If I Had to Keep 4 | Guest: Me :)

First of all, THANKS for participating in the latest edition of When I say, you say. You guys rock!

Well, this post will be the last one of the successful Season I of If I Had to Keep 4. I'm going to take some time to look for more guests and make a great Season II.

So, what would I keep if my house got on fire and I could save just 4 of my favorite movie items?

(Click to enlarge)

1. Sometime ago I was exploring a flea market, and I saw the face of Audrey in some book. And it was War and peace! It's in Spanish and illustrated with stills from the movie. I really love it, but I have to admit that  I still haven't read it. I'm so sorry Mr. Tolstoy!

2. My magazines folder. I have a small collection of the old Chilean magazines. I love the covers and I love reading the articles, the old Hollywood gossips originally written by Sheilah Graham (yeah the same from Beloved Infidel) and the old pictures. I also found some Chinese movie brochures, which contains information about the films, like biographies of actors and directors, photos and credits. I guess. I don't speak Chinese.

3. My Sound of Music Vinyl Disc. Also found at a flea market, I wasn't sure about buying it since I don't have a turntable and it wasn't very cheap. But I couldn't resist it. In Latin America, the title chosen for this movie could be translated as The Rebel Novice. The information is in Spanish and I have never listened to it.

 

4. My Isabella Rossellini's autograph. It was awesome to meet her (story) and she is the only person connected with Classic Hollywood that I've actually met (for those living in Mars, she's not only a great actress but she's also the daughter of Ingrid Bergman).

So, that's it. My poor book collection, cigarette cards and It's a wonderful life board game would stay in the flames :(

IF I HAD TO KEEP 4: SEASON 1

• Dorian shared marvelous items with us, including Adrien Brody's autograph (and the amazing story of how she met him) and her Vertigo press-kit-in-a-tube.
• Tom Austin picked his favorite movies from his VHS collection and showed what a great company movies can be through difficult times.  Monty shared his cool movie collection, plus his books and comics...and his Lord of the Rings sword.
• Kendra marveled us with her amazing items of Viv and Larry: signed pictures, an amazing scrapbook and a beautiful finding.
• Hilary and Katie shared awesome objects: LIFE Magazines, Gone with the Wind Box Set and a beautiful framed edelweiss.
• Becky (who picked the name for this series) shared with us her interesting RCA Videodisk collection, plus her VHSs and poster of Casablanca.
• Sophie, the first guest, picked awesome signed pictures of Deborah Kerr and Greer Garson and her The King and I VHS.

Well, that's it, kiddies! Hope you enjoyed :) 

PS. REMEMBER that if you want to be part of Season II of this series, simply contact me at kfercovic[at]gmail[dot]com

When I say, you say #7: Piano

Hi guys, welcome to a new edition of the movie game When I say, you say, in which I say a word and you write your first (1st) classic movie related thought: titles, actors, scenes, names, passages from biographies, etc...

Source

So, when I say PIANO, you say...

New clip of Hitchcock's first film "The white shadow"

Source

Today, the Spanish newspaper El País is exclusively sharing a (very brief) clip of Alfred Hitchcock's first film, The white shadow. Even when the official director was Graham Cutts, it was practically made by Hitch when he was 24.

It was considered lost until this year: a collector had the cans of the film and it was developed and restored. But it wasn't complete: the cans just contained 43 minutes of the movie.

Shown last week for the first time at The Pordenone Silent Film Festival, and according to the surprisingly terrible redaction of the story by this prestigious newspaper, the movie is about two sisters who are identical twins, but one of them is good and the other, bad.

The bad one meets an American man in a ship and he falls in love with her. But she is so bad that sends her sister to meet the guy. Then, at some point, she also escapes from home, causing the death of her mother and the ruin of her dad. The good one goes after her, and finds her in London, working in a club and surrounded by men. 

That's when the movie is interrupted. But it seems that according to the script, the love story continues this way: the good sister falls in love with the man. But he still believes that this woman is the same he met in the ship. The good girl falls sick and before dying she asks the bad one to replace her. It seems that she gives her sister her "white shadow", a good spirit and redemption. Now the bad girl is kind and lives with her man happily ever after.

Or at least that's what I got from this article.

There's no embedding option for this clip, so watch it here.

Audrey, Capote and Mel Ferrer: "Heartaches"

Truman Capote, Audrey Hepburn, Mel Ferrer
Song: "Heartaches" by Ted Weems & His Orchestra
Source: Nate D. Sanders Auctions

A day like this, 50 years ago, a film called Breakfast At Tiffany's was released.

This post is part of the Photo[graphs] + Music Series.

PS: To hear the song, you must be reading this on my site :)

2011 CiMBA nominations: THANK YOU :)

Source

Yep, I can't help smiling like Shirley Temple. Thanks to all the CMBA members who nominated Via Margutta 51 in three categories:

Best Film Review (Drama): The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Best Classic Movie Blog Event: If I Had to Keep 4 
Best Classic Movie Blog Design

As you see, I also have to thank the people who participated in the If I Had to Keep 4 series, the lovely guests, the people who read the entries, the supportive commentators and the people who helped me with the name :)

Congrats to my fellow nominees, I'm proud to be among bloggers I admire. Visit the CMBA to check the other nominations. 

The winners will be announced on October 17th.

Happy Birthday Julie Andrews!

Thanks for years of joy :)

Darling Deborah Blogathon: The Naked Edge (1961)

OK, I confess it: I had no faith in this film. I didn't even know it existed, and that's saying a lot when Gary Cooper AND Deborah Kerr play the main parts.

Anyway, I did it for Sophie and her Darling Deborah Blogathon: I wanted to check a new movie from Miss Kerr.

First main idea: this movie is like Hitchcock's Suspicion and Shadow of a Doubt. You know, it follows a certain female character and how she starts suspecting that someone very dear is a criminal (her husband in this case). There are many things she starts to see that would confirm this suspicion, and we, like her, start feeling puzzled and scared.

The script was written by Joseph Stefano, you know, the same guy who adapted a novel for Psycho.

Someone killed Gary Cooper's boss and stole a lot of money. In the trial he accuses some colleague: he's sure because he chased him after he heard his boss screaming. This colleague goes to prison but the money never appeared. A year later Gary creates a super expensive company, with money, he says, he won gambling. Another year later, Deborah Kerr, her wife, opens a delayed letter. In it, someone is blackmailing Gary, saying that he wants money or he'll tell Gary committed the crime. [Deborah's suspicious mode: on]

The way the story is presented is very suffocating: the shots are close; the lighting is always dark, the music tense. Most of the scenes occur in closed rooms: offices, bedrooms, a crowded restaurant, a bookshop crammed full of books. The few secondary characters are vicious, gossipy people.There's no comic relief like in Hitchcok's movies.

And Deborah starts investigating. For example, she visits the prisoner's wife in the slums of London (yes, the movie takes place in that capital). And you have never seen London so poor and crowded like in that visit. The contrast with Deborah's expensive clothes and refined pose is shocking, powerful. The woman says her husband was innocent and that Gary was the real murderer. Deborah is impressed to hear her suspicions being shared for other person.

Director Michael Anderson used that effect in a very intelligent way. Now Deborah feels lost, in despair, scared. In a state of mind like that you start seeing everything distorted (like when Snow White escapes through the woods). Check that scene:

Other scene that caught my attention is when Gary and Deborah are discussing their situation. Well, they discuss their situation several times, but in this particular moment she says for the first time she has thought about killing herself. And when those particular words come out Deborah's mouth, the emotion surfaces and her voice trembles. That detail was so real and human that it impressed me:

As you can see in the clip, just like in Hitchcok's movies, the main actor had to play his part leaving place for doubts. Gary never gives a proper, solid answer. He just talks about receipts that are lost. And maybe that's the weaker point in Suspicion and in this one, the doubts rely in the ambiguity of information. Another weak parts are when Deborah and Gary discuss his guilt in a car, while the chauffeur listens to the conversation or in his office, without closing the door!

But I have to say the movie poster doesn't lie: the ending was thrilling and frightening. I think that's the main reason why I really liked this film. I think that the way directors wrap up their movies has a main importance in the way I remember them.

On a side note, it was funny hearing classic actors saying things like:

Gary: Could a woman live with a man sleep with him and not know he's a murderer?
Deborah: Do murderer's make love differently?

Gary: You can't be a littlle suspicious. It's like virginity, you either are, or aren't.

So, yes, I recommend this movie. It was very well filmed, has great performances and an exciting-very-Hitchockish-plot.
--------------------------

Click here to check the rest of the Darling Deborah Blogathon entries :)

Paul Newman: In memoriam

Paul Newman

January 26, 1925 – September 26, 2008

I remember,

5. His blue eyes.

4. His movies.

3. His radiant personality.

2. The passion he had for the art he performed.

1. The great love he professed for his wife, Joanne.

0. His smile.

How do you remember him?

"Duel in the Sun": In my own words (PART II)

Previously on "Duel in the Sun"

• Tanned Jennifer Jones suffers from a bipolar love: looks in love with Charming Joseph Cotten but goes wild with Bad Gregory Peck.
• Lillian Gish looks fragile.
• Selznick, Vidor and the dozen writers forgot this one was a western.
• Lionel Barrymore always preferred Bad Gregory, but now he exiled Charming Joseph from his ranch
  
• Bad Gregory visited Tanned Jennifer one night. And we literally see lightnings and hear thunders...

Poor Charming Joseph says goodbye to his mom, Fragile Lillian Gish. She's very sad and looks like a little bird. Joseph wants to say goodbye to Jennifer, too. He politely knocks the door.

Silence.

Then Tanned Jennifer asks him to go away.

Then Bad Gregory invites him to come in.

Then another person talks from the inside. A dog barks. A whale...makes its sound. A fourth person laughs...Just kidding. Just the whale...made its sound.

Poor Charming and Lawyer Joseph. He knows what lightnings and thunders and this music mean in a movie. He enters the room. Jennifer cries, Bad Gregory smiles. He politely apologizes for the interruption and walks away.

Jennifer goes after him. She literally says that Bad Gregory is hard to resist and she's trash. Joseph says that's too bad because he loved her and wanted her with him. But he won't forget this night of thunders and lightnings. He goes away, but before leaving the ranch, he politely slaps his brother Gregory.

Some minutes later...Jennifer...I don't know how to describe this scene, see for yourself...

TEST: SCENE COMPREHENSION. In the previous scene... (multiple selections allowed)

Fifth day at her new home (can you believe so much time has passed? Time flies)

Jennifer Jones just freed her wild passion for Bad Gregory. Now she's a big fan of him and every two seconds gives him weird looks and assumes weird poses that according to her acting codes means she's very attracted/but regrets it.

Now she's the one that wants to go to the pond. But when she sees lightnings and thunders approaching she refuses to stay in the storm. She wants to marry Bad Gregory before. They decide they will announce they engagement in a super barbecue Lionel Barrymore is organizing.  

The day of the barbecue

So many things happening.

1. Tanned Jennifer is very happy. She's wearing a pretty white dress. 

2. Lillian Gish is informed that Charming Joseph has become a very successful personality in the city.

3. Bad Gregory is calming down his pops Lionel: he's just fooling around with Jennifer Jones.

Bad Gregory starts dancing with Jennifer Jones. She asks him when are they telling the happy news. And Bad Gregory is all "what happy news? what are you talking about?".

They go to discuss to a little office.

In this little office Jennifer's dreams and hopes are completely shattered. Basically Bad Gregory tells her to stop nagging, he won't marry her, and she can go away if she wants and adds some racist comment

Jennifer Jones leaves. Not really, she goes to the garden. And cries. Then a man approaches. He's a new worker and says that he doesn't really like balls (dances). He looks like an old Joseph Cotten:

Jennifer decides he's a good guy...to make Gregory jealous. So they go back and dance to the techno music while Bad Gregory looks at them (trying to copy their techno moves).

Some days later...

Old Joseph Cotten Look-Alike, the worker, asks Jennifer to marry him. He's really a good guy. He offers her a modest but happy life. She says yes.

More days later...

The Real Charming Joseph Cotten arrives in a train...with his Charming Bride. Some cowboy notifies him of Jennifer's situation: she is going to get marry the worker ...only if Bad Gregory wants to.

Then one day....

Apparently Bad Gregory didn't want to: she shoots Old Joseph Cotten Look-Alike. Now he's an outlaw and a reward is offered for his capture. In the funeral, we can see in Jennifer Jones' eyes she wants revenge.

In the ranch...

Lionel Barrymore is arguing with Lillian Gish. She looks more fragile than ever. They blame each other. He wants Jennifer out; she says she will stay as much as her.*Coughs*

Then in some secret place...

Lionel asks Gregory to stay away for awhile. The situation is serious. He asks his son to take care of himself.

Then in some railroad...

Bad Gregory didn't quite get the message. From the words of his dad he understood: "provoke an accident in the train and make it explode". So he does.

Then he visits Jennifer in the ranch.

In the ranch...

Jennifer is definitely bipolar, she forgot everything about her revenge and wants Gregory back.

The sheriff or someone like that arrives to the ranch asking for Bad Gregory. Lionel doesn't know, Fragile Lillian Gish doesn't know, Jennifer doesn't know...well, she knows that Bad Gregory is hiding behind her door, but she doesn't want to say. 

When he's safe, he decides to go away again to Mexico. She wants to go with him. He doesn't agree: he just want to visit her some nights and nothing more.

Jennifer is being treated like trash (again). But now she takes the pieces of her shattered pride and puts them together. She won't accept this situation anymore, she's a good girl and her pride means a lot to her...she...

Just kidding...she says she won't talk about marriage anymore, that she will be his servant, that she can't love another man...and takes his leg, while he walks, cleaning the floor with her pjs (now she has pajamas)...

PLEASE, TAKE ME WITH YOU, BAD GREGORY!

Bad Gregory kicks her and then almost hits her head with door when he leaves (Jennifer's health: -4). She stays on the cold floor, abandoned.

In Lillian Gish's bedroom...

She's dying. I told you she looked too fragile and delicate.

Lionel is there, and Lillian points out that is the first time he's been there since she tried to abandon him, many years ago. He starts getting angry, while she starts dying in a very silent-film-way. Then he recognizes that everything was his fault and gives a long speech about how much he really loved her...while dying Lillian crawls to his side.


*Dies*

Some days later...

Charming Joseph wants to see her sick mother. The only problem is that she passed away already. Now he talks to Jennifer. He understands everything. He wants to take care of her. With his bride.

In some near town

Charming Joseph Cotten receives a message from Bad Gregory: he's pissed off because he took Jennifer away. If she doesn't go back, he'll be there next morning.

The next morning...

Gregory arrives. He orders Joseph to take a revolver, he will start shooting from a distance anyway.

Joseph doesn't take the revolver and Gregory shoots him from a distance anyway.

*Falls wounded*

(You think that was the most boring DUEL IN THE SUN ever)

Then in front of a fake painting of mountains

Lionel Barrymore recognizes before a friend that Bad Gregory was bad and Charming Joseph was good.

Back in town....

Tanned Jennifer meets the Charming Bride. She realizes Charming Bride is very kind and the perfect wife for Charming Joseph (he's recovering from the attack). She also realizes she had forgotten her revenge. She wants it NOW!

DUEL IN THE SUN!

Tanned Jennifer gets more tanned, because she wants to "meet" Gregory before he crosses the border, so she rides her super horse under the hot sun.

She arrives, and Gregory says hello from the hill...

She shoots him.

She thinks he *died* and kind of regrets it. But he didn't die and starts calling her names. Now she's pissed off again and wants more revenge. She starts climbing the hill and very cleverly stands in a rock in her discrete red skirt.

He shoots her.

She's wounded. Her chest is bleeding. She falls, hitting the dusty rocks (Jennifer's health: -500).

He thinks she *died*. He first smiles but then kind of regrets it. Starts calling her name.

He receives another shot for an answer.
He starts crawling in her direction. Then she starts crawling in his direction to finish her work.

When Jennifer, with her bleeding heart has crawled 70% of the hill (according to Imdb real Jennifer Jones' health: -20). Gregory calls her: he's really dying.

Now Jennifer forgets everything again. She forgets that she was there to kill him. And now she "rushes" by his side.

By the time she reaches Gregory's dying place, she's dying too.

He: Let me hold you
She: Hold me.

They hold and *die*

(Jennifer's health: N/A).

THE END.

If I Had to Keep 4 | Guest: Dorian

We're gonna give Bad Gregory Peck and Tanned Jennifer Jones some days to meditate about their behavior. 

In the meantime I present you another super duper If I had keep 4 entry: this time Dorian Tenore-Bartilucci --from the always interesting, profound and fun Tales of the Easily Distracted-- decided to share with us her four most precious items from her movie memorabilia.

1. My Rutgers Films In Print edition of Ernest Lehman’s North by Northwest screenplay.

Back in the late 1990s, our dear longtime friend Jason Simos (who as of this writing works at in public relations at Focus Features) introduced my husband Vinnie and me to the Museum of the Moving Image. If you live in New York City and you love movies, television, and all kinds of digital media, you owe it to yourself to drive or take the subway to visit this fun, fascinating museum in Astoria, Queens. When we still lived in NYC, we’d get together with Jason for classic movies, among other exhibits. The museum also has a gift shop, and one of the treasures I found was the hardcover edition of Lehman’s North by Northwest script, including photos to accompany the complete script, film reviews from The New Republic’s Stanley Kauffmann and Cahiers du Cinema’s Luc Moullet, commentaries by Robin Wood and Marian Kea, an interview with Lehman himself, and more—and the book was on sale!

Here’s a link to The Museum of the Moving Image and its many delights:
http://www.movingimage.us/

And a link to my North by Northwest blog post, if you’re interested:
http://doriantb.blogspot.com/2011/01/north-by-northwest-mad-men-and.html

2. My Vertigo press-kit-in-a-tube.

In 1997, another dear longtime friend of ours, Michael Gingold, best known to horror movie fans as Managing Editor of Fangoria Magazine, was kind enough to give Vinnie and me a press kit for the re-release of the remastered edition of Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo. As if that wasn’t cool enough, the press materials were all packed neatly into a tube! The art on the tube was modeled on Saul Bass’ Vertigo poster. Inside, there are glossy black-and-white photos from the film, including stars James Stewart and Kim Novak as well as restorers and authors James C. Katz and Robert A. Harris (Harris was kind enough to respond to questions I had about the restored version of Rear Window, but that’s a story for another time); press kits including letters from Stewart and Kim Novak; and even glossy Point of Purchase (P.O.P.) materials to display in video stores!

Want to hear more of my Vertigo-related ramblings?

http://doriantb.blogspot.com/2010/08/if-i-let-you-change-me-will-that-do-it.html

3. My trade paperback edition of the 1977 novelization of High Anxiety.

Being a fan of Alfred Hitchcock and Mel Brooks, the latter’s 1977 Alfred Hitchcock spoof High Anxiety has been one of my favorite movies since I first saw it in its theatrical release in 1977. When I love a movie, I try to learn everything I can about it, including buying novelizations of that film if there is one, including High Anxiety. Author Robert H. Pilpel’s adaptation was as funny as the movie while still fleshing out the characters well. Pilpel has a real gift for humorous writing with a sting in the tail, blending comedy, suspense, and romance nicely. He even wrote tongue-in-cheek psychiatric evaluations of the characters, like this excerpt for Hitchcock Blonde-style love interest Victoria Brisbane’s file, played by Madeline Kahn:
“Victoria Brisbane was a non-Jewish-American Princess, or a Jewish-American princess who happened to be a WASP. In other words, she suffered—if “suffered” is the word—from the syndrome of endless paternal pampering and consequent father fixation. In other words, she and her father were innocently and unconsciously stuck on each other….”

For more about High Anxiety, here’s a link to my blog post:
http://doriantb.blogspot.com/2011/08/high-anxiety-you-winme-over-my.html

4. I’ve saved the best—and longest—story for last! Allow me to explain the back story behind these autographed Adrien Brody DVDs. When we of Team Bartilucci—namely my husband Vinnie, our then-13-year-old daughter Siobhan, and me—went to the New York Comic Con (NYCC) in October 2010, Vinnie surprised me with the news that Oscar-winner Adrien Brody (for the 2002 fact-bsed drama The Pianist, you surely recall) was going to be at the NYCC for an hour signing autographs and posters for the DVD/Blu-Ray release of his summer hit Predators.

Those of you who’ve come to know me well may recall that I hold Brody in very high esteem. I don’t know if the folks in charge of the NYCC’s crowd control underestimated Brody’s drawing power or what, but Siobhan and I ended up in a crowd of nearly 300 people in a line going all over the place! The guy who ran the Doctor Who merchandise booth next to the Brody line was furious because the line blocked the entrance from potential Doctor Who customers.

We wound up standing on line for over two hours. Those who know me well may recall that Siobhan, then 13, has been diagnosed with ADHD and Asperger’s Syndrome, and Aspies tend to get stressed out in unfamiliar situations. Vinnie even took Siobhan around the NYCC with him for a while, since we figured it would be less tedious for her than standing in line for ages. Siobhan was a little trouper, bless her, but eventually she felt anxious with all the NYCC hubbub, and wanted to come back to me. I must say Shugie was good as gold, being very patient and calm considering her ADHD/Aspie issues (frequent hugs helped). It would have helped if the NYCC crowd control folks hadn’t mismanaged the Brody line to a fare-thee-well. They kept making our line move out farther so the Doctor Who booth could let customers in and out more easily—resulting in the path being blocked from the other direction, forcing folks to shove through the line against traffic!

The last straw came 90 minutes into our wait, when the con’s head crowd controller announced that the line would be capped at 100—with Siobhan and me being 101 and 102! Happily, here’s where people’s better instincts kicked in. Before this announcement, Siobhan and I had been chatting with other Brody fans as we stood on line. I’d offhandedly mentioned we’d come all the way from Pennsylvania for this, and that Shugie had ADHD and Asperger’s. I admitted that at this point I felt badly about keeping the poor kid standing in this crowded, chaotic line all this time, and how proud I was of her for being such a good girl in spite of the stress of the situation. Some of the folks we were with had Aspie kids and loved ones, too, so they could relate. The next time the line manager came along, the fans we’d been talking with confronted him and said they’d be willing to give up their opportunity for autographs and face time with Adrien Brody if they’d let Siobhan and me stay. I wanted to hug every last one of them, but Siobhan and I only had time to wave in gratitude at our NYCC comrades as the crowd control crew swept us onto the now-fast-moving line; apparently Brody was on a tight schedule himself.

As the line moved, I found myself making eye contact with Brody as he sat at his autograph table. He was smiling warmly and looking dashing in a semi-hip-hop way (yes, Adrien Brody’s into hip-hop), wearing a sort of short-brimmed Panama hat and the kind of nicely-groomed beard and mustache that I must admit I find particularly attractive on him. I was not only proud of Siobhan’s good behavior, but also kinda proud of myself for not visibly geeking out on Brody like some 21st-century bobby-soxer. J Maybe someone explained the situation to Brody, or maybe he’s simply a nice guy, or both. In any case, despite the crowd control folks’ visible impatience to wrap things up, when Siobhan and I reached Brody’s table with DVD covers of The Darjeeling Limited and The Brothers Bloom to sign, he was kind, friendly, and chatty considering the time crunch.

When we gave him the Cliffs Notes version of our story, he seemed to be just as sympathetic and impressed with Siobhan’s patience as the fans and I had been. (He made sure he spelled our names right and everything! ) Afterward, Siobhan and I sincerely thanked him and were about to scram, what with the crowd control folks still acting antsy. Brody’s silver-sage eyes widened in surprise: “Hey, wait! Wouldn’t you like a signed poster, too?” Frankly, I was (pleasantly) surprised myself. “Sure,” I said, “if you think you’ve got time. Looks like they’re in a rush here.” He waved his hand in a Leave It To Me gesture. “Don’t worry.” And that was how Siobhan and I got a total of three autographs, at least as many smiles, and a little face time with Adrien Brody. Such a mensch, bless him!

Wow! Great items and what an amazing story with Mr. Brody, Dorian! Thank you very much for being part of this series :)


PS. If you want to share your 4 most loved items from your classic movie collection, just send me an e-mail to kfercovic[at]gmail[dot]com

"Duel in the sun" (1946): In My Own Words! (PART I)

For those who don't know what "IN MY OWN WORDS!" implies: when I see a movie that's so strange (like The Fountainhead) or bad (like The Garden of Allah), I re-tell it, from beginning to end...in my own words. So obviously there are spoilers ahead.

Well, the other day I was doing a bit of research for my post on Prissy, played by Butterfly McQueen. In her filmography I noticed she worked in a movie called Duel in the sun with this minor cast:

• Gregory Peck
• Joseph Cotten
• Jennifer Jones
• Lionel Barrymore
• Lillian Gish
• Herbert Marshall
• Walter Huston
• Otto Kruger

You know...little people. I thought: "OMG, I need to watch this". And I did, obviously, otherwise I wouldn't be writing this...thing.

So here it goes....DUEL IN THE SUN

David Selznick's usual grandiose titles:

[Epic Music] Ahhh, this is so epic...this the story of Pearl who died young. Ahhh.[/Epic Music]

The place: it doesn't matter. Picture this: cowboys, Herbert Marshall, Indian/Mexican women (Hollywood doesn't care about the differences) on a set.

The people:

a) Really tanned Jennifer Jones aka Pearl. The daughter.

b) Herbert Marshall as a very refined gentleman. The father.

c) Some Indian/Mexican woman dancing wildly and then getting a room with some random guy (obviously). The mother.

Chapter 1. Jennifer becomes an orphan

b) kills c) and then he dies because it's the law. a) is sent to live with her dad's rich ex- girlfriend, Lillian Gish. 

First day at her new home. 

a) is very happy, because she meets Lillian's son, who is very polite and nice and a lawyer and Joseph Cotten (altogether: sighs). Lillian is a very kind lady too (and looks fragile as a little bird) and makes her feel at home and gives her a free tour around the house (like: these are the cows and those, the horses).

But Lionel Barrymore, Lillian's hubby and owner of the ranch, hates Jennifer and doesn't want her there because: 

1. She's the daughter of his wife's ex.

2. Because she's half breed.

3. Because Jennifer Jones is too tanned. 

4. He was tired of being the nice uncle in every movie he made.

When a) thinks that she finished meeting new people...another Lillian's son, Gregory Peck looking super young, arrives in his horse. And when you're thinking how nice Gregory always is...he isn't. HE'S THE BAD GUY! You can tell by the way she looks at a), it's like "I want you with fries on the side". Obviously, Lillian doesn't notice the evil look in her son's eyes.

Anyway, Lillian plays the piano for Jennifer Jones and then she sends her to bed. It's been a long day, but before arriving to her room, Jennifer makes three stops to be:

1. Harassed by Lionel Barrymore ("How did they come to name you Pearl? Couldn't have much eye for color, couldn't they? HAHAHA!")

2. Impressed by Joseph Cotten's good looks and charm and kindness (she looks in love with him).

3. Practically abused by Bad Gregory Peck.

Everything in less than 10 minutes.

Second day at her new home.

Bad Gregory Peck starts showing off his riding skills to impress a). For some reason, she is still talking to him, especially after he gave her a super horse. The only problem is that she doesn't know how to control a horse and she falls (Jennifer's health: -1). And for another reason we don't get, she falls and stays this way:

So obviously Bad Gregory has a super idea: wanna go swimming?. And she's like offended and rides her horse back home yelling "I WON'T, I WON'T" (but we get that someday SHE WILL, SHE WILL).

Joseph Cotten is more puzzled than us, of course. But Jennifer says she doesn't care about Bad Gregory and urges Joseph to go for a walk by the light of the moon (looking in love with him)...while Gregory pretends he's singing and playing the guitar (and you think: "oh, so Gregory and Joseph are gonna be in a DUEL IN THE SUN").

Third day at her new home

Some sweaty cowboys are finishing their work in the ranch. Jennifer decided to go swimming by herself, but for some reason we don't get she makes herself very visible. 

Because she couldn't ride behind the hill, right?

One of the cowboys notices her riding to the pond and alerts Bad Gregory. He arrives to the pond and sees naked Jennifer swimming (you could sell bathing suits and become a millionaire). Annoying Gregory stays there, watching.

And that's basically how the third day is spent: Jennifer can't come out all naked, even if she's very tanned.

Finally, she arrives all wet to dinner, furious and very late. Delicate and fragile Lillian Gish politely asks if she went swimming with Gregory and she says no. Bad Gregory enters and is all: "oh, what fun we had swimming, etc etc".

Awkward.

Lillian is shocked.

Later that night.

Lillian invited a priest to talk to Jennifer. Apparently, she didn't like to use a proper pjs (you could sell pajamas and become a millionaire). The priest doesn't seem to mind that fact. 

He says some words to save her soul and gives her a medallion. Lillian is relieved.

Fourth day at her new home.

Selznick, King Vidor and the dozen writers they had working in the script, remembered this one was a western and introduced some random action: some guys wanted to build a railroad in Lionel Barrymore's land and he goes riding with like 1,345,567,597,400 of his workers to stop them. 

Joseph Cotten is against this fight and he agrees with the train people. Then the army arrives and the dispute is over. Lionel Barrymore always preferred Bad Gregory Peck, but now he just hates Joseph Cotten: he can't live in his ranch anymore.

That night. 

We see Jenifer Jones washing the floor in her room. Bad Gregory Peck arrives with his evil face. He has the worst intentions. And she doesn't fight anymore. Quite the opposite really.

[Lightings and thunders on the background.]

And then...

To be continued...here.

CMBA Guilty Pleasures Movie Blogathon: "Paris when it sizzles"

These are selected opinions of reviewers who apparently didn't enjoy this movie and make of Paris When It Sizzles (1964; Richard Quine) a guilty pleasure:

• "Paris when it stinks"
• "Beyond stupid. A waste of time. Avoid."
• "Incredible mess"
• "Give this one a pass."
• "Nothing sizzles" 
• "No style or substance"
• "3/10 is being generous."
• "A big disappointment in all departments"
• "Oh dear!"
• "Paris When it Fizzles- This Sizzler A Dud"
• "One of the worst films ever"
• "Why did I buy it ? It was part of a set."
• "I gave this one ten minutes"
• "Paris when it ... SNORES!"

All quotes from Imdb reviewers who didn't like this story --adapted by George Axelrod from a French story/movie-- about a writer (William Holden) that has only a few days to finish a script helped by his new assistant, typist Audrey Hepburn. A film-within-the film: any idea William has becomes the movie you're watching, even if it's crazy or developed by a drunk character.

Here are a few more quotes:

• "Makes fun of classic movies, when the film itself is not very good"
• "The script is bad"
• "At the end there are two stupid scripts: the fictional and the real one"
• "Lacks fluidity"
• "Some scenes are unimportant but really long"

Those are from an unpublished review written by...me.

Yes, I hated the film the first time I saw it. I also knew this one was Audrey's least favorite movie of her filmography and that some years later she almost didn't film Two for the road: she was done with movies that experimented with the storytelling. I had also read that William Holden was drinking heavily during the filming of this movie and had to enter an alcoholic clinic.

Everything about it was bad.

Until it wasn't.

The third time I saw this film I started watching it from a new point of view: here we had a powerful studio, Paramount, plus several stars making fun of themselves. They were all laughing at the way movies are made; showing how obvious the business in which they worked can be when it's made for commercial purposes, how superficial famous people can be...

Everything started to make sense. Audrey didn't mind the lines that made fun of her movies, like Breakfast at Tiffany's and My fair lady; William and Tony Curtis didn't mind playing parts in which, for example, they made clear how important looks are for leading actors, and how narcissist they can be. And that's awesome, it's like saying: "hey, don't take us too serious, this is all about pretending and having fun".

The dialog is filled with movie techniques cliches, exaggerated to made them obvious. And because William Holden is writing a screenplay, there are cliches from the main title to the end. I love, for example, how William describes the opening credits of his new movie, The girl who stole the Eiffel Tower:

Superimpose: ''An Alexander Meyerheim production''. Cut to the Eiffel Tower. The main title.The trumpets segue into the inevitable title song. Maybe we can get Sinatra to sing it. There follows an interminable list of other credits acknowledging the efforts of all the quote little people unquote, whom I shall graciously thank in my acceptance speech at the Academy Awards.

Or how he explains to Audrey how a fade out works:

Over the years, the audience has been conditioned to understand that when a scene fades away, like an old soldier, before their very eyes, and another scene gradually appears to take its place, a certain amount of time has elapsed.

Or what a kiss really is in the commercial movie business:

The final, earth-moving, studio-rent-paying, theatre-filling, popcorn-selling...kiss.

The list goes on and on and you actually learn something about screenwriting process.

With director Richard Quine.

Besides the fun provided by desconstructing a movie script, Audrey and William are a delight to watch together. Knowing about their impossible love during the filming of Sabrina, it was nice to see them working in a fictional hotel in sunny Paris. Even when Audrey didn't like the film, she called it "a joy to make". And even when William said of the first day he arrived to Paris: "I realized that I had to face Audrey and I had to deal with my drinking. And I didn’t think I could handle either situation", they seem at ease and relaxed.

Despite what some reviewers have said, I think Audrey --dressed and "perfumed" by Givenchy here too-- had a great timing for comedy, I love the way she delivers her lines, and how she responded to the scenes which required physical comedy. Because everything was a parody, she  exaggerated her movements, especially in the sequence where, drunk, her character starts to invent a parallel story. Vampires, horse races, aviators, everything was included in her crazy sequence, maybe the most criticized of the film. I found it hilarious.

William as a vampire...

..seconds later the action takes place in the sky...

All the genres conventions are parodied in Paris When It Sizzles: detective stories, horror movies, slapstick, romance, etc etc. For example, if the next frame, a man and woman in bed, fades out...

...it obviously means...that they were playing Parcheesi!

I also loved the bits about the French New Wave, movies where, according to the screenwriter, nothing happens.

Audrey aka Gaby: The picture's terribly interesting. Very avant-garde. About people who go to this party and decide not to play Scrabble. lt was called The Scrabble Game Will Not Take Place. His next one's about a girl who won't have a birthday party - Blow Out No Candles. Roger believes what's important on screen is what doesn't happen.

There are great cameos: Marlene Dietrich and Mel Ferrer; supporting players include Tony Curtis and Noel Coward; Frank Sinatra sings the title (literally) The girl who stole the Eiffel Tower; there's a song by Fred Astaire that introduces a tong-in-cheek dance sequence that's abruptly interrupted because this one is not a musical...

Tony Curtis as an egocentric Method actor (video)...

Marlene as...Marlene Dietrich.

George Axelrod, who also wrote the screenplay for Breakfast at Tiffany's, included a crazy party scene here too. Although it's not as memorable as the one in B@t, it has some great moments and costumes:

Mel Ferrer as Dr. Jekyll...

...and then as Mr. Hyde...

Another great thing of this film is the music, although it doesn't have a great presence throughout the movie. It was composed by Nelson Riddle and I think it captures the light spirit of the film. One of the themes that stand out is Gabrielle (hear)

TCM said of this movie "Over the years, however, the film has earned a reputation as a guilty pleasure for those who enjoy in-joke movie spoofs and an absurdist storyline played out against the glorious backdrop of the City of Light".

I don't even feel guilty anymore :) In my opinion, Paris When It Sizzles was ahead of its time and therefore, underrated and a commercial failure. I think of it as an antecedent of films like Airplane! and Monty Python's movies, only classier.

So, yes, maybe this movie is a mess. But a delightful and sunny mess, if you decide to relax, give it an opportunity and go "absolutely ape" watching how these unforgettable people enjoy living.

--------------------------------------------------

Written for the CMBA Guilty Pleasures Movie Blogathon.Check the rest of the entries here.

PS: It's funny that writer George Axelrod provided another guilty pleasure  to this blogathon :)