The Silver Screen Oasis

charliechaplinfan wrote:Thanks for the link for the mock trial.

You're welcome.

charliechaplinfan wrote:I liked how she concentrated on the Queens behind the throne and in these cases they were far more formidable than their husbands. Although Matilda and Eleanor of Aquataine were better known of the two I found all cases interesting. Helen Castor very different in presenting style to David Starkey, he's more theatrical.

I didn't get past Eleanor. I'm guessing Margaret of Anjou was probably featured too. Someone once told me that they were related, but I don't know if that's true.

I think I read that too.

I watched Universal's Tower of London (1939) to get a look at the Richard III legacy through the lens of popular entertainment. Basil Rathbone plays Richard, with chief henchman "Mord" played by Boris Karloff. The opening shot is telling, framing the children of Edward in the nursery. Rathbone is cunning, duplicitous and ruthless, with the out-and-out ugliness of the regime going to the Karloff role. Richard's "hump" is rather disappointing -- just a little extra padding on the right shoulder. Hardly noticeable.

I remember studying the Shakespeare play in college, somewhat dreading the days we were covering the play, mostly because the professor -- a somewhat troll-like fellow -- completely relished the wickedness of the title character. Rathbone's portrayal didn't inspire quite the same loathing.

Even though one could argue that the film is a historical drama, Karloff's participation in the project inevitably has it drifting into the horror genre. He's bald-headed with bushy eyebrows (and maybe a little nose putty), but the real treat of his performance is what he does with his legs. He's supposed to be club-footed, wearing a special boot on one of his feet, and the costume calls for black tights (which according to the biography Dear Boris were padded for a more flattering shape). Karloff (according to the same biography) was self-consciousness about his bow-leggedness, but in this film, he accentuates the feature to show something about the character. There are a few signature shots that show him walking away from the camera, the warped-ness of the character, the times, and the regime all poignantly expressed by those legs. Just brilliant.

Isabella of France and Margaret of Anjou are the other two featured, along with Eleanor and Matilda.

I remember liking Tower of London quite a bit as a kid. I remember the look of the film most. Gosh, maybe it's a film they should have shown on the recent 'disabilities in cinema' programming event.

The movie is a blast if you're young. And not bad from a more mature perspective. I like it! But especially fun for the less sophisticated.

I haven't seen it although you make it sound so good, I'll mark it as a must see.

We're going to take the kids to London when they're a bit older, it'll be expensive but I think they need to see it, the Tower of London is all of our number one choices. I went when I was 10 and I would love to see it again.

BTW Leicester is getting Richard's remains.

We don't have a Tower of Louisville. I'm out of luck!

I can see why Leicester would get them, it's already part of their fame.

If Barbara Stanwyck were here, she'd see this thread as RICHARD ILL!

Christy you ased about Alison Weir, I'm just reading my first Alison Weir book and have decided to start with the Princes in the Tower. I thought she wrote as fiction but with a good basis in fact but this one at least is entirely factual. Interestingly, looking at the reviews of her books on Amazon, all that give her nearly 5 stars apart from this book. Why? Because she assesses all the evidence she can find, puts it into chronological order and gives an opinion that isn't in Richard's favour. Reading the negative comments they are all from Ricardians who want him written as a good man, the rest of the comments are 5 stars from people who are saying 'don't listen to them, they have an agenda'. It is a very divided world the world of Richard III. As for the book, I'm really enjoying it, one often can get lost with the amount of people who are at court and how they interconnect and who they married etc but so far I'm doing OK.

I finished The Princes in the Tower, my first Alison Weir book, she certainly comes down on the side of Richard being all out for himself and the pursuit of power, she puts a good argument across, one I can't dispute from her conclusions. I would like to read the other side but to give her her due she does explain the argument for Richard but then puts her view as to why she thinks not. I found her style very engaging, I've now picked up her history of Katherine Swynford and John of Gaunt, they're both two of my favourite royal figures and the historical fiction book Katherine is a page turner.

Joe has started the Tudors as a subject, he got star pupil for knowing more than his teacher, it's nice to know that the interest in history has passed down to both my kids.

And we still have no history taught in school at this point - Alice is in seventh grade and the only thing she knows about from there is the song Yankee Doodle Dandy. I'm glad Europe is so far ahead of us in teaching.

I love John of Gaunt's speech in RICHARD II. My favorite speech in Shakespeare.

I even like it when Basil Rathbone does it as Sherlock Holmes!