Boom! 1968
Posted by spheer2002 | Filed under Film, Films of the 1960's
Some of us Invite Death…
…..and some of us try to escape it on a lonely island surrounded by the sea, scorched by the eternal sunshine,
‘Sissy’ Goforth (Elizabeth Taylor)the richest woman in the world lives on her luxury island somewhere in the Mediterranean and rules over all like a great dying monster, while dictating her autobiography , a poet( Richard Burton) washes up upon her great island, a poet who has been nicknamed”Angelo Del Morte” or The Angel of Death, because all woman he encounters are ( as Noel Coward puts it) a few steps away from the Grave Digger.
Based off an unsuccessful Stage Play By Tennessee Williams‘ from the early 1960’s that had starred Talulah Bankhead and Tab Hunter, its a wonder any producer would have put any money into it at all ,aside from the fact it was a ”Tennessee Williams” Play and it was to star Power Couple Liz + Burton,
It at the end of the day quite a minimalist play similar to Night of the Iquana , and is set catastrophically on an unnamed private island in the middle of the ocean where Taylor Sunbaths her Dying Body in the sunshine, but there are some redeeming qualities,Noel Coward makes good with his interesting little role as ”the Witch of Capri” essentially playing… Himself and Sports quite a primitive, but interesting score by John Barry ( Born Free, and the James Bond Theme) which to this day is incredibly popular with collectors.
This Film Interestingly enough is Praised most loudly by John Waters who has screened the last remaining print of the film in several parts of the states , has sited it as (along with Imitation of Life) as one of the greatest influences and a testament to his craft
Like Most Taylor Burton Films of the late 1960’s this one bombed most horribally , and was one of their last great screen apperaences together, it had been ravaged bu critics everywhere, and was seen to be a ”Folly” for everyone conserned, However as a film which deals with isolation Dying and or death as a metaphor, its one of the best there is.
Tags: Based off Play, Death, Decadence, dying, fate, Island, Melancholy, metaphor, Noel Coward, Tennessee Williams
The Seven Year Itch 1955
Posted by spheer2002 | Filed under Film, Films of the 1950's
Here Comes The Breeze from the Subway
A Window into a cultural phenomenon perhaps long past
In the summer in New York during the hottest Month The Husbands of New York Send off their Wives and Children on Holiday to the beach for at least a month, in that time the Husbands shave, buy a new shirt get a facial, and go ‘Wild” ,they go get plastered on alcohol they stay out all night they get tattoos, and pick up women. ‘The Apartment’ and The Seven year Itch’ Chronicles this perhaps forgotten mid century pastime. Richard Sherman (Tom Ewell,” Adams Rib”) Like many of his fellow New Yorkians has sent his wife and kid off for the summer with stick instructions not to drink too much and not to smoke,Richard is a mind mannered man in a publishing company who is nearly sitting on 40 , Alone in his family’s apartment his imagination goes wild , he starts to imagine many beautiful women throwing themselves at him ,but rejecting them all on the basis of him being married, all of a sudden who walks into his life but
but one of the most sexy woman of the 20th century.
An unnamed girl (Marilyn Monroe) moves into the apartment upstairs,and gets her Fan , stuck in the doorway (so to speak) from then on Richards imagination runs wild with the possibilities .He struggles between finding excuses to for her to come down to his apartment by luring her over with his apartment air conditioning and the guilt about feeling the need of cheating on his wife, Marilyn was never better in fact if any reason at all if you’ve never heard of Billy Wilder the director or Saul Bass the maker of the main titles (who did work for Hitchcocks Vertigo,Pyscho, and for Martin Scorsese Cape Fear and Casino) You will see this film because of the famous scene with Marilyn in her white Gown with the wind from the subway blowing up which is featured on every poster of this film.
Tom Ewell plays the same midlife crisis man he always seemed to play and well and Evelyn Keyes (Gone with the wind)who has some scene stealing moments . This could be culturally appropriated today on stage and you could cast Pamela Anderson for all anyone cares but Pam could not hold a Candle to the moments of sensitivity and sensuality especially in that quarter where the veil drops and reveals the girl isnt just a bubblehead but actually quite deep in her thinking and empathetic ,this film today still stands as the ultimate Mans Midlife crisis film and how differently he uses his energy to have a last gasp at youth, some men come to the same conclusion as Dorothy in the wizard of Oz ‘that at the end of the day there’s “no place like home’ and others use adultery to change partner and their lifestyle for good for good . Perhaps when Im older I may Appreciate this film a little more as someone who feels the need to be invigorated by the youth or the attraction of another to show men a different reflection in another’s eyes, but unfortunately it wont be Marilyn Monroe.
Tags: Based off Play, Billy Wilder, Comedy, Dream Sequence, Imagination, Infidelity, Marilyn Monroe, Midlife Crisis, New York, Temptation
The Devils 1971
Posted by spheer2002 | Filed under Film, Films of the 1970's
If you Like films about Crazy nuns and people who are absolutly Nuts this is for you, camp as a line of tents…….The Devils (1971) is a film directed by Ken Russell starring Oliver Reed and Vanessa Redgrave, and based on the 1952 book The Devils of Loudun by Aldous Huxley and the 1960 play The Devils by John Whiting, also based on Huxley’s book. Derek Jarman was responsible for the film’s production design. It tells the story of Urbain Grandier, a 17th century French priest executed for witchcraft.
watch out for Vanessa Redgrave .she is hysterical !
Tags: Accusation, Aldous Huxley, Based off Novel, Based off Play, Derek Jarman, Ken Russell, Madness, Nuns, Trial, Witch Hunt
The VIPS 1963
Posted by spheer2002 | Filed under Film, Films of the 1960's
Grand Hotel at the Airport boasts an allstar cast including Elizabeth Taylor Richard Burton (Whos afraid of Virginia Woolf) Rod Taylor (’The Time Machine’ Aussie Aussie Aussie!) Maggie Smith (Oh so Young) Orson Welles (Everything) Margaret Rutherford(Oscar thank you!) and Louis Jourdan (Gigi)
a bunch of varied High profile person are trapped at an airport with various things in their lives coming to a climax as a result including bankruptcy, Tax evasion , Lost of Property ,and Divorce/Elopement)
Love is found and lost but all is resolved,
Based on an actual event involving the time Vivian Leigh tried to do a runner on Laurence Olivier with Peter Finch perhaps around the same time Leigh was Slated to Film with Finch in 1954 in ” Elephant Walk” a film she started but to her erratic behavior due to her Bipolar Condition pulled out of. The Strange Irony about this of course is that Elizabeth Taylor Stepped in to Fill the Role.
Its melodrama without Douglas Sirk with many levels to follow, and Maggie Smith In one of Her first films roles after a Stage Career Almost Steals the Acting stripes from Taylor, but it holds your attention, watch it at least for Margaret Rutherford’s short lived Oscar Winning performance and the cute little scene she does with her real live husband , the film is a waiting room with more than just out of date magazines
Tags: Airport, Based off Play, Divorce, Elizabeth Taylor, Movie Star, Richard Burton, Taylor + Burton
The Women 1939
Posted by spheer2002 | Filed under Film, Films of the 1920's
Forget Meg Ryan and Eva Mendez this is the original and the BEST!,
To those of the Sex and the city generation who saw the remake and found it a crap copy , please see the original if ur eyes dont roll to the back of your head just because the films in black n white….plot was totally reworked sand thought
The Women follows the lives of a handful of wealthy Manhattan women, focusing in particular on Mary Haines (Norma Shearer), a cheerful, contented wife of Stephen and mother of Little Mary. After a bit of gossip flies around the salon these wealthy women visit, Mary’s friend and cousin Sylvia Fowler (Rosalind Russell) learns from a manicurist that Mary’s husband has been having an affair with a predatory perfume counter girl named Crystal Allen (Joan Crawford). A notorious gossip, Sylvia delights in sharing the news with Mary’s other friends and they all show their true colours..
Tags: All Female Cast, Based off Play, Cowboy, Divorce, George Cukor, Joan Crawford, Marriage, New York, Perfume, ranch, Reno
