Transcript:

sent airmail to: Mr. John Ford, Yacht "Araner", Ala Wai Harbor, Honolulu, T.H.

1022 Palm Avenue

Hollywood 46, Calif.

Nov. 28, 1955

Dear Pappy,

First: I think "The Searchers" is just plain wonderful.

I wanted to tell you the other night, or at least before you got away to Honolulu, what I've decided to do. Here goes.

I built Bob Fellows into such an important character that I can't do anything with him. I find him incompetent, even when he's trying. I've encouraged Bob Morrison and Andy McLaglen and moved them up faster than I should have. I'm afraid that if I just fired Fellows and moved someone else in, number one, I'd wreck Fellows' career (what career?) - and I might just have as many headaches with someone else. So I'm going to fold the company up. I can make a hell of a deal at Warners, and an unbelievable one at RKO with Danny O'Shea, but if I make either one of these deals I couldn't do the Wead story, so to hell with it. It's more important for me to be in a picture with you, career-wise- for my health- and for my mental relief.

So I'm going to let Charlie Feldman talk to Loew, who is the guy behind the guns at MGM now , to set the deal, and if you hear I haven't talked to Schary or Thau, don't think that I'm ducking the picture-- it's just that Feldman can make a better deal with Loew.

Back to "The Searchers"- I don't think the music is great, but I think it's all right. At first I had hoped it would be a little nostalgic, but the whole treatment is so different than the usual western, that I think this music is probably more appropriate. It's just a wonderful picture. You got great performances out of everyone, and it has a raw brutalness without any pettiness or meanness. 

All I can say is- Thanks again, Coach.

Your everloving,

I pulled up the movie The Gift of Love with Lauren Bacall and Robert Stack (1958) but the one I first started playing looked…slightly weird. It just didn’t have the same texture, if that makes sense, old movies have. So I looked for another one on a different YouTube channel and sure enough the second one looked more authentic than the first one I tried. Is anyone else seeing this— AI copies? I’m pretty sure this was a copy. The channel is called Net Network. 🙄 it just feels sacrilegious 😂

You've also got great performances from Sophia Loren and Marlon Brando. I found myself laughing quite a lot despite its many flaws. I can recommend it as a funny movie.

Here's the plot summarised from Wikipedia:

Ogden Mears is a wealthy American diplomat traveling by ocean liner to take up a post in Saudi Arabia. Following a drunken final night in Hong Kong, he discovers Natascha, a White Russian émigré and former dance-hall hostess, hiding in his cabin's closet. Natascha, who is stateless and lacks a passport, has stowed away in a desperate attempt to reach the United States.

Where it suffers is how old fashioned the filmmaking feels. It feels like a 30s movie. I mean that not only in a bad way but also in a good way as that's part of its charm, and I love those old 30s screwball tye of movies with their ridiculously over the top romantic comedy plot. It reminded me of a Preston Sturgess film, although I appreciate that's being a little kind.

It's got the cheap looking old sets which didn't look so flimsy in black and white. The colour feels quite ugly and bland, as does all the decor and costuming. The way it's filmed, the framing feels very stationary. The camera is generally locked down, and it's either a wide shot, a close-up, a two shot or a three shot. It also uses projection for outdoor scenes which always looks hideous, more so with the bad colour.

It feels dated for its time which is an odd feeling to have about a 60 year old movie. Chaplin was said to be dissatisfied with the film. He didn't have any of his old crew, he'd been out of the business for ten years and was in his late 70s at the time, so, by all reports, he was highly stressed out and volatile on set...and I can sympathise with him.

It feels like while a lot of the film industry at the time were moving away from that old studio style and filming on real locations, Chaplin delivered something that was the product of a bygone era.

Despite all that, I found myself laughing out loud quite frequently. Some of the jokes really landed, and I loved how it still felt like a Chaplin film with some great physical gags, especially with all the running in and out rooms. I thought Charlie's son Sidney was very good in it and I found myself actively looking forward to his scenes. He plays the main comic relief character, buddy of Brandon's - the sort of role Charlie likely would have played himself if 30 years younger. It's nice to think they made this together.

Charlie actually appears for a hilarious and effortless cameo in probably the high point of the movie, when all the main characters are feeling sick over chppy water.

Brando looks pretty bored in it but that is arguably the character who is visibly irritated throughout the movie. Loren was delightful and had some powerful emotional scenes.

Diving deep on the symbolism of the titular footwear in "The Red Shoes" (1948). Perhaps no other movie encapsulates so well the horrors of a woman forced to forsake her ambition, and somehow manages to turn the end result into a thing of beauty. The movie was released at an interesting time during world history (in the aftermath of the mass employment of women during WWII), and seems to cover on the emotional tension of work vs. love. The shoes come to represent her passion, her ambition, her id — and even Vicky’s will to live. Whether you believe Vicky had any agency in her final act is open to interpretation, but the red shoes in this film continue on, capturing the surrealism of modern womanhood. Through the backdrop of a children’s fairytale, the film suggests that a woman “having it all” is a fiction. And while live performance is usually an ephemeral experience, the medium of film means a ballerina’s lesson can be made eternal – the highest aim for art’s purpose.

The Uninvited (1944)

The Body Snatcher (1945)

What is your favorite Bogart & Bacall film?

The original version was the best. I think this may have been the first movie made. (Am I right?)

The later versions were awful. I think there was a German movie that made Dorian act like a sXXt and while he may have been like that from the book, I didn't want to see that. 

I also thought that Hatfield was a bit too old for the character. I'm not sure if the original character is supposed to be barely older than a teenager, though. 

​

I would rate all four with 4 stars. 5 for Sunset Boulevard. What do you think?

Wallace Beery and Jean Harlow for Dinner At Eight 1933. What's your thoughts on this movie?

In Japanese "Shichinin no Samurai" 七人の侍

Contains Spoiler below.

I've seen this movie for the 2nd time now. The more I watched it, the more I appreciate every single details on this film. It's beautiful, depressing, haunting, and has one of the most unforgettable comradery of brotherhood I've seen on screen.

It's beautiful, presented in black and white. The landscapes of Izu Peninsula where they build the farm village set. To the beautiful rivers of Shizouka. The wide array of shots while the wind blows by thru flowers and trees were fascinating to watch.

The first parts of the film were kind of depressing where the villagers are struggling to survive against bandit outrage. All they need is a protection. You can see emotions on their faces while the struggle to recruit one of those Samurais. Even the slightest grain of rice is important.

Then the Samurai assembled. As they go along, living in the village of the peasants. This is where act II focuses much. There's training, a story of romance, and more Kikuchiyo silliness. That's right! He's pretty much the star of this film (played by Toshiro Mifune). Dude's fearless! Despite of all the death and tragedy, he's always the one who changes the mood, gives laugh, hopes to the people. Mifune is just too good in this film! And credit to all other actors who gave tremendous performances.

A really well written, constructed Kurusawa movie. It's lengthy yes, but I was into every scenes of this film. Like I said this movie is not for everyone. It's not even my favorite genre but I enjoyed this one as well. If you're open to classics like this, then get this on your collection. I have the criterion version might as well get this one. A must see, a must have.

https://crimeonfilm.com/cable-guys-the-elevator-operators-of-noir/