Classic cinema - thoughts and questions
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Forostar
Ancient Mariner
Of course many Hitchcock films are worse than North By Northwest, but others are still worth watching and are still considered as classics, and special films.
I thought Marnie was pretty good. Great portrayal of fear, mistrust, phobia and obsession. And it contains some very suspenseful scenes. Also this film became a milestone for several reasons. It was the last time that a "Hitchcock blonde" would have a central role in his films. It was also the final time that he would work with his key team members, who had figured so prominently in his films: director of photography Robert Burks who died in 1968; editor George Tomasini, who died soon after Marnie's release; and music composer Bernard Herrmann, who was fired during Hitchcock's next film, Torn Curtain (1966), when Hitchcock and Universal studio executives wanted a more contemporary "pop" tune for the film.
The Trouble With Harry! Now that is imo one of Hitch's most boring films he ever did. 100% his least from the 1950s.
Same here. Vertigo will be quite a ride then!
Let me advise you to see as many westerns directed by Anthony Mann as you can.
(wiki
Mann is probably best remembered today for his distinctive and highly influential work in the Western genre - particularly for five film collaborations with James Stewart:
Winchester '73 (1950)
Bend of the River (1952)
The Naked Spur (1953)
The Far Country (1955)
The Man from Laramie (1955)
Strongly influenced by film noir in their brooding fatalism and hard-bitten, cynical tone, these films were important keystones in the development of the western as a mature film genre. Mann depicted the old west as a hostile, violent and amoral world in which no one can be trusted and life is cheap. In a marked contrast to the black-and-white value systems and the simple, stoic and uncomplicated heroes generally associated with westerns up to that point, Stewart's protagonists are flawed and, at times, morally ambiguous. Typically they are grim, embittered characters, driven by an obsessive quest to avenge a wrong done to them, and capable of the most ruthless and unflinching violence in pursuit of this end.
The Mann-Stewart films were critical and commercial successes and had a major impact on western-making generally, which grew notably darker and more "adult" in its themes, tone and content from the mid-1950s onward.
Plus go for:
Anatomy of a Murder
It's a Wonderful Life
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Harvey
Call Northside 777
Broken Arrow
The Shop Around the Corner
Night Passage
You Can't Take It with You
The Flight of the Phoenix
..and more !
I thought Marnie was pretty good. Great portrayal of fear, mistrust, phobia and obsession. And it contains some very suspenseful scenes. Also this film became a milestone for several reasons. It was the last time that a "Hitchcock blonde" would have a central role in his films. It was also the final time that he would work with his key team members, who had figured so prominently in his films: director of photography Robert Burks who died in 1968; editor George Tomasini, who died soon after Marnie's release; and music composer Bernard Herrmann, who was fired during Hitchcock's next film, Torn Curtain (1966), when Hitchcock and Universal studio executives wanted a more contemporary "pop" tune for the film.
The Trouble With Harry! Now that is imo one of Hitch's most boring films he ever did. 100% his least from the 1950s.
Robbiedbee said:
Same here. Vertigo will be quite a ride then!
Let me advise you to see as many westerns directed by Anthony Mann as you can.
(wiki
Mann is probably best remembered today for his distinctive and highly influential work in the Western genre - particularly for five film collaborations with James Stewart:
Winchester '73 (1950)
Bend of the River (1952)
The Naked Spur (1953)
The Far Country (1955)
The Man from Laramie (1955)
Strongly influenced by film noir in their brooding fatalism and hard-bitten, cynical tone, these films were important keystones in the development of the western as a mature film genre. Mann depicted the old west as a hostile, violent and amoral world in which no one can be trusted and life is cheap. In a marked contrast to the black-and-white value systems and the simple, stoic and uncomplicated heroes generally associated with westerns up to that point, Stewart's protagonists are flawed and, at times, morally ambiguous. Typically they are grim, embittered characters, driven by an obsessive quest to avenge a wrong done to them, and capable of the most ruthless and unflinching violence in pursuit of this end.
The Mann-Stewart films were critical and commercial successes and had a major impact on western-making generally, which grew notably darker and more "adult" in its themes, tone and content from the mid-1950s onward.
Plus go for:
Anatomy of a Murder
It's a Wonderful Life
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Harvey
Call Northside 777
Broken Arrow
The Shop Around the Corner
Night Passage
You Can't Take It with You
The Flight of the Phoenix
..and more !
bearfan
Ancient Mariner
Wow, never heard Trouble With Harry being called boring, it was certainly different for him, but I thought it was quite suspenseful and pretty funny.
I do think Marnie is good, but some of the actions of Tippi Hedren were a bit odd. But, it probably suffers a bit from comparison to the movies right before it.
I do think Marnie is good, but some of the actions of Tippi Hedren were a bit odd. But, it probably suffers a bit from comparison to the movies right before it.
national acrobat
Ancient Mariner
I'm looking forward to Shadow of a Doubt which is on tv later this week, heard good things about that one.
I read an interesting obituary this week about a man who worked with Hitchcock, and certainly lead an interesting life beyond that too. Link and below
Hugh Stewart
Hugh Stewart, who died on May 31 aged 100, spent a career in film extolling the virtues of kindly, slapstick comedy with movies starring Norman Wisdom and Morecambe and Wise; his most notable contribution on celluloid, however, was almost certainly made at Bergen-Belsen in April 1945, when he insisted that the Allies record the horrors of the liberated concentration camp.
When Belsen was voluntarily turned over to the Allied 21st Army Group on April 15 1945, Stewart was head of No 5 Army Film and Photographic Unit (AFPU). As such he was under strict War Office orders to remain with the British Army as it advanced further into Germany. But realising the significance of the scenes at the camp, he decided to go over the heads of his superiors and make a direct appeal to Eisenhower, arguing that it was vital to prepare a cinematic and photographic record.
Eisenhower overrode the War Office, and in the days after the liberation Stewart and his team undertook the harrowing job of filming the camp, with its piles of bodies being bulldozed into mass graves, its overcrowded barrack blocks and pitifully emaciated survivors.
Towards the end of his life Stewart said that not a single day had gone by without him remembering by sound, sight and smell of what he witnessed during those few days. Later he was consulted by the research team for the film Schindler’s List.
The son of a clergyman, Hugh St Clair Stewart was born on December 14 1910 at Falmouth, Cornwall, and educated at Clayesmore School in Dorset and at St John’s College, Cambridge, where he read English and was taught and influenced by FR Leavis.
After graduation he joined Gaumont-British on the apprenticeship scheme started by Michael Balcon, learning the business on Crazy Gang comedies. He cut together out-takes from Marry Me (1932) and worked as an assembly cutter on The Constant Nymph the same year.
Later he moved on to editing and worked with Victor Saville on Evergreen (1934). When Saville joined Alexander Korda at London Films, Stewart went with him as editor. There he impressed Alfred Hitchcock and was given The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934) as his first job as supervising editor.
Other credits include Dark Journey and Action for Slander (both 1937); South Riding and St Martin’s Lane (both 1938); and The Spy in Black (1939).
Stewart was editing at Denham when war broke out, and he immediately joined the Royal Artillery, though he was able to finish editing 10 Days In Paris (1939), with Rex Harrison. He was commissioned in the AFPU in December 1940 and led No 2 AFPU in covering the Allied landings in Tunisia in November 1942.
The following year he scripted the footage of that fighting into the documentary film Desert Victory, and was proud that all the combat scenes shown in the film were unstaged. He also worked on the Anglo-American Tunisian Victory (1944), which he co-directed with Frank Capra and John Huston, though much of the film was shot in the United States.
Later, as head of No 5 AFPU, Stewart and his combat cameramen covered the British D-Day landings, the Caen breakout, the Rhine Crossing and the Battle of the Ardennes — as well as the liberation of Bergen-Belsen. He was appointed MBE (military) in 1945 and demobbed in the rank of lieutenant-colonel.
On his return to England, Stewart joined Earl St John at Pinewood and began his career as an independent producer with the Rank Organisation, beginning with Trottie True (1949). He began to produce the films of Norman Wisdom, from Man of the Moment (1955) onwards, as well as films starring the comedy duo Morecambe and Wise. Stewart left Rank in 1966 and decided on a career change, becoming an English teacher at Uxbridge Technical College, where he covered the full range of the subject from functional literacy to A-level, although he continued to make films, part-time, for the Children’s Film Foundation, of which Mr Horatio Knibbles (1971) and High Rise Donkey (1980) still get regular screenings.
He delighted in the company of his young students and was extremely annoyed when the college put pressure on him to retire after they discovered he was 85 and not the sprightly 60-something they had supposed him to be. After retirement he continued private coaching for several years.
In the Buckinghamshire village of Denham, where he and his wife lived from 1949, Stewart was an active member of the parish church and president of the Denham branch of the British Legion. He was also an ardent supporter of Norwich City Football Club and devoted much time to building up a collection of translations of Edward Lear’s The Owl and the Pussy Cat, which he published on the internet.
He married, in 1934, Frances Curl, and is survived by two daughters and two sons.
I read an interesting obituary this week about a man who worked with Hitchcock, and certainly lead an interesting life beyond that too. Link and below
Hugh Stewart
Hugh Stewart, who died on May 31 aged 100, spent a career in film extolling the virtues of kindly, slapstick comedy with movies starring Norman Wisdom and Morecambe and Wise; his most notable contribution on celluloid, however, was almost certainly made at Bergen-Belsen in April 1945, when he insisted that the Allies record the horrors of the liberated concentration camp.
When Belsen was voluntarily turned over to the Allied 21st Army Group on April 15 1945, Stewart was head of No 5 Army Film and Photographic Unit (AFPU). As such he was under strict War Office orders to remain with the British Army as it advanced further into Germany. But realising the significance of the scenes at the camp, he decided to go over the heads of his superiors and make a direct appeal to Eisenhower, arguing that it was vital to prepare a cinematic and photographic record.
Eisenhower overrode the War Office, and in the days after the liberation Stewart and his team undertook the harrowing job of filming the camp, with its piles of bodies being bulldozed into mass graves, its overcrowded barrack blocks and pitifully emaciated survivors.
Towards the end of his life Stewart said that not a single day had gone by without him remembering by sound, sight and smell of what he witnessed during those few days. Later he was consulted by the research team for the film Schindler’s List.
The son of a clergyman, Hugh St Clair Stewart was born on December 14 1910 at Falmouth, Cornwall, and educated at Clayesmore School in Dorset and at St John’s College, Cambridge, where he read English and was taught and influenced by FR Leavis.
After graduation he joined Gaumont-British on the apprenticeship scheme started by Michael Balcon, learning the business on Crazy Gang comedies. He cut together out-takes from Marry Me (1932) and worked as an assembly cutter on The Constant Nymph the same year.
Later he moved on to editing and worked with Victor Saville on Evergreen (1934). When Saville joined Alexander Korda at London Films, Stewart went with him as editor. There he impressed Alfred Hitchcock and was given The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934) as his first job as supervising editor.
Other credits include Dark Journey and Action for Slander (both 1937); South Riding and St Martin’s Lane (both 1938); and The Spy in Black (1939).
Stewart was editing at Denham when war broke out, and he immediately joined the Royal Artillery, though he was able to finish editing 10 Days In Paris (1939), with Rex Harrison. He was commissioned in the AFPU in December 1940 and led No 2 AFPU in covering the Allied landings in Tunisia in November 1942.
The following year he scripted the footage of that fighting into the documentary film Desert Victory, and was proud that all the combat scenes shown in the film were unstaged. He also worked on the Anglo-American Tunisian Victory (1944), which he co-directed with Frank Capra and John Huston, though much of the film was shot in the United States.
Later, as head of No 5 AFPU, Stewart and his combat cameramen covered the British D-Day landings, the Caen breakout, the Rhine Crossing and the Battle of the Ardennes — as well as the liberation of Bergen-Belsen. He was appointed MBE (military) in 1945 and demobbed in the rank of lieutenant-colonel.
On his return to England, Stewart joined Earl St John at Pinewood and began his career as an independent producer with the Rank Organisation, beginning with Trottie True (1949). He began to produce the films of Norman Wisdom, from Man of the Moment (1955) onwards, as well as films starring the comedy duo Morecambe and Wise. Stewart left Rank in 1966 and decided on a career change, becoming an English teacher at Uxbridge Technical College, where he covered the full range of the subject from functional literacy to A-level, although he continued to make films, part-time, for the Children’s Film Foundation, of which Mr Horatio Knibbles (1971) and High Rise Donkey (1980) still get regular screenings.
He delighted in the company of his young students and was extremely annoyed when the college put pressure on him to retire after they discovered he was 85 and not the sprightly 60-something they had supposed him to be. After retirement he continued private coaching for several years.
In the Buckinghamshire village of Denham, where he and his wife lived from 1949, Stewart was an active member of the parish church and president of the Denham branch of the British Legion. He was also an ardent supporter of Norwich City Football Club and devoted much time to building up a collection of translations of Edward Lear’s The Owl and the Pussy Cat, which he published on the internet.
He married, in 1934, Frances Curl, and is survived by two daughters and two sons.
bearfan
Ancient Mariner
Interesting article, thanks for posting it.
Shadow of a Doubt is one of the all time great movies, IMO. I lived in the town where it was filmed (many of the buildings are still here). He lived the San Fran bay area. Vertigo was filmed in San Francisco and the Muir Woods (just north of the city over the Golden Gate), there are Vertigo tours you can take. The Birds was filmed in Bodega Bay, about an 45 mins north of the city, and Shadow of a Doubt in Santa Rosa.
If you are a fan of Hitchcock, two things worth getting are
A Talk With Hitchcock (DVD, interesting interview with him) and "Hitchcock and Truffaut", a fabulous book where Truffaut interview Hitchcock and they go through his films one by one.
Shadow of a Doubt is one of the all time great movies, IMO. I lived in the town where it was filmed (many of the buildings are still here). He lived the San Fran bay area. Vertigo was filmed in San Francisco and the Muir Woods (just north of the city over the Golden Gate), there are Vertigo tours you can take. The Birds was filmed in Bodega Bay, about an 45 mins north of the city, and Shadow of a Doubt in Santa Rosa.
If you are a fan of Hitchcock, two things worth getting are
A Talk With Hitchcock (DVD, interesting interview with him) and "Hitchcock and Truffaut", a fabulous book where Truffaut interview Hitchcock and they go through his films one by one.
Shadow of a Doubt is really good. Possibly the most low-key of the Hitchcock classics, but that just adds to the suspense.
As for North by Northwest, I sometimes think that it's the ultimate movie. There might be others that are more suspenseful, more serious, more complex or whatever, but North by Northwest is special. The plot unfolds perfectly, the characters are great and it's absolutely packed with memorable scenes. I remember coming home late one night, turning on the TV, finding myself somewhere in the first third of it and thinking that hey, I guess I can watch a little bit. You know, just to get to the part where he says "you're not Kaplan, but you're in Kaplan's hotel room and you're answering his telephone". I ended up watching the whole thing.
As for North by Northwest, I sometimes think that it's the ultimate movie. There might be others that are more suspenseful, more serious, more complex or whatever, but North by Northwest is special. The plot unfolds perfectly, the characters are great and it's absolutely packed with memorable scenes. I remember coming home late one night, turning on the TV, finding myself somewhere in the first third of it and thinking that hey, I guess I can watch a little bit. You know, just to get to the part where he says "you're not Kaplan, but you're in Kaplan's hotel room and you're answering his telephone". I ended up watching the whole thing.
My dad recently picked up a DVD Collection that I'm gonna get to borrow and start watching soon, was wondering who has seen any of these movies and what did you think?
Stanley Kubrick Collection
Spartacus
Lolita
Dr Strangelove, or "How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb"
2001: A Space Odyssey
A Clockwork Orange
Barry Lyndon
The Shining
Full Metal Jacket
Eyes Wide Shut
Any in particular that I should be looking forward to? I've heard of many of these movies, but have not seen any.
Stanley Kubrick Collection
Spartacus
Lolita
Dr Strangelove, or "How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb"
2001: A Space Odyssey
A Clockwork Orange
Barry Lyndon
The Shining
Full Metal Jacket
Eyes Wide Shut
Any in particular that I should be looking forward to? I've heard of many of these movies, but have not seen any.
Forostar
Ancient Mariner
national acrobat said:
Very interesting Nush! What a life he led indeed.
I have The Spy in Black laying around somewhere and realizing that this man collaborated makes this and other pictures more special! I agree with Shadow that Shadow of a Doubt is really good. One of Hitchcock's major strengths -you knowing more than the protagonist- is done in optima forma. Adds up to the suspense! Be aware of some great camera angles as well!
@Jason2103:
Kubrick is a great icon among film makers. 2001: A Space Odyssey is a favourite film for many people.
I still haven't seen all the ones you listed but I am sure that most of them will appeal to you. And this is not all. E.g., two of my own favourite Kubrick's (The Killing & Paths of Glory) are not in this collection.
You'll note that some films are very different. It's hard to predict which one you'll like best but let me give you this advice: see them all, and you don't necessarily have to see the "best" or the "most recommended" first.
You've all time in the world to see many excellent films out there. And it's good to keep something great for the last. Have fun!
bearfan
Ancient Mariner
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/ ... XV20110803
Would like to see this (or I guess half of it).
Would like to see this (or I guess half of it).
Cornfed Hick
Ancient Mariner
SixesAlltheway
Ancient Mariner
Mosh said:
Moore is my favourite Bond...And I can't really say why. I'm not really a huge bond fan, so perhaps its based on the strong Bond movies he played in. Moonraker is a favourite of mine, I remember watching it when I was just a kid. So perhaps thats why it sticks so wel to my memory, it has sentimental value perhaps? Anyways I think Moore has a perfect gentleman look to play Bond.
Forostar: I didn't even know John Wayne made so many movies
My problem was all the gadgets he used. It's hard to explain but that's the gist of it.SixesAlltheway said:Moore is my favourite Bond...And I can't really say why. I'm not really a huge bond fan, so perhaps its based on the strong Bond movies he played in. Moonraker is a favourite of mine, I remember watching it when I was just a kid. So perhaps thats why it sticks so wel to my memory, it has sentimental value perhaps? Anyways I think Moore has a perfect gentleman look to play Bond.
Forostar: I didn't even know John Wayne made so many movies
SixesAlltheway
Ancient Mariner
Forostar said:Well, here's an eye opener then:
I think he has the record of the most lead roles (first bills).
142 says google. Thats amazing really.