What Classics Did You See Last Week? (5 June to 11 June 2017
Jun 13, 2017 18:27:09 GMT
Salzmank and spiderwort like this
Post by mikef6 on Jun 13, 2017 18:27:09 GMT
Unlike Bringing up Baby, which I took to immediately, It took me a while to warm up to Holiday, but I'm happy I did. Cukor was always something of a "stage-bound" director, but he was extremely good at maintaining his tone, warmth, and vividness within those confines. Holiday is one of the best examples of Cukor's virtues, and it's helped by the grand playing from Cary Grant, Kate Hepburn, and Edward Everett Horton and Jean Dixon (about whom I wrote this--I've seen it again and liked it far more since writing that post).
I'm sure you're unsurprised to see that I'm a fan of The Kennel Murder Case; I believe it's one of the whodunit-film's very few enduring classics, along with Green for Danger, The Last of Sheila, The Thin Man, and maybe one of the Chans. Bill Everson, who saw just about everything, wrote a superb review in his excellent The Detective in Film.
Interesting that you're not exactly a fan of Les diaboliques; it is a favorite of mine, but I can understand your reasons: that's pretty much how I feel about Psycho. I hope to post a bit more about Clouzot some other time.
Really, I don’t think I gave a very good review at all of The Kennel Murder Case; I just wrote about a few new impressions I had while watching it. You have hinted at what I should have spent at least a couple of sentences on: the complex puzzle, the fair-play with the audience, William Powell’s grace and charm (a dress rehearsal for The Thin Man which came the very next year – except that Philo Vance is always sober), a 27-year-old Mary Astor, and a large cast having themselves a good time.
I like very much what you wrote about Horton and Dixon and how their “Holiday” characters reminded you of friends. I loved it that they actually played real people instead of just “quirky” movie characters; it made them more relatable – and funnier.