Elvis Mitchell on TCM
Posted: November 23rd, 2008, 1:25 pm
Has anyone enjoyed any of the Elvis Mitchell One on One interviews that have been sprinkled throughout the TCM schedule of late? Did you know that if you go to the TCM Video Media Room, found here and put in Elvis Mitchell's name on the right side of the listed clips, many portions of the interviews, including some intriguing out-takes will appear? If you have Time-Warner Digital Cable you can also see many of the Mitchell interviews on TCM On Demand for free. Elvis Mitchell himself is okay, though I think I prefer to read his reviews rather than listen to him. I find him a bit ready to compare older films to the present day and I'm not sure that does either period justice. Perhaps he'll become more relaxed as the interviews go on.
So far my favorite has to be Laurence Fishburne, especially for his remarks about the too often unsung, nonverbal skills of Clark Gable as an actor, (not just a star), which included a nod to the actor's capacity for stillness and gravitas. It seems to echo that story I stumbled on told by Morgan Freeman, which we discussed here. Fishburne also seemed to have a deeper appreciation of the cinematic influences of such disparate topics as swing music, Sidney Poitier and Roscoe Lee Browne during his discussion, which could probably have gone on much longer.
The pleasantest surprise that I had in the Bill Murray interview was his enjoyment of the unique Margaret Sullavan, despite the fact that he looked down his nose a bit at the stylized acting of her time in general. Murray also has some interesting things to say in some of the out-takes about working with Robert Mitchum, and his observations of Indian theater, and Cary Grant's seamless technique and the effect of Grant's energy on his co-workers.
I haven't watched all the segments that have been broadcast, but of those I've seen, the only one that was disappointing for me was John Leguizamo, who likened himself to John Garfield, saying with a cocky grin, "People say I'm the Puerto Rican Garfield". Unfortunately, he didn't seem to know the man's work in any depth, since Mitchell had to feed him the name of the film They Made Me a Criminal (1939), which featured Garfield with another Leguizamo fave, Leo Gorcey. I'm sorry if this sounds harsh, but I had the impression that Leguizamo only looked at classic cinema for reflections of himself. Maybe we all do that sometimes, but gee, couldn't he have taken a minute and looked up a few Garfield titles before coming to the interview?
Hope you'll toss in your opinion here.
So far my favorite has to be Laurence Fishburne, especially for his remarks about the too often unsung, nonverbal skills of Clark Gable as an actor, (not just a star), which included a nod to the actor's capacity for stillness and gravitas. It seems to echo that story I stumbled on told by Morgan Freeman, which we discussed here. Fishburne also seemed to have a deeper appreciation of the cinematic influences of such disparate topics as swing music, Sidney Poitier and Roscoe Lee Browne during his discussion, which could probably have gone on much longer.
The pleasantest surprise that I had in the Bill Murray interview was his enjoyment of the unique Margaret Sullavan, despite the fact that he looked down his nose a bit at the stylized acting of her time in general. Murray also has some interesting things to say in some of the out-takes about working with Robert Mitchum, and his observations of Indian theater, and Cary Grant's seamless technique and the effect of Grant's energy on his co-workers.
I haven't watched all the segments that have been broadcast, but of those I've seen, the only one that was disappointing for me was John Leguizamo, who likened himself to John Garfield, saying with a cocky grin, "People say I'm the Puerto Rican Garfield". Unfortunately, he didn't seem to know the man's work in any depth, since Mitchell had to feed him the name of the film They Made Me a Criminal (1939), which featured Garfield with another Leguizamo fave, Leo Gorcey. I'm sorry if this sounds harsh, but I had the impression that Leguizamo only looked at classic cinema for reflections of himself. Maybe we all do that sometimes, but gee, couldn't he have taken a minute and looked up a few Garfield titles before coming to the interview?
Hope you'll toss in your opinion here.