GREATEST FILMS
Of the 100 “America’s greatest films” on the AFI list, I own 15. Three are on DVD and the others are VHS. http://www.filmsite.org/afi100filmsA.html
3 FALLEN LADIES
“I like the world better drunk than sober,” says Madame X played by Lana Turner in the 1966 Universal tear-jerker of the same name. Words to live by in the tragic world of scorned film women also portrayed in “Stella Dallas” and “Rain.”
Bring Kleenex to the climatic death scene with X and her “son” in the jail cell. For “Stella Dallas,” you’ll also need tissue as a forlorn Barbara Stanwyck stands on the sidewalk behind the fence’s iron bars as she watches her daughter’s wedding. (Imprisoned by her imprudent ways.)
The defining scene in “Rain” comes at the end when Joan Crawford as Sadie Thompson dressed for barroom rendezvous with torch music blaring shows no remorse at the untimely demise of the Rev. Davidson.
Take note of the similar slutty costumes for both Stanwyck and Crawford and Turner’s transformation from glamour queen to bag woman is amazing. - Zarkin
YOU KNOW DORIS
If you live in the Midwest you have to know at least one or more Doris — people who have put their lives on hold and don’t know why. “Hello, My Name is Doris” with Sally Field as Doris and Max Greenfield as the object of her desires, is a provocative dramedy,
Max was born in 1980, almost 20 years after Ms. Field’s sitcoms were airing on TV. The key scene in the movie is when she is removing her makeup. You either cry or laugh.
There’s no Hollywood ending for Doris. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6vBnnryIug
RED SCARE
The PBS documentary deals with the 1930s when the Communist Party was most active in the U.S. Great concentration of wealth and unskilled laborers demanding higher pay and better working conditions were prominent issues then. Sound familiar? Compelling viewing. www.americanreds.com
WHILE YOU SLEPT
Matronly Gertrude Berg sews the loose buttons on strangers clothing while she dispenses unsolicited grandmotherly advice in the sitcom “Mrs. G. Goes to College.” What’s supposed to be hilarious about this ill-advised TV show is the idea that a granny might want to further her education.
Well, it’s happening everywhere now through the Osher Lifetime Learning Institute at the University of Minnesota, UC Riverside, Boise State University and more. Seniors take non-credit classes on campus, at community centers and senior residence communities.
WHILE YOU SLEPT
Matronly Gertrude Berg sews the loose buttons on strangers clothing while she dispenses unsolicited grandmotherly advice in the sitcom “Mrs. G. Goes to College.” What’s supposed to be hilarious about this ill-advised TV show is the idea that a granny might want to further her education.
Well, it’s happening everywhere now through the Osher Lifetime Learning Institute at the University of Minnesota, UC Riverside, Boise State University and more. Seniors take non-credit classes on campus, at community centers and senior residence communities.
No comments:
Post a Comment