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Japanese Films: Ozu
Posted on April 29, 2021 at 1:35 PM |
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Because of covid restrictions, we have been unable to have our usual novel/movie series. But, we are continuing online. At the moment we are exploring the films of Japanses director Ozu. This is an article about his best 10 films.
https://www2.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/lists/yasujiro-ozu-10-essential-films
The Painted Veil
Posted on October 6, 2020 at 2:15 PM |
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aDRIAN: Costumes
Posted on September 30, 2020 at 2:04 PM |
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The Painted Veil Part 2
Posted on September 23, 2020 at 6:40 PM |
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THE PAINTED VEIL (1934) Part 2 Greta Garbo, Herbert Marshall, George Brent Other versions: • 1957 with
Eleanor Parker (the Seventh Sin). • 2006 with Naomi
Watts. Directed by Richard Boleslawski Screenplay: John Meehan, Salka Viertel and Edith Fitzgerald Based on the novel by Somerset Maugham (1925) Film Editor: Hugh Wynn Costumes by Adrian. Garbo During the early 20s, Garbo made an extraordinary amount
money for the studio. Feeling her power,
she fought for and gained more control over her roles after a contract dispute
in 1925 and 1925. I suppose we can assume then that she was a big part in
choosing this role for herself. As I wrote
in the Part 1, I think almost all of the energy of the production was invested
in Garbo to the detriment of the two male leads (George Brent and Herbert
Marshall) Marshall and Brent Herbert Marshall and George Brent are two of my favorite
male actors of this era. I was astounded
when I first started reading the reviews of “The Painted Veil” when contributors
were criticizing their performances.
Some of the reviewers also commented that they didn’t find either actor
attractive and didn’t find believable that Garbo would be involved with either
one of them. Now, I find both men attractive, especially Brent, but as
soon as I started watching the film, I understood what the detractors were talking
about. I am guessing that the men didn’t get the most careful
treatment in the script, or in the direction.
They both had some terrible (howler) lines and neither man seemed
comfortable in the role. George Brent Cad, bounder, is not the usual role for George Brent. Brent played best the charming, handsome
flirtatious man who loves women, truly appreciates them. My favorite of his movies are the ones he did
with Bette Davis. There is just
something about the way he looks at her, half-smiling that leads me to believe
he genuinely enjoyed women. But, in this role, he is a true cad. He is married, and seduces Garbo (who is
married) consciously and methodically.
When her husband finds out, he rather dutifully tells Garbo he’ll give
up “everything” if she wants him to. He
then reminds her that she will be giving up her reputation as well. Garbo responds that he (Brent) knows full well that she
would never ask him to give up everything and that’s why he’s offering to do
it. That’s about it. Garbo runs out of the shop where they have
met. In the next scene, she is already
in inland cholera ridden China with Marshall. I suspect that Brent was uncomfortable playing this “true
cad” role and the director didn’t spend much time trying to help him work
through it. I have a feeling that Brent
(and Marshall) were treated like afterthoughts. You get the feeling that Brent is walking his way through
the performance, putting in a workmanlike job, but little more. But then, I’m not sure what alternative he had. As I said, the lines were not very good, or
believable. He’s a cad and therefore
can’t be his true charming self.
Whatever the problems were, him in this role just doesn’t work. One of the reviewers said that she thought
Erroll Flynn might have done better, playing the role as a true charming snake. Brent just didn’t seem to be able to make the
true “snake” work. Herbert Marshall Marshall made a career out of playing badly done-by
husbands. One of the reviewers said that
she liked that fact that in this movie he at least took some kind of revenge on
the offending woman, Garbo. He tells Garbo
that if Brent will marry her, he will let her go, but when Brent doesn’t step
up to the plate Marshall has no problems dragging her off to a cholera-infested
place in inland China. To be fair, he
discovered them together in his own house, pretty tacky (as they say in the
South). Until the two finally reconcile, almost at the end of the
film, Marshall is alternatively whiny and distracted (to Garbo) and outraged
(to the Chinese.) After he finds out
that Garbo hasn’t left the plague zone and is working with the local nuns, he
reestablishes himself as a fairly nice character. In the novel, we are given to understand that Marshall takes
pleasure in forcing Garbo to go to inland China with him where there is a
cholera epidemic. There is a subplot
where both Garbo and Marshall decide to eat salad every night, a very risky
thing to do. It is as if they are both
in such despair that they are suicidal. But, there is none of this in the film. At one point, when Marshall comes in late at
night after tending to the epidemic, Garbo makes coffee for him in what looks
like a lame dress, and says that she sees him “killing himself.” But, Marshall says that he’s not doing that. While We’re on the Subject of Lame Garbo’s costumes in this film are wonderful if you dispense
with the usual quibbles about why she would be wearing a slinky lame dress in a
shack in the middle of China in the middle of a plague. (Picky, picky). I would point out one exception and that is
when she is at a garden party near the beginning when she and Marshall first
arrive in China. For some reason, she is wearing this white dress and a
little hat that looks like a sailor’s hat with a little nib on top. The nib reminds me of that little thing that
was on the top of a Brownie beanie when I was of the age to be wearing such a
thing. It’s a truly ridiculous hat. Location Shots Several of the reviewers complained about the lack of
location shooting in the film. The shots
of China are obviously cloudy stock footage with the actors filmed in front of
a screen. These same China scenes were
evidently was used again in “The Good Earth.”
Budget and Temple Scene The budget for this film was large for the time, but I’ll be
damned if I can see what they spent it on.
There is nothing extraordinary about the sets. The only audacious set is
behind a dance performance that is supposedly taking place in a temple and is
watched by Garbo and Brent. One reviewer
commented that the scene looks like something out of a stereotyped street fair
in Chinatown, San Francisco. It is
pretty cheesy and largely unnecessary. If I were editing the film, I would have cut this entire
segment out. It only serves to give the
audience some time with Garbo and Brent while Brent seduces her by telling her
about China. It’s not worth it, though. There were evidently other scenes, however, that were cut. Some reviewers pointed out that audiences at the time
thought many of the scenes in the beginning of the film were too long and were
cut. These must have been scenes of Garbo’s family life before she marries
Marshall. There are a lot of actors in
the cast list that are recorded as “scenes deleted.” This happy family situation portrayed in the film is hardly
the situation in the novel. Garbo was
not a sweet, if somewhat spinsterish, sister in a small town, bored and missing
her recently married sister. In the
novel, she was a high society Londonite, spoiled and shallow. These are two different characters. But, it’s Hollywood. Minority Performances I was going to write something about the man who played General
Yu, but then found out that he was Swedish rather than Asian (Warner
Oland). The woman who played Amah (Soo
Yong) (1903-1984) was hawaiian and acted in “The Good Earth” (1937) and
“Sayonara” (1957). Supporting Actors Walter Brennan is in the cast list, but it says that his
scenes were deleted. Forrester Harvey plays Waddington. |
Dial M for Murder: Novel/Movie Series
Posted on September 18, 2020 at 3:37 PM |
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Dial M for Murder Article: Deconstruction of a Scene This article is about one scene in the film “Dial M for
Murder” that between Tony Wendice (Ray Miland) and Swan (Anthony Dawson). After introductions at the door, Swan and Wendice sit down for
a conversation. During this initial
segment, the camera goes back and forth between the two men, 20 times in a
couple of minutes. The camera is usually on the one speaking, but not
always. Wen the camera is on the other,
it is to see his reaction. This is one
way of breaking the monotony of the usual two-shot conversation. Wendice joins Swan on the sofa, and instead of being in
front of the sofa, Hitchcock moves us to observing from behind the sofa. With a
lamp between the two. It is as if we are
spying on the two men, overhearing the conversation. Every time the viewer might become complacent, the camera
angle jars us, off guard. This is enough
to kep us interested, but not enough to distract from what is a very important
piece of dialogue. Helping to set up this listening theme, there is a Japanese
porcelain figurine in the picture, a man who also listens. As Wendice establishes his control over Swan (he has
information to blackmail Swan with) Hitchcock changes the camera angle on
Wendice. Wendice is sitting in a chair,
leaning back, confident, and the camera is below him, looking up. For most of the conversation, the camera has
been at eye level, not now that Wendis has established his dominance, we are
seeing him from below, looking up at
him. His tennis trophies, symbols of his competence, line the
mantle over his head. During this scene, Hitchcock has the camera move so that we can
see every part of the room they are in behind Wendiss. As the two men reach agreement, enough for Wendiss to start
detailing the crime for Swan, the two men stand at the desk, the scene of the
murder, with the telephone, crucial in the set up, center frame. Then, Hitchcock does something totally unexpected, he films
from the ceiling. We see the two men
from above, giving us another feel for the room where the murder will take
place. (Hitchcock also used this camera angle in “Shadow of a Doubt”
and “The Men who Knew Too Much.”) The scene if more fully described in the article which gives
you a good idea of how much planning and talent is involved in a Hitchcock
film. |
Dial M for Murder: Hitchcock: Deconstruction of a Scene
Posted on September 2, 2020 at 6:10 PM |
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This article is a fascinating deconstruction of one scene in
Hitchcock's "Dial M for Murder." The scene is the one where Milland
talks to Swan, the man he is recruiting to murder his wife. This scene
lasts over 20 minutes, a substantial part of the film. The article
takes apart the interesting camera work and the positioning of the
actors and the camera. It's well worth a read. https://alfredhitchblog.wordpress.com/2014/05/11/dial-m-for-murder-continued-deconstruction-of-a-scene/ christina, Facebook: St. Simons Library Novel/Movie Series, www.christinajjohns.com, www.islandcatpaws.com |
The Dark Past (1948)
Posted on August 16, 2020 at 8:27 PM |
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William Holden in "The Golden Boy." The Dark Past (1948) William Holden (1918-1981), Lee J. Cobb (1911-1976) According to TCM, Lee J. Cobb was not happy making this film. His daily crabbiness and dissatisfaction
evidently so affected William Holden (who was trying to put back together a
film career after his service in WWII) Nina Foch (the female lead) started
having Holden come to her trailer for breakfast. She supposedly consoled Holden and convinced
him that in a few years, he would be more famous than Cobb. She was right. Before the war, Cobb had played Holden’s father in a movie where
Holden was the young “golden boy” torn between the violin and boxing (The
Golden Boy, 1939). Cobb was only seven
years older than Holden. The reasons for
Cobb’s dissatisfaction with the production were not explained, but it was
implied that Cobb might have resented Holden’s good looks. This part was very different from the “boy next door” parts
that Holden had played before the war. In
this movie, he looks very much like Duke Mantee, the character Humphrey Bogart
played in “The Petrified Forest” (1936). Billy Wilder would have seen Holden in this against-type
role and it may have influenced his casting of Holden in “Sunset Boulevard”
(1950). Even though Holden
gets head billing, Cobb gets more screen time playing the psychiatrist taken
hostage by the escaped convict, Holden, and his girl, Nina Fochs. Holden plays a psychotic killer. Cobb plays the psychiatrist
who while being held hostage psychoanalyzes Holden. And, cures him in one night. The Dark Past is a remake of a 1939 film “Blind Alley” and
based on a play by James Warwick. In
Blind Alley, Chester Morris played Holden’s part and Ralph Bellamy played the psychiatrist. This is one of the films made just after the war that was
highly influenced by Freudian analysis which was thought to hold the keys to
what was and still now is referred to as “the criminal mind.” What is actually being talked about (then and
now) is violent criminal behavior. Even
though it is referred to as “the criminal mind,” nobody tries to psychoanalyze
white collar, corporate and political criminals, or believes for one second
that their criminal behavior derives from some deep psychic wound. Other examples of films based on the notion (even though
simplistic) of Freudian analysis are: Psycho, Spellbound (1945), Whirlpool
(1941), The Dark Mirror (1946) and Conflict (1945). Reviewers noted the taunt interplay between Holden and
Cobb’s characters as being like that of Bogart and March in a later escaped
convict takes hostages film, “The Desperate Hours” (1955) See Wikipedia and TCM, |
Alma Reville, Hitchcock's Brain
Posted on August 14, 2020 at 1:14 PM |
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Alma Reville (1988-1982) It’s Alma’s birthday today.
Alva Reville was an English screenwriter and film editor and
a large part of Alfred Hitchcock’s brain.
Charlie Champlin wrote in 1982: "The Hitchcock touch had four
hands, and two were Alma's." Alma actually started in the film industry before Hitchcock
and probably would have surpassed him had she been a man. Hitchcock, however, was smart enough to recruit her as a
film editor on the first film where he had any say. And, almost immediately after that, asked her
to marry him. Of editing, she wrote 'the art of cutting is Art indeed,
with a capital A, and is of far greater importance than is generally
acknowledged'. Alma wrote many scripts for her husband's films, including
Shadow of a Doubt, Suspicion and The Lady Vanishes, as well as scripts for
other directors, including Henrik Galeen, Maurice Elvey, and Berthold Viertel.
Reville's filmography is extensive with writing credits on many films that were
among the biggest of their time. Selected filmography Reville wrote or co-wrote many screenplays, including: The Ring (1927) The Constant Nymph
(1928) The First Born
(1928) A South Sea Bubble
(1928) After the Verdict
(1929) A Romance of
Seville (1929) Juno and the
Paycock (1929) Murder! (1930) The Skin Game
(1931) Mary (1931) The Outsider
(1931) Sally in Our Alley
(1931) Rich and Strange
(1931) The Water Gipsies
(1932) Nine Till Six
(1931) Number Seventeen
(1932) Waltzes from
Vienna (1934) Forbidden
Territory (1934) The 39 Steps
(1935) The Passing of the
Third Floor Back (1935) Secret Agent
(1936) Sabotage (1936) Young and Innocent
(1937) The Lady Vanishes
(1938) Jamaica Inn (1939) Suspicion (1941) Shadow of a Doubt
(1943) It's in the Bag
(1945) The Paradine Case
(1947) Stage Fright
(1950) I Confess (1953) Notes: Reville, Alma (1923) “cutting and Continuity,” The Motion
Picture News, 10. Alma Hitchcock: The Woman Behind the Man by Pat Hitchcock
O'Connell and Laurent Bouzereau, Berkley Trade, 6 July 2004; |
Chopin: Nocturne 20
Posted on August 8, 2020 at 2:04 PM |
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CHOPIN Nocturne No. 20 in C-sharp Minor (Little Neal Dancing in my
Heart). This solo piano piece was composed by Chopin in 1930 and
dedicated to his older sister. It was
not pubished until 1870, 21 years after the composer’s death. The piece was played by Holocaust survivor Natalia Karp for
the Nazi concentration camp commandant Amon Goeth while she was imprisoned in
Plaszow concentration camp in Poland.
Karp was ordered to play and she chose this piece because it was
“sad.” And, she said “I was dad.” Goeth was so impressed with Karp’s rendition that he spared
her life. When she finished playing,
Goeth said “She shall live.” Karp
responded: “Not without my sister.”
Goeth acquiesced. Goeth was made famous by Ralph Fiennes’s depiction of him in
Shindler’s list. See, Chopin’s Heart, Poland’s spirit, Madeleine Kearns
(3/14/20). The Nocturne was also the piece played by Holocaust survivor
and famed Polish pianist Władysław Szpilman (the central figure of the 2002
Roman Polanski film “The Pianist”) during the last live broadcast of Polish
radio on September 23, 1939. While Szpilman was playing Warsaw was being
besieged by the German army. Years later, Szpilman also played this piece for German army
officer Wilm Hosenfeld upon their first meeting. (In the corresponding scene in “The Pianist”
Szpilman plays an abridged version of Chopin's Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op.
23.) Hosenfeld later helped Szpilman hide and provided food to him in the last
months of the war. Movie uses of the piece: “The Pianist” “Terminator: The
Sarah Connor Chronicles “The Karate Kid” “The Peacemaker” “The Innkeeper”
“Mafia III” “Frantz” (2016). Chopin’s elder sister, the sister to whom Chopin dedicated
this piece, came to Paris when Chopin became gravely ill. It was to her that he made the request to take his heart
back to Poland. She did. Chopin’s heart was hidden from the Nazis
during the war. You can hear the Nocturne performed by Wladyslaw Szpilman
here: You can listen to a version by Elisabeth Leonskaja on
Spotify Jan Lisiecki performs the Nocturne on iTunes |
East Side, West Side (1949): James Mason
Posted on August 3, 2020 at 6:03 PM |
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EAST SIDE, WEST SIDE (1949) JAMES MASON: James Mason (1909-1984). James Mason did not train as an actor. He took it up as an aside during his
education. In 1933, Mason was given a small film role by Alexander
Korda in “The Private Life of Don Juan,” but Korda sacked him three days into
the shooting. In 1935, on the set of his second film, “Troubled Waters”
Mason met Pamela Kellino. Pamela’s
husband, Roy, was the cinematographer on the film. Mason not only became fast friends with Pamela,
he moved in with Pamela and her husband and collaborated with them on several
stage and screen plays. In 1937 he had a key role in “Fire Over England” with
Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh. Then,
Korda used Mason again in “The Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel, 1937. In 1938, Mason and Pamela Kellino played lovers on the run
in “I Met a Murderer.” Shortly
afterwards, Kellino’s husband, Roy divorced Pamela naming Mason as
co-respondent. She married Mason in
1940. They moved to Hollywood in the 1940s, where Pamela became a
popular hostess. According to her son,
she had had numerous affairs. She
remained in Beverly Hills with “a multitude of free-range cats.” She is described as “outspoken with
unrepentant, undeviating, withering aim.” Even after the divorce, Roy remained on friendly terms with
the Masons and directed two of their later films “Lady Possessed” and
“Charade.” Mason achieved considerable success in the British Cinema
(The Seventh Veil, 1945, The Wicked Lady, 1945, Odd Man Out, 1947) before
coming to Hollywood. During WWII, Mason registered as a conscientious
objector. This caused his family to
break with him for many years. When he
was approved by a board to do non-combat military service, Mason refused. Then, the issue became moot when Mason was included
in a general exemption for film work. Mason received the best reviews of his career in “Odd Man Out”
(1947) where he played a mortally wounded IRA bank robber on the run. One of Mason’s early films in Hollywood was “Madame Bovary”
(1949). Many of the films Mason did
during this early period were not successful.
Then, he was cast as General Rommel in “The Desert Fox” (1951). Even though Mason had refused for years to
sign a studio contract, he agreed to sign with 20th Century Fox for seven years
at one film a year, in order to get the part of Rommel. In 1951, Mason did another film written by his wife and
directed by her former husband, Roy Kellino (Lady Possessed, 1951). In 1953, he did the very successful “Julius
Caesar” with Marlon Brando. In 1954, Mason did another film written by Pamela Mason and
directed by his father in law, “Charade.” Mason did numerous plays on television and in the 1960s
settled into supporting roles. One of Mason’s last roles was as the corrupt lawyer Ed
Concannon in “The Verdict” (1982) with Paul Newman. Mason, along with his wife Pamela, was an ardent animal
lover. They especially loved cats. He and Pamela wrote a book about their cats
“The Cats in Our Lives,” published in 1949.
Mason wrote most of the book and illustrated it. Mason was married to Pamela from 1941 – 1964. Wikipedia notes that Pamala Mason was active
in the Hollywood social scene and was “frequently unfaithful” to her husband. Her son confirmed this. In 1962, she initiated divorce proceedings
against Mason, claiming adultery on his part.
There was a $1 million divorce settlement. Mason was married to Australian actress
Clarissa Kaye from 1971 until his death.
He often used his power to get Clarissa parts in his movies. Mason wrote an autobiography “Before I Forget, 1981.” Mason left everything to his second wife although the will
was contested by his children with Pamela Mason. Clarissa Mason left her assets to the
religious guru Sathya Sai Baba, when she died in 1994. Clarissa also left the guru Mason’s
ashes. Mason’s children later sued the
guru and got the ashes back. PAMELA MASON WIKIPEDIA Pamela Mason was the daughter of a wealthy industrialist and
banker who became president of the Gaumont British Picture Corporation in the
early 1920s. She married cinematographer
Roy Kellino in 1934, at the age of 18. Pamela’s novel “Del Palma, 1948, was the basis for the film
Lady Possessed. Another novel in 1968
was “Marriage is the first step toward Divorce.
Other famous Mason movies • The Desert Fox • A Star is Born • 20,000 Leagues
under the Sea • Lolita • North by
Northwest • Journey to the
Center of the Earth • Julius Caesar • Heaven Can Wait • The Boys From
Brazil |
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