WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

[CineMaven]

Hey, Maven! No I meant Ruth Donnelly, but forgot completely about Mary Boland, so thanks for bringing her up! Oh she's marvelous, with her loves and her crying and her open sexuality. You know she is probably my favorite character. Can't believe I dissed her. It wasn't on purpose.

There's a very cynical undertone to Our Man in Havana that I think you might like, sort of like an outrageous Network or Face in the Crowd, but dealing with cold war politics and the efficacy of the CIA or MI5 instead.

Hiya JaxXxon! You've cited two films that are among my favorites. I love cynical undertone in movies. I will look out for it. Naaaah, I know you weren't dissing Boland. She's so fun-loving. One of those marriages would have sent me crying for the convent. But girl, unless she was one of the models in the fashion show color sequence, are you sure Ruth Donnelly's in "THE WOMEN"?

[RedRiver]

I love J. Wiseman in DETECTIVE STORY! His hyper, scattered drug addict picks up that show and walks away with it. Shoplifting Lee Grant holds her own, though. I love the minor characters in an ensemble piece.

For me, Sidney Lumet’s career fits chaos theory better than the auteur theory

This is probably not what King Rat meant, but chaos as a story element, fits Lumet's syle perfectly. The frenetic scene of DOG DAY AFTERNOON, the unseen dangers faced by SERPICO, the frightening ambiguity of NETWORK. Of course, TWELVE ANGRY MEN is his best effort, so there goes my theory!

[CineMaven]

Red if you haven't seen "Before The Devil Knows You're Dead" I would recommend it.

[JackFavell]

OK when you're right you're right! So I guess it was Florence Nash I was thinking of, the caustic writer.

[JackFavell]

Hey, did anyone else see IF WINTER COMES this morning? I only saw the last half hour but I really liked what I saw. Walter Pidgeon was good in a way I have almost never seen, as a man reeling from slanderous attacks on his reputation, seeing how small minded people in his town turned his generous acts into something evil. He and Deborah Kerr had good chemistry, and I very much enjoyed the design of the film. I'd love to know if the rest of the film matched the ending. Again, I've never seen Walter Pidgeon so emotional and sympathetic before, though I've always liked him.

I also saw THE END OF THE AFFAIR, a film I'd seen part of once before. I thought it was surprisingly good, though I wonder how close it is to the book? Van Johnson was excellent, as was Kerr. I've been glimpsing some really fine acting by Johnson lately, I prefer him in dramas now, I think he had a gift for serious acting. I think this might be my favorite role for Kerr, she never falls into the stereotypical, nor the maudlin, and I felt her character was true to life, not a movie heroine. Both characters were flawed, and I liked that, loved the twists and how it was all resolved, at least till the very end where I suspect a Hollywood ending was devised to clear up any indiscretions.

[RedRiver]

It was probably easy to achieve chemistry with Deborah Kerr. One of the finest actresses in movies. IF WINTER COMES sounds very interesting. I don't know the film. But I like stories of "Main Street morality."

[JackFavell]

Red, I found it fascinating because one of the characters, played by Janet Leigh, got pregnant out of wedlock. She was ostracized by everyone in the town, except for Walter Pidgeon. I liked a montage, late in the picture, where he is going back over his actions, seeing them the way the townspeople saw them - as the guilty actions of a lover, not a friend who wanted to help. The ending is not all sweetness and light, either, as I would have thought an MGM production would have required, probably because it was at the start of Dore Schary's tenure.

[CineMaven]

OK when you're right you're right! So I guess it was Florence Nash I was thinking of, the caustic writer.

Ha...I don't want to be right. I just want to be right. ( It's a wise Favell who admits when a Maven is right instead of right. Besides girl...I couldn't let you go out like that with your slip hanging. But I bet Ruth Donnelly could have played the heck out of that role too! ) Oh yeah...I howled and ewwwwww'ed at your Laddie story, by the way!

I also saw THE END OF THE AFFAIR, a film I'd seen part of once before. I thought it was surprisingly good, though I wonder how close it is to the book? Van Johnson was excellent, as was Kerr. I've been glimpsing some really fine acting by Johnson lately, I prefer him in dramas now, I think he had a gift for serious acting. I think this might be my favorite role for Kerr, she never falls into the stereotypical, nor the maudlin, and I felt her character was true to life, not a movie heroine. Both characters were flawed, and I liked that, loved the twists and how it was all resolved, at least till the very end where I suspect a Hollywood ending was devised to clear up any indiscretions.

Re-visiting "A GUY NAMED JOE" and checking out King Rat's recommended: "HIGH BARBAREE" has awakened my appreciation & consideration for Van Johnson, Serious Actor. He's got a very easy natural way about him. I believe him. I wonder if he could have played Wally Fay? Or could Vivien Leigh play Camille?

Hey, did anyone else see IF WINTER COMES this morning?...He and Deborah Kerr had good chemistry, and I very much enjoyed the design of the film. I'd love to know if the rest of the film matched the ending. Again, I've never seen Walter Pidgeon so emotional and sympathetic before, though I've always liked him.

It was probably easy to achieve chemistry with Deborah Kerr. One of the finest actresses in movies...

Deborah Kerr is, for my money, one of the most consummate actresses in films. I bet it was very easy to work with her. Know your lines, look into her eyes, be sincere & authentic and she'll give you a performance that will make you be a better actor. I was very sad to read and hear of her passing.

* * * * * * * *

Now, I am about to jump into the pool at the deep end...the deep smart literate cineastic end where you grown ups playfully frolic and float. I saw five minutes of Ralph Richardson in "FALLEN IDOL" when he's saying good bye to his lover while the little boy sits with them. The delicacy, the pain and agony he evinced in that scene made me run for a tape, throw it in the VCR and now I will watch the rest of the film. What the heck! Geez, is that the same man who was cruel to deHavilland in "THE HEIRESS"? Amazing. I hope I can keep up with him. Yep at 4:59 in the morning...heeeere goes. If you don't hear from me for a while...you'll know I drowned watching him do his thing in Vivien Leigh's "ANNA KARENINA." Ooooh, that Richardson water looks so deeeeeeeeep!

I'm going to get my multi-syllabic big words ready.

[JackFavell]

Awesome! That scene in The Fallen Idol in the little pastry shop always makes me cry. His desperation, and the way they have to hide everything, Philip's complete obliviousness, except of certain things, it all makes for some brilliant acting. Wait till you get to the hairpin scene! Your Hitch got a run for his money with this one.

Of course, then Richardson's back to his old tricks in Anna Karenina.

[RedRiver]

And a Graham Greene screenplay! I've loved FALLEN IDOL since I saw it on PBS thirty years ago. When Chicago's Music Box Theatre screened it, I dropped what I was doing and ran down there. Maybe Chio was there too! This is a quiet, thoughtful drama, maybe even a thriller; exceptionally well written and constructed. Peer pressure requires we acknowledge THE THIRD MAN as the masterpiece in the Greene/Reed line-up. To be honest, this little wonder is just as good!

Anyone yet to see this British classic is in for an unforgettable treat!

[charliechaplinfan]

The End of the Affair was remade with Ralph Fiennes, I saw that version first, I always enjoy Fiennes as an actor and I liked him here. Van Johnson, here's another actor I'm only just beginning to appreciate and I think it's the same for me Wendy, I like him in dramas rather than comedies and Deborah Kerr, she's just perfect in he role, I was completely transported by Greene's tale, I think their version caught the essense of it the best.

I haven't watched The Fallen Idol, yet. But Carol Reed, Ralph Richardson and Graham Greene, I have to ask myself why?

[JackFavell]

I can't wait to hear your opinions of The Fallen Idol, Alison! Good or bad. But I think you will like it.

As for The End of the Affair, I really felt something strong in that movie, and I was totally surprised. It's a great script, first of all. I wonder if the things we pick up on in Van Johnson are there because of his rich inner life that was not allowed to come out, except in acting? I also wonder in this movie in particular, if Johnson's brush with death in a motorcycle accident (is that right? or was it a war injury?) made him more receptive to this tale of a near miss. There is something dark in Johnson that really works in his dramas. The jealousy he portrays here feels true and right for this usually lightweight actor, you can feel it, it's palpable, almost a third character. John Mills made an unexpected appearance and I just loved him. I think he had the hardest role and walked a tightrope between comedy and tragedy beautifully. His role was like Maurice Chevalier's in Love in the Afternoon, and the two would make a good double feature.

Alison and Red, I agree, Kerr just never makes a mis-step in this film. She's perfect, and I am not always blown away by her. I find this supposedly 'slutty' character much more believably human than her portrayal of Karen in the popular From Here to Eternity. For me it's the difference between a characterization based on the outside in (blonde dye job, tight clothes), and a characterization based on the inside out (loneliness, extreme loneliness).

[RedRiver]

Deborah Kerr grabs my heart in TEA AND SYMPATHY. If that's not enough, she's even better in SEPARATE TABLES. That's some actress!