dirac

Anyone see/hear it?

Now that 83 years have passed since the release of Flesh and the Devil, it's possible to evaluate Gilbert shorn of the hype which surrounded him at the time. I would say say that he was a handsome and charismatic guy who excelled in a number of popular movies of the time based on those qualities. In comparison to Garbo (even the not-fully-formed Garbo of Flesh and the Devil), though, I would say that Gilbert was a silent films actor, pure and simple, whereas Garbo was a talking films actress biding her time, however unknowingly, in silent films. Hype might be a little unfair. Gilbert's popularity was quite genuine, not the product of a publicity machine. In the one or two Gilbert sound pictures I've seen, he isn't bad in them and I would not say his was an acting problem per se. Probably he was done in by a combination of studio politics and changing styles in male stars. This viewer certainly wants to. There is no denying that there are some classic silent movies and some great performers, given the handicap of no sound and acting conventions which look sometimes painfully dated today. But movies made a great step forward with the increased technical and creative sophistication that arrived - eventually - with the sound era. Garbo became a star in silent pictures and she doesn't need to speak. But she became greater when she could.

Bumping this up as the broadcast is tomorrow.

Boy, the world was waiting for that. I'm afraid time hasn't been kind to Gilbert. He's not a bad actor by any means but his heartthrob appeal hasn't survived the test of time, although one can guess at what contemporary audiences saw in him. The bedroom scene in Queen Christina is amazing. No thanks to him, though.

IIRC, Violette Verdy mentions this on the DVD where she coaches Malakhov and Illman in the pdd. From a post by tempusfugit early in this thread:

Thanks for posting this sad news, leonid. I've only read two of Bainbridge's,The Birthday Boys and An Awfully Big Adventure, and enjoyed them both. I can't say I could ever find Austen claustrophobic - rather the opposite - but Bainbridge's writing certainly reflects the greater ability of women to get out of the house these days.

I like Macaulay's writing very much. Part of it may be that my "preferences" are similar to his. But I've seen him write, particularly about Wendy Whelan, that he understands why certain people like a dancer that is not to his taste. He's pretty up front that he's giving you his opinion, informed by the specific history he has with the art. I suppose if you are the president of the Nilas Martins fan club you will feel always terrible reading his reviews, but for many dancers he is capable of being evenhanded, or noting good qualities, even if his ultimate opinion of the performer is negative. And there is no question that he loves ballet, is knowledgeable and cares about it, which sadly is a significant step up from his predecessor. There's something to criticize in any critic but it seems to me the Times could, and has, done a good deal worse. But the chief critic of the Times is never going to be a popular fellow in all quarters.

Good point. And I don't think it's unfair, rather the reverse.

Argentina's funny that way, I guess. There's no reason to think the movie will be hostile, at least on the evidence presented here. I agree that the selection of the Falklands War as the subject was probably the safest aspect of the Thatcher regime to dramatize, especially if you want to make her look good along with the unavoidable negatives.

volcanohunter writes: I'll say. Looks like the opera was staged at the white-shoe Giovanni Law Firm, P.C. Thanks for those links.

I doubt if Macaulay even thought it would be "controversial," the usage is that common.

Thanks for posting, amour. You are right to say that Nazi is a loaded word, but in this instance I don't think Macaulay intended anything more than, "Boy, he sure looks blond," in a light, as it were, way, and no political connotation was intended. It's not out of line to note that a performer may have allowed his or her hairdresser a few too many liberties with the highlighter.

Thanks for posting, Patrick. Like her or not, Streep doesn't do sensationalism for its own sake. (She did play an accused murderer in A Cry in the Dark, in the most unshowy manner possible.) Biopics will continue to be made and actors will continue to star in them. Streep is a good choice for Thatcher, although Emma Thompson also springs to mind, but the current director is Phyllida Lloyd, who worked with Streep on Mamma Mia! Note that Streep hasn't signed on the dotted line just yet. Jim Broadbent is supposed to play Denis. Can't wait for that. But of course the key question is: who will play Norman Tebbit? John Nott? If Peter Morgan is writing the screenplay, will he work in a flash-forward to Michael Sheen as Tony Blair?

SPOILER**************** Dishonored is very entertaining. I have fond memories of Dietrich adjusting her lipstick before the firing squad shoots her full of holes.

Arts organizations have to do what they have to do in this environment, although the richest folks who pony up for the elite arts groups seem to be doing quite well again. If it works, it works. I'm not crazy about signing up by program the way companies do now, but that battle is lost.

I forgot to thank you for this detailed review, miliosr. I would respectfully grade The Temptress lower than you do - it's mainly of interest to buffs, people with a pre-existing interest in Garbo, and Ricardo Moreno fans if there are any out there, but I wouldn't give it more than a C. (I wouldn't bother grading Garbo; she was sometimes miscast or less than her best but never actually bad or not worth watching IMO.) Garbo would spend most of her years in the silents as that bad girl who comes to a bad end. It's a long way from the sexy young thing with baby fat to the almost marmoreal presence of the later years.

Please do, miliosr. I've only seen a handful of Novarro's pictures but in every one of them he makes a charming impression. Maybe not so much in Mata Hari, but in his silents he's a very appealing performer. So sad he came to such a ghastly end.

I agree with you, Bella 12, that it would have been most helpful if many of the people and the works shown had been identified with captions, if only once. It's true that people who know the company well don't need them but I think Wiseman is mistaken to say that the rest of his audience - a substantial portion, one would imagine - wouldn't need or appreciate the help. The occasional caption would be no more detrimental to the aesthetic effect of the movie than subtitles. (And a few transitional titles might have been advantageously substituted for repetitive shots of hallways, postcard views of the building and the city, etc.)

Looking forward to reading more of your thoughts, liebs.

Tobi Tobias called it "unnervingly shaky," which is probably a more diplomatic way of saying the same thing. Doesn't sound pleasant to watch, in any case.

I agree that there is nothing wrong with her hair. I'm not sure why Macauley refers to her "mane" as "mere shtick" in the article, though. I took him to mean that initially Kistler's display and use of her gorgeous hair was part of her dazzle but later it became for him a form of mannerism.

Seconded. Thanks for all your hard work maintaining and improving this site for the benefit of all of us.

Please tell us about it when you do go, abatt. Macaulay's take wasn't all that different from Leigh's in some ways. I would be curious to hear what you think.

MGM was about The Beautiful People but Tod Browning's Freaks was made there. Buster Keaton vanished into its maw. The minor studios had fewer options. RKO gave carte blanche to Orson Welles for Citizen Kane out of desperation, but without that desperation we wouldn't have the movie. The Art Deco look of the Astaire-Rogers movies is fabulous but if RKO could have shot with color they would have. Once the technique improved you didn't see musicals without color because color was better. The Astaire-Hayworth movies made at Columbia would have been improved immensely with color but the studio wouldn't spend the money. It wasn't everything, of course. 20th Century Fox's musicals had the best color but there was often nothing else to see in them. I can't really say MGM's color doesn't bother me especially but the orchestrations and heavy makeup for the women often do. I thought her performance in Kitty Foyle was excellent. It's a bit too much of a tear-jerker for me to like unequivocally but I certainly couldn't fault Ginger. Yes, she brings some of that Rogers zip to the material. The movie is sentimental but she isn't. Too bad she couldn't have done the same with Tender Comrade.

He's not writing for Kistler but for his readers. Macaulay said what he thought and what he saw onstage, and he didn't end the review on a sour note.