My body is still inhabited by aliens (see 12/6/09). I don’t know when I’ve every felt so ill. While in lonely captivity, movies have kept me company. The original black and white version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers was actually on the week before I got sick…foreshadowing maybe? I’m not sure when I became captivated by old movies. They don’t necessarily have to be B&W as there are some to die for greats like Giant (Elizabeth Taylor, James Dean), Madame X (Lana Turner), Carmen Jones (Harry Belafonte, Dorothy Dandridge), and Auntie Mame (Rosalind Russell) to name a few that are in color. However, there is just something about the void of bright stimulants that allows me to get more immersed in the story, see the characters a little more sharply even when the celluloid is a tad blurry. I remember the first time I caught It’s a Wonderful Life well before it was only shown on one network. It was 2:00AM. I had had an argument with the beau of that moment in my life and couldn’t sleep as I knew it was time for us to break up. I was grappling with what to do. The TV was already on so I sat up and started watching. By the time the movie ended, I had shed lots of tears, clearly knew what I needed to do, was happier with my life and drifted off into a contented snooze. Some of the George Raft, Humphrey Bogart, and /or Edward G. Robinson flicks provide a dramatic look at mobster bad boys. Those angular faces in shadowy close ups make me swoon especially Bogie. Why we girls find bad-ass men so appealing is a mystery that I’m not sure we understand. The violence depicted in these movies just does not seem as graphic to me maybe because the blood is not red. The same type of movie produced today would still have guns ablazin' there would just be so much graphic gore to absorb. Since I mentioned the mob I have to cite The Godfather...I just can't see it enough and watch every minute. The only scene that makes me cringe is when a pregnant Connie is trapped in the bathroom and beaten by her husband. A movie like this should NEVER be remade…it’s a classic. Why mess with the good stuff?
I can’t say that I have never seen a remake that I like. Both versions of Imitation of Life hit my heart with the same intensity; both are vintage and well made. A Star is Born dazzles with the voice of Judy Garland in the 1954 version with James Mason but seemed just a little more tragic in 1937 with Janet Gaynor and Fredric March. Love both. I think it’s lazy to take a perfectly good movie, fluff it up with present day references and sell it to the public as if it’s new. There are those of us who know the charade. Take for example one of my very favorites The Women. I treasure my tape and DVD of the 1939 version with Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Rosalind
Russell and an all female cast of characters that are a hoot! I happened to catch the 2008 remake recently. It was a slick romp that handled the betrayal of one friend by another by wrapping it in a neat bow. Norma Shearer (Meg Ryan) did not reward the gossiping, backstabbing Rosalind Russell (Annette Bening) with her friendship. She kept the women who treasured her close, was clever in how she handled the cats, and triumphed. The Women was actually remade well before 2008. I’ve seen that one once and hope to never see it again. First, that remake was a musical, second, there are men in it. Though very much the center of the storyline, not a creature with a Y chromosome was to be seen in 1939 production which is as it should be for this particular film. Don’t mess with the good stuff!
I can recite page by page the lines of Mildred Pierce, All About Eve, From Here to Eternity, The Best Years of Our Lives, and so many others that I fail to miss when they are in rotation. I am so tickled when something I have caught only part of in a previous showing is on or something I’ve never seen before appears or something I saw once when I was younger and there was no such thing as taping is before me once again like right this very moment! Racket Busters…a trucker with a pregnant wife fights a NY mobster’s protection racket…what a treat so this blog needs to be a wrap. This past weekend, Random Harvest with Greer Garson and Ronald Colman graced my small screen. As I propped up in bed to escape how badly I was feeling, I was transported. Even a present day entree took me away as it unfolded and then knocked me off my feet figuratively since literally I already was. The ending of Nights in Rodanthe was so unexpected. As the credits rolled along with my tears, I recalled seeing the pairing of Richard Gere and Diane Lane in
Unfaithful a few years back. I reran the credits of that rental countless times so I could catch the name of a very sensuous musical number that haunted me -- Ai Du performed by Ali Farka Toure. Funny how the subtleties in movies and all around us work their way into our daily lives. The very first flick I recall seeing is The Wizard of Oz. References to this classic found their way into a spoken-word piece that appeared in the blog I posted on 12/2/09. All I can say is follow your own road brick or not and…
I can’t say that I have never seen a remake that I like. Both versions of Imitation of Life hit my heart with the same intensity; both are vintage and well made. A Star is Born dazzles with the voice of Judy Garland in the 1954 version with James Mason but seemed just a little more tragic in 1937 with Janet Gaynor and Fredric March. Love both. I think it’s lazy to take a perfectly good movie, fluff it up with present day references and sell it to the public as if it’s new. There are those of us who know the charade. Take for example one of my very favorites The Women. I treasure my tape and DVD of the 1939 version with Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Rosalind
Russell and an all female cast of characters that are a hoot! I happened to catch the 2008 remake recently. It was a slick romp that handled the betrayal of one friend by another by wrapping it in a neat bow. Norma Shearer (Meg Ryan) did not reward the gossiping, backstabbing Rosalind Russell (Annette Bening) with her friendship. She kept the women who treasured her close, was clever in how she handled the cats, and triumphed. The Women was actually remade well before 2008. I’ve seen that one once and hope to never see it again. First, that remake was a musical, second, there are men in it. Though very much the center of the storyline, not a creature with a Y chromosome was to be seen in 1939 production which is as it should be for this particular film. Don’t mess with the good stuff!I can recite page by page the lines of Mildred Pierce, All About Eve, From Here to Eternity, The Best Years of Our Lives, and so many others that I fail to miss when they are in rotation. I am so tickled when something I have caught only part of in a previous showing is on or something I’ve never seen before appears or something I saw once when I was younger and there was no such thing as taping is before me once again like right this very moment! Racket Busters…a trucker with a pregnant wife fights a NY mobster’s protection racket…what a treat so this blog needs to be a wrap. This past weekend, Random Harvest with Greer Garson and Ronald Colman graced my small screen. As I propped up in bed to escape how badly I was feeling, I was transported. Even a present day entree took me away as it unfolded and then knocked me off my feet figuratively since literally I already was. The ending of Nights in Rodanthe was so unexpected. As the credits rolled along with my tears, I recalled seeing the pairing of Richard Gere and Diane Lane in
Unfaithful a few years back. I reran the credits of that rental countless times so I could catch the name of a very sensuous musical number that haunted me -- Ai Du performed by Ali Farka Toure. Funny how the subtleties in movies and all around us work their way into our daily lives. The very first flick I recall seeing is The Wizard of Oz. References to this classic found their way into a spoken-word piece that appeared in the blog I posted on 12/2/09. All I can say is follow your own road brick or not and…keep your peepers open! ®
No comments:
Post a Comment