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telegonus's Replies
Yes, though the classic status of The Magnificent Obsession and Johnny Guitar is rather retroactive. Both actually did very well at the box-office when they came out but neither was the kind of film that the Academy was likely to nominate for major awards. Those Hitchcock pictures were regarded as "light". Caine, in contrast, or rather its star, was featured on the cover of Time magazine. It was, as Waterfront's Terry Malloy might have put it, a contender.
Maybe so, EC, and thank you for the kinds words. Re Bogdanovich. Do you know the year his book was published? We've been going over the Norman-Arbogast exchange business for some time. If the book came out within the last roughly five years I wouldn't be surprised. A lot of Hollywood people read the IMDB message boards, and some occasionally contributed. That Bogdanovich is older makes it seem more likely. It's not like he's all that busy a man these days.
It would be good to know the time frame of those Norman-Arbo encounters. It's December, and I don't know about daylight savings time in the western states, nor the time of day Arbo arrives at the Bates motel. It doesn't feel like December to me, but then this is California. Maybe this is part of the genius of Psycho,--that it takes the viewer out of normal time and space as we know it, making the viewer aware that it is indeed a movie--which puts the scenes in another place entirely: like real life, but not real life.
I agree, Gia. This is my major beef with the film, which is that somehow Capt. Queeg could have been (as we like to say nowadays) enabled into behaving normally. Well, on the surface, yes. If the ship's officers had been nicer to Queeg life would have been easier for everyone,--for a while--but Queeg was a ticking time bomb and all the supportive behavior in the world could not change this. I've seen these things in real life, and I think most adults have after a few years out in the work force, whatever one's vocation, and a Queeg type cannot be changed, especially (I would imagine) in wartme.
I think that part of what torpedoed Caine at Oscar time was the then common practice of studio personnel voting, even being told to vote, for their studio's nominees. As it so happened both Caine AND On The Waterfront were Columbia, and it looks like Columbia told "their people" to go for Waterfront. Of the two films it was probably, due to its director, star, subject matter, even in its being filmed in black and white, the more prestigious looking and feeling film for that time (1954-55); while Caine, excellent as it is, was a big budget all-star Technicolor film, which may have,--odd as this might sound--hurt it with the Motion Picture Academy, as too "typically" Hollywood, while On The Waterfront had a more European "art film" vibe. My two cents...
Lionel Belmore is most everything in which he appeared if only for his hair. Most memorable in Frankenstein31.
Also memorable in that film: Frederick Kerr as the old baron, complete with...fez!
James Whitmore in Battleground.
Erich Von Stroheim in Sunset Blvd.
Douglas Spencer in The Thing From Another World.
I've learning to live with the death/dearth of black and white on broadcast television, Amy. It's not easy. but is there a choice? I've noticed an uptick in black and white films lately on a couple of channels, but not much more. Aside from Me, This and the wretched Decades channel I don't think there are any black and white old TV shows out there anymore.
Re David Lynch: I hear ya'.
I find the 1931 original the best, with Son the second best. Bride is too fey and self-indulgent despite its striking moments, cast and production values. Rowland V. Lee did the near impossible with Son: he made an entry in a franchise that also happens to be a superb, stand alone film as a great film. It's a true original (the excellent Wyllis Cooper screenplay, the actors, the Gothic art direction all make it stand out and apart from other entries in the 1931-45 Uni franchise).
I agree that John Garfield should have played Golden Boy in the movie but Columbia couldn't get him from Warners. He didn't originate the role on stage, though. Luther Adler did, though he played it on stage many years later.
BTW, Hi, Linus!
I like Come Wander With Me. It gets better with repeat viewings, manages to be haunting, handles the supernatural stuff nicely. It could have been more subtle. If they'd gone more for the musical-poetic side of the ep, which is IMO its strongest aspect, this could have been one of the series' best. Instead there was too much melodrama too neatly stated and spelled out, which rather broke the spell the music and production values created. Still, pretty good and above average in my book.
Thanks, Jim. Great job.
Good choices, Maria, and both actors are favorites of mine as well.
Others: Frank Lovejoy, Macdonald Carey (really good actors, both); Steve Cochran, though Steve has a cult following; stalwarts like Richard Carlson, John Agar and Richard Denning, without whom Fifties sci-fi is unimaginable.
Of the ladies: Mae Clarke, Claire Dodd, Gloria Dickson, Ruth Hussey, Nancy Kelly, Patricia Morison,--a special favorite of mine--and Andrea King, Martha Scott, Claire Trevor, Jane Greer and Viveca Lindfors.
That's right, and it's going to take some effort, as in,--and I hate the word--proactive. It can be done. I've gone into old threads and posted. It's a different system from the IMDB so it takes some getting accustomed to but indeed those old threads are saved and can be kept alive.
That's my impression, too.
I feel your pain. Believe me. I think this place is going to last for a while. Jim is a great guy and I think/hope he'll be working with others so as to keep the site going were he to become unable to run it by himself.
The private messages loss was huge for me, as many of my favorite people on the IMDB boards I knew by PM only and we did a lot of sharing in the final days (so to speak). It was my understanding that when those messages arrived in my regular e-mail inbox they would remain there. Alas, they didn't, and I wonder why...and some, which have been accessible for literally years, have vanished. I'd have downloaded them all to my HD if I knew this was going to happen. Dang! Fortunately, I sent my personal e-mail in those last messages as well, however if the recipients didn't save it they're in the same boat as I am. Couldn't they have warned us this was going to happen? The PM system wasn't exactly the same as the messaging one but was apparently on the same "grid".
Thank you so much, Jim, for all the effort you've put into this site.
Yes, and unfortunately what you said is true for most entertainment sites and TV channels and sub-stations. There's scarcely anything black and white left on even the (till recently) avant garde digital channels. Most of their movies and TV shows are post-1980 and '90. Sadly, it's not just the IMDB.
On the other hand, I haven't seen our Canadian friend around on any boards lately...
Truly, and thank you. This site, so new, desperately needs an anti-troll policy. I know that Jim (Saint Jim) is busy with other things, hope that he gets around to some kind of troll block. It would make the place wildly popular I am almost guarantee it. So many ex-IMDB folk near homeless on the Web...