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| grace |
 Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2011 9:42 am |
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Joined: 11 Nov 2005
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bartist wrote: GRACE: Now you have me mildly interested in strapping on some protective gear and trying Sweet November.
I dunno, it could also go the way of The World of Henry Orient. Just have a couple vomit bags at the ready, and you should be okay. For the record, I think I slightly prefer Newley's overacting to Reeves' non-acting; plus Sandy Dennis is always kind of irritating; plus the first one has that icky-bad faux avant garde '60s feel. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2011 9:50 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| Sandy Dennis is indeed often irritating, but check out Up the Down Staircase for a near-perfect marriage of actress and role--and a near-perfect (and largely unseen) film. It's a beauty. In my personal Robert Mulligan pantheon, it ranks above To Kill a Mockingbird. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2011 11:32 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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Location: Black Hills
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UTDS is a classic and a viewing was de rigeur when our family moved to Lincoln (where Dennis had attended the high school I was to attend the following year). She's perfect. And pretty good in WAOVW.
(Dennis was a high school classmate of Dick Cavett, btw) |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2011 12:08 pm |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12929
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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| I'm not sure whether I've actually seen the movie version. I read the book quite a few times. |
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| grace |
| Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2011 12:53 pm |
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Joined: 11 Nov 2005
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| It's a Sandy Dennis world! She lived for several years in the town where I grew up. I think UtDS showed on the 4:30 movie a few times, and that's probably where I've seen it at least twice. (Read the book, too.) |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2011 1:12 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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Syd wrote: I'm not sure whether I've actually seen the movie version. I read the book quite a few times.
As you know, the book is written in the form of memos and directives. The screenplay manages to be rather faithful to the form, and the last scene, which is in my list of "best endings," is a practically verbatim version of the book's finale.
Almost forgot to mention that Fred Karlin's wonderful score is one of my all-time favorites. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2011 1:16 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 14498
Location: Houston
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| The movie is not REMOTELY faithful to the book (okay, they have the same final line). It's pretty mediocre. The book is wonderful. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2011 2:16 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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| Joe's wrong, so wrong. The book is wonderful, but so is the movie. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2011 2:40 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: Houston
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No I'm not. 
The movie tries to be Blackboard Jungle, which is the wrong approach to the material, it fails to convey a love of teaching, it leaves out at least half the plot, and by omitting the students' responses in the suggestion box (a major point in the novel) we don't see who they are or how they are responding to her.
Apart from the movie itself, there's the X factor for me: with the exception of her performances for Robert Altman, Sandy Dennis' facial-tic, post nasal drip performances get on my every nerve. |
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You've got a great brain. You should keep it in your head.
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2011 2:53 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| About Sandy Dennis, I would usually agree with you. But not in Up the Down Staircase, where her offbeat readings take the movie into an indie dimension that enriches it enormously. It's far, far better than Blackboard Jungle. Yes, the suggestion box is missing, but the spirit and vibe of the book is largely there. Ruth White's, Eileen Heckart's, Ellen O'Mara's (what happened to her?) supporting performances are great. And that score!!! The movie is really, really one of my very favorites. I've seen it again and again and again, and it never loses its effect for me. Sorry you don't agree. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2011 3:22 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 14498
Location: Houston
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| I'll give you the score. If there were a CD soundtrack, I might own it. |
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You've got a great brain. You should keep it in your head.
-Topher |
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| grace |
| Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2011 3:30 pm |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2011 8:44 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6961
Location: Black Hills
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| Trying to see one or two classics a month and further my cineducation -- last night "Faces." Like a John Cheever story fed steroids and then tossed in a cement mixer for a few hours; must have blown the socks off audiences in 1968. Not sure I could ever achieve the worshipful attitude that some have for Cassavettes' camera work, but what he got out of his cast was amazing. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2011 9:17 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| Faces knocked a lot of people's socks off in 1968 but annoyed the shit out of me. I think Cassavetes was a groundbreaker but I loathe most of his movies profoundly. There is an amateurish quality to the improvisation that turns me off. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2011 9:34 am |
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| We're on the same page, Billy. He was a ground-breaker (along with some others who never entered the mainstream), and I didn't like most of his films. One movie of his that I saw and liked quite a bit was Gloria. His wife helped a lot in that one giving an excellent performance. |
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