Ken's "Great Directors" Avatar Win-Nothing Contest II

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by Ken_McAlinden, Apr 15, 2004.

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  1. dbryant

    dbryant Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cambridge MA
    I concede... :(
     
  2. Ed Bishop

    Ed Bishop Incredibly, I'm still here

    Sure looks likes Ernst to me...:)

    :ed:
     
  3. Another Side

    Another Side Senior Member

    Location:
    San Francisco
    Ernst Lubitsch. :agree:
     
  4. Ken_McAlinden

    Ken_McAlinden MichiGort Staff Thread Starter

    Location:
    Livonia, MI
    I didn't think anyone would recognize him without a cigar!

    Htom has racked up yet another no-prize for his mantle. This is Lubitsch's second appearance in my Avatar. The only man so honored. I just watched "Trouble in Paradise" and "Design for Living" on DVD in close succession, and had to give props to the "original" original king of comedy. Next up is either "Heaven Can Wait" or "To Be or Not to Be".

    Regards,
     
  5. Bob Lovely

    Bob Lovely Super Gort In Memoriam

    Ken,

    There is rumor floating around that someone actually won something in this thread sometime...

    Bob :)
     
  6. Mal

    Mal Phorum Physicist

    Come on Ken, show a little compassion and send dbryant a no-prize too. Is that too much to ask?

    :p

    [I'm still not-waiting for my no-prize by the way :D]
     
  7. htom

    htom Senior Member

    Location:
    Montreal, Canada
    Don't forget "The Shop Around The Corner"... :love:
     
  8. Ed Bishop

    Ed Bishop Incredibly, I'm still here

    That and HEAVEN CAN WAIT make a great popcorn afternoon, huh? And watch 'em both with someone you :love:

    :ed:
     
  9. ZIPGUN99

    ZIPGUN99 Active Member

    There was a Lubitsch movie that starts off with Charles Boyer singing "Isn't It Romantic"...Anybody know what that was? I saw it on late night TV in the eighties (Channel 13 N.Y., N.Y.), but didn't catch the name.
     
  10. Ed Bishop

    Ed Bishop Incredibly, I'm still here

    Bob,

    You sure that was Lubitsch? That song appears in Mamoulian's LOVE ME TONIGHT, doesn't it?

    :ed:
     
  11. ZIPGUN99

    ZIPGUN99 Active Member

    I think you're right Ed. I saw Lubitsch's name in the credits and jumped to conclusions. I looked this up:

    Looking for the fees owed him by an eccentric nobleman, a Parisian tailor arrives at the country château of a lovely, lonely princess.

    Blending wonderful music, witty words and first-rate performances, director Rouben Mamoulian created in LOVE ME TONIGHT a superlative concoction which will delight any discriminating aficionado of early movie musicals. With remarkable naturalism & refinement, Mamoulian weaves the songs into the fabric of the film, managing to highlight the best of them with great gusto, while still displaying some delicate touches of his own. The opening sequence of an awakening Paris and the gradual orchestration of sounds, followed immediately by the integration of the first song into a quick walk along a busy street, is a case in point. The viewer knows instantly that the director is in charge and has everything well in hand--which leads to one's wondering what kind of a Land of Oz Paramount Studios must have been in the early 1930's with both Mamoulian and Ernest Lubitsch working on the lot...

    Maurice Chevalier exudes Gallic joie de vivre as the honest tailor whose extraordinary charm & talent beguiles a bevy of blue bloods. Effortlessly dominating his every scene, he exhibits the oversized personality which put him into the rarefied stratum of the top performers (Baker, Coward, Robeson) of his generation. Lovely Jeanette MacDonald once again is the perfect romantic partner for Chevalier. A fine actress as well as an excellent singer, she throws herself into the film's farcical atmosphere and lends her celebrated voice to the musical proceedings.

    Jeanette's château is populated by a gaggle of expert character performers: stern old Sir C. Aubrey Smith as the ducal head of the house; gently daffy Charlie Ruggles as an improvident vicomte; elegant Myrna Loy as a young amorous countess; and Elizabeth Patterson, Ethel Griffies & Blanche Frederici as the Aunties--slyly depicted as either a trio of benevolent witches or a pack of excited puppies. Soft-spoken Charles Butterworth plays the timid count who wishes to marry Miss MacDonald. Joseph Cawthorn is the no-nonsense family doctor. Rotund Robert Grieg portrays the château's imposing major-domo.

    Movie mavens will recognize sour-faced Clarence Wilson as a shirtmaker; Ethel Wales as a temperamental dressmaker; and Edgar Norton as a valet--all uncredited.

    Except for the sadly vulgar--albeit tongue-in-cheek--apache tune, the rest of Rodgers & Hart's music is very entertaining, especially the two most famous numbers: ‘Isn't It Romantic' (begun in Paris by Chevalier, and traveling by taxi, train, marching soldiers and gypsies it eventually reaches MacDonald on her balcony) and ‘Mimi,' sung first by Maurice to Jeanette, but eventually echoed, hilariously, by many of the inhabitants of the château).

    Sumptuous production values and costumes by Edith Head add greatly to the film's overall quality.
     
  12. Ed Bishop

    Ed Bishop Incredibly, I'm still here

    Yeah, that sounds right....Mamoulian was a fine talent himself, though not as....distinctive as Lubitsch was, IMO; certainly LOVE ME TONIGHT has a lot in common with the Lubitsch approach, though of course, being Mamoulian, a bit more wild and heavy-handed. Always preferred Lubitsch's light touch...

    :ed:
     
  13. Ken_McAlinden

    Ken_McAlinden MichiGort Staff Thread Starter

    Location:
    Livonia, MI
    The fact that "Love Me Tonight" starred early 30s Lubitsch regulars Jeanette MacDonald, Maurice Chevalier, and Charles Ruggles might lead one to believe it was his work as well. Lubitsch directed the first pairing of MacDonald and Chevalier, 1929s "The Love Parade". They appeared together 3 more time in the 30s, not counting the French language versions of two of their films and the "Paramount on Parade" revue picture, from which Jeanette MacDonald's number was cut from the English version.

    Regards,
     
  14. dbryant

    dbryant Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cambridge MA
    Thanks for the shout out, Malc. It would look great on the mantle next to the empty space where I keep the no-prize I won for guessing Satyajit Ray. But this ain't horseshoes. :D

    (Actually, I won two for-real Marvel no-prizes when I was a kid. That should be less than enough for any man. :) )

    - Always-a-bridesmaid Dave

    P.S. - Congrats, htom!
     
  15. ZIPGUN99

    ZIPGUN99 Active Member

    Neo- Lubitsch: nearly as good

    Hey, I got the DVD from Netflix for "Love Me Tonight." Even though I don't care for Jeanette McDonald, I dug the movie big-time. I could swear I had seen Lubitsch's name in the credits in some capacity, but apparently I was mistaken. There are some real belly laughs in there, making the movie worthwhile to me. I thought Pepe Le Pew from Looney Tunes was inspired by Pepe Le Moco, but now I'm not sure. This flick has some looney tunes feeling to it, like Chevalier falling for McDonald at first sight, and the stag bouncing through the woods, Pepe Le Pew style. The DVD has some nice extras, like script excisions and shorts by McDonald and Chevalier, and an original trailer.
     
  16. guy incognito

    guy incognito Senior Member

    Location:
    Mee-chigan
    Okay, Mr. McAlinden...aren't we a little past due for a new director, and a new chance at a chimerical prize? ;)
     
  17. guy incognito

    guy incognito Senior Member

    Location:
    Mee-chigan
    Ahem...bumpety bump bump

    :angel:
     
  18. Ken_McAlinden

    Ken_McAlinden MichiGort Staff Thread Starter

    Location:
    Livonia, MI
    Yeah Yeah Yeah. :) Since you are impatiently jonesin' for another shot at a no-prize, I bring you the following new great director avatar:
     

    Attached Files:

  19. -=Rudy=-

    -=Rudy=- ♪♫♪♫♫♪♪♫♪♪ Staff

    Location:
    US
    OK, so what's the rule? If I guess the avatar, I win nothing. If I don't make a guess...do I win something? :confused:
     
  20. Ed Bishop

    Ed Bishop Incredibly, I'm still here

    Nicholas Ray?

    :ed:
     
  21. ZIPGUN99

    ZIPGUN99 Active Member

    I've only seen Ray with an eye-patch, but it could be him. A younger Sam Fuller, too, maybe. He wore an eye patch sometimes, too.
     
  22. Ken_McAlinden

    Ken_McAlinden MichiGort Staff Thread Starter

    Location:
    Livonia, MI
    Ed got it on the first guess.

    Ed - Do not rub it in with Rudy too much. Despite his seemingly flippant manner, he has secretly been pining to win a chimerical prize for years. ;)

    This picture of Ray was taken in the mid-50s, right around the production of "Rebel Without a Cause".

    Regards,
     
  23. -=Rudy=-

    -=Rudy=- ♪♫♪♫♫♪♪♫♪♪ Staff

    Location:
    US
    And I won't rub it in that Ed did not win a prize for guessing the correct director. No, not at all. All that hard work and no prize...no way, uh-uh. :D
     
  24. Ken_McAlinden

    Ken_McAlinden MichiGort Staff Thread Starter

    Location:
    Livonia, MI
    No no no. Ed did win a no-prize. Rudy is clearly one of those "glass is half empty people" whereas I am from the school of thought that says "the glass is half full of nothing". ;)

    Regards,
     
  25. Mal

    Mal Phorum Physicist

    I'd be happy with just the glass! That postal service is mightly slow by the way Ken.........

    :)
     
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