blanche-2
Joined May 1999
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Chinatown.
What a film - what a story. Starring Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston, and directed by Roman Polanski.
It is 1937 Los Angeles. Private investigator Jake Gittes (Nicholson) is working for Mrs. Hollis Mulay (Diane Ladd), he thinks, as she believes her husband is cheating on her.
Mulwray is the chief engineer for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Los Angeles suffers from chronic drought; the need for fresh water is critical, so Mulwray is very high profile. (This part of the story, and the water politics, are based in fact, though the big water grab occurred in 1908.)
Gittes follows Mulwray and observed him at a public meeting opposing construction of a new dam that would create a new water supply for the city. However, he also sees him with a young woman. That hits the newspapers.
Suddenly, the real Mrs. Mulwray, Evelyn (Dunaway) appears and hits him with a lawsuit. Obvious Mulwray is being framed, and Gittes is being used.
Once Evelyn grasps the situation, she helps him, though Gittes thinks she is not being totally honest. Mulwray is later found dead, murdered despite the appearance of an accident.
Eventually he and Evelyn become involved, and Gittes learns some business secrets which put him in danger. And the unknown woman - let's just say the answers about her are plenty confusing.
The performances are right on - Nicholson and Dunaway are fantastic. As Dunaway's father, Huston is a threatening presence even when being friendly and exudes power and danger.
Violent, sordid, filled with reprehensible characters, Chinatown takes us to the seamy side of humanity. From Polanski, we get a slow-burn noir with a shocking denoument, and a powerful closing line as we realize the sordidness isn't going to stop.
The best part for me, of course, is the oft-parodied slapping scene and accompanying lines, though the first time one sees it, it's a disgusting shock.
Beautifully photographed and detailed, Chinatown is true masterpiece.
What a film - what a story. Starring Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston, and directed by Roman Polanski.
It is 1937 Los Angeles. Private investigator Jake Gittes (Nicholson) is working for Mrs. Hollis Mulay (Diane Ladd), he thinks, as she believes her husband is cheating on her.
Mulwray is the chief engineer for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Los Angeles suffers from chronic drought; the need for fresh water is critical, so Mulwray is very high profile. (This part of the story, and the water politics, are based in fact, though the big water grab occurred in 1908.)
Gittes follows Mulwray and observed him at a public meeting opposing construction of a new dam that would create a new water supply for the city. However, he also sees him with a young woman. That hits the newspapers.
Suddenly, the real Mrs. Mulwray, Evelyn (Dunaway) appears and hits him with a lawsuit. Obvious Mulwray is being framed, and Gittes is being used.
Once Evelyn grasps the situation, she helps him, though Gittes thinks she is not being totally honest. Mulwray is later found dead, murdered despite the appearance of an accident.
Eventually he and Evelyn become involved, and Gittes learns some business secrets which put him in danger. And the unknown woman - let's just say the answers about her are plenty confusing.
The performances are right on - Nicholson and Dunaway are fantastic. As Dunaway's father, Huston is a threatening presence even when being friendly and exudes power and danger.
Violent, sordid, filled with reprehensible characters, Chinatown takes us to the seamy side of humanity. From Polanski, we get a slow-burn noir with a shocking denoument, and a powerful closing line as we realize the sordidness isn't going to stop.
The best part for me, of course, is the oft-parodied slapping scene and accompanying lines, though the first time one sees it, it's a disgusting shock.
Beautifully photographed and detailed, Chinatown is true masterpiece.
The Crowd Roars from 1932 stars James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Ann Dvorak, Eric Linden, and Frank McHugh, directed by Howard Hawks.
The story concerns a car-racing champion, Joe Greer (Cagney). When he returns to his hometown to compete in a race, he learns that his kid brother Eddie (Linden) is an aspiring driver.
Joe takes Eddie under his wing and brings him along on his racing tour. This is bad news for Joe's girlfriend Lee (Dvorak). She wants to get married, but Joe basically treats her like trash, never introducing her to his family or making a commitment.
With naive Eddie along, Joe doesn't want his brother to know about their relationship (i.e. They have sex) so he breaks up with her. Not that she leaves.
She encourages her friend Anne (Blondell) to vamp Eric for spite - well, they fall in love and marry!
Joe hits the skids when his pal Spud is killed during a race, and he finds he's lost his nerve. Eddie becomes a champion.
Predictable, with Lee picking up Joe's broken pieces. As far as I'm concerned she should have broken them a little more.
Actual racing car footage, and some of it was ahead of its time. When the film was remade in 1939, the racing footage was removed, inserted in the new film, and 1939 footage added.
When they readded the footage to the earlier film, the 1939 footage went along with it. This does not refer to the 1938 film The Crowd Roars, which is a different story.
The story concerns a car-racing champion, Joe Greer (Cagney). When he returns to his hometown to compete in a race, he learns that his kid brother Eddie (Linden) is an aspiring driver.
Joe takes Eddie under his wing and brings him along on his racing tour. This is bad news for Joe's girlfriend Lee (Dvorak). She wants to get married, but Joe basically treats her like trash, never introducing her to his family or making a commitment.
With naive Eddie along, Joe doesn't want his brother to know about their relationship (i.e. They have sex) so he breaks up with her. Not that she leaves.
She encourages her friend Anne (Blondell) to vamp Eric for spite - well, they fall in love and marry!
Joe hits the skids when his pal Spud is killed during a race, and he finds he's lost his nerve. Eddie becomes a champion.
Predictable, with Lee picking up Joe's broken pieces. As far as I'm concerned she should have broken them a little more.
Actual racing car footage, and some of it was ahead of its time. When the film was remade in 1939, the racing footage was removed, inserted in the new film, and 1939 footage added.
When they readded the footage to the earlier film, the 1939 footage went along with it. This does not refer to the 1938 film The Crowd Roars, which is a different story.
From 1945, The Valley of Decision stars Gregory Peck, Greer Garson, Lionel Barrymore, Donald Crisp, Jessica Tandy, Marsha Hunt, Dan Duryea, and Marshall Thompson.
Based on the first two parts of Marcia Davenport's best-selling novel of the same name, the film was directed by Tay Garnett.
The third part of the novel deals with a great granddaughter and her journalistic involvement in World War II. Davenport herself became involved with Jan Mazurek, a Czech freedom fighter who was defenestrated.
In Pittsburgh, 1873, Greer Garson is Mary Rafferty, an Irish immigrant, who lives with her crippled father Pat (Lionel Barrymore) and her sister Kate Shannon (Geraldine Wall).
Mary is hired as a house maid for William Scott (Crisp), a steel mill owner. Pat was crippled while working at Scott's mill and is angry about her new job.
Mary finds the family warm and welcoming and soon becomes very important to the family. She and William's son Paul fall in love. Their relationship is fraught with separation, and at one point Paul enters into a loveless marriage with Louise Kane (Jessica Tandy).
Mary proves critical to the decision to sell the mill after the death of the matriarch (Gladys Cooper).
This is a sweeping family saga intertwined with the steel business in Pittsburgh, the rivalries, the strikes, the violence, and the modernization. The overarching story is Mary's presence in the family and her and Paul's love for one another.
This is a lovely film, though not as powerful as the actual book. Peck is a gorgeous romantic character, and Garson does a fine job as Mary. Lionel Barrymore gives an overt performance, criticized by some, especially compared to Donald Crisp's fine portrayal. All of the performances are excellent; Tandy and Marsha Hunt are also standouts.
As someone mentioned, it's a shame the novel was never made into a miniseries as East of Eden and the Forsythe Saga were. The entire story is very dramatic and a true American tale.
Some trivia: Marcia Davenport was the sister of Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., and the aunt of Stephanie. She wrote the definitive biography of Mozart and had plenty to say about Amadeus. She died in 1996 at 93.
Based on the first two parts of Marcia Davenport's best-selling novel of the same name, the film was directed by Tay Garnett.
The third part of the novel deals with a great granddaughter and her journalistic involvement in World War II. Davenport herself became involved with Jan Mazurek, a Czech freedom fighter who was defenestrated.
In Pittsburgh, 1873, Greer Garson is Mary Rafferty, an Irish immigrant, who lives with her crippled father Pat (Lionel Barrymore) and her sister Kate Shannon (Geraldine Wall).
Mary is hired as a house maid for William Scott (Crisp), a steel mill owner. Pat was crippled while working at Scott's mill and is angry about her new job.
Mary finds the family warm and welcoming and soon becomes very important to the family. She and William's son Paul fall in love. Their relationship is fraught with separation, and at one point Paul enters into a loveless marriage with Louise Kane (Jessica Tandy).
Mary proves critical to the decision to sell the mill after the death of the matriarch (Gladys Cooper).
This is a sweeping family saga intertwined with the steel business in Pittsburgh, the rivalries, the strikes, the violence, and the modernization. The overarching story is Mary's presence in the family and her and Paul's love for one another.
This is a lovely film, though not as powerful as the actual book. Peck is a gorgeous romantic character, and Garson does a fine job as Mary. Lionel Barrymore gives an overt performance, criticized by some, especially compared to Donald Crisp's fine portrayal. All of the performances are excellent; Tandy and Marsha Hunt are also standouts.
As someone mentioned, it's a shame the novel was never made into a miniseries as East of Eden and the Forsythe Saga were. The entire story is very dramatic and a true American tale.
Some trivia: Marcia Davenport was the sister of Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., and the aunt of Stephanie. She wrote the definitive biography of Mozart and had plenty to say about Amadeus. She died in 1996 at 93.