Watched Hitchcock's "Shadow Of A Doubt" last night. This film received almost universal praise in it's day, and an Academy Award nomination. 100% on Rotten Tomatoes to this day, whatever that's worth. And, Hitchcock himself said it was his favorite of his films. Myself, I didn't like it too much. Cotton was good, but the plot was nonsensical, and the supporting cast, other than the female lead, were not only unbelievable, but quite annoying. I think Roger Ebert had a more sensible opinion of this film. Shadow of a Doubt movie review (1943) | Roger Ebert
All of the Glenda Jackson selections are well worth watching. SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY THE MUSIC LOVERS Are both particular favorites. Peter Finch’s monologue to the camera at the end of SBS is just brilliant.
Warren Oates is worth watching in anything. He was a wonderfully understated and totally natural actor. He made some terrific films with director Monte Hellman as well.
They're also featuring a host of Bette davis films. Alas, my faves - Jezebel, Dead Ringer, Whatever Happened To Baby Jane, Now Voyager, Dark Victory and All About Eve - are not featured. Yes, one of her best films. Would love to see a great copy of peter Brooks' Marat Sade and/or Michael Lindsay-Hogg's Nasty Habits on the channel. Maybe next time.
Indeed. Man, if only the CC would stream Bring me Head of Alredo Garcia (not to speak of an extensive Peckinpah retrospective)!
I like it now, but it wasnt a favorite initially. My first run through of Hitch was a lot like watching Sixth Sense waiting for the big holy crap moments at the end. When the endings were less of a twist, I was initially disappointed, but some of those grew on me over the years the more I watched. I like Shadow now because I like Cotten, his niece, the sweet perfect home town life. And I like the dad and Hume Cronyn being normal guys talking about how they'd kill you, kind of like my wife obsessing over murder podcasts. Still, I think about this movie like Rope, Saboteur, fun Hitchcock but not Notorious level.
Here's Jackson in '76 talking about her formative years (the Marat experience with Peter Brook bgins at 3:51) - and I posted a link to fine YT copy of the film here.
Last night, The Enemy Below with Robert Mitchum and Curd Jürgens. This was only the second time I'd seen it since my original viewing at the Castro Theater in San Francisco about 1960-61. It was a neighborhood second-run movie house at the time, and the Saturday matinee was 20¢. I could easily afford that and a soda or popcorn from my 50¢ weekly allowance. I was more taken by Jürgens' performance on this viewing.
I haven't been over to the Criterion site lately, so I was glad to see a collection of Fox Noir. I haven't seen many of them, it seems like the Warner's films were the popular ones. The into piqued my interest in Pickup on South Street. It wasn't in the collection but was easily found with a search. It isn't really a noir so I guess it doesn't belong in the collection but I enjoyed it. I've mostly seen Richard Widmark as a psychopath so it was interesting to see him toned down but still snarky. Thelma Ritter was great.
Brilliant and intense: The Maids Directed by Christopher Miles • 1975 • United Kingdom Starring Glenda Jackson, Susannah York, Vivien Merchant Jean Genet receives an unbridled, expertly cinematic rendering in this adaptation of his perverse play. Glenda Jackson and Susannah York play Solange and Claire, Paris maids who tend to the unending domestic needs of cruel socialite Madame (Vivien Merchant). Whenever Madame is away, the sisters obsessively act out a complex role-playing psychodrama of domination and control that feeds their powerful lust for revenge upon their haughty, disdainful mistress. Director Christopher Miles and cinematographer Douglas Slocombe focus Genet’s heady theatricality into a riveting and dynamic cinematic experience. In a world where the lines between mistress and servant, confession and accusation, degradation and redemption, and murder and suicide become as fragile as French lace, the fatal truth remains that, “naturally, maids are guilty when madams are innocent.”
It's probably gauche to refer to your own post but somebody else has recently watched this movie. Spoilers galore but I like this bit Spoiler Skip tackles him, pulling him back down the stairs. As he does, Fuller makes sure the moviegoer sees Joey’s chin hit the edge of every step. It jumped out at me when I saw the movie too. New York’s Underworld Is World Class
It's great to se an intelligent actor speak their mind. Sunday Bloody Sunday knocked some sense into my thick head when I saw it at a second run theater on east Queen St. in Toronto. I used to see the SAG talks where raconteurs spoke their mind. Then they started taping them and they became another PR event.
Wasn’t sure what I wanted to watch last night. Started a little of Lifeboat which i haven’t seen in probably ten years. Then picked Where the Sidewalk Ends and made it thru about half before dozing off. It was fine but didn’t really grab me.
I really wish this actor showcase included A Touch of Class, one of the two films for which she won the Best Actress Oscar. I didn't find that one streaming or for online sale anywhere. Shalom, y'all! L. Bangs
Hitchcock seems like the perfect antidote to the saccharine music all the radio stations are playing on my car radio. I've stopped watching behind the scenes extras about visual effects because knowing how it's done sometimes spoils the fun. Sound design works on a different level so that was a great doc. I'm glad I saw Rear Window in a theater. It let my eye wander over the apartments and actually see what was going on.
I watched Torn Curtain and it was better then I remembered, the ending was marginally suspenseful, but would Paul Newman ever get caught? Although they were long gone I thought it would have worked better with ambiguous leads like Robert Walker and Veronica Lake. Lila Kedrova deserved top of the line billing. Reading the trivia I saw that Hitchcock had Stage 28 restored for the movie. I used to work at Universal and would occasionally wander in there by mistake. Unfortunately: First the bad news… The Phantom Stage is gone
I watched Topsy Turvy last week, I was looking for a period piece and it kind of stuck out to me, it was only afterwards that I realized it was a Mike Leigh film. The movie starts out a bit slow as I couldn’t quite grasp who the characters were in the beginning and I don’t know a lot about Gilbert and Sullivan, but once I got over that I have to say that it’s an excellent movie all around. I thought that it would be a bit corny, but the acting, dialogue, music and costumes were amazing. Any fans of the opera or theatre should watch this movie. I plan on watching some more of Mike Leigh’s films that the channel has, I also watched Naked, I saw that movie years ago and seemed to have a different take watching this time around. Challenging movie and characters for sure, but really interesting and kept me watching.
