Brad Nelson
Administrator
עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
Posts: 12,261
|
Post by Brad Nelson on May 22, 2023 8:26:10 GMT -8
Pluto TV has the most annoying interface I've encountered in a while and there are too many commercials. But it does have a lot of good content, including a few seasons of Perry Mason which I've been watching lately. I'm not generally into 50's or 60's screwball comedies. I detest Katharine Hepburn in this genre, but generally like her outside of it. And I frankly haven't watched many Doris Day movies. Pluto TV has That Touch of Mink, a 1962 screwball comedy with Cary Grant and Doris Day. Audrey Meadows gets most of the laugh lines as Doris' committed-to-spinsterhood roommate. The first half of the movie is tight and brisk. The second half runs out of steam as they really don't have much of a reason to extend the shtick. Grant plays wealthy Philip Shayne who is used to taking pretty ladies to the Bahamas for the weekend. Doris plays virginal Cathy Timberlake who is being constantly warned off the dangers of men by her roommate. But she can't help but fall to the charms of Cary Grant's character. After playing this out in the first half, the second half doesn't leave much to do. Still, you do get some more laughs. And it is arguable that a light-hearted battle-of-the-sexes comedy such as this couldn't be made today. It's just too honest. Men are men and women are women, the strengths and weaknesses of them both on display...often in funny ways. The best line by far follows. The setup is that Doris is struggling with the decision as to whether or not to accept Grant's weekend invitation to the Bahamas. She finally decides to decline but wants to do so in a way that doesn't hurt him. Her roommate is aghast at what she perceives as naive sensitivity: What a fantastic reflection on the realities of feminism. Women now give themselves sexually to men pretty much any time men want. And many women are busting their butt in business to get the ulcers and stress that men used to have to carry alone. And many men now pretty much sit in their basements playing video games while the women slave – not over a hot stove – but over the corporate ladder. Women are suffering higher rates of depression than ever before. They burned the bra for this? Like I said, they couldn't make a screwball comedy like this anymore because all the "woke" (read: lies) would ruin any chance for real comedy. What so often is funny is the real stuff that is going on that is pointed out in an amusing way. But "woke" has no sense of humor and is an archenemy with reality. If you go in for screwball comedies, this is certainly worth a watch. |
|
Brad Nelson
Administrator
עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
Posts: 12,261
|
Post by Brad Nelson on May 22, 2023 9:46:21 GMT -8
Grant is struggling with his own conscience, which we presume is making a rare appearance. He's not sure about taking Cathy to Bermuda for the weekend:
That's even funnier if you can hear it delivered in the voice of Cary Grant.
|
|
|
|
Post by kungfuzu on May 22, 2023 13:34:21 GMT -8
I could not stand her when I was a kid, as I found most of the roles she played somewhat phony. As an adult, I have to admit she is something of a looker. That said, I still find her roles phony. As regards Katherine Hepburn, the one role I really liked her in was the girl/woman in Bringing Up Baby Of course, in this role she has the distinct advantage of acting as a foil to Cary Grant, who makes the film. I admit it is a silly film, a farce, but I find it very funny. |
|
Brad Nelson
Administrator
עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
Posts: 12,261
|
Post by Brad Nelson on May 22, 2023 14:05:58 GMT -8
Maybe I'll give that a view if I can find it. Apparently that was Kate's first comedy.
|
|
Brad Nelson
Administrator
עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
Posts: 12,261
|
Post by Brad Nelson on May 22, 2023 14:15:12 GMT -8
It's going to be a while until I watch a Rock Hudson/Doris Day screwball comedy. I think she works here because of the cast, especially supporting characters such as Audrey Meadows. And Grant is one of those stars who focuses a picture and keeps it from becoming too sentimentally sloppy. He's just acerbic enough (in a nice way) to keep it above lowering itself to a B film...which many screwball comedies seem to be.
Day plays her part pretty well in this. I think it's one of her best roles, although I haven't actually seen her in many movies. She's not normally my cup of tea either. But this is a Cary Grant film, and she is the supporting character. And it works.
|
|
|
|
Post by kungfuzu on May 22, 2023 14:17:35 GMT -8
She plays a wealthy young ditz to Grant's paleontologist. Baby is the surprise character who unsettles just about everyone. I love the "off-the-wall" idea/concept of Baby. I do have a fondness for the bizarre.
There is no pretense of seriousness in the film. I admire that as I do not find film a very serious medium in any case. I have always thought comedy and straight-forward good vs. evil stories work best. That is one reason Westerns are so popular. They don't try to be something they cannot be, i.e. are not phony, generally speaking.
P.S. Hepburn was about thirty when she starred in Bringing up Baby, and looked younger, so she could play the part well.
|
|
Brad Nelson
Administrator
עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
Posts: 12,261
|
Post by Brad Nelson on May 27, 2023 10:34:00 GMT -8
Continuing with the Cary Grant marathon, we now move on to 1964's Father Goose. The IMDB trivia section states: Maybe so. Apparently it was not all that easy to get to know Cary Grant. By his own admission, "Cary Grant" (including the accent) was a complete fabrication by Archibald Leach. Grant states that over the years, he tried to become more like that person. He is quoted as saying: Apparently, while sharing joint custody with his daughter (an amicable arrangement with Dyan Cannon), he grew from a somewhat nervous, controlling, and neurotic individual into a happy and content soul by the time he reached senior status. Whether Grant was like the acerbic, heavy-drinking loner that he plays in Mother Goose (Walter), I don't know. But it's a formula that is pretty stale, even by 1964. Crotchety older guy finally is worn down and shows that the has a heart, etc, etc. But given that this is Cary Grant carrying that cliché, he can make it work. And for the most part, he does. This is a popcorn movie of not much depth. But it does have that star power.  |
|
Brad Nelson
Administrator
עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
Posts: 12,261
|
Post by Brad Nelson on May 27, 2023 18:09:27 GMT -8
People Will TalkThis 1951 movie stars Cary Grant as an uber-compassionate and wise doctor. I found it on the free Golden Network TV channel on Roku. This is a bit of an unusual movie. A times you'll be cheering and saying, "Yeah, doctors should be more like that." At other times it gets a little liberally self-righteous. It's an odd movie with odd plot elements that are all mixed together. A jealous professor starts a witch hunt against Dr. Noah Praetorius (Grant). Meanwhile, Grant has an unusual experience with a patient that sometimes strains credibility. Noah and his friends all yell at each other, even when having a good time. Grant's manservant has some kind of dark secret. And there is a dog with unusually good sense. Oh, and of course there's the fundamentalist Christian who is bad because he works hard and pays for taking in his brother and his daughter. There are aspects of this that are clearly liberal fantasies being fulfilled. None of this should work in this unconventional story. But perhaps it does because you can't say that you've seen this one before. Yes, there is the allusion to the tired theme of McCarthyism that, of course, is something the Left never engages in. It's really a mish-mash of stuff by writer and director Joseph Mankiewicz. One reviewer writes, "...one was never sure what the film was trying to be and it seemed that Mankiewicz was not sure either." That's about the size of it. But since they're not making Cary Grant films anymore, it's certainly worth a watch.
|
|
|
|
Post by kungfuzu on May 28, 2023 10:19:48 GMT -8
In my opinion, it is the type of product that film is best suited for. Not too deep, not too serious and not too long.
I cannot recall any thing I have seen Grant act in that I hated.
|
|
Brad Nelson
Administrator
עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
Posts: 12,261
|
Post by Brad Nelson on May 28, 2023 10:26:20 GMT -8
And even b-material by an A-list actor can be entertaining.
Also watched Operation Petticote on PlutoTV (or somewhere free on the Roku). Another good movie. Not too deep. Certainly not serious. But had some good actors and characters in it.
|
|
Brad Nelson
Administrator
עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
Posts: 12,261
|
Post by Brad Nelson on May 28, 2023 19:29:28 GMT -8
I've added North by Northwest, Operation Petticoat, and The Bishop's Wife to the list of the Cary Grant Marathon movies. All are available for free on Pluto TV, The Roku Channel, or others. Tonight it is Charade on Pluto TV. They also have this on The Roku Channel. But for some reason, the quality of the one on Pluto TV is far, far superior.
|
|
Brad Nelson
Administrator
עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
Posts: 12,261
|
Post by Brad Nelson on May 28, 2023 19:30:33 GMT -8
Cary Grant. Always in an impeccable suit with impeccable manners. He is the opposite of, and the antidote to, Drag Queen Story Hour. Oh, how far we have fallen.
|
|
Brad Nelson
Administrator
עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
Posts: 12,261
|
Post by Brad Nelson on May 29, 2023 6:55:56 GMT -8
I've started the biography, Cary Grant: A Brilliant Disguise, by Scott Eyman. I found it at my local online library. I don't normally read film star biographies, but I'll give this one a try and see how it goes. It's fairly highly rated at Amazon. |
|
Brad Nelson
Administrator
עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
Posts: 12,261
|
Post by Brad Nelson on May 30, 2023 7:16:51 GMT -8
You know, I started that Cary Grant biography and got about 20 pages in before it was just too much. Or not enough. I found the writing to be boring. I've read good biographies before and this wasn't one of them. There was more of a sensationalist, movie-name-dropping aspect to it.
And the fact is, if you've seen the movies and liked the actor, there isn't much more to say. He had a rotten family. He went into Vaudeville, had personality quirks, and eventually came out the other end fairly okay. That's nice. But it's the movies I like and I guess I just don't find the finer details about actors to be of much interest or consequence.
|
|
|
|
Post by kungfuzu on May 30, 2023 13:22:57 GMT -8
I agree. I believe the only actor's biography that I have read deals with Ronald Reagan. Hint. I didn't read it because he was an actor.
I have long held the view, which has been confirmed over the years, that most actors came from broken or screwed up families. When I was young there were few divorces so this aspect of actors' lives stood out. Today, this benchmark may not hold as it seems like everyone has been divorced, unless they haven't been married.
|
|
Brad Nelson
Administrator
עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
Posts: 12,261
|
Post by Brad Nelson on May 30, 2023 14:42:36 GMT -8
I think (but am not sure) that Grant left home at a fairly early age and did that seemingly purely American thing of "joining the circus," or the equivalent of it. He worked with a lot of great comedy legends. And apparently the camaraderie he found in a performing troupe was something like the family life he never had. I can certainly understand that, but less understand his self-administered LSD treatments.
He comes from a time that almost certainly doesn't exist anymore. If there was the old camaraderie of Vaudeville where a supporting player might be rubbing elbows with giants, I'm not sure if that exists anymore. The actors today seem more freaky and particulate. I can't imagine Cary Grant wanting to hang out with the likes of Matt Damon or George Clooney, although he was apparently great pals with the hard-drinking David Niven. But then I don't know much about Niven. But it's a good guess he wasn't the sort of airhead that Clooney or Damon are.
Although I believe as you do that the acting profession is likely the true "oldest profession," these old movies take us back to a time when, at least on screen, people weren't entirely batshit crazy as they are now. Their personal morals have always probably been pretty dicey. But we are far (unfortunately) past the day when some misbehavior from a leading lady such as Ingrid Bergman could shock movie goers and pose a real threat to her career. Nowadays, it's a fair assumption that most of them are moral lepers and nobody particularly seems to care.
|
|
|
|
Post by kungfuzu on May 30, 2023 14:46:54 GMT -8
I did read Niven's book The Moon's a Balloon so I have to take back my statement that I have not read biographies of actors. An autobiography would count as such. As I recall, I enjoyed the book. |
|
Brad Nelson
Administrator
עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
Posts: 12,261
|
Post by Brad Nelson on May 30, 2023 20:22:55 GMT -8
Hmmm. That doesn't sound too bad.
|
|
Brad Nelson
Administrator
עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
Posts: 12,261
|
Post by Brad Nelson on May 31, 2023 7:52:07 GMT -8
Charade remains one of my favorite movies and probably my favorite Cary Grant movie. It has two big stars in it along with a fine supporting cast in James Coburn, Walter Matthau, George Kennedy, and Ned Glass. This is often called the best Hitchcock film that he never made and there are apparently plenty of homages to Hitchcock in this. This is a 1963 film and I think one of its most unusual and notable aspects are the plot twists that work. Unfortunately, it has become de rigueur, especially for mediocre movies trying to become something more – to include plot twists and ever more plot twists. This trick has been so overused (especially at the end of movies) that the movie goer (like me) gets annoyed. Charade suffers from none of this even though plot twists are absolutely central to this film. Why do the twists work here and not elsewhere (and rarely elsewhere)? For one thing, they are logical and dribbled out in digestible packets as the film progresses and not all cascaded at the end in an attempt to rescue the mediocrity that went on before. We are (on the first viewing) of Charade left as confused as Audrey Hepburn's character. But things come together gradually and never do these twists feel like a cheat. And when we get to the final one, it's almost as if the audience is in on the joke instead of being the butt of a dumb and illogical plot twist. It must be said that this was a fairly mature movie for a fairly mature audience. I truly believe that this kind of movie could not make it in America today because we have become such slobbish dullards. Thankfully cinema acts as a cultural memory. And as hard as the perverts and Marxists are trying to erase decency and beauty, these films still exist and act as a portal back to creativity and normalcy. 
|
|
|
|
Post by kungfuzu on May 31, 2023 9:55:35 GMT -8
I'm with you. I also like To Catch a Thief. Both films have Grant, beautiful young actresses, great scenery, strong supporting casts and plausible stories. It is hard to choose between them. Kelly is more beautiful, but Hepburn is a better actress. As I recall, Grant thought himself too old to play the lead in "Charade" especially when one noted the difference in age between Grant and Hepburn. I think the famous shower scene came about because, at 60, he thought it ridiculous to be filmed without a shirt.  |
|
