Movie Classic Films — Let's Discuss

[Dees 31]

Ivan was great, he was suxh a fountain of information.

I know I shouldn't probably be mentioning this in the same post as Ivan, but being a Horror tragic, I used to love watching Deadly Ernest & Igor. I loved that show, though most nights after I watched it I'd have to sleep with my light on.

G'day Mantis, Thanks for your posts. Yeah, I used to watch Deadly Ernest. All serious film critics have secret pleasures they'd never write about. OK here's a challenge: I can't promise a prize but can anyone tell me who Deadly Earnest was? There were many condenters... but only one D.E. Who was he?
Cheers,
Dees 31

 

[Dees 31]

Cheers Skilts. I gave up steady emplyment in a field I kinda enjoyed but was not completely fulfilled with to study film. Currently it is paying its way, but it is nice to do something I love, even if better money could be made elsewhere.

As for Ivan, I had the pleasure of meeting him a few times and yes, he was a true gentleman. A lovely chap to speak to, he always made time for chats at film festivals and the like and always showed an interest in the opinions and stories of others. It was a real tragedy when he died, a true loss.

Here's one for the trivia buffs - long before David and Margaret, Ivan and Jim Murphy hosted the "Two on the Aisle" TV series, an early precursor to "The Movie Show". A real treat for me as a kid was "Ivan's Late Night Nostalgia" series which ran on a late Friday night, on which Ivan would interview film people, musicians and other entertainers, screen old newsreels, serials and finish up with an old movie. Just a wonderful program. It is hard to articulate, but there was always something 'comforting' (I think that word fits best) having him around. TV misses him greatly.

Yo Sandeano, forgot to mention, I used to work with Jim Murphy, (of the "TV Listener-In" and "The Green Guide") now there was a dedicated film buff and, like Bill Collins, a lover of scotch whiskey. Little is now known these days of how much of an influence Jim Murphy was on the burgeoning Australian film industry. Along with other pioneers like Alan Finney and 'Fatty' Adams, Jim Murphy did much to encourage and inspire young Australian film makers and technicians. He was an avid collector of films, way before the days of VCRs. His neat little home in Essendon was absolutely groaning with countless cans of 16mm film. He had his own screening room and he'd invite a bunch of us around to see some of the best, and most obscure or rare, films on the planet. All washed down with copius amounts of the golden fluid.

When I wrote my book on Australian film one of Jim's young journalists took it to pieces (in hindsight she was probably right). I took umbridge and demanded to see the editor, Jim Murphy. Well, he took me to lunch... and a grand one it was too. I griped about the savaging my film book got and when I'd finished he offered me a job. You can't get better than that. He became a firm, life-long mate. Another sad loss to the Australian film community.
Cheers,
Dees 31

 

[Dees 31]

I have a collection numbering over 1100 legitimate DVDs. I would say 95% of them are pre 1970s.

My passion for eclectic film started when I was 22. I grew up watching old British war films with my dad (who is the biggest influence on my interests).

Once I began studying Weimar and Nazi Germany,
my favourite 'genres' of film became Noir, German Expressionism (including German silent horror) and foreign silents. I love old Hollywood and prefer the more underrated noir actors such as John Garfield, Dana Andrews to the big name stars like Cary Grant, Joan Crawford etc...

Some of my favourite directors include; F.W Murnau, Fritz Lang, D.W Griffith, Roman Polanski, Ingmar Bergman, William Wyler, Carl Th Dreyer, Samuel Fuller, Martin Ritt, Robert Rossen, Bob Wise among many others

Sadly, many silents and classic films are being neglected. However, there are a few distributors such as Criterion, Eureka Masters of Cinema and Kino still dedicated to the restoration of eclectic film. In fact, Eureka has an Lubitsch collection coming out in January.

My study of this type of film (and World War Two history incidently) is just for the pure love of it. I am not doing a Uni course.

G'day Jacqui9,
Yes, you're a true film fanatic... like me. I like your list of favoured directors. Me too, I like Murnau, Lang Griffith and Polanski's 'Knife In The Water' is stunning (so good it was stolen to make 'Dead Calm') Fuller, Ritt and Wise are all the good guys to me. Save one. For nearly 50 years I've been trying to get my head around Bergman. Damn me I just don't get him. I don't see how locking a camera off on a tight CU of Max Von Sydow's face for 9 minutes works. Still I could be a 'film filistine'.
Great post. Thanks Jacqui.
Dees 31

 

[Dees 31]

OK Big Footiers...
Dees 31 here, asking for a favour. I desperately need to find a copy (DVD Region 4 or {torrent}) of the 1971 film "Gumshoe", starring Albert Finney and Frank Finlay. (Please not a download off the TV with ads.)
I'd be more than please to send you any film from my collection that you may need in return.
Cheers,
Dees 31

 

[Dees 31]

I'm betting Dees 31 knew Ivan. It would be interesting to get his take on the man.

G'day Skilts,
You could be right. See my previous posts. Are you a detective or a fan of Sherlock Holmes?
Cheers,
Dees 31

 

[mdc]

OK Big Footiers...
Dees 31 here, asking for a favour. I desperately need to find a copy (DVD Region 4 or {torrent}) of the 1971 film "Gumshoe", starring Albert Finney and Frank Finlay. (Please not a download off the TV with ads.)
I'd be more than please to send you any film from my collection that you may need in return.
Cheers,
Dees 31

Hey Dees,
I have a DVD-rip of this film right now (i.e. in .avi format), but I think I should be able to track down an untouched DVD copy (digitally) as well. Let me check with a couple of people and get back to you.

 

[Dees 31]

Hey Dees,
I have a DVD-rip of this film right now (i.e. in .avi format), but I think I should be able to track down an untouched DVD copy (digitally) as well. Let me check with a couple of people and get back to you.

G'day MDC,
You are a LEGEND! Outstanding. Anything you can get me on this film will be super. I can't begin to tell you how hard it is to find in Region 4. (I've got an old player and can't do the region shuffle.) Contact me privately and I'll send you my film list... you can have any film from my collection you want... or more!
Cheers, mate.
Dees 31

 

[sandeano]

Yo Sandeano, forgot to mention, I used to work with Jim Murphy, (of the "TV Listener-In" and "The Green Guide") now there was a dedicated film buff and, like Bill Collins, a lover of scotch whiskey. Little is now known these days of how much of an influence Jim Murphy was on the burgeoning Australian film industry. Along with other pioneers like Alan Finney and 'Fatty' Adams, Jim Murphy did much to encourage and inspire young Australian film makers and technicians. He was an avid collector of films, way before the days of VCRs. His neat little home in Essendon was absolutely groaning with countless cans of 16mm film. He had his own screening room and he'd invite a bunch of us around to see some of the best, and most obscure or rare, films on the planet. All washed down with copius amounts of the golden fluid.

When I wrote my book on Australian film one of Jim's young journalists took it to pieces (in hindsight she was probably right). I took umbridge and demanded to see the editor, Jim Murphy. Well, he took me to lunch... and a grand one it was too. I griped about the savaging my film book got and when I'd finished he offered me a job. You can't get better than that. He became a firm, life-long mate. Another sad loss to the Australian film community.
Cheers,
Dees 31

Great posts Dees31 and more later (at work at the moment) but has Jim Murphy passed away? Unless you meant he was retired, I thought I still saw his name attached to CD reviews in the Green Guide (usually of Broadway soundtrack recordings).

 

[skilts]

G'day Skilts,
You could be right. See my previous posts. Are you a detective or a fan of Sherlock Holmes?
Cheers,
Dees 31

Mere intuition dear boy. Mere intuition. Also, rather than being a detective, I'm actually an infestigative journalist.

 

[Dees 31]

G'day Sandeano,
Yes, I meant that Jim had retired. He's alive and well.
Cheers,
Dees 31

 

[jacqui9]

I gave up steady emplyment in a field I kinda enjoyed but was not completely fulfilled with to study film. Currently it is paying its way, but it is nice to do something I love, even if better money could be made elsewhere.

I would love to write and produce a documentary on German Expressionism within Weimar and Nazi Germany and its influence on Hollywood (both noir and realist neo-noir). One wonders about the development of film noir without German-Jew directors like Lang and Billy Wilder who were forced to flee the Nazi regime.

Also fascinating for me are directors such as Robert Rossen and Martin Ritt who were blacklisted for many years due to the 'Red scare' that swept through Hollywood. Their experiences really influenced the direction of their films such as The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and The Hustler. They can be classed as neo-noir realism of the fifties and early sixties.

A girl can dream...

 

[sandeano]

G'day Sandeano,
Yes, I meant that Jim had retired. He's alive and well.
Cheers,
Dees 31

That's good to hear. Great stories there mate and nice to hear Keith Connolly get a mention. He was another fine critic. He was Rohan and Stephen's dad, wasn't he? The only one from around that period that irked me was Neil Jillet, always seemed a grumpy sod.

Feel free to come to me any time! For a project I'm working on I am sure to be coming to YOU to pick your memory bank!

 

[sandeano]

I would love to write and produce a documentary on German Expressionism within Weimar and Nazi Germany and its influence on Hollywood (both noir and realist neo-noir). One wonders about the development of film noir without German-Jew directors like Lang and Billy Wilder who were forced to flee the Nazi regime.

Also fascinating for me are directors such as Robert Rossen and Martin Ritt who were blacklisted for many years due to the 'Red scare' that swept through Hollywood. Their experiences really influenced the direction of their films such as The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and The Hustler. They can be classed as neo-noir realism of the fifties and early sixties.

A girl can dream...

Jacqui, have you read Seigfried Kracauer's "From Caligari To Hitler"? It covers the Weimar films and sees paralells with the rise of Nazi Germany.

 

[mdc]

Less to do with this topic is an ongoing interest in exploitation on which I've lectured a bit and presented some papers on.

sandeano, how's your knowledge of 70's Italian exploitation flicks? I happened across an image or two of Gloria Guida the other day, and I'm sold. Perhaps you can offer a recommendation that would serve as a good starting point?

 

[sandeano]

sandeano, how's your knowledge of 70's Italian exploitation flicks? I happened across an image or two of Gloria Guida the other day, and I'm sold. Perhaps you can offer a recommendation that would serve as a good starting point?

You cannot go past "To Be Twenty", but BUT BUT BUT you have to see the original Italian version, not the recut one released outside much of Europe.

I can't say anymore and I suggest that you don't look up any information on the film, but the film is stunning and I can assure you that you will not move from your chair for several minutes after the final credits have rolled. This of course applies only to the original version.

 

[mdc]

You cannot go past "To Be Twenty", but BUT BUT BUT you have to see the original Italian version, not the recut one released outside much of Europe.

I can't say anymore and I suggest that you don't look up any information on the film, but the film is stunning and I can assure you that you will not move from your chair for several minutes after the final credits have rolled. This of course applies only to the original version.

Cheers for that, just finished watching it. Certainly an unexpected ending, although just as bizarre for me was the choice to reprise that song for the exit music played over the final shot.

For what it was, definitely a fun watch, and Gloria Guida can sell me an encyclopedia or two any time.

 

[CURVE]

You cannot go past "To Be Twenty", but BUT BUT BUT you have to see the original Italian version, not the recut one released outside much of Europe.

I can't say anymore and I suggest that you don't look up any information on the film, but the film is stunning and I can assure you that you will not move from your chair for several minutes after the final credits have rolled. This of course applies only to the original version.

I have both versions of Avere Vent'anni (To Be Twenty) on DVD. They feel like two totally different films, the original hits you in the guts in the last 5-10 minutes, the other version loses all it's power in the way it's been edited. And Gloria is nice, but Lilli Carati is absolutely stunning.

Moving onto another subject, last weekend I ordered from the States an F.W. Murnau box set containing the films The Finances Of The Grand Duke, The Last Laugh, Tartuffe, The Haunted Castle, Nosferatu & Faust. The last three I've seen, but I know very little about the others. I also ordered another Silent film, The Golem, and a documentary on sensorship during the silent era titled Why Be Good?. An enjoyable Christmas break in front the TV awaits me this year.

 

[Dees 31]

That's good to hear. Great stories there mate and nice to hear Keith Connolly get a mention. He was another fine critic. He was Rohan and Stephen's dad, wasn't he? The only one from around that period that irked me was Neil Jillet, always seemed a grumpy sod.

Feel free to come to me any time! For a project I'm working on I am sure to be coming to YOU to pick your memory bank!

G'day Sandeano,
You know, I never spoke with Keith about his family, we only ever talked films and WW2 stories. He was a noted war corresspondent. A most likeable character. You're right about Niel Jillet. A difficult man to get to like. He was most dismissive of several genres. I mean, I've got my favourite genres but I don't bag anyone for being into particular types of films. That's what makes film so fascinating, it's diversity. So many films... so little time!
Cheers,
Dees 31

 

[Dees 31]

I would love to write and produce a documentary on German Expressionism within Weimar and Nazi Germany and its influence on Hollywood (both noir and realist neo-noir). One wonders about the development of film noir without German-Jew directors like Lang and Billy Wilder who were forced to flee the Nazi regime.

Also fascinating for me are directors such as Robert Rossen and Martin Ritt who were blacklisted for many years due to the 'Red scare' that swept through Hollywood. Their experiences really influenced the direction of their films such as The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and The Hustler. They can be classed as neo-noir realism of the fifties and early sixties.

A girl can dream...

G'day Jacqui9,
You've raised a most interesting point. The influence of European film makers, actors, musicians and technicians on pre-war and wartime Hollywood. Somebody must have written a definitve text on this subject. It's huge and would make a fascinating series of documentaries. The depth of talent is immense, ranging from UK imports like Hitchcock to all the war 'refugees' from middle Europe. One stunning example is the 'Anthem Singing' scene from 'Casablanca'. When the French National Anthem was sung on the set of 'Rick's Cafe Americaine' those were real tears on the faces of the female singer and several of the extras. A huge proportion of the cast of that film were honest to god refugees and the emotions evokes in the scene became real. Curtiz left it all in, I guess he orchestrated it, perhaps.
Try to imagine what Hollywood would have been like had there not been such an influx of extraordinary talent from the rest of the world. So sad to see what Hollywood has become these days, but without the imports Hollywood would not have had it's Golden Years from the late 30s through to the 50s.
Pitch the doco idea to the History Channel or one or more of the movie channels on pay TV... it's worth a try.
Cheers,
Dees 31

 

[sandeano]

G'day Sandeano,
You know, I never spoke with Keith about his family, we only ever talked films and WW2 stories. He was a noted war corresspondent. A most likeable character. You're right about Niel Jillet. A difficult man to get to like. He was most dismissive of several genres. I mean, I've got my favourite genres but I don't bag anyone for being into particular types of films. That's what makes film so fascinating, it's diversity. So many films... so little time!
Cheers,
Dees 31

Yes, and I also remember Jillet had no time for certain directors - Scorsese and Allen to name two. You could predict his review before he had written it. I see he still does dance reviews for The Age. Heaven help those dancers!

 

[sandeano]

Cheers for that, just finished watching it. Certainly an unexpected ending, although just as bizarre for me was the choice to reprise that song for the exit music played over the final shot.

For what it was, definitely a fun watch, and Gloria Guida can sell me an encyclopedia or two any time.

Struth! That was quick!

The only other Guida film I can recall seeing was one with Joseph Cotten - some typical euro-pudding from the late 70s. Also there was another I hired from a shop in Coburg which specialised in Italian films on video (albeit only in Italian). It was when I was going through my Edwige Fenech phase, tracking down the scores of films she appeared in and, with a taste for ribald Italian comedies, found one with Gloria. Apart from looking great (and often nude) she had a natural ability for comic timing.

 

[sandeano]

I have both versions of Avere Vent'anni (To Be Twenty) on DVD. They feel like two totally different films, the original hits you in the guts in the last 5-10 minutes, the other version loses all it's power in the way it's been edited. And Gloria is nice, but Lilli Carati is absolutely stunning.

Moving onto another subject, last weekend I ordered from the States an F.W. Murnau box set containing the films The Finances Of The Grand Duke, The Last Laugh, Tartuffe, The Haunted Castle, Nosferatu & Faust. The last three I've seen, but I know very little about the others. I also ordered another Silent film, The Golem, and a documentary on sensorship during the silent era titled Why Be Good?. An enjoyable Christmas break in front the TV awaits me this year.

Yep, I have that same version of "To Be Twenty". Quite an amazing difference between the versions.

The Murnau set sounds great - One of these days I'll buy the Murnau and Borzage at Fox set. One of these days, one of these days...

 

[jacqui9]

Jacqui, have you read Seigfried Kracauer's "From Caligari To Hitler"? It covers the Weimar films and sees paralells with the rise of Nazi Germany.

I purchased it quite a few years ago Sandeano. Fritz Lang was openly critical about Kracauer's notes on M. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it though.

 

[CURVE]

Struth! That was quick!

The only other Guida film I can recall seeing was one with Joseph Cotten - some typical euro-pudding from the late 70s. Also there was another I hired from a shop in Coburg which specialised in Italian films on video (albeit only in Italian). It was when I was going through my Edwige Fenech phase, tracking down the scores of films she appeared in and, with a taste for ribald Italian comedies, found one with Gloria. Apart from looking great (and often nude) she had a natural ability for comic timing.

The Perfect Crime with Joseph Cotten and Aldolfo Celi (Largo in Thunderball) I think also starred Gloria. I haven't seen it in 15-20 years, but I do remember it was pretty terrible.

I have dozens of Edwige Fenech DVD's, she is one of my favourite 70's starlets. One of them has a recent (2006) interview with her, and she is still one the most beautiful women in Italy, looks early 40's at the most.

 

[sandeano]

G'day Jacqui9,
You've raised a most interesting point. The influence of European film makers, actors, musicians and technicians on pre-war and wartime Hollywood. Somebody must have written a definitve text on this subject. It's huge and would make a fascinating series of documentaries. The depth of talent is immense, ranging from UK imports like Hitchcock to all the war 'refugees' from middle Europe. One stunning example is the 'Anthem Singing' scene from 'Casablanca'. When the French National Anthem was sung on the set of 'Rick's Cafe Americaine' those were real tears on the faces of the female singer and several of the extras. A huge proportion of the cast of that film were honest to god refugees and the emotions evokes in the scene became real. Curtiz left it all in, I guess he orchestrated it, perhaps.
Try to imagine what Hollywood would have been like had there not been such an influx of extraordinary talent from the rest of the world. So sad to see what Hollywood has become these days, but without the imports Hollywood would not have had it's Golden Years from the late 30s through to the 50s.
Pitch the doco idea to the History Channel or one or more of the movie channels on pay TV... it's worth a try.
Cheers,
Dees 31

Just on Michael Curtiz - I know he does not get much of a claim from auteurists and other scholars and his films are generally credited to the remarkable Warner Brothers system of the time, but anyone whose name is associated with so many great films has to be more than an efficient craftsman.

Regarding film noir - Curtiz's The Breaking Point is one of the best I've seen, a highly underrated 1950 version of "To Have and to Have Not" which is far superior to the Hawks film of a few years earlier.