dirac

I think Ride With the Devil qualifies, GWTW. I liked it, too. The Civil War bushwhackers are indeed a relatively neglected film subject.

If I remember correctly, the name "Fiesta" was used for a Russian television version in which Baryshnikov played Pedro Romero. Yes, indeed, and thank you for the other background information, Cristian. I thought it was lovely that the Cubans took note of the anniversary of his passing.

I note there have been over seven thousand views of this topic, a subject that people obvously feel strongly about.

Thanks, innopac. Sounds like an interesting volume.

Thanks, Marga. Useful to know.

I would also be interested in knowing more. Have a nice trip, DanceActress, and I hope you'll tell us about it!

Thanks, Ray. Totally forgot!

Sorry, Patrick, I just saw your post and didn’t mean to ignore it. Susan Lenox is certainly interesting although I’m not sure I’d call it underrated. It’s a curio. Garbo and Gable are a sexy pair in the love scenes but elsewhere they seem not to have met. Certainly it’s worth checking out. I think Garbo ‘tolerated’ strong male stars just fine – her pleasure in playing with John Barrymore in Grand Hotel is almost palpable – but in that era of great female stars it wasn’t unusual to see Crawford, Shearer, and Garbo playing opposite actors better characterized as leading men and not co-stars, although Crawford and Gable were teamed regularly. John Gilbert was a huge star in his day, quite Garbo's equal at one point although not when taking the long view. Most of Garbo’s movies weren’t very good. However, they have Garbo. (Precisely the kind of career Vivien Leigh didn’t want to have. Leigh was a lesser film star, but I don't think she would have envied Garbo in the slightest. ) Thanks, everyone. This is turning into a very interesting thread!

Arzner was a last minute replacement on “Dance, Girl, Dance” but it’s very likely that change made a difference to the final product, although I’m not familiar with the Vicki Baum story the movie is based on. Arzner also directed, and Zoe Akins wrote, an early Katharine Hepburn feature called Christopher Strong which also has its unusual moments and takes a strikingly feminist view. (It should be noted that, strictly speaking, neither movie is especially good as a movie. We’re not talking underrated classics here.) Thanks for mentioning it, FauxPas. There was a silent version of Craig’s Wife as well. The original play was written by George Kelly, a famous playwright in his day but nowadays is probably known best, if at all, as Grace Kelly’s uncle.

Thanks, Quiggin.

For her stage work we mostly have to go by what was said and written at the time by witnesses and she was said to be better on film, although her Antigone was highly praised and she was excellent in Duel of Angels later on. She scored a great success in The Skin of Our Teeth. The fussiness you speak of could also be apparent in the theatre. Her work in Shakespeare was variable. She was scheduled to be in Albee's A Delicate Balance when her final illness overtook her - that would have been interesting. She can be mannered but I don't think she's too fussy in Waterloo Bridge or The Deep Blue Sea (she got panned for that one but I like her in it), and a certain amount of fuss is part of the feminine arsenal of Scarlett, Cleopatra, Emma, etc. On film I think the Pygmalion with Leslie Howard and Wendy Hiller works well - the adaptations made to the play for that version wound up in My Fair Lady -- and I also like the Major Barbara with Hiller and Rex Harrison, although it's talk talk talk. The Caesar and Cleopatra is no masterpiece but it's not bad at all. Thanks for the tip. I haven't seen it.

Yes, indeed. The critical consensus is that Leigh was better on film than on the stage. Her ‘tiresome attitude’ was a belief, shared with her second husband, that the true test of an actor’s mettle is performing the great theatrical roles onstage, although her own film career belies this to an extent: she gave two of the most memorable performances in the history of the medium and was a truly great movie star. She gives a beautiful performance in Waterloo Bridge and is beautiful in it, unexpectedly vulnerable and tender in one who was not in essence a sympathetic actor. Nature didn't cast her in the heroic mould, which held her back in classical roles onstage - she was too small in voice and stature, her beauty too Dresden-shepherdess. Her work ethic was beyond reproach and anything she could do to overcome her limitations she did. I think her Anna Karenina qualifies as underrated. She’s not Garbo, but it’s a better performance than generally credited, IMO. Her scenes with Ralph Richardson as Karenin are very good. It’s an interesting point, canbelto. I wouldn’t have thought of Gilbert Grape as an underrated movie, because I remember it as being well regarded, but you’re certainly correct that it didn’t get the attention that today’s ‘quirky’ independents do.

The production received a great deal of favorable attention from the get-go, not surprising considering the credentials of the people involved. It did receive mixed reviews upon release, but they were respectful with one or two exceptions, and it is still highly praised in some quarters (I recall a long and glowing review in the SF Chronicle not that long ago) – there was a deferential PBS special about it recently, too. Every once in awhile somebody will point out that it isn’t really very good, but I’m not sure that makes it underrated.

I’d stop short of vitriolic, but it’s on the snotty side (“incurably politically correct,” etc.) However, going by what I’ve seen of Morris’ recent work, it wouldn’t stun me if some of Macaulay’s major points are well taken.

I like Nightmare Alley, too, klingsor, and I agree it doesn’t get mentioned enough. I don’t know if it’s on DVD or VHS, either, but it does show up on cable from time to time. I saw it again not too long ago. As you probably know, Tyrone Power, hoping to get out of his big-star rut, pleaded with his studio to be able to do the film. If anything, critics have been overly respectful of it over the years. I’d put it in the ‘overrated’ thread. I think this one has received its fair share of praise. It’s good but I’d not call it underrated. This one got a bad reputation early on for costing too much, and there is a lot of unnecessary spectacle, but I agree that it’s not that bad. Rains isn’t quite up to the role of Caesar and Leigh is not at her best (she was in poor health during the filmmaking) but they are both good and it’s Shaw, after all, with Oliver Messel designs, so who’s complaining. That’s right. Yes, they were made with no money and no stars, and Deer Hunter and Coming Home sucked up all the Vietnam oxygen. (I do recall, however, that Go Tell the Spartans got a fair amount of critical attention at the time. I could be wrong.)

A waste of time is the last thing I’d call it. I’d recommend it for Emily Watson and Stellan Skarsgard alone. I could have done without the ending but it was one of the most interesting movies I’d seen that year. Kidman was excellent in Dogville. (We have a thread on the movie somewhere.) Von Trier doesn’t really qualify as overrated because his work annoys too many people. I think in order to be ‘overrated’ there has to be a general consensus in favor. I did, too. I thought Fernandez looked ravishing, although as it turned out she didn't have much of a voice. I got a kick out the movie back when, although I did think it was a trifle overrated. It showed up again on cable recently and I still liked it.

Thanks, vagansmom. Good to hear from you. The Farrell book and the Villella book have both been under discussion recently in the Writings on Ballet forum, if you're interested.

Good topic, Ray, and thank you for posting it. Hope others chime in.

Hi, canary, welcome. She's not a favorite of mine, either. Another muse I haven't much time for is the somnolent Monica Vitti, although I understand she could be livelier elsewhere. (Regardless of what one thinks of Truffaut's womanizing, it did mean he wasn't foisting some mediocre talent on us in picture after picture -- it would be one or two, tops, and then we and he would move on. Bergman's women tended to be consistently beautiful and talented - must be something in the water over there.) I think perhaps people have stolen from it so exhaustively over the years that it's no longer fresh.

Hemingway died 47 years ago today. His memory was honored in Cuba. Related article.

I ask the board's forbearance as this has nothing to do with ballet. Obviously something's right in the state of Denmark.

I don't think it was low self esteem or any personal issue, just performers conforming to what they believed were the expectations of the public.

Thanks for posting this, bart. Tell us what you think if you dip into them.

It was widely noted at the time of the picture's release. Kind of hard to miss if you'd seen or heard Huston. I didn't think TWBB was totally dreadful but I do think that Anderson should bring on another scriptwriter (as with Magnolia and Boogie Nights, he has a hard time wrapping things up). Day-Lewis did gobble up the scenery, but with some of the scenes he had to play, what is a poor actor to do? He did keep you watching, no doubt about that. The first half hour was excellent and led to high hopes, which were disappointed. The story goes, as I'm sure you know, that the uncut version of the film is better than the one that eventually went into wide release. (A 'restored' version has been circulated but a lot of the original footage was gone and I didn't get much out of it.) I can't really see how it could ever have been all that, but there's no way of knowing now. It's too bad because its failure meant the real end of Garland's film career, and it's clear she had a lot more to give. Sad. Anderson has his problems but you have to like a director who will take a risk like that. I thought it worked - he's careful to lay the groundwork for it, and in context it makes sense.

I agree, Davidsbundlertanze. I enjoyed reading the book because it was about Farrell by Farrell and will thus have enduring value, but as autobiographies go it's not top of the line. I didn't care for Winter Season overall because I thought the style was hopelessly mushy, but it also presents a valuable snapshot of NYCB, Farrell, and an ordinary dancer's life and so it's worth reading. I just passed over certain sections for reasons that will be obvious once you get to them. Bentley's writing has gotten much better over the years. I admire her book on Karinska.