The Silver Screen Oasis

Two satisfying bios for me was Larry Parks as Al Jolson, and Robert Downey Jr. as Charlie Chaplin (both Oscar nominated performances).
Honorable mention goes to Faye Dunaway as Joan Crawford.

Did anyone mention Errol Flynn trying to honor his friend, John Barrymore, by playing him in Too Much, Too Soon (1958), which was based on Diana Barrymore's memoir? This just came out on a basic DVD from the Warner Archive in the last year, though the price is still hovering around $15. Haven't seen it in years, but remember how touching Flynn was as Barrymore.

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Jacks,

Here's the quote from Billy Wilder following the critical response to At Long Last Love

"It isn't true that Hollywood is a bitter place divided by hatred, greed and jealousy. All it takes to bring everyone together is another flop by Peter Bogdanovich. Champagne corks are popping, flags are waving. The guru has laid another egg..." Billy Wilder on Peter Bogdanovich.

While I respect his historic interviews and his books, I've always been left with the idea that the classic era stars he befriended saw through him more than he might have realized.

lz -

Ahhh! Yes, I remember that quote now.

I think you are probably right, but I like to give Peter the benefit of the doubt nowadays. He's not a mover and shaker anymore, and can barely get a foot in the door in Hollywood. The way he tells the story of Cat's Meow was that he had heard the story from Welles years before, and that he had always thought it would make a good movie. Then, in 2000, someone either sent him the script, or they asked him to direct the film by coincidence, I can't remember which.... Whether that is true is a good question, but it seems like the kind of coincidence that could happen. And I do think there is a disclaimer on the movie that says that it is only what might have happened.

I do like Peter's movies, for all his movie star stories, and his pretensions. If I never hear another Cary imitation, that's fine with me, but hey, I don't have to listen to him when I watch his films. He may be a user, but I think he's got his "comeuppance" already. And I can't wholly hate anyone who gave me two of the best movie experiences of my life - Paper Moon, and What's Up, Doc? , both so memorable that I can remember being in the movie theatre watching them, and who I was with. Even if you say that the two films were made with the considerable help of his wife (and I've thought about this before), one can't say that she has done anything I think is comparable since then either - I've looked at her credits. So I am cutting Bogdanovich some slack. I'm not crazy about some of his films, but I liked Cat's Meow. I really enjoyed the flavor of the movie and the way it was directed. It's not going to win any awards, but I thought it was a solid movie.

moirafinnie wrote:Did anyone mention Errol Flynn trying to honor his friend, John Barrymore, by playing him in Too Much, Too Soon (1958), which was based on Diana Barrymore's memoir? This just came out on a basic DVD from the Warner Archive in the last year, though the price is still hovering around $15. Haven't seen it in years, but remember how touching Flynn was as Barrymore.

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I've read about this movie and Flynn's relationship with Barrymore, which seemed strange, there's the story that David Niven tells about Barrymore's corpse being taken to Flynn's house to frighten him, after reading about John Barrymore it seems a gag he might have appreciated, I doubt it happened though. Flynn liked the older man and joined him in some of his drinking boutsErrol Flynn was capable of sensitive performances and he was also quite tongue in cheek about himself, I wonder if he knew that the writing was on the wall and he was going into the same kind of descent that Barrymore had. Barrymore's alcoholism seemed worse than Flynn's but he managed to live 10 years longer than Flynn, he never completely gave up drinking, even for Dolores Costello although Flynn did towards the end of his life.

There's a great book about Flynn, Barrymore and the rest of the "Bundy Street Boys" who congregated at writer John Decker's home on Bundy Street in Los Angeles -- Hollywood's Hellfire Club: The Misadventures of John Barrymore, W.C. Fields, Errol Flynn and the Bundy Drive Boys, by Gregory Mank.

To say they were an inebriated lot is putting it VERRRRY mildly.

Mank describes in detail the carryings-on of this group (to include funereal hijinks such as stealing of corpses). The reason I love the book is not only is it hilariously funny and tremendously sad, but that while whitewashing nothing, Mank also conveys a great deal of sympathy for this enormously gifted, enormously dysfunctional group of men. Most of them had lousy childhoods and grew up with all kinds of neuroses thanks to parents whose own behavior was at best bizarre and often downright abusive.

Coming very late to the discussion I just watched "The Cat's Meow." Whatever the truth of the story it makes a good story for a film. It's long and rather slow to start but I liked Edward Hermann and hated Jennifer Tilley. I didn't have much trouble with Izzard because he wasn't asked to do much that is Chaplinesque. (I did think having seen Izzard as the "Executive Transvestite" to be one of the most vulgar and funny people I've seen.)

My own warped sense of humor was when they were taking Ince (Elwes) to his room after the accident it reminded me of "The Princess Bride" and his being taken to the castle after being dead most of the day.

I like the attention to the period the film plays but it's just not quite all there.

In The Blonde Bombshell, more than one actress played Diana Dors, however, my own fav was Amanda Redman, who played DD in her 40s and 50s