The VCR / DVR / Streaming Alert Thread

1895-1999
Big Magilla
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Post by Big Magilla »

Nope, The Valiant is not lost. Creaky, but not lost.
Mister Tee
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Post by Mister Tee »

The only way I got through Hollywood Revue was in 20-30 minute segments. There were some freakish moments of interest -- like seeing a prehistoric Jack Benny -- but also much that was torturous. (Norma Shearer doing Shakespeare? Kill me now) Maybe the most amusing thing was the variation on James Whitcomb Riley, "Lon Chaney's going to get you if you don't watch out". It struck me recently you could echo that today by substituting "Dick Cheney".

I realize I misspoke by saying I'd seen "four other" nominees -- I meant four including In Old Arizona, as The Valiant is apparently a lost film (sadly, as it'd likely be the most watchable).
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Post by Big Magilla »

Blackmail would have been Oscar eligible in 1929/30.
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Post by The Original BJ »

Mister Tee wrote:To be fair, none of the four others I've seen have struck me as any good, either.
The Broadway Melody and (the even worse) The Hollywood Revue are two of the most unbearable things I have ever sat through.

1929, in addition to the silents Mister Tee mentioned, also featured the U.S. release of The Passion of Joan of Arc. Talk about being a different medium than stuff like Hollywood Revue, which barely even qualifies as a movie.

That year did, however, feature Blackmail, one of the few early sound movies which (like M two years later) really seemed to expand the storytelling possibilities of this new aspect of film.
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Post by Big Magilla »

I think the award in 1928/29 was for the director, not the direction, as it was originally in 1927/28 and is today. Also, there were no official nominees. They announced the winners and the runners-up in each category.

It's unlikely that they would have intentionally snubbed Raoul Walsh. He was one of the six original members of the Directors Branch along with Cecil B. DeMille, Henry King, Frank Lloyd, Fred Niblo and John M. Stahl.
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Post by Mister Tee »

To follow up: I got around to watching In Old Arizona. I went in viewing it as "for completeness purposes only", and still found it a chore. What was shocking was how lackadaisical the plotting was...scenes went on and on, some with only tangential meaning to the story. And this was not only an acting winner: it was one of the five best picture nominees. To be fair, none of the four others I've seen have struck me as any good, either. The silents of '29 -- notably Steamboat Bill Jr. and The Wind -- seem to be part of a different medium.

As for winner Warner Baxter -- it's hard for me to really judge any of the acting in those first talkies; most people are so consistently bad it was clear Hollywood just hadn't figured out the right pitch, yet (Bessie Love in Broadway Melody maybe a minor exception). But say this for Baxter: his scenes are not completely insufferable, the way those featuring Edmund Lowe and the female lead (name expunged from memory) are. I prayed for cuts away from them. And Baxter's Cisco Kid is occasionally better-written, and features in the more interesting action, so I can see why he won.

Another interesting element: Raoul Walsh retains a co-directing credit, despite having been relieved of directing and Cisco Kid-playing duties after an accident. Who made the decision he would have his name on the print but be excluded from the best director Oscar nod?
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Post by FilmFan720 »

I found the film very powerful, with a fabulous script. It is made on the cheap, and has some technical issues (it needs to be cleaned up), but the performances are great and I loved seeing a film from that era that never seemed to be preaching at you about the topic of racism.
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Post by Big Magilla »

FilmFan720 wrote:
dws1982 wrote:One Potato, Two Potato, which Mister Tee and I had discussed earlier in this thread, airs overnight tonight on TCM at 1:00 AM. This was a 1964 Original Screenplay nominee, and a winner at Cannes for Barbara Barrie's performance (tied with Anne Bancroft in The Pumpkin Eater).
Anyone else watch this?
Not on TCM at this time, but here's what I had to say on March 22nd in the Last Seen Movie thread:

One Potato, Two Potato (Larry Peerce, 1964) 8/10

Dated, but still powerful film of inter-racial couple being sued for custody of the wife's child by her former husband. Terrific performances by Barbara Barrie and Bernie Hamilton as the couple, Richard Mulligan as the former husband, Harry Bellaver as the judge and Robert Earl Jones and legendary Broadway star Vinnette Carroll as Hamilton's parents.

Someone should write a sequel for Barrie, the only player still alive. Felicity Huffman could play her now grown daughter.
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Post by The Original BJ »

Mister Tee wrote:First, In Old Arizona, Warner Baxter's best actor winner of 1929 -- the only acting win I've never seen.

Followed by The Gay Desperado, which won Rouben Mamoulian the best director prize from the NY Film Critics in 1936.
In case people aren't up at the witching hour, both of these films are available to rent on Netflix.
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Post by FilmFan720 »

dws1982 wrote:One Potato, Two Potato, which Mister Tee and I had discussed earlier in this thread, airs overnight tonight on TCM at 1:00 AM. This was a 1964 Original Screenplay nominee, and a winner at Cannes for Barbara Barrie's performance (tied with Anne Bancroft in The Pumpkin Eater).
Anyone else watch this?
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Post by Mister Tee »

TCM has back-to-back rarely-screened award-winning films overnight Tuesday/Wednesday, starting at 1 AM:

First, In Old Arizona, Warner Baxter's best actor winner of 1929 -- the only acting win I've never seen.

Followed by The Gay Desperado, which won Rouben Mamoulian the best director prize from the NY Film Critics in 1936.
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Post by flipp525 »

The hard-to-find Hester Street from 1975 (featuring Carol Kane's Best Actress nominated performance) is showing on FLIXe at 3pm (EST) today.
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Post by dws1982 »

One Potato, Two Potato, which Mister Tee and I had discussed earlier in this thread, airs overnight tonight on TCM at 1:00 AM. This was a 1964 Original Screenplay nominee, and a winner at Cannes for Barbara Barrie's performance (tied with Anne Bancroft in The Pumpkin Eater).
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Post by FilmFan720 »

--Mister Tee wrote:
--FilmFan720 wrote:The supporting comedic cast is wonderful, and Leo McCarey's direction was joyous.

Isn't this the movie where Roland Young has an absolutely hilarious scene by a piano?

Yes -- it may be the funniest scene in the film.




Edited By Big Magilla on 1241224402
"Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good."
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Post by Mister Tee »

--FilmFan720 wrote:The supporting comedic cast is wonderful, and Leo McCarey's direction was joyous.

Isn't this the movie where Roland Young has an absolutely hilarious scene by a piano?




Edited By Big Magilla on 1241224415
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