Crimson
Telly Talk Dream Maker
I'm exactly 90 seconds into this movie and I'm already chuckling.
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I'm exactly 90 seconds into this movie and I'm already chuckling.
Crimson
Telly Talk Dream Maker
My early chuckles aside -- elicited by Michael Caine's Southern accent -- I didn't think HURRY SUNDOWN (1967) was campy at all. Over-the-top and florid, yes. I love Southern Gothic melodrama, from Tennessee Williams downward. I loved everything about this movie. I should have known, just based on the director; I usually like Preminger's stylized realism.
I admit, I made it through the entire movie not realizing it was set in the mid-40s; I thought the story was contemporaneous to the mid-60s. (Hollywood in the 60s absolutely could not do 'the past'.) The film's reviews look, in retrospect, inexplicably hostile. I suspect this movie cut a little to close to home for the late 60s. Sure it's Hollywood's over-heated imaginings of "the South", but its brutally frank, naked racism is, if not realistic, at least realistic-adjacent. And that's about the best Hollywood could ever do.
Dunaway is terrific in her small role: fresh-faced and exuberant. I find myself wishing now that I had done this retrospective in chronological order. Faye was so versatile and diverse in the early years of her career. At some point, by the late 70s, her style and mannerisms seem to have become cemented. I'm curious if I would have pinpointed when.
I don't care much for Jane Fonda from the 70s onward, but gosh she was glorious in the 60s. How did she go from being so dynamic and vivid, to so uptight? I demand answers.
Shifting between movies of the late 60s and 70s, it's clear how much the visuals of films took a hit in the 70s. HURRY DOWNDOWN, like BONNIE AND CLYDE and THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR, is a beautiful looking film with lush , crisp colors. Why did all all the movies in the 70s look hazy and muddy?
I admit, I made it through the entire movie not realizing it was set in the mid-40s; I thought the story was contemporaneous to the mid-60s. (Hollywood in the 60s absolutely could not do 'the past'.) The film's reviews look, in retrospect, inexplicably hostile. I suspect this movie cut a little to close to home for the late 60s. Sure it's Hollywood's over-heated imaginings of "the South", but its brutally frank, naked racism is, if not realistic, at least realistic-adjacent. And that's about the best Hollywood could ever do.
Dunaway is terrific in her small role: fresh-faced and exuberant. I find myself wishing now that I had done this retrospective in chronological order. Faye was so versatile and diverse in the early years of her career. At some point, by the late 70s, her style and mannerisms seem to have become cemented. I'm curious if I would have pinpointed when.
I don't care much for Jane Fonda from the 70s onward, but gosh she was glorious in the 60s. How did she go from being so dynamic and vivid, to so uptight? I demand answers.
Shifting between movies of the late 60s and 70s, it's clear how much the visuals of films took a hit in the 70s. HURRY DOWNDOWN, like BONNIE AND CLYDE and THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR, is a beautiful looking film with lush , crisp colors. Why did all all the movies in the 70s look hazy and muddy?
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Snarky Oracle!
Telly Talk Newbie
One presumes she wanted "to be taken seriously." And KLUTE can't be played the same way as BARBARELLA.
I rather liked the ugly naturalism of the '70s look. And it seemed to fit the period. But, yeah, it was quite shift.
Crimson said:
How do you feel about Kazan's BABY DOLL?
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Crimson
Telly Talk Dream Maker
Fair enough but, jeez, did she have to turn into Deborah Kerr masquerading as Gloria Steinem?
Haven't seen it. The LOLITA thing is a bit too creepy for me. If I thought the movies knew it was creepy, I might proceed; but I suspect they're both just Hollywood lasciviousness with a side of victim-blaming.
Snarky Oracle!
Telly Talk Newbie
Actually, BABY DOLLS's reputation for pedo-ism is highly overstated. It's really quite innocent, but one of the pervy cardinals (is there any other kind?) made a huge public deal about the immoral content of the movie at the time. And its image was set.
Crimson
Telly Talk Dream Maker
OKLAHOMA CRUDE (1973)
Way better than I expected. Mind you, my expectations for this one were rock bottom, but this turned out to be a surprisingly solid piece of entertainment. The story is slight: a Western AFRICAN QUEEN-style romance. I've never cared much for George C. Scott, to be honest, but he was gruff and charming and far less flinty than I think of him.
Dunaway's late 60s/early 70s performances continue to surprise me. Those late 70s mannerisms that I so heavily associate with her are entirely absent here. This is a mostly unfussy, unmannered performance; she plays a woman who is strong and independent, but without that heavy-handed 70s feminism that began to creep into films. Roger Ebert's review, specifically his counter-arguments against other critics' harshness towards the film, is a good explanation of the movie.
Way better than I expected. Mind you, my expectations for this one were rock bottom, but this turned out to be a surprisingly solid piece of entertainment. The story is slight: a Western AFRICAN QUEEN-style romance. I've never cared much for George C. Scott, to be honest, but he was gruff and charming and far less flinty than I think of him.
Dunaway's late 60s/early 70s performances continue to surprise me. Those late 70s mannerisms that I so heavily associate with her are entirely absent here. This is a mostly unfussy, unmannered performance; she plays a woman who is strong and independent, but without that heavy-handed 70s feminism that began to creep into films. Roger Ebert's review, specifically his counter-arguments against other critics' harshness towards the film, is a good explanation of the movie.
Crimson
Telly Talk Dream Maker
A PLACE FOR LOVERS (1968)
This one has a dire reputation: one of the worst movies ever made. Even still, I'm not sure I can judge it. Turns out, my copy is in Italian without subtitles. I still watched it, even though I understood perhaps 5 words in the entire movie.
The dialogue must be atrocious to explain the film's reputation because otherwise this seemed like a perfunctory but visually beautiful romance. Faye was at her most beautiful here, particularly decked out in mod-glam fashions of the time.
This one has a dire reputation: one of the worst movies ever made. Even still, I'm not sure I can judge it. Turns out, my copy is in Italian without subtitles. I still watched it, even though I understood perhaps 5 words in the entire movie.
The dialogue must be atrocious to explain the film's reputation because otherwise this seemed like a perfunctory but visually beautiful romance. Faye was at her most beautiful here, particularly decked out in mod-glam fashions of the time.
Jock Ewing Fan
Telly Talk TV Fanatic
The Joan Crawford movie was... complete with your own words, but the makeup job to resemble Joan Crawford was excellent
"Network" may have been her best performance IMHO
"Network" may have been her best performance IMHO