--- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, "michal.oleszczyk82" <michal.oleszczyk@...>
wrote:
>
> Sadly, I have no way of watching DESIRE ME, but I wanted to ask if any of
a_film_by'ers had a chance to see it? If so, whose hand is most visible in it:
Cukor's...? LeRoy's...? Conway's...?
>
> I would love to read any recollections of this unattainable non-auteur (?)
curiosity item -- if the happy few are willing to share them.


This turned up on TCM many years back. It contains several Cukorian themes and
motifs. TCM also screened a trailer which included many shots from scenes that
are no longer in the actual film (I assume the trailer was assembled exclusively
from material shot by Cukor, prior to the LeRoy/Conway reshoots).

hi
I'd like to introduce you a very good company :  http://www.wto-store.com。You
can find the most Xmas gifts you ever wanted
  You won't miss it~!

Blake,

I don't think anybody wants to dismiss THE EQUALIZER, and certainly not me. My
post just wanted to draw attention to the other excellent work Woodward did on
British television and is not very well-known, even if it survived. His
performance in the early two seasons of CALLAN was riveting and even if the
later seasons diluted it somewhat. it is one of the best examples of television
acting.

Your citation from that EQUALIZER episode evoked Callan very much.

Tony W.

--- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, "lukethedealer12" <lukethedealer@...> wrote:
>
> Please don't dismiss "The Equalizer."  Woodward was wonderful in
> a pretty soulful role, way beyond what one usually gets in an
> episodic TV series.  My wife and I were so taken with the characte
> right at the time our first dog wandered in off the street that
> we named him "McCall."
>
> The best moment in the series was when when McCall slams a bad guy
> up against a wall and says something about forgiveness--how God forgives or
something--and then says "I will not forgive."
>
> Blake
>
> --- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, "Crescent9" <peckinpah20012000@> wrote:
> >
> > Although probably best known to US viewers as "The Equalizer", Woodward also
had a distinguished film and television career. The former involved THE WICKER
MAN, BREAKER MORANT and the latter as CALLAN. He also starred in a 6 part BBC TV
series 1990 (1977) that has never been repeated since it anticipated the
dystopian world of Britain's New Labour. Like Trevor Griffith's BILL BRAND
(1977) and Loach-Garnett's DAYS OF HOPE (1974), this series has never been
repeated on TV nor available on DVD due to its damning contemporary indictment
of a repressive England. Woodward distinguished himself in the role of an
investigative journalist who becomes a "non-person" in one episode.
> >
> > Tony Williams
> >
>

--- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, "tharpa2002" <tharpa2002@...> wrote:
>
> Saw his unworthy obit in the LA Times. He deserved better, both from the Times
and from the industry.

Yes, Richard--that was just terrible.  No sense of him at all, but that's
typical of LA Times obits for any movie figure who isn't right out there this
minute--meaning most anyone really.

I especially agree with you about FACE OF A FUGITIVE, probably my favorite of
his movies, a beautiful, existential Western from 1959 (same year as GIDGET,
which was really very good too, though I haven't seen the sequels) which sounded
spiritual themes and did have
one of Fred MacMurray's best performances ever.  Wendkos' debut, THE BURGLAR
with Dan Duryea and Jayne Mansfield was an excellent late noir from a David
Goodis novel, with the two stars soulful in a tormented, moving relationship. 
TARAWA BEACHHEAD, an excellent, grim WWII movie; THE CASE AGAINST BROOKLYN, good
crime movie, also stand out.  I haven't seen ANGEL BABY, which has a good
reputation.

Those are early ones--moving along there was the surprising, very imaginatively
directed JOHNNY TIGER with overtones of magic and a good treatment of
contemporary Indians.  The best of his TV movies I saw was THE BROTHERHOOD OF
THE BELL (about 1970), a gripping conspiracy drama of how power is taken and
brokered in America.

He was a fine director, both stylistically and in sensibility.  No doubt his
career disappointed him--it pretty much wound up in TV where limitations on
creativity can become more severe, but that doesn't mean he didn't couldn't show
some artistic gifts all along the line.  It's alwyas kind of sad when someone so
talented is also so low-profile--it's good not to forget them.

Blake Lucas

>
> It's pretty unlikely we'll ever see a Wendkos retrospective even though he
made some distinctive pictures in several genres, including his first scope
GIDGET movie. His western THE FACE OF A FUGITIVE has a memorable performance
from Fred McMurray. Among his TV movies the two about a psychic detective played
by Louis Jordan are outstanding as is "Haunts of the Very Rich." The last
theatrical feature of his that I can think off hand, "The Mephisto Waltz," was
also pretty good though I haven't seen it in well over 30 years.
>
> Richard M
>

Please don't dismiss "The Equalizer."  Woodward was wonderful in
a pretty soulful role, way beyond what one usually gets in an
episodic TV series.  My wife and I were so taken with the characte
right at the time our first dog wandered in off the street that
we named him "McCall."

The best moment in the series was when when McCall slams a bad guy
up against a wall and says something about forgiveness--how God forgives or
something--and then says "I will not forgive."

Blake

--- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, "Crescent9" <peckinpah20012000@...> wrote:
>
> Although probably best known to US viewers as "The Equalizer", Woodward also
had a distinguished film and television career. The former involved THE WICKER
MAN, BREAKER MORANT and the latter as CALLAN. He also starred in a 6 part BBC TV
series 1990 (1977) that has never been repeated since it anticipated the
dystopian world of Britain's New Labour. Like Trevor Griffith's BILL BRAND
(1977) and Loach-Garnett's DAYS OF HOPE (1974), this series has never been
repeated on TV nor available on DVD due to its damning contemporary indictment
of a repressive England. Woodward distinguished himself in the role of an
investigative journalist who becomes a "non-person" in one episode.
>
> Tony Williams
>

Also, I've just discovered that not only does somebody in the US have all the
episodes of 1990 but also some of the early b/w ones of CALLAN that escaped the
UK tape holocaust of the 1970s. One episode derives from a rehearsal intact with
bloopers.

It is really good that some of this material has survived.

Tony W.


--- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, scott wannberg <scottwannberg@...> wrote:
>
> that was edward mulhare.edward woodward was in the wicker man and played an
agent on a tv series but mulhare was in the tv version of ghost
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: tharpa2002 <tharpa2002@...>
> To: a_film_by@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Mon, November 16, 2009 7:20:32 PM
> Subject: [a_film_by] Re: Edward Woodward (1930-2009)
>
>
> Woodward is probably best known to US audiences for his role as the captain in
"The Ghost and Mrs. Muir" TV series.
>
> Richard M
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>

that was edward mulhare.edward woodward was in the wicker man and played an
agent on a tv series but mulhare was in the tv version of ghost




________________________________
From: tharpa2002 <tharpa2002@...>
To: a_film_by@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Mon, November 16, 2009 7:20:32 PM
Subject: [a_film_by] Re: Edward Woodward (1930-2009)


Woodward is probably best known to US audiences for his role as the captain in
"The Ghost and Mrs. Muir" TV series.

Richard M







[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

james coburn was in face of a fugitive




________________________________
From: tharpa2002 <tharpa2002@...>
To: a_film_by@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Mon, November 16, 2009 7:36:13 PM
Subject: [a_film_by] Paul Wendkos RIP


Saw his unworthy obit in the LA Times. He deserved better, both from the Times
and from the industry.

It's pretty unlikely we'll ever see a Wendkos retrospective even though he made
some distinctive pictures in several genres, including his first scope GIDGET
movie. His western THE FACE OF A FUGITIVE has a memorable performance from Fred
McMurray. Among his TV movies the two about a psychic detective played by Louis
Jordan are outstanding as is "Haunts of the Very Rich." The last theatrical
feature of his that I can think off hand, "The Mephisto Waltz," was also pretty
good though I haven't seen it in well over 30 years.

Richard M







[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Saw his unworthy obit in the LA Times. He deserved better, both from the Times
and from the industry.

It's pretty unlikely we'll ever see a Wendkos retrospective even though he made
some distinctive pictures in several genres, including his first scope GIDGET
movie. His western THE FACE OF A FUGITIVE has a memorable performance from Fred
McMurray. Among his TV movies the two about a psychic detective played by Louis
Jordan are outstanding as is "Haunts of the Very Rich." The last theatrical
feature of his that I can think off hand, "The Mephisto Waltz," was also pretty
good though I haven't seen it in well over 30 years.

Richard M

Woodward is probably best known to US audiences for his role as the captain in
"The Ghost and Mrs. Muir" TV series.

Richard M

Although probably best known to US viewers as "The Equalizer", Woodward also had
a distinguished film and television career. The former involved THE WICKER MAN,
BREAKER MORANT and the latter as CALLAN. He also starred in a 6 part BBC TV
series 1990 (1977) that has never been repeated since it anticipated the
dystopian world of Britain's New Labour. Like Trevor Griffith's BILL BRAND
(1977) and Loach-Garnett's DAYS OF HOPE (1974), this series has never been
repeated on TV nor available on DVD due to its damning contemporary indictment
of a repressive England. Woodward distinguished himself in the role of an
investigative journalist who becomes a "non-person" in one episode.

Tony Williams

"That's (Hollywood) Entertainment"!

Tony W.

--- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, "Rick S" <rick.segreda@...> wrote:
>
> That Tom Cruise and John Travolta are going to star in a remake of "Butch
Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" is wrong on so many levels that I don't even know
where to begin...they are both Scientology cult loyalists, they are both
fulsomely grinning closet queens, they are both too old for either role, and
would be completely wrong for either part in any year, John Travolta should
never, ever do a Western, the original film is fine as it is, that this is
looking to shape up as unintentionally morbid camp on the order of "Grey
Gardens," and so forth and so on.
>
> Sorry, I know we believe in the ability of autuers to transform any dross into
gold, but I can't imagine a director alive who could salvage this.
>

Just saw Morris Engle's 'Little Fugitive" and kind of loved it. Anyone care to
comment - it needs a rediscovery and I don't quite think it's a great film.

That Tom Cruise and John Travolta are going to star in a remake of "Butch
Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" is wrong on so many levels that I don't even know
where to begin...they are both Scientology cult loyalists, they are both
fulsomely grinning closet queens, they are both too old for either role, and
would be completely wrong for either part in any year, John Travolta should
never, ever do a Western, the original film is fine as it is, that this is
looking to shape up as unintentionally morbid camp on the order of "Grey
Gardens," and so forth and so on.

Sorry, I know we believe in the ability of autuers to transform any dross into
gold, but I can't imagine a director alive who could salvage this.

>I work as a publicist for somebody relatively famous (at least by
>association, since her husband of 50 years is showbiz-political legend),
>who now produces documentaries, including one narrated by Danny Glover. I
>want to update her CV on IMDB (and Danny Glover's), so I can mention the
>films she has made as a producer, but I have not the slightest idea of how
>to go about doing so. If somebody can enlighten me, I would be very
>grateful.
>

It's very easy. Just click on the UPDATE button at the bottom of the page
and away you'll go. It takes some time for the new information to show up,
but it's all explained very carefully in the instructions.

-Bilge

I work as a publicist for somebody relatively famous (at least by association,
since her husband of 50 years is showbiz-political legend), who now produces
documentaries, including one narrated by Danny Glover. I want to update her CV
on IMDB (and Danny Glover's), so I can mention the films she has made as a
producer, but I have not the slightest idea of how to go about doing so. If
somebody can enlighten me, I would be very grateful.

Sadly, I have no way of watching DESIRE ME, but I wanted to ask if any of
a_film_by'ers had a chance to see it? If so, whose hand is most visible in it:
Cukor's...? LeRoy's...? Conway's...?

I would love to read any recollections of this unattainable non-auteur (?)
curiosity item -- if the happy few are willing to share them.

--Michal

Thanks guys for all the recommendations: lots to look for, lots to track down.
I'll post something if I can get a hold of any of the titles you mentioned (with
THE NIGHT HAS A THOUSAND EYES on top of my list).

For the record: I watched Wilder's A FOREIGN AFFAIR yesterda and it redeemed
John Lund for me. I have THE MATING SEASON on DVD, I'll watch that and make it a
dealbraker.

--Michal

I think I've cut this one right and Lund is so dreary in relation to Gail
Russell.

Tony W.

--- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, "lukethedealer12" <lukethedealer@...> wrote:
>
>
> THE NIGHT HAS A THOUSAND EYES had Gail Russell--who can look at anyone else
when she's around?  And even if she weren't there, John Lund could never be more
than a run of the mill straight man to Edward G. Robinson.>

--- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, "lukethedealer12" <lukethedealer@...> wrote:
>
"...THE NIGHT HAS A THOUSAND EYES had Gail Russell--who can look at anyone else
when she's around?...I haven't seen that John Farrow movie in a long time,
though remember liking it very much and would name it as one my favorite
Farrows."

Sam Fuller was going to make his version of the Woolrich novel with Martin
Scorsese as producer but his stroke put an end to that project alas. Farrow did
a fine job in his own right; the look of the whole movie, interiors and
exteriors, was somehow both dream-like and sharply realistic at the same time.

Richard

Hey, Tony, the way you cut this (below), it looked like I wrote it.  But I
defended Lund (for some films).  It was Michal who called him boring.

Mind you, I'm not saying he's a favorite of mine; he's good enough in some
things, maybe a little better in a few others, and as boring as you and Michal
suggest at times.

THE NIGHT HAS A THOUSAND EYES had Gail Russell--who can look at anyone else when
she's around?  And even if she weren't there, John Lund could never be more than
a run of the mill straight man to Edward G. Robinson.
I haven't seen that John Farrow movie in a long time, though remember liking it
very much and would name it as one my favorite Farrows.

One more word on George Marshall, and his predilection for comedy.
It perhaps could be described as more than that in his case.  Without making
claims he is a great director--I like him well enough, though
within reason, as he can seem prosaic and oonventional--he does seem to have a
genuine interest in finding and exploring the playful side of cinema.  It's
shown well, for example, in his two musical Westerns of the mid-50s.  THE SECOND
GREATEST SEX is based on LYSISTRATA, and has a pleasingly self-conscious aura
given the source, while in RED GARTERS,
he purposely used minimalist sets with some daring, playing up the artificiality
of the project for all it is worth.

I also have to mention one gag in ADVANCE TO THE REAR that is so great it is
worth the movie.  Confederate spy Stella Stevens tries to escape on a barge but
as she starts to pole out into the water, the whole thing turns out to be full
of holes and sinks beneath her.  As filmed in elegant long shot by Marshall and
played by the gifted comedienne Stevens this was worthy of Buster Keaton, and
might remind someone of him, as it did me.

Blake


--- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, "Crescent9" <peckinpah20012000@...> wrote:
>
> He was also so dreary in THE NIGHT HAS A THOUSAND EYES.
>
> Tony Williams
>
> --- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, "lukethedealer12" <lukethedealer@> wrote:
> Alas, John Lund comes off as a gravely impaired bore: a terminal square. Small
wonder he later on played George Kittridge in the musical remake of "The
Philadelphia Story" (1940).
> > Blake Lucas
>

Marshall's TRUE TO LIFE is an inventive comedy, about radio script writers. And
HOLD THAT COED is one of those campus football comedies, also with some
inventive ideas.

Mike Grost

He was also so dreary in THE NIGHT HAS A THOUSAND EYES.

Tony Williams

--- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, "lukethedealer12" <lukethedealer@...> wrote:
Alas, John Lund comes off as a gravely impaired bore: a terminal square. Small
wonder he later on played George Kittridge in the musical remake of "The
Philadelphia Story" (1940).
> Blake Lucas

--- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, "michal.oleszczyk82" <michal.oleszczyk@...>
wrote:
>
> Much more than just a poor man's "Singin' in the Rain" (1952) – but still not
a great musical about the silent-to-sound Hollywood transition – George
Marshall's "The Perils of Pauline" (1947) makes for a pleasant enough
distraction.
>
> In a movie that's so packed with wonderful entertainers (you cannot beat the
Sturgesian duo of Betty Hutton and Bill Demarest, with Constance Collier as a
bonus) one painfully misses a single thing: a leading man to match Hutton. Maybe
not to match her folly (you'd need Eddie Bracken for that, no less), but at
least her energy. Alas, John Lund comes off as a gravely impaired bore: a
terminal square. Small wonder he later on played George Kittridge in the musical
remake of "The Philadelphia Story" (1940).
>
> Hutton was a great comedienne; nowadays only Anna Faris is a proud heiress to
her reckless brand of self-mocking irony and physical bravado. When her
character comes up with an idea, all that's missing is a big light bulb
springing up over Hutton's head – she's cartoonish to the point of rapture, and
it comes as sort of a shock when she falls off a rope near the end and actually
gets hurt. Shouldn't she bounce off the stage and keep on prancing around…?
>
> By the way: any other George Marhsall movies worth recommending? I think the
only other one I saw was "Destry Rides Again" (1979), while his IMdB filmography
lists no lest than 177 movies & TV shows episodes!
>
> --Michal

I'm fairly certain that Mitchell Leisen, no less, discovered John Lund who makes
his debut in Leisen's TO EACH HIS OWN and also appears with fair effectiveness
in the same director's THE MATING SEASON as Thelma Ritter's son.  He's not
necessarily as boring as you say, though I haven't seen PERILS OF PAULINE (have
a tape of it here somewhere and you have motivated me to find and watch it).

You should check out Marshall's MY FRIEND IRMA--the movie debut of
Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis,also with luscious Diana Lynn and as the eponymous
character Marie Wilson.  Here, John Lund plays a flavorful part as Irma's
sharpie boyfriend, always looking for an angle.

Marshall is greatly esteemed as a comedy director--that mostly holds
though THE BLUE DAHLIA, for example, shows he had some range (the titles already
passed along are mostly pretty good ones I would support).  So, for example,
among his comedy Westerns, there are also some serious ones, like PILLARS OF THE
SKY (1956), which might actually be my favorite of his films, a very unusual
cavalry/Indian film with an unexpected theological theme.

Of the comedy Westerns, I think DESTRY RIDES AGAIN is very overrated and prefer
Marshall's own remake DESTRY (1955) with Audie Murphy and Mari Blanchard in the
Stewart and Dietrich roles.  The best of the comedy Westerns for me is THE
SHEEPMAN (1958) with Glenn Ford and Shirley MacLaine.  Only NORTH TO ALASKA
(Hathaway) is a better comedy Western than this one.

Blake Lucas
>

--- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, "michal.oleszczyk82" <michal.oleszczyk@...>
wrote:

"...any other George Marhsall movies worth recommending?"

I liked some of Marshall's genre comedies: "The Ghost Breakers" (1940),
"Murder, He Says" (1945), "The Gazebo" (1959), all comedy Thrillers; "Advance to
the Rear" (1964) another Western comedy.

His W.C. Fields vehicle "You Can't Cheat an Honest Man" (1939)is pretty good,
and his straight forward crime movies "Nancy Steele Is Missing!" (1937)and "The
Blue Dahlia" (1946) with an original screenplay by Raymond Chandler are worth
seeing.

Richcard

* Make that "1939" for "Destry"... I know nothing about any revisionist version
of it directed by Arthur Penn in 1979, starring Mark Hamill and Candice Bergen
:-)

Much more than just a poor man's "Singin' in the Rain" (1952) – but still not a
great musical about the silent-to-sound Hollywood transition – George Marshall's
"The Perils of Pauline" (1947) makes for a pleasant enough distraction.

In a movie that's so packed with wonderful entertainers (you cannot beat the
Sturgesian duo of Betty Hutton and Bill Demarest, with Constance Collier as a
bonus) one painfully misses a single thing: a leading man to match Hutton. Maybe
not to match her folly (you'd need Eddie Bracken for that, no less), but at
least her energy. Alas, John Lund comes off as a gravely impaired bore: a
terminal square. Small wonder he later on played George Kittridge in the musical
remake of "The Philadelphia Story" (1940).

Hutton was a great comedienne; nowadays only Anna Faris is a proud heiress to
her reckless brand of self-mocking irony and physical bravado. When her
character comes up with an idea, all that's missing is a big light bulb
springing up over Hutton's head – she's cartoonish to the point of rapture, and
it comes as sort of a shock when she falls off a rope near the end and actually
gets hurt. Shouldn't she bounce off the stage and keep on prancing around…?

By the way: any other George Marhsall movies worth recommending? I think the
only other one I saw was "Destry Rides Again" (1979), while his IMdB filmography
lists no lest than 177 movies & TV shows episodes!

--Michal

Some articles:

Jang Kun Jae's "Eighteen," Ralston's Jover's "Bakal Boys"

http://criticafterdark.blogspot.com/2009/10/cinemanila-2009-final-weekend.html

Dragons and Tigers Competitors in Vancouver Film Festival:

http://criticafterdark.blogspot.com/2009/10/jang-kun-jaes-eighteen-wins-dragons-\
and.html

Vancouver Film Festival; Kore-eda's "Air Doll;" Bong Joon Ho's "Mother."

http://criticafterdark.blogspot.com/2009/10/vancouver-international-film-festiva\
l.html

Bong Joon Ho's "Barking Dogs Never Bite;" Park Chan Wook's Oldboy; Im Kwon
Taek's Beyond the Years.

http://criticafterdark.blogspot.com/2009/10/vancouver-international-film-festiva\
l.html

Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds;" Bigelow's "Hurt Locker;" Shane Acker's "9"

http://criticafterdark.blogspot.com/2009/09/inglourious-basterds-hurt-locker-9.h\
tml

Toby Wilkins' "Grudge 3"

http://criticafterdark.blogspot.com/2009/09/grudge-3-toby-wilkins-2009.html

Carlos J. Caparas' National Artist Award can't be undone, says Solicitor General

http://criticafterdark.blogspot.com/2009/09/national-artist-awards-cant-be-undon\
e.html

  Critic After Dark: a Review of Philippine Cinema


http://www.bigozine2.com/theshop/books/NVcritic.html


A blog:


http://criticafterdark.blogspot.com/

detective story,lawman,the valachi papers,the unforgiven,three brave men,yep yep
yep




________________________________
From: Crescent9 <peckinpah20012000@...>
To: a_film_by@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wed, October 21, 2009 10:56:54 AM
Subject: [a_film_by] DR. NO IS DEAD


Joseph Wiseman (1918-2009) has left us, an actor who preferred to be remembered
for stage rather than screen work but he left other credits such as VIVA ZAPATA!
and BYE BYE BRAVERMAN.

Tony W.







[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Joseph Wiseman (1918-2009) has left us, an actor who preferred to be remembered
for stage rather than screen work but he left other credits such as VIVA ZAPATA!
and BYE BYE BRAVERMAN.

Tony W.