224. (27 Sep) The Screaming Woman (1972, Jack Smight) 52
There's more than a little novelty to seeing Olivia de Havilland run door to door begging people to help her dig up a woman buried on her property while they pointedly tell her off or call her crazy. The bulk of the runtime is her unsuccessfully soliciting people. There's a fair amount of suspense, due in no small part to an awesome John Williams score, but this is anything but taut.
The Male Animal (1942). Cast: Henry Fonda, Olivia de Havilland and Joan Leslie. The film was based on a hit 1940 Broadway play of the same name written by James Thurber and Elliott Nugent. The screenplay was written by Stephen Morehouse Avery, Julius J. Epstein, and Philip G. Epstein, based on Nugent and Thurber's play. The film was also directed by Elliott Nugent.
This very charming story begins during homecoming weekend at Midwestern University, when English professor Tommy Turner and his wife Ellen host a cocktail party for Dean Frederick Damon and his wife Blanche, Ed Keller and his wife Myrtle and former football hero Joe Ferguson.
Damon, stops by during dinner to tell them that student Michael Barnes, has written an editorial calling the trustees fascists and reporting that Tommy is the only professor in favor of freedom of speech. Michael, also mentions that the following Monday during class, Tommy will read a letter by Bartolomeo Vanzetti, an anarchist executed for murder along with his associate, Nicola Sacco, in 1927. Damon and Ellen, are worried that the trustees will think that Tommy, is a Communist and fire him. Tommy, does not understand why he should not read the letter to his class.
Later Joe, arrives with flowers for Ellen's birthday, which Tommy has forgotten, and says that he and his wife are divorcing.
Later that evening, Keller learns about the letter and can not believe that Tommy would expose his students to something so un-American. Insulted, Tommy decides to read the letter to spite him.
When Joe and Ellen dance together to an old song, Tommy is over come with jealousy. After the rally, Joe invites Tommy and Ellen to dinner, but.. Tommy says he is not feeling well and tells Ellen to go ahead without him.
The next day, the entire campus is in an uproar over Michael's editorial, and Tommy, believing that Ellen is still in love with Joe, decides she is better off without him. Even though, Joe does not really want to marry Ellen, he feels obligated to marry her if she leaves Tommy.
While Joe and Ellen are at the game, Tommy and Michael get drunk. Tommy says, if another male lion threatens to take away a lion's mate, he tears him apart. When Ellen and Joe return from the game, Tommy tells them that he wants to knock Joe out.
On Monday morning, Tommy, having been knocked out by Joe, must read Vanzetti's letter before the entire university. Will Michael be expelled from the university and will Tommy lose his job and his wife?
I'm writing this review as I'm watching the film for the first time. I guess this a comedy, but I'm not sure.. It seems to have a serious story line. Fonda, does what he does best when standing up for what is right, while his reading of the letter to the crowd. Carson, who was perfect in the roll as an ex-footballer and ex-boyfriend to Olivia de Havilland, who is always good..
Fun Facts:
Gene Tierney starred in the Broadway production as Patricia Stanley, she was to be loaned out to Warner Bros. but was cast in Tobacco Road instead.
Two of the "college students" in the cast went on to be well-known TV dads in the 1960s: Herbert Anderson (Dennis the Menace) and Don DeFore (Hazel).
Joan Agnes Theresa Sadie Brodel (born January 26, 1925), was known professionally as Joan Leslie. She began performing as a singer at the age of nine as part of a vaudeville act with her two sisters: Betty and Mae Brodel. She later began her Hollywood acting career while still a child, performing under her real name in several movies, beginning with her debut in the MGM movie Camille (1936) with Greta Garbo and Robert Taylor. She soon signed a contract with Warner Bros. In 1941, Leslie got her first major role in the thriller High Sierra with Humphrey Bogart, playing a crippled girl under her new billing as "Joan Leslie". She also starred in Sergeant York and The Wagons Roll at Night in that same year. Later in 1942 she appeared as James Cagney's wife in Yankee Doodle Dandy, and at the age of 18 in 1943, she starred in The Sky's the Limit with Fred Astaire. She starred in many more movies until 1950, when she married Dr. William Caldwell. Her last movie role was in The Revolt of Mamie Stover in 1956, and she eventually retired from acting altogether to look after her identical twin daughters Patrice and Ellen. She has appeared in several television commercials since then, and also made guest appearances in the TV shows Murder, She Wrote and Charlie's Angels. She also provided commentary as extras on the Yankee Doodle Dandy, Sergeant York, and High Sierra DVDs. Joan was a regular volunteer at the Hollywood Canteen where she danced with the servicemen and granted hundreds of autographs. In 1944, she starred with Robert Hutton in the Warner Bros. film, Hollywood Canteen.
434. (16 Oct) Light in the Piazza (1962, Guy Green) 66
Light in the Piazza is in very strange, sometimes uncomfortable thematic territory. The initial discomfort in Yvette Mimieux and George Hamilton's romance eventually becomes easy to accept because they have such astonishing chemistry together. There are moments where they share the screen that are breathtakingly heartfelt.
Olivia de Havilland is also superb, particularly late in the film when she starts to assert herself as a strong, alluring older woman. She gives her character's moral dilemma real depth. Guy Green makes brilliant use of the Florentine scenery.
This is a good performance by a great actress, who's unfortunately rarely talked about nowadays. Although Joan's achievement as Lina is quite uneven and a bit unimpressive, there's something interesting and enjoyable about her that makes you keep watching.
After all, I can say that this is a beautiful performance, which might a bit weak and rushed at times, but it's often very moving. Although it's quite forgotten nowadays, I think it shouldn't be, since it is one of the most lovely performances of a great talent. Although it may not be flawless, I still liked it a lot.
Although sometimes Olivia's performance in this movie is a bit slow-paced, she's still able to be very impressive and loveable. I'm not saying that I was blown away, but I was quite impressed by her this time around. Well done.
I can say that Barbara Stanwyck is just great as Sugarpuss O'Shea in Ball of Fire, and despite the fact that I did not expect that much from this performance and that the screentime was working against her, I was certainly really impressed by Barbara and wanted to see more of her.
I can say after all, that Bette Davis gives one of her strongest and most memorable performances as Regina Giddens, the greedy Southern woman. She put all her experience and knowledge into it, worked hard, made it all look easy and created one of the greatest and most complex characters of the 1940s. An excellent, chilling work of a great actress. Bravo.
So I can proudly announce
that my winner is...
Bette Davis
in
The Little Foxes
You could at least stand up Bette! :)
Omissions:
Barbara Stanwyck in The Lady Eve *My Pick*
Final thoughts: A very strong year. Ranking was quite easy this time, everything went smoothly, I'm quite sure about myself this time. And I like that. This was pretty much unpredictable, since I did not know myself what I would think about this year. Bette was the clear winner (predictably), but the others were very good too. Olivia was the pleasant surprise for me as I usually don't like her, but this time she really impressed me. She grew on me, really. Greer and Barbara (love her) were very-very good and Joan was simply good. After all, I was happy to do this year finally (and I wanted to do it for a while).
The ranking of the already reviewed years:
1969
1974
1989
1959
1939
2009
1980
1941
1963
1966
1973
1990
1978
1954
1948
2002
1940
1998
About the next year: It's going to be a very-very exciting and strong year, which I'm really looking forward to reviewing. I'm just saying the clues that are quotes from the movies.
Olivia de Havilland received her second Oscar nomination for playing Emmy Brown, a naive young woman falling for a Romanian gigolo in the Best Picture nominee, Hold Back the Dawn. The relationship between Joan Fontaine and Olivia has always been extremely complicated, they've always been extremely competitive. And it all became worse when Joan won her first Oscar over her sister in 1942. Apparently (though I don't really know how credible an imdb board can be), it was later revealed to Olivia that she lost only by seven votes and she would have won in a tie if she had voted for herself instead of the great Barbara Stanwyck. Now figure...
Olivia de Havilland is a strange case, for me at the very least. On the one hand, I cannot overlook her overall effect on American cinema and the 1940s. On the other hand, sometimes I just cannot put up with her. To those who need further explanation, I'll tell that I hate when I suspect that something/someone is fake. It really gets on my nerves to see typical, obvious acting by anyone. In To Each His Own and The Snake Pit, that was the case with Olivia. She sacrificed the credibility of her whole performance in order to make the audience sob and care about her. Why? I really don't understand that, I would have cared about her anyway. Second, her presence is not strong enough I think in many cases. It might also be the fact that she was given these good Christian virgin roles, which is not very complicated.
Now you can imagine how much prejudice I had with this performance. However, I must also say, that there were two sides of my expectations. I thought she would both fail and succeed for me, and by this I ended up expecting absolutely nothing. I sat down and watched her. And that was the very best decision. Ironically, one of the expectations has proven right (yes, I am going to tell which).
The character is called Emmy Brown. Every time I heard her name, either the Emmy award or Doctor Emmett Brown came to my mind. Although it did not mean anything at the time, now it's quite funny. At least for me. Emmy (in a way) is extremely similar to Catharine Sloper in the fascinating movie, The Heiress. They are both extremely naive, shy and sensitive, and they are so easily influenced by a kind word from a man. They are not saying much, however they have a real depth. However, I never heard that silent scream on Olivia's face now, which was apparent in The Heiress. Emmy is not a bitter spinster yet, she's young, caring, loving, inexperienced. Olivia perfected these naive roles and Emmy perfectly represents this. Olivia really understood Emmy, I think and somehow I felt this, I barely noticed those obvious moments. It's very strange that she worked quite well with me this time around.
I was quite scared in the beginning that she was going to be weak once again, but everything went smoothly and easily after a while (exactly when Emmy starts her relationship with Georges). There's a kissing scene, where Olivia is so brilliant at showing how scared this young woman is from that man. Her chemistry with Charles Boyer is just fantastic and I feel that both performers were able to benefit from this fruitful working relationship.
Still, there's one scene which totally blew me away, and there I said, 'OK Olivia, I give up! You won.' Those who have seen the movie must know which scene I'm talking about (yes, it's the blessing in the church). Olivia's playing with her face is so thrillingly brilliant. It was simply terrific to follow her emotions all the way. It was a very interesting and memorable sequence which totally won me over. The other one was her confrontation scene with Paulette Godard, where a more bitchy side of Emmy is shown apart from her naivete. It's so interesting to see her stick to her beliefs about Georges so staunchly. It was again an excellent sequence.
Although sometimes Olivia's performance in this movie is a bit slow-paced, she's still able to be very impressive and loveable. I'm not saying that I was blown away, I was quite impressed by her this time around. This was the perfect prologue to her once-in-a-lifetime work in The Heiress. I might even reconsider my thoughts about her. Well done.
I think I'll leave Bette last to let the big Bette fans wait. Plus I feel the need to make Joan the next. We'll see.
Oh, I always wanted to do this year! It's going to be so exciting. I've seen only two of the ladies yet (and I don't really remember them), so I'm very curious, even though I'm not a fan of any of these ladies. And for the very first time I only have actresses I have previously reviewed.
What do you think? What are your predictions for the contest?
BTW, I am going to France on Friday for some skiing and I'm coming back next Saturday, so I may only start reviewing then. I might post the first profile tomorrow, but it's quite uncertain.
About the field: Well, this year turned out to be way better than I expected. However I must say that my ranking looks much different than I thought it would be. I'm most shocked at my #5 as I expected her to become my pick. Nevertheless I can say that I saw two mindblowing, one great and two very good performances, so I can conclude that this was a rich and versatile year, which I really enjoyed. My ranking wasn't that easy, because there was some competition for #1, but in the end my pick was obvious. So now it's time to see the ranking
5. Ingrid Bergman in Joan of Arc Another unpopular and not talked about performance that I was impressed by. Her last huge scene left a huge impact on me and I simply loved her You can hate Ingrid in this, you can hate me for this, but it doesn't change anything.
4. Olivia de Havilland in The Snake Pit She's courageous, charming and yet far from amazing or very memorable. I think that this performance might grow on me, but now I'm disappointed. Had I not heard that much about her, I would have been satisfied, but this way I'm feeling a bit awkward.
Irene Dunne gave a heartwarming, lovable performance which definitely had it's flaws but it did not bother me for her strong presence attracted my attention all the way. Great work, which had amazing moments in it.
2. Jane Wyman in Johnny Belinda I saw a great performance, which aged well and was much better for the second time. My admiration has dropped a bit in time but I still have to admit how great she is in this movie. Very good and memorable work.
I can honestly say that I was very-very impressed and that I saw one of Stanwyck's finest works, which completely grabbed my attention from start to finish mainly caused by Stanwyck's dexterity with emotions. A fascinating character study.
So my winner for this year is... Barbara Stanwyck in
Sorry, Wrong Number Barbara has just found out. :D
So now I've finished this very exciting year. So now it's time to move on. Unfortunately I can only start it in a week (precisely on Monday, 16th August). But naturally, I give you clues as usual, which will be TOO easy this time.
Legendary Olivia de Havilland received her fourth Academy Award nomination (third in the Best Actress category) for playing Virginia Cunningham, a woman having an ugly nervous breakdown in the Best Picture nominated film of Anatole Litvak, The Snake Pit. I'm quite sure that Olivia had an excellent chance of winning that Oscar. It must have been a big competition between her and Jane Wyman (and probably the overdue Dunne and Stanwyck stole some votes), but I guess the "she's already won" factor came in to the picture.
The Snake Pit is a very much loved movie as I noticed, however I was not as impressed by it as everyone else. Sure, it was way ahead of its time, yet I did not feel that it was very harrowing. I guess they have to follow the demands of the censors and the audiences. Too bad. All the actors are giving very good performances, it was especially nice to see Betsy Blair in her very small role (she has two words altogether). We can make the conclusion that The Snake Pit is The Olivia de Havilland show.
This performance is probably one of her most popular and beloved works, despite the fact that nobody can deny that she was the best in The Heiress. The part of Virginia is the prototype of deglam roles (just like Catherine Sloper in The Heiress). The beautiful superstar becomes unattractive, even ugly, no lipstic or makeup etc. It's no wonder that people went (and still go) crazy for Olivia's acting in this one.
I always felt that by attitude towards an actor or an actress always influences my opinion about her actual work. I know that it's unfair, but after all we are human who are biased. I like de Havilland and always enjoy her in everything she does and The Snake Pit was no exception. Her acting is charismatic, loveable and makes you care about her character and feel sympathy for her. Olivia's best decision througout her career was that she was never afraid to disappear as a star. When I watch a say Kate Hepburn performance, I always feel that it's Kate Hepburn as her personality shines through the material, however in Olivia's case, I always feel that I'm watching the character and not her.
That being said, I can talk about her actual acting in this movie. My only (and unfortunately) big complaint about her is that she does not have as much weight and strength as she should. You can always grab the attention of the audience when you're playing a crazy person and yet I never felt that Olivia really hit me hard. Of course, the tenderness and weakness comes from her character, but I could never really be amazed by her as she wasn't able to always grab my attention.
And yet I feel that the tenderness also helps her acting. Although she did not give me chills as I expected, I was impressed by her charm and dignity on-screen. She might have been weaker than she should have been, but she still shined (to a degree). Although in general she was very good and I liked her a lot, a cannot really mention one outstanding scene. Her big scene with her childhood is effective, but not amazing. Again: it lacks some strength. I remember Liz Taylor's big monologue in Suddenly, Last Summer. I think overall she was worse than Olivia, but that scene was way more powerful. Her strongest moments are when she gets to the snake pit where she's able to give more than in the other scenes and yet it's not very satisfying either. Again, her first scenes are very well-acted, but not THAT brilliant. I must say though that she's terrifying when she's forced into the bathtub.
I really don't know what else to say about her. She's courageous, charming and yet far from amazing or very memorable. I think that this performance might grow on me, but now I'm disappointed. Had I not heard that much about her, I would have been satisfied, but this way I'm feeling a bit awkward. Nevertheless, this is a very good performance, which is easy to like but I don't know how you would appreciate it. My grade is the one I feel the most comfortable with, so I guess it will do. Nice work from de Havilland, but definitely not her best.
Ingrid Bergman's next. What do you think? Do you love Olivia more than me or you totally hate her? I'm also interested in your predicitions. To see The Snake Pit click here
Hi everyone, I'm back from my vacation so now it's time to go on with our next year, which is (as you all guessed well) 1948. I don't know either how my ranking will look like as I only saw the winner, but I can give links to ALL of the movies. On forums this year is mostly talked about because of the performances of de Havilland and Wyman, however I can pick anyone, so let's just start it. I think I'll see at least two excellent performances and naturally I'm waiting for your preditions.
