MissGoddess wrote:
not available yet except in clips or if you can attend Keene State College's screening on April 20th
in New Hampshire. The following article contains two clips from When Lincoln Paid, and gives us
our only glimpse of Francis playing his (and brother Jack's) beloved Abe:
Da*n. .
Missing the TCM Film Festival is excusably understandable, as I'm about 7.5 hours away by air . . but missing the "lost Lincoln" feature when I'm only 20 minutes away by car . . that hurts!
I gotta start keeping a dayrunner or something (for better or not, I strive to be an unplugged kind of guy).
I would have gone if I could have found any way to do it. I literally begged my hubby to take time off so we could go together, but it seemed as if everything was against us. I had been sick, and I could not find anyone willing to go with me, I would have gone by myself otherwise. Neither could I find a baby sitter for Alice, so Andrew and I could go together. And the car ended up in the shop this week as well, due to a steering tie rod (?) having to be replaced, so maybe it's lucky we didn't attempt it.
I wonder if anyone would have information about any future dates for showing these, or if someone is putting it on video any time soon? I could kick myself for not finding a way to do this.
Don't kick yourself, Jackie. I may call the university tomorrow and see if they have any plans to put together a DVD for
"researchers" (I'll put on my scholar hat and see if I can get away with it).
"There's only one thing that can kill the movies, and that's education." -- Will Rogers
"The Prisoner of Shark Island" is the story of Dr. Samuel Mudd. He is the doctor who treated Booth after his assassination of Lincoln.
Warner Baxter as Dr. Mudd does a first rate job. As one who is railroaded to a life sentence for unwittingly helping Booth he is alternately afraid, weak, brave and desperate. Other notables in the cast are John Carradine, Gloria Stuart and Harry Carey as the prison commandant. Other Ford faces are scattered throughout. Oddly, Francis Ford has his biggest role of any film I can remember but he still manages to appear drunk when first on screen. He does sober up and looks quite normal later on.
SPOILERS
The film follows Mudd through his trial and subsequent interment at "Shark Island." In what, if at all reasonably accurate, must be the greatest sham of a trial. He is threatened, mistreated but finally called upon when needed to treat an outbreak of yellow fever. Eventually pardoned and sent home.
It is a film mostly devoid of humor but not heart. The middle is full of excitement with Mudd's attempted escape from prison. Several parts of the film are noticeable for the absence of any music to help build tension instead of the other way around. The film seems to be rich in details of what prison life would be on this island. From semaphore communication to the way the soldiers march through the prison to their posts. The prison itself is a wonderful set and atmospheric in its misery.
Listening to some of the commentary the speaker is at most informative and interesting. He corrects historical inaccuracies that were by design or error but he does try to make parallels between the treatment of prisoners and the trial to current situations in Gitmo and Iraq. The case to correct Mudd's conviction ran as far as 2000 with no final change.
Good film worth a look as it is an unusual subject with an interesting style to it.
Chris
"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana."
Started watching the documentary of Ford and Wayne from PBS' "American Masters." It is amazing how schizophrenic Ford could be. From his rift with Carey to even the way he teated Wayne was often bewildering. Harry Carey, Jr. asked his father why he didn't work with Ford after his silent days (save for "Prisoner of Shark Island") and is was just he wasn't asked.
It also talked about Ford discovering Wayne. At one point Wayne accidentally walked on camera and rather then being fired Ford put him in the movies. It also mentioned that once Wayne made "The Big Trail" Ford didn't talk to him for a long time. It was thought that Ford was jealous of Walsh putting him in a big picture or felt Wayne was somehow disloyal to Ford. Wayne would say hello to Ford but Ford never responded and eventually Wayne just quit speaking too. When it came to an end before they made "Stagecoach" it was just never brought up again.
They mentioned also that some of those "parties" on the "Araner" were also Ford's own little version of keeping an eye on Japanese fishing boats and that was a year before the war.
There was never any doubt about who was in charge.
They talked about Ford making some films before he thought he would go to the war. When you are in a hurry and you can make "Young Mr. Lincoln," "Drums Along the Mohawk," "The Grapes of Wrath" (all with Fonda) and a few others it is nice to know that the quality doesn't always suffer.
Chris
"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana."
movieman1957 wrote:Started watching the documentary of Ford and Wayne from PBS' "American Masters." It is amazing how schizophrenic Ford could be. From his rift with Carey to even the way he teated Wayne was often bewildering. Harry Carey, Jr. asked his father why he didn't work with Ford after his silent days (save for "Prisoner of Shark Island") and is was just he wasn't asked.
It's called "being in the barrell".
That's our Pappy.
"There's only one thing that can kill the movies, and that's education." -- Will Rogers
Last night I was delighted to see TCM found and broadcast a beautiful looking print of The Rising of the Moon, which featured several wonderful Irish supporting and lead players, including the redoubtable Mr. Jack MacGowran:
Jack appears in the first of the three stories, "The Majesty of the Law" as an impish Poteen maker (sort of the Irish version of our own "moonshiners").
I recorded it but managed to watch the first section. That little house sure looked like the one in "The Quiet Man." Did Power have a bit of a managed Irish accent?
This is one of the Ford films I had not heard of so I was happy to come across it as I want to see as many as Ford films as I can. Apart from the silents this must be among the more rare films. I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of it.
Chris
"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana."
Haven't watched it all yet, but the bits I saw from the first section while I was taping looked charming! I wish Paps had made more short stories. I will be watching it as soon as I can, thought this week is busy for me. I am just thankful that TCM showed it, and that I managed to get it recorded. it is now a prized possession.
Whether a Ford fan or not, I would suggest putting in a tape or setting your DVR to record this movie. I looked it up on imdB because I hate to watch a movie with no idea what it's about and the short paragraph I got makes me anxious to see it and wish it had words. Apparently 1 of 4 German sons gets to America and fights for America in WWI while his brothers stay in Germany. The paragraph ended by saying the American son learned his mother was being harrassed because she had a son who was a traitor. See??? I've already set my timer. Thank you Movieman1957.
.
Anne
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