RAMBLES on Directors

[charliechaplinfan]

I think it's a great idea for a thread, I often see things in one film that reminds me of another's work, most directors weren't shy of taking something they liked when someone else used it and giving it their own twist. For me directors are in two categories, innovators who created and invented or adapted, like Griffiths and other directors ideas and saw film as an art form, like Bergman, some of this first category did both. Then there are directors who were there to do the studios bidding, bring projects in below budget and on time, some directors had films that are in both categories. Some directors made one great film, some had a run of great films, only one I can think of made all his films great but I'm biased towards my avatar.

Has anyone read Peter Bogdanovich's Who the Devil Made It? Is it worth renting from a library.

[JackFavell]

It's definitely worth a read, Alison, though none of the sections is long enough to my way of thinking. Another that is set up along the same lines is George Stevens, Jr's The Great Moviemakers of Hollywood's Golden Age.

What a great thread, kingrat! I love The Man Who Would Be King, it's one of the first movies I ever bought. I actually think The Misfits is also a combination of Huston's strengths, with a little Elia Kazan thrown in for good measure. Huston really lets the actors fly. There is so much meat to this picture, acting wise, that it seems Huston took a page out of Kazan's playbook.

[Rita Hayworth]

It's definitely worth a read, Alison, though none of the sections is long enough to my way of thinking. Another that is set up along the same lines is George Stevens, Jr's The Great Moviemakers of Hollywood's Golden Age.

I love that book, Jack Favell ... I checked out that book at my local library and enjoyed reading it. Very Interesting book members of SSO. George Stevens, Jr. did a good job putting it altogether!

[JackFavell]

It's a very quick read, kingme, and it has some great quotes. Howard Hawks and Rouben Mamoulian are really fun to read.

[RedRiver]

If there's anything lacking in the superb MALTESE FALCON, it's visual appeal. All other components; dialogue, characterization, and that flawless pacing, are as near perfect as I can imagine. Even in that, there's a visual quality. To achieve just the right shot, to efficiently establish location. And those wonderful shadows!

It's not visually stunning the way RED RIVER is. It's not majestic like BEN-HUR. But that stuff would merely slow it down. What it is is an exciting story that gets right to the point and never lets up.

ASPHALT JUNGLE is the mold for the "heist gone bad" film. The introduction of people and plot, the personal issues that motivate them, the methodical suspense that ultimately has greater impact than a more direct threat. The very similar THE KILLING is fine. The robbery element of CRISS-CROSS is the film's best feature. But they don't score like Huston's gang. Neither does Jules Dassin's RIFIFI nor Peckinpah's THE GETAWAY. Often imitated. Never equaled.

[JackFavell]

I just recently watched Asphalt Jungle, RR, and while it's a fascinating film, the pace is a killer for me. I actually like the methodical quality of it, but I have a seriously hard time getting through the film without falling asleep. This is not to take away from it, it's just my metabolism, I guess. The minute I sit down to it, I nod off.

I love the way Huston presents our crooks and criminals as lowlife scum, then turns them all into real people we care about, with hopes and dreams just like we have. His humanization of them is really astounding, and I am not quite sure how he does it - maybe through faults and very human failings presented in just such a way that it makes them endearing? or maybe by simply placing us right in the middle of their milieu. They remain lowlife scum, but I feel for each of them. I guess I like some delusion in my characters, some dreaminess.

I get the same feelings for Robert Ryan, Van Heflin and Mary Astor, in Act of Violence. One hates their degradation, but can't help wishing they could find peace or happiness, follow through on those dreams.

[charliechaplinfan]

Ice Cold in Alex is an absolute must see, it's my favourite of his movies, it made me see John Mills in a completely different light.

[JackFavell]

I like Wreck of the Mary Deare very much, thanks to the supporting cast and the slapdown Gary Cooper gives to Charlton Heston, acting wise. It's vastly better than I was expecting.

The same goes for Shoes of the Fisherman, which I thought was going to be awful, but turned out to be quite good in it's own rather pompous way. There's something to be said for underestimating a movie, when they turn out better than you expect, it's like you discovered gold amongst the pyrite.

[Vienna]

I like WRECK OF THE MARY DEARE but surprised Charlton Heston who was quite a big star at the time would take what amounted to a supporting role. It is Gary Cooper's film. A young Richard Harris was a convincing adversary.

[JackFavell]

Thanks! I really liked Shoes in a big miniseries kind of way. Anthony Quinn just about never mis-steps, as far as I'm concerned. And there's Leo McKern who really did a great job, and the rest of that cast! I liked the way it all played out by the end - who came down on what side.

I love Emlyn Williams. His being in a film is enough to get me to watch. He's such a mystery, because his best work was never seen on the screen, so I just wish there were more movies or more of him in the movies he's in. Another mystery man for me is Four Feathers' John Clements.

As for Anderson, I liked Chase a Crooked Shadow, it would probably come in fourth after The Dam Busters, Wreck of the Mary Deare, and Shoes of the Fisherman. And then there's my husband's favorite movie from when he was growing up - Logan's Run! A classic! I haven't seen The Quiller Memorandum... as much as I like 70's black comedies, I am not so crazy about late sixties and seventies thrillers, with the exception of All the President's Men and Day of the Jackal, and maybe a couple more really fine examples of the genre. I do like the mind blowing parts of some of these, the way they spin out of control, and end up twisting the hero, but many of them don't really do it for me. I'm sure I'm forgetting some good ones. Anyway, I don't go out of my way to see them.