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Post by Richard Kimble on Nov 5, 2017 8:15:26 GMT
early-mid-'70s, gritty, post-noir re-imaginings of the "downtrodden P.I." genre, of which films like Night Moves, Hickey and Boggs or The Drowning Pool were examples. Fair to say? This movement goes back to TDP's predecessor, Harper (1966), the film that revived the moribund private eye genre, not only for movies but even more so for TV. Mannix came along the next year, and by the '70s detectives had replaced cowboys as the prime time action hero.
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Post by Richard Kimble on Nov 5, 2017 8:16:20 GMT
I recall watching a TV movie in the late 1980s called "Alone in the Neon Jungle." Suzanne Pleshette plays a no-nonsense police captain assigned to take over a demoralized precinct in Pittsburgh and has to be tough on everybody (unlike her friendly predecessor). Viewing it I thought -- 'this is TWELVE O'CLOCK HIGH!' Your post reminded me of the early '70s TV movie Fireball Forward w/ Ben Gazzara, in which he is a hard nosed general taking over a new outfit. Like 12OH, it was also from Fox (I believe it even uses unused battle footage from Patton).
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Post by Richard Kimble on Nov 5, 2017 8:17:22 GMT
I'm a little ashamed to admit it, but when Marlo Thomas's It Happened One Christmas aired in the late '70s, I hadn't yet seen It's A Wonderful Life, and thought "What a great story this is!" I've since seen IAWL a number of times, but never again IHOC, so I've no idea how well it might hold up . Not too long ago I saw Happy Land (1943) with Don Ameche as a small town pharmacist who looks back at the events in his life. I was struck by how much it resembles the later IAWL. Anyone else here ever seen HL?
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Post by Doghouse6 on Nov 5, 2017 15:03:00 GMT
early-mid-'70s, gritty, post-noir re-imaginings of the "downtrodden P.I." genre, of which films like Night Moves, Hickey and Boggs or The Drowning Pool were examples. Fair to say? This movement goes back to TDP's predecessor, Harper (1966), the film that revived the moribund private eye genre, not only for movies but even more so for TV. Mannix came along the next year, and by the '70s detectives had replaced cowboys as the prime time action hero. Harper crossed my mind as I was posting and I wasn't quite sure, given its mid-'60s status, whether I should count it as a trend-setter. It's wildly entertaining with its fabulous cast, and sort of straddles the eras as a late entry among the glossy, widescreen, big-studio product of the previous dozen years. While it has a retro appearance, it rather looks forward with its cynical, disillusioned sensibilities. Another in a similar vein was 1969's Marlowe. Another very good cast and, although it doesn't seem quite as comfortable in its own skin as Harper, it's a great dry run for James Garner's acerbic Jim Rockford persona. And as much as I enjoy Marlowe, there's another that works much better for many reasons, among which is its very point of era-bridging: Robert Benton's 1977 The Late Show, which is gritty, witty and quirky all at once, allowing itself to be taken seriously when needed (and for my money, Art Carney far surpasses his Oscar-winning Harry and Tonto performance).
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Post by Doghouse6 on Nov 5, 2017 15:15:11 GMT
I'm a little ashamed to admit it, but when Marlo Thomas's It Happened One Christmas aired in the late '70s, I hadn't yet seen It's A Wonderful Life, and thought "What a great story this is!" I've since seen IAWL a number of times, but never again IHOC, so I've no idea how well it might hold up . Not too long ago I saw Happy Land (1943) with Don Ameche as a small town pharmacist who looks back at the events in his life. I was struck by how much it resembles the later IAWL. Anyone else here ever seen HL? I'd never heard of that one and had to look it up. Odd confluence of timing, what with the concurrent publishing of both the source novel (by MacKinlay Cantor, who also wrote Glory For Me, upon which The Best Years Of Our Lives was based) and the story serving as the basis for It's A Wonderful Life (Philip Van Doren Stern's The Greatest Gift), as well as having come directly on the heels of Amerche's appearance in Heaven Can Wait. I imagine such "each life has value and none is wasted" messages must have been especially appealing during the war years.
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Post by mattgarth on Nov 5, 2017 19:24:19 GMT
Two films seemed to be kissin' cousins -- both starring two American icons about America's darkest time.
FRIENDLY PERSUASION in 1956 with Gary Cooper SHENENDOAH in 1965 with James Stewart
Both set on family farms during the Civil War -- one in Indiana, the other in Virginia. Both showing the impact of the conflict on the family unit -- particular the father and sons. Both dads deal with sons who want to get into the war. Both suffer losses -- one son wounded, the other losing 2 sons and unsure of the fate of the third. Both fathers encounter a Confederate soldier but restrain themselves from taking a life. Both circle around their religious feelings that don't run very deep but eventually find a renewed strength in their convictions.
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Post by Doghouse6 on Nov 5, 2017 23:07:47 GMT
Two films seemed to be kissin' cousins -- both starring two American icons about America's darkest time. FRIENDLY PERSUASION in 1956 with Gary Cooper SHENENDOAH in 1965 with James Stewart Both set on family farms during the Civil War -- one in Indiana, the other in Virginia. Both showing the impact of the conflict on the family unit -- particular the father and sons. Both dads deal with sons who want to get into the war. Both suffer losses -- one son wounded, the other losing 2 sons and unsure of the fate of the third. Both fathers encounter a Confederate soldier but restrain themselves from taking a life. Both circle around their religious feelings that don't run very deep but eventually find a renewed strength in their convictions. Thanks for those, matt. Shenendoah's one I've never gotten around to, but I've heard many consider it to be among the best of Stewart's later films. When I do, I'll then watch it with attention to these parallels.
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Post by london777 on Nov 6, 2017 0:40:18 GMT
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Post by Richard Kimble on Nov 6, 2017 0:48:24 GMT
You may like this article in today's New Statesman by Douglas Kennedy, three of whose novels have been filmed. How film noir explains Donald Trump Please keep politics on the Politics Board TIA
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Post by Doghouse6 on Nov 6, 2017 2:11:03 GMT
You may like this article in today's New Statesman by Douglas Kennedy, three of whose novels have been filmed. How film noir explains Donald Trump Please keep politics on the Politics Board TIA I have no objection, really. It's only a link, after all, and so many other things - TV, new films, games, etc - find their way onto the board that I can't get rigid about it.
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Post by Doghouse6 on Nov 6, 2017 2:14:40 GMT
I'm that way about Sweet Smell Of SuccessYou may like this article in today's New Statesman by Douglas Kennedy, three of whose novels have been filmed. How film noir explains Donald Trump
Thanks. I read the piece, and it's further demonstration of what we know about the best films: they continue to be relevant among succeeding generations.
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Post by london777 on Nov 6, 2017 13:30:21 GMT
You may like this article in today's New Statesman by Douglas Kennedy, three of whose novels have been filmed. How film noir explains Donald Trump Please keep politics on the Politics Board TIA You are right, point taken. I have edited it. The references to your esteemed President are the more tenuous and less interesting parts of the article. I have reworded the link.
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Nick91
Freshman
@nick91
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Post by Nick91 on Nov 7, 2017 15:48:45 GMT
My Man Godfrey (1936) and Merrily We Live (1938) have nearly identical plots. The premise of the British film The Man in the White Suit (1951) was used two years earlier in an obscure American film I saw several months ago, called Free For All (1949). The "your marriage is not actually valid" concept in one of Alfred Hitchcock's lesser films Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941) is applied to several characters in the ensemble cast anthology film We're Not Married! (1952).
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Post by Doghouse6 on Nov 7, 2017 16:21:55 GMT
My Man Godfrey (1936) and Merrily We Live (1938) have nearly identical plots. The premise of the British film The Man in the White Suit (1951) was used two years earlier in an obscure American film I saw several months ago, called Free For All (1949). The "your marriage is not actually valid" concept in one of Alfred Hitchcock's lesser films Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941) is applied to several characters in the ensemble cast anthology film We're Not Married! (1952). Good ones, Nick91. I remember Merrily We Live and, while Brian Aherne can't approach the comic urbanity of the great William Powell, I rather preferred the cooler Connie Bennett in this milieu to Carole Lombard's more unrestrained characterization. Sacrilege? If so, I plead guilty. Earlier in 1952, a first-season I Love Lucy episode also employed the Mr. and Mrs. Smith/ We're Not Married premise. Thanks for those submissions.
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