BOGART REVISITED
Way, way back, in fact 1981 in November I discussed in the first issue of Classic Films, the Special Interest Group of the Mensa Organization devoted to movies, the best films of Humphrey Bogart.. Bogart was a really big name in those days among people who particularly liked films and of course to many today he remains a really liked source for entertainment whether it be in mysteries, comedies or whatever the genre. At that time I tried to narrow my selection down to just five films but found it impossible. So I modified to include ten which resulted in a few that easily could have been in the best five list but weren't included. Perhaps I should have just picked the ones I liked best and had not tried to be specific as to number. Regardless, I thought it might be valuable to revisit the list, since it is 33 years later and see how my selections compared with ratings over time.
At that time I put Beat the Devil at the top of the list a selection that really did not gather a lot of enthusiasm. Roger Poulson from Denver, Colorado noted that even Bogart didn't like the film. Well Roger was certainly right. but in Bogart's case he had invested in the film and since it initially didn't do well at the box office, he had to deal with lost funds. But time's change and what was a flop at the time resulted in a change later one and it became some what of a cult film.
I think part of it was due to some unusual casting particularly in the two female leads, Jennifer Jones and Gina Lollobrigida. In those days both these ladies put out certain images. With Lollobrigida it was a reputation in films as a sexpot with great physical attributes. Jones on the other hand was perceived as a more gentle and genuine type of woman. In Beat The Devil she comes across as a rather erotic and interesting and rather screwy woman on the make with Bogart her target. Lollobrigida is Bogart's wife and present's a rather conservative woman who delights in British polite behavior. She greets Jones's English husband when they manage to get together with, "TEA FOR TWO, AND TWO FOR TEA."
. Well I seem to have drifted from my subject the comparison effort. There are lists of Bogart's films available on the internet with various rankings. On one list CASABLANCA is listed among the 250 best films of all time at #30. This is from an IMDB survey of all users for this internet information source for movies. Only three other Bogart films make this all time favorites list. They are TREASURE OF SIERRA MADRE, THE MALTESE FALCON and THE BIG SLEEP at positions 103, 162 and 237 respectively.
Another lists deals onlywith the greatest Bogart films. It's number 1 is TREATURE OF SIERRA MADRE. This list puts BEAT THE DEVIL in 17th place which isn't bad since a third list I consulted listed all of Bogart's films more that 70 in all and noted my favorite as number 41. I was disappointed in this list because it noted several films of what to me were lesser qualities as ahead o my favorite.
Well enough of lists, what I really intended to do was provide capsule reviews of my list of next best five Bogart films. If you are interested it will provide you with an opportunity of seeing them if you haven't before and also snicker at my list. These were numbers 6 to10 in my original list in the order I listed them.
The Caine Mutiny - Bogart was the villain in this film though one you could sympathize with. He played a destroyer ship captain operating in the Pacific theater during World War II. He displayed a bit of cowardice which resulted in his being dubbed Old Yellow Stain. The trial relative to his behavior then and still later during a storm at sea features the judgment arrived at by the military court. Other featured stars in the film include Van Johnson, Fred MacMurray, and Jose Ferrar.
High Sierra - Bogart as a really harsh criminal in this one with his criminal activities resulting in a hideout in California and his eventually being brought to justice by law enforcement members. Ida Lupino is particularly memorable as his love interest.
Key Largo - Bacall and Bogart united again in this another criminal story. This time it's set in the Florida Keys and unites Edward G. Robinson with Bogart as well. Robinson is a gangster trying to make a getaway from the United States and plans to use Bogart to transport him out. It ends up with a confrontation on Bogarts boat with Robinson trying to kill Bogart.
Tl Have and Have Not - War time again and Bogart on a French island in the Lesser Antilles. He's a sports fishing boat captain who takes big time fisherman out for big time fish. It's wartime and involves the French Nationalists with the Vichy French rulers at the time. And incidentally it is the first staging of Bacall and Bogart particularly noteworthy for her query, "you know to whistle, don't you...just put your lips together and blow..."
Treasure of Searra Madre - Sierra Madre in this case is Mexico not Southern California and the effort of Walter Huston with the help of Bogart and Tim Holt to wrestle gold out of the mountains. Bogart is a personal loser in this film and a bit neurotic if not psychotic. He ends up on the losing end in an unfortunate encounter with some Mexican peon gangsters.
That's the story of the second five. All of these are
worth a first a second or even more viewings to see and hear little touches that may have escaped you when you first saw the film.
Monday, February 9, 2015
Thursday, December 11, 2014
Lone Star
This is a recent revisit to a film that came out almost 20 years ago. With the passage of time I have become more aware of how much reality was created in the film relative to cultural rules and attitudes and individual expressions in conjunction with or at times in conflict with these realities. It's a film really worth enjoying in the details of the telling and in particular the use of common ordinary language which normally I associate with the more sophisticated humorous pictures. It is a film that really satisfies ones curiosity of what makes things the way they are in the United States.
The film's time frame is a nearly 40 year period of special events and happenings in a fictional Texas border city which appears to be on the Rio Grande River near El Paso, Texas. In the beginning we see a couple of soldiers looking for artifacts or stones of value out in the nearby desert when they happen to come on a human skeleton. They notify the local law enforcement authorities which in this case turns out to be Chris Cooper as a member of a Texas Rangers organization. The mystery has it's beginnings here.
Cooper plays the law enforcement lead in the local police organization, Sam Deeds, the son of the former sheriff , Buddy Deeds, of the department during the early part of the film. Mathew McGonaughey plays the father in this first really important role of his career.
Buddy became sheriff after a period as one of the members of the sheriff department in the earlier period that was run by a many named Charlie Wade, a role handled with beady eyed cruelty and corruption by Kris Kristofferson. Wade used the office to extort money from local people and enrich himself with ease. Ultimately Wade disappears and as the really most effective member of the department 'Buddy takes office as the new sheriff.
Sam has been married but is not now. His ex-wife, in another outstanding performance in the minor role of Bunny is played by Frances McDormand. Bunny is a special case, suffering from major mental problem a serious bi-polar condition. When Sam visits her he asks if she is still taking her medications. She is either up or down depending on the situation at the moment. She is a big fan of the Dallas Cowboys and also upset with Sam for the failure of the marriage. He's there for information that ends up being a primary mystery solution. She resents that but soon gets caught up in the Dallas game which is on television and overcomes her moodiness.
The Latino contingent is centered on Pilar the daughter of a Mercedez Cruz who came into the United Stares as a wetback by wading across the Rio Grande River. She eventually opened a restaurant specializing in Mexican food and became quite successful and ultimately living in a more expensive home on the banks of the Rio Grande. Her success enables her to send Pilar to college where after majoring in education becomes a teacher in the local high school. Incidentally neither of these ladies is of primarily Mexican descent. Pilar played by Elizabeth Pena is of Cuban descent but was actually born in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Mercedes played by Miriam Colon is actually an American born in Puerto Rico. Sam and Pilar have an early relationship when both were in high school but this was dramatically broken up by Buddy.
I am not going to try and explain the outcomes of the story. The complexities of the relationships are dealt with in an analytical fashion, and viewers only gradually learn these complexities. The third factor in the cultures is the black Americans which finds the newly assigned Military officer at the local army base is a Black Colonel. He also has a past relationship with the area since his father operated a local bar and dance club that was often considered out of bounds by the military. The father has a long term companion played by Carmen de Lavaliade a really beautiful women of mixed heritage.
There are two other characters who I found particularly interesting. One is Private Johnson a female soldier who is also black named Private Johnson. The Colonel has her brought to him for informational purposes since she was picked up during a fight and shooting at the Dance Club. Their discussion revolves around why she is in the army and her view on that and life in general is very heart warming. She is played by an actress out of Houston, Texas named Chandra Wilson. And, finally we must note an native American role of Gordon Tootoosis who operates a kind of open air junk shop near the Mexican border. The role is handled by Wesley Birdsong who is definitely of Native background, but was actually born in Canada and is of Cree and Stoney heritage. He also provides Sam of an illustration of why trying to dig up facts out of the past might not be a good idea.
These many minor roles have an important part in the films overall presentation. The differences in cultures and the difference in attitudes to others and to those in their immediate relationships provides some what of a reality revelation of why relations between cultures can be so different just as they appear to be today.
This is a recent revisit to a film that came out almost 20 years ago. With the passage of time I have become more aware of how much reality was created in the film relative to cultural rules and attitudes and individual expressions in conjunction with or at times in conflict with these realities. It's a film really worth enjoying in the details of the telling and in particular the use of common ordinary language which normally I associate with the more sophisticated humorous pictures. It is a film that really satisfies ones curiosity of what makes things the way they are in the United States.
The film's time frame is a nearly 40 year period of special events and happenings in a fictional Texas border city which appears to be on the Rio Grande River near El Paso, Texas. In the beginning we see a couple of soldiers looking for artifacts or stones of value out in the nearby desert when they happen to come on a human skeleton. They notify the local law enforcement authorities which in this case turns out to be Chris Cooper as a member of a Texas Rangers organization. The mystery has it's beginnings here.
Cooper plays the law enforcement lead in the local police organization, Sam Deeds, the son of the former sheriff , Buddy Deeds, of the department during the early part of the film. Mathew McGonaughey plays the father in this first really important role of his career.
Buddy became sheriff after a period as one of the members of the sheriff department in the earlier period that was run by a many named Charlie Wade, a role handled with beady eyed cruelty and corruption by Kris Kristofferson. Wade used the office to extort money from local people and enrich himself with ease. Ultimately Wade disappears and as the really most effective member of the department 'Buddy takes office as the new sheriff.
Sam has been married but is not now. His ex-wife, in another outstanding performance in the minor role of Bunny is played by Frances McDormand. Bunny is a special case, suffering from major mental problem a serious bi-polar condition. When Sam visits her he asks if she is still taking her medications. She is either up or down depending on the situation at the moment. She is a big fan of the Dallas Cowboys and also upset with Sam for the failure of the marriage. He's there for information that ends up being a primary mystery solution. She resents that but soon gets caught up in the Dallas game which is on television and overcomes her moodiness.
The Latino contingent is centered on Pilar the daughter of a Mercedez Cruz who came into the United Stares as a wetback by wading across the Rio Grande River. She eventually opened a restaurant specializing in Mexican food and became quite successful and ultimately living in a more expensive home on the banks of the Rio Grande. Her success enables her to send Pilar to college where after majoring in education becomes a teacher in the local high school. Incidentally neither of these ladies is of primarily Mexican descent. Pilar played by Elizabeth Pena is of Cuban descent but was actually born in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Mercedes played by Miriam Colon is actually an American born in Puerto Rico. Sam and Pilar have an early relationship when both were in high school but this was dramatically broken up by Buddy.
I am not going to try and explain the outcomes of the story. The complexities of the relationships are dealt with in an analytical fashion, and viewers only gradually learn these complexities. The third factor in the cultures is the black Americans which finds the newly assigned Military officer at the local army base is a Black Colonel. He also has a past relationship with the area since his father operated a local bar and dance club that was often considered out of bounds by the military. The father has a long term companion played by Carmen de Lavaliade a really beautiful women of mixed heritage.
There are two other characters who I found particularly interesting. One is Private Johnson a female soldier who is also black named Private Johnson. The Colonel has her brought to him for informational purposes since she was picked up during a fight and shooting at the Dance Club. Their discussion revolves around why she is in the army and her view on that and life in general is very heart warming. She is played by an actress out of Houston, Texas named Chandra Wilson. And, finally we must note an native American role of Gordon Tootoosis who operates a kind of open air junk shop near the Mexican border. The role is handled by Wesley Birdsong who is definitely of Native background, but was actually born in Canada and is of Cree and Stoney heritage. He also provides Sam of an illustration of why trying to dig up facts out of the past might not be a good idea.
These many minor roles have an important part in the films overall presentation. The differences in cultures and the difference in attitudes to others and to those in their immediate relationships provides some what of a reality revelation of why relations between cultures can be so different just as they appear to be today.
Saturday, November 15, 2014
Four Feathers - 1939
This film produced, written and directed by the three Korda Brothers has much in common with events of today. It involved the result of an Islamic Group in the then called Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. This was a revolt that had initiated in 1885 in Khartoum the then Capital and still Capital of Sudan. The difference then was that it was state controlled by the British and Egyptians in a joint endeavor. The British forces at that time including had been defeated and it's General Gordan killed in the encounter with forces led by a Somali leader named Mohammed Abdullah Hassan who then ended up controlling all this southern area of the Sudan and neighboring Somaliland. Do you see the resemblance to activities today centered in Easter Syria and Western Iraq in an area just east of the Red Sea and being led by an Islamist group that calls itself ISIS?
Four Feathers deals with the situation by detailing the lives of a particular British military company Dispatched to the Sudan in 1898. The company is led by a Captain John Durrance a role played by Ralph Richardson. It also features three lieutenants all close friends of Durrance. One of these is Harry Fabersham played by John Clements. Fabersham has a hidden problem which he has carried from childhood of fear of military combat. He has no need to address this emotional reality until Durrance's Company is ordered to the Sudan to do battle with the Sudanese/Somali's. This result's in his quitting his company a situation treated by his three military companions as despicable and cowardly and which causes them to send him three white feathers in envelopes attached to their calling cards.
There is a fourth feather as the title indicates. Fabersham provides that one himself as representative of feelings of his fiance Ethne Burroughs played by June Duprez. In reality Ethne doesn't really feel this way but life is complicated for her in that Durance also loves her and is aware of the fact that she loves Fabersham.
The story is best viewed by seeing the film. It does discuss and show the war and shows the participation of the principals. Howver, the film iself, despite the fictional story is one of fantastic beautiful color, great photographic views of the area and depiction of the forms of battle described by the camera. Important is a description of the battle form of the square utilizd by the British at this time. Members of the battle group are formed to a square facing all four directions at once. In this case it is a British Company. My experience in the U.S. army back in the middle 40's would see this as a group of 200 soldiers separated into four platoons of 50 men each. In the British tradition the square considered each side as containing soldiers some kneeling and others standing, aith all facing outward with rifles cocked and aimed. This was viewed as an impenetrable force. However, in Four Feathers the shear number of the opposing Dervishes both on foot, and riding horses and camels was just to large to successfully resist the attack. The result are available for you if you see the film.
Later on we view the final battle in all its intensity with the mass of the Islamic forces attacking outside Omdurman. The result are overwhelming. At the same time within the fortress maintained by the Dervish forces an escape by British and other prisoners is engineered. The latter of course is a Filmic depiction not ncessarily reality. Ultimately, in real life, the battle was a colossel victory for the British and resulted by the Somali's ceding control back to the Anglo-Egyptians.
The film is a true spectacular. The leading players Clements, Richardson and Duprez seem to bautifully fit their roles. Richardson plays exceedingly well in a few other films and most particularly in "Things to To Come," "Anna Karenina" and "Breaking the Sound Bearier." Duprez is also excellent n the "Thief of Baghdad" made a few years earlier and in particullar in Cary Grant's dark out of character film for him, "None But The Lonely Heart." If possible to view any or all five of the films listed above you may be treated to an unusually satisfying film pleasure.
One last comment, that concerning June Duprez. I enjoyed her more than average in my younger days particularly in None But the Lonely Heart. She had an interesting and unusual background. Her father was an English Stage performer back in the teens and early 20's. He was an American by birth however. June, was born in 1918. The thing about her is that there is no information availbable on her mother. It is generally agreed that like Merle Oberon her mother was Ceylonese. There is a certain exotic look about her somewhat typical of those born outside of traditional similar cultural backgrounds.
I suspect you'll be able to find the 1939 version of Four Feathers and some of the other films described above if you search the internet or your other favorite sites for films.
This film produced, written and directed by the three Korda Brothers has much in common with events of today. It involved the result of an Islamic Group in the then called Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. This was a revolt that had initiated in 1885 in Khartoum the then Capital and still Capital of Sudan. The difference then was that it was state controlled by the British and Egyptians in a joint endeavor. The British forces at that time including had been defeated and it's General Gordan killed in the encounter with forces led by a Somali leader named Mohammed Abdullah Hassan who then ended up controlling all this southern area of the Sudan and neighboring Somaliland. Do you see the resemblance to activities today centered in Easter Syria and Western Iraq in an area just east of the Red Sea and being led by an Islamist group that calls itself ISIS?
Four Feathers deals with the situation by detailing the lives of a particular British military company Dispatched to the Sudan in 1898. The company is led by a Captain John Durrance a role played by Ralph Richardson. It also features three lieutenants all close friends of Durrance. One of these is Harry Fabersham played by John Clements. Fabersham has a hidden problem which he has carried from childhood of fear of military combat. He has no need to address this emotional reality until Durrance's Company is ordered to the Sudan to do battle with the Sudanese/Somali's. This result's in his quitting his company a situation treated by his three military companions as despicable and cowardly and which causes them to send him three white feathers in envelopes attached to their calling cards.
There is a fourth feather as the title indicates. Fabersham provides that one himself as representative of feelings of his fiance Ethne Burroughs played by June Duprez. In reality Ethne doesn't really feel this way but life is complicated for her in that Durance also loves her and is aware of the fact that she loves Fabersham.
The story is best viewed by seeing the film. It does discuss and show the war and shows the participation of the principals. Howver, the film iself, despite the fictional story is one of fantastic beautiful color, great photographic views of the area and depiction of the forms of battle described by the camera. Important is a description of the battle form of the square utilizd by the British at this time. Members of the battle group are formed to a square facing all four directions at once. In this case it is a British Company. My experience in the U.S. army back in the middle 40's would see this as a group of 200 soldiers separated into four platoons of 50 men each. In the British tradition the square considered each side as containing soldiers some kneeling and others standing, aith all facing outward with rifles cocked and aimed. This was viewed as an impenetrable force. However, in Four Feathers the shear number of the opposing Dervishes both on foot, and riding horses and camels was just to large to successfully resist the attack. The result are available for you if you see the film.
Later on we view the final battle in all its intensity with the mass of the Islamic forces attacking outside Omdurman. The result are overwhelming. At the same time within the fortress maintained by the Dervish forces an escape by British and other prisoners is engineered. The latter of course is a Filmic depiction not ncessarily reality. Ultimately, in real life, the battle was a colossel victory for the British and resulted by the Somali's ceding control back to the Anglo-Egyptians.
The film is a true spectacular. The leading players Clements, Richardson and Duprez seem to bautifully fit their roles. Richardson plays exceedingly well in a few other films and most particularly in "Things to To Come," "Anna Karenina" and "Breaking the Sound Bearier." Duprez is also excellent n the "Thief of Baghdad" made a few years earlier and in particullar in Cary Grant's dark out of character film for him, "None But The Lonely Heart." If possible to view any or all five of the films listed above you may be treated to an unusually satisfying film pleasure.
One last comment, that concerning June Duprez. I enjoyed her more than average in my younger days particularly in None But the Lonely Heart. She had an interesting and unusual background. Her father was an English Stage performer back in the teens and early 20's. He was an American by birth however. June, was born in 1918. The thing about her is that there is no information availbable on her mother. It is generally agreed that like Merle Oberon her mother was Ceylonese. There is a certain exotic look about her somewhat typical of those born outside of traditional similar cultural backgrounds.
I suspect you'll be able to find the 1939 version of Four Feathers and some of the other films described above if you search the internet or your other favorite sites for films.
Sunday, December 8, 2013
FILMS FROM OUT OF THE PAST
On Thanksgiving day just as we have done the past several years we went to my daughter-in-laws sister's house to celebrate and eat. Peggy, daughter-in-law Carol's next older sister' and her husband Dale always have a big Thanksgiving celebration. This year there were 38 ranging in age from one month to 87 years. I was next to the top in the latter category.
Peggy knowing of my interest in films asked me a very pointed question, "What is your all time favorite film." After a moments recollection I picked one from the past, one I had first seen in the late 40's or early 50's the great French classic "Les Enfants du Paradis" or as translated into English "The Children of Paridise."
Peggy was not familiar with this title and after carefully spelling out the French noted she wanted to see it which motivated me to seek out the review I had done of the film in Mensa Classic Films in it's first year of publication. I brought this up on the computer and found my self in deep thought about the film and why I had seen it back in those days when I was still in college.
J suspect that some of it was due to the interests of my girl friend of the time. Her name was Valya Terry and she was in films where she acted under the name of Janet Martin. She was a very interesting and beautiful girl and had a rather interesting background. Her parents had left Russia during the revolution and headed for France and eventually the U.S. Her mother was a folk singer and appeared at a number of theatre's all over the U.S. Valya grew up with a natural exposure to show business and because of both a natural and beautiful singing voice and strong dancing skills the fell easily into screen roles.
Perhaps because of he European background or perhaps other reasons as well Valya enjoyed foreign language films. I had enjoyed movies since I was a kid and went with my father when very young. Later while growing up my parents devoted Friday nights to taking my sister and I to movies at the local theatres in the area where we lived in the Silver Lake and Los Feliz districts of Los Angeles.
During the period that Valya and I were a team snf saw a lot of foreign films some of which are no longer available as far as have been able to determine. This long ntroduction now leads to the films of out the past.
Appearing at relatively at the same time as "les Enfants Du Paradis" was another film of great romantic intensity. It was called "Carmen" and was largely based on the opera of the same name. It starred the very voluptuous French actress Vivien Romance and the great French romantic idol of those times Jean Marias. Bizet's music was a significant presence in the film as it was written for the opera.
I have never seen Vivien Romance in any other film but Jean Marais appeared in a number of others the most famous of these "Beauty and the Beast" where he wore elaboratie make up in his role as the man who looked like a lion. Josette Day, played beauty, in and was very successful in that role. One of the many interesting aspects of the film was arms and hands holding candelabra with burning candles and no human body attached. This strange apparition also occurred in another film staring Marais, "Eagle with Two Heads." Like in the previous mentioned film there was no physical connection between the arms and hands holding the chandeliers. they provided a rather abstract and mysterious way of providing light.
One further film that disappeared as far as I can tell was a German production of "Dei Fledermaus": which was started in Germany whilr World War II was still in full fury. It was eventually finished in Prague after the war and released in 1946. The picture varied to some extent from the original plot but was shot in glorious pink enhanced color.
I have seen Beauty and the Beast and Les Enfants du Paradis in recent years and find them just as enjoyable as when they were first viewed. I only wish the other films I mentioned were as readily available by DVD or on TV.
Since this is my first input in several months I find I am a bit rusty. I have several photo's I want to include and hopefully I will eventually be able to supplement the narrative. However, this should not impede your reading of this post.
On Thanksgiving day just as we have done the past several years we went to my daughter-in-laws sister's house to celebrate and eat. Peggy, daughter-in-law Carol's next older sister' and her husband Dale always have a big Thanksgiving celebration. This year there were 38 ranging in age from one month to 87 years. I was next to the top in the latter category.
Peggy knowing of my interest in films asked me a very pointed question, "What is your all time favorite film." After a moments recollection I picked one from the past, one I had first seen in the late 40's or early 50's the great French classic "Les Enfants du Paradis" or as translated into English "The Children of Paridise."
Peggy was not familiar with this title and after carefully spelling out the French noted she wanted to see it which motivated me to seek out the review I had done of the film in Mensa Classic Films in it's first year of publication. I brought this up on the computer and found my self in deep thought about the film and why I had seen it back in those days when I was still in college.
J suspect that some of it was due to the interests of my girl friend of the time. Her name was Valya Terry and she was in films where she acted under the name of Janet Martin. She was a very interesting and beautiful girl and had a rather interesting background. Her parents had left Russia during the revolution and headed for France and eventually the U.S. Her mother was a folk singer and appeared at a number of theatre's all over the U.S. Valya grew up with a natural exposure to show business and because of both a natural and beautiful singing voice and strong dancing skills the fell easily into screen roles.
Perhaps because of he European background or perhaps other reasons as well Valya enjoyed foreign language films. I had enjoyed movies since I was a kid and went with my father when very young. Later while growing up my parents devoted Friday nights to taking my sister and I to movies at the local theatres in the area where we lived in the Silver Lake and Los Feliz districts of Los Angeles.
During the period that Valya and I were a team snf saw a lot of foreign films some of which are no longer available as far as have been able to determine. This long ntroduction now leads to the films of out the past.
Appearing at relatively at the same time as "les Enfants Du Paradis" was another film of great romantic intensity. It was called "Carmen" and was largely based on the opera of the same name. It starred the very voluptuous French actress Vivien Romance and the great French romantic idol of those times Jean Marias. Bizet's music was a significant presence in the film as it was written for the opera.
I have never seen Vivien Romance in any other film but Jean Marais appeared in a number of others the most famous of these "Beauty and the Beast" where he wore elaboratie make up in his role as the man who looked like a lion. Josette Day, played beauty, in and was very successful in that role. One of the many interesting aspects of the film was arms and hands holding candelabra with burning candles and no human body attached. This strange apparition also occurred in another film staring Marais, "Eagle with Two Heads." Like in the previous mentioned film there was no physical connection between the arms and hands holding the chandeliers. they provided a rather abstract and mysterious way of providing light.
One further film that disappeared as far as I can tell was a German production of "Dei Fledermaus": which was started in Germany whilr World War II was still in full fury. It was eventually finished in Prague after the war and released in 1946. The picture varied to some extent from the original plot but was shot in glorious pink enhanced color.
I have seen Beauty and the Beast and Les Enfants du Paradis in recent years and find them just as enjoyable as when they were first viewed. I only wish the other films I mentioned were as readily available by DVD or on TV.
Since this is my first input in several months I find I am a bit rusty. I have several photo's I want to include and hopefully I will eventually be able to supplement the narrative. However, this should not impede your reading of this post.
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Moonrise Kingdom
I wasn't sure what I would view when I decided to have Netflix send me the DVD for this 2012 film. What a surprise it was. A fun off the wall story that was not really in reality but gave every appearance of reality. It included a select group of very experienced actors and actresses but in ways that I found to be very different from their usual appearances. It only justified the reality that great stars on screen can demonstrate the ability to present any image realistically. Yet, these stars, and they included Ed Norton, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Bruce Willis, and Tilda Swinton were easily identifiable but in performances not much like their usual images. In addition Bob Balaban and Harvey Keitel had roles and I jsut couldn't identify them in their roles.
With all of this said it is necessary to note that the two biggest stars in this film who had most of the screen time were performing their initial screen roles. These were Jared Gilman as the hero of the film Sam, and Kara Hayward as Suzy, Sam's principal co-hort. Neither of these youngsters were in their teens as yet, both being in the 11 to 12 category when the film was shot.
Moonrise Kingdom is about these two young people and their alienation with the world. Sam was an adoptee whose birth parents had passed away. He was the property of Social Services, that government organization who take responsibility for these kind of kids who are passed from hand to hand in foster homes. Unfortunately for Sam he is not well liked by his current parents or for that matter his companions of the same age.
Suzy on the other hand comes from a stable but rather unusual family. She is the oldest of four children the remainder being boys of various younger ages. McDormand and Murray are the parents and they apparently do not have much in the way of communication with each other. Suzy is strongly disgusted and unappreciative of their parenting performance.
The gist of the film is how Sam and Suzy originally met and how they decide to spend some time together and not be bothered by others adults or otherwise. This is managed because Sam is a member of a Boy Scout orgniazation that I guess was organized for the film. He always is seen in his scout outfit which includes hiking type shorts and other scouting clothing and badges as permantent wear. It is while at his annual Scout get together that he decides to make his way out of the situation he's does not like.
Sam had met Suzy the year before and discovered she was the woman/girl he loved. She enjoyed his devotion and engages in a year long mail communication with him. This allows them to get their plans worked out. Suzy is a devotee of using binoculars for inspecting the landscape and is very efficient at using this device.
The story then is set up by his sneaking out of the camp set up for the annual Scout Camp summer activity and learning experience. Sam is packed to the gills with stuff they will need, tent, food, cooking instruments, and other necessities of life. She observes his coming through her binoculars. She has her own necessary items plus her cat and a large quantitee of cat food to feed this creature in hand as she heads out to join him.
The rest of the story covers the episodes of their days together, the reactions of parents and authorities and the affects of the elements in an area that is somewhere off the coast of New England in a group of islands which I assume are imaginary. The key thing about the environment is a hurricane is due to hit during this period.
There is real pleasure in watching how they cope and get better acquainted with each other. Even more interesting is the bizarre behavior of the adults depicted in the film. Ed Norton is so un-Ed Norton in this film that it is hard to imagine this is him. He is continually dressed in his scouting outfit and has a rather peculiar way of dealing with the scouts in his charge. Murray and McDormand are really alarmed at the disappearance of Suzy. Their personal relationship is difficult to define accept that they don't seem to be very good at relating to each other. Bruce Willis as the island law enforcement official, the setting is on an island off the New England Coast, has a rather vague understanding of the law enforcement requirements. Tilda Swinton is every one's picture of a by the book Social Services representative without much of a clue as to what needs to be doen. She is a policies and procdures follower.
The various episodes of how this all fits together and resulting conclusions and events is alternately realitic and at the same time it is a fantasy. This film like some of the other best classics is strongly ordered by it's dialogue and the deadpan way the language is used to describe and define what is happening.
The film is not similar to two other movies that dealt with children of this age bracket. "A Little Romance" the film that introduced Diane Lane as a 14 year old in her first role is a sweet film with unusual events but it never has the unreal qualities of Moonrise Kingdom. The other interesting one that involved a 12 year old was "The Professional" the remarkably brutal but interesting film starring Natalie Portman in her first role opposite French actor Jean Reno.
I would suspect that the film won't be liked by everyone, but it;s high rating on the IMDB rating system using votes of users of that web site indicates that the vast majority of viewers thoroughly enjoyed what they saw and heard.
I wasn't sure what I would view when I decided to have Netflix send me the DVD for this 2012 film. What a surprise it was. A fun off the wall story that was not really in reality but gave every appearance of reality. It included a select group of very experienced actors and actresses but in ways that I found to be very different from their usual appearances. It only justified the reality that great stars on screen can demonstrate the ability to present any image realistically. Yet, these stars, and they included Ed Norton, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Bruce Willis, and Tilda Swinton were easily identifiable but in performances not much like their usual images. In addition Bob Balaban and Harvey Keitel had roles and I jsut couldn't identify them in their roles.
With all of this said it is necessary to note that the two biggest stars in this film who had most of the screen time were performing their initial screen roles. These were Jared Gilman as the hero of the film Sam, and Kara Hayward as Suzy, Sam's principal co-hort. Neither of these youngsters were in their teens as yet, both being in the 11 to 12 category when the film was shot.
Moonrise Kingdom is about these two young people and their alienation with the world. Sam was an adoptee whose birth parents had passed away. He was the property of Social Services, that government organization who take responsibility for these kind of kids who are passed from hand to hand in foster homes. Unfortunately for Sam he is not well liked by his current parents or for that matter his companions of the same age.
Suzy on the other hand comes from a stable but rather unusual family. She is the oldest of four children the remainder being boys of various younger ages. McDormand and Murray are the parents and they apparently do not have much in the way of communication with each other. Suzy is strongly disgusted and unappreciative of their parenting performance.
The gist of the film is how Sam and Suzy originally met and how they decide to spend some time together and not be bothered by others adults or otherwise. This is managed because Sam is a member of a Boy Scout orgniazation that I guess was organized for the film. He always is seen in his scout outfit which includes hiking type shorts and other scouting clothing and badges as permantent wear. It is while at his annual Scout get together that he decides to make his way out of the situation he's does not like.
Sam had met Suzy the year before and discovered she was the woman/girl he loved. She enjoyed his devotion and engages in a year long mail communication with him. This allows them to get their plans worked out. Suzy is a devotee of using binoculars for inspecting the landscape and is very efficient at using this device.
The story then is set up by his sneaking out of the camp set up for the annual Scout Camp summer activity and learning experience. Sam is packed to the gills with stuff they will need, tent, food, cooking instruments, and other necessities of life. She observes his coming through her binoculars. She has her own necessary items plus her cat and a large quantitee of cat food to feed this creature in hand as she heads out to join him.
The rest of the story covers the episodes of their days together, the reactions of parents and authorities and the affects of the elements in an area that is somewhere off the coast of New England in a group of islands which I assume are imaginary. The key thing about the environment is a hurricane is due to hit during this period.
There is real pleasure in watching how they cope and get better acquainted with each other. Even more interesting is the bizarre behavior of the adults depicted in the film. Ed Norton is so un-Ed Norton in this film that it is hard to imagine this is him. He is continually dressed in his scouting outfit and has a rather peculiar way of dealing with the scouts in his charge. Murray and McDormand are really alarmed at the disappearance of Suzy. Their personal relationship is difficult to define accept that they don't seem to be very good at relating to each other. Bruce Willis as the island law enforcement official, the setting is on an island off the New England Coast, has a rather vague understanding of the law enforcement requirements. Tilda Swinton is every one's picture of a by the book Social Services representative without much of a clue as to what needs to be doen. She is a policies and procdures follower.
The various episodes of how this all fits together and resulting conclusions and events is alternately realitic and at the same time it is a fantasy. This film like some of the other best classics is strongly ordered by it's dialogue and the deadpan way the language is used to describe and define what is happening.
The film is not similar to two other movies that dealt with children of this age bracket. "A Little Romance" the film that introduced Diane Lane as a 14 year old in her first role is a sweet film with unusual events but it never has the unreal qualities of Moonrise Kingdom. The other interesting one that involved a 12 year old was "The Professional" the remarkably brutal but interesting film starring Natalie Portman in her first role opposite French actor Jean Reno.
I would suspect that the film won't be liked by everyone, but it;s high rating on the IMDB rating system using votes of users of that web site indicates that the vast majority of viewers thoroughly enjoyed what they saw and heard.
Friday, April 19, 2013
First of Favorite Performers
I watched the last half of "The Philadelphia Story" on TCM last night. I haven't seen any of it in years. This year, though I had an advantage over previous years in that I could watch it with closed captions. This resulted in a greater understanding of what was going on and also the really neat lines that were not always revealed in the old days. Hearing impairment has been a part of my life since I was first diagnosed in the first grade. Through the years it gradually got worse until back in 1985 it resulted in a greater loss and the necessity of wearing a hearing aide. It ain't got better sense.
I can't quote any of the lines that were new to me but will note a reference to "Easy Virtue" a remark by Tracy Lord (Katherine Hepburn) after her excessive intoxication and some undisclosed romantic happenings in this state with newspaper reporter role Carter played by Jimmy Stewart. Of course in those days I was not aware that "Easy Virtue" was a very successful English play written by Noel Coward. Just a couple of years ago it was produced in a film starring Jessica Biel, Colin Firth and Kristin Scott Thomas. Biel and Firth are both favorites of mine and the play in it's film version was really entertaining.
This led to some additional soul searching and I generated mental energy considering various favorite actors/actresses and tried to decide what was the favorite role for each, that role in that particular film that I was most anxious to see again. For Jessica Biel it meant her performance in"The Illusionist" opposite Paul Giamatti, Rupert Sewall and in the tile role as the Illusionist Ed Norton. this was a dramatic film with many mysterious elements not only from Norton and his performance at illusions but also from the complexity of the story.
Norton has not been one of my favorite actors being portrayed in roles primarily of the sniveling dislikable mode. Fortunately he usually gets his comeupance at the end of such films. Paul Giamatti on the other hand has been in a number of films with outstanding performances including of course "Sideways" among others. Most recently I have been watching him again in the HBO series about the life of John Adams a really outstanding historical series commencing with his defense in court of the British soldiers who were participants in the Boston Massacre prior to the Revolutionary War. Laura Linney has the role of Abigail Adams, John's wife who apparently is a most unusually smart woman for those times or any time.
Rupert Sewall first came to my attention in the film "Cold Comfort Farm" a film that featured Tara Fitzgerald in the lead. Sewall appearance was very stylized in this film. Later he starred in a detective series set In Rome The name of the series escapes me now, but in it he was known only by his last name in the film role.
This is just a first among the series I plan to implement in the following weeks on the Mensa Classic Films blog. I'll consider performers form all years of media from the earliest days of sound films until those of just yesterday. As usual comments either negative or positive are gladly accepted. Ricky of L.A.
I can't quote any of the lines that were new to me but will note a reference to "Easy Virtue" a remark by Tracy Lord (Katherine Hepburn) after her excessive intoxication and some undisclosed romantic happenings in this state with newspaper reporter role Carter played by Jimmy Stewart. Of course in those days I was not aware that "Easy Virtue" was a very successful English play written by Noel Coward. Just a couple of years ago it was produced in a film starring Jessica Biel, Colin Firth and Kristin Scott Thomas. Biel and Firth are both favorites of mine and the play in it's film version was really entertaining.
This led to some additional soul searching and I generated mental energy considering various favorite actors/actresses and tried to decide what was the favorite role for each, that role in that particular film that I was most anxious to see again. For Jessica Biel it meant her performance in"The Illusionist" opposite Paul Giamatti, Rupert Sewall and in the tile role as the Illusionist Ed Norton. this was a dramatic film with many mysterious elements not only from Norton and his performance at illusions but also from the complexity of the story.
Norton has not been one of my favorite actors being portrayed in roles primarily of the sniveling dislikable mode. Fortunately he usually gets his comeupance at the end of such films. Paul Giamatti on the other hand has been in a number of films with outstanding performances including of course "Sideways" among others. Most recently I have been watching him again in the HBO series about the life of John Adams a really outstanding historical series commencing with his defense in court of the British soldiers who were participants in the Boston Massacre prior to the Revolutionary War. Laura Linney has the role of Abigail Adams, John's wife who apparently is a most unusually smart woman for those times or any time.
Rupert Sewall first came to my attention in the film "Cold Comfort Farm" a film that featured Tara Fitzgerald in the lead. Sewall appearance was very stylized in this film. Later he starred in a detective series set In Rome The name of the series escapes me now, but in it he was known only by his last name in the film role.
This is just a first among the series I plan to implement in the following weeks on the Mensa Classic Films blog. I'll consider performers form all years of media from the earliest days of sound films until those of just yesterday. As usual comments either negative or positive are gladly accepted. Ricky of L.A.
Friday, August 31, 2012
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