Classic Film Meme

Originally authored by Rianna over at Frankly, My Dear, I've decided to take the time to make this meme. It gives me a break from trying to figure how to watch all the Oscar nominated picture of the year...

1. Favorite Disney.

This is a tricky question, because I really love classic Disney films. But my personal favorite one is without a doubt The Jungle Book. It reminds me of many childhood  memories not just of the film but because my mother used to make us watch all those National Geographic documentaries on rainy days.

2. Favorite film from 1939.

La règle du jeu aka The Rules of the Game. Jean Renoir's greatest masterpiece depicts what it is that makes filmmaking an Art. Just like his father, he masters wonderful tricks of "mise en scène". Orson Welles and Peter Bogdanovich agreed on many things during their great friendship but the thing they agreed the most their favorite filmmaker: Jean Renoir.

3. Favorite Carole Lombard Screwball role
Since I have only seen To Be or Not To Be so it will be my answer. However, I 've been meaning to watch Hawks' Twentieth Century for some time now. Based on the only movie I've seen of Lombard she is a potential favorite Classic actress and a very handsome lady.

4. Favorite off screen couple? (It's ok if it ended in divorce)
No idea.

5. Favorite pair of best friends? (i.e - Jimmy Stewart and Henry Fonda, Joan Crawford and Barbara Stanwyck, etc.)

John Wayne and Howard Hawks. They were making films as pretext to pass some time with each other. They also contributed to the Cinema with great westerns (Rio Bravo, Red River, El Dorado) and one of my favorite film: Hatari!

6. Favorite actor with a mustache? (i.e: Charlie Chaplin, William Powell)
Since Chaplin is a given and Tom Selleck is outside of the time frame I would have to say Clark Gable. Just for his Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn.

7. Favorite blonde actress?

Marylin Monroe. Obvious choice but her presence in many of my favorite director's pictures; Hawks (Monkey Business), Wilder (Some Like It Hot), Huston (The Asphalt Jungle, The Misfits), etc.

8. Favorite pre-code?
Design For Living. Ernst Lubitsch and his touch always works on me. This a picture where a love triangle is displayed and sex is overtly discussed. A must see for sure!

9. Which studio would you have liked to join?
The first moments of United Artists but definitely RKO just to have the chance to work with Orson Welles and to save The Magnificent Ambersons from being butchered by the studio...

10. Favorite common on screen pairing that SHOULD have gotten married?
Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly. Their relationship in Rear Window makes you believe that those two actually felt in love with each other.

11. Favorite I Love Lucy episode?
Let's pass. I've never seen one episode of this show.

12. Lucille Ball, Audrey Hepburn, Katharine Hepburn, Natalie Wood, Grace Kelly, Ingrid Bergman, and Greer Garson - which one do you like the best?

Grace Kelly, just for her role in Hitchcock's To Catch A Thief. Man is she hot. But also because I think she had a great talent.

13. Shadowy film noir from the 1940's or splashy colorful musicals from the 1950's?
It's like asking me if I want cake or pie. I want both I love both! Yes I confess I am such a sweet tooth. But I think I'll have to surpringly answer splashy musicals from the 1950's. The first movies that comes in mind is An American in Paris, The Red Shoes (1948, is a cheat but it is a masterpiece), and Singin' In the Rain.

14. Actor or actress with the best autograph (photo preferred)?
Seriously, who cares? But I know I would have loved to ask Charlie Chaplin's autograph just to meet him.


15. A baby (or childhood or teenage) photo of either your favorite actress or actor (or both, if you'd like)?It would have to be Chaplin but I couldn't put my hand on a childhood picture...

My 12 (or so) Favourite Classic Films First Seen in 2011

 Quoting the words of one of the Film critics that inspired me to do this Blog, Kevyn Knox of The Most Beautiful Fraud in the World:

"Inspired by the always charming, always enjoyable and always cinematically knowledgeable (and always alliterative, nomenclaturally speaking) Self-Styled Siren, I send forth a list of my 25 favourite classic films seen for the first time in 2011.  Classic, of course, being any movie made prior to 1960.  And in keeping with the Siren's choice of keeping the descriptions to a bare bones minimum (actually inspired in turn by Clara at Via Margutta 51...)   So without further ado, here are my favourite classic films seen for the first time in 2011."

Since I've seen fewer films than the latest years I've decided to make a list of 12 films instead of the 25 that my colleagues did on their own niches. To keep up with the format of this exercise I will be writing one-line presentation of each film and add the link to the full review of them on this blog.

1. To Have and To Have Not (Howard Hawks, 1944)
Since one or two years I've been meaning to watch the entire films of the great Howard Hawks, this Bogart-Bacall flick is all about Hawksian comedy-thrill and probably one of the best films I've seen in 2011, it became a personal favourite rightaway. Full review.

2. Les yeux sans visage (Georges Franju, 1960) A filmmaker friend of mine talked to me many times about this masterpiece of French Cinema, as of today I don't understand why I've never watched this before, a frightening yet very human film. Full review.

3. Johnny Guitar (Nicholas Ray, 1954)Ray's freudian Western masterpiece with the amazing Joan Crawford, it redefined the classic Hollywoodian Western genre. Full review.

4. Kiss Me Deadly (Robert Aldrich, 1955)A cult classic of bad guys, guns, girls, atomic disaster, and gritty fun. Full review.

5. Land of the Pharaohs (Howard Hawks, 1956)Hawks' underrated egyptian grand spectacle is all about excess and filmmaking extravaganza, one of Martin Scorsese's guilty pleasures. Full review.

6. To Be Or Not To Be (Ernst Lubitsch, 1942)The Lubitsch touch and one of the many inspirations on Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, the last film by the beautiful Carole Lombard. Full review.

7. The Long Voyage Home (John Ford, 1940)
A war picture by of the most American filmmakers of all-time, John Ford, shot by Citizen Kane's cinematographer Gregg Toland. Full review

8. The Naked Jungle (Byron Haskins, 1952)A guilty pleasure of mine, the 1950's and 1960's films shot in jungles/studios are a subgenre I really for no reason love, Haskins an underrated director of Film Noir does a great job with a nice script full of subtext and symbolism. Full review. 

9. Partie de campagne (Jean Renoir, 1936)Probably the most beautiful unfinished film of all time, Renoir's film is shot like a short story directed by an early Terrence Malick, full of visual poetry and humanity. Full review.

10. Mon oncle (Jacques Tati, 1958)Tati has kept the Silent comedy tricks alive with his M. Hulot, without really much words Tati manages to make us laugh out loud many times in his subtle but enjoyable comedy. Full review.

11. Madame de... (Max Ophüls, 1953)
Max Ophüls, what more can I say than it is one of the most beautiful films ever made from one of the best directors of all-time. Full review.

12. Rio Grande (John Ford, 1950)
The last installement of the Ford Calvalry trilogy, a freudian film starring the ultimate American father figure; JohnWayne. Full review.

Coming soon! Laurel & Hardy: The Essential Collection

 I'm not used to present DVD releases on Le Mot du Cinephiliaque. However, since the wonderful folks at RHI Entertainment approached me for the first release of the Laurel & Hardy boxset in North America all packed in a collector's package with plenty of amazing exclusive interviews and discussions on the impact of these legendary duet.

Stan Laurel got into show business with Fred Karno’s vaudeville company as Charlie Chaplin’s understudy. He used to do imitations of Chaplin. On the other side, Oliver Hardy began singing at eight years old and his early career brought him into comedy. Laurel & Hardy met when they were working for comedy producer Hal Roach in the 1920’s. The famous duo was united for the first time on the silver screen in 1926 for the movie 45 minutes from Hollywood. Then, it only took them five years to get their first feature length starring roles in the success Pardon Us. From this point they starred in many successful production until the 1940’s. The Second World War was difficult for many silent films comedians that got into talkies and even being renowned and with a new contract with the 20th Century Fox, they had to struggle to get the full freedom of creation in these harder times.


Sadly, they retired from filmmaking in 1950. Behind them are numerous shorts and feature lengths worthy of thousands of laughs. Their contribution to Cinema was recognized by the Academy Awards in 1960 when Stan Laurel (Oliver Hardy died in 1957) received a special Oscar “for his creative pioneering in the field of Cinema comedy”. While working for Roach’s company, and like many other comedians of their time (Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton to name a few), they were writing and directing almost all of the films they made together embodying the geniuses they represented.

The films of Laurel & Hardy needed to receive this crowning treatment to recognize their contribution to the comedy genre.
I can't say how thrilled I am about this release and I hope your are all too. This is the chance to discover the films of the funniest comedians ever, since Chaplin and Keaton.



Press release: 

TIMELESS SOUND-ERA FILMS FROM THE LEGENDARY HAL ROACH LIBRARY DEBUT IN ONE EXTRAORDINARY DVD SET
FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THE U.S.

LAUREL & HARDY:

THE ESSENTIAL COLLECTION

Digitally Remastered And Digitally Restored, Loaded With Over Two Hours Of Special Features, The Spectacular 10-Disc Set Arrives October 25
From RHI Entertainment And Vivendi Entertainment

UNIVERSAL CITY, CA – Celebrating the genius of the most beloved comedy team of all time, LAUREL & HARDY: THE ESSENTIAL COLLECTION debuts in a stunning 10-disc set on October 25, 2011 from RHI Entertainment and Vivendi Entertainment.  With a comedic style that defined an era and created a legacy that is still celebrated today, 58 of Stan Laurel an Oliver Hardy’s talking shorts and feature films, produced under legendary movie mogul, Hal Roach, from 1929 through 1940, are now available for the first time in the U.S. all together in one magnificent collection.

 Transferred in high definition for the first time and digitally enhanced for home viewing in the finest quality available to date, the set contains favorites that have been enjoyed for generations including Helpmates, Hog Wild, Another Fine Mess, Sons of the Desert, Way Out West, and the Academy Award^® winning* film The Music Box.

LAUREL & HARDY: THE ESSENTIAL COLLECTION comes housed in collectible, book-style packaging with an extensive, detailed film guide.  The set also boasts over two hours of special features including exclusive, never-before-seen interviews with comedy legends Dick Van Dyke, Jerry Lewis, Tim Conway and more, who discuss the enduring impact and influence of Laurel and Hardy. 

Additional features include commentaries by Laurel and Hardy aficionados, along with a virtual location map that allows viewers to take an interactive tour of the iconic places in and around Los Angeles where Laurel and Hardy filmed.  Available for the suggested retail price of $99.98, LAUREL & HARDY: THE ESSENTIAL COLLECTION showcases some of the most cherished and hilarious films in cinema history and is a must-have for comedy fans and collectors everywhere.

BASICS

Price:                           $99.98

Street Date:                 October 25, 2011

Order Date:                 September 20, 2011

Catalog Number:         RH3021

Language:                   English

Running time:              1941 minutes 

Rating:                         NR

Top 5 of 1983 aka The Year I Was Born

Taking from a MEME I've seen this year on some Blogs I've dig through my film memories to try to find all the films I've seen that were made in 1983 aka the year I was born. Well, the first I've seen from this year is without a doubt The Return of the Jedi directed by Richard Marquand(!?!), by automatic mistake we always think it's from George Lucas, it's mostly but he's not credited as the director. I remember the first time, and I'm pretty sure it was the only time, I've seen The Return of the Jedi; my dad and I rented it with the two other episodes on a hot rainy saturday evening of the 1990's...

Well, cinematic memories are very important and I think the context of the viewing of a film is very important to appreciate it. The rest of my family, my brother was too to stay up until the third movie of the evening and he isn't as a cinephile as we are so is my mother. I'll always remember those evenings of watching movies with my dad, as long as I can remember we were fans of the Back to the Future the trilogy, Tom Hanks & Chevy Chase comedies, every Spielberg picture around and every action movies too. Well before passing judgments you have to remember that I was around 8-12 years old at the time...

Now you're thinking why does he talks about all those childish memories? First of all, I don't want to brag or anything but it's been three years since I haven't seen my father, it relieves me to talk about it, but mostly because my number one spot is Andrei Tarkovsky's Nostalghia.

Below you will find my long awaited Top 5 films of 1983, starting from number 5 to number 1, I will post reviews of these films each week before my birthday and the final review, the number 1 of this list Nostaghia, will be posted August 2, which is my birthday by the way.

1. Nostalghia (Andrei Tarkovsky)

2. Videodrome (David Cronenberg)

3. The King of Comedy (Martin Scorsese)

4. Scarface (Brian De Palma)

5. Vivement Dimanche! (François Truffaut)

Not yet included: Prénom Carmen (Jean-Luc Godard)


The ones I want to see that may change the order of this list:
Zelig (Woody Allen)
L'argent (Robert Bresson)
Rumble Fish (Francis Ford Coppola)
The Right Stuff (Philip Kaufman)
Sans Soleil (Chris Marker)
Pauline à la plage (Eric Rohmer)

...and your suggestions for 1983!

Michaël Parent

Ma Nuit chez Maud de Eric Rohmer - Retrospective

TSPDT Greatest Films #282 Ma Nuit chez Maud (Éric Rohmer, 1969)


To pay a tribute to one of the most important figures of the French New Wave and of the French film history, Eric Rohmer who just past away this week I choose to discover and analyze one of his better works; Ma Nuit chez Maud (1969). Being the third chapter of his six moral tales, Maude's is for many his best film. I'm ashamed to say that before saturday January 16 2010 I haven't seen one of his films. This short essay will try to pay tribute and erase my lack knowledge about Rohmer's films.

Ma Nuit chez Maude starts with the main character, Jean-Louis, played by Jean-Louis Trintignant as a 34 years old engineer converted to catholicism who believes in true love. He will confront his ideas with one of his best friends Vidal and the newly encountered Maude (who are by the way atheists) about their visions on life, love, friendship, Pascal, and marriage. In the beginning, Jean-Louis says he's gonna marry Françoise but slowly falls in love with Maude and her straightforward attitude.

The narrative of the film stands close to Antonioni's style, who is a big influence on Rohmer's films, with clean and shaky black and white images, long takes; especially with the openning sequence which is silent for nearly five minutes. The scenes are long and the characters slowly enter and exit the image. This is clearly a French New Wave film but many aspects of it are taken from the Italian Neorealism especially. Rohmer tried to minimize the narrative effects on his story to take his Film as near as possible to reality. That's something, the Italian Neorealists wanted to do, especially Antonioni and Rossellini. On the other hand, Rohmer was openly a supporter of the work of Hitchcock and Hawks as the other directors of the French New Wave. Some narrative elements of Ma Nuit chez Maude are directly taken from those two masters who never hesitated to insert long silent sequences into their films. The esthetic and the camera angles are clearly influenced by the films of Alfred Hitchcock. The story of the film may seem a little flaw with its slow rythm but when it all comes into place it fits perfectly. I think it may have influenced Sofia Coppola on her Lost in Translation.

I didn't really got into Ma Nuit chez Maud in the first place. But after a little refexion and some time I think it's a very deep film that enters your mind and works on it. In this case, I think it's a great movie especially when afterward it continues to grow within you. I'm proud of letting myself immerge into Eric Rohmer's filmography.

Reposez en paix Monsieur Rohmer!

A film Retrospective by Michaël Parent

À venir sur Le Mot du Cinephiliaque

Pour la fin de l'année 2009, je prévois aller voir les films qui seront des potentiels candidats aux Oscars. De plus, samedi le 14 novembre 2009 pour une représentation seulement, Gone With The Wind de Victor Fleming sera présenté en salles pour la sortie de l'édition 70e anniversaire remasterisée du film.

Durant le mois de décembre je vais participer à la rétrospective des films de Sam Peckinpah qui se déroulera au Blogue The Agitation of the mind dans le cadre des 25 ans de la disparition de ce grand cinéaste. Je suis présentement à l'écriture d'une critique approfondie de The Wild Bunch de Peckinpah. Ce Western révisionniste constitue selon moi le meilleur Western de tous les temps et le chef d'oeuvre de sa carrière.

En plus, le mois décembre ne peut se départir de l'étiquette des "Holidays movies". Je ferai plusieurs rétrospectives de films que je considère comme étant des films de Noël. Les incontournables comme It's a Wonderful Life, Christmas Vacation, Fanny and Alexander, Die Hard et même Eyes Wide Shut seront analysés ici.

Merci YouTube!!! Part VIII

Bringing Up Baby de Howard Hawks. Véritable classique de la comédie et l'un des nombreux chef-d'œuvre de Howard Hawks.

Howard Hawks' Bringing Up Baby. A true cinematic classic and one of Hawks' masterpiece.

Black Sunday aka The Mask of the Devil de Mario Bava – Italian Horror Blog-A-Thon

TSPDT Greatest Films #726 Black Sunday (Mario Bava, 1960)


Voici ma troisième et dernière intervention pour le Italian Horror Blog-A-Thon du Blogue Hugo Stiglitz Makes Movies de mon compatriote Kevin J. Olson. L’un des plus grands films d’épouvante de l’histoire ! Disponible sur YouTube en passant, le Black Sunday de Mario Bava réalisé en 1960 vous sera présenté dans ce tour du chapeau au Blog-A-Thon. Débutant comme nul autre film n’a su imprégner la face de l’horreur à son auditoire, Black Sunday nous présente une sorcière et son frère sorcier qui sont condamnés pour sorcellerie. On leur met un masque représentant le visage du diable orné à l’intérieur de clous qui entrent dans la peau di visage des victimes à l’aide d’un bon coup de masse sur le masque… Cependant, la sorcière jette un sort sur ses tortionnaires et elle leur jure qu’elle se vengera.

Là commence le générique d’ouverture, l’histoire se situe deux cent ans après cet épisode lorsque deux professeurs passent en calèche près de l’endroit où la sorcière est enterrée. L’un des deux professeurs étant trop curieux retire le masque du diable qui recouvrait le visage de la sorcière et découvre que celui-ci n’a pas été ravagé par la putréfaction et le temps. C’est à cet instant que la malédiction de la sorcière commence son cours.

Mélangeant le récit de sorcière et l’histoire classique du vampire qui se réveille et fait plusieurs victimes, ce film présente une histoire crédible des plus intéressantes. Le travail de réalisation de Bava est remarquable et il peut facilement se frotter aux films de grande qualité issus du studio britannique Hammer Films dont l’excellent Horror of Dracula de Terence Fisher sorti la même année.

Les interprètes sont très bons et mention plus qu’honorable à Barbara Steele qui joue un double rôle soit celui de la sorcière et celui de la jeune victime innocente. Elle réussie parfaitement à instaurer le mal dans son regard ainsi que l’innocence pour son double rôle.

Des trois films italiens observés pour ce Blog-A-Thon c’est le film le plus classique du genre film d’épouvante. C’est-à-dire, on est dans les thèmes de la sorcellerie et du vampirisme en même temps et sans être forcé du tout !

Here’s my third and last post for the Italian Horror Blog-A-Thon at Kevin J. Olson’s Hugo Stiglitz Makes Movies. It’s about one of the greatest horror film ever! -By the way, available through the almighty YouTube - Will be observed here, Mario Bava’s Black Sunday of 1960. With a beginning like no other film, Bava knows how to create an atmosphere of pure horror. As an introduction, we see a witch and her sorcerer brother condemned for sorcery. As their punishment, the inquisitors nail the mask of the demon on their faces till their death! Meanwhile, the witch throws a curse of vengeance for herself.

Then the beginning credits appear, the story is set two hundred years after the prologue. Two professors stop by the chapel where the witch is buried because their coach got stuck. They discover her coffin and they pull off the mask of the demon to find her face intact without any sign of time or putrefaction. This unclenches the curse of the witch.

With the story of the witch and the classic vampire story, Bava presents a great blend of the two genres. The production is even better than some Hollywoodian films of the time and the direction is inspired and strong. This film can be compared for its quality and with no shame to Terence Fisher’s Horror of Dracula from the Hammer Films studios.

The actors are amazing and especially Barbara Steele who plays two characters; the witch, where pure evil can be seen in her eyes, and the young innocent victim.

Of the three films I’ve reviewed for this Blog-A-Thon, this one’s the most classic in the horror genre. The film is inspired by the themes of sorcery and vampirism without any gore effects or lakes of blood… But, it’s a must see for any horror film fan!

Merci YouTube!!! Part VII

Black Sunday aka La maschera del demonio aka Mask of the Demon de Mario Bava (1960)

Dans cette série ayant pour but de filtrer les millions de vidéos et films disponibles sur le géant YouTube je vous présente aujourd'hui un très grand film d'horreur italien; Black Sunday de Mario Bava! Un véritable film culte des fanatiques du film d'épouvante qui se veut encore plus efficace que bien des productions hollywoodiennes.
Une critique de ce film suivra cette présentation dans le cadre du Italian Horror Blog-A-Thon du Blogue Hugo Stiglitz Makes Movies.

With this presentation of films available on YouTube I present to you today one of the greatest italian horror movies; Black Sunday by Mario Bava made in 1960. A great cult film for the horror movie buffs. Black Sunday is heavier than the majority of the hollywoodian productions of horror films!
I'll soon post a review of this film for the Italian Horror Blog-A-Thon at Hugo Stiglitz Makes Movies.

Merci YouTube!!! Part VI

Un grand film de l'un des meilleurs cinéastes à avoir foulé le sol d'Hollywood, Trouble in Paradise de Ernst Lubitsch de 1932.


A Great film from one of the Greatest foreign directors that has make his way and his mark into the Hollywood brainwashing system; Ernst Lubitsch with his sublime Trouble in Paradise of 1932.

Zombi 2 de Lucio Fulci - Italian Horror Blog-A-Thon

Zombie 2: The Dead Are Among Us (1979)
Se voulant une suite ou selon moi un hommage au Night of the Living Dead et au Dawn of the Dead de George A. Romero. Zombi 2 de Lucio Fulci se veut un film beaucoup plus faible et digne d'un moindre intérêt que ses prédécesseurs. Surtout reconnu pour ses effets spéciaux d'hémoglobine, Fulci livre un récit servant à la mise en scène de situations se prêtant pour l'utilisation de faux sang et de faux membres. Il va jusqu'à confronter un requin à un zombie qui veulent tous les deux s'approprier une proie de choix; soit une femme se baignant nue...
Cependant, la qualité de ses effets spéciaux est très vétuste même pour l'époque et manque d'intérêt pour le passionné d'effets gore réussis. Pour l'amateur du film de zombie il y a là quelque chose à se mettre sous la dent mais il devrait aussi se tourner vers des classiques plus intéressants comme les films de George A Romero et du compatriote italien Dario Argento.