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Post by dash on Apr 9, 2015 16:49:38 GMT
Don Barclay, who I'd never heard of, was an accomplished comedian and dialectician. He played a rather comedic sidekick to Bob Steele in this outing, and was the weak link in the chain for the film. Still, he had plenty of talent; it's just that this sort of character is a thing of the past. I'm curious what you mean when you say this kind of character is a thing of the past.
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Post by rmichaelpyle on Apr 10, 2015 12:33:22 GMT
Don Barclay, who I'd never heard of, was an accomplished comedian and dialectician. He played a rather comedic sidekick to Bob Steele in this outing, and was the weak link in the chain for the film. Still, he had plenty of talent; it's just that this sort of character is a thing of the past. I'm curious what you mean when you say this kind of character is a thing of the past. The character Don Barclay played in this film is comedic even in very dramatic scenes. To a modern watcher it is most disconcerting. Indeed, at moments, like the very end of the film, for example, he has a breakfast on a tray, one that he obviously has been preparing for a very long time, and he pratfalls right in front of the camera and spills it all over the floor. The hero, Bob Steele, and his new girl, Louise Stanley, laugh as though, "Yeah, there he goes again!", and the camera fades out. THE END. It's utterly stupid, and much of what Don Barclay does throughout the film is downright stupid rather than funny in a sense that we would call humor. I'm simply calling a spade a spade. Trends change throughout the years. It was common in the 30's for a Western star to have a comic sidekick. Smiley Burnette and George "Gabby" Hayes played enough of them, and there were others. Don Barclay in this film is nothing more than an evocation of that idea. But - humor just when a major drama is occurring is NOT part of the modern literary scene. Comedy/drama isn't seen much anymore in films, either. Not that it doesn't belong. I'm not THAT barometer. Just commenting on what I saw in this film alone...
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Post by rmichaelpyle on Apr 10, 2015 12:43:03 GMT
I watched another Bob Steele Western. This one was called "Headin' North" (1930), and it's a tight little drama with lots of good action, a decent plot that's not stale, and a chance to see Bob Steele play a Vaudeville-like part as a ruse to find the baddie of the piece. This one also stars Barbara Luddy, Perry Murdock, Walter Shumway, Eddie Dunn, Fred Burns, and Gordon De Main. Good Western outing - what's left of it. There are several skips and jumps and broken film places in this print from Alpha; I suspect it's all that's left, though. Steele made nine films in 1930, so he was churning these things out like fodder. I don't think preservation of these things was much in the mind of the makers then. We're lucky to have what we have, I suppose.
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Post by dash on Apr 11, 2015 17:31:47 GMT
I finally got around to watching the whole of The Avenging Conscience (1914). I had seen bits and pieces, but this was my first time seeing the whole thing. Although not one of Griffith's masterpieces, I thought it was a most enjoyable film. Henry B. Walthall's performance makes it, especially in the scene where his character is being questioned by the detective. A few things did perplex me: 1. Where exactly is the locale of the film? It seems to be in a rural area with fields and haystacks, yet the party is held in what looks like a park in a large urban area. But then there is a small shanty-town looking area nearby where Walthall sets up his alibi—and the whole of it is near the sea with cliffs. Oh well, maybe those things don't bother anybody but me. 2. What's the deal with the long scene at the end with Pan playing the flute? It seems totally extraneous to the story. 3. I wondered why Griffith chose Blanche Sweet as the girlfriend. As much as I love Blanche, this being a Poe story of sorts, it seems that more of a Lenore-type actress might have been better casting. Lillian Gish? Miriam Cooper? Anyway, an enjoyable film. I enjoyed also the brief parts of Mae Marsh and Bobby Harron, though they seemed somewhat extraneous to the plot, as well. Mae Marsh is so delightful and charming.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 11, 2015 17:58:30 GMT
I haven't watched the film in many years but I do remember the Poe influences, Tell-Tale Heart, Annabel Lee, The Bells. I think some of the artsy-fartsy stuff in the film is just Griffith being Griffith. Also remember that his films have been butchered in editing over the years so we are never completely sure with a Griffith film if we are watching it complete, or in the order of scenes that he originally wanted.
Blanche Sweet just may have been chosen because some of the other ladies he used were busy at the time. Maybe he didn't feel confident bringing in a very young newbie actress, but wanted one he trusted with experience.
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Post by dash on Apr 11, 2015 23:19:59 GMT
Yes, I think you're right. Also, Blanche Sweet and Henry B. Walthall worked so well together.
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Post by rmichaelpyle on Apr 13, 2015 12:32:58 GMT
I have now made it through season three of "Upstairs, Downstairs" (1971-1975). Comparing it with "Downton Abbey" is simply a comedy: "Downton Abbey" is amateur in comparison. I'd forgotten how truly great that original show was. It's a revelation re-visiting it. And, too, it's such a pleasure... Still have two seasons to go... It's not all acting or scenic places - the writing is diamonds sheathed in gold, but solid as platinum - plus - and this is important, in my opinion: the history is far more circumspect...
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Post by rmichaelpyle on Apr 13, 2015 12:57:15 GMT
Last night I watched "Worldly Goods" (1930), a recently found "lost" film starring James Kirkwood, Merna Kennedy, Shannon Day, Ferdinand Schumann-Heink, and Eddie Fetherston. This is actually a pretty decent little programmer, although one knows from the beginning what steps the plot will take to reach its end, and it does. Kirkwood is almost forgotten today, but he made over 230 films in a career that began in 1909 (he made 54 pictures in 1909 alone!!), and at one time he was Mary Pickford's favorite director - they worked together in 9 pictures. Ferdinand Schumann-Heink - a name that doesn't necessarily trip off the American tongue - made over 75 films, mostly in small, uncredited roles, but here gets the leading love light role, opposite Merna Kennedy. The actress that impressed me most was Shannon Day, and I was rather disappointed to discover that her career just never really took off. She's impressive, although her very obvious New York accent is also pressing a button throughout... This one concerns a businessman - Kirkwood - who's spent his life making money, owning things, every kind of major business and industry one can think of - and now he's discovered that he really doesn't have anything of any spiritual value to himself. One of the casualties of WW I is Ferdinand Schumann-Heink who flew one of the planes Kirkwood invented for the War Department and went down because the plane was faulty. He's now blind because of the crash. All he wishes to do in life is find his nemesis and kill him. However, a certain Mr. Smith finds out about him and offers to cure his blindness... Good little show. Little, yes, but good. And, as I said, re-discovered: makes it worth seeing what we've been missing...
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Post by rmichaelpyle on Apr 15, 2015 11:56:13 GMT
I went to the theater and saw "Woman in Gold" (2015) with Helen Mirren, Ryan Reynolds, Daniel Brühl, Katie Holmes, Tatiana Maslany, Max Irons, Charles Dance, Elizabeth McGovern, and many others. It's not even rarely that I cry at the movies, but this one had me wiping tears away at several junctures. Powerful film! Wonderful evocations - and sometimes a few that are overwhelming because of their underlying terror. This is the true story of how Arnold Schoenberg's grandson, Randall, a fairly young lawyer in Los Angeles, helped Maria Altmann, an American now/Jewish refugee here from Vienna, Austria via WWII, recover several of her family's paintings that had been "confiscated" by the Nazi regime over fifty years before; especially one, though, a work by Klimt that depicted Maria Altmann's aunt. This work had been known for a long time now simply as "Woman in Gold" so that the name of the person who posed for it would not be recognized, thus possibly forcing it to be returned to the family that owned it. In the meantime, the painting had become a national icon. All of this is quite true. The painting today is in New York, having been bought by Estée Lauder's son for $135 million dollars! What was particularly satisfying about the film was its economy in telling the story. Not one ounce of fat remained to spoil a well-told, extremely well-edited story. It's a problem I have with many of today's films which seem to go on and on. The only thing about this film that is like that is the end credits which I sat through anyway. I was too stunned by the film to move. With the advent of the credits, however, I was moved to go to dinner with my wife at a fine artisan pizza place around the corner.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 15, 2015 12:52:08 GMT
Economy of story-telling? That's for me! I'll have to check that one out.
I'm taking a break from the Korea dramas for awhile after Chuno, waiting for Producer to start up -- just not that interested in anything that Dramafever is running right now, it all looks boring to me after Chuno. So I watched a film thru Netflix called The Book Thief (2013) that also had a Nazi holocaust theme to it. What a great movie. A young girl steals books to teach herself to read as an escape from her emotionally cold foster parents and the holocaust. She develops a friendship with a Jewish man the family is hiding in their home. A wonderful job by the actors and an intriguing story. Sophie Nelisse was brilliant and beautiful. Geoffrey Rush was superb. Emily Watson was a study in unwrapping the real story of a character. The other cast, especially Nico Liersch (Rudy) did a great job with emotionally complex roles. Now I have to read the book to learn more.
Trailer -
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Post by Fritz on Apr 15, 2015 13:35:30 GMT
Yeah, The Book Thief is a gem, but keep the tissues handy.
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Post by rmichaelpyle on Apr 21, 2015 11:28:44 GMT
I watched "Pinto Canyon" (1940) with Bob Steele, Louise Stanley, Kenne Duncan, Ted Adams, Steve Clark, Bud Buster, Murdock MacQuarrie, and George Chesebro. Opens quietly as several baddies are rustling a few head of cattle. No dialogue for a few minutes, but good action at end of a day. Then you see the sheriff on their trail: it's Bob Steele. This one is very spare and lean, but extremely well directed. It's only standard fare, yes, and it's a re-make actually of a 1935 Tom Tyler Western by the name of "Silent Valley" (Steele's is much, much better!), but it plays very well and is quite enjoyable. Steele is becoming much more mature looking here, more in the vein of what he appeared like in "The Big Sleep" (1946) with Bogart and Bacall. Still lean, though, not so much around the middle.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 21, 2015 12:37:42 GMT
Murdock MacQuarrie? Was he related to George MacQuarrie who was in Griffith's The Love Flower (1920)?
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Post by rmichaelpyle on Apr 21, 2015 18:19:39 GMT
Murdock MacQuarrie was a very well known and well-respected actor, director, producer, and writer in the early days of the silents. He had three other brothers in the business, including - yes! - George. The other two, Frank and Albert, also participated quite a bit. Murdock is best remembered today - thanks to video and DVD - for "By the Sun's Rays" (1914) with Lon Chaney, Sr. as the baddie to Murdock's sheriff; it's also Lon Chaney, Sr.'s earliest surviving film; Murdock's also known for his participation with Chaplin in "Modern Times", where he played J. Widdecombe Billows. He made over 275 films; directed over 50; wrote about 10; and produced a few. George was no slouch, either: he acted in nearly 100 films! Another forgotten part of the early days. Too bad. Murdock continued to make Westerns throughout his career. I've got him in seven films, and five of them are Westerns. He's also in "The Oubliette" (1914) with Lon Chaney, Sr., a portion of which still survives.
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Post by rmichaelpyle on Apr 22, 2015 11:52:09 GMT
I watched "Ammunition Smuggling on the Mexican Border" (1914), a movie on the second disc of the anthology "Treasures 5: The American West, 1898-1938". The film, a 41 minute "docu-drama" made the year after the events, stars many of the participants of the events who re-create the events as they happened. It's interesting reading some viewers responses to having seen the film, as they capture my thoughts nearly exactly. The film is absolutely fascinating - if not boring at the same time. It's far too long, but it captures a couple of things extremely well: (1) local color! it's exact because it shows the places where many of the events happened, and it contradicts much of old (and certainly modern!!) Westerns by showing what towns, ranches, and what boil down to being 'neighborhoods' down in Texas really looked like, (2) the viciousness of piratical sorts, especially when they kill deputy sheriff Ortiz, a scene that is incredibly horrific because it is so perfunctory, as though execution is a normal thing, and (3) just the 'normal' events of those times. Highly recommended for those with a strong historical bent. By the way, the IMDb has it wrong in the credits. It lists Candelario Ortiz as playing himself. As for the character he's playing, the listing is Benito Silva. It's the other way around, actually. Candelario Ortiz is the deputy sheriff who was murdered by the smugglers. A good, rousing piano score accompanies the film and is quite appropriate to the scenes.
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