The Silver Screen Oasis

I agree, Masha. Good film that doesn't feature your typical rough-and-tumble Steve McQueen performance. Apparently, despite Steve's popular box office status, it was a role he really had to convince director Jewison he could pull off. Thomas Crown just did not seem to fit into the accepted McQueen image.

McQueen later said he worked harder on that film than in any other in his career . . . and he did pull it off.

Perfectly.

[u][color=#0000BF]Masha[/color][/u] wrote:I wish to alert all that the movie: The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) is airing at: 5:45AM ET on Wednesday, November 26. You may have to record it because of its time but I believe it would be also a wonderful way in which to start the day! It is Steve McQueen as the coolest of cool gentlemen and Faye Dunaway at her amoral best. It is a crime romance with the most delicious ending ever created!

I fear that many do not know how very wonderful this movie is and they do not watch it because they dismiss it as a typical 60s Hollywood movie. There are many aspects which make it far from typical.

There's hot and then there's cool.



And Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway are two of the sixties' hottest coolest customers in movies at that time. I hadn't seen "The Thomas Crown Affair" in the longest and caught it on TCM recently. I didn't remember the movie at all. This is one sexy sassy movie y'all. I love the music, and the multiple images on screen. I like the sexy Battle of the Sexes and the Battle of Wits between McQueen and Dunaway. Steve McQueen channels James Bond as Thomas Crown. Cool as a cucumber. A man of few words. He's rich beyond belief: wine, women, cars, chess...ALL toys. And in comes Faye. She's just as smart as he is as she works for the Feds ( represented by dry, sexist Paul Burke. ) It's a fair fight. Yeah...maybe her heart wins out. And I wouldn't have it any other cinematic way!

Thanksgiving Day Treat

2:00 PM
National Velvet (1944)

I'm recording this off my DVR because I will be elsewhere for Thanksgiving - but I wanted to see this movie badly and I just loved the pairing of Rooney and Taylor in Velvet.

"It's not the money. It's NOT the MONEY. It's ME. Me and the system...."

~Thomas Crown

Masha, have you seen the newer version with Pierce Brosnan? Charming in its own right, it has a different ending.....

Thanks, Masha! I figured there would be people who would 'get' my avatar here and it's relation to Thanksgiving.

I believe the only failing in the movie is that she is presented as very intelligent and romantic but she then makes the most stupid and buttoned-up decision ever made.

I know! It's almost ridiculous. But it's also like Sam Spade and Brigid O'Shaughnessy...if they weren't so evenly matched....then it wouldn't have mattered. It's a wonderful, terrible Catch 22, romantically. You can't have it both ways. Arrgggh.

She is wrapped up so tightly in her job and even more so in winning, that she can't give it up. It appears to her to be the intelligent decision... because he can't possibly get away, can he? I can think of no other movie that has such a tremendously euphoric ending, with such complex emotions. It makes my heart jump.

I love the way you described the ending, Masha, it's true, that's what makes my heart jump up, because of the misdirection and then the release of finding him ahead of her in all ways.

Masha wrote:I believe the only failing in the movie is that she is presented as very intelligent and romantic but she then makes the most stupid and buttoned-up decision ever made. I will make this an informal poll:
Which would you chose:

A) Run away with Steve McQueen and millions of dollars.
B) Sit in a stinky police car with two humorless officers.

I will beg any person who choses: "B" to explain in full their rationale.

Hi there Masha,

I believe some people have a very strong moral compass. As much as they'd want to go against it, their integrity and ethics would NOT allow it. There are lots of movie instances where one reason we DO remember a movie is because of that bittersweet ending. Yes, as Jackaaaay mentioned, there's Sam Spade who gives up Brigid. And then Rick Blaine gives up Ilsa in "Casablanca." That's CRAZY!!! Since I have no integrity and no ethical grit...and my moral compass is always facing due South, I would be running away with Steve McQueen and millions of dollars. And I wouldn't look back. ( But I would siphon off a little money on the side as a nest egg...my mad money...for when I tired of Steve...or wanted a new pair of shoes. )

Since being alone with Steve McQueen onscreen or off is not something that sets my heart aflutter (it actually makes my feet run swiftly), I guess "B" and an evening in the cop car is my choice. This is not exactly a moral selection but more of an an aesthetic choice, since I do not find him appealing, though I do think he can be a superb actor in certain roles.

However, as I often think during what seem to be the boring parts of movies, it might be interesting to tell the story of The Thomas Crown Affair from the POV of secondary characters such as the supposedly dull flatfoots. Was one of them an art history major who longed to be a curator, but had to feed the bulldog, so he went into law enforcement as his blustering father commanded? Did he have a sneaking admiration for Crown's taste in painting or feel that it was a bit too cutting edge or stuffy? The other cop might be longing to get home, and thinking about the warmth of his bride or girl friend, or even just a cold beer. Such is the imagination of a fool for film and stories large and small.

as I often think during what seem to be the boring parts of movies,

The late Elmore Leonard said something like, "Don't write the parts people skip!" That's a good point. This part is important because...well, maybe it's not!