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Post by Hoosier X on Oct 12, 2015 22:27:12 GMT -5
Suspicion is a favorite of mine too...I wish they would have filmed the original proposed ending for it anyway...I would have loved to see it as an extra. Of course though it wouldn't have fit with Grant's image. I can't imagine it the way that Hitchcock (supposedly) wanted it. It's so much better the way it is. I say supposedly because there's a lot of evidence Hitchcock went back and forth on the ending, and that ultimately, he didn't feel strongly enough about it to fight the studio ending. And as for Grant's image, Johnnie Aysgarth is a horrible person no matter what you do to the ending! Monkey Face is still stuck with this butthole until death do them part.
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Post by Hoosier X on Oct 12, 2015 23:23:08 GMT -5
They Died with Their Boots On (1941)Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland's last movie together. Goes on a bit, and the comedy scenes in the first third or so are a bit laboured, but once it gets going Flynn is a splendid Custer. Looks great on a horse too. He wasn't the greatest actor in the world, but he's very impressive in a couple of intense moments. Acting honours probably go to Arthur Kennedy as the bad guy. No doubt it has very little basis in historical fact, but I was interested in the sympathy that Custer (or the screenwriters) showed to the Indians. There is so much to love about They Died with Their Boots On. Yes, historically it's bullpoo. (Read Son of the Morningstar for a very good historical view of these same events.) But as a movie, it's magical. Flynn and de Haviland are so much fun as the Custers. I also love the music, the cavalry songs - they play Gary Owen about a hundred times. Plus Sydney Greenstreet as Winfield Scott is pretty awesome. And Anthony Quinn is Crazy Horse! I've seen it three or four times over the years. I'm probably about due to see it again!
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Post by berkley on Oct 13, 2015 4:54:34 GMT -5
I've never really been drawn to Flynn's movies but you have to acknowledge him as an iconic screen presence. I actually found him more interesting as a character himself in David Niven's memoirs, The Moon's a Balloon and Bring On the Empty Horses (most fascinating Hollywood books I ever read, meant to bring them up earlier, here or in the books thread) than in the movies - but I still haven't sat down and watched a lot of his most famous ones.
Suspicion didn't make a big impression on me when I saw it on tv years ago and I admit that when I read somewhere later on about Hitchcock having wanted a different ending I basically wrote it off. Maybe, as a CG fan, I'll try to give it another chance someday but it's pretty far down my list.
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Post by Prince Hal on Oct 13, 2015 9:06:04 GMT -5
I've never really been drawn to Flynn's movies but you have to acknowledge him as an iconic screen presence. I actually found him more interesting as a character himself in David Niven's memoirs, The Moon's a Balloon and Bring On the Empty Horses (most fascinating Hollywood books I ever read, meant to bring them up earlier, here or in the books thread) than in the movies - but I still haven't sat down and watched a lot of his most famous ones. Suspicion didn't make a big impression on me when I saw it on tv years ago and I admit that when I read somewhere later on about Hitchcock having wanted a different ending I basically wrote it off. Maybe, as a CG fan, I'll try to give it another chance someday but it's pretty far down my list. The title, Bring on the Empty Horses, is a quote from the great director Michael Curtiz, which he spoke when Niven and Flynn were filming Charge of the Light Brigade. Curtiz was Hungarian and his command of English was less than magisterial, and this was his way of bringing on the riderless horses.
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Post by Rob Allen on Oct 13, 2015 11:29:52 GMT -5
Fred is dead..That's what I said. Just in case you were wondering - yes, someone did catch the Curtis Mayfield reference.
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Post by Prince Hal on Oct 13, 2015 13:13:27 GMT -5
Suspicion is a favorite of mine too...I wish they would have filmed the original proposed ending for it anyway...I would have loved to see it as an extra. Of course though it wouldn't have fit with Grant's image. I can't imagine it the way that Hitchcock (supposedly) wanted it. It's so much better the way it is. I say supposedly because there's a lot of evidence Hitchcock went back and forth on the ending, and that ultimately, he didn't feel strongly enough about it to fight the studio ending. And as for Grant's image, Johnnie Aysgarth is a horrible person no matter what you do to the ending! Monkey Face is still stuck with this butthole until death do them part. Just rewatched it for the umpteenth time on TCM yesterday, and I know what you mean. If Aysgarth were indeed to do what the alternate ending would have had him do, then much of the behavior he displays would have made that ending too obvious. However, like Olivier's portrayal of Maxim in Rebecca, Grant's portrayal of Aysgarth is ambiguous because of the problems with the censors and an uncertainty of how the plot was going to go.
SPOILERS: I like that ambiguity because it adds an element of insecurity on our part in both cases. Maxim did want Rebecca dead, after all, and in the noirish twist in the film, gets what he wants, but had too much fear or conscience to go through with. and still is in danger of suffering the consequences. In Suspicion, it is clear that Johnny wants Lina's father dead, wants an easy buck, can't truly be trusted. Is it possible he sets up the insurance bit at the end just to induce more guilt on Lina's part? Two complex works that censorship may have made even more complex. Love them both.
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Post by Hoosier X on Oct 13, 2015 13:30:37 GMT -5
I really love Rebecca too but I'm not obsessed with it. I've seen it twice in 20 years. Maybe I'm about due to see it again, but I'd rather watch Suspicion, The Birds or Dial M for Murder again.
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Post by Prince Hal on Oct 13, 2015 13:55:45 GMT -5
I really love Rebecca too but I'm not obsessed with it. I've seen it twice in 20 years. Maybe I'm about due to see it again, but I'd rather watch Suspicion, The Birds or Dial M for Murder again. There's a whole batch of "English village" movies that I love for many reasons, but that I can also watch just for the ambiance, including Suspicion, Rebecca, The Uninvited, Mrs. Miniver, Random Harvest, and Went the Day Well? No idea if such places exist, but I want them to, just as I want places like Bedford Falls, Carvel, Blair General Hospital to exist.
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Post by Hoosier X on Oct 13, 2015 14:08:56 GMT -5
I really love Rebecca too but I'm not obsessed with it. I've seen it twice in 20 years. Maybe I'm about due to see it again, but I'd rather watch Suspicion, The Birds or Dial M for Murder again. There's a whole batch of "English village" movies that I love for many reasons, but that I can also watch just for the ambiance, including Suspicion, Rebecca, The Uninvited, Mrs. Miniver, Random Harvest, and Went the Day Well? No idea if such places exist, but I want them to, just as I want places like Bedford Falls, Carvel, Blair General Hospital to exist. How about Royston Vesey?
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Post by Deleted on Oct 13, 2015 14:21:03 GMT -5
The Great Escape 1963 - Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, James Donald, Charles Bronson, Donald Pleasence, James Coburn, David McCallum, Gordon Jackson, John Leyton, and others in this great WW2 Adventure/Drama. The film is based on Paul Brickhill's 1950 book of the same name, a non-fiction first-hand account of the mass escape from Stalag Luft III in Sagan in the province of Lower Silesia, in Nazi Germany. It was exceptionally made, lots of dialogue, intense drama, and most importantly it was determination of men to break out of that prison camp.
76 out of 250 prisoners manage to escape: however, due to his impatience, Griffith is discovered while exiting the tunnel and the completion of the escape effort is thwarted. I've enjoyed watching the ingenuity of how they worked out all the details of escaping and the clever way of disposing "dirt" throughout the camp. It was on last night on the various channels that I have and I enjoyed this great cast that they assembled and it's was wonderfully directed by John Sturges who was also the producer of this movie too.
I have seen this film about 3-5 times in my life and I've haven't seen it for the past 10 years!
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Oct 13, 2015 14:37:34 GMT -5
The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) Matt Damon, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Cate Blanchett, Philip Seymour Hoffman
Tom Ripley (Damon) has some talents. He can impersonate voices, commit forgery and is a skillful liar. He ingratiates himself into upper class society in 1958 New York City. He convinces a well to do socialite that he is a friend of his wayward, playboy son who is travelling in Europe and does not intend to return.The father offers Ripley an all-expenses paid sojourn to Europe to convince the son to come home. Easy money, thinks Ripley. He soon uses his talents for deadlier purposes
A bit bloated and trimming would have made this much more effective. However, Damon does a fine turn as Ripley. Hoffman stands out as well. Adapted from a series of novels dealing with the Ripley character. It was nominated for a slew of Oscar categories and was completely shut out. Worthy of a view but the first hour crawls along
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Oct 13, 2015 16:39:48 GMT -5
A Godfather spree for me over the weekend. I hadn't seen those movies since the early 90s. It loses a little impact when you know how it ends, but the actors are still damn fine; I even found myself liking Andy Garcia's character more than the first time around.
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Post by berkley on Oct 13, 2015 18:29:39 GMT -5
A Godfather spree for me over the weekend. I hadn't seen those movies since the early 90s. It loses a little impact when you know how it ends, but the actors are still damn fine; I even found myself liking Andy Garcia's character more than the first time around. That's Godfather III? I don't remember that one at all. I never saw the first two classics until a few years ago at a local cinema, but the book had a big impact on me as a kid - one of the first "adult" novels I read. A lot of the characters and scenes have been part of my mental landscape ever since, and of course they're all very different from the movie versions. Great films all the same, though.
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Post by Pharozonk on Oct 13, 2015 18:58:56 GMT -5
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) I'm not a huge fan of westerns, but this movie was pretty awesome. Robert Redford and Paul Newman have great chemistry, which is helped by the fact that they were friends in real life too. The soundtrack is great, especially "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" and "South American Getaway". The use of montages and photos is well done and give the story a feeling of historical significance.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Oct 13, 2015 19:56:32 GMT -5
A Godfather spree for me over the weekend. I hadn't seen those movies since the early 90s. It loses a little impact when you know how it ends, but the actors are still damn fine; I even found myself liking Andy Garcia's character more than the first time around. That's Godfather III? I don't remember that one at all. I never saw the first two classics until a few years ago at a local cinema, but the book had a big impact on me as a kid - one of the first "adult" novels I read. A lot of the characters and scenes have been part of my mental landscape ever since, and of course they're all very different from the movie versions. Great films all the same, though. Yep, Garcia is in the third. That film builds to a great dramatic denouement; I won't spoil it, but it is well in the spirit of the first two films and can not be said to be lacking in ambition! (They killed who) It could be argued that the third movie was not necessary. Sequels are always a bit at risk like that. Nevertheless, it was a fine film that could have been seen on its own without being a sequel to anything.
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