So, Modern Times then.Definitely a big step up from City Lights I'd say, mostly appreciate it for the set design and cinematography, both of which are all-time, to the extent that it felt like The Tramp just got in the way from time to time. Once again the plot is just an excuse for a series of set pieces, which must be amazing if you are a fan of Chaplin and find him hilarious and adorable, but I have to conclude at this point that I just don't, sorry. Paulette Goddard is just wonderful though, such a modern actor, and much better than the simpering Virginia Cherrill. Doesn't have a great deal of chemistry with Chaplin, which is odd considering they married this year. The shot of them walking away together at the end is perfectly done, couldn't have imagined better. So I'm not in love with this, but it's such a beautiful film that I don't really care.
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Saturday, 5 August 2023 13:16 (ten months ago) link
39 steps on tptv this afternoon for the Britishers
― koogs, Saturday, 5 August 2023 13:41 (ten months ago) link
oh no, that was the 59 version with Kenneth More
― koogs, Saturday, 5 August 2023 18:22 (ten months ago) link
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Make_Way_for_Tomorrow_%281937_poster%29.jpgMake Way for Tomorrow, Leo McCarey, 1937Morbsies #723
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, 7 August 2023 18:47 (ten months ago) link
And devastating as any Ozu.
― the dreaded dependent claus (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 7 August 2023 18:56 (ten months ago) link
*as
Looks really good.
― xyzzzz__, Monday, 7 August 2023 19:20 (ten months ago) link
xyzzzz, am I wrong in remarking that you haven't seen much older Hollywood fare? (Not a dis at all, btw, just an observation).
― the dreaded dependent claus (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 7 August 2023 19:32 (ten months ago) link
No problem. I'd say that's correct, yes. Silents is a massive gap overall.
Only classic US mini-genre I've seen quite a lot of is noir.
― xyzzzz__, Monday, 7 August 2023 20:04 (ten months ago) link
it is curious that what I think of as the typical examples of the golden age of Hollywood (basically MGM musical extravaganzas) are so underrepresented in this list
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, 7 August 2023 20:11 (ten months ago) link
fantastic film. rewatched it with my dad a while back and he loved it.
― Toshirō Nofune (The Seventh ILXorai), Monday, 7 August 2023 21:07 (ten months ago) link
Welles was right about Make Way. Pretty sure that, outside of Only Angels Have Wings, this is my favorite golden era Hollywood movie
― fair but so uncool beliefs here (Eric H.), Tuesday, 8 August 2023 01:40 (ten months ago) link
Saw it once ages ago, thought it was very good. Going My Way--the way it handles Barry Fitzgerald's character--is also an excellent film about getting old.
― clemenza, Tuesday, 8 August 2023 02:02 (ten months ago) link
In case Eve -- sorry, Eric -- doesn't know to which Welles quote he refers:
Orson Welles said of the film, "It would make a stone cry,"
― the dreaded dependent claus (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 8 August 2023 02:05 (ten months ago) link
It would.
― Toshirō Nofune (The Seventh ILXorai), Tuesday, 8 August 2023 08:08 (ten months ago) link
This is a good film, but I couldn’t help being frustrated by how useless the husband is and how his wife shelters him from the realities of their situation. In a way, it makes the film more potent, because we see her perspective and how she has to bear the burden of understanding the end of the relationship on her own. Still, it’s hard for me to embrace a film based around keeping someone ignorant of the truth of their prospects and fate.
― Halfway there but for you, Thursday, 10 August 2023 12:13 (ten months ago) link
Why not? The keeping up -- the shattering of -- illusions is in part what it's about. Many films have a similar theme.
― the dreaded dependent claus (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 10 August 2023 12:14 (ten months ago) link
It might make me heartless that I’d prefer to see the husband’s illusions broken.
― Halfway there but for you, Thursday, 10 August 2023 12:15 (ten months ago) link
Sure! But is that a reason to recoil? Sorry if I'm pressing.
― the dreaded dependent claus (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 10 August 2023 12:21 (ten months ago) link
I wouldn't say "recoil", just that the film didn't reach a potential level of dramatic tension; although I do feel for the wife having to protect a fool from the consequences of his actions. Maybe, in a way, it's cruel of her to allow him to keep his optimism, only for it to (presumably) be shattered, later, when he is alone?
― Halfway there but for you, Thursday, 10 August 2023 13:28 (ten months ago) link
I don't think it will be shattered, he'll keep on trying to find work, I think he knows too, deep down, but he just always tries to put a positive spin on things. Reminds me of my dad, and of me to a certain extent.
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Friday, 11 August 2023 21:44 (ten months ago) link
Anyway, finally watched this this evening, agreed with Orson that it's very affecting stuff, all the more so because the children aren't monsters, they're just dealing with their own shit.
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Friday, 11 August 2023 21:47 (ten months ago) link
It’s really close to Renoir, as Hollywood filmmaking goes
― fair but so uncool beliefs here (Eric H.), Friday, 11 August 2023 21:50 (ten months ago) link
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4c/Holiday_poster.jpgHoliday, George Cukor, 1938Morbsies #144
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Tuesday, 15 August 2023 08:15 (ten months ago) link
Maybe Hepburn's best early performance, close to Grant's best, period, and while the film's message is weird (i.e. we all need holidays) it's so damn un-American I'm surprised people weren't arrested.
― the dreaded dependent claus (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 15 August 2023 09:17 (ten months ago) link
Much prefer this to The Philadelphia Story
― Ward Fowler, Tuesday, 15 August 2023 09:18 (ten months ago) link
yep
― the dreaded dependent claus (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 15 August 2023 09:24 (ten months ago) link
It might be the most modern of all the screwball era comedies, in that it has a progressive message and none of the more manipulative/abrasive gender relations stuff.
It's certainly not the funniest of them. But it's so kind hearted and warm that I don't really mind that.
― Daniel_Rf, Wednesday, 16 August 2023 10:59 (ten months ago) link
the kindheartedness is the key
― the dreaded dependent claus (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 16 August 2023 11:51 (ten months ago) link
https://archive.org/details/ld-4y-1938
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Sunday, 20 August 2023 19:35 (ten months ago) link
it's odd how many of these films take ages to grab me but by the end I'm absolutely sold. loved Grant and Hepburn, in this, loved the leisurely pace and the way they were just fooling around, but at the same time making massive decisions that would affect their whole lives, a perfect match of feel and message. the scene with the two of them doing circus tricks in the attic, and the punch & Judy show were perfect, and the ending felt completely earned. really enjoyable hour and a half, and one I'll come back to.
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, 21 August 2023 17:06 (ten months ago) link
I've said this before but Lew Ayres is my favorite screen alcoholic: sad, ironic, possibly gay.
― the dreaded dependent claus (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 21 August 2023 17:10 (ten months ago) link
yeah he was a lot more convincing here than in All Quiet On The Western Front.
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, 21 August 2023 17:15 (ten months ago) link
Also: Julia isn't a villain. She loves her sister. You can see the sparks of their former camaraderie. No one's a villain in this picture except for Henry Daniell.
― the dreaded dependent claus (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 21 August 2023 17:21 (ten months ago) link
Yup, even Henry Kolker was far from being an ogre.
Anyway, here's a biggie...
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, 21 August 2023 17:32 (ten months ago) link
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c3/La_regle_du_jeu.jpg
The Rules of the Game, Jean Renoir, 1939Morbsies #7Sight & Sound Critics #13Sight & Sound Directors #38
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, 21 August 2023 17:34 (ten months ago) link
oh I've heard of this one
― the dreaded dependent claus (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 21 August 2023 17:35 (ten months ago) link
It's on youtube but without subtitles.
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, 21 August 2023 17:38 (ten months ago) link
Of all the movies that regularly get called, more or less, the best of all time, Rules is the one where you just have to go "Yeah, of course it is."
― fair but so uncool beliefs here (Eric H.), Monday, 21 August 2023 17:46 (ten months ago) link
I've had mediocre experiences teaching this one to college students the last five years.
― the dreaded dependent claus (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 21 August 2023 17:49 (ten months ago) link
I've seen it one (1) time, in my first month at film school, my script-writing tutor (this guy) showed it to us on a little TV before he let us write anything.
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, 21 August 2023 17:50 (ten months ago) link
That was a quarter of a century ago and I remember very little
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, 21 August 2023 17:52 (ten months ago) link
^Studied under Thorold Dickinson = UK film studies royalty (only a degree of separation from Raymond Durgnat would score you higher!)
Rules definitely one of those films that genuinely gets better every time you see it (wld say the same about Vertigo, and perhaps explains why they're often in GOAT competition).
― Ward Fowler, Monday, 21 August 2023 18:05 (ten months ago) link
Yeah he was easily one of the best tutors on the course (and I only had him the once) - he also showed us his debut feature, a relentlessly grim film about prostitutes in the old west called Painted Angels, I appreciated it but don't think many of my classmates agreed.
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, 21 August 2023 18:12 (ten months ago) link
Loved this of course, how could I not? Nothing stood out as being spectacular in terms of script, acting or cinematography, it was all just perfectly pitched, not a moment wasted, every character seemed alive and full of contradictions. It was heavily stylised without ever seeming artificial or mannered. Feel like I want to go back and watch the whole thing again, but should probably move on as it's Monday.
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, 28 August 2023 10:34 (nine months ago) link
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/His_Girl_Friday_%281940_poster%29_crop.jpg
His Girl Friday, Howard Hawks, 1940Morbsies #115Sight & Sound Critics #129
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Tuesday, 29 August 2023 12:27 (nine months ago) link
This one is on youtube, but looks like a crappy rip. ANy other links would be welcome.
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Tuesday, 29 August 2023 12:39 (nine months ago) link
Every public library in the country carries a DVD if you can't find it online.
― the dreaded dependent claus (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 29 August 2023 12:52 (nine months ago) link
which country?
― koogs, Tuesday, 29 August 2023 13:03 (nine months ago) link
In Soviet Russia His Girl Friday rents you!
Not a fan of this film but I've discussed that on here semi recently.
― Daniel_Rf, Tuesday, 29 August 2023 13:06 (nine months ago) link