Classic cinema - thoughts and questions

Wow, all? Really all?

I still don't have an official release of (not mentioning the lost films):

Always Tell Your Wife (1923)
The Pleasure Garden (1925)
Easy Virtue (1928)
Juno and the Paycock (1930)
Elstree Calling (1930)
Mary (1931)
Waltzes from Vienna (1933)
Suspicion (1941) (I have seen this one)
Mr and Mrs Smith (1941)
Aventure Malgache (1944)
Bon Voyage (1944)

Some of these are easier to get than others, but I'm in no rush.

I love Rope. Fantastically made, brilliant suspense, highly original. I am a fan of James Stewart so that helps a bit as well, though I saw this film before I knew many Stewart films. But especially: the way Hitchcock's first colour film was shot. Plus a superb set of course (also background).

In the last 5 years or so, I have been watching as many Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (Hitch's TV-work between 1955 and 1965) episodes as I can. Very entertaining. I finished seasons 1 and 2, seen about a third of season 3, and now I'm also busy with season 4 and 5. This may sound chaotic (it is kind of chaotic!) but my parents in law -who live in Poland- buy every week a new set of episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, always accompanied with one episode of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour which is cool because that's not easy to get overhere in the Netherlands. So in Poland you can collect all this stuff by buying small portians of it every week, and that way it saves me money, because now I don't have to buy all these DVD boxes. I have bought Alfred Hitchcock Presents seasons 1 and 3, but now I intend to borrow the rest. It's up to us (me and my wife who loves this stuff as well) to remember/document well which episodes we've seen and which not. ;)
 
I have the old Image DVD of Bon Voyage/Aventure Malgache.

Easy Virtue was on the Laserlight DVD set (not the greatest quality, but okay).

Mr. and Mrs Smith and Suspicion have had regular DVD releases, the other older ones I have on Laser Disc (assuming the still play, it has been years).

The TV qhoe was quite good as well, I would put it up there at the top of the genre (Twilight Zone, Outer Limits, One Step Beyond, etc).  The one with Barbara Bel Gedes and the cheating husband always cracked my up (in a black humor sort of way).
 
Friday 13 May I will go with some collegues from work to Der Golem, a silent movie with live music.
Never done that before, I am quite curious about this experience.

The film should be interesting as well.
 
A couple of years ago, I saw a bunch of Chaplin short films with live piano music. An interesting experience.
 
Nice. I believe this Golem performance will have violin as well, and it will be quite experimental with some beats and sound effects. *imagines noise when Der Golem acts aggressive*
 
Another death of an old classic Hollywood actor, Farley Granger.

Perhaps not that known, but his roles fit perfectly in the two Hitchcock films he did.

Farley Granger obituary

Rope+1948%252C+James+Stewart%252C+John+Dall%252C+Farley+Granger.jpg

Granger on the right, next to James Stewart, in Rope (1948).

3408246664_a1657bf4dc.jpg

In Strangers on a Train (1951): Granger getting out of the train, and Hitchcock getting in. ;-)
 
Granger was great in the 2 Hitchcock movies.  Strangers on a Train is one of my all time favorites.

As an aside, for anyone with a HULU Plus memberhip, they are streaming a boatload of the Criterion Collection, going to start going through the titles in more detail, but it looks like there are some gems in there.
 
I agree with Strangers.. But Rope is also a favourite of mine.

Sounds like you'll get some nice stuff! I have a bunch of those, film noir and also some Japanese classics.
 
Up to 3 years ago, I had most all of the Criterion movies, but over time have sold some (and gotten insane amounts of money for a few) and stopped buying most of them .. moved onto other interests .. so there are many of these I do not have and am looking forward to watching.    I still do have quite a few Criterion Laserdiscs though  :)
 
Re: Classic cinema - thoughts and questions / William Wyler

I thought I'd make a post about someone in the classic film industry, once in while. Some of my own words, combined with stuff from other sources, such as wiki, to make the picture a bit more complete.

William Wyler, for most of us probably known for Ben-Hur, was a director who made various successful films throughout his whole career.

He was born in 1902, in Mülhausen, Alsace, Germany (now Mulhouse, Haut-Rhin, France). Died in 1981, in L.A.

Actors got crazy about his directing because he was known for endless retakes. E.g. there was a clash between Laurence Olivier and Wyler in Wuthering Heights. After countless takes of one scene, Olivier is said to have exclaimed, "For God's sake, I did it sitting down. I did it with a smile. I did it with a smirk. I did it scratching my ear. I did it with my back to the camera. How do you want me to do it?" Wyler's retort was, "I want it better."

His nickname was "90-take Wyler" because he took as many takes until he was satisfied with the final result.

Ephraim Katz explained in his book The International Film Encyclopedia (1979) how these tensions on the sets started: The revolutionary deep-focus shot perfected by Toland enabled Wyler to develop his favourite technique of filming long takes in which characters appear in the same frame for the duration of entire scenes, rather than cutting from one to another, and thus disrupting intercharacter relations. This technique required a great deal of discipline on the part of screen actors, who are used to acting in bits and pieces and sometimes cost tension between director and star.

So, actors had to suffer, but it did pay off...

The positive side was that he could get the best out of actors, in every film there is either great interaction between them (e.g. in comedies), either well portrayed tension (e.g. in drama's). Many actors won Oscars in his films. Also unknown people, take Audrey Hepburn, who won an Oscar in her first leading role. Wyler's films garnered more awards for participating artists and actors than any other director in the history of Hollywood. He received twelve Oscar nominations for Best Director in total, while dozens of his collaborators and actors won Oscars or were nominated.

Wyler is the most nominated director in Academy Awards history with 12 nominations. In addition to that, Wyler has the distinction of having won the Academy Award for Best Direction on three occasions, for his direction of Ben-Hur, The Best Years of Our Lives, and Mrs. Miniver. He is tied with Frank Capra and behind John Ford, who won four Oscars in this category.

Here a list of Wyler films I have seen, at this point:

1937 Dead End - Humphrey Bogart, Joel McCrea, Sylvia Sydney  
1938 Jezebel - Bette Davis, Henry Fonda, George Brent  
1939 Wuthering Heights - Laurence Olivier, Merle Oberon  
1940 The Westerner - Gary Cooper, Walter Brennan  
1940 The Letter - Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall  
1941 The Little Foxes - Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall, Teresa Wright  
1942 Mrs. Miniver - Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, Teresa Wright
1946 The Best Years of Our Lives - Fredric March, Dana Andrews, Harold Russell, Teresa Wright
1949 The Heiress - Olivia De Havilland, Montgomery Clift, Miriam Hopkins  
1951 Detective Story - Kirk Douglas, Eleanor Parker
1952 Carrie - Laurence Olivier, Jennifer Jones, Miriam Hopkins  
1953 Roman Holiday - Audrey Hepburn, Gregory Peck  
1955 The Desperate Hours - Humphrey Bogart, Fredric March
1958 The Big Country - Gregory Peck, Jean Simmons, Charlton Heston
1959 Ben-Hur - Charlton Heston
1965 The Collector - Terence Stamp, Samantha Eggar
1966 How to Steal a Million - Audrey Hepburn, Peter O'Toole

Many actors of huge status worked with Wyler. Biggest missing names in my eyes are:
Kathryn Hepburn, James Stewart, Cary Grant and Spencer Tracy.

- - - - - - -


“While the goal of all movies is to entertain,” Mr. Lumet once wrote, “the kind of film in which I believe goes one step further. It compels the spectator to examine one facet or another of his own conscience. It stimulates thought and sets the mental juices flowing.”

Today Sidney Lumet (86) died. Lumet, who the hell is Lumet?

Lumet directed more than 50 films, and got an Oscar in 2005 for his whole oeuvre.
His first and most famous film was 12 Angry Men and he made more classics such as Dog Day Afternoon (1975) and Network (1976). I still have to see these last two.

Another interesting one should be The Hill (1965), a war film with Sean Connery (have it laying around here somewhere) and I recommend to everyone Fail-safe (1964), which tells the story of a fictional Cold War nuclear crisis, and features Henry Fonda in a very convincing role as the President of the United States.
Other films which might ring a bell: The Verdict (1982) with Paul Newman, Murder on the Orient Express (1974), and Serpico (1973).
                               
Many of Lumet's films are court- and police drama's, criticizing the mighty arm of the law.

In 2007 he made his last film Before The Devil Knows You're Dead.

Check this interesting, extensive New York Times article for more info.
 
The Lumet films which I've seen (12 Angry Men, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon and Network) are all exceptional, he's definitely someone I need to explore further.
 
Yesterday I saw the last Bond film of the sixties, On Her Majesty's Secret Service with actor George Lazenby.

I thought he was a pretty good Bond, but the film itself had some illogical things going on. E.g. sudden snowfall, so sudden that a car window was full of snow within one second. One moment clear sky, one moment the whole landscape and car were covered. Right.

I also thought it was weird how the bad guys constantly found Bond, without knowing where to look first. These sudden appearances and transitions were a bit ridiculous.

Now the most idiotic moment of the film which made us all (I watched it with Marta plus a friend) laugh and shock at the same time. For a film of this period, this was pretty heavy shit.

A bad guy, chasing Bond, skis into a snow blower, which then spews red snow.

This was before that guy was grinded:
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And this after:
ohmssplough2yz8.th.jpg


James Bond notices the red colour of the snow and says with a huge smile on face:
"He had a lot of guts!"

:blink:  :D
 
Question:
Do you people know (a) film(s) which feature(s) (a) real abbey(s)/monestary(ies) and their order(s), shot on location, and set in the Middle Ages?
The Name of the Rose is a famous one (though most of it was built as a set, apart from interior shots from Eberbach Abbey).

Recently I got interested in the "The Dissolution of the Monasteries", sometimes referred to as the "Suppression of the Monasteries", an event which would make great film material. Perhaps this was already done?

Also titles not related to this event are welcome of course.
Most old abbeys have turned into ruins, so films which feature abbey ruins are welcome as well. Documentaries also. :D

Thanks in advance!
 
My only problem with Bond's OHMSS, is:

Bond gets married.  I know it's referenced in different films, afterwards, but still sees silly.

IMO, it was something that didn't feel 'Bond-like'.

Looking back at some of the 60's/70's Bond flicks, they all have a little cheesey-ness to them.  They started to get pretty obnoxions, with all the super-weapons that were at hand. Possibly one reason that I do like the latest version, it is more 'spy' and less 'bullet in the cigarette'.
 
This film didn't
have gadgets
, it was a totally different Bond film. In that light, the
marriage
was weird, but it fit with the other changes. That ending was
rough too, so it was one of the hardest Bond films of all.
 
I need to re-watch it, but I recall not liking it very well at the time. 

But I understand what you are saying, about how it all did fit with the how the film felt.  I was reading that they did some of that intentionally to seperate that actor from the Connery Bond.  Also, read that the Moore Bond was seen drinking bourbon and smoking cigars, to differentiate him from Connery's cigarettes and martinis.
 
There really isn't a "definitive" Bond. Not to say that certain portrayals of the character aren't more or less popular, but Bond changes from movie to movie and actor to actor to reflect the expectations of the day. They've three times tried to go closer to the book Bond - a tougher, harder, more cruel and less suave Bond. The first time was a failure (Lazenby); the second and third times more successful. Craig, I think, is a fantastic Bond. Casino Royale is one of my three favourite Bonds, with Goldfinger and Goldeneye.

I think the differences between them are fascinating, and reflect what was expected in the movies at the time.
 
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