ChiO wrote:Just joshin' with ya, Moira. Whether the "joshin'" comes from HM or OW is open to debate.
Okey dokey. I try to understand my limitations and to avoid making ex cathedra statements that can be misinterpreted--especially about things as slippery as movie credits in a crowd of auteurists--but I really didn't mean to offend. Actually, I really always wondered if Pauline Kael's vehemence about movie fine points came out of her not being in the movies herself.
Btw, I don't want to discourage you or Mrs. ChiO from winging over to Paris, but I found you a much better copy of Kiss the Blood Off My Handshere.
Lzcutter wrote:And all this time, I thought "josh" came from Frank Mankewicz. HAR!!! HAR!!!!!!
You are such a card, Cutter woman. Does Josh M. still share "the voice of doom" duties with Keith Morrison (aka The Crypt Keeper) on NBC's Dateline?
Especially for those who haven't seen it or who don't have a copy, the finest performance by Timothy Carey (in a movie he didn't direct) is on tonight at 8:15 Eastern (9:15 Central).
Co-starring: Kirk Douglas
Adolphe Menjou
Ralph Meeker
George Macready
Emile Meyer
[youtube][/youtube]
Everyday people...that's what's wrong with the world. -- Morgan Morgan I love movies. But don't get me wrong. I hate Hollywood. -- Orson Welles Movies can only go forward in spite of the motion picture industry. -- Orson Welles
ChiO wrote:Especially for those who haven't seen it or who don't have a copy, the finest performance by Timothy Carey (in a movie he didn't direct) is on tonight at 8:15 Eastern (9:15 Central).
Co-starring: Kirk Douglas
Adolphe Menjou
Ralph Meeker
George Macready
Emile Meyer
[youtube][/youtube]
Lots of other great Douglas showing tonight as well. Anthony Quinn shows up in Lust for Life (got an Oscar for that one) and Last Train From Gun Hill. Douglas is often criticized for being "over the top" as an actor, but his performance in Last Train is actually quite subtle (check out his interaction with the children early in the film), especially for an action western. Town Without Pity and Two Weeks in Another Town are also great flicks. I'm setting my recorder up to catch The Hook, one of the few Kirk films I haven't seen yet.
Douglas is often criticized for being "over the top" as an actor
And what was his complaint about Carey in PATHS OF GLORY resulting in his being forbidden from ever being on the set of another Douglas movie?
Oh, well, at least their one movie together (we won't count ACE IN THE HOLE) was a great one.
Everyday people...that's what's wrong with the world. -- Morgan Morgan I love movies. But don't get me wrong. I hate Hollywood. -- Orson Welles Movies can only go forward in spite of the motion picture industry. -- Orson Welles
Everyday people...that's what's wrong with the world. -- Morgan Morgan I love movies. But don't get me wrong. I hate Hollywood. -- Orson Welles Movies can only go forward in spite of the motion picture industry. -- Orson Welles
I got to watch The Story of Temple Drake today, I'd seen it once before on youtube but this time I was able to watch it on a bigger screen. Miriam Hopkins has always struck me as rather underrated, she is an actress of some range and here as the spoiled Temple she's hits exactly the right tone. She's used to teasing boys and leading them on and then pusing them away so when she comes a cropper and escapes from a drunken crash and is forced into a rundown mansion in the middle of the night, it seems like she is getting her comeuppance but things turn sinister despite the presence of another woman, played by Florence Eldridge who shows disdain for the patrician Temple. Temple ends up being raped and a man ends up getting killed, Eldridge's husband is charged with the murder. Temple is dragged off to live in the apartment of Trigger the gangster who raped her. She is found there by the lawyer Benbow who had asked Temple to marry him, supeonaed to appear for the defence and threatened by the gangster she kills the gangster and appears at court and tells her story, dragging her good name well and truly down into the mud.
It's from a story by William Faulkner and is probably the precode that broke most of the rules. Miriam as Temple is seen in a state of undress, she's portrayed as a floozy, albeit one with a silver spoon in her mouth, the rape is more than hinted at and in an attempt to save the lawyers life, she plays up to Trigger and then shoots him. She's not really looking for sympathy and her undoing on the witness stand is also the start of a new strength, she's living up to the family name and she can be proud and somehow, life might not be as bad as she had expected.
It's also an example of how strong the women seems in precodes, with the exception of a few leading men, most of the men who were drafted into the precodes along side the likes of Miriam Hopkins and co were a little lackluster and didn't stick in the publics minds. The exceptions, like Gable cut his teeth in them and then was drafted into bigger and bigger projects but most of the men for me at least fade into one.
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
I also saw it on youtube and I'm looking forward to watching it on a bigger screen.... I remember certain lady in another cinema-related-site who couldn't stand this film
That's a super review, Alison! Just perfect. I really like the movie, but it is pretty gritty. Maybe this is why I like pre-codes, the grit and the extremely strong female roles.
feaito wrote:I also saw it on youtube and I'm looking forward to watching it on a bigger screen.... I remember certain lady in another cinema-related-site who couldn't stand this film
I think I know who you mean
Me too Wendy, I love these women it was quite a revelation to me when I discovered precodes and the strength these women portray. I like the way they aren't afraid to show poverty, although Temple Drake shows it only fleetingly, poverty in the precodes looked like it could be real, not the gloss that was flung over poverty for the next thirty odd years.
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
They are a revelation.... I've been on a Wellman kick lately, he seems to be the best at doing those tough pictures, but he's also good with women's themes. I think maybe the pre-codes are finding new audiences right now because of the economy, they hit the right tone, that's for sure.
