7 creepy things from Dietrich's "The Scarlett Empress" (1934)

Gosh, I suffered watching this film. My brother says I'm a coward, but really, how can you stand this level of creepiness, especially when you're watching it alone at night? Of course, this is not a terror movie, but dark films with suffocating atmospheres make me even more unease. It happened to me, for example, with Orson Well's The Trial and Touch of Evil. For those who haven't seen this film, The Scarlett Empress (1934; Josef von Sternberg) is the story of Catherine the Great  and how she became Empress of Russia. And here are its 7 creepiest things:

7. Count Alexi (John Lodge): The first time we meet the guy is when he travels to Prussia to present the intentions of Peter III of Russia to marry young Sophie Friederike Auguste (soon to be Catherine). Well, until that moment we've seen a luminous scene of young Marlene swinging, so his presence is very dark and tough and presages something wrong. But at this point you don't know about the creepy things coming ahead that will make Count Alexi look lovely. 

6. The way Marlene looks at the beginning: I'm not talking about her appearance, but the way she chose to use her eyes when she's portraying young Catherine. She has them really wide open, and her pupils go from one side to the other really fast. She stopped doing that when her character became Empress.

5. The bedtime stories they told Catherine when she was a kid: I mean, how would you like go to sleep after hearing about massacres, decapitations and tortures performed by people like Ivan the Terrible? In that sequence, we see what Catherine is being told about: women being raped, women being burned at the stake, a guy tied by his feet and swinging inside a big bell, hitting his head with each side, etc. On a side note, the kid was played by Marlene's daughter, Maria Riva. Oh, and the doll she had in the picture above was from Marlene's collection.

"Well, lieutenant, you're fortunate...very fortunate"

4. The relationships: I know this is true, but it was really creepy to see how everyone behave at  in those times. Young Catherine has to marry, and more importantly, have a heir for the throne ASAP with a man she has never seen, Peter III. The guy has a crazy mistress. His old mother has a lover: Count Alexi. Catherine loves Alexi, but she's disappointed about his affair with the old woman. So he meets a random soldier in the yard and has the famous heir with him. Then she had like 436248723467845683475 lovers. The end.

3. The settings: This is one of the creepiest features of this film. Everything, everything in the old and dark Russian castle is creepy: check, for example, the candlesticks (1), the paintings (2), the statues (3), the chairs (4) and even the the ornaments at the dinner table (5). How would you like to put a skull in it when is not Halloween?

2. The lighting: When you mix all these elements with von Sternberg's photography their creepiness is maximized. He manages to visually concentrate the attention in what she's showing in each scene; he doesn't allow you to think that the real setting is wider than what he's showing you in the moment, and that creates a suffocating atmosphere.

1. Peter III: If it wasn't for this guy, maybe I could have tolerated this film a bit more. But the way he's presented is even more creepy, especially if you're watching the movie from Catherine's point of view. When the young woman is told by Count Alexi how her husband looks, she's anxious to meet him. I mean, seriously:

Would you like him to be better looking than all men, tall and gracious? Well, he is all that and more. He's the handsomest man in the Russian court, tall and formed like a Greek god, a model in fashion and deportment which all of us strive to follow. His eyes are like the blue sky, his hair the colour of ebony. He is stronger than a team of oxen, and sleepless because of his desire to receive you in his arms.

But the creepiness of the moment in which innocent, young Catherine finally meets him, while the old Empress Elizabeth accentuates the fact that they must have a son very soon, can't be explain with words. Watch:

Gosh.Marlene's shocked expression is priceless. LOL. Sam Jaffe portrays Peter showing his teeth like you just saw the whole movie, with his eyes looking in all direction like a crazy man, playing with soldiers, etc.

Well, at least now I can say I've seen 6/7 films starring Marlene and directed by von Sternberg. The Devil is a woman is the only one left :)

The ten most handsome men from Classic Movies

...according to moi, of course. OK, here's the thing: some stars like Marlon Brando and James Dean are beautiful, obviously, but there's something about them that doesn't appeal to me. Maybe is the "rebel label", I don't know. To me, Robert Mitchum is more handsome because I feel that he attitude is more natural and real, not staged. I also tried to add some lesser known actors, just because they looked drop dead gorgeous in the one film I saw from them. Oh, I had to leave out people like Clark Gable and Laurence Olivier, sorry.

 Well, enjoy:

10. Robert Mitchum. He was just neat.

9. Gregory Peck.  A kind man.

8. John Justin. Looked gorgeous in The Thief of Bagdad. 

7. Burt Lancaster.  Great acting and physical skills.

6. William Holden. Beautiful man, great actor.

5. Jeffrey Hunter (The Searchers). Just saw him in 1 movie, never forgot him.

4. Cary Grant. A combination of looks and attitude.

3. Errol Flynn. The most beautiful rascal ever.

2. Paul Newman. For those who think he was mostly eyes.

1. Gary Cooper. Could he be more gorgeous?

What do you think? Oh, do you want more beautiful pics? Check Gary Cooper: Mercy or Good Genes.

 More lists :

Top 25 favorite classic actors
10 types of annoying people to watch a movie with
My Top 10 Billy Wilder movies
12 favorite things from It's a wonderful life including the board game

12 favorite things from "It's a wonderful life" including the board game

Sally from the great blog Flying Down To Rio organized a Christmas movie blogathon, called 12 Days of Christmas movies. I wanted to review It's a wonderful life, but soon I noticed it was pointless. This is a cathartic movie that everybody has seen and loved and I couldn't possibly add something new about it. A more personal post occurred to me, so I give you my picks of 12 favorite things from the film (hope you don't mind, Sally!): 

1. A quote
I know there are like 1,000 quotable lines, but here's one of my faves. Simple and cute:

2. A song
I love this song. You can hear the Buffalo Gals sung by James Stewart and Donna Reed pressing the black button (wait until it appears above the vid) and then hear a really nice version with lyrics from Youtube:

3. A scene
Again, many great scenes. I love when Mary prepares a dinner in the house that's falling apart but she loves anyway; or when she and George do the Charleston near in the pool; or when George asks God for help, or well, all the sequence at the end when he realizes his life was so worthy...BUT, I think the next scene is really dramatic and pivotal, because it shows George's good nature (just press play to go to the chosen scene):

4. A picture from the movie:

5. A behind the scenes pic:

6. A fact:

For the scene that required Donna Reed to throw a rock into the window of the Granville House, Frank Capra hired a marksman to shoot it out for her on cue. To everyone's amazement, Donna Reed broke the window with true aim and heft without the assistance of the hired marksman! (Imdb)

7. A promo shot:

8. A gif:

tocaptureyou

9. An actor
Everyone did a superb job in this film. But this time I'm picking Bobby Anderson, who plays young George. Why? Did you see the #3 scene?

10. A movie poster

11. A related item:

It's a wonderful life - the game. This time it's not invented by me, it's the 1996 Pressman board game based on the movie. I was lucky to find it last year at the flee market. Because it was in English nobody bought it, so I got it for a very low price :) As you can see, it contains cards with questions about the movie, cards with George's family and friends plus two 8 thousand dollars cards. The board let's you "Answer one" (question), " Take a card" (from the other players' hands), "Draw any card" (from the deck), "Lose a card" (boo!), "Wait here" and gives you the possibility of getting the $8,000. When you collect one money card, 5 different family and friends cards and correctly answer a final question, you win :)

Did you know the answers from the question above? Yeah, some of them are really specific, that's why it's better if you play right after watching the movie. Interested in buying the game? It's on Ebay.  

12. A quote from the crew about the movie

urbanrecord

"(...) By the end of 1947 the film was quietly put on the shelf.

But a curious thing happened. The movie simply refused to stay on the shelf. Those who loved it loved it a lot, and they must have told others. They wouldn't let it die any more than the angel Clarence would let George Bailey die. When it began to be shown on televison, a whole new audience fell in love with it.

Today I've heard the filmed called "an American cultural phenomenon". Well, maybe so, but it seems to me there is nothing phenomenal about the movie itself. It's simply about an ordinary man who discovers that living each ordinary day honorably, with faith in God and selfless concern for others, can make for a truly wonderful life."

(James Stewart |Source)

Hope you enjoyed!

My Top 10 Average|Bad Movies with Terrific Actors

After watching "The proud and the profane" the other day I thought: "with these actors they could have done a better movie". And then I thought: "hey, that's a good idea for a list!". I don't usually see movies that have low ratings and bad reviews, but I dared to watch some of these just because of the casting. Last thing: I would say that the top 3 qualifies as "bad" the rest is just "average":

10. Undercurrent (1946: Katharine Hepburn, Robert Taylor, Robert Mitchum): This movie starts OK (I got very interested), but ends ridiculously. Kate Hepburn marries an important guy (Taylor) with issues with a "bad" and missing brother (Mitchum). He talks about him so much that Kate gets interested. Finally, nothing is like it seemed and things get violent and creepy. The best of this film is this lovely theme by Brahms played all over the film.

9. Made for each other (1939: Carole Lombard, James Stewart, Charles Coburn): A couple marries the day after they met; Carole has problems with her mother-in-law because she disapproves her lack of housewife skills; then the couple has a baby that sleeps in the living room because the apartment is too small, etc. A not very well constructed movie, the main genre isn't properly suggested from the beginning which is disconcerting; the story is very basic (I mean, before the last 10 minutes their problems are not really that dramatic); the main actors are totally wasted, playing characters that don't have real chemistry. Has its moments though.

8. Once Upon a Honeymoon (1942: Cary Grant, Ginger Rogers): One of the two opportunities these two had to work together... in a film that doesn't make justice for such event. Ginger wants to have a better social position so she marries a German Baron. Cary, a reporter, is investigating this Baron because he's probably a Nazi. Ginger and Cary fall in love. There are some interesting and tense scenes, but overall this a forgettable movie.

7. Green Mansions (1959: Audrey Hepburn, Anthony Perkins): This movie was directed by Mel Ferrer, Audrey's husband at the time. The things you do for love. Audrey plays Rimma, the Bird Girl that lives in the jungle. Some natives believe she killed the son of the chief, so she has to hide with her "grandparent". She falls in love with Anthony Perkins, a prisoner of this tribe that was sent to kill her. They start a trip to visit the remains of her town, something that the grandpa was avoiding since always. It's not very well edited, the distances they cover don't feel right; most importantly, the story is not convincing and the ending is weird. Great song though.

 

6. The proud and the profane (1956: William Holden, Deborah Kerr, Thelma Ritter):  A disperse melodrama based on a novel that wants to be epic like "From here to eternity" and fails. Deborah Kerr is widower of a soldier. She wants to know all about his last minutes of life so she enlists to help. An aggressive Colonel with issues with his origins arrives to the base. Thelma Ritter, Deb's superior, founds the Colonel despicable but she manages to show him Deborah sunbathing on the beach. The editing is not very good and it loses tension half way trough the movie. The character of a chaplain is used to explain what's happening with the main characters and important info is given trough little characters that talk a lot. Everything gets more and more soppy and tragic. The end.

5. Dance, Girl, Dance (1940: Maureen O'Hara, Louis Hayward, Lucille Ball,  Ralph Bellamy): I didn't get it. Maureen wants to be a ballet dancer but she's stuck with a group of girls that dance in clubs. One of these girls, Sassy Lucille becomes famous and invites serious Maureen to dance ballet in her comical number just to laugh at her. Since her opportunity to meet an important ballet guy is lost after her teacher is run over (really), Maureen accepts. There are some characters that are not very well defined, at the point you don't know who they are. The ending is ludicrous.

4. Man of the World (1931: William Powell, Carole Lombard):  A con man (Powell)  falls in love with the nephew of one of the man he defrauded. This could have been great, but Carole's character was too good, simple and nice (and boring) for her and you forget the whole film after "The End" can be read on the screen.

3. Paris Blues (1961: Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Sidney Poitier, Louis Armstrong): Boring, boring, boring. Two girls go to Paris and fall in love with two musicians. They go to some endless jam sessions and talk a lot.

2. Man-Proof (1938: Myrna Loy, Rosalind Russell, Walter Pidgeon): Use it in case of insomnia. Myrna is in love with a terribly dull guy that marries Rosalind Russell playing an awfully plain character.

1. Bloodline (1979: Audrey Hepburn,Omar Sharif, James Mason, Romy Schneider): The worst movie I've ever seen. Avoid it. After Audrey's dad is killed, she becomes the president of a great company and the new target of...I don't know, some killer. I never liked Ben Gazzara as a “romantic” lead, he's so unattractive. The whole movie is awfully edited, it looks like a trailer: some scenes don't seem to have a real connection. It even has a flashback to early XX century that seems out of place. There are a lot of shocking scenes (sex and murder) that weren't really needed, and what's more stupid, they are repeated along the movie, when they could have been suggested. The story is really badly developed, at some points you really don't understand where it is going. Most of the characters are despicable and there are some plot holes (if you think that someone wants to kill you, and you have escaped from death in several occasions, would you go alone to dark and solitary places and expose yourself?). Well, the worst (and saddest) thing is to see great actors like Audrey and Omar Sharif in this... thing.

What do you think?  Do I need to re-watch any of these?

Top 25 favorite classic actors

Earlier this year I made a ranking with my top 25 favorite Classic Actors (in Spanish). Now I've decided to update it after watching more movies: some guys proved to be just a temporary addiction, others have remained being solid performers, and I just got tired of a few. The top 6 didn't change. You'll notice a bunch of symbols:

ø = not longer in the list
↓ = lost kudos 
↑ = gained kudos
⇒ = we have a new contender
 The little number accompanying the symbols correspond to the former position in the ranking.

ø (19) Albert Finney 

Favorite movies:  "Two for the road" & "Murder on the Orient Express".

25.↓(23) Marlon Brando 
(Marlon Brando, Jr.)

Favorite movies:  "On the Waterfront" & " A Streetcar Named Desire"

24. Christopher Plummer 
(Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer)

Favorite movies:  "The sound of music".

23.↑ (25) Melvyn Douglas 
(Melvyn Edouard Hesselberg)

Favorite movies: "Ninotchka".

 22. Laurence Olivier 
(Laurence Kerr Olivier)

Favorite movies: "Wuthering Heights", "Rebecca", "That Hamilton woman", "Carrie" &  "Sleuth".

21. Rex Harrison 
(Reginald Carey Harrison a.k.a. 'Sexy Rexy')

Favorite movies:  "The ghost and Mrs. Muir" , "Unfaithfully yours" & "My fair lady".

20. Richard Burton 
(Richard Walter Jenkins)

Favorite movies:  "The night of the iguana", "Boom", "Cleopatra".

⇒ 19. Michael Redgrave 
(Michael Scudamore Redgrave)

Favorite movies: "The lady vanishes".

18. ↓(17) Jack Lemmon 
(John Uhler Lemmon III)

Favorite movies: "The apartment" & "Avanti!".

17.↓(15) Fred MacMurray
(Fredrick Martin MacMurray)
Favorite movies: "Alice Adams",  "Remember the night", "Take a letter darling",  "The lady is willing", "Double indemnity".

16.↑(18) Burt Lancaster 
(Burton Stephen Lancaster)

Favorite movies: "Separate Tables", "The Rainmaker" & "The Unforgiven".

 15. James Stewart 

(James Maitland Stewart)

Favorite movies:  "Rear window", "Vertigo", "It's a wonderful life", "The shop around the corner",  "Vivacious lady", "The Man Who Knew Too Much" & "Harvey".

14. Montgomery Clift 
(Edward Montgomery Clift )

Favorite movies:  "The Heiress",  "A place in the sun", "From here to eternity" & "Suddenly last summer".

13.↑(16) William Holden 

(William Franklin Beedle, Jr.)

Favorite movies: "Sunset Boulevard", "The country girl", "Paris when it sizzles" & "Picnic". 

12. Charles Coburn 
(Charles Douville Coburn)

Favorite movies:  "The More the Merrier", "Has anybody seen my gal?",  "Bachelor Mother",  "Vivacious lady" & "The lady Eve".

11.↓(7)Robert Taylor
(Spangler Arlington Brough)

Favorite movies:  "Camille",  "Waterloo Bridge" & "Three comrades".  

10.↓(8) Charles Boyer

Favorite movies:  "History is made at night", "Gaslight", "Hold back the dawn" & "Barefoot in the park".

9. ↑ (11) Paul Newman 
(Paul Leonard Newman)

Favorite movies: "Cool Hand Luke", "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" & "The long Hot Summer".

8. ↑(10) Robert Mitchum 
(Robert Charles Durman Mitchum)

Favorite movies:  "The night of the hunter", "Heaven knows Mr. Allison" & "The sundowners".

7. ↑(9) Humphrey Bogart 
(Humphrey DeForest Bogart a.k.a. Boogie)

Favorite movies:  "Casablanca",  "The barefoot contessa",  "To have and have not",  "Key Largo", "The African Queen".

6. Gregory Peck 
(Eldred Gregory Peck)

Favorite movies:  "Roman Holiday", "The big country", "To Kill a Mockinbird",  "Beloved Infidel" &  "Spellbound".

5. Clark Gable 
(William Clark Gable)

Favorite movies:  "Gone with the wind",  "No man of her own",  "Wife versus secretary",  "It happened one night" & "Teacher's pet".

4. William Powell 
(William Horatio Powell)

Favorite movies: "The Thin Man" series, "My Man Godfrey", "Libeled Lady, "Evelyn Prentice".

3. Errol Flynn 

(Errol Leslie Flynn)

Favorite movies:  "Captain Blood",  "The adventures of Robin Hood",  "Dodge City",  "They Died with their Boots On" &  The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex".

2. Gary Cooper 
(Frank James Cooper)

Favorite movies: "The wedding night",  "Meet John Doe",  "Morocco", "Bluebeard's Eighth Wife", "Mr. Deeds goes to town", "Ball of fire" &  "For whom the bell tolls".

1. Cary Grant 

(Archibald Alexander Leach)

Favorite movies:  "People will talk", "Penny Serenade",  "His girl Friday",  "The awful truth",  "Notorius", "An affair to remember", "Holiday",  "In name only" & "The Philadelphia story"...etcetera, etcetera, etcetera (as Yul Brynner would say).