Jedi Council Forums - 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die: Now Disc. "Withnail & I" (1987)

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Author	Topic: 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die: Now Disc. "Withnail & I" (1987)
Zaz Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre Registered: Oct '98	Date Posted: 2/15/07 6:42pm Subject: RE: 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die: Now Disc: "Winchester '73" (1950 ) - Date Edited: 2/15/07 9:21pm (1 edits total) Edited By: Zaz
	Next: "Rio Grande" (1950) USA; 105 minutes; B & W; Languages: English Director: John Ford Producer: Merian C. Cooper, John Ford, Herbert J. Yates Screenplay: James Warner Bellah, James Kevin McGuinness, from the story by the former Photography: Bert Glennan Music: Dale Evans, Stan Jones, Tex Owens, Victor Young Cast: John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Claude Jarman, Jr, Ben Johnson, Harry Carey, Jr, Victor McLaglin The final film of Ford's cavalry trilogy ("Fort Apache" and "She Wore A Yellow Ribbon" being the other two), it's the first of the films in which John Wayne meets the woman for him: Maureen O'Hara. This is the first of five films they made together; in all of them they are an estranged couple. Ford did this film to finance his long-wanted project: "The Quiet Man." It's still a good film. Wayne is a Union cavalry officer who had to order the burning of his Southern wife's family home during the Civil War. She left him, taking their small son. Years later, the son runs away and joins the army, and his mother comes out West to retrieve him from his father. It doesn't take too much figuring to say this is representative of the USA after the Civil War, with Wayne as the North and O'Hara as the South. The question is whether there will be a reconciliation, in more ways than one.
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waheennay Registered: Sep '00	Date Posted: 2/16/07 9:25am Subject: RE: 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die: Now Disc: "Rio Grande" (1950 )
	I think the one problem I have is that Maureen O'Hara doesn't have a Southern accent. Other than that I think she and Wayne are wonderful together. I liked Ben Johnson in the previous Cavalry movie "She Wore A Yellow Ribbon" but I think he really shines in this one. -----signature----- U2's Sweetest Thing; "A blue-eyed boy meets a brown-eyed girl Oh oh oh the sweetest thing"
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Zaz Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre Registered: Oct '98	Date Posted: 2/16/07 12:14pm Subject: RE: 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die: Now Disc: "Rio Grande" (1950 )
	Yes he does. Unfortunately, he answered back on the set of this film, and Ford, who was a bully, didn't use him again for many moons.
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Rogue1-and-a-half Title: Manager: Amphitheatre Registered: Nov '00	Date Posted: 2/16/07 9:31pm Subject: RE: 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die: Now Disc: "Rio Grande" (1950 ) - Date Edited: 2/16/07 9:31pm (1 edits total) Edited By: Rogue1-and-a-half
	Rashomon is brilliant; par for the course for Kurosawa. They loaded this book down with his films and still forgot one of his best: The Lower Depths, a devestating adaptation of the Gorki play. But never seen a bad one from him. Mifune is amazing; there are moments of raw poetry; I'll never forget Mifune's statement in his testimony in the film: what lead to the entire sordid and tragic affair? A simple gust of wind, lifting a veil for a split second. If that's not a poetic meditation on the fragility of life, I don't know what is. Winchester 73 is a hot movie for sure, one of the great Westerns of all time. We'll revisit Mann and Stewart in this book, as is just. But this is a great film; it's stark and fairly nihlistic, almost a noir western. The plot follows a rifle from hand to hand, from senseless death to senseless death. Dan Duryea is great in his supporting role and Stewart's all american image is already cracking at the edges. He's not as dark here as he would get later in the decade, but he's starting. An electrifying film. But you're right about Winter. -----signature----- Don't be a fool, don't be blind Heart of mine If you can't do the time, don't do the crime Heart of mine
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Zaz Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre Registered: Oct '98	Date Posted: 2/17/07 9:29am Subject: RE: 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die: Now Disc: "Rio Grande" (1950 )
	I forgot to mention Duryea as the slimy heavy in one of the interlocking plots. That scene where he baits and humiliates Stephen McNally is pretty startling for a 1950 movie. There's a similar scene in "7 Men From Now" later in the decade. Next: "All About Eve" (1950) USA; 138 minutes; B & W; Languages: English Director: Joseph L. Mankieciwz Producer: Darryl F. Zanuck Screenplay: Joseph L. Mankieciwz, from the story by Mary Orr Photography: Milton Krasner Music: Alfred Newman Cast: Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, Georg Sanders, Gary Merrill, Celeste Holme, Hugh Marlowe, Gregory Ratoff, Barbara Bates, Marilyn Monroe, Thelma Ritter This is a famous movie, and it's acutally based on a real incident, which happened to an actress whose name I forget. Bette Davis plays a 40ish stage actress named Margo Channing. Eve Harrington is a devoted fan, who waits outside the stage door each night, and manages, by way of never telling the truth, to worm her way into Davis's entourage. Davis is flattered and reassured by her devotion, and doesn't notice (at first) that Eve is scheming to supplant her. The film has great things---Davis's performance as the fearful, neurotic, and self-destructive Margo; Sanders as the critic, the plot and some of the lines. Holme isn't bad either, as the friend who rather resents Margo's success and wants to take her down a peg (or two). The film also has bad things---Baxter is inadequate as the scheming Eve; Hugh Marlowe is godawful as the playwright; and some of the dialogue is overripe and silly. But lots of fun, and when Davis tells Baxter to put her acting award 'where your heart should be' you feel the instinct to cheer.
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Rogue1-and-a-half Title: Manager: Amphitheatre Registered: Nov '00	Date Posted: 2/17/07 5:20pm Subject: RE: 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die: Now Disc: "All About Eve" (1950 )
	Incredibly entertaining film; no one delivers a bon mot like George Sanders and Bette Davis is near the top of her game here. Great ensemble, for the most part. The 'bumpy night' party scene is a masterpiece of ensemble acting. -----signature----- Don't be a fool, don't be blind Heart of mine If you can't do the time, don't do the crime Heart of mine
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General_Dodonna Registered: Feb '05	Date Posted: 2/17/07 9:03pm Subject: RE: 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die: Now Disc: "All About Eve" (1950 ) - Date Edited: 2/17/07 9:05pm (1 edits total) Edited By: General_Dodonna
	I personally consider All About Eve one of the greatest pure talking pictures of American cinema. Joseph Mankiewicz had an almost innate sense for filming talk and capturing moments of great verbal wit. His mise-en-scene here reaches its zenith: it is uncluttered and elegant. He creates layers of meaning in how characters interact with one another in the frame and outside of it. The film moves seamlessly between Margo and Eve, its dichotomy self evident, but without Mankiewicz's subtle touch and delicate pacing, the film would be a mess. The acting is of course first rate, and I'd disagree with Zaz about Baxter, she's superb. Mankiewicz was an actor's best friend, much like Elia Kazan (although unlike Kazan, Mankiewicz understood cinema), and this film is really the high point of his directorial career. The only American director working today who can direct a talking picture on par with the great Golden Age Hollywood directors is Richard Linklater. -----signature----- "A film is difficult to explain because it is easy to understand." - Christian Metz
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Zaz Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre Registered: Oct '98	Date Posted: 2/18/07 9:33pm Subject: RE: 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die: Now Disc: "All About Eve" (1950 )
	Next: "Sunset Boulevard" (1950) USA; 110 minutes; B & W; Languages: English Director: Billy Wilder Producer: Charles Brackett Screenplay: Charles Brackett, D. M. Marshman, Billy Wilder Photography: John F. Seitz Music: Jay Livingston, Franz Waxman Cast: Wm. Holden, Gloria Swanson, Erich von Stroheim, Nancy Olson This is a film where everybody wants something and nobody is prepared to admit it. Norma Desmond, a 50ish silent star, wants a comeback; her butler, ex-director, and ex-first husband, wants her to remain dependant on him; her lover, a young scriptwriter named Joe Gillis, doesn't want to go home to the Midwest as a failure; and his collaborator (Olson) wants a better-looking boyfriend than Jack Webb. This web of dependancy, greed, aspiration, and fear festers nastily throughout. Swanson is good, but her voice and line-readings are less good than her mime (remember, she was a silent star). Holden is splendid (though probably too old; first choice was Montgomery Clift), and von Stroheim is subtle--in the famous last scene, he's a sight better than Swanson.
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Zaz Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre Registered: Oct '98	Date Posted: 2/19/07 8:18pm Subject: RE: 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die: Now Disc: "Sunset Boulevard" (1950 ) - Date Edited: 2/19/07 8:23pm (1 edits total) Edited By: Zaz
	Next: "Los Olvidados" (1950) Mexico; 85 minutes; B & W; Languages: Spanish Director: Luis Bunuel Producer: Oscar Dancigers; Sergio Kogan; Jaime A. Menasce Screenplay: Luis Alcoriza, Luis Bunuel Photography: Gabriel Figueroa Music: Rodolpho Halffter, Gustavo Pitaluga Cast: Alfonso Meija, Estela Inda, Miguel Inclan, Roberto Cobo From the book: "Los Olvidados" discourages the spectator from settling into the position of noble sensitivity commonly cultivated by liberal message films. For one thing, the tone is too caustic, distancing, contradictory..."
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Rogue1-and-a-half Title: Manager: Amphitheatre Registered: Nov '00	Date Posted: 2/19/07 8:21pm Subject: RE: 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die: Now Disc: "Los Olvidados" (1950 )
	Sunset Blvd is a stunner; California Gothic and if you didn't know there was such a thing, maybe this film invented it. It crops up later in Vertigo and Whatever Happened to Baby Jane. It's a great noir flick; Holden is absolutely brilliant and his narration is the perfect bitter touch. That opening is brilliant and, in my opinion, better than the ending. That shot from inside the swimming pool, up past Holden's floating body, through the surface of the water, as the flashbulbs go off . . . one of those shots that very nearly gives me cold chills every time I see it. -----signature----- Don't be a fool, don't be blind Heart of mine If you can't do the time, don't do the crime Heart of mine
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General_Dodonna Registered: Feb '05	Date Posted: 2/21/07 6:16pm Subject: RE: 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die: Now Disc: "Los Olvidados" (1950 )
	Agree with Rogue on Sunset Boulevard, certainly one of Wilder's finest films. I'm sure both of you know the story of the film's original disastrous opening and test-screening. If not, I'd be happy to relate... Los Olvidados is one heck of a film. Here there is no sentimentality, only Bunuel's dour pessimism. The surreal dream sequence is an astonishing moment, expanding on and improving the work Bunuel did with Salvador Dali in the late 1920s and early 30s. If you get a chance to see this film (and it's quite rare in Region 1), do so. Bunuel's move to Mexico might've been the greatest thing he ever did, producing as it did such masterpieces as this film, Simon of the Desert, The Exterminating Angel, and El among many others. -----signature----- "A film is difficult to explain because it is easy to understand." - Christian Metz
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Zaz Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre Registered: Oct '98	Date Posted: 2/21/07 9:01pm Subject: RE: 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die: Now Disc: "Los Olvidados" (1950 ) - Date Edited: 2/21/07 9:03pm (1 edits total) Edited By: Zaz
	Next: "In a Lonely Place" (1950) USA; 94 minutes; B & W; Languages: English Director: Nicholas Ray Producer: Henry Kesler, Robert Lord Screenplay: Dorothy Hughes, Edmund North, Andrew Solt, from the novel by Hughes Photography: Burnett Guffey Music: George Antheil Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Gloria Grahame, Frank Lovejoy Bogart and Grahame are a great pair, but this noir drama has been unjustly neglected. Bogart is a scriptwriter who may (or may not) be guilty of a vicious murder. Grahame can give him an alibi, but their affair is doomed because she is unsure as to whether he is guilty (especially because of his hair-trigger temper). For those who think Bogart couldn't act; a mistake. He could and he does, brilliantly.
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Zaz Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre Registered: Oct '98	Date Posted: 2/22/07 7:35pm Subject: RE: 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die: Now Disc: "In a Lonely Place" (1950 )
	Next: "The Big Carnival" (1950) (aka "Ace in the Hole") USA; 111 minutes; B & W; Languages: English/Latin Director: Billy Wilder Producer: Wm Schorr, Billy Wilder Screenplay: Walter Newman, Lesser Samuels, Billy Wilder Photography: Charles Lang Music: Hugo Friedhofer Cast: Kirk Douglas, Jan Sterling, Robert Arthur, Porter Hall After "Sunset Boulevard", Wilder parted from his long-time collaborator, Charles Brackett, and the result was the nastiest of all his films. It landed with a thud at the box office, and ever after, he was more careful to sugarcoat his cynicism. As an exploration of the media, it's right on the mark, way too close for the times.
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JohnWesleyDowney Registered: Jan '04	Date Posted: 2/22/07 8:28pm Subject: RE: 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die: Now Disc: "The Big Carnival" (1951)
	It's one sad, depressing film as Kirk's character stops at nothing at shameless self-promotion while a dying man lies trapped under a mountain. I saw this as a kid on TV and remember thinking it creeped me out. But in the age of reality TV, Anna Nicole, Britney, Paris and OJ, it almost seems tame. -----signature----- Namaste.
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Zaz Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre Registered: Oct '98	Date Posted: 2/23/07 7:41pm Subject: RE: 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die: Now Disc: "The Big Carnival" (1951)
	Next: "A Streetcar Named Desire" (1951) USA; 112 minutes; B & W; Languages: English Director: Elia Kazan Producer: Charles K. Feldman Screenplay: Tennessee Williams and Oscar Saul, from the former's play Photography: Harry Stradling, Sr. Music: Alex North Cast: Vivien Leigh, Marlon Brando, Kim Hunter, Karl Malden A faded Southern belle (Leigh) comes to New Orleans to stay with her pregnant younger sister and the latter's brutish husband, Stanley (Brando). If you know anything about Tennessee Williams, you know this is his mother vs. his father. His father triumphs, the victory is Phyrric. Leigh's neurotic unlikeability was rarely better cast; Brando's naturalism was a wow at the time.
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