WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

[charliechaplinfan]

It's an admirable film, the message is dark and scary though, I have to be in the mood to watch it. Vampyr isn't my favourite of Dreyer's movies, I've watched it twice but can't appreciate it the way I appreciate his other movies.

I'm glad you liked One Hour With You, I struggle to have a favourite of the Lubitsch musicals but I think the songs are the best ones in this and Chevalier's delivery is terrific.

[JackFavell]

I like One Hour With You very much, perhaps better than the original Lubitsch silent version, The Marriage Circle. Where The Marriage Circle is harsh and quite cynical, One Hour With You is more playful. The darker implications of the script are softened in OHWY, the tone of the film is a bit lighter and it's more successful in the comedy. The Marriage Circle almost struck me as a tragedy, masquerading as comedy when I first saw it. I think too, Chevalier is far more appealing than Monte Blue, who just seems hapless.

[feaito]

I like One Hour With You very much, perhaps better than the original Lubitsch silent version, The Marriage Circle. Where The Marriage Circle is harsh and quite cynical, One Hour With You is more playful. The darker implications of the script are softened in OHWY, the tone of the film is a bit lighter and it's more successful in the comedy. The Marriage Circle almost struck me as a tragedy, masquerading as comedy when I first saw it. I think too, Chevalier is far more appealing than Monte Blue, who just seems hapless.

I agree completely with you Wendy.

[feaito]

That's funny. I've wanted to see THREE CORNERED MOON for a long time too. I'll have to look into that dvd. Thanks for the info on Maid of Salem - I like The Crucible, better to read than to watch it, it's a bit of an ordeal, and the hero's mistakes and wavering always make me want to scream! That being said it does move me and I think Miller was saying something important.

I liked very much "Three-Cornered Moon" (1933), so I think you should give it a chance Wendy -sorry to disagree with your Red River This Is what I wrote when I watched it a couple or more years ago:

I watched the quite engaging Depression Screwballish comedy "Three Cornered Moon" (1933), so far the best film included in the Claudette Cobert DVD Collection. Meet the Rimplegar family from Brooklyn: the absent minded matriarch of the Rimplegar family delightfully and zanily played by the very funny Mary Boland who steals the show from everyone else; Claudette, the only daughter, in love with a no-good, pretentious, lazy artist played by Hardie Albright and hopelessly courted by the only mentally balanced character in the picture: Doctor Stevens, well played by Richard Arlen; elder brother Wallace Ford, who's studying to pass the Bar Examination to become a full-fledged lawyer, but who's been distracted from his task by a lovely air-head, played by beautiful Joan Marsh; now, there's an actor in the family, the affected William Bakewell, essaying Monsieur Beaucaire's title role, but getting in the end less than a one-line speech in a stage-play; and lastly, clean-cut, brave Tom Brown, the youngest sibling. There's also funny Lyda Roberti, as their Polish maid, who doesn't understand English.

In all a very fine effort by Elliott Nugent and the cast; not as leisurely played as later zany masterpieces like "My Man Godfrey" or "Bringing Up Baby", but anyhow a good movie that paved the way for those.

Back then I also saw "Maid of Salem" (1937) and I think it is a weak film (sorry to disagree with you again RR) and this is what I wrote:

I also saw the flawed "Maid of Salem" (1937). I am a fan of Claudette Colbert, but frankly I think she was miscast in this film. She looked too contemporary for a 1692 setting (she fared much better in "Drums Along The Mohawk" 1939, but then John Ford is a far superior director than Frank Lloyd). I also found the film dramatically uneven and the conclusion unbelievable. The most interesting aspects of the film are the art direction and the very interesting cast assembled (Madame Sul-Te-Wan, Beulah Bondi, Zeffie Tillbury, Lucy Beaumont, Pedro de Córdoba, Bonita Granville, Halliwell Hobbes, Virginia Weidler, Louise Dresser, Donald Meek, Gale Sondergaard, William Farnum et al).

[JackFavell]

Nice to see you, Fer!

[feaito]

Thanks WEN.

[RedRiver]

sorry to disagree with your Red River

No problem. I appreciate your perspective.

[feaito]

Thank you Red River. I must add that Ms. Colbert is one of my top-ten favorites of all-time and I watch everything she's been in, like Lombard, Loy, Hepburn and Stanwyck.

[charliechaplinfan]

I've seen The Marriage Circle too, it's good but One Hour With You is better because of the humour in the story and the chemistry of Chevalier and Macdonald, who I haven't yet seen in any pairing with Nelson Eddy but have seen everything she's done with Chevalier and Lubitsch.

[JackFavell]

Well, I for one am delighted with the remarks from both of you on MAID OF SALEM and THREE CORNERED MOON! Since you both have differing opinions on the films, that makes them even more irresistible to me... I can't wait to see the films now.

[feaito]

[MikeBSG]

Today I watched "Monte Carlo" (1930), directed by Ernst Lubitsch.

I liked it a bit more than "Love Parade" and a bit less than "One Hour With You." While I know some people absolutely hate Jack Buchanan's performance here, I thought he was okay. But only okay. Still, I can't really imagine who else would fit the role, which doesn't seem like a Chevalier role. However, MacDonald was flawless and a delight. I loved the scene in which she locked the door to her bedroom and then locked away the key, then locked away that key, etc. etc. Again, this was a lot of fun, but I'd tend to classify it as more of a comedy than a musical.

[pvitari]

I saw the new digitally restored version of Lawrence of Arabia in the theater Thursday night and I'm thrilled to report it looks absolutely spectacular and if they were going to show it again, I'd buy another ticket in a heartbeat. This is the fifth time I've seen LoA in the theater (plus I've watched a bunch of times on DVD) and every time it's as fresh and extraordinary as the time before. I'm really looking forward to the upcoming blu-ray but dang, I don't want to watch it on TV, I want to go back to the theater and see it again.

[JackFavell]

I too like Monte Carlo just a tad better than Love Parade, I think it's had a bad rap for no reason.

Paula, I'm jealous! Lawrence of Arabia is a great film.

[RedRiver]

The library has filled their video section with TV shows. Disc after disc of volume one through whatever. The cases have yellow stickers on them. TV! TV! TV! TV! It's kind of sad. Is KING OF QUEENS that much more important than the work of Ford, Hawks and Hitchcock? They still have movies. Packed into half the original space, extending to the bottom row where nobody will go. But it's not the same.

It's one more example of classic film being lost to obscurity. They're already unknown to video stores. (Wait! What are video stores?) They're never broadcast on television, the occasional Svengoolie not withstanding. Now they must fight for consideration at The Public Library. Again, sad.