I had given up checking, but the whole thing is available on youtube it seems.
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Wednesday, 12 July 2023 18:20 (eleven months ago) link
Still regard the moment 9:10 into the movie where Dita walks the length of the barge at dusk, her white bridal gown gleaming against the dark, industrial backdrop, as one of the great magical moments in early cinema
― fair but so uncool beliefs here (Eric H.), Wednesday, 12 July 2023 18:34 (eleven months ago) link
Man, was Michel Simon ever young??
Towards the beginning of this it felt so idyllic - ppl building their own happiness outside of the strictures of polite society, it reminded me of the movie Holiday and also of the Moomins. But at the same time, lord, so much bickering! I was left uncertain whether to take the final scenes as a happy ending or the continuation of a vicious circle.
A friend brought this film up yesterday, unrelated to this project, and he had misremembered it as a silent film. Which is weird in one way because it is very chatty but there are def a few sequences that feel like silent cinema.
― Daniel_Rf, Thursday, 13 July 2023 16:36 (eleven months ago) link
The underwater sequence!
― the dreaded dependent claus (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 13 July 2023 17:12 (eleven months ago) link
Yeah, it's beautiful. Also a film stuffed with sexuality and sensuality in a way that Hollywood, even Pre-Code, would never have gone for.
― Daniel_Rf, Thursday, 13 July 2023 17:45 (eleven months ago) link
It's a fantastic film.
― Toshirō Nofune (The Seventh ILXorai), Thursday, 13 July 2023 20:27 (eleven months ago) link
Loved this
― nxd, Tuesday, 18 July 2023 21:52 (eleven months ago) link
Don't we get a new one? And Camaraderie's thoughts on L'Atalante?
― Daniel_Rf, Tuesday, 18 July 2023 22:48 (eleven months ago) link
No - keeping us at arms length.
― Halfway there but for you, Tuesday, 18 July 2023 23:06 (eleven months ago) link
nearly finished with it! hold yr hosses!
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Wednesday, 19 July 2023 05:09 (eleven months ago) link
yeah this was lovely, just re-watching as had missed a lot of the cinematography due to the lousy rip I posted above. it was an odd one as everything seemed kind of inconsequential at first, but as it built up and I became invested in their lives everything clicked. such rich, believable characters and such insight into their lives. it felt like I was watching the first french new wave film, so many parallels not just in filmmaking, but in the way it feels, the way it just immerses you in a world, that mix of social realism and fantasy.
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Wednesday, 19 July 2023 09:14 (eleven months ago) link
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/31/Scarlet_empress.jpegThe Scarlet Empress, Josef von Sternberg,1934Morbsies #605
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Wednesday, 19 July 2023 09:18 (eleven months ago) link
Good one, though Sam Jaffe's performance needs adjusting to.
― the dreaded dependent claus (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 19 July 2023 09:20 (eleven months ago) link
this one also is on youtube and looks to be in reasonable quality this time
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Wednesday, 19 July 2023 09:22 (eleven months ago) link
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Wednesday, 19 July 2023 09:26 (eleven months ago) link
I watched Deux Heures A Tuer, a middling French murder mystery from the 60's, and he's in it basically still playing the same kind of role.
― Daniel_Rf, Wednesday, 19 July 2023 09:30 (eleven months ago) link
The first five minutes of this one alone, my god ... the dissolve from a suspended man serving as the unwilling clapper to a gigantic bell to Marlene's guileless ingenue enjoying a spring swing
― fair but so uncool beliefs here (Eric H.), Wednesday, 19 July 2023 13:57 (eleven months ago) link
There's not many pre-1940 movies where I get insistant about seeing it projected onto a giant screen, but this is prob #1
― Elvis Telecom, Thursday, 20 July 2023 22:04 (eleven months ago) link
I enjoyed this a great deal, but also it was quite the cheese-fest, and really stagey, I never once forgot that this was a film set with professional actors doing their thing. Not exactly a disqualifying factor, but I just didn't find any of this with Shanghai Express. Some of the shots were of course terrific, that one long tracking shot of the wedding feast for example. But there were also some odd editing mistakes, especially towards the end, and the use of intertitles was a bit of an unexpected throwback.
What this all oddly reminded me of was early-to-mid-70s gothic horror Doctor Who serials, like The Monster of Peladon. Just something about the way it felt, and the non-theatening cartoon villain.
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Saturday, 22 July 2023 10:50 (eleven months ago) link
None of those things are negatives in my experience
― fair but so uncool beliefs here (Eric H.), Saturday, 22 July 2023 14:09 (eleven months ago) link
Fair enough! Will stress that I did like it.
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Saturday, 22 July 2023 16:08 (eleven months ago) link
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/The_39_Steps_%281935%29_-_poster.jpgThe 39 Steps, Alfred Hitchcock, 1935Morbsies #374
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, 24 July 2023 19:36 (eleven months ago) link
Perfect in its way.
― the dreaded dependent claus (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 24 July 2023 20:12 (eleven months ago) link
this one is also on youtube, albeit in non-restored quality, if anyone has any tipoffs about a better quality stream then please share.This is, I think, my 4th viewing of The 39 Steps, will try my best to have some new things to say about it!
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, 24 July 2023 21:11 (eleven months ago) link
I generally don't have much to say about Hitchcock's British stuff except that The Lady Vanishes is by a fair distance my favorite
― fair but so uncool beliefs here (Eric H.), Monday, 24 July 2023 21:13 (eleven months ago) link
Lucky to have seen L’Atalante in 35mm once. I believe it was at the Cinefamily in Los Angeles
― beamish13, Monday, 24 July 2023 21:55 (eleven months ago) link
Agree Lady Vanishes is best, but 39 Steps is a good 'un too. Love that final shot of them holding hands.
John Buchan in general a rather dull writer, aside from all the bigotry - safe to jump straight to Ambler imo.
― Daniel_Rf, Wednesday, 26 July 2023 09:09 (eleven months ago) link
Watched this again last night, it is kind of throwaway nonsense, but done so perfectly, not a moment is wasted. I love how Hitchcock doesn't hesitate in throwing out all of the dodgy or nonsensical stuff from Buchan's book and cutting it down to the essentials, then adding the brilliant "Mr Memory" plot and of course Pamela. Everything works so well that it's no wonder he recycled the film twice (Saboteur and North By Northwest)
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Wednesday, 26 July 2023 09:45 (eleven months ago) link
Just been given a much better-quality upload by the youtube algorithm, in case anyone wants to watch this.
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Wednesday, 26 July 2023 21:45 (eleven months ago) link
This is the film that makes certain purists think he should never have crossed the pond.
― the dreaded dependent claus (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 26 July 2023 21:48 (eleven months ago) link
What a weird opinion, especially considering how much, as Camaraderie mentioned, this is a blueprint for NBNW. What do these people dislike in the American work, not enough location shooting?
― Daniel_Rf, Thursday, 27 July 2023 10:10 (ten months ago) link
the level of sexiness in 39 Steps is off the chart for a Brit flick of its era
― Let's talk about local tomatoes (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 27 July 2023 10:21 (ten months ago) link
― Daniel_Rf,
Residual snobbery for Hitch's crossing the pond.
― the dreaded dependent claus (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 27 July 2023 12:20 (ten months ago) link
Well the egg's certainly on his face leaving the powerhouse of creativity that was the British film industry of the 1930's.
― Daniel_Rf, Thursday, 27 July 2023 14:41 (ten months ago) link
Why do some people like Buñuel’s Mexican films more than his French films?
― Live and Left Eye (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 27 July 2023 15:09 (ten months ago) link
Have you seen Simon of the Desert? There's your answer
― fair but so uncool beliefs here (Eric H.), Thursday, 27 July 2023 15:10 (ten months ago) link
Simon is the best
― Let's talk about local tomatoes (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 27 July 2023 16:11 (ten months ago) link
It really is. I like a lot of his Mexican films but I love neo-realism so..
Wouldn't say I prefer them to his French stuff though.
― Toshirō Nofune (The Seventh ILXorai), Friday, 28 July 2023 09:58 (ten months ago) link
― Live and Left Eye (James Redd and the Blecchs)
I'm not seeing this? He made more Mexican than French films, of variable quality.
― the dreaded dependent claus (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 28 July 2023 12:12 (ten months ago) link
Add another "some" if that works for you.
― Live and Left Eye (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 28 July 2023 13:21 (ten months ago) link
My question was kind of just really trying to make some kind of anology between Mexican Buñuel and British Hitchock, what was done with less gloss on a more limited budget in the native tongue.
― Live and Left Eye (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 28 July 2023 13:23 (ten months ago) link
Next you're going to point out that British and American English are the same language and Buñuel was Spanish, not Mexican.
― Live and Left Eye (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 28 July 2023 13:24 (ten months ago) link
I think my position that 80-90% of the best stuff of Hitchcock's career came from his American period is probably a minority one
― fair but so uncool beliefs here (Eric H.), Friday, 28 July 2023 13:25 (ten months ago) link
I dunno, took a quick glance at the s&s 250 and all 4 Hitchocks I saw are US productions.
I think The Lady Vanishes, 39 Steps and The Lodger are highly rated but pitting the whole of the UK work vs the US stuff saying UK is superior feels like contrarianism.
Aside from anything else the UK stuff doesn't have Cary Grant or James Srewart!
― Daniel_Rf, Friday, 28 July 2023 13:47 (ten months ago) link
― fair but so uncool beliefs here (Eric H.)
An opinion.
― the dreaded dependent claus (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 28 July 2023 13:52 (ten months ago) link
When Robin Wood published Hitchcock's Films in 1965, he was working against what he saw as the elevation of the UK films over the American. Of course, he was in the UK at the time, where that opinion may have been more prevalent. Nowadays, I'd say the US films are much more widely acclaimed (as is Hitchcock's work in general).
― Halfway there but for you, Friday, 28 July 2023 17:35 (ten months ago) link
39 Steps and the o.g. Man Who Knew Too Much are maybe the only two of his pre-US films i love as much as the later stuff
― Let's talk about local tomatoes (Noodle Vague), Friday, 28 July 2023 17:37 (ten months ago) link
Add The Lodger.
― the dreaded dependent claus (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 28 July 2023 17:39 (ten months ago) link
haven't watched that in an age and i probably should
― Let's talk about local tomatoes (Noodle Vague), Friday, 28 July 2023 17:42 (ten months ago) link
To repeat what a couple of others point out, I think that's been far and away the common view for at least a couple of decades. To the point that his best British films probably get overlooked. I loved The Lady Vanishes the one time I saw it, probably as much as anything except Rear Window and Psycho.
― clemenza, Saturday, 29 July 2023 22:05 (ten months ago) link