|
|
Post by mortsahlfan on Jul 12, 2021 19:12:04 GMT
Wednesday, 9:45pm on TCM
One of my favorite movies. Has anyone seen it? If so, what did you think? I gave it a 10/10.
|
|
|
|
Post by wmcclain on Jul 12, 2021 19:42:14 GMT
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), produced and directed by Frank Capra. Inheriting a vast fortune, small town poet and tuba player Longfellow Deeds must see the bright lights and big city and be tempted by its wicked ways. The great battle of city slickers vs country rubes doesn't go quite as we expect. At first the city folk are nasty and we expect not to like them. The denizens of Mandrake Falls, Vermont seem charming in their mild, if eccentric, innocence. But Deeds is not as innocent as he appears, being a shrewd judge of character and business, and is prepared to knock heads as needed. Most of the New Yorkers turn out to be all right. There is no helping embezzling lawyers or Society moochers. When his love life goes sour, Deeds becomes too depressed to defend himself or even talk, a serious segment and vivid portrayal by Gary Cooper, age 35 and playing 28. Having won big with It Happened One Night (1934), Capra could do whatever he wanted, which was to keep making romantic comedies with extra heart and a bit of Message. He sometimes becomes talky when earnest, but Depression era common people never had a better friend. He told them they were right in wanting dignity, a chance to work and a little helping hand. Capra would repeat the innocent-finds-love-and-trouble-in-the-city formula in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), with Jean Arthur in a similar role. The second film was originally planned as a sequel to the first. Break-out role for Arthur, taking over from Carole Lombard who backed out at the last minute to do My Man Godfrey (1936). The story her character tells about her small town youth and fishing with her father: I still don't know if that was truth or just a tale to hook Deeds. Introduced two words to wider circulation: "pixelated" and "doodle". Photographed by Joseph Walker. Available on Blu-ray with a commentary track by the director's son. He says his father broke many filmmaking rules, but had one he tried to follow: do not bore the audience. 
|
|
|
|
Post by marianne48 on Jul 12, 2021 23:50:48 GMT
Probably my second favorite Capra movie (after Arsenic and Old Lace). There is a message here, but it's not as heavy-handed as it is in most later Capra films. Gary Cooper, whom I've always found rather wooden, is actually at his most charming here. Jean Arthur is also charming, as usual. One of the best aspects of Capra films is the wealth of endearing performances by
his stable of character actors, and there are plenty here, especially those two elderly ladies who serve as character witnesses.
A sweet movie, made before Capra got carried away with "Capra-corn."
|
|
|
|
Post by Vits on Jul 13, 2021 11:21:52 GMT
There’s an unspoken rule in movies: Characters are only allowed to preach in courtroom scenes. That’s why I enjoyed the last part of MR. DEEDS GOES TO TOWN a lot more than the rest. I liked the messages (which hadn't been really used in a movie before), but I had a big problem with the protagonist. It was hard to define him. At first, he seemed like a goofy guy, then like a noble man whom I had judged wrongly, then again like a goofy guy... Eventually, I realized that he’s not a real character. He’s an excuse for Frank Capra to express his opinions. I mean, in a certain way, most movie characters are like that, but they still have to be developed. The music score was mostly adapted from FOR HE’S A JOLLY GOOD FELLOW. Do I really have to explain what’s wrong with that? 6/10 A lot of Adam Sandler characters are written to be nice guys but are accidentally jerks in disguise. In MR. DEEDS, he has to play the epitetome of niceness, so the mean-spirited actions stand out more than usual. At one point, the title character punches a angry guy because he swears in front of a woman. I know that he's supposed to be old-fashioned, but come on. I thought this was the 21st Century. Later, that guy's dad whips his son with a belt as punishment. The joke is that an old man is punishing an adult as if he was child. That only works when it's a punishment that would be justified if the characters were an adult and a child. Winona Ryder plays an arrogant and deceitful woman who poses as a sweet woman. Since she's only convincing as a sweet woman, does it count as miscasting? Peter Gallagher, Allen Covert, Erick Avari and Steve Buscemi steal the show. So does John Turturro, despite playing a stereotype. Although the humour style doesn't fit the story (which is more or less the same as in the original version (the scene where DEEDS finds out that his relationship was a lie works better (on a dramatic level) in this remake)), the comedy does work at times. 4/10 ------------------------------------- You can read comments of other movies (including the remake) in my blog (in English, in Spanish or in Italian). |
|
|
|
Post by Mulder and Scully on Jul 13, 2021 15:10:11 GMT
I'll take Sandler's Mr Deeds. His scene with John McEnroe is hilarious.
|
|
|
|
Post by mortsahlfan on Jul 13, 2021 15:53:34 GMT
There’s an unspoken rule in movies: Characters are only allowed to preach in courtroom scenes. That’s why I enjoyed the last part of MR. DEEDS GOES TO TOWN a lot more than the rest. I liked the messages (which hadn't been really used in a movie before), but I had a big problem with the protagonist. It was hard to define him. At first, he seemed like a goofy guy, then like a noble man whom I had judged wrongly, then again like a goofy guy... Eventually, I realized that he’s not a real character. He’s an excuse for Frank Capra to express his opinions. I mean, in a certain way, most movie characters are like that, but they still have to be developed. The music score was mostly adapted from FOR HE’S A JOLLY GOOD FELLOW. Do I really have to explain what’s wrong with that? 6/10 A lot of Adam Sandler characters are written to be nice guys but are accidentally jerks in disguise. In MR. DEEDS, he has to play the epitetome of niceness, so the mean-spirited actions stand out more than usual. At one point, the title character punches a angry guy because he swears in front of a woman. I know that he's supposed to be old-fashioned, but come on. I thought this was the 21st Century. Later, that guy's dad whips his son with a belt as punishment. The joke is that an old man is punishing an adult as if he was child. That only works when it's a punishment that would be justified if the characters were an adult and a child. Winona Ryder plays an arrogant and deceitful woman who poses as a sweet woman. Since she's only convincing as a sweet woman, does it count as miscasting? Peter Gallagher, Allen Covert, Erick Avari and Steve Buscemi steal the show. So does John Turturro, despite playing a stereotype. Although the humour style doesn't fit the story (which is more or less the same as in the original version (the scene where DEEDS finds out that his relationship was a lie works better (on a dramatic level) in this remake)), the comedy does work at times. 4/10 ------------------------------------- You can read comments of other movies (including the remake) in my blog (in English, in Spanish or in Italian).
I think Cooper's character could be truthful... If you're sitting around, playing your instrument, and suddenly find yourself inheriting a ton of money, it's going to change you. Sure, at first, even people who haven't "won the lotto" always think "I'm still going to be a man of the people" and he is.... for a while. But he's awakened by the poor man who breaks into his house with a gun to tell him he's being blinded by the wealth, and everything that came with it -- attention, luxury, etc., and once you're in that world, it's hard to go back. It's like a drug.
Most people who win the lottery either go broke quickly, and/or lose their family and friends. Many lose trust even in future relationships with the thought, "Do they only like me because I live in a nice house, etc?"
|
|
