Golden Age of Hollywood Book Club discussion
Hot Topics
>
on your radar
Reminds me that I still haven't seen The Party.
Spencer, I found it cringey, and not even just the fact that Sellers was playing an Indian. There was a funny line I remember though. A guy says, “you’re meshuggeh!” Then Sellers character says, “no. I am not your sugar.” And it does have some good commentary on the film industry.
Mod
Me: western stars playing ethnic characters has never disturbed me the way it does some folks today (e.g. Hest's Vargas in 'Touch of Evil'.) We've discussed it around here before.
It's not done these days (as far as I know) but at the time the trend was simply part of Hollywood's expansion/growth. This is how I see it, anyway. I feel there were a variety of rather harmless reasons behind it.
I appreciate one's right to cringe and I respect one's right to caution others that something is a cringe. It's a valid reaction to express at any time.
There's nothing wrong in raising consciousness --as long as we don't start any dogfights over such matters.
I suppose it depends on what is seen as 'harmless'. Much of what falls in that category might be seen as something less benign. I believe that there were some other actors who more qualified for the part, but were not considered because of various reasons, not the least of which was money.
Mod
I've got a pal who is a bonafide, "flat-earther" so you can imagine how I've learned to be diplomatic around intransigent POVs
Sorry. I didn’t mean much by that. I meant the film as whole seemed cringey and dated. I do agree, it has worked ok in some films having white play non white, although it WAS the late 60’s, not the 20’s or 30’s, and some of Sellers dialogue and mannerisms were stereotypes of Indians and Indian behavior. On the flip side, he was a very likable, kind character, pretty much the only likable character in the film, and he was a hero to root for in the film.
Am adding Corridor of Mirrors (1948) after reading a comment by Feliks. It sounds like a dandy.
Mod
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_Trail
Said to be a helluva corking' action yarn. The plot sounds like at least five US movies in recent years.
Kurosawa and Mifune! That's the ticket.
Mod
Mod
I'm a sucker for train movies and for any movies about railyards, track workers, train-gangs, unions, or track-laying.
This is one of three westerns Edmund O'Brien starred in for director Byron Haskin. Haskin was a confident hand with a western.
What's more, the screenplay was writ by Frank Gruber, an exemplary western pulp author lucky enough to turn screenwriter and eventually director himself. Gruber always emphasized action.
This particular version of a historical railroad conflict features a spectacular train smashup staged with actual trains on location in Colorado.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denver_...
Featuring Sterling Hayden and Lyle Bettger as villain and henchman!!! What more could one ask
Did Lyle Bettger ever get to play a good guy???
Mod
No one does it better than Bettger. What a whingeing cur! Everything about his characters was off-kilter. Not a straight bone in their whole bodies.
p.s. everyone's fave, Dean Jagger, rounds out the swell casting
Mod
I've long kicked myself not to have notched these up before, so I'm going to tackle them now.
"L'eclisse"
and
"La Notte"
Mod
Victor Mclaglen, Freddie Bartholomew
Supposedly one of the wildest adventure flicks ever, not generally known by any modern audience.
Looks utterly stupendous. Zenda in spades, Zenda all the way.
I hate to say that I have never heard of this film, Feliks.
Mod
What with the uniforms with the belts and the sashes; sabres, pistol holsters, castle portcullis clanging down....
Must keep an eye out for it online somewhere.
Mod
Besides Carroll Baker, it stars Ian Bannen (my 2nd fave UK actor) and Peter Van Eyck (he played the infamous Dieter Mundt in 'The Spy Who Came in from the Cold'.)
Story is also taken from a stage play which bodes well for its merit.
Mod
I have seen Jules et Jim (1962) at least twice over the years and thoroughly enjoyed it. Plus, I am also a fan of Oskar Werner.
Mod
Something else to be said in its favor is that It is not --as I had always assumed --a beatnik movie (I naturally associate Moreau with Godard).
Instead, it's a period-piece set on the eve of WWI. That's a timeperiod in line with my tastes.
So I think I will give it a try. I was pleased and surprised by Moreau's subtlety this past month when I sampled her in LaNotte. That flick is 80% Moreau and 20% Mastroanni.
Mod
Gonna try to find, but it's mighty tough to locate.
Brando's favorite movie.
I saw it several years ago and really enjoyed it. I believe it was shot in Occupied Paris but not released until the city was liberated. The star, Arletty, was named a collaborator after the war.
Mod
I've never done 'streaming'; the whole idea of 'subscribing' to some shadowy 'content provider' annoys me.
My best movie crony --practically an expert on 1930s cinema --considers Jacques Prevert the single best ever-screenwriter in film history.
I am only familiar with three of his other films, which I believe were all made in the 1930s: Le Crime de Monsieur Lange; Quai des Brumes; Le Jour se Leve.
Mod
Can always learn something new from the way Ophuls moves his camera.
Update: I see its' on 'Roku.com' (free with ads).
Don't know much about 'Roku' but it doesn't seem too shady so I'll take a flyer on it. Temporarily at least. Maybe they have other flicks I'm seeking.
The story is set in pre-WWI Vienna and I must say I admire all the railings. Swooping, sweeping iron railings such as I've only seen as many, in the city of Brussels.
The dialogue so far is fun: "I have the honor to kiss your hand"
Mod
Viewing experience via tiny laptop: nothing very wonderful.
But now they're offering me a 7 day trial to tempt me to sign up monthly.
I doubt I'll do so, but a 7-days free seems like a way I can cross off a whole slew o' titles I no canna find nowhere else. With my schedule lately, I can easily view a dozen films in seven days.
Also, they have some kind of arrangement with the BFI for relatively rare Brit flicks. Hard to turn down. Finally, they offer Paypal as a payment method.
Anyway since I started this thread I've been more motivated. My progress so far:
'War Hunt' - fair
'Transatlantic' - fair
'White Tie and Tails' - fair
11" X 14" - good
'Last Chants for a Slow Dance' - superb
'Rawhide' - fair
'Champion' - great
'On the Night of the Fire' - great
'An Outcast of the Islands' - fair
'Corridor of Mirrors' - superb
'Cash on Demand' - very good
'Ten Seconds to Hell' - good
'The LadyKillers' - disliked
'The Tenant' - (choosing to skip, I don't trust Polanski's acting)
'Professional Soldier' - fair
'L'eclisse' - good, but only afterwards
'La Notte' - great
'Letter from an Unknown Woman' - fair
My new initiative:
'Le Trou'
'High and Low' (Kurosawa)
'Eyes Without a Face'
'Time Lock' (Sean Connery)
'Escape from Fort Bravo' (Bill Holden)
'The Damned' (German)
'Il Vitelloni' (Fellini)
'Rocco and His Brothers'
'Big Deal on Maradona Street'
'Jules et Jim' (Truffaut)
'Station Six Sahara'
'The Ship that Died of Shame'
'It Happened in Broad Daylight' (German)
'Elevator to the Gallows' (Louis Malle)
'Snow Trail' (written by Kurosawa)
'Children of Paradise'
Fellini's 'Il Bidone' (w/ Broderick Crawford)
Fellini's 'Roma'
'The Valley of the Eagles'
'Armored Car Robbery'
I've never seen any of these classics, save one:
L'Avventura (I'm going to re-watch again)
Feliks wrote: "So I've never subscribed to any kind of 'streaming' service but I tried 'Roku' yesterday (apparently they offer 1 movie for free just for visiting the site) and thus, I enjoyed Max Ophuls. Viewin..."
Interesting, that Roku is charging. Mine is free to stream, unless I get a premium streaming service like Peacock, Netflix or HBO...
What a list!! Some of those I have seen, some I am familiar with, and some I never heard of. One of my favorites, Jules et Jim> is worth watching as are Children of Paradise and Big Deal on Madonna Street.The German film The Damned (if I am thinking of the right one) has been cut to pieces due to it's unpleasantness. But you might get the original on Roku. It is a nasty film.
Mod
As usual in the digital realm. Bait and switcheroo.
Roku only has 4-5 of the titles I'm seeking. Some library! No Fellini?No Kurosawa? Some selection!
Of course, they have recent-release garbage galore (and they blast me with ads every page I click on, not happy about that either).
So it's back to my previous scheme --carefully purchasing DVDs again and having the discs mailed to me.
I think I might be wrong about the film,The Damned. I looked it up and it is not the same one that I was thinking about. Now I have to figure out what the film is that I am thinking about.
Mod
Oh well. I hate Roku! They just put me through an hour of misery trying just to get the thing to launch.
Too many options, too many choices, too many features, too many things one must click on.
It's my own fault for getting tempted into it.
But at least I have my first flick up and running. I can tuff it out for three more titles in the course of the next seven days.
'Station Six Sahara' is nifty so far. Very high tension and very memorable characters. Denholm Elliott playing a sort of Gen. Montgomery; Ian Bannen playing a filthy lecher. Assorted Germans, scowling and muttering.
It's a very claustrophobic and airless movie --as befits the lonely setting. You can feel the beads of sweat dripping.
Yes, that's the one but I can't think of the name of it.
Mod
Mod
There's also the comedy where prison inmate Sellers plots a bank heist while remaining in stir as his alibi. Haven't located it yet but, keeping eyes peeled..
Also, Peter Sellers as a vicious, nasty underworld villain (!) thwarting Richard Todd in 'Never Let Go'. Todd plays a London laddie who has had his car stolen and simply refuses to give up looking for it. Brit-crime!
Both the first-mentioned and the last-mentioned of these these titles are apparently available free online, so I am well-served.
You can go to WalMart (yes, I know...I hate to endorse them) and get a pretty big flat screen ROKU TV that comes with a bunch of free channels. (There's a few other channels worth paying for, I guess.) I have one, but there's no place for it. Sitting in storage with no electricity. It's been an insanely rough 5 years or so. Ever since the pandemic started to wane, oddly enough. Jules and Jim and Elevator to the Gallows are essential. Miles's soundtrack on the latter is truly amazing.
Mod
More reasonable explanation is that I'm almost at my goal of a completely de-cluttered batch pad. Everything in my crib can be tossed out in no more than one afternoon.
And when I return to my vagabondiong idyll (as I last enjoyed in college, years ago) I will be living out of just one backpack! Down with materialism!
Mod
I gave 'em the sharp side of me tongue. Went to them hat-in-hand with a list of twenty-five classic movies --and, how now? They only had a measly five among their 'galaxy of channels'.
Some repository of 'cinema'. Le sigh! Channel after channel of BS like 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'. That exact kind of kiddie fare.
Gah. To solve this classic backlog in my TBD lists, I may actually be forced to turn to --yecch --Amazon Prime Streaming, or whatever it is. I don't even know how to use it.
I know what you mean. But to be fair, TMNTurtles started as a reasonably good alt comic. The author was friends with The Flaming Carrot guy and they even did some crossovers. From what I have seen of any TV or movies, it's pretty juvenile.
Mod
TMNT was just a convenient example I coughed off the top o' me head.
The large issue for me is the whole media landscape of today. It's a madhouse. Hard sell! Makes my head swim.
Like wih Roku, initially they coaxed me like this: 'freee! free! free!' ...but then for the British movies I wished to view, they demanded I sign up for 'BFI Classics' channel.
For the French movies I wished to view, they coerced my concent for the 'Max Channel'.
I soon cottoned wise. As many different channels as one turns to, one is asked to 'subscribe'. $5.67 (something like that) for each channel. Whatta racket.
Strange! Bizarre! Uncanny. Beyond the pale. This is how a household's bandwidth costs can soar.
When it comes to 'streaming' ...what puts me off is the incessant -- and shrill --'tone' of all the adverts.
Dey keeps insisting they 'have everything I want'. Well, it just ain't so, as I recently found out.
Because meanwhile, earlier this month I was randomly browsing Archive.org (I donate to Archive.org maybe $3 per month) I find, 'Where Eagles Dare" . My favorite WWII action thriller. Heck yeah! 100% free.
Mod
This was a title I wanted to attend on the big screen --but which I missed out on --during a big 'Brit-Crime' festival I frequented years ago
Same as 'On the Night of the Fire' and 'Brighton Rock'. Have yet to find 'Brighton Rock'
Mod
THE THIRD MAN (1949, Carol Reed)
THE SMALL BACK ROOM (1949, Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger)
SEVEN DAYS TO NOON (1950, John Boulting)
THEY DRIVE BY NIGHT (1938, Arthur Woods)
ON THE NIGHT OF THE FIRE (1939, Brian Desmond Hurst)
BLANCHE FURY (1948, Marc Allégret)
FOOTSTEPS IN THE FOG (1955, Arthur Lubin)
HELL IS A CITY (1959, Val Guest)
SO EVIL MY LOVE (1948, Lewis Allen)
THE BROTHERS (1947, David MacDonald)
NIGHT AND THE CITY (1950, Jules Dassin)
IT ALWAYS RAINS ON SUNDAY (1947, Robert Hamer)
VICTIM (1961, Basil Dearden)
TIGER BAY (1959, J. Lee Thompson)
I MET A MURDERER (1939, Roy Kellino)
THE SEVENTH VEIL (1945, Compton Bennett)
SO LONG AT THE FAIR (1950, Antony Darnborough & Terence Fisher)
THE CLOUDED YELLOW (1951, Ralph Thomas)
THE OCTOBER MAN (1947, Roy Baker)
THE GREEN COCKATOO (1937, William Cameron Menzies)
HELL DRIVERS (1957, Cy Endfield)
NEVER LET GO (1960, John Guillermin)
GASLIGHT (1940, Thorold Dickinson)
HATTER’S CASTLE (1941, Lance Comfort)
THE UPTURNED GLASS (1947, Lawrence Huntington)
OBSESSION (1948, Edward Dmytryk)
APPOINTMENT WITH CRIME (1946, John Harlow)
GOOD TIME GIRL (1948, Donald MacDonald)
THE LONG HAUL (1957, Ken Hughes)
THE GOOD DIE YOUNG (1954, Lewis Gilbert)
WANTED FOR MURDER (1946, Lawrence Huntington)
BRIGHTON ROCK (1947, John Boulting)
THE FALLEN IDOL (1948, Carol Reed)
THE CRIMINAL (1960, Joseph Losey)
YIELD TO THE NIGHT (1956, J. Lee Thompson)
THE MAN BETWEEN (1953, Carol Reed)
THE SNORKEL(1958, Guy Green)
SHE PLAYED WITH FIRE (1957, Sidney Gilliat)
PEEPING TOM (1960, Michael Powell)
NO ORCHIDS FOR MISS BLANDISH (1948, St John L. Clowes)
NOOSE (1948, Edmond T. Gréville)
CORRIDOR OF MIRRORS (1948, Terence Young)
I've now got 14 of these 45 accomplished. Need to do better.
I only have seen 11 of them and am unfamiliar with some of them.
Mod
Titled 'Blackout' here stateside, and stars Conrad Veidt
Yes, he's a Danish captain who gets involved with a British spy (Valerie Hobson). Quite a bit of action and humor, which takes place while the US is still neutral. Some propaganda but not overdone. Good to see Veidt as a 'good guy'.
I need to find this film since I am a fan of Veidt. So glad he gets to be a good guy for a change.
Mod
I'm interested in any film by the Archers but not sure if I will go out of my way for a 'light romantic action comedy WWII yarn'.
But, ' The Canterville Ghost' (or whatever its called), time to bump that up
Jill, it's on YouTube, and worth watching.
I believe I've seen each installment but I'm definitely not always clear on all the details. It's not a subject I often have reason to mull over. Thank you for contributing to the knowledge-base...