tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2361395648458719073.post4327281907770194022..comments2023-07-23T09:45:33.199-05:00Comments on the last lullaby (and) peril: 1942: The Magnificent Ambersons (Orson Welles)Jeffrey Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06464544798603030406noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2361395648458719073.post-60289789926066624772010-02-19T14:30:48.754-06:002010-02-19T14:30:48.754-06:00Dave, thanks so much for the great comments! I am...Dave, thanks so much for the great comments! I am definitely in the minority when it comes to CASABLANCA and will have to revisit it at some point. I haven't seen KINGS ROW, but I like the other three you mention quite a bit.<br /><br />Thanks, as always, Dave, for the great perspective! By the way, your noir knowledge is damn impressive, too.Jeffrey Goodmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06464544798603030406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2361395648458719073.post-38510640911201566362010-02-19T13:50:58.969-06:002010-02-19T13:50:58.969-06:00I won't type out a long-winded response but wi...I won't type out a long-winded response but will just piggy back on the great comments from John, Sam and Troy - for me, it's Casablanca without a doubt. It's a Top 10 all time movie for me. I can watch it at any time.<br /><br />But there are some other great movies this year. I LOVE Lubitsch's To Be or Not to Be, which is second only to Trouble in Paradise in my favorites from him. Here would be a Top 5 for me for '42:<br /><br />1. Casablanca (Curtiz)<br />2. To Be or Not to Be (Lubitsch)<br />3. The Palm Beach Story (Sturges)<br />4. Cat People (Tourneur)<br />5. Kings Row (Wood)Davehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07134196370913749544noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2361395648458719073.post-7364351944691820922010-02-19T13:20:38.647-06:002010-02-19T13:20:38.647-06:00Troy, thanks so much for the great comments!
I ...Troy, thanks so much for the great comments! <br /><br />I don't think you're alone in approaching Welles in that way. I think many people actually think he only made one movie. <br /><br />In my opinion, Welles has maybe the greatest eye of any director the cinema has ever had. And I admire greatly almost everything I've ever seen from him. In addition to the two mentioned, I also highly recommend OTHELLO, MACBETH, THE TRIAL, TOUCH OF EVIL, THE STRANGER, and MR. ARKADIN.<br /><br />Thanks so much, Troy!Jeffrey Goodmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06464544798603030406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2361395648458719073.post-15948813860687026212010-02-19T12:56:28.482-06:002010-02-19T12:56:28.482-06:00Well, I'll add on to the CASABLANCA love, one ...Well, I'll add on to the CASABLANCA love, one of my twenty or so favorite films.<br /><br />In high school, when I first watched CITIZEN KANE, it was somehow ingrained in me that Orson Welles made one great film (KANE) and the rest of his career was an attempt to live up to that aka everything else he made is a disappointment. <br /><br />Of course, there is only part of that statement that is true (Welles trying to live up to his press clippings), but it's part of the reason I've never anxiously sought out films such as THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS in all these many years. Something I'll definitely need to correct.Troy Olsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14843741571724231174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2361395648458719073.post-11123945875149506782010-02-19T10:06:45.432-06:002010-02-19T10:06:45.432-06:00Sam, excellent comments! I love what you say here...Sam, excellent comments! I love what you say here about CASABLANCA:<br /><br />"More unforgettable lines appear in that film, than in perhaps any film in the cinema. And some of cinema's greatest scenes as well."<br /><br />It's a film I'll certainly revisit at some point.<br /><br />And I'm so glad to hear that you also love those lines from AMBERSONS. When I think of them and the way that Welles puts images to them, I'm still in awe. <br /><br />I have just added LISTEN TO BRITAIN to my queue, as well, as it's one I've never seen.<br /><br />Thanks, Sam, for the fantastic knowledge and perspective!Jeffrey Goodmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06464544798603030406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2361395648458719073.post-9695132855651824182010-02-19T09:54:14.696-06:002010-02-19T09:54:14.696-06:00Ah, Jeffrey, that passage is one of the greats, no...Ah, Jeffrey, that passage is one of the greats, no question about that, coming as it did orginally from Booth Tarkington's Pulitzer-Prize winning novel. And again, your years in France have given you some really unforgettable and incomparable reference points! Fantastic. Well, after naming KANE the best film of 1941, I won't be giving Welles the top spot two years in a row, but it does push close. As you rightly note it has the power to affect and to move greatly, and in spite of its blasphemous cuts it works exceedingly well in its current form. It's a masterpiece.<br /> However, I must agree with John that CASABLANCA, one of the greatets of all romances, and a film with a script that is sheer perfection, is the film that I see as the best of that year, and indeed one of the very best of that decade. More unforgettable lines appear in that film, than in perhaps any film in the cinema. And some of cinema's greatest scenes as well. Those two (and Jennings's brilliant war-time British documentary LISTEN TO BRITAIN)are the only three 'masterpieces' of that year, but there are a number of other great films, including the superlative Visconti film that John notes. (John Greco actually in fact wrote one GREAT review of the film at Twenty-Four Frames!)<br /><br />My Own #1 Film of 1942:<br /><br />Casablanca (Cutiz)<br /><br />Runners-Up:<br /><br />The Magnificent Ambersons (Welles)<br />Listen to Britain (Jennings)<br />Ossessione (Visconti)<br />Bambi (Hand)<br />Kings Row (Wood)<br />Thunder Rock (Boulting)<br />Cat People (Tourneur)<br />To Be or Not to Be (Lubitsch)<br />Les Visiteurs de Soir (Carne)<br />The Palm Beach Story (Sturges)<br />Journey Into Fear (Foster)<br />I Married A Witch (Clair)<br /><br />And my sentimental side must acknowledge:<br /><br />Yankee Doodle Dandy (Cutiz)<br />The Pride of the Yankees (Wood)<br /><br />Cagney's performance of course in the first is legendary.Sam Julianonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2361395648458719073.post-53433614312938457152010-02-19T08:07:00.441-06:002010-02-19T08:07:00.441-06:00John, thanks so much for the very kind words. The...John, thanks so much for the very kind words. The Welles is a film I really love. If you seek it out at some point, I 'd love to hear about it.<br /><br />I love these sentences you wrote and couldn't agree more:<br /><br />"Curtiz was one of the great studio directors of the era. Unlike Welles, he worked perfectly within the system."<br /><br />Welles' career is one of the saddest stories in the history of film, I think. The guy was a giant and so masterful, yet could never quite find his footing anywhere.Jeffrey Goodmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06464544798603030406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2361395648458719073.post-78907780200745588002010-02-19T07:50:17.624-06:002010-02-19T07:50:17.624-06:00Jeffrey,
A beautifully written review about a fil...Jeffrey,<br /><br />A beautifully written review about a film that seems to have had a strong emotional hook on you. Excellent! This film however represents that another gap in my viewing is exposed here, though I know the history of this film’s turmoil well from reading about Welles.<br /><br />My own favorite is the traditional but ever engrossing “Casablanca”, an example of the Hollywood studio system fumbling upon greatness without even being aware of what they were creating. Curtiz was one of the great studio directors of the era. Unlike Welles, he worked perfectly within the system. Don’t misunderstand, I am not saying Curtiz is a better filmmaker or artist, Welles is a master. <br /><br />Other top picks for the year include:<br /><br />To Be or Not To Be<br />Woman of the Year<br />The Talk of the Town <br />Obsessione<br />Saboteur<br />The Man who Came to Dinner<br />Pride of the Yankees (more of a personal favorite being a Yankee fan. The film is too sentimental but I cannot be rational about this film (lol).Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01808503055317962289noreply@blogger.com