombastic but the two films have entirely different tones and temperaments.
Not really sure there is much of a comparison between the two films.

I would agree with that assessment. At the heart of both films lies the interracial relationship. Whereas Guess Who's Coming to Dinner was released with much hoopla and received accolades for social awareness (and is still highly regarded), it is actually quite tame, where a kiss is vaguely shown in a rearview mirror, the black man will cut ties on the white father's say so (yes, I realize in those days and many cultures today it is customary to ask for the hand, but that was not the angle of this film), and little is shown of the actual relationship (we actually spend more time with Hepburn and Tracy).

My point was that Patch of Blue is the more daring work and is in my opinion, a much better commentary on this subject (and better movie overall), although it was released two years earlier.

I understand that you appreciate A PATCH OF BLUE more than GWCTD when it comes to racial intolerance. Most film aficionados do - I certainly do. But even though GWCTD is always advertised as a social comedy about race, we know that it was really only about one thing - a vehicle for a pair of legendary stars in their twilight. And even though Tracy gets the final scene and makes some eloquent remarks about prejudice, the main thrust of the scene is Tracy's eloquence itself in his speech and manner. He could of been reciting the NY phone book and it would of been just as emotional knowing that this was his last time on film and that he got to share it with Hepburn.

Gary J. wrote:But even though GWCTD is always advertised as a social comedy about race, we know that it was really only about one thing - a vehicle for a pair of legendary stars in their twilight. And even though Tracy gets the final scene and makes some eloquent remarks about prejudice, the main thrust of the scene is Tracy's eloquence itself in his speech and manner. He could of been reciting the NY phone book and it would of been just as emotional knowing that this was his last time on film and that he got to share it with Hepburn.

Perhaps that's another reason why I'm not a fan of this movie. Although both actors have played a few roles in films I've enjoyed, I don't care much for either of their acting styles (Tracy's final speech is incredibly hammy to me, personally). I also find most of Kramer's direction quite over the top and somewhat akin to shouting.

We all love different things and see film in different ways. After all, if we agreed on everything, what whould we have to talk about?

HAMMY??!!! Dem's fightin' words......
(Not with me. I'll send Burt Reynolds over to see you. He's a big Tracy fan)

You obviously do not care for Kramer as a director but what is possibly over the top in this film?,
unless you're thinking of the storming of the castle walls by the Druids.

Gary J. wrote:HAMMY??!!! Dem's fightin' words......
(Not with me. I'll send Burt Reynolds over to see you. He's a big Tracy fan)

Tell him to bring his Trans AM. I've got some old Cragar mags I need to unload.

Gary J. wrote:You obviously do not care for Kramer as a director but what is possibly over the top in this film?,
unless you're thinking of the storming of the castle walls by the Druids.

It was those Druids all along!! Seriously, we'll just have to agree to disagree here. I don't want to stomp all over a film that a lot of people love. My favorite Tracy roles are from the thirties: A Man's Castle, Whipsaw, Fury, and others. There are a few things I like in the later years, most notably Bad Day at Black Rock, but a lot of his acting during those later years just seems very strident within the films. Perhaps it's because as film progressed he did not want to change his style, although he was clearly capable of doing so.

My favorite Hepburn role is Lion in Winter (1968), where she seems to project her real life persona back in time. I don't care for her other roles, although there are films she's in that I enjoy for different reasons.

I like Tracy in the later years. There wasn't a better ham in movies! I think this is one of his better performances.

As counsel for Mr. Arkadin:

Your Honor, I rest my case. (sidebar with Mr. Arkadin: You may now request substitution of Counsel, but, rest assured, my bill is in the mail.)

I recently saw Spencer Tracy in Father of the Bride and saw him in a new light, he seems to have such a light touch with comedy, he's hardly trying and he steals all the scenes. I like all the later Tracy films I've seen. I haven't watched GWCTD yet.

Another actor I'm growing to love and one of his most famous performances yet one I'd never seen, James Mason in The Desert Fox playing Erwin Rommel. I really liked the movie, I'm not always keen on war movies but this is more of a biopic and I think Mason did a good job portraying this man only a few years after his death. My one quibble, which I found quite amusing, is that for a film about Germans it felt like a film about English men, I don't think it captured the spirit of the Germans but perhaps this was intentional so soon after WW2. I'm glad they finished the film off with the quote from Winston Churchill.