To be filed under Hope for the Future
I credit my parents showing young me lots of Hitch as to why I never had a problem getting into classic cinema/old movies (I mean, the opposite in fact)
― rob, Sunday, 16 August 2020 14:27 (three years ago) link
Mr. and Mrs. Smith is another hidden gem, his only genuine comedy, and really lovely at that--starring Robert Montgomery and Carole Lombard!
This is a surprising take to me - seen that thing twice and both times it's felt to me like there's no indication whatsoever that Montgomery and Lombard's characters actually care about each other. Feels v much like Hitch was bored to tears making a screwball comedy.
― Daniel_Rf, Sunday, 16 August 2020 14:32 (three years ago) link
Same. And it's stodgy.
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 16 August 2020 14:33 (three years ago) link
Frenzy is the last classic, say I inexplicably.
Paradine Case and Under Capricorn have their moments.
― brooklyn suicide cult (Dr Morbius), Sunday, 16 August 2020 14:37 (three years ago) link
I don't know how many of you folks have teenagers, but it's tricky. She's really bright and patient, but there are some classic films that just don't do it for her, so I have to be careful what I show her for fear of turning her against something. For example, something like "The 39 Steps." It's a great movie, but it's still from 1935, which is close to 100 years ago, which might as well be a million years to someone who thinks movies from the '70s and '80s or even '90s are "old." The challenge I've sort of set for myself is that when I show her a square-image black and white movie (which are innately challenging to someone who has grown up in a colorful widescreen world) I've been trying to find movies that, yeah, aren't the least stodgy, or have an air of modernity to them. For example, she loved "His Girl Friday" and "Sullivan's Travels" because the dialogue was so fast and alive and they featured compelling female leads. But if I showed her a movie that came off too stodgy and old fashioned or dull, she might put a hold on classic B&W for a while. Another couple of examples: I forget the straw that broke the camel's back, but at one point she complained that too many movies we were watching were just men shooting at each other. And when I thought about it, she wasn't wrong! So we took a break from action movies for a bit. Or "2001," I think I showed her part of it when she was too young, and now she equates it with "boring." Which, tbf, it is, but it's the right kind of boring. I just showed it to her at the wrong time. Or "Seven Samurai" and "Lawrence of Arabia," she just couldn't get onboard (granted, a couple of years ago), but she more recent;y saw "Yojimbo" and loved it. But would I show her a movie even as perfect as 'Tokyo Story?" That might be a tougher sell at her age.
That's kind of why I picked the Hitchcocks I picked first. I think we started with "Rear Window" and "North by Northwest," because those are his two most perfectly entertaining movies, but they also set the stage for his other movies, most of which are also fortunately immensely entertaining.
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 16 August 2020 14:51 (three years ago) link
Hmm, she might like some more Powell/Pressburger. She loved "The Red Shoes" years ago, so might dig at least a couple of their other movies. Maybe A Matter of Life and Death or Black Narcissus would be good choices.
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 16 August 2020 14:54 (three years ago) link
Tokyo Story would go over well I think! Evergreen story
― flappy bird, Sunday, 16 August 2020 15:08 (three years ago) link
It's been forever since I'd seen "The Birds," possibly decades, but boy is that movie impeccably directed. Also tons of stuff I never put together until this viewing. The biggest is that, reading between the lines, it seems pretty clear, or at least is heavily implied, that Cathy (Veronica Cartwright!) is Rod Taylor's child with Annie, the school teacher, and that his mother (Jessica Tandy) is raising her as his sibling. What's less clear is how Taylor, 33 at the time of the movie's release, looks at least 10 years older than that, but that's neither here nor there. Anyway, my daughter liked it. Hitch still batting 1000.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 1 September 2020 02:59 (three years ago) link
What's less clear is how Taylor, 33 at the time of the movie's release, looks at least 10 years older than that
Three packs of unfiltered Camels a day?
― Donald Trump Also Sucks, Of Course (milo z), Tuesday, 1 September 2020 03:10 (three years ago) link
Ha, that was one theory! Also, Australian and super-tan? It's further confused by Jessica Tandy, who was 54 but still looks like they and she tried to make her seem older. So you've got a son who is 33 irl but looks 50, and a mother who is 54 irl but could probably pass for younger. Tippi Hedron looks her age (33; she's just a week younger than Taylor), but she's acting against a man who in a stretch could probably get away with playing her dad. The sexual dynamics of this movie are so messed up, anyway, it makes me wonder if it's all intentional.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 1 September 2020 12:49 (three years ago) link
I disagree that he looks particularly old – men in their 30s back then tended to look really old by modern standards, just because of the way they dressed and carried themselves in the pre-kidulthood era.
But even if he's 33, the age gap is odd, you're right. I'd never consciously thought it before; it's just hung there, making the whole thing more peculiar. And your theory doesn't seem outlandish, even if I can't see anyone else suggesting it on a quick Google search.
― Alba, Tuesday, 1 September 2020 14:13 (three years ago) link
https://www.thewrap.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/rod-taylor-the-birds.jpg
Yeah, for sure, people looked older. But this is a particularly old looking 33, imo.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 1 September 2020 14:46 (three years ago) link
Still, not too old to be the son of a 54 year old. And same age as Tippi, so that all works out on paper. But yeah, the younger sister throws things off in a really conspicuous way. I'd like to think I am pioneering new ground on one of the most written about Hitch films!
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 1 September 2020 14:48 (three years ago) link
No way does he look 50. I completely bought him as Tandy's son. The Cathy/Annie theory is interesting, however. There does seem to be a significant age gap between brother and sister.
― TO BE A JAZZ SINGER YOU HAVE TO BE ABLE TO SCAT (Jazzbo), Tuesday, 1 September 2020 15:20 (three years ago) link
Just for the sake of comparison here is fellow mama's boy Robert Walker, also 33, in "Strangers on a Train:"
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/Robert_Walker_in_Strangers_on_a_Train_trailer_%282%29..png
But he's also playing the character more flamboyantly/youthfully.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 1 September 2020 15:28 (three years ago) link
Sorry, strictly rabbit hole stuff here, but here's Joseph Cotten, 38, in "Shadow of a Doubt:"
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BOTQyOGM3YjAtNDE5OC00ZmZkLTk0ZGItMjk0MGZlMTQ0NDcxXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNzc5NjM0NA@@._V1_.jpg
Maybe Taylor's makeup and general swarthiness/manliness accounts for appearances?
I seem to recall one of the earliest bits of casting trivia I learned was that Cary Grant was originally considered for "Vertigo" but Hitch thought it was too old. He would have been 51. FWIW, Jimmy Stewart was himself 47.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 1 September 2020 15:34 (three years ago) link
("thought *he* was too old)
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 1 September 2020 15:35 (three years ago) link
And when Vertigo underperformed at the box office, Hitch blamed Stewart for being too old.
― "...And the Gods Socially Distanced" (C. Grisso/McCain), Tuesday, 1 September 2020 15:37 (three years ago) link
Shuddering to think of a Vertigo starring John Gavin.
― Get the point? Good, let's dance with nunchaku. (Eric H.), Tuesday, 1 September 2020 16:10 (three years ago) link
*shudders*
― Hit It And Quit It Sideways (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 2 September 2020 21:51 (three years ago) link
Of course "Notorious" was a big hit here, though my daughter has gotten kind of annoyed at all these films where more or less the instant the male and female leads meet they are magically "in love." The best I could come up with is that in the era they had to be "in love" to make the romance morally acceptable, because god forbid the affair be an actual casual fling.
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 21 September 2020 01:58 (three years ago) link
On that tip, you should tell her about why the big kiss scene is so broken up and stretched out.
― "...And the Gods Socially Distanced" (C. Grisso/McCain), Monday, 21 September 2020 02:26 (three years ago) link
Book on Hitch by a former ilxor.
https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-520-34356-6
― xyzzzz__, Friday, 19 November 2021 09:46 (two years ago) link
Cool, guess I should finally get round to watching The Lodger ...
― Ward Fowler, Friday, 19 November 2021 10:20 (two years ago) link
It's really good!
― xyzzzz__, Friday, 19 November 2021 10:22 (two years ago) link
Also want to the see the 1944 remake (one of a number) with Laird Cregar
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lodger_(1944_film)
― Ward Fowler, Friday, 19 November 2021 10:23 (two years ago) link
what was his ILX moniker?
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 19 November 2021 10:25 (two years ago) link
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 19 November 2021 10:26 (two years ago) link
my guess is either ENRQ (posted a lot about how ahead of the rest of the UK Hitch was iirc) or garu g
― Daniel_Rf, Friday, 19 November 2021 11:05 (two years ago) link
ah that's where NRQ ended up!
― imago, Friday, 19 November 2021 11:12 (two years ago) link
Mutuals with NRQ on twitter it's not like he just disappeared.
― xyzzzz__, Friday, 19 November 2021 14:19 (two years ago) link
That, um, doesn’t sound like NRQ’s govname
― Sterl of the Quarter (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 19 November 2021 14:36 (two years ago) link
He has posted under different names.
― xyzzzz__, Friday, 19 November 2021 14:38 (two years ago) link
Oh, wait, I was reading wrong, d’oh! Of course that’s him.
― Sterl of the Quarter (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 19 November 2021 14:42 (two years ago) link
It's really good!― xyzzzz__, Friday, November 19, 2021 5:22 AM (five hours ago) bookmarkflaglink
― xyzzzz__, Friday, November 19, 2021 5:22 AM (five hours ago) bookmarkflaglink
Second on this endorsement (the Criterion disc is excellent). But approach The Phantom Fiend (1932) with extreme caution (even if you are a completist crank like myself). The 1944 version had already been on my informal list to watch.
― Infanta Terrible (j.lu), Friday, 19 November 2021 15:45 (two years ago) link
TY - I only have The Lodger in this box set, but the quality has been dece on the ones I've watched, and there are good intros from Charles Barr:
https://the.hitchcock.zone/wiki/Hitchcock:_The_British_Years_-_Network_(UK,_2008)_-_Press_Releases
NRQ has written good stuff about early English film studies/culture for Sight and Sound and elsewhere for quite a few years now. Just today, this fun little piece popped up in a newsfeed:
https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/polls/greatest-films-all-time/1941-quiz-film-classics
― Ward Fowler, Friday, 19 November 2021 17:26 (two years ago) link
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FEwcNJfVcAQipJz?format=jpg&name=large
a signed certificate of rewatchability
― calzino, Monday, 22 November 2021 07:39 (two years ago) link
Interesting! A re-release of Rear Window on the back of Psycho; I had to check, and apparently RW was withdrawn from circulation between 1968 and 1983, so this must be early 1960s?
In other news, the Lodger disc in that box set I linked to above looks great - nicely tinted and generally well preserved - but it's presented mute ie without a soundtrack of any kind. It makes it feel more like a Stan Brakhage joint than a Hitchcock one - so I think I'm going to check if the Criterion version has music. Even a basic piano accompaniment would be fine.
― Ward Fowler, Monday, 22 November 2021 11:09 (two years ago) link
I watched it at the BFI with live piano.
― xyzzzz__, Monday, 22 November 2021 11:11 (two years ago) link
The DVD I have has a truly atrocious soundtrack. Vocals, even wordless, are a bold move on a silent film score and this one sure doesn't pull it off.
― Daniel_Rf, Monday, 22 November 2021 14:10 (two years ago) link
That does sound bad. And not necessary.
I'm guessing that no record of the Lodger's original score/accompaniment has survived, as it doesn't seem to feature on any disc release. The Criterion Blu-Ray has "a new score by composer Neil Brand, performed by the Orchestra of Saint Paul s-Downhill". I've seen Brand live accompanying various silent films as a pianist and he's excellent - and he may well have been the pianist you saw at the BFI, xyzzzz.
― Ward Fowler, Monday, 22 November 2021 15:27 (two years ago) link
Honestly can't remember. But yes I do love the (I'm assuming) live improv-y accompaniment to silents.
― xyzzzz__, Monday, 22 November 2021 22:14 (two years ago) link
New restoration of Shadow of a Doubt is grebt!
― A Kestrel for a Neve (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 31 December 2022 03:00 (one year ago) link
classic
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 31 December 2022 04:03 (one year ago) link
With support from the Robert Jolin Osborne Fund for American Classic Cinema of the 1930s, ‘40s, and ‘50s.
― A Kestrel for a Neve (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 31 December 2022 04:47 (one year ago) link
Patrick McGilligan makes it pretty clear that Hitchcock and Thornton Wilder both really enjoyed the collaboration. Wilder didn’t even seem to mind that Hitch brought in another writer after he left to join Army Intelligence to punch up the script and make it a bit more modern. Patrick Collinge who played the mother/sister (DO U SEE?) also rewrote a lot of her own lines and helped touch up the garage scene between young Charlie and the detective.
― A Kestrel for a Neve (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 1 January 2023 02:09 (one year ago) link
those ridiculous "backgrounds" in scenes involving cars highlight the artificiality of Hitchcock in general & this frankly silly concoction in particular. he certainly is an overrated director--really a cynical puppet-master manipulating gullible audiences. https://t.co/EDY3dko30S— Joyce Carol Oates (@JoyceCarolOates) January 5, 2023
― عباس کیارستمی (Eric H.), Thursday, 5 January 2023 20:44 (one year ago) link
Hahahahaha!
― Farewell to Evening in Paradise (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 5 January 2023 20:49 (one year ago) link
I'll put aside her overall evaluation of Hitchcock, but those horrible matte shots make me wince too.
― clemenza, Thursday, 5 January 2023 20:52 (one year ago) link
man those gullible audiences, overrating Hitchcock because they foolishly believe those backgrounds are part of the shot!
― Lavator Shemmelpennick, Thursday, 5 January 2023 20:53 (one year ago) link