Showing posts with label Orson Welles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Orson Welles. Show all posts

Thursday, 3 May 2012

R-r-r-aving about things with "R" .. - attending a meme without a name..

Via DKoren and her fabulous blog SIDEWALK CROSSINGS I found this meme.. (Her post is linked - so you can read about her favourite things beginning with the letter "M".. - I also think this is part of the rules - though it isn't actually said there..) 

Here are the rules:


"How to Play: Comment to this entry and I'll give you a letter. List ten things that you love that begin with that letter and then post that list on your journal."


Now this sounds like fun - doesn't it?

The letter I got was "R" - hence the title of this post.. Though it's no part of the rules I am trying to name ten "things" I love beginning with "r" which are related to films..

~ picture source: muppet.wikia.com ~

So - let's see - here they are in a random order just the first ten "things" with "r" that I can think of:


  • R like Raft, George - I am more than just fond of this gentleman.. He is one of my altime favourites..


  • R like RAVEN, THE (1963) - well.. of course I LOVE that one!! It has Vincent PricePeter LorreHazel Court and Boris Karloff!! I am looking forward for THE RAVEN (2012) - a film about Edgar Allan Poe (Love him!!) which will be here released in cinema this year in September - I guess everywhere else it's by now almost forgotten.. 

    Of course I love the poem of the same name by Edgar Allan Poe:



  - and that corvids are some of my favourite animals you know by now anyway..



  • R like Roscoe Karns - I love that guy! An appearance of him in a movie can brighten my day..


  • R like Renfield - this is one of my favourite fictitious characters ever - performed by my beloved Dwight Frye in the 1931 adaptation of my favourite novel DRACULA of course. His laughter and his whole interpretation of this part was just magnificent!




  • R like Romy Schneider  - another one of my favourites..


  • R like Russian composers.. I love a good score - also very much when it's got some classic music.. (Tchaikovsky was always one of my favourites..)







    • R like Robinson, Edward G. - another one I simply adore..





    • R like Ricky Ricardo - I ♥ LUCY - I really do.. And I adore Ricky.. Like him I have troubles with my "slight accent" - though my isn't as cute as his is.. I guess I sound like a Nazi spy from the old movies trying to sound like a cockney flower girl..




    • R like "Rosebud" ... think what you want of Orson Welles and CITIZEN KANE (1941) - for me that was a stroke of genius..  - and it had Agnes Robertson Moorehead.. 



    • R like Ryn, Nicholas van - one of my favourite Vincent Price film characters. It's from the amazing DRAGONWYCK (1946).. I love that maniac..





    Not bad - hm?

    If you like to get a letter please leave a comment and ask for one - you can of course also comment without getting a letter..

    Hope you enjoyed this..

    Have a lovely day - and thank you very much for listening!

    And thanks to DKoren for letting me join the fun!

    Irene

    Saturday, 27 August 2011

    “They may not admire my person but I assure you, they dote on my purse.”

    Sometimes I struggle with my looks.. I am used to that.. Sometimes I struggle with the looks of Hollywoodstars - especially when they are supposed to be ugly - and still look gorgeous.. - or when the make-up-department changes some familiar and usually very distinctive faces - e.g. look at this nose:

    This, dear friends, is your hint for the film I am going to talk about.. Any ideas yet?

    Hm.. ok...

    Then I'll go on:

    Once upon a time.. ..Charlotte BrontĆ« wrote a book which became a beloved classic and which was adapted for the big screen several times – one time it was rewritten by the great Aldous Huxley, John Houseman and Robert Stevenson, who was a member of the BrontĆ«-society - and who also directed the film, which was brought to you by 20th Century Fox. You might know it:

    JANE EYRE (1943)

    hm.. this film poster seems to give the wrong oomph!pression..

    not much better.. Still floating hair and a naked shoulder?? Please! This isn't Brontƫ-porn, folks!


    aah - yes, that's the kind of image that fits it at least a bit better...


    In a nutshell:

    Jane Eyre (Peggy Ann Garner) is an orphan. Because her aunt by marriage Sarah Reed (Agnes Moorehead) wants to get rid of the rebellious child she sends it to Lowood – a school headed by rigid Mr. Brocklehurst (Henry Daniell) whose very strict rules lead to the death of Jane’s only friend Helen (Elizabeth Taylor).

    Years later the grown up – but still a bit stubborn - Jane (Joan Fontaine) starts to work as a governess for AdĆØle (Margaret O’Brien - speaking with a very cute French accent) at Thornfield Manor. Little AdĆØle is the ward of Mr. Edward Rochester (someone who resembles and sounds like Orson Welles .. ;"p .. ) – owner of Thornfield Manor and a bit uneasy to be with.


    Nevertheless he and Jane go very well with each other and finally fall in love – but there are some obstacles: like the very pretty heiress Blanche (Hillary Brooke) who is after Mr. Rochester and there is also a dark secret in Mr. Rochester’s past, which might be related to the strange screams at night and the accident which almost burned Mr. Rochester during his sleep…

    ~ you think this is the final scene? Ha! You have no idea... ~

    Watch out for:

    • Elizabeth Taylor as Helen - her appearance is rather short and she is just sweet and not very much Martha of WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?-ish. (->1966)

    • Star of silent movies Mae Marsh as Leah.

    • Hillary Brooks performance as Blanche Ingram - nasty lady that blonde.. Just btw - though she spoke through her whole career with an English accent - Miss Brooks actually hailed from Astoria, New York - she just wanted to have kind of a trade mark.. - isn't that simply marvellous?



    • Agnes Moorehead – as always excellent – and I adore her saying “wicked”.. ;”)

    • Henry Daniell as Mr. Brocklehurst – I love to hate that man! Honest: I think he is always great when he is mean!!

    Schmooze:

    • Though you might get the impression while watching this film: the beginning which is read from the pages of a book called JANE EYRE (I wonder why..) – it is not the original beginning of the novel - so please don't try to impress someone by memorizing this as the novel's beginning.. ;")
    • There are some relations with Daphne Du Maurier’s REBECCA (which is apparently loosely based on JANE EYRE): a plain looking and kind of mousy heroine, a hero who is a bit uneasy, dark secrets in his past, the very similar end.. – well, and Joan Fontaine played the heroine in JANE EYRE (1943) as well as in REBECCA (1940).

    • This was Elizabeth Taylor’s third appearance in a movie - the 7th flick for Peggy Ann Garner and the 8th film Margaret O'Brien did.

    ~ Look: other females have hairstyles
    -
    Peggy Ann Garner and yours Irene just have hair.. ~

    • Joan Fontaine’s sister Olivia de Havilland played Charlotte BrontĆ« in DEVOTION (1946).
    • The German title is DIE WAISE VON LOWOOD (= The orphan of Lowood) and it was released in Germany in 1947 - which is comparatively early: e.g. THE THIN MAN SERIES weren't released here till 1969..

    • Edith Barret who personated Mrs. Fairfax – a lady of “a certain” age – was actually 36 – just ten years older than Miss Fontaine..

    ~ this, dear friends, is the Hollywood idea of a plain looking female.. *sigh* anyone carpooling with me to a plastic surgeon?? - maybe we'll get a group discount.. ~


    Let’s face the music:

    Bernard Herrmann who wrote the score for this film also used parts of this for the opera he started to write – WUTHERING HEIGHTS after the novel of Charlotte BrontĆ«’s younger sister Emily


    You should watch this film if you..

    • .. wish to know the story (well the main part..) of a classic novel – without fighting your way through a bit dull passages (yeah – I said it: There are passages in JANE EYRE that I found actually dull to read.. the whole passage about several chapters what Jane lives through after she left Thornfield Manor.. that really gave me a hard time.. I was very fine with the Rochester and gothic atmosphere parts though.. but after all I am more of a WUTHERING HEIGHTS girl.. )

    • .. like your main characters not too lovely.

    • .. want to see each and every movie in which little girls talk with phony French accents and try to make grownups watch them dancing.. (Yes, I am talking to you Miss O'Brien! Go to your room!! )
    ~ awww... look at all these fluffy frills.. Somewhere in there is a child - I am pretty sure of that..~
    • .. have a soft spot for mad women.

    • .. like mystery gothic romances.


    Quotes corner:

    Maybe one of the best-known-literary-children-quotes ever - when asked how to avoid to end in hell little Jane Eyre answers:

    I must keep in good health and not die.

    No more questions, your honor...


    Never ending story:

    There are soo many adaptations of this novel - I just learned that I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE (1943) is losely based on it, too.. Great idea for a double feature show, isn't it?


    Let's have a look:



    ~Don’t you just adore that girl in the beginning of the clip – and all those novels?? I love that! ~

    Uhm.. ok. I got to confess that – not caring about what you will be thinking of me..: I am mesmerized by Orson Welles' fake nose in this film! I am frequently staring at him..

    Anyway: I love this story. I love that the heroine shouldn’t be overwhelming beautiful.

    Yeah – it’s Joan Fontaine – not quite an unattractive woman.. that’s true.. but they at least tried to make her look a bit more boring.. Problem is: Joan Fontaine has a beautiful face! That lady looks like an angel!!

    ~ oh my gosh! This woman is incredibly ugly! Quick - lets give her an paper back to hide that grotesque face..

    ?!?!?

    Yeah, sure... ~


    The hero is supposed to be unattractive – which actually means: very attractive to yours Irene.. Yeah, ok.. Orson Welles isn’t really my cup of anything.. I am struggling with myself whether I do like him or not.. – but he doesn't look like Orson Welles and it's Rochester and it's mighty dark in the halls of Thornfield Manor.. – anyway: it’s the thought that counts, isn’t it?

    I love the scene in which Jane is thinking that she hears Mr. Rochester calling for her in the thunderstorm – actually it makes me always a bit chuckling.. which can be related to the pathos in it.. And I simply adore Mr. Rochester’s Great Dane Pilot.


    And though this film has with Joan Fontaine, Elizabeth Taylor and Agnes Moorehead three of my favourite actresses and I love it – I still must confess, that this isn’t my favourite version of JANE EYRE – that would be the 1996 version with CiarĆ”n Hinds as Mr. Rochester..

    ..well, till now that is.. – because the 2011 version will released in Germany not before December – it was aired in the USA in March.. (!!! – IN FRIGGIN MARCH!!! .. ~ curse you, German cinemas!!! ~) anyway - this could change everything:

    Because Mr. Rochester is personated by one of my modern favourites: Michael Fassbender – plus one of my favourite modern actresses Sally Hawkins is in it, too – yeah.. a great cast beside them with Judi Dench, Jamie Bell and Mia Wasikowska – but: aren’t you listening?? Michael Fassbender!! Blimey.. Hm.. I think I know one film I will write about in December – in case it will be actually in German cinemas then.. Oh! Woe is me..

    Well, till then I still can watch this very cute version of JANE EYRE with such a beautiful cast - and so many great talents. Maybe woe isn't that much me..

    ~ Don't you just love this picture? Looks like Orson Welles told Joan Fontaine a dirty joke - and she is not amused.. ~

    The End? - Wait and watch..

    Thank you very much for listening!

    Yours (very well and ) truly

    Irene

    - not even plain looking in a Joan Fontaine way..

    Saturday, 18 September 2010

    "I'm quite safe - if you say nothing."

    In 1946 film was released in which Orson Welles played lead and was also the director:
    THE STRANGER.


    In a nutshell:

    Franz Kindler (Orson Welles) - infamous Nazi war criminal - lives a happy and peaceful life in the little town of Harper, Connecticut. He is known as Professor Charles Rankin, a very popular college teacher and weds Mary (Loretta Young), the daughter of Judge Adam Longstreet (Philip Merivale).


    Then old Nazi pal Meinike (Konstantin Shayne) arrives. To avoid being unmasked by Meinike, Kindler kills him. When Mary's dog becomes far to nosey, Kindler slays him too. He now could be save but then War Crime Commision's investigator Wilson (Edward G. Robinson) appears, who was following Meinike to uncover Franz Kindler and is now trying to convince Mary that her husband is a Nazi.

    Schmooze:


    • You may know Richard Long (who is here perfoming the role of Mary's brother Noah) as Tom Kettle from the Ma & Pa Kettle series.

    • Erskine Sanford, who plays one of the party guest was a regular at Orson Welles pictures. He acted also in CITIZEN KANE (Herbert Carter), JANE EYRE (Mr. Briggs), THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI (Judge) and some others.

    • This is the first picture to show concentration camp footage after WWII.

    • Philip Merival died in march, 1946 - two month berfore this film was released in the USA. UK start was in August 1946.


    • There is a scene in the movie where Orson Welles lifts Loretta Young only onehanded - this was no trick and no stunt men/women were appointed.

    • Loretta Young, born Gretchen Young, was 32-33 years old when she played in this movie.

    • You may recognize Konstantin Shayne for he was playing the part of Pop Leibel in VERTIGO (1958).


    • In Germany the film was released in february 1977. It is also known to German viewers as DIE SPUR DES FREMDEN (= "The trace of the stranger").


    • Orson Welles wanted Agnes Moorehead (you know: Endora from the BEWICHTED series and also a Orson Welles regular) to play the investigator - gee, would I love to see that!!


    • Orson Welles was not pleased with this movie - he liked his other works far better.

    • Sam Spiegel produced this film under the name of S. P. Eagle.

    Murphy's Law:

    • After the projected film is finished the light still flickers on Loretta Young face - though it might be a bright non moving light.

    • The swastika Franz Kindler is drawing is in the wrong direction - maybe designedly.
    Scene to see:

    The final scene is worth to look at - though it is rather drastic.

    Quotes Corner:
    "Commit a crime and the earth is made of glass."


    I have a feeling that when the last sentece is delivered it ends to abrupt. Two or three seconds fade out wouldn't have hurt. I like Edward G. Robinson very much so I naturally enjoyed his performance. If I was in place of Mary I would have left my husband after he killed my dog - even if he was as great as Orson Welles. Sorry, but hurting (to say nothing of murder) an animal is a BIG No-Go in my little world! Of course the movie would have been much shorter then..
    And - again - I would have loved to see Agnes Moorehead doing the Edward G. Robinson part - she would have been a real mean anti to Orson Welles' devilishly Franz Kindler!

    Goodbye, I'll go and watch another movie - or maybe this one again?

    Remember:

    "People can't help who they fall in love with."