spiderwort
Junior Member
@spiderwort
Posts: 2,519
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Post by spiderwort on May 8, 2019 1:41:13 GMT
Really appreciate your comments, doghouse, especially re: The Best Years of Our Lives, one of greatest of the greats, imo. And I just wanted to say that I, too, generally don't like picking favorites (except for Elia Kazan, but that's a book unto itself). But today, for whatever reason, I was feeling the passing of time, aging as it were, and began to wonder which films of this great director I would select if my time were short (not saying it is, but it is passing more quickly now, alas). What films are the most meaningful to me, I guess, for whatever reason. That seems so much more important to me now than when I was young. I know what you mean about the passing and dwindling of time. It's funny, but as I've become more cognizant of it, and less willing to devote time to anything that doesn't grab me within, say, the first 15-20 minutes, I've also been taking it to catch up with films I'd never gotten around to, or giving ones of which I'd never even heard a try; some of them minor programmers, among which rewarding little gems can be found. Or, at the very least, have offered something of value. Last night, for instance, I got around to Keeper Of the Flame, the one Tracy-Hepburn film I'd never seen from start to finish. And while the whole was rather vague and unfocused, the final act provided Hepburn with a knockout monologue delivering a prescient warning that, if not dramatically compelling, serves as a wake-up call speaking directly to the dangers of current U.S. politics, and would not be at all out of place in any contemporary news or commentary, yet all the more powerful for having been written nearly 80 years ago. As to the "old reliables," a Best Years or Casablanca, Chinatown, Double Indemnity or Sunset Blvd or any number of always-welcome others I've seen countless times, it's almost as though I've absorbed them into my DNA; they're part of me (sounds like the Ben Mankiewicz TCM intro), and if I knew I was going to croak tomorrow without the opportunity of one last viewing of any of them, I wouldn't feel deprived. I have no idea if any of that makes any sense.
It makes perfect sense. It's beautifully stated, and I agree completely. Especially love the final paragraph. It's the same for me. My most beloved films are in my DNA, too, and have shaped my life in ways that I can't begin to define. But they are part of me and will be with me to the end.
Your point about the first 15-20 minutes is interesting. Every year my friends and I gather to view screeners for the Awards season, and our rule is that if anyone wants to stop after the first 20 minutes, we do and then move on to another. I am the same in my personal life now. When I was young(er) I watched anything that moved - and learned a lot from the good and the bad films in the process. But today I only want to watch what captivates and moves me, making me truly glad that I'm watching, knowing that I will be enriched in the end. Sadly, for me, that doesn't happen too often these days.
As for Keeper of the Flame: your assessment of it is pretty close to mine, particularly in terms of its political relevance. There's no question that even that less than perfect classic film conveys an important life-affirming meaning. I regret that so many contemporary films today seem to lack that inordinately essential quality - in my opinion anyway.
Anyway, thanks for sharing your important thoughts.
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Post by kijii on May 8, 2019 6:23:31 GMT
I wrote this on another thread:
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Post by mattgarth on May 8, 2019 8:51:32 GMT
And Wyler has the distinction of having directed more performers to Oscar nominations than any other filmmaker ('BY FAR!' as POTUS likes to say) -- I count 36 (between 1936 and 1968) and 14 Wins (W):
36 -- Walter Huston, Walter Brennan (W), Maria Ouspenskaya, Bonita Granville
37 -- Claire Trevor
38 -- Bette Davis (W), Fay Bainter (W)
39 -- Laurence Olivier, Geraldine Fitzgerald
40 -- Bette Davis, James Stephenson, Walter Brennan (W)
41 -- Bette Davis, Teresa Wright, Patricia Collinge
42 -- Greer Garson (W), Walter Pidgeon, Henry Travers, Dame May Whitty, Teresa Wright (W)
46 -- Fredric March (W), Harold Russell (W)
49 -- Olivia de Havilland (W), Sir Ralph Richardson
51 -- Eleanor Parker, Lee Grant
53 -- Audrey Hepburn (W), Eddie Albert
56 -- Anthony Perkins
58 -- Burl Ives (W)
59 -- Charlton Heston (W), Hugh Griffith (W)
61 -- Fay Bainter
65 -- Samantha Eggar
68 -- Barbra Steisand (W), Kay Medford
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Post by kijii on May 8, 2019 17:08:41 GMT
And Wyler has the distinction of having directed more performers to Oscar nominations than any other filmmaker ('BY FAR!' as POTUS likes to say) -- I count 36 (between 1936 and 1968) and 14 Wins (W): 36 -- Walter Huston, Walter Brennan (W), Maria Ouspenskaya, Bonita Granville 37 -- Claire Trevor 38 -- Bette Davis (W), Fay Bainter (W) 39 -- Laurence Olivier, Geraldine Fitzgerald 40 -- Bette Davis, James Stephenson, Walter Brennan (W) 41 -- Bette Davis, Teresa Wright, Patricia Collinge 42 -- Greer Garson (W), Walter Pidgeon, Henry Travers, Dame May Whitty, Teresa Wright (W) 46 -- Fredric March (W), Harold Russell (W) 49 -- Olivia de Havilland (W), Sir Ralph Richardson 51 -- Eleanor Parker, Lee Grant 53 -- Audrey Hepburn (W), Eddie Albert 56 -- Anthony Perkins 58 -- Burl Ives (W) 59 -- Charlton Heston (W), Hugh Griffith (W) 61 -- Fay Bainter 65 -- Samantha Eggar 68 -- Barbra Steisand (W), Kay Medford That's Neat Matt--- Can you do that for all the other Oscar-nominated directors over the time same period? I stress over the same time period so we can compare "apples to apples." (Between 1936 and 1968 is a good interval for measuring Classic period movies.) Another condition would be only counting performers--not other categories in the overall "oscared" count. Maybe we can make a group project out of this with different regular posters doing the counting for different directors... Somehow I think of 1934 as the breakout year for starting since I don't think we had many multiple Oscared movies before It Happened One Night (1934) [Clean Sweep for top category nominees]
But 1936 is a good starting point, too, since 1936 is the first year in which there were 4 performing Oscars awarded (that is the year they added Supporting Actor and Actress).
Again, that makes a better "apples to apples" comparison.
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Post by mattgarth on May 8, 2019 19:03:46 GMT
You want me to do the same thing for ALL nominated directors over a 32 year period, Kijii?
Everyone of the 114 filmmakers?
Gee -- you really are generous ... WITH MY TIME!
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Post by jeffersoncody on May 10, 2019 6:44:15 GMT
The Liberation of L.B. Jones not seen Howzit marshamae, just wanted to say;if you ever get the chance to see this dark, brilliant film about racism in the South grab it with both hands. It's a searing, downbeat, one-of-a-kind film.
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Post by jeffersoncody on May 10, 2019 6:48:35 GMT
I wrote this on another thread:
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Post by jeffersoncody on May 10, 2019 6:56:47 GMT
Wyler was a great filmmaker, and I love many of his film Spidey. But as a 59-year-old white man who grew up in apartheid South Africa and hated the repression and the cruelty I saw all around me, I have to say that the Wyler film which has made the the biggest impression on me is the little seen and criminally underrated THE LIBERATION OF L.B. JONES.
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Post by kijii on May 10, 2019 15:20:32 GMT
I wrote this on another thread: Jeffersoncody-- Thanks. I saw it only once and felt that it was unlike any other Wyler film I had seen. However, you have encouraged me to seek it out and see it again. The post that I have placed on What movie did YOU just FINISH watching? is on Page 12
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Post by jeffersoncody on May 10, 2019 16:49:23 GMT
As one of the few people on this board who has seen the excellent, insightful and heartbreaking THE LIBERATION OF L.B. JONES, I can assure you it is no stinker. It's an exceptional film which reveals dark truths about racism in America, and it deals with subjects many Americans are scared to confront. Jeffersoncody-- Thanks. I saw it only once and felt that it was unlike any other Wyler film I had seen. However, you have encouraged me to seek it out and see it again. The post that I have placed on What movie did YOU just FINISH watching? is on Page 12 Thanks, I had forgotten you posted that, and that I gave it a like at the time.
Did you see this on the film's IMDB trivia page?
The movie marked the first time that a black man killed a white man on-screen. And. Author Jesse Hill Ford based the story on an actual event and people in his town. Many people in Humboldt were not happy after the novel was published and felt betrayed, especially after the film gave the story wider circulation. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ you might find this interesting kiiji.Jesse Hill Ford was a product of the South he was born in, and his death a product of the honesty of his literary picture of race relations in that South. His The New York Times Obituary.
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Post by kijii on May 10, 2019 22:04:11 GMT
And Wyler has the distinction of having directed more performers to Oscar nominations than any other filmmaker ('BY FAR!' as POTUS likes to say) -- I count 36 (between 1936 and 1968) and 14 Wins (W): 36 -- Walter Huston, Walter Brennan (W), Maria Ouspenskaya, Bonita Granville 37 -- Claire Trevor 38 -- Bette Davis (W), Fay Bainter (W) 39 -- Laurence Olivier, Geraldine Fitzgerald 40 -- Bette Davis, James Stephenson, Walter Brennan (W) 41 -- Bette Davis, Teresa Wright, Patricia Collinge 42 -- Greer Garson (W), Walter Pidgeon, Henry Travers, Dame May Whitty, Teresa Wright (W) 46 -- Fredric March (W), Harold Russell (W) 49 -- Olivia de Havilland (W), Sir Ralph Richardson 51 -- Eleanor Parker, Lee Grant 53 -- Audrey Hepburn (W), Eddie Albert 56 -- Anthony Perkins 58 -- Burl Ives (W) 59 -- Charlton Heston (W), Hugh Griffith (W) 61 -- Fay Bainter 65 -- Samantha Eggar 68 -- Barbra Steisand (W), Kay Medford Although not over the same time period, Elia Kazan seems to come in 2nd with 24 Oscar nominations , with 8 wins: I may have to work on this since he is credited with 24 Oscar nominations and 8 Oscar Wins--maybe some were for something other than performances. Or, maybe some performers were nominated more than once under his direction. For example, Karl Malden was nominated twice under Kazan: 1955 Nominated Oscar Best Actor in a Supporting Role On the Waterfront (1954) 1952 Won Oscar Best Actor in a Supporting Role A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) Martin Scorsese - 22 ON, 6 OW George Cukor - 21 ON, 7 OW Fred Zinnemann - 20 ON, 6 OW Woody Allen - 18 ON, 7 OW Sidney Lumet - 18 ON, 3 OW George Stevens - 18 ON, 3 OW www.imdb.com/list/ls024102390/
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Post by Feologild Oakes on May 10, 2019 22:10:23 GMT
I didn't realize his career began in the silent era in 1925, though of course I should have. What a genius he was, a truly great director who was wonderful with the camera and was also able to elicit magnificent performances from his actors. I love so many of his films, but these would be my all time favorites:
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) Mrs. Miniver (1942)
Roman Holiday (1953)
The Heiress (1949)
The Little Foxes (1942)
These are also my 5 favorite William Wyler films.
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Post by rudeboy on May 10, 2019 23:50:27 GMT
Quite a few great ones. My personal favourites are Dodsworth - what a sensitive, mature, ahead-of-its-time film, with a performance for the ages by Walter Huston - and The Little Foxes, my personal favourite of Bette Davis' many superb performances.
Counsellor at Law, The Best Years of Our Lives and The Heiress are close behind.
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Post by mattgarth on May 11, 2019 0:00:32 GMT
Kijii - 24 performer nominations for Kazan is accurate, counting three for Brando and Malden's two.
Adding another filmmaker with impressive performer noms to your recent list ... Billy Wilder -- 17 of them (just 3 winners, though):
44 -- Barbara Stanwyck
45 -- Ray Milland (W)
50 -- William Holden, Gloria Swanson, Erich Von Stroheim, Nancy Olson
53 -- William Holden (W), Robert Strauss
54 -- Audrey Hepburn
57 -- Charles Laughton, Elsa Lanchester
59 -- Jack Lemmon
60 -- Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Jack Kruschen
63 -- Shirley MacLaine
66 -- Walter Matthau (W)
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Post by kijii on May 11, 2019 4:28:58 GMT
Kijii - 24 performer nominations for Kazan is accurate, counting three for Brando and Malden's two. Adding another filmmaker with impressive performer noms to your recent list ... Billy Wilder -- 17 of them (just 3 winners, though): 44 -- Barbara Stanwyck 45 -- Ray Milland (W) 50 -- William Holden, Gloria Swanson, Erich Von Stroheim, Nancy Olson 53 -- William Holden (W), Robert Strauss 54 -- Audrey Hepburn 57 -- Charles Laughton, Elsa Lanchester 59 -- Jack Lemmon 60 -- Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Jack Kruschen 63 -- Shirley MacLaine 66 -- Walter Matthau (W) I often consider William Wyler, Elia Kazan, and Billy Wilder to be the best. But, then I like the way Fred Zimmerman's career emerged once it started too. Another impressive thing about Billy Wilder is his own personal career Oscar nominations and wins (These in addition to the "Oscared performers" he directed) : Not including his Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, he received 21 Oscar nominations for Writing, Directing, and Producing (Best Picture nominations) with 6 Personal Wins: 1967 Nominee The Fortune Cookie---Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen (Shared with I.A.L. Diamond) 1961 Winner The Apartment (all three categories in one year):--- Best Picture
--- Best Director
--- Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen (Shared with I.A.L. Diamond)
1960 Nominee Some Like It Hot---Best Director ---Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium (Shared with I.A.L. Diamond) 1958 Nominee Witness for the Prosecution---Best Director 1955 Nominee Sabrina ---Best Director ---Best Writing, Screenplay (Shared with Samuel A. Taylor & Ernest Lehman) 1954 Nominee Stalag 17 ---Best Director 1952 Nominee Ace in the Hole---Oscar Best Writing, Story and Screenplay (Shared with Lesser Samuels & Walter Newman)
1951 Winner Sunset Blvd.
---Best Writing, Story and Screenplay (Shared with Charles Brackett & D.M. Marshman Jr.)---Nominee, Best Director 1949 Nominee A Foreign Affair---Best Writing, Screenplay (Shared with Charles Brackett & Richard L. Breen) 1946 Winner The Lost Weekend (two categories in one year):
---Best Director
--- Best Writing, Screenplay (Shared with Charles Brackett)
1945 Nominee Double Indemnity---Best Director ---Best Writing, Screenplay (Shared with Raymond Chandler) 1942 Nominee Ball of Fire
---Oscar Best Writing, Original Story (Shared with Thomas Monroe) 1942 Nominee Hold Back the Dawn---Best Writing, Screenplay (Shared with Charles Brackett) 1940 Nominee Ninotchka ---Oscar Best Writing, Screenplay (Shared with Charles Brackett & Walter Reisch)
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on May 12, 2019 3:07:21 GMT
So so many of his I still have yet to see! Which is surprising since as you can see his strike rate on my ratings is the lowest at 7 (I was a bit irked by the over dramatics of Davis in The Letter, need another viewing) and upwards!!
I do own a couple that I haven't seen in box sets, so I will get around to them.
In preferential order >
Ben-Hur (1959) 10 Wuthering Heights (1939) 9 The Heiress (1949) 9 Detective Story (1951) 8 The Big Country (1958) 8 The Children's Hour (1961) 8 How to Steal a Million (1966) 8 The Westerner (1940) 7 The Desperate Hours (1955) 7 The Letter (1940) 7
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Post by Archelaus on May 13, 2019 16:04:18 GMT
The Best Years of Our Lives
Roman Holiday
Friendly Persuasion
Ben-Hur
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