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| Joe Vitus |
 Posted: Sat Dec 05, 2009 3:12 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 14498
Location: Houston
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| I saw The Spiral Staircase in high school and liked it a lot. Haven't seen it since, but I'm betting it holds up. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sat Dec 05, 2009 6:39 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| The Spiral Staircase also features the glamorous Rhonda Fleming in pre-siren days, when she was still regarded as a competent actress. |
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| Marj |
| Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2009 2:47 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 10497
Location: Manhattan
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I'm gonna use that Billy!
Over the last few days I've returned to my girl crush on Jean Arthur. I've seen her in three movies, The Talk of the Town, You Can't Take it with You and Mr. Deeds Goes to Town. Not once has she disappointed me. She is, in my opinion, one of those rare actors that surfaced preMethod, who actually listened and reacted.
I know, just like most of us, I've seen these movies to death. But somehow, the other night I was in the mood. TCM has been doing a Capra week or something and I actually saw these films again, for the first time - all because of Jean Arthur.
And to think I used to hate her voice. My. Oh. My. |
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| yambu |
| Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 1:00 pm |
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Joined: 23 May 2004
Posts: 6441
Location: SF Bay Area
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someone (Gromit?) suggestedI see Naked Among Wolves, the 1962 East German real-life drama about a small boy in Buchenvald, and how the adult prisoners hid and protected him.
I enjoyed it but for one thing: those internees looked and acted awfully well fed for it being April, 1945. Food was hardly mentioned. Their leader, who said he had been interned for the past eleven years, was fullback sized. I didn't see anyone who looked like those real victims shown in the Army footage taken at the time, later edited and narrated by Trevor Howard. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 1:08 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Marj wrote: I'm gonna use that Billy!
Over the last few days I've returned to my girl crush on Jean Arthur. I've seen her in three movies, The Talk of the Town, You Can't Take it with You and Mr. Deeds Goes to Town. Not once has she disappointed me. She is, in my opinion, one of those rare actors that surfaced preMethod, who actually listened and reacted.
I know, just like most of us, I've seen these movies to death. But somehow, the other night I was in the mood. TCM has been doing a Capra week or something and I actually saw these films again, for the first time - all because of Jean Arthur.
And to think I used to hate her voice. My. Oh. My.
Do you agree with me that Jean Arthur's voice is very similar to Mary Martin's? And I'm pretty sure I'm not just saying this because both of them played Peter Pan on Broadway. Their voices are similar to each other's and similarly suited to playing a boy.
I agree that Arthur was wonderful (not so much in You Can't Take It With You, because nobody was). She reportedly had a lot of personal problems which more or less closed the book on her later career. She did Shane, then over and out pretty much. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 1:35 pm |
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| I always liked Jean Arthur's voice. |
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| Marj |
| Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 4:52 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 10497
Location: Manhattan
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You know, it never occurred to me but now that you mention it, Billy, Artur's voice does sound like Martin's. Martin's voice may have more resonance but I'd have to hear them side by side to be sure.
I also agree with you about You Can't Take It with You. It was a silly play that should have never seen a camera. Fortunately Arthur had a rather small role in it. Still if you compare her with Ann Miller she comes out smelling like a rose. Of course Miller was never a real actress.
Gary, I think the reason why I never liked her voice until now is because I never appreciated her acting skills. I used to think she got by on her voice alone and that bothered me. But now I love her voice. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 6:30 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12921
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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billyweeds wrote: I agree that Arthur was wonderful (not so much in You Can't Take It With You, because nobody was). |
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I had a love and my love was true but I lost my love to the yabba dabba doo, --The Flintstone Lament |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 7:13 pm |
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| Speaking of voices of entertainers; I picked up a fare on Madison Ave, and when she was in the cab she gave me the address to go to (it was her place), there was no way I wouldn't recognize the voice. I had Ethel Merman in my cab. I actually met her about a year later when I was working at an art deco store also on Madison Ave. when she brought in a vase she wanted to sell on consignment. She was a very nice woman and unassuming. I found that in most of the New York celebs that I came across. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 7:35 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| Marj--I actually saw a production of YCTIWY starring Rosemary Harris which made the play work like gangbusters. But Capra sort of blew it, I thought. |
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| Marj |
| Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 9:23 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 10497
Location: Manhattan
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| Now that, I would have liked to have seen. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 10:28 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: Houston
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| There was a wonderful videotaped production of You Can't Take It With You starring James Robards and featuring Colleen Dewhurst. It's a wonderful play. I've never heard anything good about the movie so have chosen to avoid it. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2009 11:16 pm |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12921
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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| FInally watched A Christmas Story, which tells how Ralph "One-Eye" Parker began his career of crime. |
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I had a love and my love was true but I lost my love to the yabba dabba doo, --The Flintstone Lament |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Sat Dec 12, 2009 3:12 am |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12921
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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Also watched Horton Hears a Who!, which I wish I'd seen at the movie theater just to appreciate the Seussish backgrounds. If you're going to make a movie from a Seuss book, this is the way to go. His creations look really good (and properly strange) in CGI. Obviously they had to add a lot more story, but a lot of it enhances the poetry while keeping the spirit. The changes of perspective between Horton's world and that of the Whos, who live on a speck on a blossom of clover, are actually pretty sophisticated for a movie intended for pre-adolescents. It's funny and charming, and the lesson ("a person's a person, no matter how small") is a good one for kids.
There are also some strong religious undertones, since Horton is a voice in the sky to the Whos. (Our world is normally inaudible and invisible to them, presumably because they would see and hear at different frequencies of sound. I expect someone to do a book on The Science of Seuss.)
The next Seuss adaptation will be The Lorax, due in 2012. That will also be animated, but by the same people who are doing Despicable Me. |
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I had a love and my love was true but I lost my love to the yabba dabba doo, --The Flintstone Lament |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Sat Dec 12, 2009 5:34 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 14498
Location: Houston
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Syd wrote: FInally watched A Christmas Story, which tells how Ralph "One-Eye" Parker began his career of crime.
'bout fuckin' time. Hope you enjoyed it! |
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