Producer David O. Selznick was always looking for the next big thing. He had scored an enormous hit — it was a cultural phenom — with his 1939 Civil War drama “Gone with the Wind,’ which won eight Oscars including best picture, director, actress and supporting actress. And for those fashion-minded, “Gwtw” also caused an uptick in sales of the women’s headgear called the snood.
The following year, Selznick produced the best picture winner, Alfred Hitchcock’s romantic mystery “Rebecca.” Four years after ‘Rebecca” on July 20, 1944, Selznick released the sentimental, home-fires-burning drama “Since You Went Away,” which he hoped would the next “Gwtw” in terms of box office and Oscar love.
The world was war weary in 1944. In fact, World War II seemed never ending. The Allied troops launched its invasion of Europe on the beaches of Normandy on June 6th. But even with the success of D-day, the war wouldn’t...
The following year, Selznick produced the best picture winner, Alfred Hitchcock’s romantic mystery “Rebecca.” Four years after ‘Rebecca” on July 20, 1944, Selznick released the sentimental, home-fires-burning drama “Since You Went Away,” which he hoped would the next “Gwtw” in terms of box office and Oscar love.
The world was war weary in 1944. In fact, World War II seemed never ending. The Allied troops launched its invasion of Europe on the beaches of Normandy on June 6th. But even with the success of D-day, the war wouldn’t...
- 7/23/2024
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
When you think of the very best Alfred Hitchcock movies, you might think of, say, "Psycho" or "Vertigo." You might consider "The Birds" — controversial though it may be — as the director's finest moment, or "Rear Window" might spring to mind. But while these are all excellent examples of Hitch's undeniable directing talent, there's an impressive array of underrated Hitchcock movies worth watching.
Take "Strangers on a Train" for example. This 1951 thriller stars Farley Granger as Guy Haines and Robert Walker as Bruno Antony, who are, believe it or not, two strangers who meet on a train. The thing about Bruno, however, is that he's also a psychopath, and suggests to Guy that they "swap murders" so as to do away with Guy's estranged wife and Bruno's overbearing father. From Bruno's perspective, because both men will essentially be killing strangers, no one will suspect either of them. When Guy laughs off this nefarious plot,...
Take "Strangers on a Train" for example. This 1951 thriller stars Farley Granger as Guy Haines and Robert Walker as Bruno Antony, who are, believe it or not, two strangers who meet on a train. The thing about Bruno, however, is that he's also a psychopath, and suggests to Guy that they "swap murders" so as to do away with Guy's estranged wife and Bruno's overbearing father. From Bruno's perspective, because both men will essentially be killing strangers, no one will suspect either of them. When Guy laughs off this nefarious plot,...
- 5/19/2024
- by Joe Roberts
- Slash Film
There’s a story Alfred Hitchcock always liked to tell about how, when he was five years old, his father dropped him off at the local police station near his home in East London. William Hitchcock left a note for the coppers explaining that his son had been misbehaving. A policeman locked young Alfred in a cell for a few minutes and explained, “This is what we do to naughty boys.”
When Hitchcock recounted that story to Dick Cavett he was in his 70s, but the incident continued to leave a profound mark on the director. He said he was still “terrified of the police” because of that and drew a connection from that to the feelings of guilt and wrong-men-on-the-run paranoia that seeps into so many of his films.
The funny thing is, though, father characters are almost entirely absent from Hitchcock’s work. There are a few: Cedric Hardwicke...
When Hitchcock recounted that story to Dick Cavett he was in his 70s, but the incident continued to leave a profound mark on the director. He said he was still “terrified of the police” because of that and drew a connection from that to the feelings of guilt and wrong-men-on-the-run paranoia that seeps into so many of his films.
The funny thing is, though, father characters are almost entirely absent from Hitchcock’s work. There are a few: Cedric Hardwicke...
- 5/12/2024
- by Christian Blauvelt
- Indiewire
David Fincher’s next film for Netflix is his long, long cherished remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s Strangers On A Train. More here.
Following the release of The Killer on Netflix late last year, David Fincher signed a new deal with the streaming platform which is believed to tie him exclusively to the company for another three years.
While the boss of Cannes (and anybody else who yearns to see Fincher’s work back on the big screen) expressed some dismay that the American filmmaker’s next few projects would go straight to the small screen, at least Fincher’s Netflix deal has seen him become more prolific of late.
In the last three years, Fincher has created Mank and The Killer for Netflix, a veritable landslide of films when you consider that prior to this flurry of films, it took Fincher almost a decade to release two films, those...
Following the release of The Killer on Netflix late last year, David Fincher signed a new deal with the streaming platform which is believed to tie him exclusively to the company for another three years.
While the boss of Cannes (and anybody else who yearns to see Fincher’s work back on the big screen) expressed some dismay that the American filmmaker’s next few projects would go straight to the small screen, at least Fincher’s Netflix deal has seen him become more prolific of late.
In the last three years, Fincher has created Mank and The Killer for Netflix, a veritable landslide of films when you consider that prior to this flurry of films, it took Fincher almost a decade to release two films, those...
- 4/8/2024
- by Dan Cooper
- Film Stories
Carousel
After spending time with Neil Jordan’s not-campy-enough stalker film Greta (listen) and Olivier Assayas’ Kristen Stewart starring 2016 thriller Personal Shopper (listen), it’s time to revisit Alfred Hitchcock with a look at his 1951 film, Strangers on a Train.
In the film, eccentric and unbalanced Bruno Anthony (Robert Walker) approaches successful tennis player Guy Haines (Rope‘s Farley Granger) on a train with a proposal: they should commit a murder for the other.
While Guy laughs it off, Bruno strangles Guy’s ex-wife Miriam (Kasey Rogers), then stalks the tennis player in an effort to force him to fulfill his end of the bargain.
As Guy struggles under the weight of the police’s scrutiny, he confides in his new girlfriend Anne (Ruth Roman) and her younger sister Babs (Pat Hitchcock) for help. Can Guy avoid arrest? Will Bruno ruin his political aspirations? And how does one of the...
After spending time with Neil Jordan’s not-campy-enough stalker film Greta (listen) and Olivier Assayas’ Kristen Stewart starring 2016 thriller Personal Shopper (listen), it’s time to revisit Alfred Hitchcock with a look at his 1951 film, Strangers on a Train.
In the film, eccentric and unbalanced Bruno Anthony (Robert Walker) approaches successful tennis player Guy Haines (Rope‘s Farley Granger) on a train with a proposal: they should commit a murder for the other.
While Guy laughs it off, Bruno strangles Guy’s ex-wife Miriam (Kasey Rogers), then stalks the tennis player in an effort to force him to fulfill his end of the bargain.
As Guy struggles under the weight of the police’s scrutiny, he confides in his new girlfriend Anne (Ruth Roman) and her younger sister Babs (Pat Hitchcock) for help. Can Guy avoid arrest? Will Bruno ruin his political aspirations? And how does one of the...
- 3/18/2024
- by Joe Lipsett
- bloody-disgusting.com
Those who fought in World War II are considered the Greatest Generation. And executive producers Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg and Gary Goetzman paid homage to these young men who risked life and limb during the global conflict in their award-winning 2001 HBO series “Band of Brothers” and 2010’s “The Pacific.” And now they’ve taken to the not-so-friendly skies in their latest World War II series, Apple TV +’s “Masters of the Air.”
Created by John Shiban and John Orloff, “Masters of the Air” is based on the 2007 book: “Masters of the Air: America’s Bomber Boys Who Fought the War Against Nazi Germany,” the series starring Austin Butler focuses on the 8th Air Force’s 100th Bomb Group stationed in England. It was known as the “Bloody Hundredth” because of the high causalty rate.
Watching the series, one can’t help but remember the numerous bombardier films produced by Hollywood...
Created by John Shiban and John Orloff, “Masters of the Air” is based on the 2007 book: “Masters of the Air: America’s Bomber Boys Who Fought the War Against Nazi Germany,” the series starring Austin Butler focuses on the 8th Air Force’s 100th Bomb Group stationed in England. It was known as the “Bloody Hundredth” because of the high causalty rate.
Watching the series, one can’t help but remember the numerous bombardier films produced by Hollywood...
- 2/5/2024
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Christopher Nolan’s acclaimed “Oppenheimer,” which revolves around J. Robert Oppenheimer, the theoretical physicist considered the father of the atomic bomb, is one of the most highly anticipated films of the summer. Actually of the year. Over the decades there have been several films dealing with the Manhattan Project that culminated with the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki thus ending World War II on Sept. 2, 1945.
Soon after the global conflict ended MGM, Paramount and Twentieth Century Fox were rushing to be the first studio to greenlight a movie dealing with the birth of the atomic bomb that ushered in the Cold War. MGM quickly put a project in motion hiring Robert Considine to write a story . The studio was circling the likes of its “A’ stars Spencer Tracy, Clark Gable and Van Johnson. Meanwhile over at Paramount, producer Hal Wallis was preparing a $1.5 million atomic bomb film called “Top Secret.
Soon after the global conflict ended MGM, Paramount and Twentieth Century Fox were rushing to be the first studio to greenlight a movie dealing with the birth of the atomic bomb that ushered in the Cold War. MGM quickly put a project in motion hiring Robert Considine to write a story . The studio was circling the likes of its “A’ stars Spencer Tracy, Clark Gable and Van Johnson. Meanwhile over at Paramount, producer Hal Wallis was preparing a $1.5 million atomic bomb film called “Top Secret.
- 7/21/2023
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Today, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (Afscme) released the first episode of I Am Story, a new podcast detailing the history and legacy of the 1968 Memphis sanitation workers’ strike. The comprehensive series examines the origins of the strike and events leading up to the death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who was assassinated on this day 55 years ago while in Memphis supporting the strikers.
“The deaths of Robert Walker and Echol Cole in the back of a garbage truck on that cold, rainy day in 1968 set off a strike in Memphis like no other,” said Afscme President Lee Saunders. “Black sanitation workers took a courageous stand, a stand that drew the American labor movement and the civil rights movement together to change the course of our history.”
The podcast provides a front-row seat to the events that shook the nation, featuring strikers who were there...
“The deaths of Robert Walker and Echol Cole in the back of a garbage truck on that cold, rainy day in 1968 set off a strike in Memphis like no other,” said Afscme President Lee Saunders. “Black sanitation workers took a courageous stand, a stand that drew the American labor movement and the civil rights movement together to change the course of our history.”
The podcast provides a front-row seat to the events that shook the nation, featuring strikers who were there...
- 4/4/2023
- Podnews.net
Director Vincente Minnelli and his leading lady Judy Garland created magic with their first collaboration, MGM’s enchanting 1944 Technicolor musical “Meet Me in St. Louis.” Though she was playing a teenager in the box office hit classic, there was a real maturity and assuredness to her performance under Minnelli’s loving guidance. And she never looked so beautiful on screen. No wonder the two became a couple during the production.
And she’s even better in their second project, “The Clock,” which was released five months after “Meet Me in St. Louis” and marked her first non-singing role. Over the years “The Clock” had fallen through the cracks when critics and audiences talked about Garland’s film roles. But thanks to TCM, DVD and Blu-ray-Warner Archive is releasing the Blu-Ray as part of its Garland centennial celebration. “The Clock” has developed a legion of devoted fans and historians who consider...
And she’s even better in their second project, “The Clock,” which was released five months after “Meet Me in St. Louis” and marked her first non-singing role. Over the years “The Clock” had fallen through the cracks when critics and audiences talked about Garland’s film roles. But thanks to TCM, DVD and Blu-ray-Warner Archive is releasing the Blu-Ray as part of its Garland centennial celebration. “The Clock” has developed a legion of devoted fans and historians who consider...
- 6/8/2022
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
One Shot is a series that seeks to find an essence of cinema history in one single image of a movie. 1945’s The Clock, Vincente Minnelli’s tender war-time New York romance, unfolds at first with trepidation: small-town G.I. Joe Allen (Robert Walker) is on a 48-hour leave visiting New York City for the first time when Alice Mayberry (Judy Garland) trips over his foot and breaks the heel of one of her shoes. At first, Joe and Alice float around each other, avoid looking too long, but their hesitation soon dissolves. Their love becomes inevitable, and the rest of the film is marked by a sense of claustrophobic urgency, a try-and-fail to match New York’s indifferent hyperkinetic rhythm, from losing each other at the train station to getting married when all they have left together is a few hours. Even so, Minnelli carefully etches the details of their relationship,...
- 10/11/2021
- MUBI
Criterion resurrects Ernst Lubitsch’s final completed film Cluny Brown (1946), a post-war comedy about pre-wwii class divisions in 1938 England. Headlined by Jennifer Jones, fresh off her divorce from actor Robert Walker and whose career was now completely in the hands of lover and eventual second husband, studio titan David O. Selznick, it’s an odd standout in her filmography of serious, dramatic turns. Having already acquired a Best Actress Academy Award, Jones is the titular protagonist, playing the prototype of a character whose overarching traits would eventually come to be known as the Manic Pixie Dream Girl.…...
- 10/17/2019
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Jason from Mnpp here - just this morning I wished director Peter Weir (one of my favorites) a happy 73rd birthday on my own site, and it struck me that hitting up his 1998 classic The Truman Show (which at almost 20 years old can rightly be considered a "classic" now, can't it? God I am old) would make for a very fine installment of our "Beauty vs Beast" series. On the left we have Jim Carrey's second greatest performance as the manic man in the bubble Truman Burbank, and on the right we have one of Laura Linney's funniest supporting turns as his pretend wife turned hostage Meryl. And I know you all lean Lovely Linney (as a religion) but it's awfully hard to root for Meryl if you ask me...
Previously I'm actually a little bit surprised that you guys gave last week's Strangers on a Train competion...
Previously I'm actually a little bit surprised that you guys gave last week's Strangers on a Train competion...
- 8/21/2017
- by JA
- FilmExperience
Jason from Mnpp here with this week's "Beauty vs Beast" entertainment - I don't know if you've noticed by now that I will take any opportunity to talk about Alfred Hitchcock, but I will take any opportunity to talk about Alfred Hitchcock, and his birthday (which was yesterday) offers one of the best. Thankfully we've still plenty of choices - not many directors adored their villains like Hitch did, and so this series is a perfect fit.
And here's a good one! 1951's Strangers on a Train offers up one of Hitch's greatest bad guys in Bruno Antony, murder theorist and gay icon, played with giddy panache by Robert Walker. And Farley Granger's no slouch as the clearly-enticed-no-matter-how-hard-he-pretends-otherwise tennis-pro Guy Haines.
Previously It's one of her greatest roles so I'm not surprised that Joan Crawford stampeded her way to a win with last week's Johnny Guitar contest - she...
And here's a good one! 1951's Strangers on a Train offers up one of Hitch's greatest bad guys in Bruno Antony, murder theorist and gay icon, played with giddy panache by Robert Walker. And Farley Granger's no slouch as the clearly-enticed-no-matter-how-hard-he-pretends-otherwise tennis-pro Guy Haines.
Previously It's one of her greatest roles so I'm not surprised that Joan Crawford stampeded her way to a win with last week's Johnny Guitar contest - she...
- 8/14/2017
- by JA
- FilmExperience
Daniel Clowes had Patricia Highsmith and Alfred Hitchcock on his mind for Wilson: "He's like a different version of the Robert Walker character in Strangers on a Train …" Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
A comment to director Craig Johnson and screenwriter/graphic novelist Daniel Clowes on Laura Dern's tattoos for her character Pippi in Wilson, led us to Robert Crumb, Tony Danza, Van Halen, and Pippi Longstocking. Woody Harrelson is Wilson, Pippi's ex-husband, and they have a daughter, Claire (Isabella Amara). Judy Greer plays Shelly, Wilson's dog sitter for Pepper and Cheryl Hines was once his sister-in-law.
Craig Johnson: "I like that in the Laura Dern version, Pippi is just this freckly faced, smiling can-do girl." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Not a shy man, Wilson likes to talk to all kinds of strangers. On an empty train, on the swing at the playground, in the men's room at an amusement park.
A comment to director Craig Johnson and screenwriter/graphic novelist Daniel Clowes on Laura Dern's tattoos for her character Pippi in Wilson, led us to Robert Crumb, Tony Danza, Van Halen, and Pippi Longstocking. Woody Harrelson is Wilson, Pippi's ex-husband, and they have a daughter, Claire (Isabella Amara). Judy Greer plays Shelly, Wilson's dog sitter for Pepper and Cheryl Hines was once his sister-in-law.
Craig Johnson: "I like that in the Laura Dern version, Pippi is just this freckly faced, smiling can-do girl." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Not a shy man, Wilson likes to talk to all kinds of strangers. On an empty train, on the swing at the playground, in the men's room at an amusement park.
- 3/23/2017
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Article by Jim Batts, Dana Jung, and Tom Stockman
Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo screens at St. Louis’ fabulous Hi-Pointe Theater this weekend as part of their Classic Film Series. It’s Saturday, March 11th at 10:30am at the Hi-Pointe located at 1005 McCausland Ave., St. Louis, Mo 63117. The film will be introduced by Harry Hamm, movie reviewer for Kmox. Admission is only $5
This gives us a perfect excuse to re-run this top ten list so here, according to We Are Movie Geeks, are Alfred Hitchcock’s ten best films:
Frenzy
Frenzy, Hitchcock’s next to last feature film from 1972, represented a homecoming of sorts since it was the first film completely shot in his native England since his silents and early ” talkies ” in the 1930’s. By dipping into the then somewhat new territory of serial killers, he took full advantage of the new cinema freedoms and truly earned his ‘ R ‘ MPAA rating.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo screens at St. Louis’ fabulous Hi-Pointe Theater this weekend as part of their Classic Film Series. It’s Saturday, March 11th at 10:30am at the Hi-Pointe located at 1005 McCausland Ave., St. Louis, Mo 63117. The film will be introduced by Harry Hamm, movie reviewer for Kmox. Admission is only $5
This gives us a perfect excuse to re-run this top ten list so here, according to We Are Movie Geeks, are Alfred Hitchcock’s ten best films:
Frenzy
Frenzy, Hitchcock’s next to last feature film from 1972, represented a homecoming of sorts since it was the first film completely shot in his native England since his silents and early ” talkies ” in the 1930’s. By dipping into the then somewhat new territory of serial killers, he took full advantage of the new cinema freedoms and truly earned his ‘ R ‘ MPAA rating.
- 3/8/2017
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Anne Marie is tracking Judy Garland's career through musical numbers...
Believe it or not, 1946 actually represented a change of pace in Judy Garland's career. Judy only had three credits to her name that year: one starring role (The Harvey Girls), one cameo delayed by reshoots (Ziegfeld Follies), and one appearance in a biopic (Till The Clouds Roll By). In fact, this change of pace was a conscious choice on the part of Mr. & Mrs. Minnelli. If Judy looks like she's glowing a bit more than usual under those arclights, that's because Judy Garland was pregnant.
The Movie: Till The Clouds Roll By (1946)
The Songwriter: Jerome Kern (music), Buddy G. DeSylva (lyrics)
The Players: Judy Garland, Robert Walker, Van Heflin, June Allyson, Lucille Bremer, directed by Richard Whorf & Vincente Minnelli
The Story: Till The Clouds Roll By is a Jerome Kern biopic, which (in the true MGM style) fabricates...
Believe it or not, 1946 actually represented a change of pace in Judy Garland's career. Judy only had three credits to her name that year: one starring role (The Harvey Girls), one cameo delayed by reshoots (Ziegfeld Follies), and one appearance in a biopic (Till The Clouds Roll By). In fact, this change of pace was a conscious choice on the part of Mr. & Mrs. Minnelli. If Judy looks like she's glowing a bit more than usual under those arclights, that's because Judy Garland was pregnant.
The Movie: Till The Clouds Roll By (1946)
The Songwriter: Jerome Kern (music), Buddy G. DeSylva (lyrics)
The Players: Judy Garland, Robert Walker, Van Heflin, June Allyson, Lucille Bremer, directed by Richard Whorf & Vincente Minnelli
The Story: Till The Clouds Roll By is a Jerome Kern biopic, which (in the true MGM style) fabricates...
- 6/15/2016
- by Anne Marie
- FilmExperience
Hal Roach looks on as technicians install Vitaphone equipment in his studio screening room, ca. 1928. (Click on the image to enlarge it.) 'A Century of Sound': Q&A with former UCLA Preservation Officer Robert Gitt about the evolution of film sound technology Long before multi-track Dolby stereo and digital sound technology, there were the Kinetophone and the Vitaphone systems – not to mention organ and piano players at movie houses. Much of that is discussed in A Century of Sound, which chronicles the evolution of film sound from the late 19th century to the mid-1970s. A Century of Sound has been split into two parts, with a third installment currently in the planning stages. They are: Vol. 1, “The Beginning, 1876-1932,” which came out on DVD in 2007. Vol. 2, “The Sound of Movies: 1933-1975,” which came out on Blu-ray in 2015. The third installment will bring the presentation into the 21st century.
- 1/26/2016
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Stop! Don't touch that dial... if you like your atom-age propaganda straight up, MGM has the movie for you, an expensive 1946 docu-drama that became 'the official story' for the making of the bomb. The huge cast includes Brian Donlevy, Robert Walker, Tom Drake, Audrey Totter, Hume Cronyn, Hurd Hatfield, and Joseph Calleia. How trustworthy is the movie? It begins by showing footage of a time capsule being buried -- that supposedly contains the film we are watching. Think about that. Mom, Apple Pie, the Flag and God are enlisted to argume that we should stop worrying and love the fact that bombs are just peachy-keen dandy. The Beginning or the End DVD-r The Warner Archive Collection 1947 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 112 min. / Street Date September 22, 2015 / available through the WBshop / 21.99 Starring Brian Donlevy, Robert Walker, Tom Drake, Beverly Tyler, Audrey Totter, Hume Cronyn, Hurd Hatfield, Joseph Calleia, Godfrey Tearle, Victor Francen,...
- 1/4/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Marion Cotillard 'Psycho' scream. Marion Cotillard in 'Psycho' A few years ago – more exactly, in Feb./March 2008 – Vanity Fair published a series of images honoring Alfred Hitchcock movies made in Hollywood. (His British oeuvre was completely ignored.) The images weren't from the movies themselves; instead, they were somewhat faithful recreations featuring early 21st century stars, including several of that year's Oscar nominees. And that's why you get to see above – and further below – Marion Cotillard recreating the iconic Psycho shower scene. Cotillard took home the Best Actress Oscar at the 2008 ceremony for her performance as Edith Piaf in Olivier Dahan's La Vie en Rose / La môme. Janet Leigh, the original star of Hitchcock's Psycho, was shortlisted for the 1960 Best Supporting Actress Oscar, but lost to another good-girl-gone-bad, Shirley Jones as a sex worker in Richard Brooks' Elmer Gantry. More nudity, less horror Looking at the Marion Cotillard Psycho images,...
- 12/18/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
In today's roundup: David Bordwell on Agnès Varda, Guy Maddin on walking and making collages, the unlikely connection between Orson Welles and the New Queer Cinema of the early 90s, the Chiseler on Mae Busch and Larry Tucker, Patti Smith on Bob Dylan and Karina Longworth on David O. Selznick, Jennifer Jones and Robert Walker. Plus: Deniz Gamze Ergüven’s Mustang wins this year's Lux Prize, two new projects for Lee Daniels, Werner Herzog's Rogue Film School is heading to Munich and Richard Linklater will be discussing Luis Buñuel's Los Olvidados in Austin tonight. » - David Hudson...
- 11/24/2015
- Fandor: Keyframe
In today's roundup: David Bordwell on Agnès Varda, Guy Maddin on walking and making collages, the unlikely connection between Orson Welles and the New Queer Cinema of the early 90s, the Chiseler on Mae Busch and Larry Tucker, Patti Smith on Bob Dylan and Karina Longworth on David O. Selznick, Jennifer Jones and Robert Walker. Plus: Deniz Gamze Ergüven’s Mustang wins this year's Lux Prize, two new projects for Lee Daniels, Werner Herzog's Rogue Film School is heading to Munich and Richard Linklater will be discussing Luis Buñuel's Los Olvidados in Austin tonight. » - David Hudson...
- 11/24/2015
- Keyframe
Todd Haynes on Cate Blanchett as Carol: "Smoking is the perfect sort of conductor of desire …"
At the Carol press conference inside the Jw Marriott Essex House, on Central Park South, attended by Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Kyle Chandler, Sarah Paulson and Jake Lacy, director Todd Haynes connected smoking to Hollywood's Golden Age Cinema. Screenwriter Phyllis Nagy spoke about Patricia Highsmith's dislike of Alfred Hitchcock's Strangers On A Train and fondness for Robert Walker and Alain Delon in René Clément's Plein Soleil (Purple Noon).
Carol, adapted from Highsmith's The Price Of Salt, costumes by Sandy Powell (The Wolf Of Wall Street), music by Carter Burwell (Anomalisa), cinematography by Ed Lachman (Ulrich Seidl's Paradise: Love, Paradise: Faith, Paradise: Hope) had its World Premiere at the Cannes Film Festival and was screened in the 53rd New York Film Festival last month.
Carol dancing with her husband Harge...
At the Carol press conference inside the Jw Marriott Essex House, on Central Park South, attended by Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Kyle Chandler, Sarah Paulson and Jake Lacy, director Todd Haynes connected smoking to Hollywood's Golden Age Cinema. Screenwriter Phyllis Nagy spoke about Patricia Highsmith's dislike of Alfred Hitchcock's Strangers On A Train and fondness for Robert Walker and Alain Delon in René Clément's Plein Soleil (Purple Noon).
Carol, adapted from Highsmith's The Price Of Salt, costumes by Sandy Powell (The Wolf Of Wall Street), music by Carter Burwell (Anomalisa), cinematography by Ed Lachman (Ulrich Seidl's Paradise: Love, Paradise: Faith, Paradise: Hope) had its World Premiere at the Cannes Film Festival and was screened in the 53rd New York Film Festival last month.
Carol dancing with her husband Harge...
- 11/17/2015
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Robert Walker: Actor in MGM films of the '40s. Robert Walker: Actor who conveyed boy-next-door charms, psychoses At least on screen, I've always found the underrated actor Robert Walker to be everything his fellow – and more famous – MGM contract player James Stewart only pretended to be: shy, amiable, naive. The one thing that made Walker look less like an idealized “Average Joe” than Stewart was that the former did not have a vacuous look. Walker's intelligence shone clearly through his bright (in black and white) grey eyes. As part of its “Summer Under the Stars” programming, Turner Classic Movies is dedicating today, Aug. 9, '15, to Robert Walker, who was featured in 20 films between 1943 and his untimely death at age 32 in 1951. Time Warner (via Ted Turner) owns the pre-1986 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer library (and almost got to buy the studio outright in 2009), so most of Walker's movies have...
- 8/9/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
'The Beginning or the End' 1947 with Robert Walker and Tom Drake. Hiroshima bombing 70th anniversary: Six movies dealing with the A-bomb terror Seventy years ago, on Aug. 6, 1945, the U.S. dropped the first atomic bomb over the city of Hiroshima. Ultimately, anywhere between 70,000 and 140,000 people died – in addition to dogs, cats, horses, chickens, and most other living beings in that part of the world. Three days later, America dropped a second atomic bomb, this time over Nagasaki. Human deaths in this other city totaled anywhere between 40,000-80,000. For obvious reasons, the evisceration of Hiroshima and Nagasaki has been a quasi-taboo in American films. After all, in the last 75 years Hollywood's World War II movies, from John Farrow's Wake Island (1942) and Mervyn LeRoy's Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944) to Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan (1998) and Michael Bay's Pearl Harbor (2001), almost invariably have presented a clear-cut vision...
- 8/7/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Besides making people forever afraid of motel-room showers, Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" continues to have an incalculable impact on popular culture. Though it was released 55 years ago this week (on June 16, 1960), it continues to inspire filmmakers and TV producers. In just the last three years, we've seen the 2012 film "Hitchcock" (based on Stephen Rebello's book "Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of 'Psycho,'" and starring Anthony Hopkins as the director and Scarlett Johansson as Janet Leigh) and the ongoing A&E TV prequel drama series, "Bates Motel."
Still, for all of the "Psycho" trivia revealed in "Hitchcock," the biopic barely scratches the surface of how the film got made, from the men who inspired the invention of Norman Bates, to the trickery Hitchcock used to tease the press while keeping the film's convention-shredding narrative twists a secret, to the film's unlikely connection to "Leave It to Beaver." Here,...
Still, for all of the "Psycho" trivia revealed in "Hitchcock," the biopic barely scratches the surface of how the film got made, from the men who inspired the invention of Norman Bates, to the trickery Hitchcock used to tease the press while keeping the film's convention-shredding narrative twists a secret, to the film's unlikely connection to "Leave It to Beaver." Here,...
- 6/16/2015
- by Gary Susman
- Moviefone
Article by Jim Batts, Dana Jung, and Tom Stockman
The Birds screens at Schlafly Bottleworks (7260 Southwest Ave.- at Manchester – Maplewood, Mo 63143) Thursday, April 2nd at 7pm. It is a benefit for Helping Kids Together (more details about this event can be found Here)
This gives us a perfect excuse to re-run this top ten list from March of 2012. Alfred Hitchcock directed 54 feature films between 1925 and 1976, and here, according to We Are Movie Geeks, are his ten best:
Frenzy
Frenzy, Hitchcock’s next to last feature film from 1972, represented a homecoming of sorts since it was the first film completely shot in his native England since his silents and early ” talkies ” in the 1930’s. By dipping into the then somewhat new territory of serial killers, he took full advantage of the new cinema freedoms and truly earned his ‘ R ‘ MPAA rating. Perhaps ole’ ” Hitch ” wanted to give those young up-and-coming...
The Birds screens at Schlafly Bottleworks (7260 Southwest Ave.- at Manchester – Maplewood, Mo 63143) Thursday, April 2nd at 7pm. It is a benefit for Helping Kids Together (more details about this event can be found Here)
This gives us a perfect excuse to re-run this top ten list from March of 2012. Alfred Hitchcock directed 54 feature films between 1925 and 1976, and here, according to We Are Movie Geeks, are his ten best:
Frenzy
Frenzy, Hitchcock’s next to last feature film from 1972, represented a homecoming of sorts since it was the first film completely shot in his native England since his silents and early ” talkies ” in the 1930’s. By dipping into the then somewhat new territory of serial killers, he took full advantage of the new cinema freedoms and truly earned his ‘ R ‘ MPAA rating. Perhaps ole’ ” Hitch ” wanted to give those young up-and-coming...
- 3/30/2015
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
I got around to a lot more movies this week, beginning with last Sunday evening where I caught Die Hard and Die Hard with a Vengeance on Encore. I know everyone pretty much loves Die Hard, but I'm not sure I don't love With a Vengeance a little more, I just love Samuel L. Jackson in that movie and Jeremy Irons is a perfect villain. Things took a bit of a dip when I went to the theater to watch The Boy Next Door, but I quickly resolved that with It Happened One Night, which became my latest Best Movies entry. Then I got a hankering to watch Strangers on a Train after it was recently announced David Fincher, Ben Affleck and Gillian Flynn were looking to put together a remake. I was also thinking it might become Best Movies entry #9, but after watching it and Robert Walker's performance...
- 1/25/2015
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Margaret here, recovering from yesterday's Oscars nominations and trying to process some upcoming movie news: David Fincher and Gillian Flynn are remaking Strangers On a Train. David Fincher and Gillian Flynn are remaking Strangers On a Train.
There are so many feelings, and I am feeling All of them, all at once, right now. Help. Excitement: David Fincher and Gillian Flynn together again, and so soon!! Indifference: Ben Affleck is also involved, which, sure. Anger: A remake of Strangers On a Train? How dare they?? Hitchcock at his best is untouchable and the movie is perfect; no sane human could think it needs updating! Cautious Optimism: But. Buuuuut. If they're going to do to it, and you can't stop them.. The Flynn and Fincher team is such a great choice. Think of the cold, agonizing tension! Think of the pitch-black comedy! We deserve this. Confusion: But Strangers on a Train...
There are so many feelings, and I am feeling All of them, all at once, right now. Help. Excitement: David Fincher and Gillian Flynn together again, and so soon!! Indifference: Ben Affleck is also involved, which, sure. Anger: A remake of Strangers On a Train? How dare they?? Hitchcock at his best is untouchable and the movie is perfect; no sane human could think it needs updating! Cautious Optimism: But. Buuuuut. If they're going to do to it, and you can't stop them.. The Flynn and Fincher team is such a great choice. Think of the cold, agonizing tension! Think of the pitch-black comedy! We deserve this. Confusion: But Strangers on a Train...
- 1/16/2015
- by Margaret de Larios
- FilmExperience
The Gone Girl team of director David Fincher, screenwriter Gillian Flynn and actor Ben Affleck have already set their sights on their next project: Strangers, a modern take on Alfred Hitchcock's 1951 suspense classic Strangers on a Train, according to Deadline.
In the Hitchcock original, the plot revolves a murder pact between a tennis star (played by Farley Granger) and the titular stranger on a train (portrayed by Robert Walker). Aboard, they devise a plan to kill the source of each other's problems – the tennis star's ex-wife, the stranger's father...
In the Hitchcock original, the plot revolves a murder pact between a tennis star (played by Farley Granger) and the titular stranger on a train (portrayed by Robert Walker). Aboard, they devise a plan to kill the source of each other's problems – the tennis star's ex-wife, the stranger's father...
- 1/14/2015
- Rollingstone.com
Ben Affleck and David Fincher are reteaming for a remake of Alfred Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train.
On the heels of their box-office hit Gone Girl, the star and the director will reunite for a film based on the 1951 classic in which two strangers meet on a train and conspire to carry out murders for one another. Gone Girl scribeGillian Flynn is expected to write the screenplay, which originally came from Patricia Highsmith's novel.
Hitchcock's film stars Farley Granger as tennis star Guy Haines who engages in a "criss-cross" murder swap with a stranger named Bruno (Robert Walker). Bruno agrees to kill Haines' wife and in exchange, Haines will kill Bruno's father. Since they are strangers with no link between them other than this fateful train ride, they will not be placed under police scrutiny as suspects.
Fincher's thriller is to move the initial meeting to a plane.
On the heels of their box-office hit Gone Girl, the star and the director will reunite for a film based on the 1951 classic in which two strangers meet on a train and conspire to carry out murders for one another. Gone Girl scribeGillian Flynn is expected to write the screenplay, which originally came from Patricia Highsmith's novel.
Hitchcock's film stars Farley Granger as tennis star Guy Haines who engages in a "criss-cross" murder swap with a stranger named Bruno (Robert Walker). Bruno agrees to kill Haines' wife and in exchange, Haines will kill Bruno's father. Since they are strangers with no link between them other than this fateful train ride, they will not be placed under police scrutiny as suspects.
Fincher's thriller is to move the initial meeting to a plane.
- 1/13/2015
- by Cineplex.com and contributors
- Cineplex
Psychological scares and an increasingly disturbing atmosphere made Gone Girl one of the year’s most unsettling theatrical releases. If you enjoyed the potent combination of David Fincher in the director’s chair, Gillian Flynn scribing the screenplay, and Ben Affleck in the lead role for Gone Girl, then you may be pleased to hear that the trio are looking to come together once again for a remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s classic 1951 film, Strangers on a Train.
According to Deadline, David Fincher will direct and Ben Affleck will star in Strangers, a Warner Bros. reimagining of Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train (which in turn is based on Patricia Highsmith’s 1950 novel of the same name), with Gillian Flynn in talks to pen the project. Affleck will portray “a movie star – in the middle of a campaign for an Oscar during awards season – whose private plane breaks down and...
According to Deadline, David Fincher will direct and Ben Affleck will star in Strangers, a Warner Bros. reimagining of Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train (which in turn is based on Patricia Highsmith’s 1950 novel of the same name), with Gillian Flynn in talks to pen the project. Affleck will portray “a movie star – in the middle of a campaign for an Oscar during awards season – whose private plane breaks down and...
- 1/13/2015
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
Following the stellar Gone Girl, Ben Affleck, David Fincher and Gillian Flynn are a legit lurid dream team. Great news then, that the three will be reteaming for another psychological thriller, this time remaking Master of Suspense Alfred Hitchock’s Strangers on a Train. Based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith, and starring Farley Granger and Robert Walker, Strangers…
The post Affleck, Fincher, Flynn Reteam for Hitchcock Redo, Strangers on a Train appeared first on Shock Till You Drop.
The post Affleck, Fincher, Flynn Reteam for Hitchcock Redo, Strangers on a Train appeared first on Shock Till You Drop.
- 1/13/2015
- by Samuel Zimmerman
- shocktillyoudrop.com
The Warner Archive will present a big screen showing of the 1945 romantic classic The Clock starring Judy Garland and Robert Walker on October 1. The film is part of Bam's emphasis on movies that accentuate New York City over the decades. Also shown will be the acclaimed 6 minute short by Sam Brakhage, "The Wonder Ring" which paid homage to the Third Avenue El train on the eve of its demolition in 1955. For details click here...
- 9/25/2014
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Episode 24 of 52: In which Katharine Hepburn shows off her talented fingers.
I have the strangest sense of deja vu. Kate’s stuck in another melodrama about a young artist in love with a tortured composer. The composer is played by another foreign leading man. And I’ve created another set of box office graphs to answer KHep career questions through science. It’s like we never left Rko! I know you have a lot of questions--one being ”are you really going to start calling her KHep?” (Answer: Yes.) But first, let’s talk about the movie.
Song of Love is the highly inaccurate but very sweet story of Clara Wieck Schumann, a piano prodigy who marries tortured genius Robert Schumann (Paul Heinreid). Clara Wieck Schumann really was a piano prodigy, and she really did marry Robert Schumann and pop out babies like a human Pez dispenser. However, basically everything...
I have the strangest sense of deja vu. Kate’s stuck in another melodrama about a young artist in love with a tortured composer. The composer is played by another foreign leading man. And I’ve created another set of box office graphs to answer KHep career questions through science. It’s like we never left Rko! I know you have a lot of questions--one being ”are you really going to start calling her KHep?” (Answer: Yes.) But first, let’s talk about the movie.
Song of Love is the highly inaccurate but very sweet story of Clara Wieck Schumann, a piano prodigy who marries tortured genius Robert Schumann (Paul Heinreid). Clara Wieck Schumann really was a piano prodigy, and she really did marry Robert Schumann and pop out babies like a human Pez dispenser. However, basically everything...
- 6/11/2014
- by Anne Marie
- FilmExperience
Stylish film noir star known for her role in Lady in the Lake
I was kissed by Audrey Totter. At least, I share that experience with anybody who has seen Lady in the Lake (1947), when Totter plants her lips on the subjective camera, the surrogate for Robert Montgomery as Philip Marlowe. The film, directed by Montgomery, and based on the Raymond Chandler novel, was shot so that the whole story is seen literally through Marlowe's eyes.
The role of the gold-digging tigress magazine editor Adrienne Fromsett, who hires the private eye to find the missing wife of her publisher, was a breakthrough for Totter, who has died aged 95. Previously, she had been in a dozen movies, her hair colour and accent varying so much from film to film that she dubbed herself "the feminine Lon Chaney of the MGM lot".
Montgomery chose Totter for the part because of her versatility as a radio actor.
I was kissed by Audrey Totter. At least, I share that experience with anybody who has seen Lady in the Lake (1947), when Totter plants her lips on the subjective camera, the surrogate for Robert Montgomery as Philip Marlowe. The film, directed by Montgomery, and based on the Raymond Chandler novel, was shot so that the whole story is seen literally through Marlowe's eyes.
The role of the gold-digging tigress magazine editor Adrienne Fromsett, who hires the private eye to find the missing wife of her publisher, was a breakthrough for Totter, who has died aged 95. Previously, she had been in a dozen movies, her hair colour and accent varying so much from film to film that she dubbed herself "the feminine Lon Chaney of the MGM lot".
Montgomery chose Totter for the part because of her versatility as a radio actor.
- 12/16/2013
- by Ronald Bergan
- The Guardian - Film News
San Francisco Symphony salutes Alfred Hitchcock: Halloween movies and Hitchcock movie music (photo: San Francisco Symphony and Cary Grant in ’North by Northwest’) The San Francisco Symphony will celebrate Alfred Hitchcock movies and their music scores beginning at 8 p.m. on Halloween eve, October 30, 2013, at Davies Symphony Hall. During Hitchcock Film Week, the San Francisco Symphony will perform the scores for Hitchcock’s Psycho, The Lodger: A Tale of the London Fog, and the world premiere presentation of Vertigo’s full score performed live, in addition to excerpts from To Catch a Thief, Strangers on a Train, Dial M for Murder, and North by Northwest. Alfred Hitchcock’s granddaughter Tere Carrubba will introduce the Psycho presentation on October 30. Hitchcock received his fifth and final Best Director Academy Award nomination for this cheaply made — but highly successful — 1960 thriller starring Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, John Gavin, and Best Supporting Actress Oscar nominee Janet Leigh.
- 10/18/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Elia Kazan is one of my top five favourite American filmmakers of all time, and so I decided to ask our staff to rank his films. If you are not yet familiar with the filmmakers work, now would be a good time to start. Kazan was one of the most honoured and influential directors in Broadway and Hollywood history and introduced a new generation of unknown young actors to the world, including Marlon Brando, James Dean, Warren Beatty, Carroll Baker, Julie Harris, Andy Griffith, Lee Remick, Rip Torn, Eli Wallach, Eva Marie Saint, Martin Balsam, Fred Gwynne, and Pat Hingle. Noted for drawing out the best dramatic performances from his cast, he directed 21 actors to Oscar nominations, resulting in nine wins. The source for his inspired directing was the revolutionary acting technique known as the Method, and Kazan quickly rose to prominence as the preeminent proponent of the technique. During his career,...
- 6/1/2013
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: June 18, 2013
Price: DVD $19.95, Blu-ray $29.95
Studio: Olive Films
Ava Gardner pulls the goddess routine on Robert Walker in One Touch of Venus.
Ava Gardner is at her most beautiful as the goddess Venus in the 1948 fantastical musical romantic comedy One Touch of Venus.
When a long-lost statue of Venus turns out to be the genuine goddess herself on an earthly assignment, a hapless department store clerk (Robert Walker) suddenly becomes the object of a furious employer, a jealous fiancée (Olga San Juan) and the lovesick Venus (Gardner) in this heavenly musical comedy of mistaken identity based on the successful Broadway musical.
Also starring Dick Haymes and Eve Arden, the much-loved movie is directed by comedy-musical veteran William A. Seiter (You Were Never Lovelier) with a screenplay by Harry Kurnitz (A Shot in the Dark) and Frank Tashlin (Rock-a-bye Baby).
Previously available on DVD from Lionsgate but out...
Price: DVD $19.95, Blu-ray $29.95
Studio: Olive Films
Ava Gardner pulls the goddess routine on Robert Walker in One Touch of Venus.
Ava Gardner is at her most beautiful as the goddess Venus in the 1948 fantastical musical romantic comedy One Touch of Venus.
When a long-lost statue of Venus turns out to be the genuine goddess herself on an earthly assignment, a hapless department store clerk (Robert Walker) suddenly becomes the object of a furious employer, a jealous fiancée (Olga San Juan) and the lovesick Venus (Gardner) in this heavenly musical comedy of mistaken identity based on the successful Broadway musical.
Also starring Dick Haymes and Eve Arden, the much-loved movie is directed by comedy-musical veteran William A. Seiter (You Were Never Lovelier) with a screenplay by Harry Kurnitz (A Shot in the Dark) and Frank Tashlin (Rock-a-bye Baby).
Previously available on DVD from Lionsgate but out...
- 4/23/2013
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
Being a film geek is a damn difficult job but many of us take it on willingly. It’s not an easy life though, with so many films out there to discover, it’s a minefield as to what exactly to focus on. The purpose of this new series of articles is really rather selfish, indulging in First Time Watches of films I have always been meaning to get around to, well-regarded classics, cult entries I’ve always wanted to check out, things of that sort, and then I get to write about them. What I hope to add here though is a little more discussion around the films, how they hold up now, what they say about that point in a director’s career and so forth, hopefully giving more than just a straight review of the piece but more a look at just why I seek them out specifically for this column.
- 1/9/2013
- by Ian Loring
- Nerdly
Chicago – Two of Alfred Hitchcock’s most respected thrillers were recently released on Blu-ray as something of a warning shot to the gigantic box set of 15 films being released by Universal next week. Warner Bros. still owns “Dial M For Murder” and “Strangers on a Train,” and so they are the latest classic films inducted into the HD catalog.
How do they hold up against other Hitch Bd releases? Not so great. The fact is that we’ve been a little spoiled. Those of us who love the work of arguably the best director of all time have been lucky enough to experience his work on Criterion (“The Lady Vanishes”) or with lavish special editions (“Psycho,” “North by Northwest”). Neither of the transfers here compare to what we’re used to lately with “Strangers” particularly looking sub-par compared to recent WB releases. “Strangers” has some decent special features but “Dial...
How do they hold up against other Hitch Bd releases? Not so great. The fact is that we’ve been a little spoiled. Those of us who love the work of arguably the best director of all time have been lucky enough to experience his work on Criterion (“The Lady Vanishes”) or with lavish special editions (“Psycho,” “North by Northwest”). Neither of the transfers here compare to what we’re used to lately with “Strangers” particularly looking sub-par compared to recent WB releases. “Strangers” has some decent special features but “Dial...
- 10/24/2012
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
"Saboteur" (1942): Basically a spy story, this fast-paced effort culminates in one of director Hitchcock's most memorable endings, putting heroic Robert Cummings and not-so-heroic Norman Lloyd atop the Statue of Liberty.
"Shadow of a Doubt" (1943): Joseph Cotten is wonderfully creepy as an apparent bon vivant suspected of murder by a young relative (Teresa Wright).
"Strangers on a Train" (1951): Two travelers (Farley Granger, Robert Walker) make a pact to get rid of someone for the other person in a tale that's been retold in numerous variations.
"Rear Window" (1954): The production design is a star of this great thriller that keeps a light touch, as an apartment dweller (James Stewart) waylaid by a broken leg thinks he spies a neighbor (Raymond Burr) committing murder.
"To Catch a Thief" (1955): Romantic sparks between Cary Grant and Grace Kelly, lovely French Riviera locales, and a fanciful cat-burglar story add up to viewing enjoyment.
"Shadow of a Doubt" (1943): Joseph Cotten is wonderfully creepy as an apparent bon vivant suspected of murder by a young relative (Teresa Wright).
"Strangers on a Train" (1951): Two travelers (Farley Granger, Robert Walker) make a pact to get rid of someone for the other person in a tale that's been retold in numerous variations.
"Rear Window" (1954): The production design is a star of this great thriller that keeps a light touch, as an apartment dweller (James Stewart) waylaid by a broken leg thinks he spies a neighbor (Raymond Burr) committing murder.
"To Catch a Thief" (1955): Romantic sparks between Cary Grant and Grace Kelly, lovely French Riviera locales, and a fanciful cat-burglar story add up to viewing enjoyment.
- 10/20/2012
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Zap2It - From Inside the Box
Strangers on a Train, Dial M for Murder Contest Giveaway Sweepstakes. This Strangers on a Train (1951), Dial M for Murder (1954) Blu-ray contest, giveaway, sweepstakes illustrates Strangers on a Train and Dial M for Murder‘s Blu-ray release on October 9, 2012. Alfred Hitchcock‘s Strangers on a Train stars Farley Granger, Ruth Roman, Robert Walker, and Leo G. Carroll. Strangers [...]
Continue reading: Contest: Strangers On A Train (1951), Dial M For Murder (1954) Blu-ray...
Continue reading: Contest: Strangers On A Train (1951), Dial M For Murder (1954) Blu-ray...
- 10/18/2012
- by Rollo Tomasi
- Film-Book
In the vast library of Alfred Hitchcock films rests a thriller unlike any other. To this day Strangers on a Train remains one of the creepiest and well-shot Hitchcock films ever made, yet it rarely gets brought up in conversation. Warner Bros. is planning to change that with this newly released Blu-Ray that looks downright gorgeous in black-and-white and comes loaded with bonus content, including the final version of the film and a preview version that runs a little longer and shows you what a rougher cut of the film looks like.
Guy Haines (Farley Granger) and Bruno Antony (Robert Walker) collide innocently on a train ride. They chat up simple subjects over drinks and smokes, but eventually the conversation takes a turn for the creepy when Bruno jokingly mentions wanting to kill his father. Guy, not wanting to be rude, makes a remark about wanting his wife dead, so...
Guy Haines (Farley Granger) and Bruno Antony (Robert Walker) collide innocently on a train ride. They chat up simple subjects over drinks and smokes, but eventually the conversation takes a turn for the creepy when Bruno jokingly mentions wanting to kill his father. Guy, not wanting to be rude, makes a remark about wanting his wife dead, so...
- 10/8/2012
- by Jeremy Lebens
- We Got This Covered
Have you got a light? Here are some of the ways that lighters have helped to illuminate a film's narrative
This week's Clip joint is by Marcelline Block. Take a look at her blog, and you can follow her on Twitter here.
Think you can do better? Email your idea for a future Clip joint to adam.boult@guardian.co.uk.
"Cigarette lighters featured in films often go beyond their utilitarian function to serve as signifiers of a character's identity, becoming extensions of their owners' personas. These objects can reveal and illuminate multifaceted aspects of a character's life and psyche – including innermost secrets and desires.
Films depict cigarette lighters as tools of crime, deception, exoneration, investigation and manipulation. They are often represented as devices that drive the narrative, because the acquisition, possession and/or loss of a cigarette lighter can carry significant implications for the plot."
1. Strangers on a Train...
This week's Clip joint is by Marcelline Block. Take a look at her blog, and you can follow her on Twitter here.
Think you can do better? Email your idea for a future Clip joint to adam.boult@guardian.co.uk.
"Cigarette lighters featured in films often go beyond their utilitarian function to serve as signifiers of a character's identity, becoming extensions of their owners' personas. These objects can reveal and illuminate multifaceted aspects of a character's life and psyche – including innermost secrets and desires.
Films depict cigarette lighters as tools of crime, deception, exoneration, investigation and manipulation. They are often represented as devices that drive the narrative, because the acquisition, possession and/or loss of a cigarette lighter can carry significant implications for the plot."
1. Strangers on a Train...
- 8/8/2012
- by Guardian readers
- The Guardian - Film News
Hitchcock's study of the guilt that taints the human condition is just one cinematic masterstroke after another
The master of suspense did not care whodunnit. For Hitch, the question was all but academic: to be alive is to stained. Culpability comes with conception.
It's hard to think of any adult in his films – the great ones, anyway – whose copybook has not a smudge, whose odd blots don't mushroom and bleed, soak their coats and cloud their judgement. And, for me, his primary preoccupation was never more brilliantly realised than in Strangers on a Train, the murder-swap thriller from 1951.
To refresh: straight-batting, social-climbing tennis star Guy (Farley Granger) has a chance encounter on a train with sardonic playboy Bruno (Robert Walker). Bruno knows Guy is romancing a senator's daughter (played by Ruth Roman) – and indeed is eager to move into politics – but can't get a divorce from his unfaithful wife, Miriam.
The master of suspense did not care whodunnit. For Hitch, the question was all but academic: to be alive is to stained. Culpability comes with conception.
It's hard to think of any adult in his films – the great ones, anyway – whose copybook has not a smudge, whose odd blots don't mushroom and bleed, soak their coats and cloud their judgement. And, for me, his primary preoccupation was never more brilliantly realised than in Strangers on a Train, the murder-swap thriller from 1951.
To refresh: straight-batting, social-climbing tennis star Guy (Farley Granger) has a chance encounter on a train with sardonic playboy Bruno (Robert Walker). Bruno knows Guy is romancing a senator's daughter (played by Ruth Roman) – and indeed is eager to move into politics – but can't get a divorce from his unfaithful wife, Miriam.
- 8/3/2012
- by Catherine Shoard
- The Guardian - Film News
It’s always a good time to read about director Alfred Hitchcock and expect a lot of attention on the Master of Suspense in the upcoming months as there are two films currently in production about him. Alfred Hitchcock And The Making Of Psycho (expect a title change on that one) based in the book by Steve Rebello, is in pre-production with Sacha Gervasi (Anvil! The Story Of Anvil) directing and an outstanding cast attached. Anthony Hopkins has signed on to play Hitch, Scarlett Johansson is cast as Janet Leigh, Jessica Biel will be playing Vera Miles, British actor James D’Arcy is Tony Perkins, and Helen Mirren will play Alma Reville (Mrs Hitchcock). The other Hitchcock film in the works is The Girl produced by The BBC that will premiere later this year on HBO. The Girl focuses on the love/hate relationship between Hitchcock (played by Toby Jones...
- 3/27/2012
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Chicago – The unmistakable silhouette of the Master of Suspense will be cast over the Music Box Theatre during the final days of the holiday season. Ten of Alfred Hitchcock’s most beloved masterworks will be presented on the big screen in inspired double bills that illustrate the startling range and enduring brilliance of the legendary filmmaker.
Even if moviegoers have seen these titles eight dozen times on DVD, they will be amazed at how fresh the films play when screened in a packed theater. No filmmaker knew how to delight and frighten an audience better than Hitchcock. When Robert Osborne held a free screening of “North by Northwest” at the Music Box last year, it felt as if the picture had been made yesterday.
Every punchline scored a belly laugh, every moment of delicious tension caused viewers to lean forward in anticipation, and when the film ended, the packed house broke out into extended,...
Even if moviegoers have seen these titles eight dozen times on DVD, they will be amazed at how fresh the films play when screened in a packed theater. No filmmaker knew how to delight and frighten an audience better than Hitchcock. When Robert Osborne held a free screening of “North by Northwest” at the Music Box last year, it felt as if the picture had been made yesterday.
Every punchline scored a belly laugh, every moment of delicious tension caused viewers to lean forward in anticipation, and when the film ended, the packed house broke out into extended,...
- 12/22/2011
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Fresh off of directing The Neighbor episode of Dario Argento’s Door Into Darkness, Luigi Cozzi co-wrote and directed, The Killer Must Kill Again. The film was shot in 1973 but released theatrically two years later in 1975.
George Hilton stars as Giorgio Mainardi, the husband of a wealthy socialite (Tere Velasquez) in an unhappy marriage. One night he comes across a man (Michel Antoine), pushing a car with a dead body into a canal.
Seizing upon the opportunity to solve his problem, and inherit a ton of cash in the doing, he blackmails the murderer to murder his wife or else he will go to the police with what he knows. This setup echoes Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train, and the killer even has a distinctive lighter, as does Robert Walker’s character in Hitchcock’s film. In this case the lighter is emblazoned with the initials “D.A.” a...
George Hilton stars as Giorgio Mainardi, the husband of a wealthy socialite (Tere Velasquez) in an unhappy marriage. One night he comes across a man (Michel Antoine), pushing a car with a dead body into a canal.
Seizing upon the opportunity to solve his problem, and inherit a ton of cash in the doing, he blackmails the murderer to murder his wife or else he will go to the police with what he knows. This setup echoes Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train, and the killer even has a distinctive lighter, as does Robert Walker’s character in Hitchcock’s film. In this case the lighter is emblazoned with the initials “D.A.” a...
- 11/23/2011
- by Derek Botelho
- DailyDead
To tie in with the essential Complete Vincente Minnelli series running all this month at Bam, I started looking at Minnelli posters with the hope of finding something interesting. Surely the most stylish of Hollywood auteurs would have bounteous posters to match his visual élan and dazzling color palette. However, with the exception of the iconic Gigi poster, an oddity like The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, or the two striking 1970 designs for On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, most of his posters are fairly conventional illustrations on the order of The Pirate.
One poster that caught my eye though was this alternative poster for Designing Woman (1957) (the better known version is this). A photographed 3-dimensional montage made out of cut up paper, cloth and other objects, the collage is the work of Romanian emigré Jacques Kapralik (1906-1960). A talented caricaturist who drew cartoons for newspapers in Bucharest while still a teenager,...
One poster that caught my eye though was this alternative poster for Designing Woman (1957) (the better known version is this). A photographed 3-dimensional montage made out of cut up paper, cloth and other objects, the collage is the work of Romanian emigré Jacques Kapralik (1906-1960). A talented caricaturist who drew cartoons for newspapers in Bucharest while still a teenager,...
- 10/14/2011
- MUBI
Mostly a Paramount star, Claudette Colbert hasn't been a frequent presence on Turner Classic Movies — that is, apart from reruns of her relatively few movies at MGM, Warner Bros., and Rko. Unfortunately, TCM's "Summer Under the Stars" day dedicated to Colbert — Friday, August 12 — won't rectify that glaring cinematic omission. [Claudette Colbert Movie Schedule.] Despite the fact that dozens of Claudette Colbert movies remain unavailable — thanks to Universal, owner of the old Paramount movie library — TCM is only presenting one Colbert premiere, Ken Annakin's British-made 1952 drama The Planter's Wife / Outpost in Malaya, co-starring Jack Hawkins. Of course, one rarely seen movie is better than none, but still… Think The Wiser Sex, The Lady Lies, Manslaughter, Young Man of Manhattan, The Phantom President (in case it's lying in some vault somewhere), The Man from Yesterday, Misleading Lady, His Woman, Zaza, Secrets of a Secretary, I Met Him in Paris, Texas Lady, Practically Yours, Skylark, Private Worlds,...
- 8/12/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
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