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.
Sunday, December 8, 2013
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
Friday, June 15, 2012
Temple Hopping: An Itinerary
Temple Hopping: An Itinerary: I figure every itinerant needs an itinerary—however sketchy—so here’s mine. Some dates are firm; some are still TBD. June 19 ...
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
The Bohemian Girl
Back in the two thousands I gathered up my oldest grandson and took the two of us down to El Segundo to view "The Bohemian Girl." I don't remember exactly how we got there which could have been by train into L.A. by subway to the rail line that goes to Long Beach, and then climbing down a station below that line, to take another separate line to El Segundo. That's rather involved, so I think that we probably drove the 50 miles. I queried Tyler, and he doesn't remember either.
The theatre is a small show house off the main drag. It mainly shows old classic films. the owner was the one who took the tickets to get in and then provided about a 15 minute organ concert before playing the film. It's a massive concert organ that originally was located in one of the First run theater's in Long Beach, CA. It was kind of fun to hear and watch an organist playing in that environment. If you think you might be interested in checking out the theater it is called "The Old Time Music Hall." They regularly have films and also musical entertainments as well. In addition they have a Laurel and Hardy festival scheduled for this Fall.
The film was the third in the series of long features, over an hour, done by the pair following the very funny "Sons of the Desert" the latter of which I had decided was world class funny. The Bohemian Girl tuned out to be funny as well and was typical of Laurel and Hardy in the parts that featured them. There were a lot of incidents of significance to the film and its final release version that I was unaware of. This past Christmas my son and his wife gave me a huge collection of Laurel and Hardy films and the Bohemian Girl was one of them. Re-viewing the film led me to note more details that had not occurred to me before and also led me to read up more about the production. These readings revealed that there was a lot more interesting history as to the original product and it's final appearance.
The film completed shooting in late 1935. It's leading female star was Thelma Todd a woman who had been in several Laurel and Hardy films and who had her own series that she had done with Zasu Pitts on occasion and Patsy Kelly. Todd had also appeared in several other big productions. In addition Todd had opened a night club out on the Pacific Coast Highway which was largely known by her nickname of Toddy's. In mid December of 1935 Todd was discovered dead in her car, a big chocolate colored Lincoln. It was parked in her garage and she apparently died because of carbon monoxide poisoning. Though the death was finally listed as suicide there were many questions as to this conclusion. There is still a controversy as to who and why. There is much information on the internet about her death, and I'll let you do what ever investigations you might want to pursue.
Hal Roach, the Bohemian Girls producer was in a quandary. There was much controversy over Todd's death and he decided because of that it might be inappropriate to release the film with her as the star, so he re-shot all the parts that Todd played in except for one segment where she sang. In her place he brought in Mae Busch who had played in several of the Laurel and Hardy films usually and most notably as Hardy's hardnosed wife. She was a classic performer in this kind of role with pursed lips and an aggressive threatening way about her.
The change in lead actresses worked well with most people including yours truly being unaware of the change. It also required some changes in role identification which went with such a change as causing Busch's role to be changed from Todd's gypsy queen to Busch's turn as the daughter of the gypsy queen.
The Bohemian Queen film was based on an operetta of the same title which had been written in the mid 1800's by Irish composer Michael Balfe. The story, or operetta, concerned the kidnapping of a Count's very young daughter in what today would be the Czech Republic. This child was to end up being raised in the Gypsy camp. Her kidnapping was in revenge for a flogging that the gypsy received for a transgression as ordered by the Count. Late in the story the daughter is restored to her father because of the discovery that she was wearing a necklace he had given her shortly before her kidnapping.
When Roach remade the story as a vehicle for his top humor team Laurel and Hardy he kept many aspects of the story with the comedy duo playing a couple of gypsy's. There is much singing in the film a product of the original compositions. Mae Busch in the role that was originated by Thelma Todd plays the gypsy wife of Oliver Hardy. She is the gypsy Queen's daughter. Antonio Moreno is her secret lover who is playing fast and loose with Busch. Moreno, with the film name of Devil's Hoof is caught illegally on the Count's castle grounds and is given a flogging for that transgression which accounts for his hatred of the Count.
The kidnapped little girl, played by the delightful Darla Hood of Our Gang Comedy fame, is deposited with Busch and is dressed in a gypsy costume. Finally, she and Moreno decide to run away together. Up to this time Hardy had not noticed that he has a little child in the gypsy wagon he calls home. When he asks Busch who the child is she tells him she is his. He is shocked by this and asks why neither he or the child has been told. Busch tells him that she felt the child was to young to stand the shock.
The film segues up nearly 15 years and the little girl is now a beautiful young woman. Julie Bishop plays this role, but this being early in her career, she had opted for a different name and is identified as Jacqueline Wells. She also is captured for transgression on to the Count's property and is about to be lashed for her transgression when he discovers that she still has the locket he had given her years ago.
Everyone is very happy now except for Stanley and Oliver who had been subjected to a special brand of torture which you will have to see to understand and see the result of this particular kind of brutality.
The film includes one other Laurel and Hardy regular, the dramatically over acting Jimmy Finlayson who plays a Captain in the Count's guard. In one scene Stan pulls his trick of a poke in the eye and Finlayson responds, "He poked me in my good eye." You may recall that Finlayson's stock in trade was a one eyed squint. In addition to Finlayson there were two other performers of interest who I failed to note or identify either time I saw the film. They are Paulette Goddard playing a gypsy woman and L.A. Disc Jockey Peter Potter playing a soldier.
It's fairly typical Laurel and Hardy material but the background story makes in more interesting than a lot of films. Thelma Todd was still shown in the scene where she sings. She and Busch wear the exact same dress. Actually, it is rather difficult to tell them apart dressed the same and Todd wearing a wig to cover her blond hair. I guess I'll have to give the film another viewing to see if I can identify some of the changes that took place and special cast members.
The theatre is a small show house off the main drag. It mainly shows old classic films. the owner was the one who took the tickets to get in and then provided about a 15 minute organ concert before playing the film. It's a massive concert organ that originally was located in one of the First run theater's in Long Beach, CA. It was kind of fun to hear and watch an organist playing in that environment. If you think you might be interested in checking out the theater it is called "The Old Time Music Hall." They regularly have films and also musical entertainments as well. In addition they have a Laurel and Hardy festival scheduled for this Fall.
The film was the third in the series of long features, over an hour, done by the pair following the very funny "Sons of the Desert" the latter of which I had decided was world class funny. The Bohemian Girl tuned out to be funny as well and was typical of Laurel and Hardy in the parts that featured them. There were a lot of incidents of significance to the film and its final release version that I was unaware of. This past Christmas my son and his wife gave me a huge collection of Laurel and Hardy films and the Bohemian Girl was one of them. Re-viewing the film led me to note more details that had not occurred to me before and also led me to read up more about the production. These readings revealed that there was a lot more interesting history as to the original product and it's final appearance.
The film completed shooting in late 1935. It's leading female star was Thelma Todd a woman who had been in several Laurel and Hardy films and who had her own series that she had done with Zasu Pitts on occasion and Patsy Kelly. Todd had also appeared in several other big productions. In addition Todd had opened a night club out on the Pacific Coast Highway which was largely known by her nickname of Toddy's. In mid December of 1935 Todd was discovered dead in her car, a big chocolate colored Lincoln. It was parked in her garage and she apparently died because of carbon monoxide poisoning. Though the death was finally listed as suicide there were many questions as to this conclusion. There is still a controversy as to who and why. There is much information on the internet about her death, and I'll let you do what ever investigations you might want to pursue.
Hal Roach, the Bohemian Girls producer was in a quandary. There was much controversy over Todd's death and he decided because of that it might be inappropriate to release the film with her as the star, so he re-shot all the parts that Todd played in except for one segment where she sang. In her place he brought in Mae Busch who had played in several of the Laurel and Hardy films usually and most notably as Hardy's hardnosed wife. She was a classic performer in this kind of role with pursed lips and an aggressive threatening way about her.
The change in lead actresses worked well with most people including yours truly being unaware of the change. It also required some changes in role identification which went with such a change as causing Busch's role to be changed from Todd's gypsy queen to Busch's turn as the daughter of the gypsy queen.
The Bohemian Queen film was based on an operetta of the same title which had been written in the mid 1800's by Irish composer Michael Balfe. The story, or operetta, concerned the kidnapping of a Count's very young daughter in what today would be the Czech Republic. This child was to end up being raised in the Gypsy camp. Her kidnapping was in revenge for a flogging that the gypsy received for a transgression as ordered by the Count. Late in the story the daughter is restored to her father because of the discovery that she was wearing a necklace he had given her shortly before her kidnapping.
When Roach remade the story as a vehicle for his top humor team Laurel and Hardy he kept many aspects of the story with the comedy duo playing a couple of gypsy's. There is much singing in the film a product of the original compositions. Mae Busch in the role that was originated by Thelma Todd plays the gypsy wife of Oliver Hardy. She is the gypsy Queen's daughter. Antonio Moreno is her secret lover who is playing fast and loose with Busch. Moreno, with the film name of Devil's Hoof is caught illegally on the Count's castle grounds and is given a flogging for that transgression which accounts for his hatred of the Count.
The kidnapped little girl, played by the delightful Darla Hood of Our Gang Comedy fame, is deposited with Busch and is dressed in a gypsy costume. Finally, she and Moreno decide to run away together. Up to this time Hardy had not noticed that he has a little child in the gypsy wagon he calls home. When he asks Busch who the child is she tells him she is his. He is shocked by this and asks why neither he or the child has been told. Busch tells him that she felt the child was to young to stand the shock.
The film segues up nearly 15 years and the little girl is now a beautiful young woman. Julie Bishop plays this role, but this being early in her career, she had opted for a different name and is identified as Jacqueline Wells. She also is captured for transgression on to the Count's property and is about to be lashed for her transgression when he discovers that she still has the locket he had given her years ago.
Everyone is very happy now except for Stanley and Oliver who had been subjected to a special brand of torture which you will have to see to understand and see the result of this particular kind of brutality.
The film includes one other Laurel and Hardy regular, the dramatically over acting Jimmy Finlayson who plays a Captain in the Count's guard. In one scene Stan pulls his trick of a poke in the eye and Finlayson responds, "He poked me in my good eye." You may recall that Finlayson's stock in trade was a one eyed squint. In addition to Finlayson there were two other performers of interest who I failed to note or identify either time I saw the film. They are Paulette Goddard playing a gypsy woman and L.A. Disc Jockey Peter Potter playing a soldier.
It's fairly typical Laurel and Hardy material but the background story makes in more interesting than a lot of films. Thelma Todd was still shown in the scene where she sings. She and Busch wear the exact same dress. Actually, it is rather difficult to tell them apart dressed the same and Todd wearing a wig to cover her blond hair. I guess I'll have to give the film another viewing to see if I can identify some of the changes that took place and special cast members.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Dead Again
Back in the 1980's Masterpiece Theatre presented a seven part program called the "Fortune's of War." It starred among others Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson. This supposedly was the first meeting of the pair and resulted in a marriage two years later. It was a series set initially in the Balkans, specifically Rumania, and involved British members of government and private citizens and their relationships and experiences in World War II. The initial series moved to Greece after the Germans moved into the Balkans. When the Germans next moved into the Greek peninsula, the series moved to Egypt where the Brits were enveloped in the war in North Africa and Near East. It was a terrific series and provided an perfect introduction to the skills in acting, directing, producing and writing of Branagh and Thompson.
Through the years both together and separately have provided a wide range of performances. Branagh, in particular, did Shakespeare with great flair including "Henry V" a really worthy yet very different interpretation than that of Olivier's Academy Award winning version of the 1940's. Branagh also did "Hamlet" and a particularly humorous version of "Much Ado About Nothing." Wife Emma had key roles in both the latter film and Henvy V. Branagh also provided versatility with a very different performance in the Australian based film "Rabbit Proof Fence," a story about the Crown's nearly perfect example of how to do things wrong to the native Australian people and those children who were products of both cultures. In "Peter's Friends" he worked again with Emma Thompson and some of their earlier pre-film friends Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie in a really nice film that encompassed Christmas and a lovely rendition of "The Way You Look Tonight," with Laurie playing the piano and Imelda Staunton singing lead.
Thompson had an even more extensive career in films including besides those mentioned above "The Remains of the Day," in which she co-starred with Anthony Hopkins. In "Love Actually" she played the sister of the British Prime Minister played by Hugh Grant in a film that had only about twelve other well known co-stars. It's a really nice Christmas film. Her most famous effort was in Jane Austin's "Sense and Sensibility" where she played the elder Dashwood sister and in which she also wrote the script. She not only played leads but in the film "An Education" she played the principal of a girls school in Britain who had to deal with a student, an outstanding student, who was seduced by a married con-artist. It's another excellent effort. Carey Mulligan plays the unfortunate school girl. And finally it should be remembered that Thompson also played again most successfully with Anthony Hopkins in E. M. Forester's classic novel "Howard's End,"
In "Dead Again" Branagh and Thompson appear together again in a film that is part mystery and part fantasy. And, interestingly enough, the two Brits easily handle American accents required for it's setting in the United States, Los Angeles to be exact. The picture's fantasy is a depiction of reincarnation, or perhaps not really reincarnation. It is really difficult to tell. In it both actors play two roles. Branagh in the early part which is shot in black and white plays Roman Strauss, a famous conductor of the Los Angeles symphony orchestra who is married to an outstanding pianist, Margaret. Forty years later Branagh plays, this time in color, a private eye named Mike Church hired to try to identify a young woman who has wandered into a Catholic School and who has lost her memory. The pictures concept is that the woman is the re-incarnation of Margaret the pianist who was murdered back in the 1940's a crime that was committed by her husband the conductor who was executed for the murder.
The supposition is played out with Branagh as detective Mike, watching out for Thompson known as Grace in this part of the story. After she is refused admittance back at the Catholic facility he takes her into his home and eventually decides to run an ad in the L.A. Times with a picture in an attempt to identify the person. The first person answering the ad is an antique shop dealer, Derick Jacoby, who also is apparently a hypnotist. He is finally hired to see if he can coach Grace out of her amnesia in order to see if she can then identify herself.
This process is an important part of the film and eventually we learn more about who Grace is and what her real name is and what leads up to an amazing confrontation at Branagh's house where the truth or at least some of is resolved. Believe me, the film is very interesting in the development of this eventual closure or semi-closure of the films issues.
Several other people are of interest in the film. Cuban-American Andy Garcia has an important role as an L.A. newspaper man who wrote extensively about the case at the time of the murder. Campbell Scott has a small role as man who attempts to prove he knows who Grace is. Miriam Gargolyes is very amusing as a woman hypnotised by Jacobi who apparently uses his hypnotic skills to identify and locate antique items. And finally Hannah Schygulla plays Jacobi's mother. There are also short segments involving Wayne Knight known principally as Jerry Seinfeld's irritating mail carrier neighbor and Robin Williams.
For an Angeleno and one who lived largely in much of the area where the film is shot it is an extra pleasure. Branagh's house is an interesting Mission style residence located on the side of hill with a tower supposedly holding a staircase. The actual house is about three blocks from Marshall high school in L.A. where I attended in the early 40's. Also a part of the action is filmed on the so-called Shakespeare Bridge which is just another block away. The bridge is over a small gorge which leads out to what eventually became the site of ABC television studios and which earlier had been the site of the Vitagraph film company. The tower structure elevator is located just off Highland avenue in Hollywood and is not a part of the Branagh residence in the film.
The park where Branagh and Thompson visit next to a lake is Echo Park Lake. The old Pacific Electric subway line ran by here before it's one mile journey underground to downtown Los Angeles. The Echo Park district which when the film was shot was a somewhat rundown area has now been revitalized. Old structures there were rebuilt and modernized. It's kind of an in place to live for those who like a more avant-garde environment.
I might also note that Branagh as detective Mike drives a beautiful Chevrolet Corvette of earlier vintage. One of my best friends had exactly the same car and I remember greatly admiring it.
You do not have to be a resident of L.A. to enjoy this film. You can watch it and wonder what it all means and the meanings of the reincarnation episodes as to whether they existed or were just a demonstration of interesting story telling.
Through the years both together and separately have provided a wide range of performances. Branagh, in particular, did Shakespeare with great flair including "Henry V" a really worthy yet very different interpretation than that of Olivier's Academy Award winning version of the 1940's. Branagh also did "Hamlet" and a particularly humorous version of "Much Ado About Nothing." Wife Emma had key roles in both the latter film and Henvy V. Branagh also provided versatility with a very different performance in the Australian based film "Rabbit Proof Fence," a story about the Crown's nearly perfect example of how to do things wrong to the native Australian people and those children who were products of both cultures. In "Peter's Friends" he worked again with Emma Thompson and some of their earlier pre-film friends Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie in a really nice film that encompassed Christmas and a lovely rendition of "The Way You Look Tonight," with Laurie playing the piano and Imelda Staunton singing lead.
Thompson had an even more extensive career in films including besides those mentioned above "The Remains of the Day," in which she co-starred with Anthony Hopkins. In "Love Actually" she played the sister of the British Prime Minister played by Hugh Grant in a film that had only about twelve other well known co-stars. It's a really nice Christmas film. Her most famous effort was in Jane Austin's "Sense and Sensibility" where she played the elder Dashwood sister and in which she also wrote the script. She not only played leads but in the film "An Education" she played the principal of a girls school in Britain who had to deal with a student, an outstanding student, who was seduced by a married con-artist. It's another excellent effort. Carey Mulligan plays the unfortunate school girl. And finally it should be remembered that Thompson also played again most successfully with Anthony Hopkins in E. M. Forester's classic novel "Howard's End,"
In "Dead Again" Branagh and Thompson appear together again in a film that is part mystery and part fantasy. And, interestingly enough, the two Brits easily handle American accents required for it's setting in the United States, Los Angeles to be exact. The picture's fantasy is a depiction of reincarnation, or perhaps not really reincarnation. It is really difficult to tell. In it both actors play two roles. Branagh in the early part which is shot in black and white plays Roman Strauss, a famous conductor of the Los Angeles symphony orchestra who is married to an outstanding pianist, Margaret. Forty years later Branagh plays, this time in color, a private eye named Mike Church hired to try to identify a young woman who has wandered into a Catholic School and who has lost her memory. The pictures concept is that the woman is the re-incarnation of Margaret the pianist who was murdered back in the 1940's a crime that was committed by her husband the conductor who was executed for the murder.
The supposition is played out with Branagh as detective Mike, watching out for Thompson known as Grace in this part of the story. After she is refused admittance back at the Catholic facility he takes her into his home and eventually decides to run an ad in the L.A. Times with a picture in an attempt to identify the person. The first person answering the ad is an antique shop dealer, Derick Jacoby, who also is apparently a hypnotist. He is finally hired to see if he can coach Grace out of her amnesia in order to see if she can then identify herself.
This process is an important part of the film and eventually we learn more about who Grace is and what her real name is and what leads up to an amazing confrontation at Branagh's house where the truth or at least some of is resolved. Believe me, the film is very interesting in the development of this eventual closure or semi-closure of the films issues.
Several other people are of interest in the film. Cuban-American Andy Garcia has an important role as an L.A. newspaper man who wrote extensively about the case at the time of the murder. Campbell Scott has a small role as man who attempts to prove he knows who Grace is. Miriam Gargolyes is very amusing as a woman hypnotised by Jacobi who apparently uses his hypnotic skills to identify and locate antique items. And finally Hannah Schygulla plays Jacobi's mother. There are also short segments involving Wayne Knight known principally as Jerry Seinfeld's irritating mail carrier neighbor and Robin Williams.
For an Angeleno and one who lived largely in much of the area where the film is shot it is an extra pleasure. Branagh's house is an interesting Mission style residence located on the side of hill with a tower supposedly holding a staircase. The actual house is about three blocks from Marshall high school in L.A. where I attended in the early 40's. Also a part of the action is filmed on the so-called Shakespeare Bridge which is just another block away. The bridge is over a small gorge which leads out to what eventually became the site of ABC television studios and which earlier had been the site of the Vitagraph film company. The tower structure elevator is located just off Highland avenue in Hollywood and is not a part of the Branagh residence in the film.
The park where Branagh and Thompson visit next to a lake is Echo Park Lake. The old Pacific Electric subway line ran by here before it's one mile journey underground to downtown Los Angeles. The Echo Park district which when the film was shot was a somewhat rundown area has now been revitalized. Old structures there were rebuilt and modernized. It's kind of an in place to live for those who like a more avant-garde environment.
I might also note that Branagh as detective Mike drives a beautiful Chevrolet Corvette of earlier vintage. One of my best friends had exactly the same car and I remember greatly admiring it.
You do not have to be a resident of L.A. to enjoy this film. You can watch it and wonder what it all means and the meanings of the reincarnation episodes as to whether they existed or were just a demonstration of interesting story telling.
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